//------------------------------// // Interlude II // Story: Frozen Over // by nctransgirl //------------------------------// Later That Day When I awoke, I found that I was back in a cavern not unlike my own, that there was a fish in front of me, and that a fire was rustling, the sign of Kalki's dedication to my safety. After stretching out and taking a few bites out of the cod, I left the small cavern to find Kalki sitting by the lake in the distance, eating a fish of his own. Apparently, though my ice magic was stronger, it was still prone to melting, and he gathered fish from the lake after seeing this. After trotting my way over to the lake, I suddenly came up with an idea, one that I knew would bring a smile to Kalki's face. "Hey, Kalki, do you wanna see something cool?" A grin the size of all of Equestria sprouted on my face. "Of course, Snow! What do you have in mind?" I could tell he was feigning enthusiasm, but ignored it. "When I ran along the ice with the magic covering up my feet, I got really excited! I want to try it again, so if it's okay, could I freeze just a little bit of the lake?" I asked, giving him a puppy-dog face. "That sounds fine, as long as you don't make it too thick!" He took another bite out of his delectable fish. "Yes! Now let's see...how did I do it last night?" I began to focus my energy into my horn, the glow returning to it, and allowed the wave to spill out over the lake, stopping the flow of magic about halfway through the waters. Next, I relocated some of my leftover magic to my hooves. The feeling tickled at first, and I couldn't help but giggle. With everything ready, I trotted my way to the icy lake, and began to glide, at first with hesitation, then with confidence, along the ice. The feeling was amazing - the wind flowing through my mane, the freedom that the ice gave me - I didn't want it to end. Soon, I began to skate around in circles, picking up speed with each passing second. "Interesting...she's using the magic that covers her hooves as a physical barrier between her and the ice, like a pair of ice skates..." Kalki wondered where my idea came from, but I doubt I'd be able to tell him convincingly that I actually pre-planned anything that happened last night. It wasn't long before I began to get bored of skating in circles. It was time to do something exciting, to really make Kalki cheer! After skidding to a halt, I resumed skating along the ice, building up speed. Once I had created enough momentum, I did something that, looking back, was a bit crazy, and began to levitate the ice below me as I skated along, slowly lifting me ever-higher into the air. There was no fear of falling - I had been taught to dispel such fears. Once I was about 20 feet in the air, I began to lift my front legs up, my balance rough, but still there. Below me, Kalki was in awe of my prowess...just not in the best sense of the phrase. "Snow Squall! Get down from there! You could hurt yourself!" He began to fly up, but I stopped him. "Kalki, you should stay down there! You might miss my finale!" Knowing him, he was probably steaming was rage at my apparent recklessness. Once my hooves were in the air, I began to reform the blocks of ice surrounding me into a large disc, and spun countless times in the center. The feeling of seeing the world flying around me with such speed was truly exhilarating, I must say, but the frigid air blasting against my body was overwhelming, and after not long, I lowered my platform to the ground and began to regain my balance, which took a surprisingly small amount of time. I expected Kalki to be infuriated. Instead, he came forward to me, taking a break from his meal. "Very well done, Snow! I worried, but it seems you were able to handle that little feat just fine!" He turned his attention to my flank. "And it seems you've accomplished an even greater feat. Why don't you take a look at your flank? As he requested, I peered into my reflection in the ice to find, to my surprise, that my flank had changed, the image of a pair of blue figure skates seemingly having been imprinted onto it. Shocked by the strange image and the manner in which it suddenly appeared, I exclaimed: "Kalki? What's going on? Is something wrong with me? Is this some strange disease? How do I cure it? Should I -" He cut me off, placing a talon over my mouth. "Nothing is wrong with you, Snow. Quite the contrary, actually. It seems you've earned your cutie mark." He gave me a warm smile. "Congratulations!" "Cutie mark? What's a cutie mark? Does it give me special powers?" I was absolutely brimming with excitement at this point. "I'm afraid not, Snow. But what it does do is indicate that you have discovered your one true talent, what makes you special and different from everypony else. In your case, it seems your special talent is your ability to skate gracefully across the ice." He grinned at the mark on my flank, my "cutie mark". "This is the first time I've ever seen a pony gain a cutie mark. It simply came slowly into view as if it had always been there, waiting for you to find it yourself." "You think I'm special?" I was simply waiting for additional praise at this point. "Everypony is special, Snow. You're just special in your own way. Now that you've earned your own cutie mark, would you mind showing me a few more tricks?" Kalki walked back to his fish, awaiting my first true performance. I began to gracefully land one trick after another, and for the remainder of the day, the sounds of laughter and cheering would permeate the air in glorious harmony.