//------------------------------// // Prologue: Above the Deep // Story: Skitter, Scurry and Screech (Iota Force Issue #4) // by The Iguana Man //------------------------------// “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Icy fidgeted, the tension she felt from her situation being channelled into twitches in her shoulders and back and a heavy swish of her tail. She had to actively prevent her hooves from moving and scraping against the ground, such as it was, for fear she might upset their balance on the thin blades beneath her boots. Of course, her teacher had assured her that ice skates were perfectly safe and stable as long as you kept at least three hooves on the ground, but Icy wasn't sure if that would hold up to her current agitation. Besides, the teacher in question... Well, she had been recommended by a Princess, so Icy sort of knew that she was probably a good choice and she certainly wasn't the main cause of Icy's nervousness, but she didn't exactly help. “Of course it's a good idea, silly filly!” Pinkie Pie assured her, her smile never wavering, giving the distinct impression that she wasn't truly comprehending Icy's worry. “Why wouldn't it be?” Icy looked around her, taking in the ice that surrounded her. Of course, the ice wasn't a problem for her. Quite the reverse, in fact – she loved ice and snow. It was what was beneath it that she had issue with. “Well, we're kind of... on top of a lake, aren't we? What if we... you know...” Pinkie giggled, looking down at her reflection in the frozen surface of the Ponyville lake. She scratched at the surface a little before raising her head again to face Icy. “Don't be silly! This ice is totally thick enough to skate on.” A flash of an idea passed through Pinkie's eyes, in turn creating even more worry in Icy's. “Hey,” Pinkie's eyes widened as she spoke, “Watch this!” She crouched for a moment, keeping still for just long enough to give Icy hope that things might not... And then she leapt up, with much more force than her usual bounces, and crashed down hard on top of the ice, making a heavy thump noise with, though Icy might have imagined it, a hint of cracking as well. She kept bouncing for several seconds. A tiny voice at the back of Icy's mind wondered how easy, or even possible, it was to jump like that in ice skates. Another tiny voice did have to admit that Pinkie didn't seem to be doing any significant damage to the ice. However the vast majority of her mind was busy with a single thought: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! “Pinkie!” A voice came from behind Icy, shouting to be heard over the thumps. “I think she gets the point!” Pinkie paused in midair, looking over to her pupils. Her smile, while in no way diminishing, did become slightly abashed. “Sorry!” She said, lowering herself gently to the ground. Icy turned away from Pinkie, both to give a grateful look to Scootaloo and so she didn't have to think about how Pinkie had just done that. Scootaloo just gave her an encouraging smile before they turned back to their teacher. Pinkie's smile had now turned strangely serene and she had closed her eyes, looking far more peaceful that Icy had ever seen her or, for that matter, imagined her. “If you are to learn the art of ice skating,” she began in a smooth, even voice, “you must divest yourself of all fears, all worries, all earth-y concerns. If you are to move on the ice, master the ice, you must become one with the ice and one with the water, merge with it, immerse yourself in it!” That, Icy thought, is what worries me. It was the beginning of January, a few days after the new year. Icy had been wanting to learn how to ice skate for a while – ever since her and her friends' encounter with Magic Eye back in November – but it had been agreed that it wasn't practical until the temperature dropped significantly. Sure, with her powers, Icy could theoretically create ice to skate on anytime – in fact, that was sort of the point of learning. However, not only would it take a lot of energy to freeze enough of an area for her to learn comfortably on, but she'd have to constantly refreeze it as it melted, meaning she wouldn't have much energy left for actually skating. As such, it had only been a couple of days before then that Pinkie had shown up at her house, informed her that it was now cold enough to skate, told her when her first lesson was and then bounced off without even giving Icy a chance to question her or think if she was free that day. She was, but she didn't know if Pinkie knew that or if it was just a lucky coincidence. Of course, Pinkie being Pinkie, she had told plenty of ponies and invited anyone young and interested enough to come along. Thus, Icy's simply request for lessons on how to skate had turned into a full-on class, with five other ponies joining in, including Scootaloo and her friend Apple Bloom. Icy guessed that more would join once word spread around, at least until school started again. She wasn't exactly sure at what point the gathering would be large enough for Pinkie to consider it a party, but she was sure it would get there sooner or later and she dreaded that happening. On the other hand, on the list of things she dreaded, that was a little way down the list. Despite Pinkie's assurances... in fact, a little bit because of her assurances, her main concern at the moment was the deep expanse of water beneath their hooves. Icy had always told herself that her... issue with water wasn't really a problem. Sure, she didn't like large bodies of water, but as long as she kept her distance from them, it didn't seem like it would cause much trouble. She and big water had an understanding – she left it alone and it would leave her alone. But now, with only a few feet of ice between her and it, she was beginning to reconsider. It wasn't debilitating, by any means, it was just... constant. She could feel the water below her, in a way she couldn't quantify. She just... knew it was there. She could feel it as it flowed and circulated beneath her. And it felt, for lack of a better word, hungry. Not ravenous, just like it... wanted her. Like there was an empty space in it, sucking at her a little and trying to gently tug her in. Not physically, but... metaphorically? Spiritually? Magically? Icy didn't know and didn't particularly want to find out. Icy shook her head, trying to put the matter to the back of her mind and refocus on what Pinkie was saying. She had asked for this, after all, and it was pretty important that she learn. She just wished she could do it somewhere else. Soon, Pinkie had finished her introductory spiel and got to the specifics of ice skating, thankfully with less of the Zen-Master-by-way-of-wrecking-ball persona than she had displayed earlier. It seemed simple enough, at least to understand – more to be practised than learned. Pinkie had the assembled colts and fillies skate back and forth across the width of the lake a few times, before separating them into groups of three to practice while she looked on and offered advice. Naturally, Scootaloo paired herself with Apple Bloom and, for want of a Belle, picked Icy as their third. After some initial help from Pinkie, she left the three alone to help the other group, allowing for a little small talk. “So,” Icy began as she and Scootaloo watched Apple Bloom slide around, almost-but-not-quite under control, “where's Sweetie Belle? Aren't you three trying for skating Cutie Marks or something?” “Nah,” Scootaloo replied, waving a hoof dismissively, before wobbling a little and putting it back on the ice, “we tried that last year. Was fun, but we, er... we didn't get our marks from it.” She paused, looking at Icy. “Did you know that ice skates aren't supposed to be sharp enough to cut through solid wood?” Icy returned Scootaloo's quizzical look. “I... I'd kinda figured. Didn't y-” “Hey!” Apple Bloom interrupted, skating to a stop in front of them. “We cleaned up our mess, and it all turned out alright. Miss Blossomforth healed up real quick, too – ain't even a scar!” On instinct, Icy's mouth opened before she quickly decided to close it and not pursue that line of questioning any further. “So, yeah,” Scootaloo continued after a momentary awkward silence, “this isn't for a Cutie Mark, I just wanted to learn. Can't be the second fastest in Ponyville unless I can go quick on all kinds of ground, right?” Icy raised an eyebrow at her choice of words, but let it slide. “I mean, it's not like I can use my scooter on ice, unless it had, like, blades on the bottom.” Scootaloo's eyes lit up as the possibility occurred to her. “Hey, Bloom, could you, like, put blades on the bottom of my scooter? But not down all the time – like, put them in a, what do you call em... sheathe but they can come down and, like, become skates if you press a button or...” “Hey, hey, whoa there, Scoots!” Apple Bloom replied, cutting Scootaloo off from her fantasizing. “It ain't impossible, but it'd add a whole heap o' weight to your rig, prob'ly slow you down somethin' fierce.” Scootaloo deflated a little. “Oh. Guess it was kind of a stupid idea, huh?” Apple Bloom smirked. “Hey, now. I didn't say that. I'll give it a bit o' the ol' thinkin', see if I can come up with anythin'. But for right now, maybe you should give these skates a try.” Scootaloo nodded and set off with, as was to be expected, far more speed than control. Icy looked over to Apple Bloom. She didn't know the other Crusaders as well as she did Scootaloo, but they were definitely in the realm of “friend of a friend.” “So what about you?” She asked the yellow filly, keeping one eye on Scootaloo's... she was gonna say progress. “What brings you out here?” Apple Bloom shrugged. “I just thought it'd be fun. Ain't much for me to do on the farm til Spring 'cept listen to Granny's Stories. Figured I'd get out for a while and maybe learn somethin' while I'm at it. 'Sides,” she looked briefly uneasy before she continued, “I don't wanna get in the way. Applejack's been kinda tetchy lately, don't wanna cause any trouble.” Icy frowned, confused. “Really? I don't know her too well, but she seemed pretty nice.” “Course she is!” Apple Bloom replied, sounding almost offended that Icy might consider her sister anything but nice. “We've just been havin' a little trouble lately, that's all.” Icy was about to question further when she was knocked off her hooves by an orange missile, sliding across the ice before coming to a rest beneath a dazed Scootaloo. “Ooh, that was a really good tackle, Scoots,” Pinkie called as she skated over to the group. “but I think that might be more of an advanced skill.” As she was scooped up by a pink foreleg and deposited gently back onto the frozen surface, Icy shelved her questions for the moment, refocusing on the lesson but resolving to pursue the matter later. Of course, as with so many things that Icy resolved to do later, she did not, in fact, end up doing it later. Given that her general level of focus was somewhat less than absolute, it was a bit of a recurring problem. No matter how firmly she fixed something in her mind or what steps she took to remind herself, it would invariably fade into the back of her mind and not make itself known until, usually, when it was far too late to do anything about it. There had been one time when she had resorted to literally writing an appointment on the wall, only to become so used to the writing being there that she didn't register it until she'd almost missed the appointment. And so, once the lesson was over, Icy completely forgot about Apple Bloom's issue. Of course, this process was expedited by the group going for ice cream afterwards. Well, Icy went for ice cream, at least – the rest wanted hot chocolate and claimed it was too cold for ice cream. Icy had snorted at that. Too cold for ice cream? The very idea was ridiculous. Clearly, the cold was making them delirious. Fortunately, a couple of days later, she was reminded from another source.