"Warmer clothes? Check." Dark Ice said to himself as he read off the list of travel items he was packing. "Scarf? Check. Extra underwear? Check."
"You DO know that the Crystal Empire is kept out of the cold by the barrier generated by the Crystal Heart, right?" Arctic Ace asked as he read through a book on magic that Twilight had lent him. "Of course, snow does fall there in the winter time. I guess it's only natural since they live in the Frozen North. By the way, how is Indigo Zap?"
"S-She's got nothing to do with this!" Dark Ice stammered! "I just feel like I could use a little vacation!"
"C'mon bro! Don't deny it~!" Shadow Thunder sang out from his spot on the couch. "You got it bad for that girl. That reaction says it all."
". . . Fine. I wanna see Indigo Zap. Happy now?" Dark Ice asked with a frown. "And. . . I'm kinda scared. I want to be with her. I want to know her more. But I'm scared to tell her, well, everything about me."
"Well if she really likes you, she won't care. If not, her loss." Arctic Ace said with a shrug. "Because you've become a far better man than you used to be."
"You want something in return for that advice, don't you?" Dark Ice asked with a frown.
"Shadow wants a snow-globe." Arctic Ace answered with a small smile. "Have fun Ice."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm going." Dark Ice said as he grabbed his Duelist Arm. He then noted the surprised look on his brothers' faces. "What? I like carrying around my claymore! It makes me look badass! Plus, there's still three Chaos Kin out there. No telling if they might decide to attack somewhere else for a change. Because I'm pretty sure they're getting sick of just attacking Unityville. Later bros!"
One train ride later, Dark Ice found himself at the Crystal Empire. Thankfully, none of the Crystal Sapiens swarmed him to hail him for fighting against their former tyrant. Regardless, Dark Ice smiled when he saw how happy everyone was without living in fear anymore.
"This place is as bright and shiny as the crystals it's made of." Dark Ice said to himself as he took in the sights. He couldn't help but smile when he saw a statue of Spike holding up a replica of the Crystal Heart. "Huh. Wonder if they'll scramble to fix this thing once they see how much Spike's grown."
"Chances are they'll be running around like the sky's falling." A familiar female voice called out. Indigo zap landed right next to Dark Ice with a smile on her face. "Been a while since you last dropped by. You couldn't have written a letter?"
"Or maybe you should look into getting a phone." Dark Ice countered with a smile of his own. "All the same, it's not at as nice as seeing you in-person, Zap. I'd love to visit more, but-"
"Hero thing, right?" Indigo Zap asked. "It's cool. You're pretty busy saving the world, right?"
"Yeah." Dark Ice said with a chuckle. "But so far, things are calm. Except for the few Chaos Kin remaining. And they like to show up at random. Not the first time that my friends and I have gone up against villain faction, but this is certainly the most we've fought one after another."
"Well judging by the beatdown you gave King Sombra, I'd say you're pretty experienced with those kinds of odds." Indigo Zap said with a smirk.
"Yeah." Dark Ice said with a nod. "Honestly, I think that was one of the few fights where I got an actual win on. And I think it was the hardest fight I've ever been in so far. Probably because. . ."
"Because. . . why?" Indigo Zap asked as she noticed the sudden change in Dark Ice's tone. "Is it because he made you see your worst fear? Or just because you couldn't stand to see others living in fear as the Element of Courage?"
"Those are bits and pieces of it, yeah." Dark Ice said with a slight nod. "But that's not all of it."
"Indigo Zap. I-" Dark Ice sighed. "I wasn't always-" Sounds of panic prevented Dark Ice from finishing his sentence and getting all his thoughts out! Dark Ice spread out his wings, and flew out towards the panicking crowds of people. Before Dark Ice's eyes, a lone figure was attacking the city! Blazing Mars of the Chaos Kin was unleashing a volley of fire balls from the cannon that served as his entire lower body!
But despite the efforts of Blazing Mars to set the Crystal Empire ablaze, none of his fire blasts even came close to breaking through the shield generated by the Crystal Heart! Furthermore, it looked like his fire was literally dying out!
"As if I didn't hate this place enough for being a gigantic snowfield." Blazing Mars growled as he released blast after furious blast of flame! "I CAN'T EVEN SCORCH A SINGLE BUILDING!!"
"Indigo. Stay put." Dark Ice ordered as he flew towards Blazing Mars! "Yo hothead!" Dark Ice slashed at Blazing Mars with as much force as he could put into his swing! Surprising Blazing Mars by flying right at him and striking the Chaos Kin right in his side! Not wanting to waste his chance, Dark Ice kept on hacking away at Blazing Mars! Cracks appearing in the Chaos Kin's body as his fiery blood fell to the snowy ground below! "Anyone ever tell you that you need to cool off?!"
Blazing Mars just smirked. "Why stop when I'm on fire?" And he fired a massive fireball from his lower half! Knocking Dark Ice back with sheer concussive force! "This stinking snowfield may douse my flames a bit, but that doesn't mean they have any less fury behind them!"
"The Crystal Empire's seen too much battle! It's been through too much!" Dark Ice spat as he got to his feet! "Why attack it when so many of your fellow Chaos Kin fell in Unityville?!"
"You think I care about those losers?! HAH! They can burn for all I care!" Blazing Mars roared! "In fact, I had half an ember to incinerate them all for getting me stuck with them in that pocket dimension Discord threw us into! But as for why I want to see this place go up in a blaze? IT PISSES ME OFF! THAT'S ALL THE REASON I NEED TO BURN IT DOWN!"
Blazing Mars unleashed a furious spray of flames from his lower body! Dark Ice only surviving the flames by using his claymore to block the stream! "IN FACT, YOU COULD SAY THAT I'M PUTTING THE MISERABLE LITTLE MASS OF SHARDS OUT OF ITS MISERY! BETTER TO LEAVE BEHIND ASHES THAN TO HAVE IT FADE FROM HISTORY ALTOGETHER!"
"SHUT UP!" Dark Ice roared as he pushed forward! Spurred on by the sheer force of his will! "YOU CALL WHAT YOU'RE DOING MERCY?! THEY JUST GOT BACK THE LIVES THAT WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM THEM! THEY FINALLY CAN LIVE WITHOUT FEAR! AND YOU THINK THAT TAKING AWAY THEIR NEW LIVES AWAY FROM THEM IS MERCY?!"
Dark Ice leaped above the stream of flames, and used the broad side of his claymore's blade to slap Blazing Mars across the face! "There's a special place in Tartarus for you! AND I'M GOING TO DRAG YOU THERE MYSELF!"
"You're a pretty angry guy too, aren't you?" Blazing Mars asked with a dark chuckle. "You can't spell courage without 'rage'. Just what makes you angry?" One look into Dark Ice's eyes told Blazing Mars all he needed to know. "Ah. Yourself. Let's see if I can properly redirect that anger!"
Dark Ice's eyes went wide when a wave of fire crashed over him! When the flames died out, Dark Ice saw all his past mistakes surrounding him in a ring of flames! All the wrongs he'd done mad Dark Ice see red! Everything he'd regretted, all he hated himself for doing made him more angry than he'd ever been before! He was quite literally blinded by rage as he lashed out against the ghosts of his past and the inner demons that manifested from the illusory haze Blazing Mars had trapped him in!
"Well. Looks like you really like to beat yourself up." Blazing Mars said with a sneer as he watched Dark Ice swinging wildly at the illusions! "The angrier you get, the greater the flames will burn. Once you've got nothing left, the fire of your own rage will consume you. All I need to do is-WHAT?!"
To the surprise of Blazing Mars, Indigo Zap flew right into the fire! The Skyborn Crystal Sapien threw herself onto Dark Ice, and wrapped her arms around him tightly!
"STOP!" Indgio Zap pleaded as she clung onto Dark Ice for dear life! "I don't know what you've done in the past! What could make you hate yourself so much! But you're not like that! You're BETTER than that! I know you are! I've seen it! Please. . . "
The topaz crystal around Indigo Zap's neck began to glow! "Let go Ice." She tightened her embrace around the Element of Courage. "You don't need to hurt anymore." In a flash of light, Indigo Zap was transformed! She was clad in a mix of armor made of topaz greaves and gauntlets with a light breastplate made of the same material, and had a trident with a bladed portion made of the same gemstone! Lightning crackling along her entire being! Indigo Zap turned her gaze to Blazing Mars, and glared at the Chaos Kin!
"You're the only one who's going to burn in the end!" Indigo Zap snapped as she unleashed a stream of lightning from her trident! Knocking Blazing Mars to the ground, but not before the Chaos Kin could transfer the ring of flames around the new combatant and engulfing her in the fire!
Dark Ice had been snapped out of the illusion, and his heart sank when he saw Indigo Zap taking his place in what would've been an attack meant for him! "Indigo Zap. . . " He then struck at Blazing Mars with all his might! But to the Chaos Kin's surprise, there was no rage in Dark Ice!
"Why. . . WHY AREN'T YOU ANGRY ANYMORE?!" Blazing Mars screamed!
"Because I'm sick of going nowhere." Dark Ice replied calmly. "Someone like you could never understand what Indigo Zap did for me. Because if someone like her can like a guy like me? Then I can be happy with who I am." A peaceful smile spread across Dark Ice's face.
"No. . . NO!" Blazing Mars screamed as he mounted a desperate final charge at Dark Ice! But much like a dying fire, Blazing Mars began to sputter and fizzle! Breaking apart and scattering to the wind as ashes as the flames of rage within him gave out its last embers! "NOOOooooooooo-!"
"Thank you Indigo." Dark Ice said as he opened his eyes. "I just wish that you didn't have to pay such a high price to make me see that truth."
"So we're on a first-name-basis now are we?"
Dark Ice spun around, and saw Indigo Zap standing in front of him with a smile on her face! "H-How?!"
"I think we can get some answers from the Crystal Empire's new princess." Indigo Zap said with a grin. "But first, I've got some friends for you to meet." Sure enough, the pair flew back to the Crystal Empire. Indigo Zap introducing Dark Ice to her best friends.
"So. Looks like you saved the Crystal Empire again." Sunny Flare said with a nod. "At this rate, we're going to need a statue of you too."
"Your actions lack a lot of sense." Sugar Coat said flatly. "But it's good that you're always willing to fight for what's right." Lemon Zest just smiled, and gave Dark Ice a thumbs-up.
"It was so cool of you to take out that monster!" Sour Sweet chimed in. Her tone soon changing. "If Zap hadn't come back alive, I'd have knocked your teeth out!"
"Uh. . . Nice to meet you too. . . " Dark Ice said with a nervous nod. "Anyway, we're off to the castle. I want some answers as to why Indigo's still alive and kicking." He got his answers quite soon courtesy of Princess Cadence. The Princess of Love had been looking into Princess Amore's defense plans. One such planning on selecting five young girls as immortal guardians of the Crystal Empire who would awakening when a loved one was in danger. The Gem Maidens. Indigo Zap being the first to awaken.
"So. . . I can't die now?" Indigo Zap asked. "That explains why I was able to tank being roasted." She then turned her gaze to Dark Ice, and smiled. "I guess it must be love if we keep lifting each other up, huh?"
"Well, if you'll have me." Dark Ice said with a tired smile. One that soon faded. "But, if you really want to be with me, then you need to know everything. And why I was so angry with myself. Princess Cadence? Could you leave the two of us? I'd rather this be something between the two of us."
And the second Cadence left, Dark Ice told Indigo Zap everything. The storm he'd faced during his childhood, running away from home out of shame and self-loathing, him joining the Nightmare Forces and fighting against his own brothers and the friends he now proudly fought alongside when he awakened as the Element of Courage.
There was a full minute of silence between the two. Dark Ice made to leave, but was stopped when Indigo Zap once again brought him into a tight embrace. Though she said nothing, Indigo Zap's actions spoke volumes. An action which Dark Ice reciprocated without any hesitation. Dark Ice crying with a smile on his face all the while. His heart had finally melted.