//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Buried Emotion // Story: A Cold Night's Sleep // by CamoBadger //------------------------------// Chapter 9: Buried Emotion                   A low groan filled the room as Ice lifted her head, the first dusty light of morning peeking through her window and falling across her face as she woke from a rough night of sleep. Her mane was even more disheveled than usual, falling across her muzzle in a web of knots and frayed hairs. She hadn’t been able to get much peace during the night, the combination of the storm outside rattling her windows and her sadness from not being able to speak with Lug Nut the day before combining to keep her awake most of the night. A blue spark shot from her horn as her magic began feeding her monotone images of her surroundings, revealing that her room was in the same state it had been just before she fell asleep. Her glossy eyes peeled open, and the blind pony slowly pulled herself out from the covers with another soft groan.                   A few quick tugs pulled the sheets of her bed into place, returning it to a neat state that it was in whenever the mare wasn’t sleeping, and she stepped into the bathroom groggily. Her teeth gripped the nozzle of the tub and turned to let a flow of warm water fill the bath as she sat and counted down from 100. Once she hit zero, the mare twisted the knob shut and gingerly stepped into the pool of water, dunking her head to get her mane flattened out and hopefully remove the clumps that she could feel across her forehead.                   As she bathed, Ice’s mind wandered to how Lug must have spent his night; cramped up on a rickety cot in a cold room with nobody for company except actual criminals. She would go see him that morning, right after she finished up with clearing the snow of the storm from the farms around town. That is if whoever was in charge of prisoner visits would allow her to talk to the buck, if not she would just have to wait until he was released.                   Unless he decided to leave after that…                   Ice shook the thought from her head, firmly deciding that she would find a way to talk to him, even if it meant waiting outside the Police Station until he was released. She felt a bit silly for being so set on talking with the visiting pony, but Lemon had been right the day before; if she had a chance to try being happy with him she should at least try. The mare focused her thoughts on what she would say to him as she began running a small brush through her mane, sorting out all of the things she felt, and how she could tell Lug without freaking him out.                   The pony squeaked softly as the teeth of her comb caught on a knot just beneath her horn, derailing her train of thought as she focused on untangling the stubborn hairs.   < < < > > >                   Ice’s eyes grew wide as she took in the view of Snowhoof, and the mare’s head turned every which way to find that almost every building in town shared in a dramatic amount of damage. Most of the windows had been shattered in the storm the night before, allowing the homes and businesses within to be filled with snow and ice without the glass to protect those sleeping within. Many ponies stood outside either appraising their damage, or covering the holes with cloth and wood until they could get a replacement. Here and there, unicorns magically repaired their windows, moving on to help their neighbors with their own homes once theirs were fully closed up again.                   Needle’s record store was devastated even more so than several others. It had been built with a front wall almost entirely made from glass, something that helped the pony to show off her wares to those passing by, but had now lay shattered in front of the flow of snow that claimed nearly half of her store. The former DJ inside didn’t seem to care for the windows at the moment however, and was more busy digging through the snow to retrieve any disks that had fallen from their shelves during the night. A sad look was glued on her face as she tried to save the music she loved so much, and a steadily growing pile of vinyl that was damaged by the slowly melting snow sat just outside her broken window.                   Ice considered helping her, maybe clear away the snow that covered her floor, but she didn’t seem to be in much of a mood for others to interfere. The mare sadly passed her by, turning her head to look at the damage others had suffered as the music loving pony tossed another ruined disk to the pile. Many of them looked fine by Ice’s standards, but she wouldn’t question Needle’s judgment on such things; she knew more about those disks than the blue unicorn could imagine.                   Further down the street, Ice could see another of her friends trying to push snow from atop her stand with a lethargic motion, obviously not too enamored with what she had woken too. Lemon hardly even reacted as her blue coated friend approached and asked if she needed help, only nodding and stepping down from the collapsed covering. The cart that normally held bottled juices and frozen drinks sat lopsided from more than one shattered leg, making it nearly impossible for the yellow coated pony to solidly place her wares.                   “Thanks for the help,” she said with a small grin after they were finished, looking over to Ice for just a moment before looking back to her broken cart with a sigh. “Some storm.”                   “Yeah,” Ice replied plainly, not knowing what else to say about the weather. She felt lucky that her own home hadn’t suffered such damage, but couldn’t quite think of why it would be spared. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Ice looked around briefly before turning her attention back to Lemon. “So…I still haven’t gotten to talk with Lug yet,” she explained, hoping it might lighten the mood for her friend and get her mind off of the damage.                   “What?” Lemon asked frantically, snapping her head toward the blue unicorn before calming. “Oh, uh, why not?”                   “It’s complicated,” Ice replied, ignoring her friend’s reaction. “But I’m going to soon, I just don’t know what I’m going to say,” she explained, hoping to run a few ideas by the other mare before embarrassing herself at the station.                   “That’s not good. Uh, maybe you should write it down?” Lemon offered, looking around distractedly.                   “Really? Would that actually help?”                   “Uh, yeah! So that you won’t forget,” the yellow mare explained with a cheesy smile.                   “Could you, um…right some things down for me then?” Ice asked nervously, not sure if she was comfortable asking the pony for such a favor, especially in public.                   “What? Oh, sure,” her friend replied. “I uh…I’ll go find a quill.” The mare quickly dashed off, leaving Ice in the middle of the road with a confused look on her face.                   She waited for a few minutes, watching the way Lemon had run off to wait for her friend to come back until a creeping thought worked its way into her head. She could wait, but if she did then it would still take time to write everything down, and by then Lug might have been released. She wouldn’t know where to find him after that, and then writing what she wanted to say down would be pointless. And besides, she couldn’t read anything she wrote down! Why did Lemon even suggest that? Was she really so distracted by her ruined stand that she couldn’t remember Ice was blind?                   The mare sighed and stood up to head to the station. “Please don’t be mad,” she said to her friend even though there was no way for the mare to hear her.   < < < > > >                   “Of course you can meet with him, I’ll set you two up with a room.”                   Ice smiled to the officer as he stepped back from the desk to set up their meeting, glad that everything was working so quickly. She hadn’t really expected much trouble from the request since Lug Nut seemed like the kind of pony that would cooperate and behave with the police, but it was still good to see that she was right.                   The station looked even worse than the rest of Snowhoof. Scattered papers were still being collected by several of the officers while other ponies worked on trying to block up the smashed windows across the front of the building. It was also eerily quiet, and almost none of the officers were talking with each other as they went about their work. Shards of glass littered the floor, a mess that seemed like it should have been more important to clean up than some scattered paper, at least to Ice.                   While she waited, the mare looked around to see if Goldenhoof was working, hoping to ask the mare out for a quick drink after work if she wasn’t busy. Their meeting the day before had been so quick that they didn’t have a chance to catch up, and it had been a while since the last time they actually got to talk. Unfortunately, Ice didn’t see the detective anywhere and sighed. Maybe some other time.                   After a few minutes, the officer trotted back over to her with a lively smile. “Okay Miss Crystal, I’ll take you back to see him now.”                   “Thank you,” Ice replied excitedly, standing up to follow him into the back of the station.                   He took her into one of the back rooms, and opened the door to let her in. “Take as long as you need, we’re still working on his discharge paperwork.”                   The blue unicorn nodded and stepped into the room, glad she’d decided to head over rather than wait for Lemon. She could apologize later. “Hi Lug Nut,” she greeted him warmly, waving slightly as the door closed behind her.                   Waiting in the far corner of the otherwise empty room, Lug Nut turned around and cocked an eyebrow. “Ice, what are you doing here?”                   “I wanted to see you,” she replied shyly. “I didn’t know if you’d be around after they let you out.”                   “Well, you’d be right,” the stallion replied gruffly.                   “Oh, well…I guess it’s good I came then,” the mare told him with a smile. When he didn’t reply, Ice softly cleared her throat and trotted forward, sitting on the floor as she tried to remember how she wanted to start. “So…I was wondering if you might…stick around for a while after they let you out?” Ice’s eyes danced across the floor as she spoke, but her magic still showed her Lug’s reaction. He looked even more confused. “I mean, if you don’t want to that’s okay, but I was hoping you might consider it.”                   “Why would I do that?” he grumbled. “I’ve been here for two days and already got arrested for defending you.”                   Ice winced and tried to think of how she could convince him without sounding crazy. “I know…and I really do appreciate it, you saving me, not the getting arrested part.” The mare kicked herself internally for almost slipping up on that. “But that’s really not how the town always is. If you stick around…maybe you’ll see that it’s really a nice place.”                   “I’ve got a home of my own Ice, I really only came to get some parts.” Lug deadpanned. “I didn’t come for an extended vacation.”                   “I know, but,” Ice sighed and started pawing at the ground with her hoof. “I thought we could get to know each other more…”                   The buck stared at her for a few seconds, his face shifting to a confused look. “Why would you want to get to know me?”                   “Because you’ve been really nice, and I had fun at the bar.” The mare looked up to him with a small grin. “And I’d like to keep seeing you.”                   “I…you…what?” Lug stammered as his brain shut down.                   “I mean, if you’re okay with it,” Ice quickly added, worried she’d done something wrong. “If not then just…forget I said anything.”                   “No, no it’s not that,” Lug quickly replied. “I just…I didn’t think you of all ponies would be interested.”                   “Why’s that?” Ice asked with her head cocked to one side.                   “Maybe because you saw me kill somepony?” he pointed out bluntly.                   “To help me, it wasn’t like you did it for no reason.”                   Lug blinked and stared blankly at the mare. “And that doesn’t bother you?”                   “Well, maybe a little,” she agreed, deciding that lying to him wouldn’t help. “But it doesn’t mean you aren’t a good pony, and I’m not worried about you hurting me if that’s what you think.”                   Lug stared at her for a few minutes, and Ice was starting to worry that she’d said something wrong. The mare lowered her head again, staring into the floor as the spark of her magic vision slowed to a crawl. Way to go Cryssy…                   “Okay,” Lug finally blurted, still staring blankly at the blue unicorn.                   Ice’s head whipped up as her smile returned. “Really?”                   “Yeah, couldn’t hurt to stay around for a few more days.” The buck grinned and shrugged. “Besides, it was a fun night at the bar.”                   Ice barely managed to hold back her excitement at Lug’s response, doing her best to keep her cool so she didn’t frighten him. “Great! I think they’re almost done with your release papers, so I’ll wait outside,” she told him with a grin.                   “Sounds good. I’ll see you soon then,” Lug replied with a small grin.                   Ice nodded and waved goodbye before stepping out of the room. “All finished?” the officer waiting in the hall asked with a smile. The unicorn nodded and followed the stallion back to the front of the Station.                   “Thanks again.” She gave the officer a wave as she stepped back into the streets of Snowhoof, which he returned happily before going back to work.                   When Ice turned to go find Lemon and apologize, she froze. At first she thought her mind must be playing tricks on her, or that her magic was somehow messed up, but after another three images beamed to her head she was certain it wasn’t a mistake. Half of the town was marching through the streets toward the town gate. Loved ones scrambled among them trying to get their attention, but none of the marching ponies paid them any mind. They just pushed on toward the gate.                   Behind her, the doors of the station burst open and half of the officers inside galloped out and joined in on the parade, completely ignoring the calls of the others to get back to work. Even Lemon was among the marching ponies, and Ice quickly ran up to her and tried to get her attention.                   “Lemon, what’s going on here?” she asked loudly, trying to be heard over the yells of the other ponies trying to stop their loved ones. The yellow mare didn’t respond, she just kept walking with her eyes straight ahead. “Lemon, come on, this isn’t funny!”                   A burst of bitter cold air flashed over the town with a crack of thunder, instantly halting the pleas of those trying to stop the marching as they raced for cover. Ice quickly backed away from Lemon and stuck her nose in the air, trying to feel for any snow that might be coming down, but she felt nothing. When she lowered her head again, the parade of silent ponies had sped up to a gallop, quickly stampeding toward the gate. The mare sighed and decided she had to at least try and stop them. Her vision blacked out as she halted the magic, and her horn began to swirl with wisps of blue energy.                   Her head quickly began to burn and ache as her magic pulsed toward the front of the group, reaching unseen through the air. The pain worked its way through her body, and for a second she thought she was about to pass out just for trying. Come on, focus…focus…                   In front of the stampede, a blast of cold air shot between the trees of the forest and across the road leading out of Snowhoof, instantly weaving ice through the air to form a wall. The charging ponies slid to a stop, slamming the front row into the ice with a loud smack.                   Ice’s magic faded from her horn as she collapsed and gasped for air, not realizing she had been holding her breath the entire time. She was surrounded by darkness for a few minutes, her magic unable to continue after being pushed so far without the usual circumstances to cause it.  When it finally returned, the stampede had changed course to run through the forest, trying to get around the wall. A few had broken off, a trio of pegasi that now hovered around her and glared down on the mare with angry faces.                   “Do not interfere,” the center one hissed, barely sounding like a pony at all.                   “Get away from her, now,” a stern voice shouted from a few feet away. Ice turned to see Goldenhoof, along with a team of armored officers levitating spears aimed directly at the three pegasi.                   The blue unicorn tried to slink away and closer to Goldenhoof, but was stopped as another boom of thunder filled the air, and a gust of wind kicked up around them. Within seconds, the officers were surrounded by a cyclone of snow before being launched into the trees.                   “No!” Ice screamed as they flew out of her sight, trying to catch them with her own magic, but instead cringing in pain from the effort. She turned back to face the pegasi who had been watching over her just to see that they had disappeared completely, probably rejoining the herd as it escaped town.                   In their place was a single small colt, a unicorn, smiling at her behind a pair of… fangs. “Aren’t you a spunky one,” the foal chirped.                   Ice was about to answer when she realized everything had frozen around her. Any ponies that had been moving were frozen in place, stuck in mid scream or run. They weren’t coated in ice or magic, it just looked like time had stopped completely.                   “Oh, right. Don’t worry, they’re okay,” the colt assured her with a dismissive wave of his hoof. “I just wanted to talk to you for a minute without anyone interrupting.”                   “W-why?” Ice asked shakily. She tried to back away but found herself unable to move.                   “Because you tried hardest to stop them, and with such interesting magic,” the colt replied in an amused tone. “I’ve only ever seen it once, and I was worried I never would again.” The mare started to panic as the colt trotted closer to her. “But never in a pony. I wonder, does it still work from emotion?” Ice stopped struggling and just nodded, too afraid to speak with the odd pony. “Well that’s perfect! It’s a pleasure to meet you Ice Crystal! Or do you prefer Cryssy?”                   “How do you know my name?” the mare squeaked, once again struggling to move.                   “I know everything about you now!” the colt replied with a chuckle. “Like how you really want a certain stallion to come to your rescue like he did the other day.” As he spoke, the air around them swirled and changed to leave them in the junkyard. A few feet in front of them, Ice saw herself laying helpless as a pair of bucks leaned over her with wicked intentions. “This is my favorite part,” the colt hissed. Out of nowhere, a shadow shot from the piles of junk and rammed into the nearest of the two attackers, vaporizing the pony instantly. The second pony ran as the shadow looked down on Ice with caring eyes before slowly turning into Lug Nut. “Hm, interesting…” the colt tapped his hoof on his chin. “Did you know that you still can’t believe that it was Lug Nut who killed that pony? You can’t seem to picture him doing that to save you.”                   “I know it was him,” Ice argued, looking away in shame.                   “But you don’t want to.” The image around them swirled out of existence, and they were back where they were talking before. “Unfortunately, he won’t be coming right now, he’s still locked up.” Ice shrunk away, finally finding herself able to move. “Don’t worry little filly, I won’t do anything to you. You’ve made me quite happy with this little conversation.” The colt grinned deviously and trotted off, chuckling lightly under his breath. “I’ll be watching you Cryssy.” A deeper, more rattling voice, echoed all around her and suddenly time started again.                   The colt was nowhere to be seen, and the stampede of fleeing ponies had disappeared from the town entirely. Crying mothers, wives, husbands, and fathers filled the streets as they tried to beckon their loved ones back, but to no avail. Ice slowly stood up and looked to the police station, hoping that Lug would be waiting outside, but he wasn’t. With her head hung in fear, the mare slowly trotted toward the doors. As she walked, the mare’s fear seemed to fade inexplicably, and suddenly she didn’t feel much of anything. It was strange that the fear was gone, but it was soon replaced by a warm feeling as she found herself without worry. She hardly even remembered the fanged colt who had spoken with her only moments before.