Boomer's Crisis

by WEKM

Chapter 13 Putting The Party On Ice

Chapter 13 Putting The Party On Ice

As the memories released him, all he was aware of was himself muttering, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Over and over. That, and the cold. His head, his whole body, was encased in a layer of ice almost an inch thick. He could see through the distortion of the ice that a massive cone of ice extended out away from his horn stump.

Something was banging against the ice at his side. He couldn’t see what, but he felt as the ice started to break. Then, it shattered all around him, and he collapsed to the ground shaking from the cold.

Shivering with his eyes closed, he felt a warm body lay down next to him, and then enfold him in an equally warm wing of the softest feathers. It felt so wonderful, “Thank you.” was all he could say.

He heard a snort, “I’ve been trying to tell you that very thing for nearly a decade and a half. But for some reason, you don’t want to hear it from me.”

Boomer, heart now hammering, tried to leap up and away from Pepper. For that was who had freed him from the ice and had warmed and comforted him. But everything and everypony else in the throne room was also encased in ice, causing him to slip and fall crashing back to the ground.

Pepper stared at him as he leapt away from her, the hurt in her eyes quickly flashing to anger. “So this is how you really feel? I’ve never been allowed to thank you because I’m so hideous now that you can’t stand to be near me?! You could have just told me that I disgust you and I wouldn’t have bothered you anymore! Don't worry I won’t burden you with having to look on the monster anymore.”

Boomer stared at her in shock as she tried to get up, clearly determined to storm out of there, if she could get her hooves to stay under her on all this ice. Words finally broke through his shock, “What? No! You’re the most beautiful pony I’ve ever seen. It’s just, what happened to you was my fault...” Then he stopped in an entirely different shock. And then bellowed in rage, “Who called you a monster! WHO?” He jumped to his hooves, and his horn stump was glowing yellow, nearly white hot as he loomed over her. Through clenched teeth he growled, “Tell me who called you a monster, and they will be no more on this earth.”

She looked up at him in wonder. “You, you really think I’m beautiful?” she whispered to him. “Even with the scars, and this bad wing, and my glasses?”

The heat in his horn immediately went out and he smiled at her. “Your scars don’t matter. Heck, I have more in my mind and soul than you can possibly imagine. And your wing is amazing; a pure wonder.” Then he smirked a bit, leaned in and kissed the tip of her nose. “And I think your glasses are cute as hell; damn sexy even.”

At that she blushed and stammered.

They were interrupted by several loud cracklings from the other side of the room. They both looked over to see Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna breaking out of the ice encasing them. He held out a hoof to help Pepper up, and they went over towards the princesses, slipping slightly on the ice. “Your highnesses, what happened?”

Princess Luna looked around and said with a laugh, “Why, ye did my champion. I know not what caused ye to do so, but whatever ye did, ye pulled on my magic through our bond. Is there some reason we all needed be sheathed in ice?”

Pepper cocked her head at Boomer, "It was sort of like when we first met, only a lot more so."

He scoffed, "We didn't meet. We had a train wreck; one that you barely survived."

"I may have been physically hurt, but from everything I've heard, you were emotionally damaged." She replied.

Boomer turned away, "I was damaged long before that." But he paused and looked back at her, "What do you mean, like when we met?"

She nodded, "Almost exactly; you got that terrified look on your face, then your horn flashed a really odd deep purple. Only, then, the crown of your head iced over, and your body went from black to covered in white frost, like somepony had left you out overnight in the middle of winter. This time, your whole body flashed purple, and everything and every pony but me were ice sculptures. I wonder why I wasn't?"

Giggles walked around from behind the frozen Pie family, "That's because both times he was sucking up blast energy trying to protect You. So, of course you wouldn't be affected. This time, he didn't have any blast magic to absorb, so he sucked the heat out of the room, and with the boost from the princess's magic, instant ice palace."

Both Princess Celestia and Pepper turned and asked, in unison, "Who are you?" But then Princess Celestia's eyes widened in recognition and she took a couple of steps back.

Giggles grinned, "Oh good, you can see me. When he sucked in all that extra energy, I felt different, and hoped this would be the case. Although, I'm probably won't be this visible for long. I'm drawing on that extra energy, and I'm using it up pretty fast."

Princess Luna, (who had been whispering to her sister, who was looking from Giggles to Boomer and back with a look of wonder and respect) spoke up, "Fear not my dear. I canst feel where thou dost draw from my knight, and can support thee. In truth, with night upon us, my power doth wax, and the task grows easier still."

Giggles leaned over to Pepper and stage whispered, "Don't you just love listening to her talk. Honestly, I hope my brother doesn't manage to update her speech. I would miss it."

Pepper looked between Giggles and Boomer, recognition dawning in her eyes, and she gasped, "Your brother, but you're..."

Giggles gave a wink, "Yep, dead. But I got to come back as a ghost to straighten out this knucklehead's life. Now don't go freaking out and run off. I have plans for you."

Boomer sputtered in outrage, "Now see here..."

But Giggles cut him off with one raised hoof, "Quite now. Us girls are talking. Why don't you help Princess Celestia clean up your little mess here. I imagine a lot of these ponies are starting to feel rather chilled."

Pepper looked at her admiringly now, "Oh, I think I like you. Yes, run along Boomer. We want to talk about you behind your back. And you have ice to break up."

Sputtering even more, he stomped over to the middle of the hall, where Princess Celestia was trying very unsuccessfully to hide that she was laughing.

His horn was already starting to glow red as he ground his teeth, when Giggles called over to him, "And don't pull on Luna's power, or you're liable to blow the palace clean off the mountain!"

At that thought, he unclenched and tried to think the problem through smart and quick. He glanced over at Princess Celestia and realized she was waiting on him. Crud, this really was going to be his cleanup. While he was sure she could magic away all the ice, she was wanting to see how he would handle it.

Wonderful, that wasn't likely to lessen the performance anxiety at all. Ah well, might as well keep it simple. "Princess, I'm going to shatter the ice just over the other ponies. If I try taking it all out, I'm liable to break windows and other things. Once I do, if you could flood the room with as much heat as is comfortable, that will help them with their chills, and start the melting of the remaining ice."

She nodded with an approving smile. He paused and mentally laid out several points around each pony in the room. It was delicate work; the kind he never would have been able to pull off in his younger days in the army. Back then, he had been about brute power in his blasts. Having to work with the more structured blasts of the quarries and mines had forced him to develop precision and fine control. But never anything this complicated without a huge amount of planning. However, Giggles had told him he had an internal understanding of his power. Maybe he should just trust his instincts. He thought a message at her, "If I screw this up because you've talked me up in my own head, I'm blaming you."

A message and mental image came back to him, "Just pretend it's Pepper trapped in the ice."

Panic slammed his mind, and the four spark points he'd plotted around each pony instantly tripled and flash-popped as one. The ice encasements shattered.

Princess Celestia's horn glowed, and the hall was bathed in the heat of a bright summer's day.

Of course, that may not have been the best of ideas. When it had been pointed out earlier that every surface had been coated in ice, it could easily be understood the forgetting that the ceiling high overhead was a surface as well.

So, it came as a bit of a surprise, when everypony in the room was drenched as the warmed water fell from above.

Boomer had the distinct pleasure of looking directly at Princess Celestia's face, and seeing her look of pride change to shock, as dozens of gallons drenched her.

When the water cleared his eyes, what greeted him was her royal highness, eyes wide, mane soaked and plastered to her head and neck, and crown slightly askew. She looked around a little wild eyed, seeing everypony else in a similar state. Then, she burst out laughing; laughter that quickly spread to everypony in the hall. Every pony except Boomer, who still stood locked in panic.

Giggles walked up to him slowly. For a change, a look of uncertainty and concern on her face. "Hey there brother mine, you okay?" she asked tentatively.

The frozen panic faded from his face, shifting to a dark fury. He turned burning eyes on his sister's ghost. "If you would excuse me, I'll be going home now." His strained formality was almost more disturbing for its coldness. "Sister; I would appreciate it if you leave me be for now. There are some things I'm on the verge of saying, that I'm sure we would all regret. I'll call for you when I feel I can be civil." Giggles flinched, as if she had just been struck.

He then turned, "Princesses, I'm sorry for the disturbance. By your leave..."

Princess Luna raised a hoof, as if she wanted to say something, then lowered it and gave a sad nod of dismissal.

Boomer turned and marched out. Once he'd started speaking in those cold tones, every pony stopped, as if they'd all been frozen in ice again. None of them dared move or make a sound.

Only as he was about to turn out of sight at the far end of the hall, Pinkie Pie came forward a few steps, raising a hoof after him calling softly, "Boomer?"

But he neither slowed or turned back. And then he was gone.