Icy shuffled uncomfortably on the hospital bed, waiting for Nursery Rhyme to look up from the chart she was looking over and speak. She gave a glance up to her mother, who was sitting off to the side and giving her an encouraging smile.
Outside, the sounds filtered in of ponies dismantling the various flood defences that had been set up and fixing whatever minor damage the heavy rainfall had caused. Though she was still pretty groggy when her mother and the team had told Princess Twilight and the rest of the committee in charge about their success, she remembered that, while there had been many congratulations, the general attitude was that it would be best to sort the town out before throwing any major celebrations. This suited Icy just fine, as that would take them at least through the next morning, giving her and Sunny time to rest up.
Of course, getting checked up at the hospital was a necessary part of that, hence why Icy had to see Nursery Rhyme, something she would otherwise hesitate to do.
Finally, the filly looked up from the chart with a slightly more sour expression than usual. “Right, Icy, do you want the good news first or the bad news?”
Icy thought for a moment. “Um, the bad news, I guess?”
Rhyme nodded for a moment. “I see, I see. Well, too bad – after how hard I had to dig to find some good news, I'm not letting you put it off just cause you want to soften a self-inflicted blow.”
“O... kay?” Icy said after a moment, more confused and unnerved than disappointed.
Rhyme tapped the chart. “Well, the good news is that you don't seem to have done any permanent damage to yourself or your abilities. That's about it.” She paused before something occurred to her. “Oh, also, you got to swoon in Lance's hooves and I reckon half the fillies in class would go through twice what you did for that opportunity.”
Icy's face scrunched up a little, her confusion deepening. “Huh, why?”
Rhyme sighed. “As satisfying as it might be to destroy your innocence, probably best to wait till you're at an age where you'll understand. That said, ask him to show you his Hearts and Hooves card collection sometime.” She paused, thinking for a moment. “Actually, scratch that, don't – it'd probably fall on you and crush you. Which means I'd have to deal with that too. Damn Hippocampic Oath!”
“My heart bleeds for you,” Sunny said with a sardonic eyebrow raised, a little nonplussed at Rhyme's demeanour, having previously only encountered her without injuries of her own.
Rhyme turned and glared at Sunny. “Oh, believe you me, I'd make sure it would if I wasn't only assigned to treat Icy as part of her team. You have no idea how lucky you were to get looked at by one of the grownups around here – none of them have anywhere near the guts to tell you how badly you bucked up!”
Sunny's eyebrow remained firmly raised. “Well, they did tell me...”
“Not enough!” Rhyme interrupted, whirling around to fully face the grown mare. “I mean, you managed to reach level three magical exhaustion and strain your horn enough to almost damage the magical vein. Do you have any idea what could have happened if you'd pushed just a little harder?”
“Of course I do,” Sunny replied, rolling her eyes. “You're talking like it'd be the first time I've gone through burnout. All it'd mean is that I couldn't use magic for a few weeks or, at worst, months. It'd heal eventually.”
Rhyme's mouth flapped silently for a moment before she shook her head. “That's... I don't even know how you miss the point that badly. Yes, it'd heal eventually, but that's not the point. I could shove a butcher's knife through your leg and it'd heal eventually, that doesn't mean it's something you should be okay with me doing. Even if I am half-tempted to.”
“Despite the oath?” Sunny responded, smirking a little despite Rhyme's vitriol.
“I did say half-tempted,” Rhyme replied, clearly not appreciating the observation. “The point is that you still could have done serious long-term damage to yourself that would have caused you a whole lot of problems. And – and I can't believe I have to say this to a grown mare – that's probably something you should avoid!”
Icy gulped, hesitant to draw attention back to herself but unable to contain her worry. “Is that what happened to me?”
Rhyme turned back to her, her grumpy demeanour diminishing slightly but still remaining. “Yep, pretty much. Fortunately, the damage to the magical pathways isn't nearly as bad as the exhaustion... we think.” She glanced down at the chart in her hoof with a look of annoyed bafflement. “We have no idea how your... weird-ice-cold-whatever-energy works in the first place, so we've been having a real difficult time trying to convert our system of diagnosis for magic onto it.”
“Well, we think it might be Windigo magic,” Icy pointed out, “with maybe some Sea Pony magic in there as well.”
Rhyme snorted. “I know, Archer told me what you said and it's still one of the dumbest things I've ever heard. And no,” she shot a look up to Sunny and Icy, “that's not me saying it's definitely wrong. Maybe it is true, but if it is, it in no way invalidates my statement.”
There was a pause as that sank in and Icy, as well as presumably Sunny, realized they couldn't argue with that.
After a moment, Rhyme gave another snort and a shake of the head. “Anyway, hard to convert the normal scale, if a scale can even apply at all, but we reckon you got all the way to level five exhaustion. That's near-complete draining of all magic, by the way, and in case you were wondering, yes, it's pretty damn bad. You're lucky you didn't permanently lose your ability to use that magic.”
Icy's head flinched back at the idea. “That can happen?”
Rhyme grimaced a little, clearly unnerved by the idea herself. “Not normally, no – a normal pony wouldn't permanently lose their magic, or even stay totally drained for long, despite all the damage level five would do. But, like I said, we don't have the first damn clue what this kind of magic is or how it works, plus how it'd interact with a raw magical analgesic like Rainbowsellia, so for all we know, that could be a danger and it's probably best not to take the chance, huh? Still, looks like you got lucky and that's not the case,” she finished, her tone making clear just how much of a bullet she thought Icy had dodged.
Icy tapped a hoof on the bed in front of her in agitation. “Okay, so... how long do you think it'll be before I can use my powers again?”
Rhyme glared at her for a moment, not appreciating Icy moving on from how badly she'd screwed herself up, before sighing. “Well, in terms of your energy, can't really say. It's already starting to recover, but the best I can give is a barely-educated guess of a week and a bit. Your wings, though? Well, Doctor Horse's scans show they're already beginning to repair themselves, but it's gonna take a while – we reckon three weeks of not moving them at all to get to the point where you can safely use them a little, but even then, you should avoid straining them for a week, preferably more. Not that you're going to, so just understand that you'll get no sympathy from me if you screw them up again.”
Well, that'll make a change, Icy thought, though she kept the sarcasm out of her mouth and off her face to avoid another tongue-lashing. “Well, I'll try. And I won't move them until then, promise!”
Rhyme's mouth pursed to the side. “Yeah, that's a real nice promise, but I don't buy it for a second. That's why I'm gonna be putting casts and braces on 'em – I'm taking no chances in case you decide to do something even dumber than usual.”
Icy flinched back a little at the jab, a brief, futile impulse to ruffle her wings firing through her only to fizzle against the still-floppy appendages. Just as well, she thought, as it might only seem to validate Rhyme's point. Still, she spoke up to defend herself.
“Well, I mean, I wasn't planning on taking any risks like that.”
Rhyme raised an eyebrow sharply. “Really? Because you seemed awfully eager to put yourself right in the path of a sun-damned tsunami a few hours ago!”
Icy flinched once again, her face screwing up in aversion to the memory. “That was different – I didn't have a choice!”
“Really?” Rhyme replied, her mouth stretching to the side in the beginning of a sneer. “Cause it seemed to me like you put your life and wellbeing at severe risk to save, what? Some buildings, some possessions... objects. Seems like you chose to prioritize them above yourself.”
Icy shook her head. “What are you...? It would have flooded the whole town. A lot of ponies could have gotten hurt!”
Rhyme rolled her eyes. “Could have, but weren't likely to with how much we were preparing and certainly not in ways that couldn't be dealt with. Besides, you did get hurt. Badly. Self-inflicted, yes, but still. So, I can only conclude that you did what you did to save a few buildings and possessions.”
“A few?!” Icy scowled in confusion. “We're talking about the whole town – that's more than a few things.”
“Yes, but things nonetheless.” Rhyme gave a heavy sigh. “And you'll have to forgive me if I think that your life is worth a lot more than a bunch of inanimate objects, no matter how many of them there are.”
Icy thought about this hard for a moment. “Well... yeah, I guess I can understand that but... that doesn't mean they're not valuable at all, does it? I mean, if I hadn't stopped that wave, a whole bunch of ponies could become homeless and lost everything they had. You can't tell me that's nothing!”
Rhyme paused, seeming to give serious consideration to Icy's viewpoint for the first time in that discussion. “I suppose not. But that doesn't change the fact that they are just objects. Possessions can be replaced. Homes can be replaced. Ponies can't.”
Icy hummed as she considered this, her eyes losing focus and her face scrunching up a little in focus. She spent a good ten or fifteen seconds considering all the implications, during which time Rhyme either gave her space to think things through out of consideration or simply assumed she'd won the argument and moved on with her thoughts.
However, after a while, Icy spoke up again. “Okay, I see what you mean by that... but it's totally wrong.”
Rhyme's head whipped up in shock. “Oh, is it now?”
Icy nodded, a slight grimace coming onto her face at the unpleasant subject matter. “Yeah, see... Yes, you can replace things, but that doesn't mean that you didn't lose them, does it? Like, if you lose a book, then sure, you can get another book, but that book doesn't magically become the first book. You still lost the first book and getting it replaced doesn't change that, even if the second book is another copy of that book. And if the first book's really important to you, then getting another book isn't going to fix that.”
Rhyme squinted at her, clearly baffled as to where she was going with this. “I... guess so?”
Icy took a deep breath as she braced herself for her next statement. “Well, if that's right, then technically... yeah, you can replace ponies.”
Rhyme's head jerked back in surprise and revulsion at the notion. “Wha...?”
Icy cut her off, though. “I mean, if you... 'lose' somepony, then you could technically find another pony to do the same things, to fit into that place, to replace the lost pony.” She gulped hard before continuing. “But it wouldn't be the same, would it? They wouldn't make losing that pony any less horrible. It might even make losing them feel even worse, cause you're always getting reminded of them. You can replace ponies, but it doesn't help.”
She straightened herself up and locked eyes with Rhyme, signalling without any room for misinterpretation that she meant her next statement completely and would fight any attempt to dissuade her of it. “So, yeah, you can replace stuff, just like you can replace ponies. But that doesn't mean you should have to. It doesn't mean that we shouldn't do everything we can to protect other ponies and their stuff. And it doesn't mean that a whole town of stuff isn't worth a heck of a lot. And if I had to do all that again... take that risk again to protect the whole town? You bet I'd do it. I don't think I could live with myself if I didn't. If I was that selfish.”
Rhyme's mouth flapped uselessly for a few seconds as she tried to parse what she was hearing. “I... you... that's not... how would you... NGH!” She pressed a hoof against her head as she let out a loud, frustrated groan. “Excuse me for a moment.”
As the little filly stormed out of the room, Icy briefly wondered if that had ended better than the last time she'd been in Nursery Rhyme's care. However, the steady, dull, rhythmic sound of her nurse banging her head against a wall made clear that, no, it ended just about the same.
As if to distract from the noises, Sunny looked up and caught her daughter's eye. “That was some debating, Sweetie. Still, you do know that I could never replace you, right?” Icy was tempted to point out that the whole point she'd been making was that she both could and couldn't when Sunny continued, “and that I'd happily have everything I own obliterated if it meant not losing you.”
Icy sighed, a smile rising to her lips as she dismissed her quibbles. “I know, Mom. Thanks.”
The next morning, Icy was out in the town, just wandering among the bustling activity as the ponies around her dismantled the protections they'd been building and tended to whatever damage had been done. Icy wasn't going anywhere, in particular, just letting her hooves take her where they would while her thoughts did the same.
It had been an interesting morning so far. Icy herself hadn't exactly broadcast what she'd done in the forest to the whole town, not wanting to take up the spotlight like that. And, while her mother had no such issues with having a whole town's worth of attention on her, it seemed she respected Icy's unspoken preference for not making a big thing of it, as she hadn't made any such announcements either, despite her clear pride in her daughter.
Still, what she’d done had begun to get around to a degree. It made sense since she knew that Lance and Archer would have debriefed the rest of the team and the town's leadership... well, Archer would have debriefed them with Lance providing appropriate nods and gestures, at least. And neither the rest of Iota Force nor the ponies in charge would have any reason to withhold the information, at least among those aware of Iota Force's existence or, at least, of the number of combat-ready children in the town. Heck, knowing Truffle's preference in terms of volume, it was a wonder that they hadn't heard about it up in Canterlot.
She hadn't yet run into Truffle, though she was keeping an eye out for him. She didn't have a problem with talking to him, but she needed to brace and position herself so that the good-natured clap on the back he'd inevitably give didn't knock her onto her belly or break the braces around her wings.
The others, though, had all either run into her or actively sought her out, each with their own reaction to what they'd heard she'd done. Alula had told her how excellently she'd performed, even going so far as to actually smile at her. It wasn't exactly a Pinkie-level beam, but Icy appreciated it nonetheless. Scootaloo had expressed her sympathy for having her wings hurt and bound, but nevertheless gave her a grin and a respectful hoof-bump, declaring her performance awesome before dashing off to keep helping with the town-wide work.
Dinky, meanwhile, had seen Icy and immediately clamped her in a hug that Icy was half-convinced she'd need to be surgically removed from. Through the torrent of consolations, well-wishes, gentle interrogations about how she was doing and general concern and sympathy, Icy had eventually managed to get across to her that she was fine and unhurt and, after a lot longer reassuring the empathetic little filly of that fact, managed to reclaim her chest enough to move.
There had been other encounters with ponies acknowledging her efforts, from the occasional grateful nod from a pony who had presumably heard what she'd done, to Princess Twilight seeking her out specifically to give her a royal attagirl, to Pinkie promising to give her pride of place at her “The Town Got Saved, Brackets: Not by Me or the Other Elements This Time!” party the next day.
The latter case was what was occupying Icy's mind at that moment, as she tried her hardest to think of a way to get out of being the centrepiece of the party. Her initial thought had been to politely refuse, but Pinkie hadn't given her a chance before dashing off once she'd informed Icy of her plans and Icy doubted she'd have either the opportunity or the guts to bring it up later. Unfortunately, she wasn't having any luck figuring out another way out of it. The best she'd come up with was freezing herself into an igloo without an entrance and isolating herself but, even if she could make such a barrier that didn't cut off her air supply, doing so with her damaged wings would probably not be a good idea.
Plus, even if such a barrier did stop Pinkie, which Icy doubted, it certainly wouldn't stop Nursery Rhyme from busting through and smacking her for putting her well-being at further risk.
“Hey, Icy!”
Icy jumped a little as she was startled out of her thoughts by the familiar voice of Archer. Blinking herself still again, she turned around to see the blue filly approaching her with a small smile. She shook her head as she waved. “Hi there, Archer! How are things with you?”
Archer chuckled as she came up alongside Icy, joining her as she walked. “Oh, I'm fine, nothing to report. But, well, I'm not really the one who should be answering that question, am I? How are you doing?”
Icy smiled a little at the concern, even if Archer's tone didn't suggest she had any worry or doubt at all that Icy was doing okay. “Not too bad. Got my wings restrained, but other than that...” she trailed off with a shrug.
“Yeah, noticed that. Shame,” Archer said, gesturing at the bandages and braces.
Icy shook her head, flexing her back muscles a little. “It's not too bad. The bandages aren't too tight and the braces aren't uncomfortable at all. They're resting just right on my back, so I barely feel them on it or in my wings. It's actually a bit more relaxing than having them resting free.”
Archer nodded. “Oh, cool. Still, if I'm honest, I wasn't really asking about how your body's doing. I mean, yeah, it's good to know and all, but I wasn't exactly sweating about it, you know? You're a tough filly and Rhyme's a dang good medic, so I figured you'd be okay. I'm talking more about how you're doing up here,” Archer tapped the side of her forehead with a knowing look. “I mean, yeah, you're still tough, but after... you know, having your whole problem shoved in your face, you doing okay?”
Icy looked away, a little embarrassed by Archer's assessment of her resilience and not at all certain she agreed. Still, after a moment, she nodded. “Yeah, I think... I think I'm doing alright. Haven't really been thinking about it much... which I guess is a good sign.”
Archer nodded. “Yeah, probably. Still, it's worth checking. Did Rhyme give you a psych evaluation?”
Icy shook her head. “No, but she's scheduled one in a couple of days with a proper psychiatrist. When I asked, she said that her big concern was making sure that I was physically fine before dealing with my brain and that she'd leave that to a specialist.” She cleared her throat and looked away uncomfortably. “Also, she said that any kind of test on my mind would involve a search party, so...” she trailed off with a half-amused, half-awkward smile.
Archer shrugged. “Well, guess you got more guts than I do. Always made my appointments with the shrink himself. Figured it wasn't worth whatever she'd say after the first time she checked my bow was still working and told me my brain was fine.”
Icy giggled a little at the idea before what Archer said caught up with her. “Wait, you've had to see a psychiatrist before? Why'd yo-” she cut herself off, realizing how rude a question that was in the middle of asking it. Still, she couldn't deny that she was curious – she'd seen Archer lose her cool a little a couple of times, sure, but she still had a hard time imagining the ever-relaxed filly ever needing professional help. Even when she'd screwed up and got a tornado hurled at the group, she hadn't seemed too stressed. Still, Icy shook her head, trying to dismiss the curiosity for fear of offending her friend.
Fortunately, it didn't seem like that was a danger from what she'd already said, as Archer shrugged with an easy smile. “Oh yeah, you have no idea. I got my problems too, you know? Plus, let's face it, our line of work ain't always fun and games, is it?” She paused in thought for a moment before adding. “Well, I mean, it's normally pretty fun, but I wouldn't call it a game most of the time, at least.”
Icy hummed – she had to admit, that was taking things more seriously than she normally expected of Archer. Still, she couldn't help but find the idea of the bowmare having severe enough issues to need therapy a little weird.
In fact, she was having such a hard time imagining it that she didn't notice at first that Archer had turned a corner, only realizing it when she turned to regard her friend and found her about five metres away. She blinked herself back into the moment before turning around and dashing after her, catching up after a moment. Still, it did bring another question to mind. “Hey, where are you... are we going?”
Archer glanced at her, having either not noticed or not minded that Icy had lost her for a moment. “Oh, I was just heading down to the lakeside. Figured you might want to join me now you're okay with it.”
Icy thought for a moment... and the image of her floating helplessly under the water's frozen surface, her lungs burning and her limbs hanging uselessly below her rushed into her mind's eye, making her stop in her tracks and squeeze her eyes shut, trying to force the image away. “Um... are you... could we not... er...”
She opened her eyes to see Archer had stopped as well, looking at her with surprise, concern and a hint of guilt. “Oh m... sorry, I just thought... you know, since you'd pushed past your fear, I thought you'd be a bit more okay with... you know...”
Icy sighed, though she did give Archer a shaky smile to show there were no hard feelings. “Well, I did, but... I really don't think that's how phobias work. I mean,” she thought of her recent experience, a shudder wracking her body, but not quite as powerfully or painfully as she'd expected, “I do think it helped, but... it didn't make it go away.”
Archer nodded, looking to the side as she registered this and thought about it. “Well, we don't have to head over there if you don't want to.”
Icy gulped, thinking for a moment. “Well... we can always go in that direction and stop before we get there. I mean... it'd probably be an idea to see how I'm going with that, so... let's just go with it.”
Archer raised a skeptical eyebrow but began moving again as Icy did. “Well, if you're sure.”
Icy nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry about that, it's just...”
“Nah, it's all good,” Archer said with a sympathetic shrug. “I get it. We all got our own problems, nothing to feel bad over.” She chuckled as she looked up and to the east, out towards the Everfree. “Least your issues don't make you wanna fl- er destroy the town.”
Icy giggled, though a hint of discomfort seeped through it as she thought about the filly they'd encountered. “Yeah, I guess so. I mean, I don't know what was wrong with her, but it must have-”
“I do.”
Icy nearly tripped over her own hooves in surprise when Archer interrupted her, sounding so casual in her certainty that Icy had to take a moment to ensure that she'd heard right. “You do? Really?”
Archer nodded before tilting her head to the side, silently weighing up the notion. “Yeah, like... ninety-nine-point-nine percent sure it's CMCD.”
Icy thought for a second, trying to parse the initials. “Cutie Mark Crusader Dentists?”
“No, that's a different kinda torture,” Archer replied without missing a beat. “Still, you're half-right.”
Icy nodded as she thought. “So, I'm guessing the CM stands for Cutie Mark, then?”
“Yep,” Archer replied, looking into the middle distance. “Cutie Mark Control Disorder. No one knows what causes it but some ponies... not a lot, just one in a few thousand at most, but some ponies have their Special Talents kinda... supercharged. Sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but always have it stronger even than most ordinary ponies and that's saying something. Sounds pretty useful, right?”
Icy frowned a little as she considered the idea. “Well... I guess, but... if it's a “Control Disorder”, then...”
Archer pointed a hoof at Icy with a slightly grim smile. “Got it in one. You get a bit more of a Talent – sometimes a lot more – but you lose the ability to turn it off. I mean, nopony can turn it off completely, I know. Most ponies occasionally find 'emselves thinking about it or using it when they didn't mean to, right?”
Icy nodded, remembering the occasional times her mother would send a magical probe into the sky or take an instinctive step to the garage where her glider was stored if there was something slightly off about the sky or the weather, even when they were living in a town with entire teams of pegasi to deal with such things.
“Well, with CMCD, it's on a whole 'nother level,” Archer continued as the two came out into the marketplace, skirting around its outskirts despite there being far fewer ponies there than normal. “Depends on how bad the condition is, of course, but even the better ones usually have it flare up a lot. You find yourself working out how you could use your talent, your hooves going to do it before you even realize it or just... thinking in terms of your talent even if you try your hardest not to. You just can’t stop using it. Ain't fun.” She sighed before glancing to the east again. “Course, I never heard of somepony who had it on all the way all the time... before I met that Domino filly, at least, but I guess you learn something new every day.”
Icy scratched her head with a hoof. “You sure that was what's wrong with her? How could you tell?”
“The flank twitches,” Archer replied. “Bit of a giveaway. See, when the Mark flares up like that, it tingles something fierce and usually sends your flank shivering and twitching. Plus, the way she looked around, like it was instinct 'stead of anything she really wanted to do... seemed pretty clear she was being jerked around by her Mark, to me at least. Like I said, ain't impossible it's something else, but I'd put any money I had on CMCD from the flank twitches on their own.”
Icy nodded for a moment before pausing, thinking over what she remembered of their confrontation. “But... her flank was twitching all the time, wasn't it?”
Archer's eyes widened, not in surprise but simply to show the enormity of what she was talking about, and she nodded back. “Yyyyyep. Like I said, if it ain't the worst case on record, maybe in history, I'd be surprised. And depressed. Must be a nightmare for her and... well, I'm not saying it makes what she was trying to do okay or anything, but... I can kinda understand why she'd have gone crazy and wanted to level the town. That level of CMCD? Lucky she could even speak after being buried in unwanted thoughts and info.”
Icy sighed, not quite feeling the same level of understanding as Archer, but still able to imagine how horrible such a state might be. Although that did raise another question, now that she thought about it: “So, how do you know so much about this... stuff, if you don't mind me asking? Is it to do with your problem with...” she trailed off as she indicated her head, remembering Archer's words about how much she knew about mental weirdness and tampering.
Archer, however, just shook her head. “Nah, it's not that. Might have learned a bit of it from that, but not much. It does mess with the mind, but it's not a mental problem, it's a magical one. Plus, far as I know – and I know – there's no way to force CMCD on another pony, so it's not something I'd worry about too much. Least, not in that way. See...”
She stopped in place, making Icy have to stumble a little to come to a halt next to her. Archer didn't seem to notice, instead simply looking forward into the thin crowd filling the marketplace. She wasn't looking at any one point or pony, instead letting her gaze settle on the general area.
Icy was about to ask what she was looking for when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Archer's leg stiffen, bunching up the muscles of her hind half before she thrust a hoof out, pointing forward and to the left. “In 2... 1... now!”
Following Archer's hoof, Icy blinked in confusion as she looked out along the line the hoof was pointing. “Now what? What's there now? Or... then? When you said now?”
Archer sighed as she lowered a hoof. “When I said it, I had a perfect shot through the crowd right to Carrot Top's head.” She said with no audible emotion as her flank twitched slightly.
Icy's jaw dropped as she stared at the bow and arrow on Archer's haunch, watching as the twitches faded. “You mean you have... why didn't you...?”
“Never came up,” Archer said with a shrug. “But yeah, it's nowhere near as bad as it can get but... well, sometimes... a fair bit, actually, I can't stop myself noticing the perfect shot or calculating all the factors in hitting a pony. Least... usually, it's only to hit them.”
“What do you mean?” Icy asked, tilting her head. “What else would you do than hit them with a shot?”
Archer swallowed, clearly a little uncomfortable. “Well, there are some things, but that's not what I meant. I mean, normally, if I see the perfect shot or angle to hit someone, I know I could use an impact arrow and just hurt 'em or knock 'em about a bit. But, well... if the perfect shot's into somepony's eye, ain't no kind of arrow that'd mean that'd just hurt them.”
Icy flinched back, suddenly looking at Archer with surprised horror. “You mean... because of this... thing, you can't stop yourself wanting to maim or... or kill ponies sometimes?”
Archer's face scrunched up in disgust. “What?! Are you crazy? No! I'd never do that and I never want to. The idea of wanting that makes me wanna puke!” She sighed, her face relaxing as she looked off to the side uncomfortably. “I never want to... kill anypony. I just... sometimes can't stop myself noticing and figuring out how I could.”
Icy let out a shaky breath, grappling with the weight of what she was being told. After a moment, she realized how much worse she must have made it with her accusation and started sputtering, “Oh my Celes... I'm so sorry, I didn't mean... I mean, I didn't know, I...”
“It's fine, Icy,” Archer said, waving the apology away as she resumed walking. Even so, her tone suggested that, while she was as relaxed as ever, it was far more out of depressed resignation than comfort. “I did kind of drop it on you like that and I can see how you'd think that. But, yeah, it's... kind of a problem.”
Icy found herself nodding absently, even as her mind still struggled with the idea that sometimes, even the most easy-going ponies could hide as deep pain as anyone else. “I'm still sorry you have to go through that. Is it... I mean, are you...?”
“Yeah, I'm doing okay,” Archer said, her normal tone beginning to reassert itself. “Spent ages in therapy about it, still have to check in with a psych every couple months, but I've gotten used to it. Still hate it when it makes me see... some things, but I'm pretty over it. Plus, least it always lets me know how good I am, even if I don't want it to.”
Icy hummed in agreement before a thought occurred to her. “Oh, is that why you shot that arrow up back in the forest when you saw a Poison Joke petal coming?”
Archer raised an eyebrow, her mouth raising slightly. “You mean when I gave away our position and almost got us killed by a tornado? Heh, may have played a small part and… well, definitely wish I had that excuse, but no. No, I just figured I could knock it away so I did and I didn't think before I fired.” She shrugged, her smile taking on an apologetic aspect. “I messed up, I'm mare enough to admit it. And you don't need something messing with your mind to do something stupid, trust me.”
Icy gulped loudly, a little ashamed of having brought it up. “I guess. Sorry.”
Archer rolled her eyes, her mouth shifting to a good-natured smirk. “You know, if this is how much you apologize when you've just saved the town, I'd hate to hear you after a screw-up. Cheer up, Icy,” She waved a hoof at the town around them as they trotted out through the thinning streets. “The town's safe, you've pushed yourself past your fears at least a little and, right now, there ain't any maniacs or monsters threatening us. No reason to stay thinking about the mistakes of yesterday when today's looking to be a real good day, huh? Just relax and enjoy the moment.”
Icy smiled a little in return, even if hers was a little more hesitant. Not for the first time, she wished she could feel Archer's relaxation, even now knowing what lurked beneath it. She shook her head, trying her best to dispel her worries about what may yet come and how they'd deal with it. Sure, there were almost certainly going to be new problems later…
The colt smiled as he dropped the final ingredient into the beaker, the liquid inside turning from a murky brown to a pale, luminous green in a single moment.
“Perfect,” he said to himself as he swirled the mixture around, watching as the light from the magical lamp on his desk filtered through the solution mixed with the light the liquid itself gave off and played across his face in shifting waves. “Unless I'm much mistaken - and I’m not - my little serum should be most effective. Now that leaves only the matter of testing... however many months that takes.” He sighed. “A scientist's work is never done.”
He glanced over to the side of his desk, noticing the silence from it that hadn't been there the last time he'd listened for it. “Speaking of, it seems the disruption mixture has had quite the desired effect.”
He looked down into the cage, at the two dead mice lying battered next to the small bowl of clear liquid.
“Which means we can move onto the next stage of testing,” he said, smiling as he looked out of the cave mouth into the land beyond.
A filly strolled through the Everfree Forest, humming to herself as she kept her eyes on the path ahead. The sunlight streamed through the canopy above her, giving her a clear enough view of the forest floor that she didn't feel overly threatened by her surroundings.
She shrugged her shoulders, feeling the weight of her saddlebags as the gathered herbs and materials shifted around inside them. She knew her parents were still very wary of her wandering about in the forest, but she had confidence in both herself and in Zecora's guidance to keep her out of the most dangerous parts of the area. In time, she hoped that her mentor could teach her to be even a fraction as in tune with the forest as she was, but for the moment, she was happy to stick to the paths Zecora had declared the safest.
In any case, she was close to her hut now, and thus close to her next lesson. She had no idea what kind of potion she was going to learn or help with today, but she was eager to find out. So eager, in fact, that she almost didn't notice the next turn her path took, meaning she blinked herself back into the moment just before she stepped out into the clearing full of blue, spotted leaves.
She chuckled as she froze for a moment. “Those leaves of blue are not a joke,” she said to herself, remembering Zecora's advice. Still, she lingered for a moment. “Although... they kind of are, I guess. I mean, it's what they're called, right? I mean, how bad could they really be?”
She hummed for a moment as she looked out at the field of flowers. After a second or two, though, she shook her head, trusting in her mentor's wisdom and dismissing the whole thought.
“And... there we go!” The colt said as he stepped back from the huge, metal apparatus in front of him, placing down his welding torch and lifting his mask. “Well, as much as the materials available in this primitive century allow, at least. Still, it should suffice... just.”
He hummed, stroking his grey-streaked beard. “Of course, without the energy to power it, it's little more than an art piece.” He let out a long breath through pursed lips. “And I doubt even if I had all the materials in the world… or all points of time within it, I could simply make that energy. Which means I have to build another machine to extract it... plus more to make it easier to get into a position to.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes at himself. “Well, no time like the present! And I should know.”
As he stepped over to his nearby desk and began sketching up blueprints, he thought ahead to when the devices would be finished. Once that was done, all he had to do was get a hold of the energy he needed.
And I'm sure, he thought with a chuckle, I can find some ponies who'll be happy to donate it.
“15 down: Barrage a wound with soothing liquid until it fades into nothing. Five letters.” Magic Eye tapped his pencil against his chin. “Well, fades into would probably indicate the end of the word and fading into nothing means it might end with an 'o'. And I know the fourth letter is 'v' from 'transitive', so 'vo'... barrage, soothing liquid... Ah! Salvo!”
As he filled in the boxes with the letters, he shook his head. He was talking to himself again, which was a sure sign that he was itching for the challenge that this week's cryptic crossword just wasn't providing. With a sigh, he marked the page and turned to the rest of the Times, scanning the news stories for anything interesting.
After a couple of minutes, his eyes fixated on one particular story. “Hmm... well I'll be. I didn't know that jewel was for sale, let alone that they were negotiating for the purchase. Then again, they are nobles, so it's not as if it not being for sale would be an impediment. Still, it's something to keep an eye on. I doubt they themselves would prove much of a challenge to take it from, but I'm sure I could find some worthy opponents.” He grinned languidly as he began speculating on possible schemes and puzzles.
The filly cantered to a stop, resting a hoof on a tree as she looked back at the bright, beautiful forest behind her. However, she wasn't focused on the natural wonders around her, instead making sure there was nopony pursuing her. She was fairly certain she hadn't been followed and didn't think the colt who'd spotted her changing had thought it anything strange, but she was taking no chances.
After a couple of minutes, she relaxed a little as she thought over what she'd acquired in her short stay in Fillydelphia. Thirty-seven new Marks – not a bad haul, all told, and she was sure they'd keep her going for a little while, at least.
Nevertheless, she was already thinking about her next destination as her flank started to glisten.
...but Icy wasn't going to concern herself with them now. Instead, she just followed Archer as they wandered out from the residential area of town towards Ponyville Lake.
As the huge body of water came into view, Icy felt the fear rise in her throat once more, the image of herself almost drowning flickering into her mind, soon followed by the image of the crashing wall of water rushing towards her, with only ice between her and it. She braced herself for the paralysing terror to rush into her limbs.
And yet, to her astonishment, the terror was only enormous. She still felt her stomach scrunch up into a ball and her breath start quivering, but her legs kept moving, only slowing down a little. Before she could think to suppress the thoughts, she focused on the images lingering in her mind.
It was hard to even see past the fear to inspect the memories, let alone analyse them. But, while she had no idea how, it seemed as if the memory of yesterday on the river was helping a little more than it was hurting. She still felt the fear, both present and past, but there was a strange undercurrent of... control to it. She was no less scared but somehow, deep down, she had the slightest inkling that she was still in control of herself and that the fright that suffused her mind wouldn't... couldn't control her.
She shook her head as she came to a halt just next to the shore, watching as Archer swam out into the lake, her throat tightening at the sight but not consuming her mind with thoughts of danger. She hummed as she sat down, the dread in her belly settling down as she reached forward and gently, experimentally dipped the tip of her hoof in the lake.
In an instant, she felt the water swirling around her hoof tip, moving around and under and with it. And yet, there was something different about it, or at least how she was feeling it. It was still vast, still unpredictable, still powerful, but it wasn't... pulling at her, as she'd always felt. It was just... open. Ready for her. Inviting, but not insisting.
Icy gave a sharp, bemused laugh as she withdrew her hoof and closed her eyes, listening to the splashes of Archer and the feeling of the water in front of her. A strange sense of serenity settled over her, not dispelling the fear but blanketing it. She let out a sigh as a shaky smile edged onto her lips.
Out in front of her, she felt the water – the flowing, ever-changing water, every bit as massive and imposing as ever but far calmer, the energy and hunger no longer bubbling beneath, if it had ever been there at all. All that she felt was the gentle flow of the currents, the popping ripples flickering skittishly across its surface, and the little leaves and flecks of reeds drifting along on top of it and spilling gently onto the sand of the peaceful shore.