Hooves of ice

by Fictional Fanatic

3) Another one. What about you? (Part 1)

Jack was flying down to the gardens in Canterlot Castle. It had been quite some time since he had time to get down and talk to Discord, the ‘God’ of chaos. Jack was unsure if Discord could hear him as he never had before his imprisonment. Yet; Jack had almost felt compelled to talk to Discord whenever he had been close by. And no matter if the Lord of Chaos could hear him or not, it was always fun to taunt him with word.

But on his way to the statue, Jack suddenly felt some kind of tugging. It was a weird feeling as it was not tugging in any specific direction but still ‘away’ from his current position. After a while, the tugging got stronger. Unsure of what he was feeling; Jack did what he thought would be the right thing. He tugged back.

At that very moment, the tugging stopped and Jack remembered where he had felt that feeling before, the void. And as to confirm his suspicion he suddenly heard a scream.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!!!! Are you kidding me!?!” A falling bipedal screamed as he fell from the sky. Looking up, Jack saw that it was (in fact) falling and not flying. He knew what flying looked like and that was not it.

“Well, guess I better help,” Jack stated to himself as he stretched his arms in a wide arc to create a very tall and very long ice slide to let the bipedal slide down from vertical to horizontal propulsion without breaking any of its bones. Upon first landing on the slide though, the impact registered a crack due to the weight of the biped’s clothes and the two swords that he was carrying. Yet, it held and let him slide down safely to the ground and onto the grass. Unfortunately Jack had not paid attention to where the slide ended and the biped (that was now close enough for Jack to confirm it being human) slammed right into the base of Discord's statue. By the look of things this was no ordinary human, based on his appearance at least:

'Oops.' Jack thought to himself as the human was getting up.

“Oww… my head.” The human moaned as he tried to get back up on both of his feet. He looked in the direction of Jack, making Jack think that this human could see him. But the lack of reaction stated that he could not. The only thing the young man could see was the slide which mysteriously appeared right beneath him. The boy then turned around, seeing what exactly he had collided with.

“Hey, would you look at that. It’s the voice that’s inside my head.” the human said, chuckling to himself. Now somewhat worried, Jack decided to get rid of the slide and turned it into what could be described as ‘ice dust’. Making it fall as if it had always been made of nothing but dust and only now had gravity pull it apart, only for the dust to vanish in the grass below.

‘Did he just say voice in his head? Has Discord managed to escape?’ Jack thought to himself. Starting to collect as much of his magic he could muster into a spell.

Jack could not let Discord escape while he was still meant to be imprisoned, but seeing as the human showed no signs of being controlled; Jack reconsider his earlier thoughts of freezing the human solid by surrounding him in an absolute zero atmosphere. Instead, he lowered the temperature to a noticeably lower level and walked up to the human, inspecting him to make sure he was not under control.

Moments later, due to the change in temperature, a draconequus emerged from the boy and began to act like he was cold. “Brr… Who turned down the Thermostat? Isn't it supposed to be summer around now?”

“Possibly,” The boy answered Discord’s question. “Then again, we’re probably in another Equestria like what happened to Nicko, so maybe the circumstances are different.”

That would explain you falling from the sky. Jack thought to himself. Other dimensions were not a foreign concept to him.

“Could be. Still, it’s a lot warmer inside your head then out here Anson.” The spirit now turned and notice the statue of himself. “Oh boy… That… could be problematic.”

“Indeed it could, a Discord from another Equestria? Hope he’s friendly.” Jack commented out loud to himself, believing the Lord of Chaos could not hear him. However, the Draconequi’s ears twitched a little as he started to looked around. Looking at the boy Jack now knew as Anson he asked him a question.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Anson asked him, looking slightly confused.

“I thought I heard somepony talking just now.”

“Wait, you can hear me?” Jack asked baffled. How could this be?

Discord turned around, looking at where Jack stood, making Jack feel quite nervous. He was not able to take care of Discord on his own without the princesses.

“There it is again.” Discord said, making Jack relax as he realized that Discord could hear him but not see him.

Discord proceeded to pick up some of the ice dust and stated. “Okay, either somepony is playing around with my head or I think a pile of snow is talking to me.”

“Wrong on both there, Discord,” Jack told him. “Hmm, you can hear me but not see me… I might be able to fix that!” Jack exclaimed deciding that if this Discord could be trusted by Anson, then he could trust him as well. Now he only had to try and make himself visible.

Jack concentrated his being as if trying to solidify himself, thinking about ice that was freezing over and how it became visible in contrast to the rest of the water around it.

“Did it work?” Jack asked as soon as he was confident in having "appeared".

“My… it did. I’m quite impressed. Would you mind doing that to my friend as well so he doesn't think I'm going crazy?” Discord said.

At this Jack could only think one thing. Define crazy.

“Eh heh he,” Jack chuckled, scratching the back of his head. “Sorry; I can only be seen or heard by those that believe in my existence. So, if you want him to see me, you gotta convince him yourself.” Or at least that was the easiest way to explain it.

“Convince him, you say?”

“Discord, who are you talking to?” Anson asked him as he looked at the Draconequus in confusion.

“Oh, sorry about that Anson, I was just talking to…… what’s your name?” Discord asked Jack.

“Jack. Jack Frost.”

“I was talking to this guy named Jack Frost. He’s the one that made that frozen slide that you landed on.”

“Oh? Then why can’t I see him?” Anson questioned him.

“He says that he can only be seen or heard by those that believe in his existence.”

Anson just raised an eyebrow at the statement. Just as much as it confused him, it also made him wonder if what Discord said was true or not. He didn't read much fairy tales back home, but he still personally believed in the existence of fictional beings such as Santa Claus even though they were mostly considered as “Imaginary”. Closing his eyes for a minute, he took a deep breath. Only thinking one thing.

I believe in the legend of Jack Frost.

When he reopened his eyes, the teen was stunned to see the snowy-haired boy with the brown trousers and blue hoodie standing right by Discord. “Holy crap, it worked!” Anson shouted in surprise.

“Wow, you are something else. Being able to believe in someone like me just like that.” Jack Frost said. While looking at Anson, suddenly realizing something else. “Hey, dude. This might sound weird, but may I try and touch you?”

“Umm… Okay, I guess? Just the shoulder please?” He replied. Anson was confused by Jack’s request, but he decided to just keep calm and carry on for the time being.

Jack Frost perked up at this and with one small step left behind all the distance between them without any visible effort at all and laid one hand on Anson's shoulder, making him flinch. No wonder as he could most definitely feel the cold touch of Jack's hand, seeing as Jack's body was at zero degrees Celsius.

At the touch, Jack felt relieved. He had not touched another being for quite a while, and a human no less, feeling someone's body heat after such a long time was an indescribable feeling. Warm campfires had nothing on this kind of warmth. Anson was visibly confused as he saw Jack starting to shed a few tears.

“I-It has been so long… so long since I was able to touch someone… Thank you.” Jack explained away his tears.

“Y-you’re welcome… I guess?” Anson and Discord were still mighty confused by what was going on. Making both of them wear a face of confusion.

However, seeing the puzzled faces of the two guests, Jack realized how strange of a situation this was. “Oh, I should probably explain that. You see, when no one can see or hear me, it goes the same for the other senses. Meaning I’m unable to touch them as well. I haven’t felt human- no, any contact at all for quite a while. It gets depressing after a while.”

“I see. Just out of curiosity Jack, how long has it been since you last… well… felt human?” Anson asked Jack.

“You mean as in touching another human or feeling like one myself?” Jack replied, wondering where this was going.

“Does both count?” Anson asked.

“Well, no. They are two different questions entirely? Okay, now you got me confused.” Jack said, not sure what he was being asked.

“I mean as in both being able to touch someone and feel human,” Anson said.

Isn't that still two different questions, just put together into one? Eh, whatever. Jack thought as he made sure not to show his confusion and decided just to answer the questions.

“Ah, that does make more sense. Well, I always feel human… But I haven’t touched any other human since coming to Equestria. Let’s see… I think it was about fifteen thousand, nine hundred and ninety-seven years ago? Wow, I’m getting old!” Jack said as he realized that he had lived longer than any of his old friends back on Earth. And he never did meet Santa Clause, Sandman, Easter bunny or the Tooth Fairy before awakening in Equestria.

Anson though, just stared. “Holy sh*t! Ahem. Please excuse my poor choice in grammar. I was just really surprised by what you just said.”

“Oh, yeah right, I almost forgot humans only have an average of 205 years' lifespan. I must be old by your standards.” Jack said, not concerned about language as there were no kids around to hear.

“That’s way more than old. That’s like Immortal if you ask me.” Discord said.

Said the supposed to be Immortal Lord of Chaos. Jack thought to himself without wording his thoughts.

“Yeah, kinda comes with the job” Jack replied instead, shrugging his shoulders.

“Job? What kind of job?” Anson asked. He was now curious by what Jack meant by that sentence.

Really? I mean sure. Not every Immortal being happens to have a job, but the ones that don't just sleep eternity away. I'm alive so, guess what? I have a job! Jack thought almost wording his thoughts. But refrained from doing so as he realized his way of thinking had probably change dramatically from living for over sixteen thousand years. And judging from this boy's reaction to the amount of time Jack spent in Equestria, he was quite young.

“Well, yeah. I didn't get these powers just to kill time, did I? They come both with responsibilities and the burden of eternal life… or at least until something outright kills me.” Jack mumbled the last part.

“Well, we’re here now.” Discord said cheerfully, trying to mess around a little with Jack’s hair. “And I believe what Anson found was the reason why.”

“Really? You guys know how to travel the void to different dimensions? That’s kinda cool!” Jack said, ignoring Discord messing with his hair. He kinda enjoyed the contact after spending most of his life as an untouchable spirit.

Huh, didn't know my hair could sound like snowflakes.

“Yeah. This though was our first time. It happened once to my brother already, but the guy he met turned out to be an Elder Dragon who had very strong magic.” Anson told Jack as he held forward a snowflake that Jack recognized from somewhere.

“This may take a bit to explain, but let’s start with just a simple question. Are you familiar with something called the Multiverse?”

“Of course. It was just a theory at first until it was proven by a scientist called Mengar Blugten in the year 2067. It was quite a big subject in school.”

“Well, for us, there are multiple forms of Equestria that are at different locations in time and space. Now, for another question… Would you have happened to end up here after purchasing something from a weird merchant?”

Now that was something Jack wasn't expecting to hear in such a conversation, the merchant.

“Weird merchant?” Jack asked having the memory of his encounter with the merchant making its way into his mind.

Almost... there... Jack thought to himself, his thoughts slow in the cold weather. Yet so worth it if he could get what he came for. Disregarding his already frozen hands, his cracked blackened legs and the fact that he could not feel most of his body in the cold weather, Jack only had sights on his slowly approaching target. The staff of Jack Frost.

The staff had been near impossible to find when Jack first decided he would be the next in line to become Jack Frost. He already had the name and was just as kind as Jack frost himself. It was unfortunate that the original Jack Frost had gone and disappeared, leaving the staff for the next one in line.

Finally, Jack would be able to continue the work of his idol and friend, yes. He was able to call Jack Frost a friend.

Finally, standing before the staff Jack hesitated. If the staff saw him as unworthy he would surely die. After all, the cold had no doubt already reduced his legs to unmovable lumps of frozen meat, black and dead. And the same could almost be said about Jack's hands, he could barely move them.

Jack took off his thick gloves meant to protect his hands and saw that the tips of his finger were already beginning to turn black. It hurt, it hurt just as much as his legs hurt when he had felt them dying. But Jack knew that if he claimed the staff and it accepted him, then he would not only be saved. But he would also become the one he was meant to be. After all, he already had the looks. Something that the real Jack Frost had usually joked about.

With a smile on his face from remembering his friend, Jack reached out and grabbed the staff.

All he could feel was cold, dark, deadly cold.

S-So this i-is how it ends h-huh? He thought to himself as he felt his consciousness fading and the pain in his body become worse. I g-guess it w-was worth a try... Jack thought before closing his eyes, collapsing in the snow.

Jack woke up, his eyes snapping open as he heard the snowstorm around him rage on. It was a calming sound to him. Jack blinked a few times before realizing a few things. First of all, he was not dead. Secondly, he was not cold at all. And third, he was wearing the same clothes that Jack Frost always did.

"Wa-what? I thought I died." He stated to himself, realizing he was suddenly standing and holding the staff.

'I guess I got chosen after all.' He thought, before something else caught his attention, he was not alone anymore.

"Well, would you look at that, someone made it before me." A voice said from somewhere to the left of Jack.

"Who's there?" Jack replied to the mystic voice, deciding to go with his usual approach. Rather trust and regret, than doubt and regret. Words to live by.

"You can just call me the Merchant." The voice answered back. "And it seems you have taken something that I came here to obtain. Would you care to trade it maybe?" The Merchant asked coming close enough for Jack to see him while pointing at the staff, he truly looked like a merchant.

"I'm sorry, but this staff has chosen me and it's my duty to wield it now, also, it is the reason I came here."

"I see, that is unfortunate, guess I'll have to grab it myself!" The merchant said as he lunged at Jack and grabbed the staff. Refusing to let go of the staff Jack used his other arm to punch the man in the face, forcing him to let go of the staff. Feeling his new powers respond, Jack decided to try them out.

"I won't give you the staff, and if you won't listen then I have no choice," Jack said as he pointed his staff at the merchant and imagined him freezing in a solid block of ice. Feeling the power inside him surge, he released it and saw how a lightning of frost hit the merchant and encased him in a solid block of ice, much like the one Jack had imagined.

"Wow, that went better than I thought it would," Jack said as he now had a smile on his face.

"But I should probably unfreeze him befo-" was all Jack managed to say before blackness overtook his vision and he blacked out. Only feeling the strange flow of magic coursing through his staff.

“Not really, I didn't purchase anything from the asshole. He tried to take my staff. So naturally, I fought back; punched him in the face and froze him solid… And then I kinda blacked out and found myself here in Equestria.” Jack quickly summarized his experience.

“Well, even though you and I ended up in our version of Equestria under different circumstances, we are both referred to as Displaced or short for dimensionally misplaced.” was all Anson said.

“Interesting, I take it this merchant guy is behind this then?” Jack said as he thought that it was the only thing that made sense.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Anson told Jack. “But what I do know from my brother is this: Displaced have something called a token that represents themselves and can use the tokens of other Displaced to summon them and have them fight alongside you in battle. However, it works two ways and unfortunately for me, the second way was what happened to Discord and I. Instead of us summoning something to where we were, we got pulled in to where you were.”

“Hence, falling out of the sky.” Discord added on for comical effect.

Oops. was all Jack thought as realization hit him.

“Oh, I’m sorry for that. I think I might be the one at fault here. You see, I felt the tugging that I guess was meant to summon me. But I was not sure of what it was so I did what anyone who wants to stay does, I pulled back. And suddenly, you were falling out of the sky.” Jack said blushing while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Well…… this is awkward.” Discord mumbled as it got a little silent. “I guess it explains why it backfired though.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Anson said. “Say, since we are here, why don’t we do something and have fun with Jack? I mean, this is the first time in a long while that’s he’s ever had people be with him before.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Jack smiled. Anson nodded his head, showing his approval and his answer to Jack’s question.

“Oh, this will be great!! But we should go someplace else first. There’s a high risk that either Princess Celestia & Princess Luna will notice Discord's presence and I don’t think that would be a good thing.”

“Princess Luna? Who’s that?” Anson asked. He knew Prince Artemis back from his world. Could this “Princess Luna” be somehow different? Discord himself had no objections as he hid himself inside Anson.

“Okay, now. I’ll give you guys a ride, just keep your arms and legs out to the sides and you should be fine.” Jack said as he pushed off the ground and weightlessly floated away while doing a brief motion with his right hand, suddenly making a strong wind burst forth taking Anson with it. Anson himself, followed Jack’s instructions and the same results happened. Both of them were now airborne like a flying pegasus. Just without the wings, kinda like Discord did when he drifted through the sky like a Chinese dragon.

Unknown to the now departing friends, another one had listened in on their conversation.