Frozen Through the Ages

I jolted awake, limbs flailing in all directions. I scanned the room. The early morning light trailed lazy rays across my wall. I was drenched in a cold sweat. A hushed swoop behind me was my only warning before a pair of ghostly forelegs wrapped around my withers.

"Ssh, it's okay. It's all going to be okay." Freya whispered.

I was not so sure about that. The dreams were already fading, a fuzzy collage of blood and rain. I had a feeling it would go a lot deeper.

I rubbed a hoof across my matted muzzle. I needed a bath. I'd never cared for baths; the river was too cold, even in the humid summers. The few fish that would be around this early into summer weren't many, but the surprise of one nibbling at your tail was always a bit irritating.

"Thanks, Freya." I offered an attempt at patting her ensnaring hooves. I managed to pat myself on the back, the irony of which sat oddly between us. Only I could manage to impress upon myself while my coping mechanism tried to coddle me.

"You need a bath," Freya said, releasing me. She drifted around the bed and pointed toward the door. I scoffed and rose all the same. A phantom pain jabbed at my chest. I must have made a face as Freya leaned in and looked me over.

I waved her off. "I'm fine." I wasn't. "Baths stink." they did. "I hope it doesn't keep Sire too long. He hates being late." He did. Freya shrugged slowly and floated listlessly toward the door. I hopped off the bed and plodded after her.

My bath was as short as possible. The chilled water barely phased me. If my cryomancy came with one perk, it was that. I even managed to avoid any surprise assaults on my tail or mane as I lathered myself up with a bar of lard soap and brushed out whatever stuck fast. Freya remained silent through my libations; her eyes tracked my every move. She even attempted to hide her staring behind her mane. It was just long enough and just straight enough to block her direct line of sight. A voice in the back of my head pondered just how deep those concerns ran. A second pondered her absence yesterday.

I left well enough alone for the moment and dried myself off. Father had already sat breakfast down by the time I joined him. He offered a tired smile.

"Washing yourself, is the end of the world so fast approaching?" He pointed at the sodden towel on my back. “Well, for the first time in quite a while, your mane may be a tad drier.”

"Very funny," I rebutted. The towel was quickly deposited in the basket we had set aside for rags, smocks, and other dirty coverings Father brought home after a day at the docks. I hopped into my seat and eyed the barley mix Father had already sat out for me. Dam had always been the better cook. She had more time to square away for meals. Father tried his best, but when every recipe you had was brought from the gallery cooks at the docks, you found the lack of hope that those at sea had to go through at each meal.

"Nightmare?" Father asked. No matter how early or late you caught the stallion. Father was never the fool. The etch in his brow asked another question entirely.

"Yes," I said. I didn't meet his eyes. I focused all I could on my spoon and the slop I packed into my mouth. In most scenarios, anypony with sense would tell me to confide in my sire. Most ponies with no sense would second that. Would he believe me, could he? He might hate the mender, but his son claiming to have the memories of another pony, let alone a race that doesn't even exist on Equiss, might set those hard feelings aside. It stung; the thought he'd drag me across town, fearing I'd lost my mind or the rumors of Nightmare Moon invading ponies' minds were true. I don't think I could blame him if he did.

“About Freezy?”

I shook my head. It was as close to the truth as I could be. "No."

Father sighed and went back to his meal. That was that. The stinging didn't stop. I might go insane if the only one I could talk to was Freya. I might go insane with Freya either way, to be honest.

“Sorry.”

"You've nothing to apologize for, Colt. If it bares worth saying, you will say it. If not, then I trust you can carry that burden alone."

Father didn't look up from his food. He wasted no breath and continued eating as if nothing had been said.

"You don't have to sit in silence, you know?" I caught Freya in my periphery. She sat upside down, in mid-air, with a frown to match her grandest grin, one that could be mistaken for the other from her position. She motioned to my father. I offered no rebuttal.

Once breakfast was finished, Father and I hustled out the door and began the short trek into town. I sat on his back; I couldn't muster the energy to fly.

"If you see Captain Breeze or any weather pony approaching you, Come find me. I will deal with it.

Father's stride hitched as he instructed me. I could see the sneer on his muzzle through the back of his head. He seemed ready and willing to make good on yesterday's threat. If he were, then Bramble would be as well. I'd be happy just to be ignored. The shunning was at least peaceful. I raised a hoof to my face. The tip of which had begun to frost over. The harder I stared, the faster and thicker the frost became.

"I'll be careful. I promise."

"Do you have plans today?" Father asked.

That was an excellent question, did I? I'm sure my friends would have something planned, especially if Tender got a hold of any of them. If she weren't in town today, I'd be baffled. She'd taken Breezy's actions, ones she didn't even see very personally.

"The others might. Bramble had an idea for work. So, that may pan out. If I'm lucky."

"It takes more than luck to thrive, son."

I chuckled dryly. "True, though it does not hurt."

"No, I suppose it doesn't. I expect those fillies of yours to keep you out of trouble," Father agreed with a chuckle of his own.

"Except Azure, right?" I asked. I snorted, nudging my father with the withers.

"I believe that went without saying," Father said, looking back and giving a wink. I let out a sigh. He had me worried for a second. Azure and authority did not mix.

By the time we reached the town center, I was feeling a bit better. The struggle with whom to trust in my supposed past warred in silence, a problem for the future me.

"You could always tell your friends. Most, if not all of them, would, if nothing else, hear you out," Freya said. She lulled beside me as I dismounted my father's back. I waved him goodbye before turning to Freya. Who hummed away with no care in the world.

“Most?” I asked.

"I'm not so sure with little Writ. That one would be harder to convince if you asked me. Too clever that one."

I shrugged. "Fair point. Also, Would you if you were in my shoes? Confess to these memories? Is it fair to put that on some pony or something else?"

Freya tutted loudly, enunciating each sound with apparent diligence. "Unlike some ponies, I know. I am capable of trust. I trust you, don't I?"

"Do you trust yourself?" I mused.

"I trust you, silly colt."

Talking in circles wasn't getting us anywhere. So, I did as I'd done all this week when I wasn't being run out of town. I found myself a seat on a nearby bench and waited. Azure or Tender would find me no matter where I went. However, I kept a pattern to make it easier for the others. I'd been finding myself a bench to wait for at least two years. Nearly as long as Father would let me stay in town alone. Well, not counting the mares around town who kept an eye on the local youth. When you lived in a swamp, it wasn't like there was anywhere else to run off to, not counting the main roads.

Yet somehow, I'd not only gotten out of town yesterday but ran in the only direction that wasn't an endless sprawl of mud and poisonous, venomous, or toxic creatures. I really owe that one to Faust.

"To your left, Glacie," Freya cooed, waving a white hoof unseen at a fast-approaching filly. Tender Crop looked simultaneously irritated and relieved at the same time. The two feelings were in a stalemate on her face. Her tangled mane looked to be trying with all its might to stand on end. Resulting in the look of a pony who really needed an outhouse. Tender's gaze locked on as if her target was the only thing separating the two. Freya rounded the bench and patted the spot beside me.

"Must you encourage her?" I asked.

"Oh please, she can't see me. It isn't like we planned this or anything. I mean, imagine how that might work?" Freya said. She winked, and I was left trying not to think up just how Freya could or would do such a thing.

"Glacial, you're late," Tender said.

I blanched. "Since when am I on a timer?"

"Since somepony went and riled up a certain weather nag."

I let out a full-bodied sigh. "Right, of course."

Freya sidled up beside Tender, nodding fiercely. "She has a point. The more ponies around, the less likely you will be spirited away. Oh, the horrors that might await a poor, disenfranchised youth. I will mourn for you, my sweet colt. I shall mourn."

"And the others?" I asked.

Tender looked about and shrugged. "Can't say. I know Brew was out and about. She was less happy than I was, that's for sure."

My powder blue brow made a grand escape from my face. An attempt only wardened by the unforgiving curse that was physics. Such information could only mean one thing. "You told her?"

Tender stomped. She pressed a mossy green hoof to her chest, head held high. "Course I did. Told everypony I could find. Tally and Azure, I couldn't find Wayward. Mrs. Brew was there, too, when I told Azure. So, she knows too, I suppose."

I planted an icy hoof to my face, hard enough that I regretted it. I shouldn't have been surprised. If anything, I should be grateful she didn't have posters up around town or have been shouting about it on a box in the square. I'm more surprised that Azure hadn't burned the weather center to the ground.

I hopped off the bench I'd only just got comfy on. I waved a hoof across the horizon. "Okay, so, what exactly were you planning to do? You know, once you found me?"

"You mean once the others had their say?" Crop asked. I rolled my hooves over one another for her to continue. "Don't know, I didn't plan to do anything nasty. I just didn't want you getting cornered or anything. We don't know what Freezy Breeze was thinking after you ran off and such."

And with that, I deflated. It goes to show what I know. Reading a filly's thoughts was beyond even the wisest of colts. Of course, Crop wasn't planning anything insane. That was Azure's job.

"Right, sorry about that. Guess I wasn't giving you enough credit," I said. I offered the farm filly a nuzzle and watched her freeze in place. I smiled and motioned to the bench. "Well, the others know my go-to once I get in town. Care to join me?"

Tender grinned. "Well, if you don't mind. It'll save me the roll in the mud once the terror we call Azure finds you." She had a point.

"She has a point," Freya parrotted in agreement.

The wait was a short one. You could feel her long before one saw her. The earth would shake, and the sky would run red. Time and space unraveled with her every hoof fall. All that amounted to a tingle down my spine and the rattling battlecry of an angered purple and pink unicorn.

Tender nudged me and pointed down the way. There she was in all her fury. Freya snickered beside me. Tender also seemed pretty amused about it. Then her eyes snapped to the humble little corner of the town square I always occupied. I considered running or flying away as fast as my legs and wings could carry me. If I got home quickly enough, I would have the chance to batten the hatches before her siege began.

Then I remembered that I wasn't her target, not really. She was mad for me if Tender was anything to go on. She wanted Freezy's head, not mine. Right, I was a victim in all this, please?

It took seconds before Azure stood before Tender and me. She looked between the two of us and hummed as loudly as she could manage. A hoof tapping away at her chin.

"You found him," Azure said.

Tender nodded. "I sure did."

"He knows, Tally, and I know?"

Tender nodded again. "Yep."

Azure smiled. She smiled a devious, madness-consumed grin. I reevaluated my escape plan once more. "Good, then, if you don't mind Tender. I have a few things I'd like to tell Glace. Some of which are not very nice."

Tender shrugged. "I don't see why you need my permission. Unless you plan to get physical, you do what you need to."

Tender was correct, and Azure did not need to ask. But need and should aren't always one and the same. Tender was the first in the know, the one to tell Azure what happened, and the oldest of the group. In a herd, be that familial or social, the oldest filly or mare was expected to be the lead. Tender typically fit that role to a tee. She was the most stalwart and sure of herself. When she wasn't caught off guard anyway, Azure, as a social butterfly, had deferred as any mare would in a social setting without needing to. Both fillies come from bigger homes, but etiquette and pony nature were split in differing amounts between the two families. I only knew as much as I did through osmosis. Which, thanks to Hal, I now knew was a word.

"I know you're just worried, but there isn't much anypony could have done about it," I said. I scooted towards Tender and patted a spot beside me. "Let's talk."

My compliance took the wind from Azure's sails. The filly's mania drained away, and without a word, she hopped up beside me and pulled me into a hug.

"You could have gotten hurt. You're lucky Freezy didn't do more than yell at you." Azure whispered. I felt something damp drip onto my neck. I tensed, feeling like Tender in the moment. I gently pulled Azure closer and let her get it all out.

"I know. She might be the first to lash out, but Freezy isn't the only pony in town who's given me looks. I guess I got used to it. So, I just figured everypony else had to. I'm sorry I worried you, girls. Ever since Mom left, I just had to keep to myself. Now, with my weird talent, that's not an option.

A second pair of hooves wrap around my other side. These have enough force to pull both Azure and me off balance. Tender, not wanting to be left out, had decided to join the hug pile. All I could see were greens and purples. It was an odd contrast.

"Silly colt. That's what we're here for," Tender said.

There was a finality to those words that left a deeper impression in my head than I could explain. It was like a memory you couldn't quite recall in the moment. You know the memory is there, but the details were mist in your hooves.

"Crop is right, and not just for you. There are others in town, the Night Guard, and plenty of good ponies who haven't gone crazy, too." I couldn't help but chuckle. Azure sure had a way with words. I don't think she quite got why it was funny or that I was laughing at her expense, but she pulled away all the same tears, having stopped.

"No, you're right. Even if I don't show it, I am grateful," I said with a chuckle.

"Also, if you ever run off into the swamp alone again, I will glue you to the wall. Dam showed me how to make some super sticky goop yesterday, and I've been dying to test mine."
I cringed at the thought of Azure pasting me to the nearest solid object in a manic need to amplify her alchemic prowess. However, she was better at dissecting her mother's work than replicating it. If she spent as much time with her dam as I know she did. It was inevitable that she'd memorize some level of recipe.

"Don't you three just look so cute? Precious, really," Writ Tally, standing in front of my favored bench, smiling even if she couldn't resist the barbed comment or two. "Azure has a good point, even if she doesn't know why it's a good one."

"And what does that mean?" Azure said, jumping from her spot on the bench. She jabbed a hoof into Writ's off-white chest. Writ met the challenge with gusto, fluffing out her wings. She leered back at Azure with practiced ease.

"That you know little about the inner machinations of a colt's mind. That is what I mean."

"And you do?" I asked.

"Maybe not all colts. But you, you'd better believe it."

It wasn't just I who stared back in confusion. Crop and Azure met Writ's confidence with blank stares. It was an odd thing to confess to. I was also unsure if I should be appreciative of Writ's focus or scared of her obsession. It could be a bit of both. Either way, I was beginning to think Freya's uncertainty to share my secret with her was a founded one.

"And that would mean?" I asked.

At some point in her digesting of Writ's words, Tender had taken some level of affront to them and had joined Azure in standing between me and my fellow pegasus.

If Writ was put off by the other fillies, she didn't let it show. She hadn't so much as blinked in their direction. She met my confused gaze with one of calm assurance.

"You're overthinking it. All you have to do is let the Night Guard know what happened. That shouldn't be so hard. Even if you don't look like them, you're still one of theirs, aren't you?"
I'd laughed off Azure; she'd brought up the guard, too. It was depressing to think the guard is what comes up first when talking about thestrals. So many had left, not just in Bogwood but the big cities too. The majority of those who had remained were on the crown's bit. On most days, you'd never even see the Night Guard. I was home in earnest before their shift began. Dam had been in the Night Guard even before things got bad. Her dam and her mom were both in the guard, too. Both of which had served before Luna had snapped. Would some of the thestrals stills erving know my dam? Most likely, yes, some may even know she had a foal. But, would any of them be able to tell I was Sergeant Belfry's blood? No, I doubt they would.

"Could you?" I asked.

Tally eyed me carefully. "Could I what?"

"Tell, I was half thestral? If you didn't already know, I mean."

"She shouldn't need to. This all started before we were even born. All because of Nightmare Moon. She started a fight, and you're the one paying for it. You, your mom, the thestrals. It isn't fair or right."

Azure stepped up beside Writ, who herself seemed lost in thought. Azure looked on the verge of tears. Her cheeks puffed out, her tail flicking across the ground in wide arcs. She wasn't wrong, it was unfair, it was terrible, but that didn't change where we were now.

"The fact that most of the Night Guard sided against Nightmare Moon is also something to account for. Something that everypony seems to forget," Tally mused.

"Why do you know that?" Tender asked. The farm filly had been awfully quiet for somepony who'd been so adamant about my situation earlier.

I wanted to dismiss her, to point out how willingly she let the others speak for her. All of them seemed ready to speak for me. This whole week, everything was about me, my talent, my jobs, and Freezy. It was exhausting. Even now, sitting on a bench doing nothing. I could feel the wood under me growing colder. The thing that made it all worse, I didn't care. The cold, the ice, even the cloud from yesterday. None of it should have been a big deal. But according to everypony else, it was.

"I did some research into druids. Which there, as we thought, was little to find. The best I found on druids was an early term for those with elemental affinities or natural mancy magics, separated from the more spiritual or arcane magics. A magical triangle used to distinguish wielders of those magics."

"Uh, okay, but what does that have to do with Nightmare Moon?"

Tender's eyes had glazed over. The poor filly was out of her depths. My attention had been grabbed, and the books I'd been given glossed over the three magical classes, though only to point out that ponies still used them. So, anything new was welcomed. Azure, though, one could hear the gears grinding in her head, so much so that her horn sparked and snapped with her aura.

"It doesn't." I raised a hoof in protest. "But it did lead somewhere," Tally added before I could rebuttal. She smirked as I lowered my hoof in defeat.

"Where'd it lead?" Tender asked. She had rejoined us in the waking world.

"Thestral magic," Azure answered. Tally's surprised squawk earned a few snickers. Azure nudged Writ, who snorted in response. "Right?"

Writ nodded. "Thestral magic."

Tender's ears folded back. She looked to the clouds above and back to Tally. "Don't they use the same magic as pegasi?"

"No!" Tally, Azure, and I said in chorus. A bit too loud if the look we got from a passing mare was any indication. Tender mouthed off in silent regret, like a fish gasping on the hook of a fishing rod. I almost felt bad.

Tender turned to me, eyes pleading for help. "Sorry."

She was lucky I was such a forgiving colt. If she'd said that to a normal thestral, she'd most likely need a trip to the mender. Faust forbid, anypony needing to see that rat. I hopped down from the bench and pulled Tender into a hug.

"You're fine. Most ponies think the same. They are wrong, but that doesn't mean they must stay that way. Right, Tally?" I pivoted to my fellow pegasus and motioned for her to continue.

Writ mumbled something under her breath and dropped the issue. "Right, thestral magic, often mistaken to be similar to pegasus magic, has several distinguishing points." She leaned in pointedly towards Tender Crop, who scuffed a hoof through the dirt, failing to meet the other filly's gaze. "The first and simplest being their ability to see in the dark."

I pointed to my gently illuminated teal eye. "One of the few things I got from my dam."

"That's why we don't let you play seeker anymore. You cheater," Azure said with a giggle. One, I returned with a wink of my own.

"And even though thestrals can manipulate clouds and the weather. Their control is far weaker. Which could be related to what Freezy Breeze got so upset about."

"Oh, that's a good point," Freya said. She waved a ghostly hoof through Tally's dirty blonde maned head. "See, this is why she has me all worried about your second life thing. She's too darn smart for her own good. That's how you get in trouble, knowing too much."

I rubbed a foreleg down the other. "Yeah, well, I think we've left the plot. We were talking about the Night Guard and their stand against Nightmare Moon."

"Yeah, yeah, yous would be surprised. That's why the Night Guard was still around after the battle at the old castle. It turns out that Eternal Night wasn't quite as appealing as Nightmare thought it was. Even for the night gliders."

I groaned at that ridiculous nickname. It was almost as harmful as Tally's slip back into her native accent. "Seems Nightmare might have gotten the last laugh. Even after her banishment. The thestrals were still labeled her followers."

"Seems so," Azure said.

"Then it all comes back to whether they would even consider me one of theirs."

"Passing or not, a bat is still a bat."

Our group was startled by the nasally response. The girls all turned, and there, beholden to none, was one of Bogwood's premiere elders. A nearly skeletal unicorn mare with a face like she'd spent her entire adult life-sucking a single lemon. Her once pristine plum coat had dulled with age, her mane having grayed out completely. A mare that everypony in and around town knew by reputation first and infamy second. Mrs. Bright Whimsey.

"My apologies, foals. I couldn't help but overhear you. I was on my way to see Wild Pear; she and I get brunch once a week, you see. On my way, I'd heard the bat's foal questioning his place in life. So, of course, as an elder of this fine town of ours. It is my responsibility to remind everypony of their station. Weathered, he is lucky his colt took so much after himself, even if he is a pegasus. I can hardly think what might happen if he…" Mrs. Whimsey pointed a plum hoof to me with a silent loathing, like one recounting a murder. "...took after one of those Nightmare spawn."

There it was, the exact point made only a moment ago and shoved with gusto down our throats by some nosey old prune. Stunned silence. Not a single leaf crunched, not a flower rustled in the wind. The sum of creation was chillingly silent. Even in my mind, I can barely manage a replay of Mrs. Whimsey's words. I wanted to be angry, filled with fervor and vinegar. I wanted to yell and spit and rage. But, as hard as I looked. I could find none of that if I'd done as I wanted. There would no doubt be repercussions. This was Mrs. Whimsey's town. She held more social power than any other herd combined. Not even Bramble could get away with something as brazen as snubbing the mindless old prune. She was the one pony in town my father made clear I was to avoid under any and all circumstances. Here was precisely why.

"I'm sorry?" I offered. I could only hope placating her sensibilities would prompt her to retreat to find Mrs. Pear quickly.

"You shouldn't be," Freya hissed in my ear. I must have flinched because Mrs. Whimsey smiled with all the loving grace of a crocodile.

"As you should be. Especially after the rumors I heard yesterday. It was said, you see, that a young colt got on Captain Breeze's bad side. A poor choice if I've ever heard one," Mrs. Whimsey tutted.

It seemed that a nerve had been struck, and it was not mine. I should have seen it coming after yesterday and this morning. I shouldn't have been surprised. Three very angry fillies glared at Mrs. Whimsey with an intensity that would shame the flames of the sun itself. Mrs. Whimsey didn't notice until it was too late.

"Is that why you've been hovering over Glacial before I'd even arrived? Is Mrs. Pear aware you'll be late for brunch?" Tally asked. Her accent had vanished completely, along with any remote hints about what she was thinking. My ice could learn a thing or two when it came to cold; Writ Tally was a league all her own.

"I'll have you know, we elders look after you young, upstarts. While your herds work tirelessly to provide, we take the initiative to help in no small way keep you safe. So, how dare you take such a tone with me, filly."

"Deflection," Writ said, waving the old mare away like a wayward fly. It worked, too. Mrs. Whimsey's lip began to quiver. Whatever half-formed retribution she had planned was met with a second opposition.

"If we're such a burden, I'm sure we could find somewhere else to be. So, please, I'm sure Mrs. Pear is worried sick," Tender said. She pointed over her shoulder in the vague direction of anywhere else.

"I should have expected such rudeness from one of Bramble Broache’s kin. That mare is nothing but trouble. But to be defending a colt whose mother sought to dethrone Princess Celestia. The whole lot of you should be ashamed."

"So this is about Freezy Breeze?" Azure asked. She took a step toward the older mare. Who turned her nose up to her young challenger.

"It is my duty to ensure this town's safety, from inside and out. If this little degenerate is one such threat, it is my duty to deal with him."

"A threat, really? Glace hasn't done anything wrong." Azure said. Tally had to pull our friend back, lest she be deemed a threat too. Tender was not much better. She'd managed to plant herself firmly, but her entire body shook in silent rage. This wasn't going well; if Mrs. Whimsey had the final say, it would not get any better.

"What kind of threat?" I asked.

The elder seemed almost amused by my question. The smug could almost be tasted as she met my gaze. I felt numb. We'd just been over this, moved past it. Mrs. Whimsey, Captain Breeze, and I'm sure plenty more had their opinions of me. But, even at their worst, they only had half the story. Besides Freya, that was all anypony had. Even Sire was left in the dark.

"If memory serves, which it does. A pegasus colt played some sort of nasty joke on our poor Captain. Thus, I am doing my due diligence in warning any such colts that they tried very thin ice. It would be a shame if they were no longer welcomed in our fine town. Wouldn't you agree, Colt?"

"Did she just—" Tender asked before falling into baffled silence.

"She did," Tally affirmed.

"Ah, that type of threat. Don't worry, Mrs. Whimsey, I understand you completely." My reaction was not what the old mare was expecting. Her eyes narrowed as she gauged me. The fillies looked on in silence.

"See that you do, little batling, for you and your sire's sake."

With that, Bright Whimsey turned with what she considered grace and marched off. On some level, I hoped Mrs. Pear missed the wrath of her brunch date. I had suspected Freezy Breeze wouldn't be the end of it in communities as small as ours. It was inevitable that yesterday's mishap would make the rounds. To think it escalated this far that quickly was foreboding. I had every faith that if and when Mrs. Whiomsey could make good on her word, she would. If I was going to make enemies, I might as well aim for the top.

"Glacie, the bench," Freya whispered as loudly as she could. Volume becomes an afterthought when one does not need to account for others overhearing. Nonetheless, I looked down. To my surprise, I found that the entirety of my seat had frozen. That included my rear being frozen in place as well. I flapped my wings, trying to gain some leverage, only to flop about uselessly.

"When did I?" I asked between wads of damp mane. All I'd managed was to fold myself forward, rear firmly planted in place. "A little help, please?"

"Glace, are you okay?" Azure asked. All the fight seemed to have melted away, leaving a trio of very upset fillies. A trio who were still not helping me. My headache was back and worse than ever.

"I'm stuck." I flapped my wings to make a point of it.

"You're frozen," Writ said. She seemed the quickest to recover from whatever surprise had left my friends gawking. I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Not just in place."

She was right. My forelegs were, once again, encased in my increasingly familiar blue ice. But it did not end there. While being thinner and having a more natural color. The trail of frost ran up my stomach and back down my back legs. If the looks of the fillies were anything to go by, it didn't end there. My wings had been spared if it was any consolation.

“Did she?” I asked.

"No, she didn't. We almost missed it ourselves," Tender said, looking back in the direction Whimsey had wandered off in. "It was like you were holding a breath. The second the old hag turned around, it just." Tender pointed to my current predicament.

“Oh.”

"That's all you have to say after…" Azure wrapped my head in her hooves and shook it liberally. "...After she did that. She just, I mean, Can you believe this?" Azure was pulled away from my still-slumped form by Tender.

“I can,” Tally said.

"As can I." I wiggled in place. "That said, can sompony please help me up?"

"Can't you just melt this ice?" Tender asked.

“Oh.”

As if the sun had bared down on my self-made prison, the ice melted to water and left me sodden. The giggles from the girls did not help. I planted my hooves to the ground and shook hard, spraying my oh-so-concerned friends in a chilled shower, fresh from the source. The giggles stopped in a hurry.

"So, that settled. Do you have any other plans for today?" I asked. The girls all glared daggers back. "Oh, come on, it was just a little water."

"Little water, my flank," Tender groused.

"It isn't our fault you forgot how to melt ice," Azure said. She took a single step forward, hoof jabbing at my head. "Shame on you."

"Catch her!" The shout ended whatever bickering we'd been preparing to dive into. Instead, as any foal would, we turned toward the noise, our ears up, eyes wide, and minds full of possibilities. "Stop her!" a second shout, this one closer.

A mare rounded the bend on a side street as if on cue and headed straight for the town square. Or, more importantly, straight towards or past our little group. That wasn't unexpected. Dozens of ponies had walked, trotted, carted, or otherwise passed us this morning. We were just another group of foals to be minded but dismissed equally. Besides the yelling, I doubt we'd have even noticed the mare in question. A dirty red mare, unicorn, eyes squinted harshly as she ran. Her silver curls spilled out manically as she hoofed it. Nope nothing special at all, aside from the knife. I leered at the mare, doubling, checking just in case. I blinked. Yep, still there, a blade maybe two hooves long. A blade that was pointed in our direction.

"Stop, thief!" a pair of Day Guards rounded the bend after the red mare. They were too slow. Both guards were earth ponies and stalwart, but they were clearly caught flat-hoofed. They would need more time to catch her. She had a knife. A knife pointed at foals, foals, including me, who hadn't moved.

I glanced over at the others. They were as confused as I was. No other pony in the square had moved, either. She was getting closer. Her eyes locked on a spot to my left, occupied by Writ. My head swam, and visions, vague, malleable things from my dreams last night, flashed in my head. My chest hurt; I couldn't breathe. I hadn't realized I'd moved. The thief's eyes widened. She hadn't expected me to move either.

"Glace, move, you need to move." I could barely hear Freya as she shouted at me.
I took a step forward. Then, the world went white.