//------------------------------// // Chapter Four: Taking Up the Torch // Story: Iota Force Issue #1: Baptism by Fire // by The Iguana Man //------------------------------// Icy shivered, though out of apprehension rather than cold. The alley would have been dark even if the sun was out but now, in the evening, the darkness was nearly opaque. Fortunately, it was a dead end, so she didn't have to worry about anything sneaking up behind her, and could focus on the front way. Much better than the alternative! She looked down at the note she'd received once again. She didn’t read it - it was far too dark for that - but it comforted her to know that she hadn’t just imagined receiving it. A short while after she'd arrived home from her encounter in the park, she'd heard a knock on the door. Upon opening it, she saw nothing but an envelope, addressed to her, lying on the ground and an orange-and-purple blur in the distance to her left. The note told her to come to 29 Stirrup Street at 8:30, and so she did. She’d promised her mother that she’d be careful, though neither of them took it seriously. If there was a problem in Ponyville, chances were both of them would know, along with anyone in a ten-mile radius. Doesn’t apply to all problems, though. Icy thought as she remembered the small bunch of red glows she'd seen in the distance. She looked up, out of the mouth of the alley, to see... huh, they weren't that distant. In fact, the four lava ponies making the glow were getting closer. Much closer, and heading directly towards her. No, they couldn't have seen me from that distance, could they? Yes, apparently they could. Icy cursed herself for getting caught up in thought again, as they were now too close for her to get out of the alley. She backed herself up against the back end of the alley and tensed up. One of the lava-ponies stopped at the entrance. Weird, but she didn't have time to dwell on it, as the other three advanced. Icy flared her wings, ready to create another gust, though she didn't know if that would stop them. She didn't know what could stop them. “BANZAI!” Evidently, a colt landing on them could. The bulbous form fell from the roof right on top of two of the three, smashing them into their component rocks, the lava spilling from their forms and quickly cooling. The colt stood up and Icy recognised him – that fat colt from class, Truffle Shuffle. She wasn't likely to forget a name like that. He was wearing a brightly coloured suit of red, orange and yellow, like something out of a Mexicolt wrestling match. He even had a cape, held on by a pair of Badges similar to the others she had seen. There was only one more lava-pony to worry about. It ducked around Truffle, who was still getting up and couldn’t stop it, and charged at Icy. However, the other lava-pony darted from the entrance and leapt between them. It held its hoof held out, signalling for its companion to stop. The attacker did so, though seemingly more out of confusion than respect, but it was enough. Truffle's heavy hoof smacked down on its head from behind, smashing it and causing its entire form to collapse. “Well,” Truffle grinned triumphantly, his deep voice barrelling out of him and echoing slightly through the alley, “that must have given the old suit a challenge! Still, it worked – not so much as a blister!” He wiped some soot off one of the legs of the bodysuit, then turned to the remaining lava-pony. “Good save there, by the way, Princess.” Icy's questions were cut off before they could be asked as a familiar voice came from the lava-pony. “Yes. Not sure why it was necessary, though.” It turned to Icy, its form beginning to shift. “Why are you back here?” A wavy distortion came over the lava-pony, with a slight greenish tinge to the air surrounding it. Within, Icy could see its body shifting and changing, until the distortion faded to reveal Alula. An Alula with wings and a horn, as well as a dark green suit and goggles. Unlike the others, this one looked like it would be quite good at hiding her identity, had Icy not heard her earlier that day. Icy gaped at the sight. After a moment, she gathered her wits and asked the most comprehensive question she could think of: “Bu-bu-b-b-b-bu... Buh?!” She asked. Alula's remaind unreadable. “We'll talk about it in a minute – why are you in this alley?” Icy shook her head to regain her bearings. “Th-the note told me to come here.” A deep belly laugh came from behind Alula. Looking round her, Icy saw Truffle guffawing. “It told you to come to the house. As on knock on the door and come in! We're not the Ponies in Black with a secret rendezvous in a dark alley, we just wanted to meet you properly!” “Oh.” It hadn't occurred to Icy that a note from a group of crime-fighting colts and fillies could just be an invitation to a sleepover or the like. A blush came to her cheeks as she walked towards the mouth of the alley. “Sorry.” “Quite alright, my dear filly!” Icy was knocked off-balance by the force of Truffle's back-slap. “At least it meant we could take that bunch down!” “Yes.” Alula's steady tone provided a nice counterpoint to Truffle's bass bluster. “Come into the house. You have questions, we can answer them.” Icy found herself being led through the door of the house - a pleasant little cottage, not too noticeable among the many similar houses in this town. The inside was also fairly nondescript: cabinets, a coat rack, a few pictures. The only notable thing was the switched-off lights in the kitchen and living room. She didn't have time to look too closely, though, as Alula and Truffle led her down a flight of stairs just next to the door. At the bottom was another door with a sign on it - the same I symbol as on the various badges she’d seen. Alula opened the door slowly, revealing what was inside. It was half-way between a bedroom and a clubhouse. To her right was a sofa set in front of a TV, Scootaloo and Archer sat on it playing ‘Trot Fighter’, it looked like. Scootaloo was hunched over her controller, tapping furiously, while Archer slouched slightly and controlled her character quickly but calmly. At the end of the room was a bed, with a dark-red haired filly in a nurse's cap sitting on it. She beckoned towards the group at the door, an impatient look on her face. Icy heard Truffle sigh before trotting over there. Of course, even his sigh was powerful enough to blow her hair over her face. To her left, by the door, was the only thing that seemed incongruous. It looked like some sort of machine - a shallow metal box, covering the wall from floor to ceiling. A board protruded from it at about a filly's hoof height, covered in buttons Icy couldn't guess the use of, and above that, a screen was embedded in the metal showing a mess of colours, waving and oscillating into each other like a liquid kaleidoscope. Lance stood by it, his posture tense, alternating between looking at the screen and Icy. And, further on to her left, next to a fridge where Dinky was getting out a juice box, was a colt-sized desk, some messily-filled-in papers on top. And sitting behind it was: “Pipsqueak?!” The piebald colt waved at Icy cheerily. “Hi!” Icy struggled to comprehend this new information, “You're part of this... thing too?” Pipsqueak tilted his head. “Kinda, but not really, no.” “Oh. Then why are you here?” Pip almost looked offended. “'Cause this is my house. We just use it 'cause it's big and my ma isn't here that often.” Icy's mouth had popped shut after her inadvertent faux-pas, but she opened it briefly before she attempted to justify herself. “Sorry, I thought if you weren't part of it, they wouldn't... So, you do something with this, er… whatever it is?” Pip brightened up immensely. “Oh, yeah, I do all the lison... lias... li… I talk to Canterlot about what the group's done and what they need to do!” He held up a piece of paper proudly. “See?” Icy squinted as she tried to read it. The little colt's mouth-writing wasn't the worst she'd seen, her own easily trumped it, but it was still pretty bad. Even the top line was tricky, it almost looked like it said it was to Princess... no, that couldn't be right. “Right...” Icy said cautiously. “So, let's ask the million-bit question here, what is this group?” “Oh, right! Sorry!” Pip looked briefly abashed before his eyes lit up and he gestured at the colts and fillies gathered in the room around. “Icy Flight, we are... Iota Force! A special group comisso... got together by the Princess to defend against threats to Ponyville and the whole of Equestria!” Icy looked around at the apparent-heroes. “Yes, I know it didn't do any permanent damage.” The filly in the nurse’s cap scolded Truffle while she dabbed something on a previously-unnoticed burn on his neck, just where his soot-stained suit joined with his mask. “That doesn't mean it wasn't because of anything other than luck. This burn's just from proximity, do you have any idea what would have happened if any of the lava had actually landed on your skin? Even if it didn’t just put you out of my misery?” Her voice managed to convey the sternness of an old matron. A sternness Truffle ignored. “Not a clue, Rhyme! It would have probably got through my fat and damaged my insides. But it didn't, and I'll make sure it doesn't!” Icy's attention was suddenly ripped away by a “K.O!” from behind her. “Ha!” She heard, before turning to see Scootaloo thrust a hoof in Archer's face. “Gotcha!” “Sure did.” Archer smiled. “Nice one. 'nother round?” “Yer on!” Scootaloo turned back to the TV. “It doesn't matter. You're roughly evenly matched – either of you could win.” Alula said as she leaned on the back of the sofa. They ignored her. She turned back to the desk. Dinky was sucking on her juice box gently, smiling at her. Lance just looked at her without expression. These ponies are the defenders of Equestria? Sure, why not? Although... “What about the Elements of Harmony? Aren't they supposed to take down world-ending threats?” Pipsqueak nodded. “Well, yeah, they take down the big blighters, but...” “And capturing criminals is the job of the royal guard.” Icy continued “Well, obviously the guard will...” “And the Wonderbolts'll often take on threats.” “W-well, sometimes, I guess, but...” “And when you think about it, the Princesses themselves are kind of the ultimat-” “Yes, they all do it too!” Pip interrupted Icy. “But we defeat the baddies we're best equipped for!” Icy wasn't impressed. “Like?” “Like these lava-ponies. We take 'em out before they bother any grown-ups or anything. Tell you what, once we're done with them, I'll ask the Princess to explain it to you.” Icy raised an eyebrow. “You mean you really report directly to Princess Twilight?” “What? No!” Pip scoffed.- “Then who...?” “Princess Luna, of course!” It was only her previous amazement at the skills of the main members of this “team” that prevented Icy from walking out there and then. As it was, she was merely skeptical. “We don't report directly to her.” Apparently, so was Alula. “We report to a special branch of the Night Guard, who report to-” “So,” Pipsqueak interrupted, still beaming proudly, “Do you have any questions? About us, I mean.” Many, Icy thought, but only a few I'd trust you to answer. “Okay,” she started, considering what to ask first; some questions about what she'd seen these ponies do should be safe. “So, I get Lance's, Archer's and Scootaloo's skills – special talents, I guess. Though, I'm not sure why Scootaloo doesn't have her Cuti-” She was cut off by a brief tap on her shoulder. Looking behind her, she saw a paper clip fall to the ground behind her and Archer's hoof wave from side to side in a “Now, now, don't do that” gesture. She hadn’t looked away from the screen. “Uh... huh.” Icy turned back to the others. “But the rest of you... Dinky, I've never seen anyone do that sort of time magic before. Is that... just your unicorn magic?” Dinky swallowed a mouthful of juice. “I think so. I don't know how it happens, it just comes to me.” She shrank back slightly. “I'm not that good at it – I can usually only slow things down and speed them up, and even then, it's really hard to do it for more than a few seconds.” “It's still amazing.” Pipsqueak smiled at her over his shoulder, eliciting a shy smile back. Icy decided to move on. “Okay, what about Alula?” She turned around to the apparent-alicorn in question. “Are those wings and horn... natural? Are you a secret alicorn?” “Yes and no... and no.” Alula replied, the slight grimace on her face speaking of many previous explanations. “My mother's actually an earth pony.” “And your Dad?” Alula sighed. “My father, from what I could gather, was a changeling. I am a half-breed.” She seemed to be bracing herself for something. An awkward silence fell between them for a few seconds, the background noise of Scootaloo's near victory coming through. After that, Alula seemed to shake of the tension and continued. “Sorry, force of habit. Anyway, wings and a horn, like a changeling has, but looking like a pony's, is my natural form. I have to shift into a pegasus for school.” Icy nodded in understanding, before she stopped suddenly. “Hold on, weren't you a pegasus before school, but a unicorn in class?” To her credit, Alula almost looked abashed. “Sometimes I slip up. Luckily, from what I understand, some changelings - particularly rulers - exude an aura that makes other beings notice them less. Apparently, some can create a kind of “stupid-field” that makes ponies act like idiots, but mine just stops them from noticing mistakes.” “Okay, I... guess that makes sense.” Icy turned to the last one she wanted to question, but she was having a difficult time thinking of how to ask about Truffle without insulting him. She stumbled for a moment as she pointed to him, before asking “Is it... it's not just the suit, is it?” Truffle looked up at her, in the middle of sliding the suit off. “Not at all – the suit just protects my skin for getting hurt – scratches, burns, that sort of thing.” As he pulled the front half off, he slapped his stomach, sending a ripple across it. “The rest is all me!” “Well, that... makes no sense.” Icy said, her bewilderment drowning out her fear of offending him. “Shouldn't you be easier to hurt, with the...” “With being so fat?” Truffle laughed as he removed the rear half of his suit. “Normally, yes, but... well, what do you suppose this little beauty represents?” He pointed to his cutie mark as it was revealed: a knife and fork. Icy thought for a moment, not seeing the connection. “You're special talent is... eating?” “Precisely!” Truffle finished taking off the suit and smirked at her. “And it wouldn't be much of a special talent if it forced me to be unfit and vulnerable, now would it? I've been blessed with an iron inside, and I can eat as much as I want, get as fat as I want to provide as much padding as I want, and still run as fast as... Okay,- a bit slower than most, but only because I'm heavier.” Icy's mind boggled at the implications. Sure, a pony's supernatural aptitude for certain things was a powerful bit of magic, but she'd never considered how many extra skills and abilities even the simplest of talents must come bundled with. Luckily, she was saved from losing herself in thought by Pip. “Any... other questions?” It sounded like he was expecting a certain one, but she couldn't think what. She'd asked about all the members and got answers. What did he expect her to ask about. They were here to save Equestria from stuff the grown-ups didn't want to bother with, and she was here to... “Actually, why am I here?” She asked. “There we go!” Pip smiled. “Took a right long time to ask, didn't it.” He chuckled, before noticing Icy's unamused expression. “We'd like you to help us take these things down at the source.” Nope. No, she couldn't have heard that right. “Me? But what can I...?” “According to Dinky and Scootaloo, you did something when we first met them that stopped these lava-things right in their tracks.” “Yeah,” Dinky put in, giving Icy an encouraging smile. “You just flapped your wings and they stopped.” Icy thought back. “Yeah, but... I tried it again this afternoon and it didn't seem to do anything. I don’t think it actually did anything much.” “Maybe,” Pip replied, “But maybe it did everything! And if it did we could really use your help. What do you say?” Icy thought about what this meant for a moment – terrible danger, great effort, relying on something she didn't understand and couldn't count on... “Sure, sounds like fun!” She said. “Though I don’t have a suit.” “That’s okay,” Dinky assured, giggling, “it takes a long time to make one of these anyway.” Icy nodded “Fair enough, do we go now or...” Those listening laughed, causing Icy a bit of embarrassment. “Don't be silly,” Dinky said through her giggles, “We're still waiting for the... a-e-ther-o-scope... aetheroscope to find out where the thing making these things move is coming from. And when it does, it'll probably be past our bedtime.” Icy chose to ignore that last part. “What's an ethe- ath-” “This little gadget!” said Pip, gesturing at the machine in the corner. “It detects all the magic in Ponyville and around it, and finds anamomanomalies! However you stop pronouncing that.” Icy looked at the chaotic display of colours on the screen. “Of course,” Pip continued, “there's a lot of magic in Ponyville so it takes a while, but it usually gets there. Plus, right now, we're making it look a lot further, so that we can find out where these things are coming from. Hopefully, it should find it by the end of school tomorrow.” “Oh.” Icy was confused, but no more than normal.. “So... what do you want me to do tonight?” “Well,” She heard Scootaloo say over another “K.O!” from the TV, “Archer's a bit rubbish today...” “Sorry!” Archer shrugged, clearly not bothered. “... so how 'bout we go a few rounds in ‘Trot Fighter’.” Icy was simultaneously elated at the invitation and discouraged by the subject. “I... I've never played a video game before.” “’Sokay! I'll teach you.” Scootaloo patted the seat beside her. Icy sat down, a smile spreading its way irresistibly across her cheeks. “Okay, so how about you take Camo, she's a good character for beginners...”