I couldn't say when the tears started in the dark and renewed in the sterile cot in which I found myself. I'd barely roused from the torment that was my dreams. No, not dreams, terrors, a deeply vested cancer nestled between my conscious being and unconscious mind. I hadn't moved in some minutes. I'd woken in silent tears, and there I stayed. The haunting memory of a creature that had stared down at me through a rift, in reality, was still very fresh in my mind. My entire body hurt. It throbbed from tail to wing tip. With every heartbeat, it throbbed in a unified rejection of reality. There was no rest to be found in slumber, so there I lie, tears still falling freely, eyes trained on the smokey gray stone above. I recognized the ceiling. It belonged to the local healer. A stuffy, self-aggrandizing unicorn from Marelanta. The one time I'd seen him wasn't long after thestral fever reached a pitch in town. Dr. Soothing Light had been one of the first voices to rally behind said social sickness, ironically. There was nothing to do about it now. I was here, for better or worse.

What I could remember from before I'd fallen asleep was jumbled, more primal responses and emotions than actual actions and places. I know I'd faced the wetland mudslide. I also remember Freya. Everything after that was a festering wound.

A gentle light poured in from the window to my right. It was early, barely past dawn. The lack of rain against the panes or the sound of heavy winds meant the weather had been handled. That was some relief, at least. I took a stiff breath in and let out a whisper of a breath. In the dead silence of the patient room, it may as well have been a scream to Faust herself.

I swallowed hard and made to speak, only to choke back a gagging cough. I took another harder breath, cursing my parched throat. "You really did a number this time, huh, Glacial?"

"You sure did."

I jolted in place, my heart pounding as I slowly scanned the room. Not a soul to be seen. "Freya?"

"Who else would it be, Glacie?" I felt something cool bop me between the eyes. There, hanging halfway through the wall directly above my pillow, was the bane of my existence. I groaned and swatted her hoof away. Her very touchable, not wispy, hoof away. My heart skipped a beat as I lowered my hoof, eyes glued to Freya's.

"Your hoof."

Freya rolled her eyes. "You said the same thing yesterday, Equiss to Glacial. Wake up, you dummy." Freya bopped me on the head again. The hoof is still very cool, colder than any regular hoof, but still very much solid.

"How long?" I asked.

"Sixteen hours or so, you really did tucker your silly ice wizard plot out. Poor Glacie, almost beaten by a little mud and rain."

I reached up and swatted at Freya. My hoof weaved right through her smug face. "Cheater," I said with a pout.

"I'm glad you're awake," Freya said. Her voice wavered. Her gaze lowered, no longer able to match my own exhausted gaze. "I hate what you had to do, what I had to do. You weren't ready. It could have killed you."

I let the words hang in the air. Freya floated still partially in the wall. She was slumped in defeat. Whatever force allowed for her floating seemed ready to falter under its own weight. It stung. Freya had always been so gungho, so confident. That was not the filly next to me now, or maybe this was who she'd always been. I couldn't say.

"If you hadn't, the flood, the mud would have killed—" I couldn't finish, stomach recoiled at the thought; what would have happened if I'd done nothing, saw nothing? The image of the town in ruin, half buried, was revolting. The town center's fountain toppled. My favorite bench now reduced to kindling. The Brew family business shattered wood and glass. All that, without the heartstopping horror of the ponies inside, hiding from the rain, their screams muffled by the bog muck as it poured down their throats. I gagged hard enough that my whole body shook in response. I didn't see her move before Freya wrapped me in a gentle hug, shushing me as I sucked in rasping breaths of air.

"Shhh, Glacie, it's okay. You did it. You saved them, every last one."

For several minutes, there we remained. I gasping for breath, and Freya holding me tight. When the panic subsided, I found myself even more sore than before. The frustration of my panic was enough to spark a sputtering ember of disgust.

"All of them?" I asked. Freya nodded silently. "What happened after?"

Freya snorted. "Everypony saw it, saw the frozen wave, and the looks on their faces were to die for, maybe even literally. I haven't decided if the dark humor is too soon or not. Can an imaginary mass murder be too soon?" Freya tapped her chin and hummed as loud as she could.

I coughed up a chuckle. "Probably," I said between coughing fits.

"Even Captain Freezy turned tail and ran." Freya snickered, waving a hoof in mock grandeur. I raised a brow. "Whimsey wanted you thrown out, and she learned what happens when you mess with Weathered's son." Freya's amusement was gone. The vindictive sneer she gave was unsettling enough that I'd had to look away.

"I can imagine," I concurred.

"That's all you have to say. The ornery old nag wanted to toss you to the wolves or border toads. You can't be serious?" Freya crossed her hooves. She snorted, pulling herself from the wall entirely and floating upside down above me.

I offer a stiff shrug. "I'll be honest. I'd be kind of terrified if some foal went and froze a tornado or turned a pack of wolves into sheep or something. Don't get me wrong, Mrs. Whimsey is disgusting inside and out, but she at least had a semi-reasonable response to something that defies all common sense."

"I still think you're crazy."

I offer a tired smile. "That makes two of us."

"Well, after that, you were carted away to be healed up. Your sire wasn't too happy about seeing the doctor, but you're still here. So, outside of that, the others have been cleaning up the town and checking in on you every so often. You should have seen the faces of some of your friends. I thought Tally might hunt Whimsey down and strangle her. She was here when that whole event happened, and oh dear, she was unhappy."

I flinched. She might have strangled Mrs. Whimsey, but the girls might just kill me with the chewing out I was in for. They might be the ones to figuratively or literally tan my hide. May Faust have mercy on my soul.

"So, while we wait for them. I remember a particular ethereal filly promising me an explanation for yesterday.

The room went still, Freya hung in the air, face bled of what little pigment she possessed. The amusement in her eye died and was replaced by a frail denial. She couldn't meet my eyes as she sat stuck in her head. I bit my lip and left the next move to Freya. It wasn't as if I was going anywhere anytime soon.

"Yes, I suppose I did. But Glace," Freya trailed off. I was unsure if Freya could cry. If she couldn't, she certainly knew how to fool me.

"Yeah?"

"Please don't hate me."

That gave me pause. Yesterday, Freya had been apologetic to a fault. She showed up and was sorry; she supercharged my magic and was sorry, and I passed out, and she was sorry. That was a lot of apologies, but I could understand, given the circumstances. But this felt different. Freya never sounded so lost.

"I don't want to hate you, but I can't promise that. I can't say that knowing the truth won't change things. I don't even believe the girls and my father in terms of how they see me since I told them what happened to me and when I got my mark. Some things can't be unsaid, some things can't be forgotten."

Freya winced hard, her entire form tensed and shifted, flipping from her position upside down to falling me a little too closely. "True," Freya said, eyes still pleading for some level of certainty, assurance, and hope.

I reached out, and my hoof faded through her shoulder. There was a slight resistance, the briefest moment where I made contact where my offered solace made it to where it was meant to be. Freya seemed to notice, a hoof trailing up to touch the same shoulder as I pulled my hoof back out through her withers.

"I promise to hear you out all the way."

Freya nodded, and taking a massive inhale, she planted a smile as easy as one might blink across her lips. "So, first things first, I am not imaginary or a ghost."

I rolled my eyes. "Pretty obvious at this point, but please continue."

Freya stuck her tongue out, swatting an incorporeal hoof through my face as if to slap an offending party. I was neither offensive nor offended.

"So rude. You said you'd hear me out all the way. You didn't even let me get to the good part before you started interrupting. Shame on you, Glacie, shame on you."

I threw a limp hoof to the sky. "Fine, I'm sorry, please continue."

"Well, Glacie, my poor sweet Glacie. I am what you silly little ponies call a wendigo. Well, sort of. The ones you ponies know are a bit… different." Freya trailed off. She offered an awkward giggle and had glued her eyes to the bed beneath her.

"Hmm."

Freya blanched, head snapping back up. "Hmm?"

I nodded. "Hmm."

The vengeance in Freya's eyes was both anticipated and welcomed. The angrier she got, the wider I grinned.

"That's all you have to say. That's all I get. I tell you a secret, THE SECRET!" Freya said. She sighed. She flailed her forelegs in random directions. "My secret. The one you're supposed to be shocked by, scared by, the one that should make you hate me."

My grin did now shift. "Freya, what is in Elysium did you think I would do? Yell, scream, tell you to disappear?"

Freya nodded. "Yes, no, maybe? I expected something."

I shifted my weight and pulled myself forward, wrapping the pitiful wendigo in as good a hug as I could manage. I could feel her, mostly. Cool to the touch, a little wispy perhaps, but there, real, and sobbing softly into my shoulder as I held her.

"I wonder?"

Huh?" Freya asked.

"Is this as tangible as Wendigo come?" I asked.

A snort, a shake, and the two of us start laughing. A gentle chuckle becomes hysterical, anxiety-ridden laughter. Minutes pass as the two of us come to terms with the levity and relief of the discussion. My headache all but vanished, and though I was sore and perhaps just the littlest bit in agony, I couldn't care less.

My answer came in a very tangible hoof, conking me over the head. Freya sat on the bed, not in the bed or over the bed, on the bed. She was still semi-transparent and whiter than the full moon, but she was all there. Though the wisps seemed a feature of her being and not trying so hard to be ghostly. I gently patted the spot she'd hit.

"That's a yes," I said, leering at the filly. Freya sat rocking back and forth idly.

"I can, though I probably shouldn't."

"Why?"

"Well, I can't stay invisible and be completely tangible. They are intertwined, for wendigo, anyway. I can't speak for any other spirits out there," Freya said, smiling as she returned to her former untouchable level.

"Okay, that's fair. So, now that I know what you are, the question is, why are you here at all? You mentioned multiple types of wendigo?"

Freya's smile faltered once more. "It's a bit complicated. But the short answer is, I'm here for you. In a far less disturbing way than that may sound."

"As in?" I asked. I found myself pondering along, what could a wendigo want with some colt in the swamps? More importantly, Hal recalled nothing about multiple kinds of wendigo. We were off the map now, and there were very amenable monsters here.

"I needed your help, need your help, we all do." Freya sat fidgeting in place, hooves tapping together quietly as she stared so hard I wondered if a wendigo could start fires with their minds. You know, regardless of their natural proclivity for cold weather and ice.

"We? As in the wendigo at large?" I asked. Freya's worry was starting to affect me. I felt a sudden need to peer at every shadow, every corner of the room. I swallowed hard and found it harder and harder to meet Freya's still intensely burning stare.

"Yes."

I sucked in between my teeth and nodded for Freya to continue. The shadows were looking even more daunting. I managed to play off the whole secret origin thing, as well as somepony can, anyway. My mind, body, and soul were still exhausted. My eyes had begun to throb, and the light seemed to dim just a bit.

"You know the history of ponies and wendigo, right? The story the ponies preach, the attempt to freeze the world solid to end all ponies everywhere? Well, would you believe that was all the plot of a single ambitious and utterly vile wendigo, just one?"

"A single wendigo… froze three kingdoms solid all by themself?" I could almost taste the turnabout. Freya had, at no point of me knowing her, ever worn a frown as stalwart and as long-lived as now. If she were corporeal, I'd have been worried she would bust a blood vessel. The stress of her glare was enough to rustle the cot blankets alone.

"It was their plan, their grab for power." Freya's frown fell from furious to a somber, quiet sorrow. She sunk into the bed without realizing it. She simply stared at my hooves. "Now, they're the king of the wendigo. A tyrant using powers beyond their means to control every wendigo, to leave them nothing but gnashing teeth and rage." Freya was up to her neck in bedding now. A ghostly tear ran down her cheek.

"All but one, I guess." I pointed to her. She nodded and slowly pulled herself back above the mattress board. "That's a bit of a heavy story to drop on an eight-year-old, you know."

"Says the foal with two unnatural angels on your shoulders."

"Also true."

"You're right, though. My plan isn't the best; it's barely passable, really. I mean, here I lay before a foal, the fate of my entire race. I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry for yesterday."

"I'm going to be honest, Freya. I don't get most of this, I don't get my talent, I don't get Hal, I don't get you or why any of this has fallen on me. I never saw myself as the hero or adventurer type. If things were a little different, I might have ended up with a savior complex by now. I'm on week two of having a cutie mark, and here I am, having frozen a mountain of mud and a wendigo asking for my help. It's almost too farcical to be believed."

"I certainly can't blame you. If I were you, I'd be way more suspect than you've been so far. Like, what the heck is a Wendigo doing here? It has to be a trap. 'Quick, somepony call the guard, the Princess, everyone!' I wouldn't have blamed you if you had."

Freya had managed the traces of her usual smile. I nodded along with her. "Help, she's come to boil me in a stew and steal my soul." I waved my forehooves in mock terror.

"Oh please, you never boil, pony; it's already lean as it is. You braise it, you philistine. Shame on you and your incomplete understanding of fine dining," Freya said, folding her hooves in disgust.

I coughed back a laugh. Then it went quiet. The levity once again crushed under the current of Freya's intentions. I found myself left with nothing, no thoughts or questions. Neither Glacial nor Hal knew a darn thing about wendigo. Why would we? It did not sit well on my mind. The cloudy fog of mush I called my mind anyhow.

"I know it doesn't make a lot of sense. But, you're the only pony I've met in three hundred years who might stand a chance, who might be able to help us. Which is why I may have messed with your magic, just a bit."

I reared back, ears splayed, eyes wide. My already parched throat is now bone dry. I must have heard her wrong. That was my first thought. It didn't last long as the memory of the day prior dashed my denial like waves against the shore.

"You! Did! What!?" I wrapped my hooves over my mouth. Both Freya and I froze. My eyes swiveled in all directions. One second, my heart pounded. Two seconds later, Freya whispered something to herself. Three seconds of dead silence. Four seconds, nothing; if somepony else was nearby, the walls had gone far beyond their means to conceal my shout.

"Glacie, please. Do you want somepony to interrupt us at the crux of the matter? My backstory doesn't do cliffhangers, you daft colt."

That earned a snicker. "Your mouth barely has time for commas, let alone sequels."

Freya swatted at me. "Oh, very funny, you cad."

"So, mind explaining how and why you messed with my magic? I take it that it has something to do with my second wind yesterday and my lack of memories for what happened afterward, right?"

"Yes, and yes."

Freya sat smiling like everything was right with the world. I leaned forward. Freya flicked an ear to the side. I leaned in further. Freya flicked the other ear. The emotional whiplash set in, and I found myself slumping back and into the cot's embrace.

"And?" I asked.

Freya sighed and fell back parallel to me on the cot. "I may have, sort of, given you most of my magic. The day before you got your mark. Which may have… altered it a bit. Well, I assume it did. I obviously have never demagicked myself before, so I'm really working on a lot of hopes and prayers. So, you kind of have both pony and Wendigo magic. Surprise!"

Of course, I did. Of course, Freya gave me her magic; why not? It certainly is not the strangest thing I've dealt with recently. Hal still sits at the top of that list. The whole 'altering the timeline by knowing what is to come' thing was a nightmare to think about.

"Why, though? What exactly was going through your head, Freya? Why, in the name of Faust, would you just give your magic away?" I asked. I was calm, drearily so. Yesterday's events were still fresh, and my tiny foal body was still running on fumes. It had become a trial just to keep my eyes open. If they closed at this point, I'd be out in seconds. Curse my need for sleep.

Hal, on the other hoof, was left beguiled. Of the many things his knowledge provided, wendigo was low on that list. Ancient ice demons were the long and short of it. We collectively had no frame of reference of what this would mean. In a macabre corner of my mind, I wondered if I'd inherit more than just wendigo magic or if it would come with the same stipulations: the need to devour the warmth of pony souls.

"How else would you resist the magic of the Frozen Throne? No normal pony can do that, you know. Though, I bet Celestia could, you know, all that fire and heat." Freya hummed, kicking her hooves toward the ceiling.

"The what? Freya, one thing at a time, please."

Freya tutted. "I gave you my magic to keep you safe. The ice magic created by the Frozen Throne can freeze almost anything. The only thing that it doesn't freeze is another wendigo. So, for somepony to help beat Surt'r, they'd obviously need some wendigo magic of their own," Freya looked over to me. Spirit or not, the look in her eye mirrored my own exhaustion. "Silly Glacie."

"Shorter, who?"

"Surt'r the Mad King of Wendigo, the same monster that tried to wipe out your species. That who. The monster that left me all alone." The room returned to another bout of silence. The weight of the world stripped me of every ounce of will I possessed. I was a prisoner to the crushing force of reality. Something Freya seemed to emulate, something we shared.

"Did you reseal it or whatever you did when you first gave it to me?" I asked.

"I can't; it is undone; it's fully mixed with your own magic by now. The only reason it worked at all is because you were already destined to have cryomancy. All I did was add more. So, going forward, it will be all yours. Which might be a bit much for a foal, so be careful."

"This is ridiculous, you know that, right?"

Freya belted a sarcastic laugh. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

My mind drifted. I hadn't noticed my eyes had closed, and I couldn't bring myself to open them again. The dark was soothing, the simple serenity of nothingness. I think I smiled, but I couldn't tell anymore. How long I had been out this time was even less clear. I heard voices even before my mind could comprehend what was happening. Voices were very close, garbled like they were underwater.

Then, something brushed my hoof, and everything came crashing back down. My eyes snapped open, and my hoof pulled tight to my chest as I yelped. I was met with the shocked face of Azure Brew, who was a tad too close for comfort. If by 'a tad', one meant so close I could taste hazelnuts on her breath.

"You're awake."

"Get off him, you dimwit," Tally said from somewhere behind Azure. It was hard to tell anything with a face full of purple and smiles.

"Make me." Azure's taunt was met by her suddenly being pulled back and off the cot entirely. Now firmly in the clutches of both Tally and Tender, Azure struggled helplessly in their iron hold. "Get off me."

"Nope," Tender said before she added a firm bonk to her unicorn captive's head. "Glace's sire might have tanned your hide if he'd seen you all but suffocating his bedridden foal."

Azure stopped resisting. The sudden realization of Tender's words playing out what I could only guess was a horrifying scene of Sire's wrath. It was a fair argument, too. Tally nodded approvingly at Tender, who returned it in kind.

"Are you okay?" Wayward was the next closest to the cot prior to Azure's capture. She sat hooves on the rim, looking at me with unshed tears shining in her eyes.

"Yeah, I think so."

"That's better than half the weather team and the guard too. The whole town is still cleaning up the streets," Tender said, looking out the nearest window. "The farms got lucky."

"Then there's the new local hero. 'Oh, look, I'm Glacial Zero, and I can freeze a mudslide the size of the main street. Boom.'" Tally puffed up, strutting in place. She'd end up frozen, too, if she didn't watch it.

"I know, it's still sitting there, all threatening too. The whole town keeps staring at it like they expect it to just melt at any second," Azure said. She gave a happy eep as she once again tried to pull away from her keepers. To which she had no such luck. Tender alone had a grip on Azure's nape so tight I could see the veins running up her forehoof.

"Can you blame them?" Tender asked. She gave Azure a jostle, who eeped again.

"Nope."

"Sounds about right," I said, waving idly at nowhere in general. "I barely remember doing it. If somepony told me the whole thing was a fever dream, I'd have believed it."

"But it wasn't. You saved Bogwood," Wayward said, leaning up over the cot, tears still threatening the corners of her eyes.

"Did you know you could do that? Did Hal?" Azure asked. By this point, the filly had recalled the horn on her head and pushed Tender away within Azure's rosy aura. She had joined Wayward in less time than I could process the events occurring.

In contrast to Wayward's barely restrained panic and relief, Azure looked ready to run a marathon. She could barely stand in place, which was pretty close to her usual. However, the look in her eye was one of untold glee and excitement.

"Tally."

"Yes."

"Something else happened, didn't it?" I asked. Tally's brow flung high, ears perked in surprise. I smirked. "Thought so."

"You just woke up, and you're already plotting something. You really are crazy."

"Not a plot in my head, I'm afraid. My brain is mush after yesterday. The last thing I remember is feeling sick and falling over. Then, it is all one big blank."

The look on Tally's face did not sit well with me. The sharp acuity took on a malicious current. Even with her mouth closed, I could see her grinding her teeth. Nopony else paid it any mind or knew something I didn't. That feeling sat worse.

"You don't recall the storm shelter at all?"

I shook my head. "No, I don't. Should I?" Freya hadn't mentioned anything. She hadn't said anything at all after I blasted the muck wave. The room gave nothing up. No two fillies shared a single hot in their collective heads.

"That hag tried to—" Tally said before stopping herself. "It isn't worth remembering."

"Hm, hag, you say. There's only one mare in town worth such a name. Well, like you said, it probably doesn't matter." I stretched and slowly crawled myself to my hooves.

"Are you really well enough to leave bed?" Wayward asked.

"Since when was that choice in the colt's hooves?" Night Glider asked. The thestral and the one and only Bramble Broach strolled in, grin wide and proud. I could only imagine the trouble those two could wreak upon the masses.

"Gee, I wonder."

"Glad to see you up and attem, little Zero," Bramble said.

I offered a wave and smiled. "I try."

"I won't lie, after what Distant Point told us last night. I was expecting you to be out for a week. Not bad, Colt, not bad at all." Night Glider smirked and offered a curt salute.

A salute I returned before nearly toppling to the side and off the cot completely. Right before the collision with the hardwood floor, I'm hefted by my nape by a very amused Bramble. She dropped me on my plot no sooner than pulled me into a loose hug. "Careful now, don't want the new savior of Bogwood dying to a fierce bout with the floor."

"I can take them," I said. I crossed my hooves and frosted the blanket underneath me. The rest of the room laughed.

Now, for my counterattack.

"So, Tally mentioned something happening while I was asleep?" I asked, turning to Bramble and Night Glider. The two shared a not-so-amused look with Tally, who silently cursed my name, herd, hopes, and dreams. The joke was on her; my dreams were already cursed.

"Did she mention Freezy Breeze?" Bramble asked. The fillies shook their heads in unison. However, the question did earn a raised brow and ears at full attention.

"She did something?"

Bramble shook her head. "No, she, well, she did do something, or lack of something, right when we got to the shelter. You were still sort of awake at the time."

"Oh?" I asked. I was still awake?

"Mr. Whimsey, the nasty old witch, wanted you thrown in the marsh and left to die. One guess who she asked to do it." I didn't need a guess. "Well, color me surprised when Freezy said no. She refused, even after the way she's been treating you. Set Whimsey off the deep end."

I grinned with the malicious intensity of a serial hunter cornering their new prey. "Oh, I can imagine." My grin fell. "Wish I remembered it though."

"Hag got what she deserved. Boom, done," Tally said. Her accent had made itself very known, and the pinkened cheeks made it clear that Tally had noticed as well.

"That said, nopony ever did tell me what is happening that has everyone excited, well, mostly Azure, but not everypony here is as blunt as she is."

The room clearly thought I'd forgotten. The joke was on them. No politician was present, though the ladies around me thought they were as clever. One will not deflect my search for catharsis, that is for certain.

"Azure got what she wanted, is what happened," Tender confessed. She and the other fillies, sans Zure herself, looked as if they'd been found stealing from the cookie jar. I hummed; that adage is a bit too far-flung. I really needed to watch my idioms; Hal's own don't often make sense in the times I called my own. I chewed on my lip as I mentally ran off common terms in Hal's time that might get me labeled insane currently.

"As in?" I asked.

"The Princess is here," Wayward answered. She offered a pat on the cot, conciliatory. I wanted to hug her and affirm that it was not her fault. However, the shit-eating grin Azure had took precedence.

"You didn't," I hissed. I pointed a shaking hoof at Azure. My eyes squirted so hard in a perturbed glare that I could barely see the target of my ire. "You didn't."

"Nope, the Princess arrived all on her own. I never even drafted a letter or anything. Isn't this great? Princess Celestia came all the way here to see you, and I can't be blamed for any of it. This is what you get for being a hero, Glace, you dummy."

Azure's grin grew three sizes that day, and her stupid face became three times more kickable, too. In hindsight, the fact Celestia would take note of a foal freezing a mountain of bog sludge does make sense. The point I was trying not to meet her was clearly disregarded by Harmony itself, and the less said about Faust favoring her daughter, the better. However, it was up for debate if Faust had mothered the princesses, and Hal could not attest to it either.

"Great."

"She'll want to know you're awake, Colt. But I'll ask, seeing as you are under my command, cadet. Are you awake?" Night Glider asked. Now, that was some quality military double talk. The trouble was that Night Glider didn't speak in double talk. Not once since meeting her had she ever caught anypony with a catch-22.

"I appreciate that, really I do. But, if the Princess is here. I'd rather not waste her time," I said, stretching hard. The muscles in my back and across my wings moaned in protest. "So, yes, I am very much awake. Even if every bone in my body wishes I wasn't."

Night Glider nodded and, in a single fluid motion, aboutfaced and marched back out the way she'd entered. Azure was right. It was my choice to play the hero. I'd have been several kinds of daft if I thought nopony would notice or report a glacier in the middle of a swamp. I would certainly have brought it up.

"Are you sure, Glacie?" Freya asked. She'd taken a spot beside me. Her look mirrored my own to a tee. Tired acceptance. She asked, but we both knew the answer.

"Yep." I looked at the fillies. "So, anypony speak to Her Highness?"

"No," all four said together. I really wish they'd stop doing that. It really does give me the willies. Like it was all planned, or I'd lost my mind. It could be either, really.

"She's been talking with Captain Freezy and both Day and Night Guard Sergeants all morning. I think she spoke to your sire at some point, too," Tally said. She added a very loud sniff. I wasn't the only one a bit nervous.

Azure was all smiles. Tender seemed nonplussed by anything going on. If anything, she seemed a bit bored. The coloring under her eyes begot a lack of sleep. I really hoped I wasn't the cause. Wayward looked ready to bolt. Every muscle tensed for flight and prepared to jump in front of me in some duty to protect. It was one of the reasons I liked Wayward so much. She never let her more timid nature stop her from doing what she thought was right. That and she gave really wonderful hugs. Speaking of. I hopped down from the clinic cot and, without a word, pulled Wayward into a wing hug. I opened the other expectantly. It took only a second before I was wrapped in an omni-sided cuddle by the silly fillies I called friends.

"I'm glad you're all okay," I said. I got a collection of agreeable mumbles. I could even feel the cool touch of Freya from over my shoulder. As tangible as she'd prefer. I'd take it. Heck, I'd take just about any reassurance this morning.

"Well, aren't you five just the cutest?" Bramble said. The sudden reminder of her being in the room was enough to pull the rest of us back. I felt a slight flush on my cheeks as Bramble cooed, smiling like the devil she was. "Oh, don't get all embarrassed on my account. It's good to see all of you in good spirits. Even if the colt really should be resting."

"Aunt Bramble," Tender whined. The poor filly's face was redder than the rest of us combined. "It's not funny."

"Course not," Bramble agreed. Her smile said otherwise.

"Besides the highlands, did the rest of the storm cleanup go well?" I asked.

Bramble gave a flippant wave. "Some minor flooding and a bit of floor damage. Bogwood might not be pretty, but we are pretty darn tough."

"Mom should already have the shop reopened," Azure said, doubling down on the whole; oh, everything is fine, outside of the hundred tons of filth eclipsing the town vibe they had going. I wanted to press them on the issue; I needed to know the plan to remove the iceberg altogether. If Celestia was here, that'd probably end up falling on her docket. Tarturus knows I'm not unthawing that thing.

"So, I have to know. How'd you do it, Colt? I know you freeze things real well, but that much, all at once. As it tries to bury you alive, if I didn't know better, I'd have thought somepony was lying about the whole thing."

I rolled my eyes in Bramble's direction. "Honestly, not well. That's how I did it. I got lucky and nearly killed myself doing it."

"It was quite the sight, though. It is like Faust herself dropped a frozen mountain on our doorstep," Tender said. She tightened her hug just a little.

"Glacial." I pulled myself from the hug pile. Night Glider had returned. "The Princess wants to see you." Night Glider tossed a look over her shoulder, a stern frown chivvied across the corporal's muzzle. One wing twitched as she held the door open.

"Alright, girls, Bramble. I'll see everypony later if I'm not burned at the stake or thrown into the sun."

Freya slapped me across the back of my head. The girls had all begun pouting. I offered a wave over my shoulder and joined Night Glider. The door closed firmly behind us. The town looked sodden, muddy, and disheveled. But still in one piece. Ponies ran to and fro, cleaning up what they could. The day was slightly overcast but otherwise lovely and bright. The air buzzed with that familiar salty tang that wafted from the docks.

"How are the rest of the squad?" I asked. Night Glider's frown worsened as we wandered through town. If she heard me, she gave no sign. I tapped a hoof against her leg, stirring her from her thoughts. "The others?"

"Oh right, the others are all fine. There is a lot of overtime today. We're dead on our hooves, but otherwise, we all survived. You had Sergeant Foresight worried sick. When that weather mare found me, I thought the worst. She mentioned you, and I'd left her in stunned silence a hundred meters back before she could finish her message. Even then, your sire still beat me to the shelter door."

"I don't think Nightmare Moon herself could stop Father from getting there." Father might not be as touchy-feely as most stallions. He didn't really have time to be. But, if you threatened his foal, then there wasn't a thing alive he wouldn't stomp into a paste to protect me. It earned Father an extraordinary reputation. Even before Hal found a place in Glacial's head, I'd seen the way some ponies looked at Sire. The pity, the mocking jeers. They claimed he was no stallion, no father, a fish-loving brute. Father never argued, never even acknowledged the taunts. For every one Bright Whimsey, there were three Bramble Broaches, three Wayward Breezes, and only one Belfry. The comments he got about starting a family with a Thestral weren't much better than those about his own botching of stallion stereotypes. It was those that he did notice and those he shut down with the grace of a sledge.

"Both Sarge and Weathered are with the Princess as we speak. So you won't be completely alone." It was Glider's turn to nudge me out of my thoughts. "Are you sure you're in any condition to meet Her Highness?"

"Nope, but I'm doing it anyway."

Night Glider scoffed. "Whatever you say, Belfry Jr."

"Do you think she'd be proud?" I asked. I hadn't meant to say it out loud. I hadn't meant to think it. Dam was busy trying to save all thestral kind. All I did was freeze some rancid water. A hoof rested gently on my shoulder. Night Glider had stopped mid-stride. The frown she'd been wearing to that point was ripped away. Instead, her gentle, bittersweet smile was far more thorough than any pedantic assurance would be.

"We all are. You did good, Glacial. Your dam would be over the moon. I guess being a hero or a martyr runs in your blood."

The rest of the walk was silent. I caught several workers in town eyeing me when they thought I couldn't see them. I did my best to ignore them. I wasn't patient enough to test what whispers haunt the busybodies today. I saw the Royal Guard before they saw Night Glider and me. Standing picture-esque, in place, living statues, ready and willing to fight and die for their Princess. Night Glider didn't slow; she strode up with the unwavering confidence of somepony far grander.

The Princess had commandeered the auxiliary building behind the town hall. It was smaller and simpler, with no sign of the pomp and frills of the capital. One of the Royal Guards gave us a brief look before nodding slowly. Night Glider stopped a stride short.

"Alright, Cadet Glacial Zero. I leave the rest to you," Glider said.

I had to cough back a laugh. Nopony used my full name. Now, you heard the corporal announce it for all to hear; it was almost surreal. Instead of laughing, I offered a final salute, and, not looking back, I opened the building's door and tried my best not to flinch.

"Ah, Glacial Zero…" That made the second time this morning, and only seconds later, that somepony used my full name. This time, it wasn't as funny. "...Please take a seat."

Author's Note

Well, Folks, here we are. The introduction is finished. Now, we can move on to some more interesting stuff.

Though I suppose, for Glacial, interesting and mind-meltingly frustrating are one and the same.

I truly appreciate everyone who has made it this far. Faust knows I've had a couple of spots where I wondered if I had the wherewithal to actually bring this story to life.

Now, don't get me confused; this story has only barely begun, but humble beginnings set the stage for the world at play. Oh, the places Glacial Zero will go and the many, many things he will see.

Until next time. Thank you all for your time, and have a wonderful day.