After their little trip in the air on the boat, the rest of the day was quiet for Ember and Frigid. That was, as quiet as a day with a dragon like Frigid could be. Come to think of it, it was pretty low key. He was content to hang out at the beach with Ember wherever they liked, use his breath and strength to give them shade, and things like that. It was exactly the kind of vacation Ember wanted all along: Peace and quiet, a chance to relax, enjoy the picturesque sights of the ocean in full detail, and more. Yet, the guilt never truly went away.
The hours blended together after a while. Ember went out swimming, and she didn’t mind it when Frigid accidentally made a few platforms out of ice when he went out with her. It made for a great break from the water when she needed it and she couldn’t believe how beautiful the town was from their vantage point. After a little bit, Equus Town appeared to be the same town it always was, but neither one of them noted the signs of something wrong going down.
Namely, neither one noticed the extra security along the towns, along with the wanted posters of missing persons. It was something one would have to look out for to notice, and the two of them weren’t really thinking about that right now. Instead, Ember enjoyed the best damn pizza she ever had at one of the restaurants, with Frigid sitting opposite her on the open aired second floor.
“I have no idea how you make cheese pizza taste this good, but it’s almost to die for,” she commented. She helped herself to some wonderful crust, downing it with a little soda, but Frigid was slow to eat his own pizza, the same as he always was. “I don’t mind you being the stoic, quiet kind, but it’s really hard to tell when you’re enjoying something,” she thought.
“Is that something I shouldn’t do?” he wondered. “I never really thought about that.”
“It’s not a bad bad thing, Frigid. It’s more like, I've done stuff for you, and I’m not sure if it’s making you happy or not.” Ember interrupted herself with a sip of her drink. “For example, I hope you’re liking all this pizza, but I can’t tell.”
“Oh. I see.” Frigid tossed the whole slice in his mouth and swallowed it. “I don’t like pony or griffon food as much as I like gems, but I can tell this is a good pizza. Does that help?”
“Oh yeah,” nodded Ember. “That goes a long way.” The breeze picked up around them, but it wasn’t enough to make things a hassle. “Um, there is something I wanted to bring up.”
While she talked, Frigid experimented with freezing the pizza. One tap of it later, and the slice fell apart into icy dust. “I won’t try that again. What is it, Ember?”
“Well...um...I’m leaving for Canterlot in three days after tonight. Just figured you should know. If you wanna hang out after that, I have that nursing job, but we could still meet when I’m not working, if you wanna.”
He blinked at her a few times, and she was a little nervous about it. Not because of the stare itself, but the way he was thinking things over. His expression never changed, but now and then, she noted a muscle or two twitching, especially near his forehead. Over the course of the day, she picked up that he did that whenever he was deep in thought.
“We could,” he concluded. “I don’t mind it in Equestria like I used to, and it’s near the end of the summer. It won’t be so hot. You could visit the Dragon Lands, too.” He picked up another slice and started on it, but he was eating even slower than before.
“Alright, great! We can do that, and we both have really distinct colors, so it should be...easy to find each other.” The more she talked, the more she felt that pit in her stomach deepen. Should I say something about things…
“And we have three more days to hang out if you want to.” Frigid was a little more at ease with the breeze picking up, and he tilted himself a little to the right to get the brunt of it. “You seem nervous, though.”
OH BUCK HE FOUND OUT-- Ember took a gentle breath. “It’s probably the thing I said earlier. I don’t know if you’re happy with all this or not.”
“I am. We have time.” Despite that, Ember was more than a little anxious for the duration of their stay, no matter if the size of the pizzas they ordered was gigantic. She got more than her share of crust and cheese while they were together.
In due time, it was the middle of the night, and they headed down the beach to Ember’s villa. “I guess I’ll see you next thing in the morning, Frigid.” She was slapping herself around in her mind, but she could have just as good of a poker face as Frigid. Almost.
“You too, Ember. Don’t worry about me being happy with all the stuff you’re doing. I haven’t had a friend in a while. You’re a good friend. That’s all I need.” Frigid arched his front leg in the air, and he stopped after they came to the front of a villa. “That’s your place?”
“Yeah. I’m sure we’ll find something to do that we’ll both enjoy tomorrow.” She went around and gave him a quick hug around his waist, and his scales down there were cold. “You’re gonna be okay?”
“I will. See you tomorrow, Ember.”
Despite that, she was hesitant to step into the villa and close the door behind her. On the way, she stopped and gave him a quick wave with a foreleg again. He gingerly waved a claw at her, and she mumbled something under her breath before the door finally closed.
Once she was gone and closed the window curtains, Frigid was by himself, save for a few ponies at the beach. After he had the all clear, he sighed deeply and let out a current of cold air to the ground. His face was still the same, but he rubbed at the back of his neck while he watched Luna’s moon lift over the town.
He wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, but he wasn’t sure what to do with himself after she left. The island was large, but lounging around the trees wasn’t what he wanted to do anymore. There had to be something else to fill his time. Then he remembered something he found along the way to the beach, and it was something worth looking into.
The journey would bring him through the town again, but something felt off to him. Not the stares from the ponies and griffons, that was okay by that point. They liked him. They thought he was quiet but friendly, a reputation he could live with. It was the sensation that someone else was watching him.
Everywhere he looked in the town, filled with people enjoying the nightlife, he swore he would find someone that wasn’t supposed to be there. There was no actual sign of the person, however. In fact, had he not seen the wanted posters, there wasn’t anything to give away that this was anything but a normal evening in paradise.
“Maybe Ember and I should go find those missing ponies tomorrow,” he noted under his breath. He made it a point to look out for anypony that matched those descriptions, and he carried himself down to the place he had in mind. It was a water park of sorts, a simple but lively place, but most ponies had already left. Only a stray pony or griffon was left, despite the light that illuminated the place.
There were a few attractions like water coasters, tube rides, all the stuff that usually came with a water park. The destination he had in mind happened to be the lazy river. It was a pretty big river for such an attraction, around two miles in length, and he knew he needed to lay down to collect his thoughts.
With Frigid being Frigid, he didn’t use a tube or anything like that. Instead, he made himself a little raft with his breath and got comfortable on top of it. He laid down on his back, and the raft did the rest of the work. The current of the river was gentle, and it carried him at a steady pace. With all of it said and done, he closed his eyes.
“I should have said something…” It was the only thing he said in the open before he went deep into his private mind palace. The river made it easier for him to think, and he did a lot of it in a short amount of time. A mix of memories, emotions, and thoughts filled up all that space. It was unusual. Every second he spent like that made it seem like a weight was coming off his chest, but another weight took its place just as quickly.
Despite what he was going through, the river supported his raft perfectly. He wasn’t in danger of bumping into anyone. In fact, the lazy river was empty save for him. That made things simple for him to take it easy on himself.
Until he heard a song in the air.
His eyes shot open and he sat up, scanning the area around the river with his vision. He wasn’t jolted, but he was fully alert, too. There were boomboxes hanging up on pillars for music and such, but they weren’t playing the song he heard. It was a deep, feminine voice singing around him, and it was as if the singer came directly from his head.
Not only that, but the singing had to be close by. Frigid got up from the raft and hovered a foot above the river. He turned around in a full circle to find any signs of the person responsible for it, but the song she sang faded in and out. One moment, she sounded so far away. Another moment, and it was like she was right there with him in the river.
“Who are you?” he finally asked. “Do you mean any trouble?”
“I almost feel insulted by that,” the song continued. “Why do you hear such a wonderful melody in your ears, and your mind jumps to that conclusion? Are you the type to be offered a gift from a pony, and your first instinct is to freeze them to the bone?” Her voice was sweeter than honey, along with the precision that only came from training one’s vocals.
He flew away from the river and landed by the entrance, and his forelegs dug into the ground. “It’s because I saw the posters. Are you behind their disappearances?”
“Why don’t you come over here and find out…” After the voice spent minutes bouncing from place to place, it took on a clear place of direction. It was deeper into the water park, just outside of a jungle.
“Okay, but I think this is a trap.” He was careful with his steps and flight down her path. “I’m not afraid to fight you if you’re the one responsible.” Frigid figured in his mind that he could handle whatever the singer threw at him, between his strength and breath.
“I know, I know. Dragons are strong and fearsome, and you’re no different. But I’m not going to hurt you…” In front of him, Frigid could see the outlines of a person. He was barely able to see anything from there, but he could tell that whoever she was, she had orange scales along her body, and she stood on two legs like a younger dragon. Unlike him, however, she was wearing a brown robe of sorts.
He kept his forelegs by his side as he approached her, and he took a deep breath to prepare the strongest ice breath he could muster with his lungs. As he kept moving, he found her sitting on the side of a rock, and the moonlight started to break through the trees above her. That’s when he got his first glimpse of the lady.
“Who...what are you?” he inquired.
“Hmm, good question. How about we start with my name? You can call me...Aphrodite.”
Aphrodite was a fish lady, covered from head to toe in dark orange scales. Her light brown hair trailed down her back, and she wore a dark brown, tattered robe around her body. It went around her shoulders down to the knees of her otherwise bare legs, and she had humanoid feet. The light in her eyes was dark blue, and staring at them was like staring into the depths of the ocean. A flipper of sorts formed a tail around her backside.
The sight made Frigid stop in his tracks. “I never heard of an Aphrodite, but I can tell you’re up to something.”
“There you go, jumping to conclusions again,” she purred. She got up and went to approach him, and she noted the curled up claws by his sides. “Even if I was up to something, you could take me out in one punch. You know that, don’t you?”
He didn’t move an inch from her argument. “Even if you’re not here to cause trouble, why are you here? You’re not a pony, dragon, or a hippogriff. I have no idea what you really are.”
“Call me a Siren, then. The oldest one still around in Equestria…” She cringed a bit from the fresh reminder, but she regained her form. “And I tend to observe a lot of people that come around here.” She walked around Frigid, glancing around him at every angle. “After a while, I noticed you and I have something in common.”
Just as well, he kept his attention on her, fists still ready to launch. “And what’s that?”
“We’re both broken-hearted. Albeit, for different reasons, but….” She glared directly into his eyes from the side, and some kind of dust launched from them. “Your heart was torn when that pony turned you down, wasn’t it?” She sang every word in her last sentence.
It made Frigid’s head throb, and he tried to shake his head to break it off. In just a few seconds, however, something about her eyes grabbed him. He couldn’t look away if he wanted to, and there was a beauty in her gaze that captivated him. Whenever or not it was magic, he couldn’t tell. He didn’t have experience with such things to figure it out. “I...I…”
“It’s okay. I’m here for you to tell me everything,” she purred again. By then, their faces were just half a foot apart, and the depths in her eyes widened by the second.
“I...I wanted to date her,” he admitted. In his mind, he could tell her anything and everything, and it would be okay. “I didn’t care if she was a pony and I was a dragon. She was fiery, funny, and willing to do anything to help me out.”
“Ah, I see. And it crushed you when she turned you down before you even asked, didn’t it?”
He tried to close his mouth, sensing something was wrong, but his body acted on its own. “It did. I felt like we should have tried before we decided it wasn’t going to happen. But...I didn’t want to be rude about it.”
“But it doesn’t change that you’re broken-hearted about it.” Aphrodite went up and held his face with her hand, and it was softer than any hand he felt before. He looked right at it, unsure what to make of things. “You really want someone in your life, don’t you?”
“Yes…” He closed his eyes for a moment, and he didn’t push her hand away. Despite that, it still felt like he was staring into her gaze. “I want someone like that.”
“Then why not me? We’re talking. We’re hanging out. And unlike that pitiful pony, I’m not going to turn you down. Look into my eyes and see how sincere I am.”
Frigid complied and opened his eyelids, unable to take a single step away. Once he did, Aphrodite’s true work came to the surface. Her eyes were as all encompassing as the deepest trench in the ocean, and his mind was awash in her magic. He couldn’t see the spell at work, though. All he could think about was how sincere she really was, the way she held his face with both hands by that point.
“You...you mean it? Every word?” he demanded to know. “I don’t want to go through this twice in one week…” By then, he wasn’t putting any thought into his speech. It was flowing out on its own, like something else pushed them to the surface.
“I do...if you’ll accept me. Accept me, Frigid...let me fill the void in your heart…”
By then, her gaze was hypnotic, and Frigid almost couldn’t imagine breaking away from it. While his facials remained the same, a tear rolled down his cheek, just one. “Please fill it…”
Aphrodite chuckled and leaned ever closer to his lips. “I will, Frigid.” She leaned down and brought him in for a kiss.
Despite how tender the kiss was, every fiber of Frigid’s body jolted with electricity, and he couldn’t move a muscle. He found himself pushing into it, and his mind was completely shut down. In its place was a voice telling him all he needed to know. Aphrodite is a good mistress. Listen to her. Do everything she wants you to do. She only wants the best for you and her. Cherish her every command. Embrace it.
Aphrodite chuckled from the draining resistance in Frigid’s body, and her lips wrapped around his. The moment he wrapped a foreleg around her waist, she knew she had him where she wanted him. It was going to be even easier than she thought.
When she broke the kiss, the gaze in Frigid’s eyes were vacant and dazed, and she petted the top of his head. “Now, what do you say to me when I ask you to do something?”
Her spell probed him to say the following. “Yes, Mistress.”
“No matter what it is, you’ll do it?”
“Yes, Mistress.”
“Good boy.” She traced her fingers along his chin, and she hummed again. “There is something we need to do in the morning. We have many others on our side, and there is much work to see through. Are you ready to do what needs to be done, my pet?”
“Yes, Mistress…” He sighed again. “There is one question I have.”
“Oh? Hmm, figured you would be so underneath my grasp that questions wouldn’t happen anymore, but go on.”
“How are you broken-hearted like me?”
The question sent a deep shiver down Aphrodite’s spine, and she briefly turned her head away. “Before you were born, in the age of Starswirl the Bearded and the Pillars...I had three daughters that were taken away from me. Banished to another world. There isn’t a day where I don’t think about how much I miss them…”
“And that’s what this is all about? Trying to get them back?” Frigid pondered.
“In a way, but there is something we must do. And you’re going to be the centerpiece of it all…”
Rather than turn away or run, Frigid simply nodded. “It will be done, Mistress.”
“I know it will, especially with you by my side. Forget about Ember Spark. She won’t love you like I will…” She pulled him in for another kiss, and soon, Frigid did just that. Ember was barely a fragment of his imagination in due time.