//------------------------------// // Epilogue: When the Ice Melts // Story: Cold as Ice // by CamoBadger //------------------------------// Epilogue: When the Ice Melts         The layer of snow coating the ground crunched beneath the wheels of the chariot as it touched down, pasting a smile onto Cryssy’s face as her ears filled with one of her favorite sounds from her childhood.         At this time of year every other town in Equestria had already wrapped up winter, even though Cryssy didn’t understand it when she helped out in Ponyville, and the familiar sound of crunching snow was more welcome than she ever thought it would be; she was finally home.         The decision had not been easy for her, and even now she continued to wonder if she had made the right choice. As much as she had wanted to go back home during her two year ordeal, as the chance finally arose doubts had bubbled into her mind. The town was filled with memories of her past, and she wasn’t sure if she would be able to handle seeing her home again, not after what had happened there.         She leapt from the seat of the chariot, and her heart skipped a beat as the cold powder fluttered around her hooves, sending waves of nostalgia through her body. She turned to the guards which pulled the chariot, thanking them for the ride on such short notice. They assured her it was no problem, as they had never even seen Snowhoof before; it was a new adventure for them to come all of the way up here.         The Princess’ chariot took off again, disappearing from Cryssy’s view within only a few moments. She couldn’t believe she had been given a ride on the royal chariot, a favor from Celestia herself after all that the blind unicorn had been through. The trip home had been much more pleasant than it would have been if Cryssy had walked, and was only a few hours rather than the weeks it would take otherwise.         She turned away from where the chariot had landed, and was greeted by the beautiful sight of a heavy wooden sign hanging from a pair of trees; Welcome to Snowhoof: The Land of Ice and Snow.         As she passed under the sign a wave of relief passed over the pony, along with a feeling that only home can give a pony; the feeling of truly belonging.         For the days following Typhoon’s banishment, the unicorn had been awaiting the punishment she feared would fall upon her head after everything she’d done. She was sure that after the pain she’d caused that ponies across Equestria, or at least in Canterlot, would be chanting for her head. But the punishment never came.         She started to grow worried that her punishment was being argued by the Princesses after a while, thinking it must be worse than she thought. The hours spent resting in a local hotel brought her no comfort, even though her fees were waved by Celestia herself, and she chose to see them as a ‘last hoorah’ before being sentenced to a life of prison.         Only a few days ago, the two Princesses had come to visit her, and she immediately feared the worst. Yet their words quickly calmed her. The reason she had been left alone was to allow her some rest after her ordeal, not so that they could decide a punishment. In fact, no punishment was to befall her at all. The royal sisters understood everything that had happened, and were perplexed at why Cryssy had ever thought she would be punished for it. Their visit was only to see what she wished to do next, and upon hearing her wish to return home, they quickly offered to help in any way they could.         Just a few hours before her departure, even Gilda had come to visit; with an escort from the Royal Guard of course. At the sight of the griffin a small burning lit in her chest, but it was held back by the knowledge that without her the others may have never escaped. The griffin’s apology had been heartfelt, and the unicorn could hear in her voice that she was honest in all of her words, but she could never bring herself to forgive the griffin. Still, wishing to give her at least some peace of mind, the unicorn had voiced forgiveness, hoping that Gilda would accept it without questioning whether it was true.         The unicorn shook the thought from her head and returned to the present, no longer wishing to linger on any thoughts of what had happened in Canterlot. As she trotted down the path through the trees, Cryssy tried to think of what the town once looked like, and wondered if it had changed in the past two years. She doubted it would be as large and glamorous as cities like Manehatten, and honestly she was fine with that; the town’s small homey feel was always one of her favorite things about Snowhoof, and she was certain that the townsponies would feel the same and fight to keep it that way.         When the town finally came into sight, Cryssy’s eyes glittered with happiness. It looked almost exactly the same as she had left it, with only a few new buildings in view. Snow covered the roofs of the houses and shops as far as her magic could show, and ponies walked to-and-fro between the buildings conducting business or just out on the town for a day of relaxation and shopping.         The unicorn first strolled through the main street, taking in the sights of the town she loved so much. The shops which had been around since she was only a filly were still standing, likely owned and run by the same families as they had been while she grew up. She recognized a few faces as she walked; ponies she had known from school or met through her parents or just from her nights out with friends.         Nopony seemed to pay her any mind, which she understood; she had been gone a long time, and she doubted anypony would recognize her just passing by on the street.         At the end of the street she took a left turn down a small gravel pathway, one which was still cleared of snow each day, one that only lead to one place. Cryssy was slightly afraid of going there, but she needed to, it was something she wished she could have done every day while she was gone.         At the end of the path was a large field which was cleared of snow daily, like the path leading to it. The clearing was well kept, with a neatly groomed cover of grass, interrupted only by the stones which stuck up from the earth in a neatly organized grid.         Cryssy worked her way between the stones, searching for two in particular. Each of the stones was carved into a unique design; a lightning bolt here, a pair of clouds there, but all of them symbolized the same thing.         Cryssy finally found the two she was looking for, placed beside one another near the edge of the clearing. One was carved to resemble a single cloud, while the other was in the shape of a star above two waves.         The blind unicorn fell to her haunches in front of the two stones as her eyes welled up with tears. She focused on the image of the two stones in front of her, her mind travelling back to the time she had spent with the two ponies before that night so long ago.         “Mama…Daddy…” she stuttered as the tears dripped from her cheeks, landing silently on the grass beneath her. “Please f-forgive me.”         The pony collapsed to her chest, laying her head on the grass in front of the headstones as tears streamed from her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”         She didn’t know how long she lay before the graves, silently begging for forgiveness as her mind raced through her childhood; all of the joy her parents had showed her, everything they had done for their blind daughter. All of the laughter they had filled her young life with, and all of the love they showed her. They did it all for their little Cryssy, without asking for or wanting anything in return but for her to have a good life. She had taken it all for granted, as children often do. It had just been the way things were, and she never thought twice about it. Not until that horrible night; the night that her parents were taken away from her. She wished more than anything that she could just see them one last time, to thank them for everything they had done for her; for raising her to be a good pony.         As she mourned a soft gust blew across her body, and a faint sound broke the silence in the air, “I-Ice?”         Cryssy turned her head to the voice, waiting a moment for her magic to flash the image to her mind before turning back to the graves. Beside her stood a pegasus, one that she thought she would never see again.         He trotted to her side and lay down beside her, silently looking to the headstones in front of her. Cryssy found herself leaning into him after a few minutes, her head rested on his shoulder as tears continued to flow from her eyes.         Red Lightning gently placed his wing over her back, silently comforting her as she grieved for her lost parents.         After a few moments a soft whimper breaks the silence, “I’m so sorry Red” Cryssy’s voice shook as she spoke. “I shouldn’t have turned you away…you just wanted to help.”         She felt a hoof wipe her cheek, gently pulling the tears from her coat, “You have nothing to be sorry for Ice.”         She turned to him and stared into his eyes, he gave her the same look he had two years ago; the look of a pony who truly cared for her.         “Losing your parents couldn’t be easy, I understand why you turned me away” as he spoke he turned back to the graves, staring in silence for a moment before speaking again. “What happened to you Ice?”         Cryssy lowered her head at the question, trying to think of anything she could say to hide her true reason for leaving. She couldn’t tell him about the griffins, and everything that had really happened in the past two years. So she told him what she imagined anypony would do after what happened to her, “I just couldn’t be around these memories…everything around me…I just couldn’t stop thinking about what happened to my parents.”         “Did it work?”         The question caught her off guard, she had hoped her explanation would push away any other questions; she couldn’t lie to him again, “No, not entirely.”         Another moment of silence passes between the two, Cryssy’s tears finally stopping as the initial shock of seeing the graves for the first time wore off.         “Are you hungry?”         The blind unicorn turned to the pegasus beside her, a small smile spread across her muzzle at Red’s offer. She thought back to how she felt the first time he had asked her out; the excitement and the happiness from that day after school all returning in the present moment as she looked at him.         “Enjoy your meal” the waitress told the pair happily as she placed the last plate in front of Cryssy.         The two smiled to the young mare which had served their food, and thanked her for the meal. Once she left the two turned back to one another, resuming the conversation they had started just before their food was brought out.         “Well, I stopped in quite a few towns actually” Cryssy began telling Red about where she had gone after she left Snowhoof, focusing on only describing towns, and leaving out any of the more unpleasant details. “I think I enjoyed Trottingham the most. Everypony was really nice, and it was such a clean city. It wasn’t as nice as home, but it felt like a good town.”         “I’ve heard of that city before,” Red replied once he finished chewing a bite of his sandwich, “but I’ve heard the ponies there have a strange accent.”         Cryssy giggled a little at the memory, “Yeah, it’s a little different from what you’re used to hearing.”         “Did you ever get to see Canterlot?”         Cryssy took a bite of her salad and chewed it slowly, trying to think of how she could describe the regal city without it sounding corny. Once she finished chewing and gathering her thoughts, she swallowed the leaves and replied, “Yes, that was the last place I went before coming back here” she looked across the street, staring at the food carts and vendors as she continued. “It was…nice. The buildings were beautiful, and very big. I could hardly see the tops of most of them.”         She heard Red chuckle a bit, “It sounds a lot like how the books describe it.”         She turned back to him and nodded happily, “Definitely, but they don’t do it justice. You need to see it yourself sometime, it’s wonderful.”         “I may just do that, fly on over one day to see it” Red told her with a smile.         The rest of the meal was spent chatting about how things have been in Snowhoof since she left. Cryssy found out that Red got a job working with the town weather team. The weather in Snowhoof may only come in two forms; snowing or sunny with a chance of snow, but it is a lot of work to get all of the clouds moved. The more common of the weather patterns is snowing, and it requires a lot of clouds to keep that pace up, so even in storms the teams spend most of the day rotating the clouds so fresher ones are near the bottom while others are sent up top to be replenished with snow.         That was Red’s favorite part; refilling the clouds with snow. It was tough, and required a lot of flying to keep the snowflakes flowing from the factory floating overhead; but it kept him busy, and made the days fly by, literally. Cryssy was lucky enough to catch him on his day off, the only one of the week.         Once the two finished eating, Red quickly offered to pay for the meal, arguing that Ice shouldn’t have to pay when it was his idea in the first place. Cryssy agreed, but said she owes him another dinner, bringing the total up to two.         “I still owe you from the night I promised you a second date” she told him with a wink.         As the two trotted away from the diner, Cryssy turned to the pegasus with a shy look on her face. “Red, would you mind…coming with me to see my old house?”         The pegasus smiled and nodded, “It would be my pleasure Ice.”                 “Before we get there,” Red spoke for the first time since the two had left the diner, “you should know that it is not what you remember.”         The two ponies walked slowly down the streets of Snowhoof, the familiar path that Cryssy had taken home from mid-town throughout her childhood. It all looked almost identical to what she remembered, only a few renovations to the homes lining the roads gave away that she had even been gone.         She turned to the pegasus as they walked, “What do you mean? Did the new owner change the house?” she almost sounded angry.         “No, nothing like that” Red assured her. “You’ll have to see it to understand.”         As the two grew closer to Cryssy’s old home, she slowed her pace, as if she was afraid to see her old home again. And she was afraid; afraid that all of those thoughts, all of the sadness, which had plagued her for almost two years, would come back in an instant.         Those feelings which had not affected her when she saw her parent’s graves earlier that day, and she knew why; she had no sad memories of her parents themselves. They had only given her joy in her life, never a moment of her youth was spent in sadness as long as mama was there to lift her back up and daddy was there to keep her strong. But the house was different. That was where it had all happened, where it had begun. But she had to see it again, to push through the misery and sadness it had forced on her life.         She never could have expected what she saw when they finally reached the curb in front of her childhood home. The house had completely disappeared, and had been replaced by what appeared to be a giant snowflake.         “After you disappeared,” Red spoke from behind her, “the town spent a week searching for you. Work in the town stopped, everypony that could helped with the search. We combed the forest, and looked within a day’s walk of town down every road. My father led the airborne search; we looked for you everywhere Ice, but there was no sign of you.         After that, we all tried to go back to our lives, but we never realized how much your family had affected all of us each day. Whenever we walked past your home, a wave of sadness seemed to pass over us. Your family was loved by everypony here Ice, and we couldn’t take the sadness.         “Six months ago, the town unanimously agreed to remove your family’s old home, and replace it with this” he motioned with a hoof toward the snowflake. “It’s carved from glimmer marble, a stone that is only found in the forest surrounding Snowhoof.”         Cryssy slowly walked toward the carving, and noticed a pathway which passed through a garden. She stopped at the edge of the path, and looked to each side. Hundreds of flowers were planted on either side of the pathway, one side arranged to form a cloud, while the other looked like a star above waves; her parent’s cutiemarks.         A tear dripped from her cheek and fell onto one of the petals beneath her as she looked at the garden. She wished she could see more than ever, even if just for a moment, to see the care which had been put into the site.         “There is a third arrangement behind the statue, it’s your cutiemark” Red said quietly as he stepped beside her.         Cryssy looked back to the path before slowly trotting closer to the statue. At the base of the giant snowflake was a single pedestal, with a slightly raised portion in the center. She stopped above the block of stone, and stared down at the raised section; she knew what it was, and her inability to read was more painful now than ever.         “The nurse at the hospital wrote it” Red’s wing gently folded over her side as he began to read. In Loving Memory Snowfall, loving mother, cherished wife, and friend to all Riptide, caring father, proud husband, and the greatest weather planner in the land Ice Crystal, the child of Snowfall, able to bring joy to even the saddest pony Though they were taken from us so tragically, they continue to give us all inspiration to stay happy through even the toughest of times.         Tears matted the coat on Cryssy’s cheeks as he finished reading the plaque, flowing freely as she was overcome not with sadness, but with joy. She had no idea how much everypony in Snowhoof had cared about her and her family, and that thought filled her with more happiness than she had felt since before her parents had died. At that moment she knew she had made the right choice. That no matter how many bad times she went through, or how terrible some memories may be, the good memories were the ones that mattered. And now she was free to create a lifetime of good memories in Snowhoof. -The End- Well, the final editing and re-writing of Cold as Ice is complete. I greatly apologize for how long it took for this to happen, and I regret having not finished this story in the correct manner the first time through. To the readers which originally made this story a success, and gave me the motivation to continue it, I offer my deepest thanks, and again I apologize for taking so long to end it the proper way. To those who have read the original ending, you will notice that Ice Crystal has taken a bit of a change in this new ending. The reasoning for this is that I felt she had remained static during the first version of the story, with very little development through time. My hope is that this new ending gives her more depth, and makes her character stronger overall. I hope all of you enjoyed reading this story, and will continue to read any fictions I write in the future. On that note, the sequel will likely still happen, but it will be placed on a new timeline, taking place deeper in the future rather than directly after this story. I will not promise it will be written, but if it is I hope you all enjoy it as well. Again, thank you all for reading. -CamoBadger