An Icy Reception

An Icy Reception

She was ice blue in color, and her mane and tail stuck out like silver icicles. Her deep blue winter vest was bundled up to her neck despite the summer heat, and her horn shimmered silver as a few of her possessions floated in front of her as she trotted into town. Her cutie mark depicted a set of three silver snowflakes shimmering on her flank.

Not far behind her, a fiery yellow pegasus flew at a leisurely pace, pushing his own possessions along on a little fluffy cloud. His mane and tail looked like black-tipped flames shooting from his body, and he wore a leather greaser jacket unzipped. His cutie mark was a little ball of flame that had sprouted wings on either side. The two ponies closing in on their new home could not be more different, yet they stuck close to each other and never let the other out of their sight for even a moment.

“Is this Ponyville?” Asked the azure unicorn in a voice that sounded like the first snow in winter.

“I guess so.” Replied the crimson pegasus in a voice that sounded like warm apple cider on Hearth's Warming Day morning.

Not two minutes after they had gotten into the center of town, an extremely hyperactive pink pony with a mane so fluffy it was hard to believe she ever combed it came running at them full speed, nearly knocking the blue unicorn mare over.

“Ohhhhhhhhmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” The pink pony nearly hollered. “I haven't seen you around Ponyville before! Are you new? You must be new, because I know all the ponies in Ponyville and if I've never met you it means you must be new to Ponyville and if you're new to Ponyville it means you must not have any friends yet and—HHHAAAHHHH---!!!” The pink pony gasped quite loudly for a breath of air and suddenly darted off, babbling something about streamers and whether or not a cake could be produced on such short notice.

The unicorn and the pegasus just stared at her, watching her run off and chatter to herself, and then looked at each other warily. Suddenly the pink pony ran back at them and tackled the pegasus to the ground. The cloud he was pushing popped, and all his bags fell to the ground in a heap. The unicorn cried out in shock.

“Who are you guys anyway?” The pink pony asked as if she weren't pinning a pony to the ground.

“Agh--! I'm Pyrefly!” The pegasus gasped from beneath the pink pony. “And that's my sister, Ice Dancer!”

“Oooooohhhh, okay! I'm Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you!” Pinkie giggled, letting Pyrefly get up. She shook his hoof hard enough to shake him around like a rag doll, then grabbed Ice Dancer in a tight hug, swinging her around and off the ground. Ice Dancer looked terrified and let out a startled squeal. Pyrefly reached in and pulled Pinkie Pie off of his sister.

“No offense, Pinkie Pie, you look like you're super-nice and all, but please don't touch my sister. She doesn't like strangers.” Pyrefly said as gently as he could. Ice Dancer just stood in place and started to cry, and it took Pyrefly standing up on his hind legs and holding her in close for a few minutes to calm her down. Eventually, Ice Dancer was able to compose herself.

Pinkie Pie looked hurt and somewhat confused for a moment or two, then returned to her sunny self. “Okay! Hey you guys, come to Sugarcube Corner at four, okay? It's the building that looks like a gingerbread house! I promise to introduce you to a few of my friends!” Pinkie offered.

Ice Dancer looked wary. “That's nice of you to offer,” she said, in a small, quiet voice, “but my brother and I just got here. We need to set up in our new home and unpack our things--”

“There's plenty of time for that!” Pinkie interrupted. “Come on, pleaaaaaaaaaase~? My friends are super-duper-ooper nice!”

“Well, I guess we can stop by for a while. No harm in that, I guess.” Pyrefly agreed.

Pinkie Pie squealed in utter glee and ran off towards Sugarcube Corner.

“Py, I really don't like this.” Ice Dancer said, her front hoof kicking at the ground.

“I know, Icey, but Pinkie seemed really insistent. Besides, what's the harm? It's not like she's going to bake us into meat pies or anything. She's a bit off, but I don't think she's a psychopath.”

“Okay.” Ice Dancer finally relented, and turned down a different street. Pyrefly followed behind, re-forming his cloud and dumping his things back upon it. They got to their new home and took a look inside.

“Nice place.” Pyrefly commented idly. “Hard to believe they're just letting us live here for nothing.”

“Anything to house the seven-time champion of the Coltston Grand Prix and his family.” Ice Dancer commented sharply, eying her brother through cold silver eyes.

“There's no need to get all snappy about it. What happened happened, and wishing it were different doesn't make it so. I'm sorry. It was an accident, Icey.” Pyrefly said sternly, his own golden orbs staring down his sister.

“Accident or no, it was because of you we have to live here. This wasn't exactly my first choice of places to live.” Ice Dancer spat, her stranger-wary demeanor falling away to give way to a sharper, colder side of herself that only Pyrefly got to see the cruelty of.

“Yeah, you'd rather live out in Las Pegasus with Handsome Thunder, wouldn't you?” Pyrefly snarled, stomping his front hooves on the floor in disgust.

Handsome Thunder was a kind and incredibly philanthropic stallion who had taken Pyrefly and Ice Dancer in for a while when they were traveling through Las Pegasus, and Ice Dancer had quickly developed feelings for him. Though Icey told her brother she was over her crush on the grey-and-yellow unicorn stallion, Pyrefly knew his baby sister better than that. While most of Pyrefly's comments on the subject were of a joking and innocent manner, as a big brother would tease his little sister, the pale yellow pegasus couldn't seem to stop himself from making this particular comment cut deep to Ice Dancer's soul.

“At least Thunder didn't abandon me for weeks on end while he went flying off into those stupid races! You could have gotten yourself killed a billion times!” Ice Dancer punctuated her statement with a flash of her horn, which caused a nearby vase full of dried flowers to burst and shatter into glass shrapnel.

“Yeah, all he did was 'comfort' you while I was away!” Pyrefly spat venomously. Pyrefly had never forgiven Thunder for his apparent 'seduction' of his sister, though nothing untoward had ever taken place.

“Only because you forced him to by putting yourself in such danger! You could have died!”

“But I didn't, did I?” Pyrefly shouted over her. “I'm here! I'm alive! I made it through and I always came home to you, Icey! Why are you suddenly being so horrible about all of this?”

“Maybe I'm tired of watching the only family I have left work himself to death fighting for a hopeless cause! You're pathetic, you are! Always thinking about yourself and never thinking about your family!” Ice Dancer cried out, turning on her hoof and storming out of the room and up the stairs, leaving Pyrefly to manage both their piles of possessions.

“And maybe I'm tired of watching my only family cry herself to sleep at night wishing in vain to bring the dead back to life.” Pyrefly whispered to himself, letting a tear fall down his muzzle and drip to the wooden floor.

At about four in the afternoon, Pyrefly tried to get Ice Dancer to come with him down to Sugarcube Corner like they had told Pinkie Pie they would. Ice Dancer vehemently refused to come out of her room.

“Come on, Icey! We told Pinkie Pie we would!” Pyrefly pounded on the door.

“Correction, brother. You. You told Pinkie Pie we would. I don't like crowds. You can go alone.” Ice Dancer replied coldly, and before Pyrefly's eyes a sheet of solid ice grew from the floor and sealed Ice Dancer's bedroom off from the rest of the house like a barrier.

“Oh.....Okay. I'll try to tell Pinkie you're not feeling well, then....” Pyrefly mumbled dejectedly, trotting back down the stairs and outside. He looked up at the house, and saw that the area of the house where Icey's bedroom resided was covered in a large sphere of ice, like a socially-awkward snow globe.

Pyrefly would normally have stayed to try and comfort his sister, even if they were fighting, but at this point he felt obligated to at least stop by and say hello to Pinkie Pie. He trotted off down the road, zipping up his jacket self-consciously.

He opened the door to Sugarcube Corner and was met with a huge surprise. To be precise, he was met with several ponies shouting “SURPRISE” at him and a pile of streamers being blown into his face by what appeared to be a low-powered cannon of some sort.

A banner above Pyrefly's head screamed “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!” in huge letters. There was a cake on the table and a bowl of punch on the counter. Apparently Pinkie Pie had set up an entire welcome party in a little over an hour, somehow.

“Wow!” Pyrefly commented on Pinkie Pie's handiwork. “You did all this for my sister and I?” He asked.

“Well of course, silly-billy! There's no time like party time! What better way to make new friends?” Pinkie Pie giggled back. She pointed to a group of ponies behind her. There were five mares talking animatedly to each other in center spotlight, with three fillies causing trouble in one corner under the watchful eye of a large red stallion who was silently chewing a stalk of wheat. “These five are my very-berry-bestest friends in all of Ponyville! That's Twilight Sparkle, and Applejack, and Fluttershy, and Rarity, and Rainbow Dash--”

“--Rainbow Dash? Not 'winner of the Best Young Flier competition and only pegasus ever to perform a Sonic Rainboom' Rainbow Dash?” Pyrefly interrupted her.

“I see my reputation precedes me.” Rainbow Dash shot back with a smirk.

“Of course I've heard of you!” Pyrefly laughed. “Your name is all over the Wonderbolts' mouths! They can't get enough of you!”

“Really? You know the Wonderbolts?” Rainbow Dash squealed suddenly.

“Well, yeah. They host the Coltston Grand Prix every year, and the winner gets free entry into the Wonderbolts' flight camp for the summer. Not only am I the seven-time grand champion, but I've received training from Spitfire herself because of it.”

“Really?” Rainbow Dash nearly barked. She quickly regained her composure. “I mean, that's cool, I guess. So you're from Coltston, huh?”

“Yeah. My sister and I.”

“You've got a sister? I didn't see you come in with anypony.” Twilight Sparkle commented.

“She's... not feeling well right now. She opted to stay home and lay down for a bit. She's pretty worn out.” Pyrefly said, casting his eyes sorrowfully at the floor as he kicked at the ground with one dejected hoof. And pretty mad at me. The pegasus neglected to mention.

“Well, that's no good, sugarcube. Ah hope she feels better.” Applejack replied. “Here, give 'er sum'ah this.” Applejack reached into her saddlebag with her mouth and pulled up a jar of the strangest rainbow-colored jelly Pyrefly had ever seen. “Ah'm sure she'll come 'round sooner 'r' later.”

“Thanks. I'll be sure to.”

“Yeah, yeah, that's great. Jam. But tell me more about the Wonderbolts.” Rainbow booted the other ponies out of the way so it was impossible for Pyrefly to focus on anypony but her. Not that she really needed to, Pyrefly was already pretty focused on Rainbow Dash.

That's a pretty mare. His brain suddenly blurted, and luckily the red pegasus was able to control his mouth in time before it came blasting out of his big dumb muzzle.

“Uh, well, they're awesomely cool--”

“I knew that, idiot. I meant, what's it like to work with them?” She asked. “Are they strict teachers? Do they show off their moves a lot? How much do you learn? Tell me everything.” Rainbow shook Py hard enough to make his vision go blurry.

“Ahmmghhghhh--!” Py babbled as he was shaken like an overturned bottle of ketchup. After his vision had cleared, he was able to answer. “They're not bad teachers, that's for sure. They know their stuff, and they know how to teach other ponies. They're not the best when it comes to other issues. It's like they expect you to not have any other obligations. I can understand that they want pegasi fully committed to the task, but they didn't seem to understand that taking care of my sister came first.”

Rainbow seemed almost downtrodden at the news that her beloved idols were not perfect in every single way possible. But she perked up a little and asked, “So did you get to join the Wonderbolts? With your stats, I would think they'd have snatched you right up!” Rainbow said the last part sarcastically, as if she weren't quite in belief of Pyrefly's supposed stats.

“They asked me, but I declined.” Pyrefly said. “Again, taking care of my sister comes first, and after the accident, well... She needed me more than ever. Ack, I've opened my fat mouth. I said too much-- ignore me.” Pyrefly looked humiliated as he turned away from the others.

“Wait... the accident? What accident? Are you talking about that accident that was all over Equestria a few years ago about that huge fire that took out half of Coltston and took a hundred Pegasi three days to put out?”

Pyrefly's cheeks burned red and he looked devastated as he suddenly sat down on the floor. He hung his head silently for a few moments, and Twilight thought she detected a tear falling down his muzzle onto the floor.

“...Yeah.” Pyrefly finally said, his voice thick with grief.  “Icey and I lost our parents in that fire. I retired from racing after that, and Icey and I have been looking for a new permanent home ever since.”

“....Oh. I-... Hey dude, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. My bad.” Rainbow apologized. She poked Pyrefly in the shoulder with a hoof lightly.

“It's not your fault. That fire was pretty big news. I had ponyrazzi tailing me for months after that fire because they thought I had started it during a race with my signature move. I mean, they don't call me Pyrefly for nothing." Pyrefly laughed nervously. "B-But they're wrong! Why would I want to burn down half of my hometown? But they wouldn't give up. I had to take Icey and run. She's too fragile to deal with that kind of stress.” Py said. He stood up again and shook his mane out of his eyes. He forced a smile. “But hey, enough about my woes, let's have some fun. This is a party after all.”

Rainbow Dash laughed. “Alright. Hey, you wanna race? I'd like to be able to say I beat the flank off the seven-time Coltston Grand Prix grand champion!” She said arrogantly.

Pyrefly barked in derisive laughter. “Big words against the stallion who won by twelve lengths in his last race!”

“Yeah? I think I can handle you. How about tomorrow? Noon.”

“I don't think this is a good idea, Rainbow. You just met the colt-- why alienate him now?” Twilight piped in.

“Oh, Twilight. It's all in good fun. It's just Rainbow's way of saying hello.” The quiet pony called Fluttershy whispered in her half-voice.

“I don't know... seems a bit mean, Rainbow. But I guess if Fluttershy's on board....”

“You're on, Rainbow Dash. Bring your A-Game, because I'm playing for keeps.” Pyrefly's wings shot out and he launched himself into a backwards somersault, just to show the brilliantly-colored mare in front of him a small taste of what he could do.

“It's not that smart to show off all your moves in one day, Pyrefly.” Rainbow Dash laughed sardonically before flying out, with the fiery male right behind.

Pyrefly was having fun. It was a thrill to fly around and loop-de-loop around the Wonderbolts' biggest wish. Rainbow Dash was having fun too, trying to prove she was faster than a champion.

That ended when things got very cold all of a sudden, as if all the warmth in the summer air was just sucked out of it. Like some Derpy pony had dropped a snow cloud over that particular street corner by accident. “Oh....dear...Celestia.” Pyrefly stated.

The entirety of Pyrefly's and Ice Dancer's new home was covered in broken shards of ice, snow, and slush. Cold frozen shrapnel that pierced the walls and surrounded the snowy building like a swirling, deadly fence of sub-zero spikes. The building was now a fortress of ice and sorrow, a castle made of good intentions gone awry. A mournful song could be heard from the upper windows, the song of the freezing wind blowing past a shattered spirit. Sure, I meant well, but look at what well-meant did. The road of good intentions lead where such roads always lead. No good deed goes unpunished.

“Uh, I don't remember that being in Ponyville this morning.” Rainbow Dash said confusedly.

“That's because it wasn't.” Pyrefly stated with fear in his voice. “Ice Dancer, what have you done...?”

“Your sister did this?” Twilight Sparkle panted, having caught up to her friend and Pyrefly.

“I knew she was upset but I thought she could control her magic better than this now. Oh dear Celestia. I should have known not to leave her alone like that. I should have known.” Pyrefly took off from a dead stop and tried to fly into the building, but another sheet of ice blocked his path, shimmering silver with Ice Dancer's ice-based magic. He was unable to stop his forward momentum in time and slammed directly into it, getting knocked on his backside in front of his new friends. Brushing himself off, Pyrefly got up and tried again, with the same result. Once more, same result.

The pegasus colt tried time and time again to break through the barrier more and more frantically, eventually building up such a momentum that the air behind him began to ignite in his wake, and he appeared as a pony-sized fireball bouncing back and forth against the maze of crystalline ice spikes like a pinball. Each blast of Pyrefly's flames was punctuated with a sonic boom.

“He's breaking the sound barrier.... over and over.” Rainbow Dash said, with awe in her voice, as well as a little bit of fear. Not fear of Pyrefly, but fear of what he was doing to himself. If just one breach of the sound barrier was enough to put Rainbow Dash out of commission for a week or more, than what this pony was doing to himself could very well kill him.

“How? How is he doing that?” Twilight asked, poring through her books frenziedly.

“His love for his sister and his concern for her well-being must be overriding his body's signals to stop.” Rarity piped in, watching the ordeal.

“Ice...Dancer! Icey! Icey! Iceyyy~!” Pyrefly screamed over and over, burning his way through layer after layer of thick diamond-tinted ice. “Icey!” He shouted, bouncing back and forth against the ice. The sonic booms were loud, like fireworks in the daytime. Finally, Pyrefly's body simply shut down, and he fell against the ground, his wings still smoking and his eyes filling up with tears.

Ice Dancer, where are you? Already dead or bleeding? One more disaster I can add to my generous supply.

“Pyrefly, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“I-I-I can't... I can't do it—I can't get in-- I can't...” Pyrefly babbled, exhausted and in a fairly generous amount of pain. One question haunts and hurts. Too much... Too much to mention. Was I really seeking good? Or just... seeking attention? Is that all good deeds are when looked at with an Ice-cold eye? If that's all good deeds are.... then maybe that's the reason why....

“Let me try.” Rainbow Dash said. “I may not look it but I represent the Element of Loyalty. I won't give up on my friends.... even if I've never met them.” Rainbow finished, referring to Ice Dancer.

“No. It's too dangerous.... If I can't, then you can't.” Pyrefly said more harshly than he meant to, and Rainbow Dash took it as an insult.

“Are you telling me I don't have what it takes? I'll have you know I've performed a Sonic Rainboom! Three times. I think I can get past a flimsy ice shield!” Rainbow shouted angrily.

“No... no! Rainbow, don't!” Pyrefly called with the last of his strength as Rainbow Dash took to the sky, and was forced to lay there and watch as Ice Dancer's magic lashed out at the sense of a stranger nearby.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called out in shock as the blue mare fell to the ground like a stone before even reaching the barrier.

“I told her! I told her.... Ice Dancer's terrified of strangers.... she would never let anypony but me get near if she were upset like this....Even if she can't control her own magic, her magic itself knows how to keep other ponies out.” Pyrefly coughed, struggling to get up.

“So that's why she got scared when I hugged her earlier.” Pinkie Pie said oddly somberly, her fluffy mane having gone flat with worry. “You just said she didn't like strangers.... but you never said she was scared.” Pinkie said.

“I'm sorry! I know. I should have said something, but she gets so embarrassed when I bring it up! She's terrified of strangers.... She's so fragile.... She was always the baby of the family. She never learned how to be strong, because she always had me to protect her!” Pyrefly finally managed to stand up and limp his way over to Rainbow Dash.

“Oh.... oh.... Oh, no. Oh.... no.” Twilight moaned mournfully as Pyrefly dragged Rainbow Dash away from the barrier.

Rainbow Dash was frozen solid. She was an ice sculpture. A Dash-cicle. Ice Dancer's wild magic had frozen the look of determination and apprehension onto Rainbow Dash's face, and held her body, still stuck in time in a pose of attack, forever sealing Rainbow Dash within a shell of magical ice.

“Ice Dancer.... What have you done?” Pyrefly repeated, staring alternately at his new friend, frozen in time and in ice in his hooves, and back at what used to be his home, now transformed into the very vision of his baby sister's vulnerability and sorrow. “No.... not what have you done... What have I done?”