//------------------------------// // Frost Bites // Story: Furry Contraband: Of Ice and Ivy // by UnweptSchlipps //------------------------------// Very soon, bullets of ice and snow flew through the air in a massive white storm, the strong wind threatening to send the trio of ponies flying like helpless twigs in a tornado. They squinted as they sloshed through the powder at their hooves, staying near each other so as not to disappear into the blizzard. Suddenly, a particularly violent gust of wind nearly caused Fluttershy to lose her balance; she felt herself be lifted into the air, only to be snatched by a blue hoof, which helped her find the cold ground again. “Th-thank you, Rainbow,” Fluttershy remarked, her voice barely audible. “I ain’t letting some storm take ya,” Dash replied. “Oh man, we picked the wrong day to travel.” After one final check to make sure their footing was stable, the duo turned around, only to find that their third party member was gone. “Ivy?” Fluttershy called, her voice slightly panicked. “Ivy? Where are you?” Cursing under her breath, Dash replied, “Come on Fluttershy, she must’ve kept on going. Can't lose her yet.” The two hastened their pace, calling out the young mare’s name, most of which was drowned out. But soon, a faint figure started to appear from the bleakness, and Fluttershy let out a cold sigh of relief. The pegasi reunited with the mare, who had stopped due to a large rock wall in her path. Ivy glanced back, saying, “There you are.” “That was pretty dangerous kid. Goin off in this crazy blizzard like that,” Dash scolded. “Well I'm still alive anyway.” The unicorn’s eyes moved up the rock face, but she was only able to make out a couple feet above her. “I think this is where the mountains start.” “The moment we get off the ground, the blizzard’s going to blow us away,” Fluttershy observed. Readying her wings, Dash crouched low and replied, “Yeah? Well no blizzards gonna push me around!” “And you’re telling me I’m being dangerous,” Ivy remarked under her breath, running a hoof along the wall. Folding up her wings with a snarl, the cyan pony shot back, “Alight then, smarty pants, what’s your idea?” “Dee and Dum mentioned there are paths carved into the mountains for ponies to travel through,” the unicorn answered. “So if we keep following this rock face, we should find one of those pathways.” “That’s a good idea, Ivy,” Fluttershy complimented, to which Dash let out a scoff and rolled her eyes. But with no other idea at hoof, the trio crept along parallel to the rocky wall, the wind now blowing at their backs. After only a few minutes of marching, the trio found a crack in wall wide enough for a pony to squeeze through, just as Ivy had said. The unicorn was the first to slip through, followed by Fluttershy, then a grumbling Rainbow Dash. “Crack in the wall, whatever…totally coulda just flown up or something.” “What was that, Rainbow?” “Nothin ‘Shy. Nothin…” They continued through the passageway, shielded from the wind by the tall rock walls. For a smaller pony like Ivy, the space was manageable. But Dash and Fluttershy struggled to squeeze through, trying to press their wings as close to their bodies as possible—and stones still managed to prod their sides and catch their cloaks. And throughout it all, the sound of the eerie wind reverberated through the crevasse, sending chills down Fluttershy’s spine. “Come on, Fluttershy, it’s just the wind. We can’t slow down,” Dash said, her wings aching to be spread. “Okay I know. It's just...off-putting.” “We’ve been through way worse than this, you know. You live at the edge of the Everfree Forest for crying out loud!” “D-don’t remind me.” Eventually, the pathway began to widen, giving some well-needed stretching room. While Rainbow Dash contorted her body into rather peculiar positions, Fluttershy trotted up to Ivy, who was leaning against the wall. The pegasus gave a warm smile, saying, “I suppose we’re going to take a short break now. How’s that?” “Fine,” was the short reply. The unicorn pulled back her hood just a tad, enough to reveal her pink horn. Trying to brush up on her small talk (because apparently a certain lavender unicorn told her she needed to), Fluttershy asked, “You have horn! Magic, yes?” “Um…excuse me?” “Ahem, I mean um….do you know any good magic spells? I was just wondering since you’re a unicorn and…all that…stuff, um…” The pegasus started to blush, but luckily the young unicorn didn’t seem pay any heed, replying, “No, not really. I’m not…too good with magic.” “Why not kid? You had to have learned something by now,” Dash prodded, painstakingly stretching out her quadriplexius dorsidashius muscles. “Well I haven’t. Nopony’s been around to teach me.” Ivy shot a glare at the brash pegasus, who simply returned the favor with a steely stare of her own. Fluttershy quickly added, “It’s okay, Ivy. Just because you’re a unicorn doesn’t mean you have to be good at magic. I’m not at all a good flyer.” “You got that right…” Dash muttered, walking towards her friend. “But, um, if you don’t mind me asking…what do you mean by nopony being there to teach you?” “Well I,” Ivy began to explain. But the words caught in her throat, and instead she turned her head away, saying, “Well, no it’s not that important. I just…haven’t been able to is all.” In doing so, a small trinket slipped out of the folds of her cloak, hanging around her neck. It was a tiny gold bauble shaped like an oval, attached to her neck by a glimmering golden chain. There was a small indentation where it seemed a photo would go. But the necklace was empty, no more than a simple flattened piece of metal. The gleaming jewelry certainly caught Fluttershy’s eye, and she remarked, “Oh, what a pretty necklace.” “Yeah, nice kid. Looks expensive.” “Uh, thanks,” Ivy replied, quickly fumbling the jewelry back into her cloak. “Where did you get it?” “It was a gift. I always wear it.” For a split second, Fluttershy could’ve sworn she saw a sliver of a smile pop up on Ivy’s face. But before she could be certain, Ivy’s lip quickly devolved into a frown, her eyes downcast. The young mare slowly began to walk forward through the passage once again. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh and mumbled, “Let’s just…go, okay?” And she certainly would have, if her hoof hadn’t run out of ground. She opened her eyes find her front hooves hanging over fifty feet of air followed by the welcoming sight of stalagmites pointing out of the earth like knives. She sharply inhaled, the breath stinging the inside of her throat, causing her head to spin as her body careened forward. Just before Ivy could slip off the edge, two pairs of hooves latched onto hers, pulling her away from the dizzying drop. Ivy sat back on her haunches, her breath coming back to her in the form of gasps. Fluttershy put her hoof on her shoulder, and she whispered, “That was a close one.” “Y-yeah,” the fuchsia mare replied, her heart pounding. She finally took a gander at the scene before her; the passageway’s other opening had been carved into the side of a chasm, and they were standing on an outcropping only a few feet wide. The chasm was rather dim, as it seemed the snow and ice had formed a ceiling above them, where only tiny pockets of light shone through. In fact, the only way to go was a ledge that moved along the chasm’s edge. Seeing this, Dash remarked, “Well, guess we’re going this way.” She managed to make do with the somewhat wider space, hovering just above the ledge while the other two followed her. On one side was the sheer rock wall, and on the other was a drop into the icy crevasse below. Rainbow Dash whistled, saying in awe, “Wow, would ya look at that? It’s a long way down, huh? A loooong way down. Like, a looooooooooong way down. You’d probably have a lot of time to think about your impending doom while you fall, huh?” “I’m feeling dizzy,” a timid voice mumbled. “Are you afraid of heights?” Ivy asked. “And you’re a pegasus?” “Like she said, kid. Not the best flyer.” As the cavern began to widen, the sound of the blizzard outside began to grow with intensity they bounced off the icy walls. Taking note of this, Dash shouted, “Hellooooo!” and the walls replied with a greeting of their own. “Heh. Rainbow Dash is awesome!” she added, and she was answered by an echoing ‘Dash is awesome, awesome, awesome’. With a smirk and a delighted chuckle, the pegasus remarked smugly, “And don’t you forget it!” Suddenly, what seemed to be a loud roar shook the cavern, causing Dash to pause in her tracks. Fluttershy and Ivy stopped as well, and the yellow pegasus turned around and said, “Oh, you startled me Rainbow. How did you do that?” “Uh…Shy? That wasn’t me.” Then came another sound, this one more like a thump, accompanied by a sudden jolt. Ivy stumbled, her hindleg slipping off the ledge. Holding onto Fluttershy for support, she said, “I-I think we need to move.” Just as she said that, a cacophonous mess of sound pierced their ears, bouncing off the icy walls until it seemed like they were engulfed in it. And amidst the noise and the shaking, Dash could make out a web of cracks behind them—and they were quickly approaching. “I’m with you kid!” she cried, and taking Fluttershy and Ivy’s hooves, the trio began to race through the cavern, hoping to find an exit further down. As she held onto Dash’s hooves for dear life, Ivy took a quick glance behind to see the icy walls beginning to collapse inward, no longer able to take the pressure of the violent winds and heavy snow outside. The cracks were moving dangerously fast—faster than they were. “You might wanna fly faster, Rainbow!” the unicorn yelled, keeping a vice grip on Dash’s hooves. “I’m trying!” the pegasus yelled, beating her wings as fast as she could. Just up ahead, she spied a beam of light shining into the dim cavern, a glow where the ice seemed thinner than the rest of the wall. “Hold on!” she shouted, setting her sights on the glowing bull’s-eye. She began to accelerate, her strong wings beating as fast as they could, straining to propel both her and the two ponies she had in tow. The collapsing walls still closed in on the trio, the cold wind starting to nip on their behinds. The light still seemed so far, and yet Dash pressed on, her beanie flying off her head. A roar began to build from her throat, the burning in her muscles contrasting with the coldness on her skin. Slabs of ice began to fall around them, one landing dangerously close to Fluttershy’s head. Cupping her free hoof over her head while frantically beating her own wings, Fluttershy cried, “Rainbow!” Letting out one final yell, the pegasus propelled forward like a rocket, her jet stream blowing away the falling debris. Their exit was quickly approaching, just like the collapsing tunnel behind them. Lowering her head and positioning her shoulder, Dash aimed straight for the small circle of light. Bull’s-eye. With a loud crash, the trio burst through the wall, just as the collapsing cavern sealed up behind them. They spun through the air, finally unable to hold onto each other, before crash landing in snow. Fluttershy slowly stood up, shaking white powder out of her mane. “I-is everypony okay?” Popping out of a pony sized hole, Rainbow Dash replied, “Aside from snow in places it shouldn’t be, yeah. Surprisingly.” Spitting out mouthful of snow, Ivy added, “I’m okay. Whew, that was…” “Amazing? Spectacular? Dasherific?” “Crazy…” “Oh uh…well yeah I guess that too.” As the unicorn got up to brush herself off, her hoof instinctively moved towards her neck. She let out a gasp when she realized it was bare. “W-where’s my necklace?” She began to frantically burrow into the snow, her eyes scanning the white for a glimmer of gold. “Hey kid.” Ivy turned around to see Dash hovering in the air, a gold necklace dangling from her hoof. “It flew off while we were spinning. Lucky I saw it.” She tossed it over to the unicorn, who let out a relieved sigh. Landing next to Fluttershy, Rainbow whispered, “Don’t even get a thank you.” “Oh hush, Dash. We just escaped an avalanche, we’re all a bit weary.” “Fine. Whatever.” The three ponies cast weary glances at each other, surveying the rocky, snowy terrain they had landed in. They were somewhere in the middle of the Crystal Mountains, that much they knew. Craggy outcroppings and tall peaks covered up most of the overcast sky. Wind still whished through their manes, although not as strong as the blizzard outside. No, somehow inside the mountains the snow fell gently from above, tickling Fluttershy’s snout as they landed. Fluttershy sneezed, causing the flakes to fly off her head. “Ahem, so where do we go now?” Rainbow Dash’s eyes scanned the rock walls, until her eyes lighted upon a series of ascending ledges covered with a thin layer of snow. The pegasus pointed her hoof and replied with a simple, “Up.”