//------------------------------//
// 4 - Respite 
// Story: The master and the windigo 
// by stupidswampdragon 
//------------------------------//

You can't just turn as if you were walking; rotating a two-metre piece of wood is quite hard. To make a turn, you need to yaw those skis. Bend your legs and move your centre of mass. It's not difficult...

...but as she sped down the slope, Lyra was pretty sure that instructor was full of it. Just bend your legs! Sure! Every instruction sounds simple in theory. She had her hooves full just keeping herself upright, her sense of balance not being on friendly terms with the odd posture the skis demanded. That part went fairly well anyhow; going forward without tripping over.

Taking turns was a different matter.

She tried to do as the instructions said. She didn't try to force the skis; she just bent her legs and leant a little to the right, hoping the shift of mass would do the work for her. It seemed to work fairly well: she entered a turn to the right. A ridiculously wide turn that was almost as if she just wanted to strafe, but a good enough beginning. It stayed a good enough beginning too, as something went wrong mid-motion. She didn't realize what happened - she only felt a yank on her left legs.

Uh-oh.

Then saw as the red piece of wood sail draw an air in the air. Which looked majestic and everything - those small flecks of snow were nothing short of wonderful - but alleviated little of how the ski was doing the performance without her.

This ain't looking goo-

Heavier than a polished piece of wood, Lyra didn't catapult into the air herself. She got yanked hard to her left instead. Courtesy of her twenty-some hours of experience, she didn't crash straight away; the other ski remained firmly attached to two of her hooves, so there was hope. Indeed, she managed to balance herself just right and avoided falling off. It wasn't a truly conscious action on her part; she just wanted to avoid crashing at all costs. The only thing she could note was how there was a good reason why skis came in pairs: balancing on one was borderline torture. No matter how she tried, Lyra couldn't find a stable position over the remaining piece of equipment. She was swaying to the side all the time, each correction proving to be just a little too large. She succeeded anyhow, drawing a wavy line into the snow as she worked her way down the slope. The balancing game required her full focus, though. Appropriately, the larger world stopped registering with her; a problem which a larger tree was happy to remind her of.

It was a short lesson. Just a dull thud and then darkness. And cold. Lots of cold. Lyra saw how the pine-trees were covered with snow, but she had no idea of the real quantity until the whole white stuff fell on her.

"Oh for the-! Vacation, she says! FUN, she says!" Lyra grumbled as she started digging herself out. Such was her rage that not even a mouth full of snow could stop her from cursing. "I swear, next year I'm taking her to Saddle Arabia just so she can get toasted! Just who the heck puts trees next to a practice lane- whah?"

She forgot about the last few words, a reaction attributed to something pushing the snow off from her in a rough fashion. Somewhat dazed, Lyra's first act was to blink up - but her horn didn't start using her magic without her conscious will yet. Then she glanced to the side and saw the source of the quick help.

"The practice lane is over there," Flash Freeze exclaimed, acting impeccably calm for somepony who was administering first-aid at a crash scene. "You skidded right across two barriers, an empty lane and a black lane. I was actually wondering if you would also cross this forest, but it appears the powers be decided you had enough fun already."

"Fun..." Lyra snickered. She relaxed her neck, her head dropping all the way to the snow - which wasn't much, considering the small hill she was still buried in. "Could you get me out of this pile?"

"Certainly!" Flash Freeze nodded. He gave no other indication of compliance though; Lyra remained stuck in the snow-hill while the noble turned his head from one side to the other.

"MOVE ALREADY!" Lyra yelled, her frustration with the day reaching its peak. "GET! ME! OUT! YOU-"

She was yanked forward the next moment... and was back to being neck-deep in the snow another moment later, the white slope being the same slushy-soft as the earlier snow-hill. She sunk straight back in, only stopping once her torso was almost halfway buried.

Lyra gave that fact a pretty sombre assessment.

"Figures. You know what? I actually hate snow."

"Well, I did want to find your other ski... or at least find a suitable resting place to pull you onto," Flash Freeze sighed, shaking his head with mild disagreement while he pushed a red ski next to Lyra. "Let me see your head, anyhow. You gave this tree a real hard hug there."

Lyra tried the logical thing. She placed her front hooves onto the skies and tried lifting herself out of the snow; but the cracking sound quickly convinced her to stop. I must be a little too heavy. So she stopped mid-motion, hooves still on the ski but only halfway out of the snow. It was about as embarrassing as it could get, made worse by the viscount openly checking her out; but it also meant only half of her clothes getting wetter by the second.

She could settle for that.

"Well would you look at that!" Flash Freeze whistled, then walked away and yanked the other red ski from beneath the snow. "You look fine, Miss Lyra. Also, the missing part of your attire resurfaces... lucky breaks all around!"

"Real lucky," Lyra gave the red ski a hateful glance, then tried to climb back onto it. It worked surprisingly well; she didn't start to slide as she fiddled around. Only after a minute did she realize the reason. The viscount was holding her skis in place with a carefully placed stomp.

"Thanks," Lyra sighed once she got the skies locked back to her hooves. The adrenaline thinning out of her blood and the cold doing its work on her, she felt a lot less annoyed than earlier. A lot more embarrassed, too. "I think..."

"It is quite all right," Flash Freeze made a toothy grin. "I am not just the proprietor of this domain. I must take my share of looking after the guests... and skiing outdoors always suited me better than being locked up in the château all day. Administration and housekeeping gets boring rather quick."

"Even so! I guess you just love idiots who make your job harder," Lyra bit onto her lips.

"I would be unable to keep the Dancing Lights in shape without idiots who come here," Flash Freeze winked at her, then procured a rope from his saddlebag. "Stand still, now. With those wet clothes, I think it would be wise we took you to a shelter, Miss Lyra."

You love us idiots... but you still would rather drag me there than ask me to follow you, Lyra nodded, careful the dejection did not show up on her face. The logical part of her understood that Flash Freeze was only doing his job. The viscount would surely prefer hurting a customer's feelings than letting those customer kill themselves. The latter was kind of bad for PR.

But as the rope got tied around her torso, she couldn't help but wish she sank back under the snow.

Forever, if possible.





"Aaahhhh. I always liked the smell of burning wood," Flash Freeze took a deep whiff from the air. "It reminds me of my younger days... when I would have the time to prepare meals in the wild. Good days. Simpler days."

Wrapped snugly in a thick blanket, Lyra gave the bout of nostalgia an absent-minded nod. She was more interested in the fire. The yellow-red flames were crackling in the fireplace of the safe house. It was the only warm spot in the building, and after a half day of practising in the cold outside, she felt more than grateful for the respite.

She did wonder why they picked the small shack instead of just going back to the château, though. Maybe because it was a lot closer? It also had a supply of warm blankets. It was completely empty and lacked any charm the old castle-turned-hotel had, though. No dining hall or kitchen service either...

"It is almost impossible for me to make my own meal nowadays," Flash Freeze carried on, his gaze lost into the fire. "The Dancing Lights does not permit such tomfoolery. Always something to do, always something to attend to..."

"That's why you brought me here," Lyra uttered as the realization hit - and bit onto her tongue right away. Still a little too late, as usual. The best she could do was break into a cold shiver and mentally smack herself over the head.

Brain, why are you a slow-poke all the time?

"I brought you here because it is a rather long way back to the château," Flash Freeze gave her a surprised look. "I would also assume that you would have preferred not to be seen by everypony in that state."

"In that state...?" Lyra raised an eyebrow. She was perfectly fine. Her nose was a little swollen and she had a splitting headache - but to any spectator, she would appear just dandy.

"Being dragged back by a rope," Flash Freeze chuckled lightly and turned back to the fire.

"Oh! Oh, err... oh," Lyra pulled the blanket over head. If that was the viscount's true reason, then he was being awfully considerate with her.

"Haha, that sounded nice, did it not? In truth, I am being quite selfish right now," Flash Freeze giggled to himself. "You could be seriously hurt, so I did not want to leave you out in the field. You look fine, though... so I neither wanted to get my doctors or the authorities involved too early. I am dragging you back on the first sign of you being unwell, though."

"Am fine," Lyra hastily muttered. She was pretty sure of what she could expect if that came to pass. Word would spread, and she would never live the shame down. Especially since Bon started taking the blue slopes that morning.

"A relief to hear that," Flash Freeze sighed. His entire figure relaxed a little, the viscount leaning further back as he rolled his head around. "I saw you run over the signpost at the edge of the practice area... but I honestly expected you to just stumble after you lost a ski. By when I decided to chase you, I was already too late. I think my heart skipped a few beats when I saw you head into the forest... and then once more when you hit a tree."

I struck a signpost? Lyra blinked, the explanation of her accident turning out to be oddly down-to-earth. Looking around before taking turns... did I really miss that part?

"You were the first to help me anyhow," she waved a hoof at the noble. She couldn't tell if FF was being moody, upset or simply relieved; so she tried her best to nudge him towards the last. Eccentric as he might have been, the noble was pretty friendly to them so far. He really deserved better than taking flak for a mistake a stupid pony made.

"Thank Celestia I was near when it happened," Flash Freeze rubbed a hoof against his forehead. 

That absent-minded comment also drew Lyra's attention to the strange fact: whatever she happened to do over the last two days, the viscount was always nearby. Musing on that for an idle moment, Lyra came to the most logical conclusion.

The viscount clearly had some sort of omnipresence inside his domain. Which was all sorts of cool, even at first consideration.

"Yep! Sure you were," Lyra giggled, trying to lighten the mood; then she leant forward just enough so the silver pendant flipped out from the blanket's cover. "I'm just peachy, too! So quit being so broody. No way I could be hurt with this amulet on me anyway, eh?"

Despite all odds, the goofy remark worked. Flash Freeze quenched a laughter into a snort and turned around, his brown eyes wandering onto the amulet.

"Yes, well... who knows? Maybe it does work," he stared with an incredulous expression.

"Surely it does!" Lyra stuck to the topic that seemed to work. "I'm pretty sure it does!"

"See, I am not a pony who gives much for baseless superstitions," Flash Freeze mused, his hoof moving from his forehead to his chin. "But I am glad that you found some faith in it. Going down the slopes is often times like life, where success hangs on the confidence in one's self. I would be really glad to hear that my trinket helped you anyhow! Much more enjoyable than its story with the Ninth."

"The ninth..." Lyra echoed with a vacant expression, the title evoking nothing from her mind. Then the number clicked and she switched to an inane grin. "Ah! You mean one of your great-great-great-whatever ancestors, right? Flash Freeze the Ninth."

"Great-whatever!" Flash Freeze winced with a brief but pained smile on his face. "But yes... I was referring to him. Two-lives Ninth, as his servants were reported to call him."

"Two-lives?" Lyra cocked her head to the side. That was a pretty strange moniker, even for some noble willingly sticking in the middle of cold and unfriendly mountains. "What'd he do?"

"Not much. He was a typical noble of his age. He spent his days maintaining his fortress and his army. He played the political games with the other nobles... both with words and swords," Flash Freeze shrugged. He turned his attention to a stack of wood before continuing, throwing a badly cleaved log into the fireplace. "He was always described as being a little eccentric, even by his peers. You see, Canterlot was not a big thing in his time; but even back then, important decisions were always settled on big gatherings. Nothing makes or breaks grudges like barrels of wine, haha! But good old Ninth, he rarely attended those parties. He was kind of a recluse. Respect demands I believe it was of his volition; but I guess the truth was a little less fancy than him being a self-appointed hermit."

"He wasn't popular?" Lyra took a shot in the dark. "You just said he started wars! I can't imagine a warmonger being popular."

"Not nowadays, no. Back then, though? Rattling your sword was merely considered upping your tone a notch!" Flash Freeze laughed and settled next to the fireplace, facing Lyra. "No, Ninth had different issues. How can I put it eloquently... formalities regarding nobility were a lot stricter back then. And when customs dictate the farthest relative you can marry is your cousin... well, strange things are bound to happen."

"Oh! Well... ouch?" Lyra made a face. That concept was definitely something she didn't need a reminder of. "Enough about that, okay? How'd we even get to this? Weren't you talking about the amulet?"

"Oh, it does tie in... I just got a little side-tracked there. Ahem! So the good old Ninth was never the brightest mind around. If I were to take all his exploits into consideration... I might even say he was not quite right in the head," Flash Freeze admitted with a frown. "But one day he toppled everything else he has ever done. Nopony was really sure how it came to happen, but he and his escort got lost in a raging blizzard. All accounts say it was the storm of the century and nopony expected any of them to ever show up alive... but our dim-witted Ninth defied the nay-sayers for a final time. He banged on the château gates and asked if he could stay for a night. It was so incomprehensible that his subjects thought some higher power was involved. Truly, it was nothing short of a miracle. A miracle of his own making, most likely."

"Woah," Lyra whistled admiringly. She absolutely did not foresee that twist, that was for sure. Then she thought back to their original topic and quickly understood just how the story was relevant. "Ah! The amulet! He was wearing this amulet, right?"

"You are quite sharp, Miss!" Flash Freeze combined a theatrical bow with a borderline-goofy grin. "Yes, all accounts attribute his survival to that jewellery. From that day onward, it was no longer just a heirloom from the First; it was a blessed item our family safe-guarded. All but one of our family."

"Pfffft. There's always an idiot ruining the party!" Lyra rolled her eyes. "Who was the doof?"

Much to her surprise, FF didn't respond right away; he took his sweet time to inspect the fire, then turned back to her with a mischievous smile.

"The Ninth," the viscount giggled. "He reportedly wanted to get the amulet destroyed. And when the Tenth refused, he threw a fit and holed up the north tower. He actually spent the rest of his days in that tower, becoming a real hermit overnight. Did I mention he may have been a little crazy?"

Lyra realized why fireplaces are absolutely neat. Properly constructed, they don't release smoke into the room. They also provide warmth and light; and, in case of awkward conversations, they dull the edge of silence with the hissing and crackling of burning wood.

"Wha- what?!" she gawked, slowly accepting what she just heard. "He's the sole survivor of a disaster and his sole desire is to break the very stuff that saved his butt?!"

"You are not the only one flabbergasted. In fact, this very oddity drove the Tenth to break tradition and marry outside the family... to a musician from the château orchestra if my memory serves me right," Flash Freeze reminisced, rubbing his chin absent-mindedly. "It was speculated the Ninth simply broke down and went mad from the near-death experience. He refused to recognize anypony from that day onward, not even his own son; part of the reason he holed up in the tower was to never meet anypony claiming to know him. Make no mistake though, he was also quite very livid about the amulet to his very last day."

"Woahhhh. Talk about overreacting!" Lyra blurted out, smacking herself in the head a moment too late. Still; as she'd already spoken, she might as well have finished the thought. "I mean... he didn't really forget about everypony, right? He was just upset they didn't break his lucky-charm amulet."

"He had a really peculiar relationship with that trinket," Flash Freeze nodded, the move throwing his white mane into his eyes. "He may have resented it for saving him, somehow. He started claiming there was a demon sealed inside the crystal - a demon that followed him around after the blizzard."

"A demon!" Lyra recoiled and quickly brought the silver pendant and its blue gemstone into her view. "That's... not really what I expected..."

"How can you accept one part of supernatural but reject the other? Enchanted amulets are fine, but demons are not? Allow me to be the first to tell you: that is quite discriminatory!" Flash Freeze pushed on, greatly enjoying Lyra's shock. "Do not worry, Miss Lyra. There were never any demons, of course. Mad or not, the Ninth remained the viscount as long as he lived; so threats to his life were taken seriously. The northern tower was guarded day and night... and nopony ever saw a thing. The Ninth himself died peacefully, in his sleep; and for somepony of his eccentricity, he received a pretty usual funeral. Were it real, I can only surmise that his demon must have been the absurdly patient type."

"Quite weird stories you have," Lyra felt a shiver run down her spine as she tucked the amulet back under her blanket. "I don't quite get it, though. Why would a the old coot start ranting about demons? The way you mentioned it, it sounded like he didn't do that before he got stranded in a blizzard. I get he was crazy, but why did he get... er... crazier?"

Biting onto her lip, Lyra pondered if that wasn't really the right term to address one of the former viscounts. That kind of worry was a little too late at that point anyway, though.

"Oh, I was really just reciting one of the more captivating tales of that amulet! My apologies if I upset you," Flash Freeze apologized with a token bow. "As for your question... well, Miss, it is quite difficult to tell now! Though I imagine that barely clinging to one's life may do funny things to the mind. Even if we discount the effects of hypothermia. Talking of which... how are you feeling?"

"I can still feel my nose, if that's what you're getting at," Lyra groaned, the abrupt change in topic not really to her liking. "I'm not seeing any demons yet tho', so I guess I'm safe for the time being."

"That is quite a relief to hear," Flash Freeze made a smile. He looked more awkward than truly happy, though.

"Let's say I did hallucinate one of them though!" Lyra perked her ears up as a sudden thought crossed her mind. "Would I get a life-long pension in the château as well? A full tower just for me? Servants and everything?"

The viscount froze at the proposal; then he realized the joke for what it was and broke into a loud laughter. That took Lyra by surprise, in turn. It was a strangely soft reaction - and the first time she saw the noble act like that, actually. He was almost like an ordinary pony.

Ah-ha! So there IS a living pony behind that impeccable cover of an aloof gentlecolt... just so deep it's very hard to dig out.

"Hahah! Well, I am afraid things do not quite work like that any more!" Flash Freeze finally answered, wiping a tear away from his eye. "I mean, I am the owner of the Dancing Lights, so I could offer you permanent residence here... but locking yourself into a tower would make the Royal Guard think I have taken you prisoner. And while I understand there is no such thing as bad publicity, I am not sure if my portrayal as a foal-napper would bring my establishment into the right context..."

"Scaredy-cat," Lyra feigned a pout. She may have liked to give nobility a shot. Sure, Flash Freeze would take all chances to complain how his life wasn't just a huge strawberry cake with cherry on top... but he was always a noble who lived in his very own castle in the middle of his very own mountain range. That hardly compared to what most regular ponies dealt with.

Lyra could hardly see him worrying over the next utility bill, for example.

"We certainly did not hang onto this place by being rash," Flash Freeze ran a hoof down his white mane. "Though I suppose I could humour you, if that is your wish. Just sign a paper first."

"Soooo... you CAN lock me up in this fancy toy-box and smother me with luxuries?" Lyra contemplated aloud. She felt a little confused about the downsides of the deal - mostly because she couldn't see any.

"If you state you are fine with it."

"Papers. Always papers! You make it sound like the contracts I do with the Opera," Lyra groaned and pulled the blanket around her head. It didn't really protect her from the bad memories, but it did make her feel a little warmer.

"All right, that... that was not quite the institute I was hoping to cue you to," Flash Freeze smacked himself in the face.

A set of white teeth flashed from the cover of the blanket; Lyra was really enjoying the befuddled expression of the noble. She may have felt a little sorry for him as well... but she was mostly enjoying the scene, all in all.

You're no good at this talking stuff, she snickered to herself as she decided to help the poor bloke a little. Ugh... seriously dude! This roundabout-touching-matters-and-hoping-somepony-gets-it may have been cool ten generations ago, but we're waaay more direct nowadays.

"Hey, FF. Anypony ever tell you you're a little awkward in conversations?" she asked as she held back a giggle. That question was sharp enough already, no need to further augment it.

"No, I do not think so. Not this directly anyhow," Flash Freeze mumbled and glanced away, towards the door; he must have started looking for an exit strategy. Quite literally.

"Well I do," Lyra declared and raised her head from the blanket. "And Celestia as my witness, I'm going tomake you learn conversing properly!"

The offer got an unexpectedly positive reaction. The viscount - a pony whose life revolved around big social events - didn't take offence at the implications. In fact: he seemed to seriously consider, humming at length as he put his muzzle onto his hoof.

"Intriguing... I suppose the proverb was right and knowledge is a double-edged sword. I guess I might be applying the wrong etiquette," he finally declared, the corners of his lips twirling into a grin. "Very well! I may take you up on that offer, Miss Lyra."

"Superb!" Lyra clapped her hooves, then pointed one limb at the viscount. She also gave him a stern glare. "First lesson: it's just Lyra. I hate how you want me to call you FF but still insist on being formal yourself. Seriously... just ugh."

"Hate, huh..." Flash Freeze dropped his head low. "Strange nopony ever pointed that out to me. I never realized how rude that really could be. Sorry about-"

"Which brings us to lesson two!" Lyra slammed her hoof onto the wooden floor. "Stop being so damn polite about everything already! It sounds fancy, I get it! But it's really, REALLY ticking me off now."

The viscount kept his head even lower but also buried it into his hooves. Weird noises left his mouth, somewhere halfway between a groan and a laugh. A very nervous one.

"Oy-vey! I have let loose one of the more honest critics," he finally found his voice. "Well, I suppose the least I can do is try..."

"No! No! No-no-no-no-NO! Just tell me what you think! That it's a stupid idea! For Celestia's sake, stop tip-toeing around everything!" Lyra yelled and threw her hooves into the air, the move catapulting the blanket away from her. She quickly regretted that one: despite the hot fireplace, the air in the small shack remained pretty cold. "Don't be so afraid of being a little rough! There's a time and place for being smooth - but that's not always!"

"If that is what you believe..." Flash Freeze rubbed the side of his head.





"Please work," Lyra sighed and stomped onto her ski. The clamps worked properly this time, the polished bit of wood sticking to her hooves as if they were glued on. That problem done and over with, she glanced up and bit onto her lips. She didn't realize just how much time they spent in the shack; the sun seemed ready to set. It has shifted its colours from yellow to orange and was about to disappear behind the outline of some distant mountains.

It was still bright enough to have some more practice, though. As the shack was situated about mid-way up the hill, Lyra could get a pretty good view of the nearby slopes; and while the amount of ponies skiing - or just bumbling - down clearly decreased, there was still quite a few of them. Hardly enough to consider the place packed, but still enough to encourage her for some more practice. She did want to have something to show by when she returned to her room. Anything less would have been way too embarrassing. Bon was already on the "proper" slopes, after all.

A faint clinging got her attention. She only had to turn her head a little to see the viscount locking the shack's door, the bulky key-chain the source of the racket. Flash Freeze himself has been strangely silent for a while, and Lyra couldn't help but wonder if she was honest enough to somehow tick him off. Or wound his pride. Or both. She always found nobility hard to decipher; they would never say what they wanted or thought. They just assumed they could vaguely hint at things and everypony would understand them. Then enter she, the musician with all the diplomatic sense of a free-falling piano... and the results were uniformly not pretty.

There was a good reason why her recent performances were organized by professional managers.

Still, it would be really disheartening if she managed to get on the wrong side of FF. He was a really cool colt, despite being a noble himself. She didn't mean to be mean with him. She really wanted to help.

I should ask about that. These things are better not left to linger, she mused to herself as she watched Flash Freeze pack the keys back into his saddlebag. Yeah, I should do that. C'me on, you doof! You just lectured a viscount on speaking one's mind. Just take a deep breath and do what you always do. Yeah, I will just...

"How early do you close the slopes?" she blurted out. She may have outed the question with a smile, but she only had the urge to bash her head into something solid.

"Hm? Close? Oh, quite late. Only when visibility gets poor! Which is- HOLY CELESTIA, IS IT SUNSET ALREADY?!" Flash Freeze gawked with a panic-stricken expression. "That- that is- HOW?! It was barely past noon-!"

"Time flies when you're having fun," Lyra began to subtly falsify their shared memories. Just in case.

"I wonder if my guests will think the same as they wait for their dinners!" Flash Freeze shook his head and quickly stomped onto his grey skis. "Ah, I sure hope Heat Wave works fine without supervision... so late! Everything must be prepared already!"

The sight of the normally immaculate noble succumbing to panic made Lyra feel all sorts of guilty. It put her short-sighted lecture into an even worse light; not only did she bash the poor pony for stupid reasons, she also tore his delicate schedule apart.

"I'm... sorry," she muttered and turned away, her amber eyes fixed on her skis. She already checked them earlier, but they were a pretty good excuse to look away. "If I can help somehow..."

"Sure you can! Sit at the same table you did yesterday!" Flash Freeze yanked the glasses onto his eyes. "Oh - and try to be careful while I am away!"

He was barely done with the sentence when he was already speeding away, darting towards his château as if his own demons were chasing him. Lyra kept her eyes on his figure until she couldn't distinguish his grey winter-coat from the snow; then she chuckled to herself and relaxed. It couldn't be helped, but she failed to have much sympathy for the viscount's plight. She was simply too relieved over the miracle of how her tactless behaviour went unnoticed.

"Barely dodged that one!" she shook her head, her breath forming a tiny white cloud in front of her mouth. "I so wish I had an idea what I'm doing at times."

Relief and the leftovers of panic mixing in her mind, she dragged her skis into a right angle and pushed herself forward. She went to the practice slope to finally get all the basics of skiing sorted out, after all.





The turn became a little sharper than she intended. So sharp she almost turned all the way around; the only way she could salvage the move was to scrap it all together. She changed her posture and pulled her centre of mass back, moving against her would-be heading. She swayed around a bit - then disappeared in a thin cloud of snow, her skis scraping along the frozen surface. The air cleared moments later, revealing a panting but otherwise completely fine Lyra Heartstrings.

"Th... that move was... awe... AWESOME!" she cackled, feeling absolutely satisfied with her performance despite how she planned for something completely different. "I'm... I'm like a pro! Gahahah!"

The more responsible part of her brain immediately told her no you are not, but she had learnt to ignore that voice long ago. She just grabbed her glasses and yanked them upward until they bumped into her horn. The cold air began assaulting her eyes right away, but she enjoyed seeing the world crystal-clear. No matter how comfortable those glasses tried to be, they alwaysfound a way to fog up. It's not like she needed the extra protection any longer. The sun was setting in earnest, the white slope trading the blinding white for faint orange colours.

A stupidly beautiful sight - and also one that reminded her how she should have started heading home already. Staying out for the night wasn't a grand idea for somepony as unskilled as she was, fancy-shmancy amulet or not. That and FF was kind of expecting to meet her at dinner again.

"I wonder if he's gonna' eavesdrop on my order again," Lyra chuckled dryly to herself. "There's an easy way to test that tho'. What would he really not like, hmm... how about jalapenos? Think I saw them on the menu. Surely Mister Freeze wouldn't like breathing fire, hahaha!"

The image of the always-so-reserved viscount breathing flames and then dumping his head into a water bucket almost made her kneel over with laughter. She wouldn't admit even to herself, but the issue was settled there and then. There was no way she would pass up on the chance of such a splendid entertainment. Bon would probably object, but she already learnt how to handle that hurdle properly. She got pretty good at nodding and smiling while thoroughly ignoring naysayers.

Maybe she could make the joke even more practical and somehow make Bon and the viscount share again. The idea deepened the smug grin on her face, being as evilicous as she could possibly imagine. Not even shaking her head could get rid of the toothy grin. It contributed only in a roundabout way. He sight wandering around, she managed to catch a glimpse of a pony in the distance. Whoever he was, he crossed the lanes in the same fashion she did earlier.

Pfff. Another amateur! Lyra dialled her grin back to a smirk. And here I was, wondering if I'm the worst student to have come here yet.

She was only concerned by how there was nopony to stop that skier. Flash Freeze himself left a while ago, and none of his employees were around either. It was only Lyra on the nearby slopes and that strange guest. He was also heading towards the very forest FF wanted to keep her out of... undaunted as there was nopony around who could stop him.

This could be bad, Lyra concluded with a gulp. There must have been a reason FF wanted her out of that forest, even beyond his fear of what tree trunks do to ponies skiing way faster than they should.

It was such an annoying thought. She wanted to do something. She was absolutely sure on that. But what could she do?

Turning her head, she paid the sun a glance. The deep-red disc was already pierced by a taller ridge; maybe a good fifteen minutes until it would disappear from the sky for good. Then she took a look at the Dancing Lights Lodge. The château was lively all right; the lights shining from its numerous windows left no doubt that most guests and workers had already made it back. Lyra toyed with the idea of going back there and asking for somepony to help out; there were many dozens qualified to do so. That trip took her almost half an hour in the morning, however... and she was also a lot fresher before the long practice session.

It would be by night when any help could arrive. Finding a pony in a snowy forest without much light... that didn't sound promising.

Biting onto her lip as she pushed herself into a slide, Lyra took the only realistic option she could think of.

Well, I always wanted to play the hero at least once anyway...





The forest was huge. It looked large even from the slope, but Lyra could only truly appreciate its size when she was made to make her way around it. She went on for a good while, moving parallel to the outermost row of trees. She must have covered a nice distance; glancing back, she could no longer see the château behind her. That was a worrisome discovery, but she felt pretty sure she could find her way back. She found that she could navigate by the trail of the other pony's skis; and nothing prevented her from finding her way back using the very same tracks. Nothing short of a major blizzard or anything else that would conceal them, of course.

She was very much hoping she would be spared of such bad luck.

I do have this fancy amulet with me, she gulped as the thought crossed her mind for the umpteenth time. I sure hope it helps commoners the same well as blue-bloods... 

She wasn't planning on doing anything overly fancy anyway. She would just catch up to that careless pony and drag him out of there. Well, maybe not so much as 'drag' as 'ask nicely to follow', considering her skills with the ski... but looking at the end result of two ponies spending the night in heated rooms instead of one in the cold forest, it was about the same thing.

Such idle musings came to an end when she saw the other figure standing in front of her, her brain switching to the immediate task at hoof.

"Hey! You!" she yelled, still barrelling down at the other pony. She started to break as well, aware of how coming to a full stop would take her some time.

The colt - dressed in bright red robes - didn't immediately pay her much attention. He seemed more busy pushing long flagpoles into the snow, murmuring to himself after each new flag placed. Skidding sideways as she bled her speed out, Lyra could swear he was building a golf-course on the snow. Which would have been a pretty insane thing to do - but having lived in Equestria for all her life, she had seen stranger things already. Sometimes on a daily basis.

"Oiiii! Equestria to weird pony! Hey weirdo, are you even listening?!" she gave loud communication another shot. She was still moving sideways; wobbling a little but a lot slower overall. That was half-way to stopping: a great success! Her repeated attempt at yelling achieved its goal as well, so she felt pretty proud all in all.

The red-robed pony perked his head up. He turned around as fast as if something bit into his rear, the red hood almost falling off his head.

"Halt!" he barked. If - and that was a pretty big if - he was shocked, then he could hide such emotions pretty well. "Stop right there! What are you doing here?" 

It was at this point Lyra finally came to a full stop. Panting and sweating under the green robes she wore, she gave the weird pony an incredulous glare.

"Am... I am the one askin' that!" she dished out and gulped down some cold air. Contrary to her expectations, that didn't cool her down any bit; she only felt her throat becoming sore. "FF... I mean, the viscount... he doesn't like visitors here...!"

"Yeah, no kidding! You absolutely shouldn't be here! Do you even know how dangerous this place is?!"

Still taking larger than usual breaths, Lyra just shook her head. Just as good as saying 'no', except not requiring any talking whatsoever.

"Figures. That air-headed noble probably forgot that I ordered him to cordon this place off!" the red-robed pony huffed. "Missy, this whole place is unstable! I'm not sure how it went unnoticed so far, but I think there's some ravine beneath the snow here. So just turn around and get out of here, all right?"

"Not without you," Lyra stuck to her self-appointed mission.

"Says who?! Unlike you, I'm a pro! I happen to know what I'm doing!" the red-robed stallion snorted, becoming audibly annoyed at his unexpected visitor. "You read the agreement you signed when you came here, right? Then know that if you don't leave now, I can report this incident to the Guard and have you escorted away as soon as tomorrow! I don't care if the lot of you ignore whatever I say or fool around on the safe slopes. But this spot - this isn't some playground for foals! Scram!"

For all Lyra know, everything that pony said was true. She had one major roadblock in processing all that information: she just couldn't care for the way he said it. 

"Look here, you oh-so-important doof!" she snarled and paced forward. Taking steps with the skis were difficult; she had to balance carefully, as each move required her to lift both legs on the same side and move them in unison. That feat sort of came to her naturally when she was so livid, though. "I don't care who you are either! But if I need to leave because this place is so dangerous, then you shouldn't stay here either, right?! I followed you all the way here just to drag you back, and I'm sure not leaving alone-"

"Hush!" the red-robed stallion barked and held his head lower, his ears perked up and rotating around. "This noise... I wonder..."

"Okay, enough games now!" Lyra's patience ran dry. "Why was FF freaked out by me coming towards the forest? Why is this place dangerous?!"

She got her answer from a different source than she expected. She felt something running across the snow, just a little beneath her hooves; a vibration, strong enough to clatter her teeth against each other. Her instinct immediately commanded her to back out and disappear that instant, but she had no chance to follow up on that thought. Even in the dim light of early night, she could see as the snow in front of her started to disappear into a black void. It was a mesmerizing sight, the white material giving away to darkness.

Only the phenomenon grew in size a lot faster than she could react.

She could see the threat and could even understand how it was bad news; but her legs wouldn't move. Not in such a short time-frame. She was left there, watching as the very ground from beneath her hooves disappeared... and then she was falling. She couldn't see much, but from the sickening sensation of her stomach turning, she was sure: she was in a free-fall.

Uh-oh!

She tried to yank her head around, see where she could escape; but her movements still felt utterly sluggish. She wanted to move quickly - only she couldn't seem to do so.

"Master! Watch out, Master! This is dangerous...!"

Lyra had no idea where that cry came from. The voice was unlike anything she heard before. Despite the mortal danger, she found the time to find that rather strange. She couldn't recall anypony other than her and that red-robed prick being there... so who was talking to her, all of a sudden? In the middle of a terrifying free-fall, no less.

She landed before she could figure out any more. The impact knocked her unconscious right away; a yank, a crack... followed by silence and darkness.