Iota Force Issue #1: Baptism by Fire

Chapters

Prologue: Just Chilling Out
Chapter One: Pilot Flame
Chapter Two: A Warm Reception
Chapter Three: Coming to a Boil
Chapter Four: Taking Up the Torch
Chapter Five: Blazing Eyes and Cold Hatred
Chapter Six: Post-Victory Cooldown
Epilogue: A Spark to Light the Fire
Next time on Iota Force...

Prologue: Just Chilling Out

To everypony who doesn’t live there, Ponyville is regarded as a quiet, simple, unassuming little town, where everypony’s friendly and nothing ever really happens.. To everyone who does live there, somepony making this assertion means that they are either uninformed, blind or insane. Even by the standards of Equestria, Ponyville experiences weird and outlandish events and threats on a disturbingly regular basis and it does not take an especially long stay in the town to learn this.

However, even the residents of Ponyville often assume that all or most threats are at or above their eye level. When things become strange and dangerous, it rarely occurs to them to look down to find the problem. Thus, it is necessary to have those whose eye level is lower down. After all, even the tallest trees are felled at ground level.

Fortunately, there are those who are up to such a task, even if they don’t realize it at first. However, sooner or later, they will find out.

For a specific example, we can look at a small cottage where a family of two has recently moved in from another town. They have yet to personally experience Ponyville’s frequent oddities and, as such, the universe has begun a countdown for them discovering it. The countdown is exceptionally short.

Icy Flight let out a satisfied breath as she collapsed onto the bed. For a few seconds, she was content to simply lie there, appreciating the wonderful feeling of not doing anything. She wondered if she should ask her Mom to come up and see, before remembering that she’d still be working on the rest of the house. Icy, however, was done with her room.

She slipped a rear hoof off the edge of the bed and onto the cardboard box beside it. She’d taken all the other boxes outside, but this had been the last one. So, after finishing with it, Icy felt she deserved a quick victory rest. After all, she was finally done - only four days after moving, her stuff was finally all unpacked. She rolled over onto her side, sinking into the bed. No, her bed. As she looked over her new room. Shehad this room, she had decided how it would look and she had finally finished making it that way. Her Mom would be so proud, both of how she'd done it all on her own, and of how tidy she'd made it. Very tidy, actually.

Maybe a bit too tidy.

In fact, now that she looked at it, there wasn’t much there to make it untidy: A large shelf for her books and comic book collection (Or more accurately, for her comics with the occasional book), a wardrobe full of clothes she'd rarely worn in her old town and would never wear here, the miniature air conditioner sitting inactive by the window, the desk with her drawing stuff laid out on top of it, a plain blue bedside table...

Yeah, that was about it. Still, she was proud of finishing it. After four days. When her mother had done half the house in three.

Okay, so maybe she'd been distracted a few times while unpacking her comics. Just a few. Her Mom had said she'd counted thirty yesterday, but Icy knew she was joking probably.

However, now that she was done, she wasn't sure what to do with herself. She didn't feel like reading or drawing, her Mom was busy with unpacking everything else, and she was bored with just lying on her new bed, feeling smug about not being too slow.

A strand of pale yellow hair fell in front of her eyes. It was a good thing it did, else she might have spent all day considering what she might do all day. She giggled a little at the thought and got up, brushing the highlight back into the white surrounding it. She trotted over to the window and looked out over her new hometown.

It still felt novel to look out of her window and see the thatched roofs and green parks of Ponyville, rather than the insulated walls and looming mountains of Flanchorage. Still, it had a similar feeling, minus the embarrassing name; a quiet town, where ponies would wave at each other in the street, stopping to chat if they had the time. Even then, back in her old town, such chats were generally either brief or taken indoors, but not here. Of course, in Ponyville, ponies could stay outside all year round without freezing their haunches off, so that probably helped.

Icy’s eyes wandered to the park in the centre of town. She couldn't help but find a town where plants were this plentiful exciting. Apparently, there was even an orchard. With trees that actually grew stuff! Sure, Icy had been to places that had lots of them before, but she'd never lived in one. It was so nifty!

She opened the window a touch and put a hoof out, checking the temperature. The afternoon was cool, with the sun beginning to fall behind the taller houses and a northern breeze slipping through the streets. It was Autumn, just on the cusp of October, when the weather in Ponyville started to get just below the colder side of comfortable. For most ponies, that is.

In this aspect, however, Icy was not most ponies. This was around the temperature where she could go outside in the daytime without getting overly-warm. True to her name, Icy had often been favourably compared with Misty Freeze from Batmare. With the whole “loves the cold and can't stand the heat” thing, that is, not the “desperately seeking revenge for the tragic death of her wife” bit. Sure, Icy sometimes thought about revenge for things, like detentions and groundings, and if she had a wife, she'd be… well, she'd be kind of confused and want to know how that had happened, but if she did and something happened to her, yeah, she could see wanting revenge, but, no, it was just the heat thing.

She shook her head, ending the mental tangent. The point was that, back in her old town, she had a reputation for going out in the middle of winter with, at most, a scarf or a hat and being confused when ponies complained about the cold. Conversely, the moment the temperature got to what most would consider normal, she was feeling a bit sweaty and stifled. At the height of summer, she'd be baking in the streets.

Luckily, they'd moved when the temperature had dropped to a tolerable level, which meant that she could go for a walk, maybe get to know the town before school started the next day. Not that she couldn’t do so after school started, but she figured it’d be better not to look too lost or out-of-place on her first day. Hopefully, it would help her give a better first impression with the other kids.

Hey, if I’m lucky, maybe I'll make a few more friends here, she thought as she went down the stairs. She was hardly an outcast back in Flanchorage, but this town boasted the Princess of Friendship herself. That had to count for something. After all, if she could become an alicorn just fro- WHOA!

Icy was thrown out of her train of thought with a jerk as, lost in her musings, she tripped over the fourth-to-last step. She landed hard at the bottom before groaning and looking back up the steps.

That was weird – usually when that happened, it was on a higher step. On the other hoof, this was a new staircase, so maybe she just needed to get used to it. After checking herself for anything bruised or bleeding and finding nothing, as usual, she shrugged the matter off, hopped to her hooves and went to find her Mom.

When Icy found her, she was trying to shove a pickaxe into a cupboard that was already full-to-bursting with climbing gear. Icy giggled as she watched.

“Mom, maybe you should try to find somewhere else for that.”

Sunny Flight looked over to her daughter with a raised eyebrow. “No chance.” She said as she continued trying to bend physics so the pick would fit – which, being a unicorn, she probably could have, but she apparently hadn't thought of that. “This stuff… grunt saved my life... grunt more times... grunt than you have feathers... grunt so I want to keep it all together grunt in case I need it.”

Icy giggled again, ruffling her wings. “If you say so, Mom.” She wasn't sure what situation would call for full mountaineering gear in Ponyville, but her Mom knew this sort of thing better than she did. “Can I go out for a walk? I wanna look around Ponyville for a bit.”

“Sure thing, Sweetie.” Sunny replied, waving her prosthetic forehoof. Icy ran out of the room with a smile on her face. “Just don't stay out too late; dinner's at seven.” She heard, followed by a loud crash. “Hrrm. Seven-Thirty.”

Icy smiled as she went to the door. Her mom might have been right to keep survival gear on hoof – if half of what she heard about this town was true, living here wouldn't get boring. Being next door to the largest wild magic zone in the world would ensure that on its own, let alone the weekly catastrophes that seemed to befall the place. That’s what the papers said, at least. Or rather, that’s what her Mom had told her the papers said. Of course, things would probably be alright - the Princess and her friends would always be around to solve things, she was sure - but she'd have to remember to be on her guard.

In fact, she was so on her guard that she noticed the door a full half-second before she walked into it. With how much she slowed down in that half-second, it didn't even hurt that much. Yep, she was ready for anything!

Still, she thought as she opened the door, it might be fun to be in the centre of a bit of excitement for once. But I’m only a filly, fat chance of that ever happening.

Chapter One: Pilot Flame

Icy took a whiff of the cool evening air as she trotted along. She was following the path of the river, but staying a fair distance from it.

It had been an informative stroll, and she was liking Ponyville more the more she saw of it. There were the obvious things, of course - places that everyone knew about, like the Crystal Castle, or places that every town had, like the Post Office. Although she doubted most Post Offices had to worry so much about crashing pegasi.

But there were also some buildings that seemed more unique to Ponyville, like a strange one made up to look like some sort of merry-go-round - a toy shop, Icy presumed - or another that looked like it was made of food. That one was of particular interest to Icy thanks to giving off a smell so sweet she could almost feel her teeth softening. Ordinarily, she’d have rushed in there, spent every bit in her pouch, then tried to sell the pouch to buy even more. However, she didn’t have her bit pouch with her, so that wasn’t an option. After all, it wasn’t like she could go in there and expect free cupcakes or something. What kind of loon would just give away such wonderful-smelling treats?

She’d even got a glimpse of the weather team preparing a light rainfall. It was an odd sight - in her old town, the weather manager had been rather relaxed, even when wrangling clouds for a blizzard. Here, though, it seemed a light drizzle was serious business for the mare in charge. Icy had heard of Rainbow Dash, of course, but she didn’t know she was quite this stern. Or at least, she was with the adults.

There was an orange filly standing on a hilltop, watching the pegasi work with far more excitement than Icy had seen anyone feel about weather work. Occasionally she would hop up and flap her wings rapidly, hovering for a few moments before she fell back to earth. Evidently, she wasn’t the strongest flier. Not that Icy could talk, as she couldn’t manage much beyond hops and glides. However, from the distance Icy saw her at, it seemed like the problem was the size of her wings, rather than their strength, as it was with Icy’s.

However, this didn’t exactly stop her flying because, once Rainbow Dash noticed the filly, she swooped down, picked her up, placed her on her back and let her ride there as she worked, even letting the filly kick apart a few of the smaller clouds. The fact that having a little filly on her back did not in any way reduce Rainbow Dash’s level of authority was rather impressive.

Smiling at the sight of the two sisters (or so Icy presumed) bonding, Icy had turned away and taken a stroll up-river towards the outskirts of town, passing the Ponyville dam. It looked pretty solid for something that, rumour claimed, was damaged or destroyed every few weeks. Of course, Icy was by no means an expert in structural engineering. Besides, getting a clearer look would require her to get closer to it - something she wasn’t keen on doing.

She and water had... issues. She wasn't afraid of it, exactly, but it always felt odd to her. She couldn't explain it, but whenever she got near water, she could feel it - it felt like it was trying to get her. Reaching for her, almost grasping at her. It didn't move any differently, there was nothing she or anyone else could see, but it almost felt... hungry.

It wasn't all water - drinking a glass of it wasn't going to bother her, and she was fine with swimming pools and baths. Small bodies of water, ponds and small lakes, were mostly okay, too – she still felt it there, but it was a lot quieter. Rivers, oceans and large lakes, though? She liked to keep her distance. On the other hoof, the river provided a helpful path for her to wander while she thought, so she kept following it. Just not too closely.

Icy looked up. Speaking of her thoughts, it looked like she'd gotten lost in them again. She looked up at Mount Canter, with Canterlot resting casually against its closest face. It was a lot closer than it had been. Looking back over her shoulder confirmed it – she'd gone quite a way out of Ponyville. Not too far, she could certainly get back before supper, but it was getting dark and Icy hadn't wanted to stay out this late.

It didn’t worry Icy too much, though. There was still light from various sources: the white of the moon, just beginning to rise over the mountain; the yellow-orange of the fireflies gathering over the river; the red of the rock creatures coming towards her, the distant lights of Ponyville...

Wait, what?

She looked up again and, indeed, there was a group of bright red and grey pony-things advancing on her. That was the only word that described their movement – advancing. They were walking in unison, covering as much ground with each step as they could, and their heads - at least, she assumed they were their heads - were turned directly towards her. They seemed to have a purpose, and that purpose seemed to be something to do with her.

Not, as many had noted, having the most well-developed of survival instincts, Icy started going to meet them halfway. There were seven of them in all, each roughly the size and shape of a decently-built earth pony colt. Her initial assessment had been correct - they looked to be made out of rough-hewn rock. At least, on the surface. She could see a red glow through the many cracks in their stone skin, and the rock between them was moving slightly, as if they were just plates floating on a thick liquid.

Red, glowing liquid and, judging by the scorch marks their hooves left on the ground, very hot.

That couldn't be... lava, could it?

The two parties reached each other and, sure enough, Icy could see a continual flow of molten lava beneath their rocky hides. That was strange - Icy had never heard of lava-ponies before. Rock ponies, maybe, if you counted Crystal Ponies. Fire ponies? Well, she'd heard some stories about fire spirits in pony form and there were some creatures with an affinity for magma – Malariths, some Salamanders - but lava-ponies? That was a new one.

Still, Icy thought as she wiped a drop of sweat from the back of her neck, they might be friendly. She suppressed her initial instinct of putting out her hoof to shake, since doing so might burn her hoof off. Instead, she opted for a wave and a cheerful “Hi there!”

Fortunately, this meant she was looking at the lava-pony in front the moment it took its first swing at her. Her eyes widened and she flapped her wings by instinct, sending a gust of wind at them and propelling herself backwards. The lava-pony's strike missed her by a few inches.

As she lifted off, she thanked Celestia that her reflexes were pretty good, at least when she was paying attention enough to use them.

She wasn’t so thankful that reflexes tended to be momentary things, as she was now flying backwards with no control.

She hit the ground soon after, sliding for a moment before coming to a stop around ten metres from the lava-ponies. Her head was buzzing and her limbs were aching. She knew she couldn't do that again.

She looked up to see the lava-ponies hadn’t moved, sheltering themselves with their hooves, presumably from the dust she'd kicked up. That was weird, she realized, since they didn’t have eyes and any dust would be burned up before it could blind them anyway.

It didn’t last long, though. When the wind died down, they lowered their hooves and locked their eyeless gazes on her. As one, they lowered their heads, scuffed a front hoof on the ground, and charged. The heavy pounding of their hooves echoed in her head, growing louder and louder as she lay there, sprawled and frozen.

The heat she'd felt radiating off that first attack was intense, and she guessed that one strike would be enough to... well, she didn't like to think, but it wouldn't be pretty.

In retrospect, it was a good thing she hadn't held her hoof out to them.

She giggled, briefly distracted by the thought before remembering the whole “mortal danger” thing. She watched as the murderous magma monsters ran at her, the tension making their every movement seem to take forever.

Is this what final moments are like? Icy thought. Seeing your killers coming at you in slow motion, your vision going golden and a weird buzzing in your head? She raised a hoof to her forehead.

Except the hoof was moving fine. She blinked and looked up at the charging lava-ponies. It wasn't just her, they were moving in slow motion. The one at the front was only a couple of metres from her, but barely moving a quarter of the speed he had been a moment ago, raising his front hoof for another blow like he was pushing it through syrup.

Also, that golden glow was just around them – unicorn magic! And that buzzing wasn't in her head, it was somewhere to her side. Getting louder too. What’s maki- OOPH!

Icy winced at the burning pain she assumed she felt, before realizing a second later that it didn’t burn at all – whatever had hit her, it didn't feel like a lava-pony's hoof. In fact, it felt like an ordinary hoof, which was now carrying her away from her attackers at incredible speed.

She noticed that the buzzing was now right beside her head, and she looked up to see a pair of small wings flapping furiously. A pair of small wings belonging to a familiar orange filly. She was dressed in a garish bodysuit of purple, magenta and blue, but that did precisely nothing to hide her identity.

She was shaken out of her surprise as she felt the two of them turning and screeching to a halt. Without the momentum keeping her there, she fell off the filly's hoof and down to the ground. She looked up to see the filly standing up her hind hooves on what looked, to her at least, like a scooter. There was no way a scooter could be that quick, was there?

The skid marks behind her suggested otherwise.

The filly grinned down at her. “Sorry ‘bout that. You okay?”

Icy was still reeling. This filly had taken them about fifty metres from the attackers while carrying another filly. She blurted out the first thing that came to her head.

“Holy Celestia, you're fast!”

The filly smirked and buffed a hoof against her chest. “Second fastest in Ponyville!” She sounded like she was trying to be smug, but only managed appropriate pride.

“Scootaloo?” A voice seemed to come from nowhere. The filly, presumably Scootaloo, looked down to her waist, at a badge Icy hadn't taken much notice of: a shield with an I symbol on it.

“Oh, sorry, Dinks.” She said into the badge.

“'tsokay!” The voice was coming out of the badge, crackling slightly with magical distortion. “Just hurry, I can't...” Even with the distortion, the strain the voice carried was clear.

“On it!” Scootaloo replied, before revving up her wings and looking up at Icy. “It's alright, you can go home, we'll handle this.” She revved up her wings.

“Don't touch them, they're super-hot!” Icy managed to get in before Scootaloo shot off.

“Gotcha!” Scootaloo called back as she sped away.

She considered what was happening. Scootaloo and Dinks seemed to have everything under control - if they said they could handle it, there was no reason to doubt them. Besides, Scootaloo had told Icy to go home, and that did seem like a good idea. At the very least, it'd be safer.

So, naturally, Icy started running towards the battle, trying to figure out what she could do to help. As she got closer, though, she had to stop both her mouth and her haunches from dropping in disbelief.

Scootaloo was little more than a blur and a dust cloud, the chaotic colours of her suit making even pinning down her exact location a challenge. She zipped in between and all around the lava-ponies so fast they could barely raise their hooves before she was past them. She was literally scooting circles around them. What's more, she'd often seem to punch them backwards, despite Icy knowing that that would get her hoof burned horribly, if not off. Looking closer, though, she realized Scootaloo was holding some sort of pipe. The filly was jousting these creatures at hyperspeed.

Occasionally though, one of the lava-ponies looked like it was about to intercept the multi-coloured streak, though whether by luck or judgement, Icy couldn't say. However, whenever they did, a golden glow would envelop them and they'd slow down, going a fraction of the speed they had been. Shifting her eyes away from the spectacle, Icy noticed a tiny purple-grey unicorn filly, presumably “Dinks”, who seemed to be causing these effects. She was also dressed in a bodysuit, but this one was a bold red, with a hooded cloak. She was also wearing three watches on her left foreleg for some reason, presumably to do with her time-warps. Said warps didn’t last long, but, by the time she let the lava-ponies go, Scootaloo was well away from them. Their attacks would then whiff completely, often throwing them off balance enough for Scootaloo to get a free hit on another run.

However, despite the two of them seeming safe from the lava-ponies, they didn't seem to be making much progress either. Each of the lava ponies showed dents and craters from Scootaloo's strikes, but it didn't faze them much. Furthermore, as Icy got to about ten metres from the fight, she could see their rocky hides slowly flowing back together.

Icy assessed the situation. Evidently, she thought, these two are awesome. Also evidently, they can't keep this up forever, and the lava-ponies might be able to outlast them. Is there any way I can help? She thought back to her own brief encounter with them. Well, kicking up a dust cloud seemed to stun them, that might do something.

Nodding to herself, Icy flared her wings and started flapping up as much of a gust as she could. She did her best to focus it on the lava-pony furthest from the two, hoping Dinks and Scootaloo would see it and focus on it too.

As the dust cloud reached it, the lava-pony froze. Icy knew it would only last a moment, but it might help, particularly if Scootaloo was as fast as she tho- there it was.

Scootaloo, noticing one of her opponents stopping, broke off from the main group, zipped about fifteen metres away, then charged straight at her frozen foe. With that much run-up, the hit sent the lava-pony flying backwards, landing in the river and sending up a massive cloud of droplets and steam.

When the steam cleared, there was no lava-pony. Just some loose rocks flowing out along the current.

Icy could see the other two smiling. They'd found their weakness. She saw Dinks start speaking rapidly into her badge. The good news was that she seemed to have a plan.

The bad news was that the lava-ponies had noticed this, too and had stopped moving, turning their heads. Not at their more dangerous opponents, but at Icy.

“Eep!”

The lava-ponies turned around as one and charged at her. Icy was about to close her eyes when she felt something wrap around her hoof, and everything slowed down. Not just the lava-ponies, but the grass, the wind, even Scootaloo as she did donuts on the riverbank. Looking down, she saw a watch had been placed around her ankle, its face glowing.

“These meanies don't like you, do they?” Icy heard a high-pitched voice say. She looked up to see Dinks giving her a worried frown. The little unicorn’s horn was glowing the same colour as the watch and less brightly than when she was slowing down the lava-ponies - presumably the watch was a focus for her magic.

Icy gulped noisily before answering. “Doesn’t look like it, no.”

Dinks smiled. “Good.” She stopped smiling as she realized what she'd just said. “I mean, not good, very bad, but it means I've got an idea. Do you think you can act as, well, kind of... bait, once Scootaloo's finished?”

Icy looked over to Scootaloo, who was going at quite a speed even when slowed down. “I... guess so?” She looked at the slow-charging lava-ponies. “Assuming they don't burn me to ashes first.”

Dinks giggled. “Just use your wings, silly, like before.” Her horn stopped glowing and time sped up again. Icy turned around to see the lava-ponies barrelling towards her. Half because of Dinks's advice and half out of blind panic, Icy started flapping her wings as fast as she could, creating a minor stream of air, However, despite how week the wind was, it made the lava-ponies skid to a halt. They seemed paralyzed for a moment before they started moving towards Icy again, slowly and ploddingly, as if they were fighting a gale force wind rather than a slight gust.

Icy didn't have time to ponder this as she heard “NOW!” to her side. Moving with more certainty than she felt, she ran towards where she'd seen Scootaloo - right by the water. She swallowed, doing her best to ignore the river next to her.

She stopped on the patch of earth Scootaloo had kicked up and turned to see a golden aura enveloping the lava-pony in front. Okay, so Dinks was... speeding it up? Why was she...?

The reason quickly became apparent – the other lava-ponies, mimicking their frontrunner, started running as fast as they could towards Icy. Unfortunately for them, Icy was suddenly not there anymore, replaced with an after-image of orange and purple.

Scootaloo quickly came to a stop, setting a slightly-less-winded-than-last-time Icy down. They turned back to their opponents.

To the Lava-Ponies’ credit, they managed to stop themselves just on the edge of the river. However, this didn’t help much because Scootaloo's moves had loosened the soil, and the moment their bodies touched the ground, they started baking the ground into clay dust. All of this made the ground beneath them collapse and plunge them into the river, steam billowing up.

Once the cloud cleared, the lava-ponies were gone. They had won!

Icy didn't have time to celebrate, however, as she found herself grabbed by the shoulder and whirled around to face Scootaloo. “What are you doing here?” She shouted.. “I told you to get outta here. We could have handled this fine, but you coulda been killed!”

Icy let the rebuke wash over her, focusing instead on the most pressing question she had. “How are you only the second fastest?!”

Immediately, Scootaloo's expression changed one of awe and excitement. “Oh, Rainbow Dash is so much faster than me! She's amazing, you should totally see her when she's flying about all zoom and nyyoooow!”

Icy blinked and turned away from the sudden moodswing to see Dinks coming up to her, concern in her golden eyes.

“Are you okay?” She asked. Now that the danger had passed, Icy couldn’t help but notice how small and gentle the filly looked and sounded. “Those things didn't hurt you, did they?”

Icy checked herself over, an instinctive reaction she'd developed to being asked if she was hurt, which happened frequently. “No, no I'm fine.” She remembered her manners. “Dinks, I assume?”

The filly’s giggle had a musical quality, like an echoing glockenspiel. “No, that's just what Scootaloo calls me.” She held out a hoof. “I'm Dinky Doo!”

Icy shook the hoof, smiling. “Icy Flight. Hi there!”

“Hiya!” Dinky replied.

“So,” Scootaloo, now out of fanfilly-mode, said behind Icy, “what was that thing you did with your wings?”

Icy held out a wing and examined it, confused for a moment before she remembered what Scootaloo was talking about. “I don't know.”

“What do you mean you don't know? You did something, what did you do?”

Icy thought for a second. “I really don't know, I just made a bit of wind.” A snort from Scootaloo made her realize what she just said. “I mean, a gust of wind. From my wings. Like you just asked me.” She sighed as Scootaloo continued chortling. “I guess it was just the dust I kicked up.”

At this, Scootaloo stopped laughing and gave her a flat look. She put a hoof on the rear wheel of her scooter and spun it, kicking up a cloud of dust. The cloud was much smaller than the ones her scooter made during the scuffle, but still had more dust in it than anything Icy had made.

“Oh.” Icy's brow went down as she tried to think of what else could have happened. “Well, then... I guess I don't know what happened. Sorry.”

“Well, I think it saved us. Thank you so much!” Dinky said with a smile that went all the way up her face, radiating sincere gratitude.

A look that was dispelled when Scootaloo scoffed. “As if! We'd have figured it out and taken those chumps down!” Dinky turned towards her, surprise and sadness in her eyes, and Scootaloo's smugness vanished. “But I guess you helped, Icy, so... yeah, thanks, I guess.”

Turning around quickly, she leapt onto her scooter and zipped away.

“Huh. She doesn’t stick around, does she?” Icy asked.

“Oh, don't worry!” Dinky beamed at her. “She's just...”

Scootaloo zipped back in front of them, a purple trailer attached to the back of her Scooter. The same symbol Icy had seen on their badges was painted on it.

“Hop in!” Scootaloo said as Dinky climbed onto the trailer. “We're heading back into town, figured you might want a lift.”

Icy shrugged – it would be easier than walking and mean less chance of meeting giant evil grasshoppers or whatever this town came up with next. She hopped into the trailer and looked over at Scootaloo. “Thanks. So, if you don't mind me asking, how come you two don't have your cuuuUUAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Anything else Icy had to say was lost as Scootaloo sped off, the wind drowning out any attempt at speech.

Chapter Two: A Warm Reception

Author's Note

Reminder: This takes place just before Season 5.

Chapter Two: A Warm Reception

The next day, Icy was walking to her new school, the bizarre encounter having gone to the back of her mind. The rest of the day had been fairly normal – dinner, talking with her Mom, reading comics, being reminded that she had school tomorrow and it was half-an-hour past her bedtime and to put the comics away right now, the usual.

She hadn't told her Mom about her little escapade. Partly because she didn't think she'd believe her and partly out of fear that she would. If Sunny Flight believed her daughter had been attacked by lava-ponies, she would immediately go out, scour the countryside, and smash anything even vaguely rocky and hot, not resting until there were no more lava-ponies in existence.

Not that Icy doubted her ability to do exactly that, she just felt her mother had enough on her plate.

Besides, at that moment Icy wasn’t focused on such things, instead being excited about her new school. She'd seen it during her self-guided tour and the cheerful, homey building had got her hopes up, being a far cry from the dull pinky-brown walls of her old schoolhouse. Her old teachers had tried to cheer things up, but it didn't have a patch on this one.

As her destination came into view, Icy could see a playground filled with colts and fillies talking, running about, and generally getting all their energy out and fun in before class began. There were a lot of students for a one-room schoolhouse, but given how recently Ponyville had gained prominence, they probably hadn't had time to expand for the influx of new residents.

Trotting into the centre, Icy stood and observed the children around her. She didn't want to barge into any groups and the only fillies she'd met had talked to her solely due to weird circumstances, so she didn't want to bother them. Still, I'd like to get to kno-

“STOP IGNORING ME!”

A shout in Icy's ear knocked her over, her mane and tail standing on end for a moment as she tripped over her hooves and fell on her rump. She looked up to see a pink earth pony standing over her, her mane glistening almost as much as the crown on top of it. Her coat was impeccably groomed, and a stylish pair of saddlebags rested over her back.

A pang of self-consciousness went through Icy as she realized how scruffy she looked by comparison. She looked at her mane, hanging limply around her head in wavy clusters, and her pale blue coat, the hairs naturally clumping together. This filly, on the other hoof, looked to have been touched up by a professional. Geez, anyone who'd do that before school’s got to b-

“HEY! I said: PAY ATTENTION!”

Icy looked back at the filly, seeing her eyes fill with murder. It was kind of ironic: she must have spent quite a bit on looking pretty, but it was ruined by her expression. No one could look beautiful with that sort of hateful sneer on their face. Maybe she’s jus-

“ARE YOU DISRESPECTING ME?!”

That puzzled Icy. Disrespecting her? Why would she disrespect her? Why would she respect her? For that matter, how could she respect her - she didn't know her! Was she some kind of class queen? Did this school have its own monarchy? She had the crown for it, after all.

A silver-grey filly came out from behind her – also well-groomed, but with a huge pair of glasses and a pearl necklace that made her look like an old mare.

“She totally is, Di. She didn't even listen when you asked her a question. Rude!”

Icy blinked. She must have spaced out when this filly had asked her something. Her annoyance was understandable – it happened a lot, and sometimes got her in trouble. She decided to try to patch things up.

“I'm sorry, I was, er..., a bit lost in thought. What did you ask?”

The filly's, or “Di”'s, sneer shifted from angry to disdainful, a movement that seemed well practiced. “I wanted to know who you are. I was just checking to see if you were as dumb as the other blank flanks.” She snorted. “ But I guess you answered that question. Come on, Sil!”

With that, “Di” and “Sil” turned around, flicked their tails at Icy, and flounced off, noses hoisted as if on fishing line. Icy just looked blankly at where they’d been, baffled.

“What the hay just happened?”

“Aw, don't worry about them. They do that with every new student. Some dumb rich pony thing.”

Icy turned around to see Scootaloo standing behind her, a sympathetic smirk on her face.

“Oh, I guess that explains it.” Icy replied. She thought for a second. “Actually, no it doesn't, what was with them?”

“What, ya never seen rich fillies before?” Scootaloo raised an amused eyebrow at her.

“No, not really. You see, I used to live in Flanchorage, and that's not the sort of place most ponies go if they can afford to live anywhere. Unless you're like me or Mom, I guess.” Icy belatedly realized that Scootaloo was laughing at her old home's name. “Mostly because of that, I think.”

“Sorry, sorry. Anyway, don't worry about them.” Scootaloo stuck her nose up and put on her poshest voice. It wasn't that convincing but it did the job. “Dihamond Tiaahra and Hsilver Spooooon,” she lowered her snout and chuckled, “the local bi-”

She snapped her mouth shut mid-word and looked away,

“Local what?” Icy asked, puzzled.

“Sorry, Dad says I'm not s'posed to use that word.” Scootaloo's eyes went up as she thought. “I dunno why, though. I hear Mom say it sometimes, and Dad doesn't say anything unless he knows I'm there.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“Yeah.”

A short silence arose as the fillies pondered the strangeness of adults before Icy brought them back to the main topic. “So, are all rich ponies like that?”

Scootaloo waved a hoof. “Nah, just them.” She looked at Icy oddly. “Gotta say, ya got some weird priorities. Woulda thought you'd ask about last night.”

Icy thought back. “Last night? What happened last ni- oh, yeah, that.”

Scootaloo chuckled. “Yeah, the whole lava-pony thing. Never seen anything like that before.”

“Really? You seemed to know what you were doing.”

“Aw, we've just seen a lot of stuff. I could tell ya...”

“Hey, Scoots, get over here! We're gonna try for our firework cutie marks!” A southern-accented voice came from across the yard.”

Scootaloo's ears shot up and she looked over. “I could tell ya, but I gotta go. Ask Dinks, she'll tell ya.”

She pointed, and Icy looked to see Dinky talking with two other ponies. She looked back at Scootaloo. “Do you think she'd mind?”

“Dinky? Mind stuff? Yeah, right! See ya!” And with that, Scootaloo was off to what Icy really hoped would be a pretend game of fireworks.

Shrugging, she cantered over to Dinky and her friends. Well, she hoped they were friends, but after her encounter with the rich fillies, she couldn't be sure.

They seemed to be getting on, though. One was a pegasus filly with a pale yellow coat. Her light purple mane was in a vaguely similar style to Dinky's, but without the tuft that stuck up at the back. She was facing away from Icy, so her face wasn't visible, but she was definitely a bit bigger than Dinky. Not that that was hard – Dinky did rather live up to her name.

Speaking of which, the other was an earth pony colt with a pinto coat and brown mane who looked roughly the same size as Dinky, if not a bit smaller. He was chatting animatedly until he noticed Icy coming up to them. He and Dinky looked up.

“Oh, Hiya, Icy!” Dinky called, waving as soon as she saw her. “Lu, Pip, this is the filly I was telling you about – the one who saved us from the lava-ponies! This is Icy!”

Icy was about to return the greeting, when she paused. “Er, didn't you save me from the lava-ponies?”

Dinky thought for a moment. “Well, I guess so. A bit. But the important thing is that you helped us!”

As far as Icy could recall, her contributions had been minimal, but if that's how Dinky wanted to remember it, she wasn’t going to argue

“Anyway, Icy, these are my friends:” she pointed a hoof towards the colt, who Icy was eager to learn the name of, lest she slip up and accidentally call him Titch or Shorty or something, “this is Pipsqueak.”

Or that.

“Hi!” Pipsqueak beamed at her.

“And this is Alula.” She indicated the filly, who nodded at her slowly, looking at her through narrowed eyes.

“Good morning.” She said, almost cagily. This filly gave Icy an odd feeling, like she was suspicious of her. She realized she was staring when Dinky and Pip laughed.

“Don't worry,” Pip chuckled as Icy turned to him and Dinky, “she's like that with everyone.”

Icy wasn't sure how comforting that was, but decided to move on anyway. “I... hope I'm not bothering you, Dinky.”

The remnants of her laughter seemed to settle into a quiet giggle at this. “Of course not, I've always got time for my friends.”

Friends. After knowing each other for an hour at most. Icy liked this town.

Pipsqueak smiled at Dinky before he turned to Icy. “Anyway, are you doing alright after being attacked by these lava-things?” He asked, speaking in a distinct Trottingham accent.

Icy shrugged. “I guess so. It was kind of a shock, but everything turned out alright, I guess.”

“It did,” Alula said, “but I wonder – if what Dinky said is accurate, these creatures were particularly interested in you. Is that correct?” Her words had an odd cadence – almost but not quite a monotone. It was like everything she said needed to be spoken with a certain amount of emphasis, but not too much so as not to disturb something. It made Icy a touch uneasy.

She shook her head, remembering that she'd been asked a question, and not wanting to offend someone else by not answering. “I... think so.”

“And I don't suppose you have any idea why?”

Icy shook her head again, this time in denial. “No! They just came at me whenever they could.” A thought struck her, and she looked down and away. “I hope they don't come after me again. I don't want them to hurt my Mom or anyone.”

Before she could get too morose, she felt a pair of hooves close around her and she looked up to see Dinky pulling her into a hug. A surprisingly firm one, given her size. “Don't worry – if anything happens, we'll protect you.”

Icy was taken by surprise by the Dinky insta-hug, but quickly realized the intent and settled into it, returning it gently. As they disengaged, though, she thought about what Dinky had just said. “We? You mean you and Scootaloo, right?”

Pipsqueak let out a large guffaw at this. “Not at all. They were just the only ones fast enough to get out to you in time.”

Dinky looked away. “The rest of us could have come, Pip. It's just they thought me and her could handle whatever it was.”

Pip put a hoof over her shoulder. “And with her speed and your amazing time-wibbling, they were right!”

Dinky still looked embarrassed at the praise, but gave a small smile regardless. “Thanks, Pip!”

Icy barely restrained herself from giving an “Awwww”, and, out of the corner of her eye, she could see Alula's lips curl up, her defenses apparently lowered by the sweet sight before her.

Not wanting to interrupt, Icy waited a few moments before asking, “So, there are more of you?”

Dinky was about to answer but, for the second time, the explanation was interrupted, this time by the school bell.

“We'll tell you at Recess.” Pip said as he and Dinky ran past her, Alula following at a more sedate pace. She was still smiling, though, so that was good. Icy shrugged and followed them inside.

Chapter Three: Coming to a Boil

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter Four: Taking Up the Torch

Icy shivered, though out of apprehension rather than cold. The alley would have been dark even if the sun was out but now, in the evening, the darkness was nearly opaque. Fortunately, it was a dead end, so she didn't have to worry about anything sneaking up behind her, and could focus on the front way. Much better than the alternative!

She looked down at the note she'd received once again. She didn’t read it - it was far too dark for that - but it comforted her to know that she hadn’t just imagined receiving it.

A short while after she'd arrived home from her encounter in the park, she'd heard a knock on the door. Upon opening it, she saw nothing but an envelope, addressed to her, lying on the ground and an orange-and-purple blur in the distance to her left. The note told her to come to 29 Stirrup Street at 8:30, and so she did. She’d promised her mother that she’d be careful, though neither of them took it seriously. If there was a problem in Ponyville, chances were both of them would know, along with anyone in a ten-mile radius.

Doesn’t apply to all problems, though. Icy thought as she remembered the small bunch of red glows she'd seen in the distance. She looked up, out of the mouth of the alley, to see... huh, they weren't that distant. In fact, the four lava ponies making the glow were getting closer. Much closer, and heading directly towards her. No, they couldn't have seen me from that distance, could they?

Yes, apparently they could. Icy cursed herself for getting caught up in thought again, as they were now too close for her to get out of the alley.

She backed herself up against the back end of the alley and tensed up. One of the lava-ponies stopped at the entrance. Weird, but she didn't have time to dwell on it, as the other three advanced. Icy flared her wings, ready to create another gust, though she didn't know if that would stop them. She didn't know what could stop them.

“BANZAI!”

Evidently, a colt landing on them could. The bulbous form fell from the roof right on top of two of the three, smashing them into their component rocks, the lava spilling from their forms and quickly cooling. The colt stood up and Icy recognised him – that fat colt from class, Truffle Shuffle. She wasn't likely to forget a name like that. He was wearing a brightly coloured suit of red, orange and yellow, like something out of a Mexicolt wrestling match. He even had a cape, held on by a pair of Badges similar to the others she had seen.

There was only one more lava-pony to worry about. It ducked around Truffle, who was still getting up and couldn’t stop it, and charged at Icy.

However, the other lava-pony darted from the entrance and leapt between them. It held its hoof held out, signalling for its companion to stop. The attacker did so, though seemingly more out of confusion than respect, but it was enough. Truffle's heavy hoof smacked down on its head from behind, smashing it and causing its entire form to collapse.

“Well,” Truffle grinned triumphantly, his deep voice barrelling out of him and echoing slightly through the alley, “that must have given the old suit a challenge! Still, it worked – not so much as a blister!” He wiped some soot off one of the legs of the bodysuit, then turned to the remaining lava-pony. “Good save there, by the way, Princess.”

Icy's questions were cut off before they could be asked as a familiar voice came from the lava-pony. “Yes. Not sure why it was necessary, though.” It turned to Icy, its form beginning to shift. “Why are you back here?”

A wavy distortion came over the lava-pony, with a slight greenish tinge to the air surrounding it. Within, Icy could see its body shifting and changing, until the distortion faded to reveal Alula. An Alula with wings and a horn, as well as a dark green suit and goggles. Unlike the others, this one looked like it would be quite good at hiding her identity, had Icy not heard her earlier that day.

Icy gaped at the sight. After a moment, she gathered her wits and asked the most comprehensive question she could think of:

“Bu-bu-b-b-b-bu... Buh?!” She asked.

Alula's remaind unreadable. “We'll talk about it in a minute – why are you in this alley?”

Icy shook her head to regain her bearings. “Th-the note told me to come here.”

A deep belly laugh came from behind Alula. Looking round her, Icy saw Truffle guffawing. “It told you to come to the house. As on knock on the door and come in! We're not the Ponies in Black with a secret rendezvous in a dark alley, we just wanted to meet you properly!”

“Oh.” It hadn't occurred to Icy that a note from a group of crime-fighting colts and fillies could just be an invitation to a sleepover or the like. A blush came to her cheeks as she walked towards the mouth of the alley. “Sorry.”

“Quite alright, my dear filly!” Icy was knocked off-balance by the force of Truffle's back-slap. “At least it meant we could take that bunch down!”

“Yes.” Alula's steady tone provided a nice counterpoint to Truffle's bass bluster. “Come into the house. You have questions, we can answer them.”

Icy found herself being led through the door of the house - a pleasant little cottage, not too noticeable among the many similar houses in this town. The inside was also fairly nondescript: cabinets, a coat rack, a few pictures. The only notable thing was the switched-off lights in the kitchen and living room. She didn't have time to look too closely, though, as Alula and Truffle led her down a flight of stairs just next to the door. At the bottom was another door with a sign on it - the same I symbol as on the various badges she’d seen. Alula opened the door slowly, revealing what was inside.

It was half-way between a bedroom and a clubhouse. To her right was a sofa set in front of a TV, Scootaloo and Archer sat on it playing ‘Trot Fighter’, it looked like. Scootaloo was hunched over her controller, tapping furiously, while Archer slouched slightly and controlled her character quickly but calmly.

At the end of the room was a bed, with a dark-red haired filly in a nurse's cap sitting on it. She beckoned towards the group at the door, an impatient look on her face. Icy heard Truffle sigh before trotting over there. Of course, even his sigh was powerful enough to blow her hair over her face.

To her left, by the door, was the only thing that seemed incongruous. It looked like some sort of machine - a shallow metal box, covering the wall from floor to ceiling. A board protruded from it at about a filly's hoof height, covered in buttons Icy couldn't guess the use of, and above that, a screen was embedded in the metal showing a mess of colours, waving and oscillating into each other like a liquid kaleidoscope. Lance stood by it, his posture tense, alternating between looking at the screen and Icy.

And, further on to her left, next to a fridge where Dinky was getting out a juice box, was a colt-sized desk, some messily-filled-in papers on top. And sitting behind it was:

“Pipsqueak?!”

The piebald colt waved at Icy cheerily. “Hi!”

Icy struggled to comprehend this new information, “You're part of this... thing too?”

Pipsqueak tilted his head. “Kinda, but not really, no.”

“Oh. Then why are you here?”

Pip almost looked offended. “'Cause this is my house. We just use it 'cause it's big and my ma isn't here that often.”

Icy's mouth had popped shut after her inadvertent faux-pas, but she opened it briefly before she attempted to justify herself. “Sorry, I thought if you weren't part of it, they wouldn't... So, you do something with this, er… whatever it is?”

Pip brightened up immensely. “Oh, yeah, I do all the lison... lias... li… I talk to Canterlot about what the group's done and what they need to do!” He held up a piece of paper proudly. “See?”

Icy squinted as she tried to read it. The little colt's mouth-writing wasn't the worst she'd seen, her own easily trumped it, but it was still pretty bad. Even the top line was tricky, it almost looked like it said it was to Princess... no, that couldn't be right.

“Right...” Icy said cautiously. “So, let's ask the million-bit question here, what is this group?”

“Oh, right! Sorry!” Pip looked briefly abashed before his eyes lit up and he gestured at the colts and fillies gathered in the room around. “Icy Flight, we are... Iota Force! A special group comisso... got together by the Princess to defend against threats to Ponyville and the whole of Equestria!”

Icy looked around at the apparent-heroes.

“Yes, I know it didn't do any permanent damage.” The filly in the nurse’s cap scolded Truffle while she dabbed something on a previously-unnoticed burn on his neck, just where his soot-stained suit joined with his mask. “That doesn't mean it wasn't because of anything other than luck. This burn's just from proximity, do you have any idea what would have happened if any of the lava had actually landed on your skin? Even if it didn’t just put you out of my misery?” Her voice managed to convey the sternness of an old matron.

A sternness Truffle ignored. “Not a clue, Rhyme! It would have probably got through my fat and damaged my insides. But it didn't, and I'll make sure it doesn't!”

Icy's attention was suddenly ripped away by a “K.O!” from behind her.

“Ha!” She heard, before turning to see Scootaloo thrust a hoof in Archer's face. “Gotcha!”

“Sure did.” Archer smiled. “Nice one. 'nother round?”

“Yer on!” Scootaloo turned back to the TV.

“It doesn't matter. You're roughly evenly matched – either of you could win.” Alula said as she leaned on the back of the sofa. They ignored her.

She turned back to the desk. Dinky was sucking on her juice box gently, smiling at her. Lance just looked at her without expression.

These ponies are the defenders of Equestria?

Sure, why not? Although...

“What about the Elements of Harmony? Aren't they supposed to take down world-ending threats?”

Pipsqueak nodded. “Well, yeah, they take down the big blighters, but...”

“And capturing criminals is the job of the royal guard.” Icy continued

“Well, obviously the guard will...”

“And the Wonderbolts'll often take on threats.”

“W-well, sometimes, I guess, but...”

“And when you think about it, the Princesses themselves are kind of the ultimat-”

“Yes, they all do it too!” Pip interrupted Icy. “But we defeat the baddies we're best equipped for!”

Icy wasn't impressed. “Like?”

“Like these lava-ponies. We take 'em out before they bother any grown-ups or anything. Tell you what, once we're done with them, I'll ask the Princess to explain it to you.”

Icy raised an eyebrow. “You mean you really report directly to Princess Twilight?”

“What? No!” Pip scoffed.-

“Then who...?”

“Princess Luna, of course!”

It was only her previous amazement at the skills of the main members of this “team” that prevented Icy from walking out there and then. As it was, she was merely skeptical.

“We don't report directly to her.” Apparently, so was Alula. “We report to a special branch of the Night Guard, who report to-”

“So,” Pipsqueak interrupted, still beaming proudly, “Do you have any questions? About us, I mean.”

Many, Icy thought, but only a few I'd trust you to answer.

“Okay,” she started, considering what to ask first; some questions about what she'd seen these ponies do should be safe. “So, I get Lance's, Archer's and Scootaloo's skills – special talents, I guess. Though, I'm not sure why Scootaloo doesn't have her Cuti-” She was cut off by a brief tap on her shoulder. Looking behind her, she saw a paper clip fall to the ground behind her and Archer's hoof wave from side to side in a “Now, now, don't do that” gesture. She hadn’t looked away from the screen.

“Uh... huh.” Icy turned back to the others. “But the rest of you... Dinky, I've never seen anyone do that sort of time magic before. Is that... just your unicorn magic?”

Dinky swallowed a mouthful of juice. “I think so. I don't know how it happens, it just comes to me.” She shrank back slightly. “I'm not that good at it – I can usually only slow things down and speed them up, and even then, it's really hard to do it for more than a few seconds.”

“It's still amazing.” Pipsqueak smiled at her over his shoulder, eliciting a shy smile back.

Icy decided to move on. “Okay, what about Alula?” She turned around to the apparent-alicorn in question. “Are those wings and horn... natural? Are you a secret alicorn?”

“Yes and no... and no.” Alula replied, the slight grimace on her face speaking of many previous explanations. “My mother's actually an earth pony.”

“And your Dad?”

Alula sighed. “My father, from what I could gather, was a changeling. I am a half-breed.” She seemed to be bracing herself for something. An awkward silence fell between them for a few seconds, the background noise of Scootaloo's near victory coming through. After that, Alula seemed to shake of the tension and continued. “Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, wings and a horn, like a changeling has, but looking like a pony's, is my natural form. I have to shift into a pegasus for school.”

Icy nodded in understanding, before she stopped suddenly. “Hold on, weren't you a pegasus before school, but a unicorn in class?”

To her credit, Alula almost looked abashed. “Sometimes I slip up. Luckily, from what I understand, some changelings - particularly rulers - exude an aura that makes other beings notice them less. Apparently, some can create a kind of “stupid-field” that makes ponies act like idiots, but mine just stops them from noticing mistakes.”

“Okay, I... guess that makes sense.” Icy turned to the last one she wanted to question, but she was having a difficult time thinking of how to ask about Truffle without insulting him. She stumbled for a moment as she pointed to him, before asking “Is it... it's not just the suit, is it?”

Truffle looked up at her, in the middle of sliding the suit off. “Not at all – the suit just protects my skin for getting hurt – scratches, burns, that sort of thing.” As he pulled the front half off, he slapped his stomach, sending a ripple across it. “The rest is all me!”

“Well, that... makes no sense.” Icy said, her bewilderment drowning out her fear of offending him. “Shouldn't you be easier to hurt, with the...”

“With being so fat?” Truffle laughed as he removed the rear half of his suit. “Normally, yes, but... well, what do you suppose this little beauty represents?” He pointed to his cutie mark as it was revealed: a knife and fork.

Icy thought for a moment, not seeing the connection. “You're special talent is... eating?”

“Precisely!” Truffle finished taking off the suit and smirked at her. “And it wouldn't be much of a special talent if it forced me to be unfit and vulnerable, now would it? I've been blessed with an iron inside, and I can eat as much as I want, get as fat as I want to provide as much padding as I want, and still run as fast as... Okay,- a bit slower than most, but only because I'm heavier.”

Icy's mind boggled at the implications. Sure, a pony's supernatural aptitude for certain things was a powerful bit of magic, but she'd never considered how many extra skills and abilities even the simplest of talents must come bundled with.

Luckily, she was saved from losing herself in thought by Pip.

“Any... other questions?” It sounded like he was expecting a certain one, but she couldn't think what. She'd asked about all the members and got answers. What did he expect her to ask about. They were here to save Equestria from stuff the grown-ups didn't want to bother with, and she was here to...

“Actually, why am I here?” She asked.

“There we go!” Pip smiled. “Took a right long time to ask, didn't it.” He chuckled, before noticing Icy's unamused expression. “We'd like you to help us take these things down at the source.”

Nope. No, she couldn't have heard that right. “Me? But what can I...?”

“According to Dinky and Scootaloo, you did something when we first met them that stopped these lava-things right in their tracks.”

“Yeah,” Dinky put in, giving Icy an encouraging smile. “You just flapped your wings and they stopped.”

Icy thought back. “Yeah, but... I tried it again this afternoon and it didn't seem to do anything. I don’t think it actually did anything much.”

“Maybe,” Pip replied, “But maybe it did everything! And if it did we could really use your help. What do you say?”

Icy thought about what this meant for a moment – terrible danger, great effort, relying on something she didn't understand and couldn't count on...

“Sure, sounds like fun!” She said. “Though I don’t have a suit.”

“That’s okay,” Dinky assured, giggling, “it takes a long time to make one of these anyway.”

Icy nodded “Fair enough, do we go now or...”

Those listening laughed, causing Icy a bit of embarrassment.

“Don't be silly,” Dinky said through her giggles, “We're still waiting for the... a-e-ther-o-scope... aetheroscope to find out where the thing making these things move is coming from. And when it does, it'll probably be past our bedtime.”

Icy chose to ignore that last part. “What's an ethe- ath-”

“This little gadget!” said Pip, gesturing at the machine in the corner. “It detects all the magic in Ponyville and around it, and finds anamomanomalies! However you stop pronouncing that.” Icy looked at the chaotic display of colours on the screen. “Of course,” Pip continued, “there's a lot of magic in Ponyville so it takes a while, but it usually gets there. Plus, right now, we're making it look a lot further, so that we can find out where these things are coming from. Hopefully, it should find it by the end of school tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Icy was confused, but no more than normal.. “So... what do you want me to do tonight?”

“Well,” She heard Scootaloo say over another “K.O!” from the TV, “Archer's a bit rubbish today...”

“Sorry!” Archer shrugged, clearly not bothered.

“... so how 'bout we go a few rounds in ‘Trot Fighter’.”

Icy was simultaneously elated at the invitation and discouraged by the subject. “I... I've never played a video game before.”

“’Sokay! I'll teach you.” Scootaloo patted the seat beside her. Icy sat down, a smile spreading its way irresistibly across her cheeks.

“Okay, so how about you take Camo, she's a good character for beginners...”

Chapter Five: Blazing Eyes and Cold Hatred

Icy plopped herself down on the ground, sitting against a rock and resting.

After going to school, a quick stop off at Pip's house to see where the Aetheroscope pinpointed the most likely magical anomaly, another at her house to ask her Mom if she could stay with Pip and finally an hour-long trek here, they were finally at their destination - a rocky foothill near Mount Canter in the rough area that the lava-ponies were coming from. Probably.

If it is, they're very good at hiding, she thought.

In all honesty, expecting a small settlement bustling with lava-ponies was a bit much, no matter how much she liked the image. Still, when Pip's voice had come through Dinky's badge, telling them they were in the area, Icy was perturbed to find absolutely nothing.

It was nice to have a rest, though. The walk might not have been so bad if they hadn't had to put up with Scootaloo's complaints. Hearing about how quickly she could get there and how slow everyone else was going got old fast.

Still, she had learned why Archer didn't want her to mention cutie marks around Scootaloo.

“So, yeah, it's a bit of a sore spot with her.” She explained, after telling her about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and a few of their exploits.

“But, if their talents are so obvious to everyone else, why don't they just tell them? I mean, it'd mean they do less damage, and get them their marks sooner.”

“But it'd cheapen them.” Archer replied. “The feeling when you find your mark for yourself – when you realize what you can do, and what you want to do with your life and everything falls into place... no one has the heart to take that away from them.”

“Besides,” Truffle interjected from Icy's other side, “Archer's got a pool on how long it'll take for them to figure it out.”

“Yeah, that too.” Archer said casually, not embarrassed in the slightest.

Icy sighed as she came out of her thoughts and looked up. The others had all stopped to rest too. Lance, Archer and Scootaloo drew their weapons in readiness for battle - she assumed Scootaloo thought of her pipe as a weapon, even though it looked like it had just been ripped off a wall.

“Princess?” Truffle looked to Alula. That was apparently a code-name for her, due to her extra appendages. Or it might have been just a nickname - Icy wasn’t quite sure what level of professionalism she was dealing with. “Would you mind doing a quick aerial scout?”

“If you wish.” Alula stepped down from Scootaloo's scooter. She'd shrunk herself down to a much younger filly and ridden on the back, so she was the only one of the group not resting from the hike. Oddly enough, only Icy and Scootaloo seemed to be resenting it.

Then she started growing, and their resentment doubled. Her wings were growing into what both of them wished to have: as big as Icy's, but as strong as Scootaloo's – the perfect flying wings. Of course, Icy could tell Alula still wasn't an expert with them from the way she flapped. Nevertheless, she launched herself into the air and quickly climbed out of sight.

Icy considered what would happen when they found what they were looking for. She didn't think she'd be in much danger, since, if it came to a fight, the others would handle most of it.

On the other hoof, these things seemed to dislike her especially, though she couldn't think why. Plus, the others seemed to expect her to do something, but she didn't know what she could do or how she could do it.

Also, it bothered her that she'd kinda-sorta lied to her Mom about where she was.

A thump next to her signalled Alula landing. The others looked up in surprise, presumably thinking, like Icy, that she'd take longer.

Alula pointed at a small rocky outcropping above them. “Turns out, just over that ridge is a cave. It looks like it's been been melted into the side of the mountain, so I'd guess that's where the lava-ponies are coming from.”

“You guessed right!” Came a voice from the top of the ridge. Everyone hopped to their hooves and looked up at it. Only Icy seemed surprised at what she saw.

It was a colt, no older than her. He looked like a crystal earth pony except that he lacked any sparkle, his red-brown sort-of-skin matte and covered in orange striations. His mane and tail were slate-grey, but the tips of his hooves glowed a bright yellow-orange. Icy could feel heat coming off him, even at that distance. Heat and something else. Something wrong. It only took one look at his eyes to figure out what it was.

Hate. Pure, burning hate. His red eyes blazed with it, its blistering rage coming off him in waves. She had no idea what caused it, or how she could feel it, but she knew it for sure: everything those eyes saw, they despised.

“And you are?” Called Scootaloo, leaning on her scooter's handles, her wings tensing.

The colt growled. At first, it didn’t seem like he was going to answer, but he shook his head and the growling stopped. The hate in his eyes didn’t.

He took a deep breath, and then another, as if gathering his thoughts enough to speak was a taxing process. As if his eyes weren’t indication enough, it was obvious that there was something very, very wrong with this colt’s mind. Possibly even his soul.

“Fire Eyes.” He said at last. “Who the buck are you babies?”

Icy was tempted to point out he was probably one of the youngest ponies there, but Archer spoke before she could.

“Iota Force, at your service. So, I don't suppose there's a reason you've been sending lava-monsters to attack ponies, is there? I mean, I’m guessing you're not making them equicidal by accident, but I have to ask: what do you want?

Fire Eyes growled again, a guttural sound, like rocks sliding against one another. “What do I... whadda you think? I wanna torch your whole bucking town is what I want.”

Archer raised an eyebrow. “Kay but why?”

Fire Eyes snorted in disdainful amusement. “You ever killed a pony before?”

A brief silence fell over the group before Archer responded, swallowing hesitantly before she did.

“Can't say I have.”

“Then you wouldn't know.” Fire Eyes picked up a rock and held it before his face. As the rock turned orange and started to liquify, the colt's eyes took on a faraway look. “If you ain't never felt a pony's face melt onto your hoof. Heard their screams and the crackling of their fur. Seen in their eyes all the years of... all their stupid lives fail and fry. And then seen all the other ponies around, acting like they're better than…” He paused, his eyes coming back into focus and seeing his opponents once again, smirking. “Trust me, you felt that, you'd wanna do this too.”

There was a horrified pause before Dinky piped up. “That's awful! How could you do that?!”

Fire Eyes's expression fell instantly into a sneer. “Aaaaaaand you ain't listening.” He snorted. “Like I care.” He closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts again. “I’m gonna keep making my golems. I’ll keep putting a fragment of my soul into them and I’ll make enough to sweep them over your town and your world and your lives and what I want,” he opened his eyes and glared at them, “is to watch. Them. Burn!

Icy heard Scootaloo mutter “few feathers short of a wing” before Archer continued, sounding distinctly uncomfortable.

“I'm guessing we have to be put out of the way first?”

Fire Eyes snorted. “Like you were ever in my way. But if you insist!” He raised his hoof, as if to strike the ground, when Icy asked the question that was nagging at her.

“What about me?”

He locked his gaze on her, and Icy could feel his hate beating down at her. His eyes started twitching as he kept gazing at her. “What about you?”

“Why do your lava-ponies keep coming after me?”

It felt good to see an emotion other than anger come across his face. Not that good, though, since the emotion was confusion.

“I don't even know who you are!”

“What?” Icy cried. “Then... why were your things so determined to get me?”

“You got me!” Hatred returned to his face as he squinted down at her. “I feel it too, but... I dunno. You're just... wrong. You’re… you like… got some kinda thing about you that… it’s just wrong.” He looked away, as if seeing her repulsed him. “Not for long, though.” A smile spread across his face. “The others can face my golems, but you... are mine.”

He struck his hoof down, instantly melting the edge of the ridge, sending splashes of lava down. As he did so, a group of lava-ponies leapt from behind him, going for the colts and fillies beneath. Luckily, they were prepared, and scattered the moment he struck, dodging the splashes of magma and entering battle with the lava-ponies.

It was amazing to watch, really. Lance and Truffle took the vanguard, forming a blockade to protect their teammates. Lance focused on parrying and getting in the occasional slash, keeping the constructs off balance, whereas Truffle preferred to slam into them, using his considerable weight and protective suit to make up for lacking their strength. A few lava-ponies tried to go around the two, but were smashed back by Scootaloo's continual hit-and-scoot attacks.

Meanwhile, the other three had leapt up among the surrounding rocks, ready to scramble up should any make it through. Dinky peeked out from behind a rock, lighting her horn whenever she saw an opportunity. Archer was grinning down at Icy encouragingly, barely looking up as she fired a constant stream of arrows into the melee.

As for Alula, she had changed into a small grey filly, her new coat camouflaging her against the rocks. Her suit had also changed colour to a slightly darker grey. She was creeping around the edge of the fray, presumably trying to sneak behind Fire Eyes and either distract him or take him out somehow.

Even without her direct assistance, though, the other five were holding the lava-ponies at bay expertly, and it wouldn't take them too long to put them down, Icy was sure. Unfortunately, that still left the problem of Fire Eyes, who was simply standing there, the heat around him looking like enough to protect him from any direct attack. He watched the battle with a malicious grin on his muzzle, despite how badly his side was doing.

Also, he was descending. Icy looked at the ground beneath him to see that it was sagging down. The slight glow to it suggested he was heating the ridge to bend, but not melt. Icy looked up again, only to find his baleful gaze, still glowing, searing into her eyes once again. It paralysed her, not with fear but disturbance.

Soon, he was on their level. The moment he got there, the rock beneath him began to bubble and boil, a pool of lava quickly growing around him and snaking towards Icy. Occasionally, an arrow would come towards him, only to burst into flames, doing nothing but get ash on his coat. A faint, wobbling golden glow seemed to suggest Dinky's magic was being disrupted by the intense heat.

The same heat was getting uncomfortably close to Icy's hooves. She was about to back away when she saw it stop, about two metres from her. She looked up at Fire Eyes to see why he'd stopped. He grinned, sending a hot shiver through her, and held up a large glob of lava in his hoof. He pulled his hand back and Icy realized why he'd made the lava path.

To give him a clear shot.

The glob fired from his hoof, heading at her face.

Everything seemed to slow down for Icy, but not due to Dinky this time.

An arrow pierced the glob, but only succeeded in burning up and making a hole in the liquid that was still flying at her.

A faint golden glow wibbled into existence around the glob, trying to slow it down, but quickly dissipated in the heat, and the glob was still flying at her.

Light hoofsteps to her right, heavy hoofsteps to her left and a buzzing from behind her told of three friends trying to intercept it. They'd be too late. The glob was still flying at her.

Icy closed her eyes and wished. Wished something, but she wasn’t sure what at first? That she wasn't about to die? Well, obviously, but she knew that might happen. That there was something she could do to stop Fire Eyes? Again, she did wish that, but it seemed pointless - there was no water around, so what they needed to do was to find a way to cool his stuff down, which they didn't have. Still, that wasn't it. She wished...

She wished that the hate she'd seen in those eyes wasn't there. That that gaze wouldn't keep trying to destroy whatever it fell upon. She wished it would just STOP!

She felt her wings flap, and then felt the glob impact solidly onto her ribs.

Wait... solidly? As in... not a liquid?

She looked down to where she heard the stone thump into the ground. It was just an ordinary stone – the same shape as the glob that was flying at her, but not lava. Not even hot.

She began looking up, tracing a path of no-longer-liquid stone. It was like the gust her wings had made had turned it back to stone - had somehow cooled it.

She flicked her gaze up to Fire Eyes, who was equally confused. The battle around them had stopped as well – the fiery colt's confusion presumably making his minions stop, and her friends simply being surprised.

Icy thought for a moment, then, calling up all the things she'd just felt, flapped again. This time, she could feel the energy gathering in her wingtips, before streaming out into the wind she made. It wasn't aimed at anything, but it had an immediate effect on the now-cool ground in front of her. The clear-white crystal that started growing on it was unmistakable.

Ice. She was making ice. Her gusts were somehow cold enough to cool magically-sustained magma and make ice on clear ground.

Her life flashed through the back of her mind. Her preferences in temperature. Her love of the winter months. Her name.

A tiny, almost imperceptible voice in the back of her head seemed to sigh at her, as if to say: Took you long enough!

She looked around at her new friends, who she now noticed were less surprised and more impressed.

“Okay,” Archer piped up, “hooves up anypony who didn't see this coming!”

Only Icy and Fire Eyes raised their hooves.

Tiny hoofsteps behind her were Icy's only warning before Dinky leapt on her with a huge hug. “Congratulations!” She squealed. “I knew you'd be amazing!”

“Th-thanks...” Icy choked out, Dinky's hug squeezing just that little bit too tight. “But... battle.”

“Oh yeah!” Dinky released her abruptly, letting her get her breath back before indicating the still frozen lava-ponies, silently urging her to make that description literal.

Icy still hadn't quite registered just what it was she'd discovered, so nodded quite casually. “Sure!” She said, flaring her wings. A few flaps later, the ex-lava-ponies were just crumbling piles of rock.

This finally seemed to snap Fire Eyes from his outraged stupor, and he screamed.

“NnnnnNNO!

His eyes glowed far brighter than before, almost blinding her as a wave of rock-melting heat swept through the air between them.

Luckily, her eyes weren’t what was making this ice-wind, and her wings were more prepared, flapping on instinct and sending as strong a gust as they could, cooling the air before it got even halfway towards her.

His anger only growing, Fire Eyes backed up towards the base of the mountain. Icy followed him forward and heard the others do the same – advancing as a group and intimidating their opponent.

Not that he seemed to be affected – he just continued to glare at them, as if his eyes alone could burn holes in them. He stood on his rear hooves, placing his front hooves and his back against the rock face.

She noticed Scootaloo grin in her peripheral vision. “Looks like your plans are on ice, Bright Eyes!” Icy made a note to groan at that later. “Now come quietly, and maybe we won't have to hurt you too much.”

“Come with you?” Fire Eyes spat with what was becoming standard hatred, and Icy couldn't think of two more depressing words. “So you can kill me or lock me up or whatever you do?”

“What?! That's not...” Dinky seemed hurt by the suggestion, “we'll just take you somewhere you can get help for... whatever's wrong.”

“NOTHING'S WRONG WITH ME!” Screamed Fire Eyes.

“Think we'll let the authorities decide that one!” Truffle rolled his eyes. “Now, come along!”

“No chance.” Fire Eyes' hoof and eyes glowed and, before anyone could make a move, the rock behind him flashed into lava. He fell backwards into it, the glowing liquid swallowing him up. Scootaloo raced forward on instinct, but Alula’s hoof stopped her from getting burnt. She thumped a hoof into the ground by her scooter's side, glaring at the rock face as it cooled into a solid again.

“Dammit! Shoulda seen that one coming!” Her wings started buzzing as she prepared to take off. “I'll circle round the hill, catch him when he comes out!”

Alula's hoof wrapped around the scooter's handlebars. “Won't do any good. Could come out at any point, up or down or around the hill – too unlikely you'd happen to be in the right place when he does.” Scootaloo frowned as she slowed her wings.

Alula gave a thin smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him sooner or later.”

“Don't know if you're interested,” came Archer's voice from behind them, “but I've just told Pip what's been happening, and he says we don't need to walk back.”

The other seemed to just nod at this, but Icy was confused as Dinky put a hoof on her shoulder. “Huh? What do you mean? It's still an ho-”

Author's Note

So, fun fact, I originally wrote (a very, very rough draft of) this back before Season 5 even premiered.

Yeah, I know. Let's just say I have problems.

Point is, at the time this is set, neither I nor the other ponies knew what the CMCs' cutie marks would turn out to be. So, it's reasonable for them to assume they'd be what they seemed to be back in Season 1. I do plan to incorporate their actual marks when the stories reach that point but, for the moment, everypony in universe thinks they've got those fillies figured out. The fools.

Plus, at least Archer'll clean up in the pool, so that's something.

Chapter Six: Post-Victory Cooldown

“-ur's walk ba... or not.” Icy finished as she blinked away the flash of light that had enveloped them. She looked around at Pipsqueak's basement common room, baffled.

Pip noticed. “The badges are linked here by more than just sorceradio. If you need it, someone as powerful as the Princess can teleport you here or to HQ in Canterlot!”

“Who did bring us back?” Asked Alula.

Icy looked at her, confused. “The Princess, didn't he just...”

Alula smiled at her, not-quite-patronizingly-but-still-not-quite-nicely. “He said the Princess could. So could quite a few of the Royal Guard, and they're more likely to come here to check up on us – there's no reason for Princess Luna herself to come.”

“And whither else would I go, Alula Erroria?” Came a voice from behind and above them. Alula's smile dropped into a neutral expression.

“I apologize, Your Highness.” She said simply as she and Icy turned and bowed.

Princess Luna looked down at Alula. “'Tis no trouble. Your face made up for it.” She tittered as regal a titter as Icy could imagine. “Ahem! Rise, my little ponies. My Iota Force!”

Everyone rose, which Icy took as a cue to do so as well, despite not being a member of Iota Force. Though she was still one of her little ponies, so she technically counted, but was that what she meant when she said that?

“To answer the query upmost in your mind, I am sure, I am here simply because I was in this vicinity and thought to meet with my charges myself.”

Icy was about to point out that she wasn’t wondering that when she noticed the half-finished ‘Trot Fighter’ game paused behind Luna. Apparently, she played Stagger Scar – obviously not a great fan of subtlety in her fighting.

“Now, before we proceed with the...” the princess paused for a moment, as if bringing to mind the correct term, “the debriefing, I thought perhaps I should greet your newest member.”

Icy looked to her left and right, wondering who the Princess was talking about before she noticed that all eyes were on her.

“M-m-me?! I'm... I'm not a member, I just helped them out a bit.”

“Truly? If your Archer is to be believed, you displayed some prodigious abilities.”

“W-well, kind of, but... I don't even know what's up with this group.”

“Then come! Sit!” Luna trotted around and onto the sofa, picking up her controller in her magic and gesturing next to her. “Play with me – this match was getting dull anyway. Play, and I will explain.”

The princess of the night, one of the two rulers of Equestria and one of the most powerful beings in the known world, was asking to play against her in a video game.

Yeah, that was about par for the course at this point.

As she sat down and picked her character – she'd found she liked Camo – she had to ask one question. “Didn't you only come back from the moon a couple of years ago? How come...”

“I know of and play video games?” Luna interjected as she once again picked Stagger Scar. “I was introduced to them by one of the servants and found them... well, I got somewhat over-excited about such wonders. Just a jot.” There was almost a waver in her voice at that.

The match began. Stagger sent a fireball at Camo, who jumped just too late and got hit. “So, tell me, my little icicle,” Luna chuckled at her own joke, “what questions do you have regarding this enterprise?

Camo hit Stagger with a low sweep, followed by a corkscrewing kick. “Well, there's only one thing I really want to know... I mean, I don't know everything, but I have to ask.” A divekick preceded her next question. “Why us? Why children? Why put us in danger when we're only colts and fillies?”

“Us, you say?” Luna raised an eyebrow as Icy realized her slip and Stagger hit Camo with a spinning knee followed by an uppercut. “There is nothing “only” about being a child, Icy Flight. Each pony in this magical land has great power within them – the marks upon our haunches show the world how we wish to use that power but it can, if a pony wishes, be used to bring about great good in this world. Or, conversely, to do great harm.”

“Okay, I... sort of knew that.” Icy replied as Camo grabbed Stagger's head in her legs and flipped him over her. “But that doesn't explain why only children do this.”

“They do not. Other groups perform similar functions. However, only children can be trusted with the missions I give thee,” Icy barely had time to notice Luna's momentary shift into archaism as Stagger grabbed Camo and repeatedly kneed her in the barrel, “for there are few adults that would not hesitate to harm a child. Now, this does speak well of my little ponies, and those who wouldn’t hesitate are not those I would wish to have defending this land. However, against opponents such as you fought this day, one cannot afford to hold back or underestimate a threat. This is why the badges they have encourage others to ignore their battles. The only good pony that would bring their full might to bear against a child... is another child.”

“They're really that bad?” Icy asked as Camo backed away from Stagger. She felt a little silly asking, as she had seen first-hoof how damaged and powerful a colt could be. Still, saying it out loud felt odd.

“Not always, but many a time.” A fireball caught Camo as she was moving away. “Sometimes they merely resemble foals, though enough that an adult would hold back. Other times, they truly are foals, but have, for one reason or another, decided to use their abilities to hurt others. Sometimes they are corrupted by some outside force. Sometimes, their environments, their peers, their very talents and psyches have driven them to evil or madness. Sometimes... sometimes, they are just born with something wrong with them.” Icy could hear the sadness in Luna's voice as Stagger delivered a devastating combo. “As such, I must commission ponies to both defeat them, so they will not hurt others... and to bring them into custody, so they may receive help and stop hurting themselves.”

In her peripheral vision, Icy could see Luna's head raise nobly. “That is why I have brought you and, I hope, your comrades together – to defend this land and fight injustice wherever it is to be found.”

Icy thought for a moment. That made sense. Well, some of the words didn't but, even ignoring that, there was something off about that explanation. Something about the way she'd said that last bit. She narrowed her eyes at the screen.

“You also just... think it's cute, don't you?”

Stagger's hit whiffed badly, allowing Camo to unleash her special attack – a corkscrew kick, then a spin-kick, before kicking Stagger up into the air, leaping up to him, grabbing his head and slamming him down into the ground, resulting in a KO. It was all the answer Icy needed.

“Canst thou blame me?” Luna said, slipping further into early-modern-equestrian briefly. “Besides, it negates not my points. Anyway, enough of this tomfoolery!” Apparently, she was a bit of a sore loser. “Dost th-... Do you wish to join Iota Force or not?”

Brought back to the point at hoof, Icy's brain locked up. The team, her powers, the princess - it had all finally registered with her at once, and she wasn’t sure how to handle it.. “I... I don't know, I... I've gotta go talk to Mom and maybe... I just have to go!”

She ran from that room and that house and that street. She didn't look back.

Icy burst through her front door and saw her Mom sitting across the dinner table from the mailmare she'd seen that Sunday, the one who had dropped Dinky at school in the morning.

“Oh, hi, Sweetie!” Sunny Flight greeted her daughter. “Ditzy here was just welcoming me to the neighbourhood with tea and muffins.” She held up a delicious looking chocolate muffin in her magic. “You want one?”

She'd barely finished before Icy leapt up and grabbed it with a flying “ThankyouMomthatsawesome!” and started nibbling on it.

“So, anyway, where were you, Sweetie?”

“Just out.” Icy replied through milk chocolate deliciousness. “With Dinky and her friends, actually.”

“Oh, you were going on one of their missions, were you?”

Icy nearly choked on a chocolate chip. “You... You know about them?”

“Sure,” Sunny replied, “Ditzy was just telling me about them. Something force, wasn't it.”

Icy recognised Sunny's grin – a sure sign of an incoming “mom joke” – but Ditzy took the bait, rolling her eyes in different directions.

“Iota force, Sunny.”

“Oh, right!” Sunny paused hammily before letting loose with: “I guess I-ot-a remember that!”

Sunny laughed, Ditzy giggled politely and Icy considered facehooving into her muffin. It'd get across her disapproval, sure, but she didn’t know if it was worth wasting the snack.

“So, anyway,” Sunny said as her laughs subsided, “why were you accompanying them? Don't tell me you've had amazing powers all this time and kept them from me!”

“Well, no… yeah… sort of… see...” Icy paused, looking around before her eyes fell on a glass of water on the table. She focussed her energy into her wings, trying to make it as small and as focused as possible before she let loose a small gust. It didn’t feel that powerful, but it that froze the water solid. “I only just discovered it, but... yeah.”

An unidentifiable look swept across Sunny's face before the amazement registered. “That's incredible, honey!”

“Though you might want to work on your aim a bit.” Ditzy giggled, pointing at the now-that-she-mentioned-it-very-cold-and-hard-in-fact-pretty-much-frozen muffin in her hooves. Luckily, by the time she looked down, her mom was already replacing it with a fresh one. “So,” Ditzy continued, “are you going to be joining Dinky's team?”

Icy's brain decided to ignore that question for the moment in favour of, for her, the far more pertinent one. “Are you... okay with Dinky doing this?”

Ditzy smiled. “Of course I am! She's doing something she loves by helping ponies, she's defending Equestria and helping foals with problems get help!” Luna was right – adults just couldn't imagine children being that bad. Though she was still kind of right. “I'm so proud of her!”

“But what if she gets hurt? Badly?”

Ditzy's smile faltered slightly. “That probably won't happen – she's really smart and capable and she's got a whole team backing her up. Also, if anything goes too wrong and they can't handle it, their badges mean they can be evacuated. So they should be fine.”

“But...” Icy didn't want to ask, she knew it was cruel, but she had to know, “you can’t know that for certain? I mean, someone might prevent her from getting out, or someone might…” She stopped herself - she couldn’t afford to get sidetracked. “What if... what if she… you know? What if she doesn’t come home?”

She saw Ditzy's crooked eyes water – she knew it was coming, but that only made her feel more wretched. Sunny leaned across the table and put a hoof of the poor mare's shoulders.

“Sorry,” she sniffled, “it's just... no mommy wants to ask that question, but we all have to at some point. If she... I don't know what I'd do. Dinky and Turner are my life, if something happened to one of them... I'd do anything to get her back. I'd go to the depths of Tartarus and back to see her smile one last time. I'd wish with all my heart that she hadn't... died.” A smile poked through her tears. “But I wouldn't be ashamed of how she died. I'd... Mommy would still be proud of her.”

Icy noticed her own tears just as they came down to her mouth. She looked up at her Mom, whose expression was unreadable.

Their eyes met, and their gazes discussed everything. The power, the danger, the responsibility, the consequences, but above all, the need.

“I’ll stand by whatever decision you make.” Sunny said finally, her voice almost masking her uncertainty. “If you join, I’ll do everything I can to help you. If you don’t, I won’t be ashamed.” A sad smile raised one side of her face slightly. “Just... be careful. Because I trust you to be.”

Icy wiped her eyes and steeled herself. She'd come to a decision.

Author's Note

Incidentally, I have never played a Street Fighter game in my life and I hope I didn't bollocks up the match too badly.

Epilogue: A Spark to Light the Fire

“Yes! Yes, I will joi- where did everybody go?”

Pip and Luna looked up from the parchment on the desk. “They went home.” said Pip, simply. “Dinner and Bedtime and all that. So you'll really join us?”

“Sure, sure. What are you working on?” Icy asked as she trotted over to the desk.

Princess Luna grinned impishly - on a muzzle not made for “impish”, but that pulled it off quite well, all things considered. “Oh, just a little something for the end of the month.”

The end of the mon- Nightmare Night?

“Is that the real reason you came to Ponyville, Your Highness?”

Icy tried to get a look at the parchment, which seemed to be some sort of map of Ponyville, with markings in various places. However, before she could read any more, the map rolled up in Luna's magic.

“Mayhap. Maaaayhap.” Luna smiled.

Icy sighed. “My life's not going to get any less interesting, is it?”

Luna smiled with one side of her mouth.

“Thou hast no idea!”

Author's Note

Thus ends the first story of Iota Force. However, rest assured, I have no intention of it being the last. Not at all.

Okay so, given the overall lack of interest, perhaps "rest indifferent" might be more appropriate but no matter, I still intend to publish more.

I have no idea when, of course. Oh, I have the next three-and-a-half stories written... or, rather, the first drafts of them. And as I am neither arrogant nor cruel enough to subject people to unedited stories, I'll have to get them edited. Which could be an issue, considering that the editor for this story appears to have vanished and part of the reason this took years to publish was that I couldn't find an editor. I'd ask if anyone reading is willing to edit, but that would imply anyone either started or got to the end of this.

Well, okay, FanofMostEverything probably did, but since I'm pretty sure FoME is either a massive AI network or a non-euclidean quantum entity capable of reading, appreciating and providing helpful comments to every story simulteneously while still writing quality stories of their own, I don't think they count.

Not that I'm complaining, of course, I'm happy anyone's reading, let alone them.

But, seriously dude, when do you sleep?

Well, whatever the case, I intend to get Issue #2 published as soon as I can, but that may not be for a while.

And, hey, this is meant to evoke the feeling of a comic book, so I suppose massive delays just means it's one from the 90s rather than the 80s, like its inspiration.

Anyway, if you want a taste of what the next story has to offer, check out the next chapter.

Next time on Iota Force...

“Pleasure doing business with you!” Remarked the old, gray earth pony as he put the little filly’s bits in the register. “I hope you enjoy your purchase!”

As he adjusted his hat, he saw a shadow come up to the door window reading “Uncle Wing's Curios”. As soon as he noticed this, the door slammed opened and a terrifying looking pony rushed up to him.

“Have you sold any comic books recently?”

Wing was so startled by the question, he entirely forgot about the filly he'd just served. “Well, I... I don't know... so much comes in and out of this store, you see...”

“This is important!” The anxious pony grabbed him by his scarf. “I sell these things... enchanted comics, I... I shouldn't have let it go... I didn't realize it was that one I was selling. That one's dangerous! I tracked it to here, please tell me you still have it!”

“I... I can certainly have a look, young pony.” Said Uncle Wing, disentangling himself from the hysterical pony's grasp, doubting both his story and his sanity. “But I don't know that I'll find anything.

Neither of them noticed the filly exit the shop. Nor, alas, could they see into her saddlebag, where the comic they were searching for lay, a green tendril of hair slithering out from within its pages.