Frozen Through the Ages

Canterlot Castle's south courtyard was large, really large, larger than the entirety of Bogwood's town square. It was also very flat, a field of deliberately kept grass, with only the occasional shrubbery or tree to break up the monotony. I had to wonder what Polaris had worried about. The Royal Guard had more than enough space to share. Of which, the same guard had taken some residence in the eastern half of said land. The area was littered with target practice and straw dummies. There was also a ring cordoned off with rope, a fighting ring, I suspected, and several layers of cloud above. The western half, in contrast, was woefully unordained.

"The west it is," Polaris said, trotting off toward the courtyard wall.

"An audience, ey? This should be fun," Freya mused, hooved rubbing as she schemed away. I'd have preferred a bit of solitude.

"Mr. Polaris."

My teacher looked back over his shoulder, his pretty pink mane flowing down his neck and twirling in the morning breeze. "Yes?"

"What exactly were you planning to test out here? If you don't mind explaining."

"Ha," Polaris chuckled, his laugh like chiming bells. I felt my brow rising as he waved back in my direction. "Everything, Glacial, power, reflex, scope, versatility. By the time we're done today, we will know every limit your pegasus body can handle. It should be quite enjoyable. Perhaps your guard friend can lend a hoof as well." Polaris twisted to look at Rally, who, in turn, found a very interesting blade of grass that needed her full attention.

"That sounds..." I bit my lip, trying to imagine just how sore I'd be by the time we were done. My guess is a stone's throw from death. "...Thorough."

Polaris pointed at me, eyes twinkling. "Exactly."

We reached the western wall, where Polaris eagerly trotted in place. I looked about, expecting something to happen. Nothing did. I looked to Rally, who was looking for something to happen. It did not. Yet, Polaris continued his prancing.

"Sir?" I asked.

"Right, right, apologies. I'm just a bit eager. It has been a while since I've had something as unique as yourself to study." Polaris fell still. "I study a lot, more than—"

Polaris shook his head and coughed into a hoof. "So, shall we begin?" Polaris' horn was wrapped in a turquoise aura, and his saddlebags flew open. In seconds, he'd drawn forth parchment, quills, ink, a wooden board, several crystals I had no clue about, and a ruler."

"Right, so, what now?" I asked.

"Magic," Freya said, throwing her hooves over her head. "We do magic."

"We'll start from the top down. This means I would like you to show me the biggest display of magic you can all at once. Once we know your maximum, we can better design tests with that in mind. Am I being clear?" Polaris brought his ruler down in a hoof with a loud thwack. His excitement was gone and, in its place, a severity that did not suit his cutesy visage at all. I was caught between bewilderment and an uneasy defiance.

"What about?" I pointed to the guards, who, if they had noticed us, had chosen to ignore us to the best of their abilities.

"Fuh, pay them no mind. They have their own menial duties. So, unless you'd planned to assault those foolish mares, they should keep to themselves. As so shall we." Another thwack of the ruler. Eyes trained on the mares in question, all of his prior excitement died quick, fast, and in a hurry.

Rally took a step closer. The faintest hint of warning was in her tensed stance. Her horn pointed at Polaris, who did not so much as flinch in response.

"That's fine, it'll be fine," I said, placing myself between the guard and scholar. "I just didn't want to be a bother, is all, I promise." I offered a weak smile, hooves pressing in the direction of my companions.

"Sir," Rally said. She relented and stepped back, her horn no longer pointed at Polaris, who had yet to acknowledge Rally's response in the slightest.

"That's Good. Then begin. Do whatever you like, as long as you give it your full effort."

Freya flew in front of me, eyes shifting between me and Polaris and back. "Are you gonna use my magic?" Freya asked. Her voice pitched higher as she spoke. Hitching on the last word. I shook my head, and almost instantly, Freya relaxed in all but her eyes. Those remained indecisive on where she wanted to look and for how long.

"I'll keep it simple then. No reason to open old wounds, so to speak." I said.

I took a deep breath, in through the mouth and out through the nose. The familiar chill of my magic tingled my ice blue coat and across my back to my primaries. All four hooves froze up to the knee, and my tail and mane frosted over to match, the color distorting to an almost frostbite black. I'd hate to look in a mirror; I have little doubt I look ridiculous.

I can't say I hadn't wondered just how far my ice would go when not under the pressure of certain death, that is. "Freeze." So, I let down the dam, the writhing mass of my pony magic set free. Left to claw itself across, each blade of grass clinging to every breeze, reaching to the very heavens above. Celestia had said. My magic used the ambient water in the air and ground to go beyond my purely personal means. Canterlot was not Bogwood. It was not nearly as sodden. If my magic cared, it certainly had a strange way of showing it.

An explosion was the word that came to mind. It was an explosion, frozen solid even as it continued to expand. The sound of dirt being raked away as my ice dug into the ground. It wasn't as wide as the barrier I'd made to stop the mudslide. I had to imagine it was due to intent, unconscious or not. Each frosty peak of my moving glacier stretched like spears in all directions. This was the purest form of my magic, with nothing to control it, to contain it, to shape it. It simply was, and as it poured forth, I could feel my body convulse. I stared out at the endless wave of semi-translucent blues. By the time it ended, I was shaking in place, breath caught between gasps and coughs. I'd have collapsed if I wasn't rooted to the ground.

"Is that enough?" I asked between heaving pants.

"How?" Rally said. She fell to her haunches, eyes wide as she motioned to the mountain of ice. "A pegasus."

"Gee Glacie, you broke your guard, you silly colt." Freya poked at Private Rally's cheek.

I broke the ice around my hooves and stumbled toward Rally, who flinched but otherwise watched with what little guard stoicism she could muster. "Uh, sorry?" I said. "I'm just not very used to going all out. If that makes sense."

"Exceptional. Truly, you've got a talent even greater than the Princess's report would suggest. Second hoof as it was. That is to say, a potential that we can't afford to squander. A domain, truly, a, huh." Polaris' face went slack; all his excitement vanished into a confused squint.

I took a step back and gulped hard. Just like before, like yesterday. It wasn't a fluke, after all. It felt so alien, yet my mind screamed I'd seen it before. Before I could do anything further, Polaris snapped back to reality, blinking hard as he looked my ice over once more.

"I'm sorry. Where were we again?" Polaris shook his head slowly, his voice hoarse as he pondered our conversation. "Let's move on to measuring crystals."

"The what?" I asked. What the Tartarus is going on?

"Did he?" Freya asked. Before I could ask what she meant, Polaris stepped forward, placing himself between Freya and myself, as ineffective as stonewalling would be, even if he knew he was doing it.

"I recorded your mancy. All magic can be measured, including the volume, mana consumption, the rate of mana burn, and so much more. All quite valuable, I assure you." Polaris said, placing a hoof on my shoulder. His horn lit up, and the crystals he retrieved from his saddlebags earlier drifted in a slow orbit around his head. "Each color denotes what crystal measures what. A technique that goes back before the Great Migration."

"Right," I said, moving out of Polaris' grip. "So, anything of note?"

"Besides the massive pile of ice taking up a large section of the courtyard? Do tell."

The sudden influx of radiating smugness that followed the question sent an alien hatred neither of my lives could completely comprehend. The fact that it came from behind me indicated that Polaris hadn't developed some new quirk. My lack of appreciation, not melting into pure disgust, was as kind as I could be to whoever decided they wanted to start a fight.

"Oh, of course," Polaris said through grit teeth. "Captain Conjure, how nice to see you this morning."

"Oh dear, it seems our teacher is in quite the mood. My oh my," Freya said. She offered a nod in the direction of this one Captain Conjure. I took a single deep, rueful breath and turned to the new arrival. Well, arrivals, the Captain was not alone.

"I'm sure it is, Polaris Glimmer. I heard you were in the castle, but I didn't expect such a mess this early in the morning. I didn't even have to guess who was playing with power outside their control. Only one stallion in Equestria is that vain."

Captain Conjure was a steely unicorn in an almost literal way. She decked in full shiny silver armor, adorned with steely blue accents, an iron gray coat tripped to the last hair, and a silver mane short and slicked in some oil or another. That would be impressive, even awe-inspiring, if it weren't for a single transfixing point of the mare's smug face. Beady black eyes, a color rarely seen in ponies, with a look that itself seemed to spit on you in spite. If Celestia had bred an aura of suffocating heat, this mare stirred a primal fear, like being stalked in the dead of night. I hadn't even noticed I'd stepped back far enough to place Polaris between myself and the Canterlot Captain, the one I believe Polaris mentioned earlier.

"I do not like this mare. I do not like her one little bit," Freya said. We were in total agreement at that. I had been wrong priorly. It was, in fact, true; everyone in Canterlot was out of their minds. "She reeks of lies, most of which are to herself."

"Captain, that is hardly fair. I am merely testing my student's magic ratings. The same sort of test you've taken countless times." Polaris had begun to shake, eyes stuck between rage and dejection. A myriad of ticks played out in random conjoined motions, from dock to fetlock.

"Oh yes, your charge. I'd heard something about a foal returning with Her Highness," Conjure said with a haughty sniff. Conjure's eyes trailed from Polaris down to me. I glared back between sharp, constrained breaths.

"Maybe I should freeze her solid. See how she likes it," I muttered.

"This foal managed quite the show for a featherbrain. I wasn't even aware such feats were possible for our feathered peers without clouds and weeks of planning." Captain Conjure approached my ice mound and leaned against it. Her cohorts snickered along.

"Glacie." Freya winked.

I winked back. "Thaw." I tapped my hoof to the ground gently. My ice obeyed. That was one thing that I'd picked up even before the talkies with Celestia. It was far easier to dismiss my ice than it was to conjure. I had supposed I could have thawed even the mudslide had I wanted to. The issue is that I don't know what would have remained, nor where it would have gone had I thawed it. If I had hazarded a guess. A massive splat of mud a mile wide. It would undoubtedly have done less damage compared to its prefrozen form, but it would have been one Tartarus of a clean up. That is in mind. When my current ice returned to mist and vapor, it left no mess to speak of. It did, however, leave Captain Conjure falling face-first into the damp grass.

"Whoops."

"Glacial Zero."

Polaris was no longer shaking, in fact. The drastic change in his demeanor was enough for me to pause, my brow arching so high I worried it wouldn't be coming back down. Polaris was fighting a losing battle with a bout of snorts, giggles, and guffaws. Well, at least he was feeling better. I doubted he'd be feeling so keen when the floored Captain roused from her stunned ingress with the floor.

"Yes, Mr. Polaris?"

"Captain." One of the lackeys had rushed to her senior's side. The others, pulled from their own bafflement, followed suit. "Are you alright?"

The smile faded quicker than it had come for poor Polaris. The fear trickled back in as he eyed the now-rising Conjure.

"That was unwise." Conjure did not raise her voice. She didn't need to. The malice wafting off her was enough to make her message clear all on its own. "Very unwise."

It was strange. As much as I should, as I had moments ago been, now I feel no fear. Instead, a steady rhythm of adrenaline and irritation left me clueless about my sudden bout of mania. Captain Conjure had begun her approach, her black eyes seeking to devour me whole.

"Glacie, you really should stop. Your, my, our power is leaking," Freya whispered. She had shrunk away from me, choosing to place anything or anyone she could between us. Even if Private Rally, who looked seconds from breaking and running for her life, was unaware of her place as Freya's meatshield.

"Leaking?" Oh, I'd thought I'd held back when I summoned the first Ice wave. Something wasn't adding up. "But how?"

A line of thinking brought to a decisive end when Captain Conjure came to a stop a hooves length from my semi-distracted self. The well of magic in me, the same one I'd pulled from, was there, at least in part. I hadn't run out yet; something felt detached.

"Do you think yourself clever, Colt?" Captain Conjure said. She leaned down, meeting me eye to eye.

"Clever? You did say it was a mess, yes? All I did was clean up, ma'am." Even as close as she was, I hardly felt a thing. I simply had nothing to offer. My head hurt; the 'leak,' as Freya had called it, became more recognizable with each second. Conjure seemed ready to flay me. It all felt so distant. I felt so cold.

"Am I to believe a mere foal could so easily command such magic? You may have been brought to Canterlot by Her Majesty's will, but I doubt you are what others claim. I suggest acting with due respect or being taught it in a manner more befitting a misbehaving foal."

Captain Conjure's eyes glinted, still locked on my unflinching form. Her warning was precisely that. To test her, to make another mistake, to push the line just that much farther. Why should she trust me, believe me? She wasn't there. I wouldn't believe it myself if I weren't there to do it. Freya gave up part of herself for that feat. A piece I would hold tight, even if Conjure wished to wage war. I would endure, even if every feeling burned out and froze over. My head pounded, but thanks to the frigid, oppressive, phlegmatic emptiness, My migraine was just static in the back of my head. It could have been maddening if I could feel anything at all. I was so cold; the frigid storm of wendigo magic was relentless, and I felt caught up in its whipping, billowing gales.

"I will do my best to live up to everypony's expectations then. Princess Celestia brought me here to learn, so I will do all I can to learn everything." Where was I really? Freya's eyes were on my back, and Conjure's at my front, a pincer of their confusion and fear. Yet all I could think about was my desire to go home.

"We shall see." Then, as quickly as she came, Captain Conjure turned one hundred and eighty degrees and arched away, her subordinates hot on her heels. Within seconds, both Freya and Polaris deflated on the spot. The tension shattered like glass, and the whole of the courtyard took a collective breath of relief.

"It really is not wise to antagonize that mare. She is as nasty as she seemed and has a habit of finding any excuse to ruin my day," Polaris said. He moved closer to where my inland iceberg had been rubbing a hoof over the grass. "Though, I doubt even she was prepared for your little showing. Certainly an efficient dismissal, if nothing else."

"I have no idea why, but reversing the freezing is way easier than creating it. I barely have to try at all." I sidled up beside my tutor and patted the slightly damp grass beneath me.

"It is almost as if it's, no, Domains aren't that simple," Polaris whispered. One might have mistaken it for a breath if not paying attention. Though to what end his thoughts had was beyond me for the moment. I could feel the storm inside me settling, and as it did, the icy grip on my soul relented, and some semblance of heat returned to my chest.

"I'll admit, that trick with the Captain was amusing. I might even have been impressed if you two weren't so helpless."

I looked back toward the guard's side of the courtyard. It seemed several of Conjure's audience had chosen to stick behind. A pair of younger squires had taken the place of the Captains' yes mares. The first was a relatively thin unicorn filly, a bit too tall for her own good, still growing into adulthood. I'd wager midteens. Her bright yellow, everything was almost hard to look at. Blonde, canary, sunbeam and plenty more. The whites of her eyes and teeth were the only thing breaking up the brighter colors. Even her irises were a dull gold. If there was ever a pony that fit right into a group called 'Solar' anything, it was this filly.

Beside her was an even younger filly, maybe a year or two older than myself. Unlike her companion, who was grinning so hard that she might have split something, The second mare, a gentle maroon-colored unicorn with a darker copper mane, seemed a bit uneasy. She managed a glance my way, then immediately turned to look at anything else, then back to me, the cycle lasting every few seconds before going again. The senior took several proud stomps in my direction. Close enough that there would be no mistaking one another words and enough to give room should something untoward happen.

"I beg your pardon? A trick?" I asked. The idea that somehow I was fooling anypony at the moment with what happened to the Captain was a bit beguiling. I could believe others would mock, belittle, or lie about me or my talents; children could be cruel. The fact this yellow filly was trying to dismiss it outright was almost sad on some level.

"Trick, a pegasus can't just make ice disappear. Not even a unicorn can just will that much matter out of existence. There has to be something more to it. So, how'd you do it?"

There was the unspoken contradiction that Captain Conjure had also aired. In the city of unicorns, why would a pegasus command power that said unicorns can't emulate? I couldn't and wouldn't blame them, after all. I was the exception to prove the rule, which I did not appreciate. I'd have preferred being normal, given the chance.

"Gilded Glory. Maybe we should just leave them be," the younger squire said.

Gilded, a name never suited more to a pony, scoffed and waved a hoof in our direction. "I just want the truth. There is no harm in that. The colt can just admit to it, and we can leave it at that." Gilded smirked in my direction. "Right?"

"Admit to a trick. I suppose. Does this count?" I asked. I tapped a hoof on the ground and watched as Gilded yelped. Her hooves were now frozen to the dirt beneath her. "I'll admit to that if nothing else, Ms. Glory."

I couldn't help a faint smile as Gilded Glory was forced to dig her back hooves in hard and pull, just to watch as I tapped my hoof again, and the ice that had her stuck was reduced to slush. The filly fell on her rear with a gasp.

"That one too."

The younger filly ran to her senior's aid, who made no fuss as she was helped to her hooves. The red that now streaked across her cheeks and muzzle contrasted well with her right yellow coat. Her younger counterpart had found it hard to meet my gaze before; now, she avoided it like she might die if we locked eyes at all.

"You little shit. You're lucky you're a colt, or else I'd—" Gilded growled. She leveled her now glowing horn in my direction.

"Gilded, stop."

"I'd listen to your companion, little filly," Polaris said. I was surprised. The older unicorn had stepped up, his own horn glowing as he eyed Gilded to do something, do anything. There was a depth to his promise, to the wrath yet incurred. The same feeling from yesterday, but targeted at somepony other than me. From the outside looking in, it was even worse.

"He's right." Rally had decided she'd had enough as well. She placed herself between me and Gilded, her horn also alight. The threat of magical combat was an interesting one. With how few unicorns there were back home, such contests bordered on unheard of. I certainly had never seen a magic fight before. A few tiffs via hoof and wing, but nothing more.

At this point, Gilded realized that she was outnumbered and most likely outmatched, too, which was a pity. Gilded's horn winked out. However, the look on her face and the still reddened cheeks remained in full.

"Of course, I apologize," Gilded said between clenched teeth. She offered Rally a brisque salute and turned on heel, trotting back the way she'd come.

"Looks like you made your first rival, Glacie. I'm so proud," Freya said. She waved farewell to my 'rival,' all smiles and rude gestures.

"I'm sorry," the younger squire said. Unlike her senior, she hadn't moved from her spot. "I should have told her to leave you alone. A guard filly shouldn't go around insulting colts. It isn't right."

I dismissed the poor attempt at an apology. "She made her own decisions. It isn't your fault, miss?" I rolled a hoof in her direction.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Prime Parry, Royal Guard in training." Parry's eyes twinkled as she struck a proud salute at full attention. I found myself letting the tension drain from my shoulders as I offered the filly a chaste smile.

"It's a Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Parry. Glacial Zero, Night Guard cadet, and cryomancer from Bogwood." I saluted. The metaphorical ice had broken, and Parry had met my eye for the first time since she and her friend approached my group.

"A Night Guard, really?" Parry asked. The surprise on her face wasn't unexpected, but the awe was new. She took a few tentative steps closer. Her eyes swept over me and locked on my wings. My very clearly feathered wings.

I flexed the wing in question, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. "Yes, they are in fact real. Even if my special talent would suggest otherwise."

It seems maroon or not, crimson could be seen with little difficulty. Just as soon as Parry appeared to gain a bit of bravery, my comment sent her stumbling back the way she'd come.

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just you said Night Guard, and you're not..."

"Thestral," I finished. Parry nodded. "I'm a child of the night all the same. I assure you. Though I'll admit, I certainly don't look the part."

"Parry!" Our time was up, it seemed. Gilded had noticed Parry not having followed her own retreat. Parry cringed but sullenly turned to see Gilded leering at us.

"I should go. It was nice meeting you, Cadet Glacial." That said, Parry trotted away. I offered a wave, even if she never turned back to see it.

"Look at you, only one day in Canterlot, and you have the mares swooning. I'd watch it. You might make the girls back in Bogwood jealous," Freya said. She giggled into a hoof. I swatted at her weakly.

"Nothing to be jealous of," I mumbled, trying my best not to draw Rally or Polaris' attention. Of whom were staring across the courtyard at the collection of guards. The guards, in kind, poorly concealed their own stares back in our direction.

"All those mares do is cause distractions," Polaris said, clapping his hooves as he turned back to me. The strange look from before was nowhere to be found. "Now, about your readings."

I'd almost forgotten we'd been interrupted. I still had little in the way of comparing any readings given; I didn't even know what a good or bad reading would look like. I froze, and suddenly, terror slammed hard into my thoughts. Just when did the readings stop?

"Glacie?" Freya had noticed. I wasn't surprised. She made a game of reading me like a picture book. The fact Polaris' brow had risen foretold my already tepid ability to hide such feelings all the more apparent. 'Buck!'

"Yes, well, we'll begin with the simplest of the readings. I will explain them as we go. Once we've gauged your base rates, we can focus on raising your lower metrics to more respectable numbers. A feat I'm greatly looking forward to."

"Glacie, what's the matter?" Freya whispered in my ear. Why she felt the need would be a question for later. When we were alone.

"Not now." I mouthed the words. Freya puffed out her cheeks but sat silently and waited. Polaris made no move to question me, and Rally was far too busy eying my teacher. She must have noticed my stop a moment ago as well.

"So, first is output. This being the full amount of transmuted mana into thaums. In short, what is the full amount of magic released in a single use? For you, young Glacial…" Polaris held out a single bright purple crystal. The further from the center the color spread from the center, the more opaque the same purple color became. "The color denotes a series of thaums. In your case, the purple is a metric for any spells that reach over twelve hundred."

I raised a hoof. Polaris tsked but pointed his ruler in my direction. "Is that high?" I asked. In the books I'd read back in Bogwood, denotations were given for thresholds in classic spellcraft. Something like the basic unicorn telekinetic grip hosting a metric of two to four hundred thaums depending on the user and object moved. While something like a mana bolt, one of the most straightforward offensive spells unicorns might use, fell closer to the six hundred range. However, none of these examples discuss a pegasi using an advanced mancy like mine.

Polaris shrugged, tail swishing as he smiled deviously. "I do not know, Glacial Zero. Records of ponies like you are rare, and none on record are a pegasi with cryomancy. That is why we are here, after all. So, it may be high, it may be low. If we use this as even the lowest threshold available for your total thaums produced. Your range for what The Princess described in her missive may scale well into the four or even five thousand range."

"So, we'll be doing this again?" I asked. Four or five thousand for freezing a mudslide. I knew for a fact thaums and their reactions were exponential, but even then, that number felt a little low. Or, I'd simply yet to learn to appreciate the grander concepts of magic. I had a feeling Polaris would be beating it into my skull either way.

Polaris nodded, tapping his ruler under his chin. "Over the first month, I think we'll try once every week. Once we have a more concrete range, we can better utilize the means to expand that range and control more precisely. Now, the second test. The rate of mana used and expended. As in, how quickly your spell actuated and how much mana was wasted doing so." Polaris held up a second crystal. This one is a light orange. The color flickered like a dying light bulb. There goes another Halism. When would ponies come up with the same concepts?

"Should it be winking like that?" I asked.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, the frequency of its 'winks' is the marker for mana erosion. In this case, your expenditure fits within the seventieth percentile. For a starting metric, I've seen far worse. One that can be improved but is not helpless. I'd suspect half the mares…" Polaris pointed out at the guards across the yard. "...over there, fall within similar metrics."

"Good job, Glacie, you impressed the creepy tutor. Maybe you'll get Captain Conjure's approval next. Oh, or that mean filly from earlier. Oh, or your new fillyfriend. Wouldn't that be something?" Freya floated over Polaris, clapping in mock ovation.

"I'm glad you approve, sir." Polaris hummed, levitating the next crystal forward.

"Next is the final reading for today. A gauge of total mana possessed by the caster. Of course, this can't account for any reserved mana, like what is necessary for bodily functions or any missing mana due to overuse or previous use. It will give us a fairly applicable range of mana one can use over the course of an extended period. Once you know how much a cast uses, the quicker it will become second nature to equate what you have left after each casting. A feat unicorns are expected to learn young, so now, you shall also learn it."

The fact that mathematics, both simple and complex, was a part of magic wasn't news. The books from before had given me quite the repeated assurance on that. I'd even jotted down some of the more basic formulas. My simple 'pour everything into one direction' was hardly advanced enough for anything that complicated. Why waste time calculating when you can replace finesse with raw, overwhelming power?

The next crystal was a deep red. Its center churned an icy blue, and the color itself seemed to bleed out of its host and wisp into the air around it. Though the color wasn't pure, in fact, the closer I looked, the more the very center of the glow turned a dull gray. It reminded me of a raincloud, and if the look Polaris and Rally were giving this crystal was any clue to the nature of the test, it could only be a problem.

"Oops." My eye darted to Freya, who had settled beside me. Freya seemed more put off by the abnormality than Polaris. My own nerves had frayed to the last strand. I could feel the cold from before clawing in the pit of my stomach. My head felt ready to split in two.

"Odd, very odd, Glacial Zero. Perhaps the deviation comes from your tribe? A storm cloud caught in a magical storm. There is something poetic here, though I've no patience to find it." Polaris turned to Rally. "Thoughts, Private?"

Rally's eyes snapped to Polaris, and so did her posture. "I'm no scholar, sir."

"Even still." Polaris' ear had begun twitching like mad. His tail swaying in tempo.

"Is it really that strange? I mean, Pegasi have magic too. It is just different," I said, tapping the crystal still hanging in the air before me. The cloud swirled as the crystal shook slightly.

"Something to look into later. You are full of surprises, Colt."

"So, how is my mana, anyway?" I asked.

"Plentiful, even discounting outside stimuli. At least twice that of another mage your age. If it were any less, I doubt you'd have even slowed down that mudslide of yours. Faust must have taken a liking to you. As unreliable as she is and as unimpressed she seems to be with the rest of stallions." Polaris spat on the ground beside him. His horn winked, and the crystal yanked through the air and back into his bags.

I exchanged a worried look with Private Rally. Who mirrored my puzzlement even through her guard discipline. "I'm sorry?" What was Celestia thinking?

"Don't be." Polaris started off toward the same entry we'd come from. "We've gathered what I needed. Come along."

"Rally?"

"Yes, sir?"

"I'm not crazy, right? That stallion has issues?"

"Yes, sir."

Freya laughed, placing herself between Rally and myself. "It's not like you're a bastion of normalcy, Glacie."

I sighed and followed after Polaris, who was standing at the door, hoof tapping impatiently. One minute, he was lively; the next, he was a hurricane in a teapot. One day in, and I couldn't wait to go home. No, that wasn't right. I was ready to go home as of day zero.

No sooner had we reached Polaris than he flung the door wide. "Go rest. I need time to fine-tune your lessons. These findings are also due on Her Highness' desk. By the time we're done, there won't be a mare in this city who doubts what we are capable of." The look was back. The deep, forlorn, hopeless look. The same that sent my every instinct on fire.

"Are you sure, sir? It isn't even noon yet," I asked from a safe place behind Private Rally. The mare, now presiding as a shield, seemed unbothered by it all the same.

"You're still weak. No real means to push your limits if you are already at death's door. Go rest, we will start your tutelage in full tomorrow. And Glacial?"

My head cocked slightly. "Yes?"

"Fear is the mind-killer. I suggest you keep that in mind."

Polaris' horn flashed, and he was gone in a pale pink light. I slowly stepped out from behind my humble guard and breathed a sigh of relief. "Rally."

"Yes, sir?"

"Could we go by the library before lunch?"

Rally shrugged. "I see no reason we can't. Did you have something in particular you were hoping to read about?" Rally rubbed a hoof across her peytral. "I've become well versed in the Canterlot archives as of late."

My brow rose. "Oh?"

She nodded. "I was one of the laborers who filled in the shelves. I know the sections by heart. Even if it was a bit too quiet."

"They made guards do that?"

"Guard, just me, all alone. With nothing but shelves and books, tomes, grimoires, and scrolls from across Equiss." Rally's pride shriveled up and died.

"I'm guessing a punishment?" I asked.

She nodded but did not elaborate. That was fine; everypony was due to their secrets and regrets. By now, I understood that better than most.

"Well then, lead the way. I have a few things I've been meaning to read up on. My home, Bogwood, isn't exactly an academic fortress."

"Aye, sir, this way," Rally said, pointing down the hall opposite the one we'd come from. Thus, we were off. Rally made a very clear effort to move as quickly as she could without leaving me in the dust.

"What did you have in mind, Glacie?" Freya asked. She'd taken to the backstroke beside me, running laps around me as we trotted.

"A few things, a book or two on cryomancy would be nice. Maybe something on dreams and nightmares. But really, I was thinking, Domains."

Freya's eyes flashed with understanding. "So you did catch it? You tricky colt, you."

I winked. "I'm young, not stupid or deaf." The rest of the walk could have been minutes or hours. Hall, turn right, hall turn left, hall turn another left. Pass patrolling guards, get an odd look or two, and promptly ignore them. This castle would never make sense.

"Sir."

Rally came to a stop before a pair of doors similar to those in the dining hall. From Floor to Ceiling, the ornate gold-trimmed doors stood unmistakable amongst the endless identical hallways. Beside the doors was a plaque: Canterlot Royal Archives.

Let the games begin.