//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 - Nothing is Ever Truly Lost // Story: Star Trek: I'm Coming Home // by Aceman67 //------------------------------// Outside the frost covered windows, cold winter winds blew. The small creek that flowed beneath the foot bridge in front of the cabin had long since frozen over. Under the tree near the building stood a snowpony and a snowman, the latter having lost is carrot nose, no doubt taken by a mischevious Skittles. Everything held a soft blue glow common to dawn in the winter. I loved this time in the morning, with the sun just behind the Everfree forest, brilliant shafts of sunlight just now beginning to show through the tops of the trees. With a flash of fuchsia coloured magic, I protected my eyes using a spell Aunt Twilight had taught me so we could watch a solar eclipse. Wearing a smile, I watched as the sun rose above the forest, illuminating everything. "Beautiful," I said softly to myself. With the sun above the trees, my heart jumped in my chest from excitement. It was time. I had been waiting all year for this, and Dad had made me a promise. As quickly as my heart began to race, I galloped out the door, down the short hall, burst into my parents bedroom, and jumped onto their bed. Bouncing on the foot of the bed, I waited until they started to stir. "Your daughter is bouncing on the bed again," Dad mumbled. "She's your daughter too..." Mom groggily replied. "It's your turn..." Dad mentioned, rolling over so they were face to face. "No, it's not, you promised to take her to Vanhoover on a ski trip for her birthday..." As soon as the last word left Fluttershy's lips, both their eyes shot open. "Happy birthday, sweetie," They said in unison. I just sat on my haunches at the foot of the bed and stared at them. They were a sorry lot, with their manes going every which way, their eyes bleary with sleep. "You two are useless in the morning," I said with the straightest face I could muster and left the room. Before descending the stairs, I waited till I heard laughter, then started down towards the kitchen with a warm smile. Along the walls of the stairs, nearly every inch was adorned with photos. Dad is quite the shutterbug. Doesn't matter where we were, what we were doing, he always managed to take some kind of picture. And I was his favorite subject after mom. So it was no wonder that's what he had for his cutie-mark. Dad, I knew, was a special case. Not born a pony, but a human, he didn't have a cutie-mark when Discord turned him into the pegasus he is now. From what mom told me, it turned some heads for some years, as he didn't get his till after I was born. I couldn't have been more than three, we were on vacation just outside Banff on Earth. One early morning, I heard dad outside the tent, so I got out to see what he was doing. There he was, setting up a tripod for his camera to take a picture of Lake Moraine. The sun wasn't up, so I just went and sat next to him, snuggling up to his leg. I remember asking him what he was doing, and he told me he was waiting for the sun to come up. Right at that moment, it rose just over the mountain's peak, and he snapped the picture. All of a sudden, his leg felt warm and I looked back, and where it was once blank, now there was a mountain with a sun rising above it and a small camera on a tripod. I looked up at him as he realized what had just happened, letting out one of his trademarked 'Huh...', pulled me into a hug with a smile, and we watched the sunrise. That picture hung above the mantle in the living room. It always held a great memory that I shared with my dad, but lately, it's been making me look at my own lack of a cutie-mark. I hadn't told my parents what the other kids at school were saying. The jeering calls of 'blank flank'. The hushed gossip about how dad wasn't really a pony so I wasn't either, some kind of freak. Miss Apple Bloom at school would normally be quick to put a stop to it. She told me that it'll come when I find my special talent. Principal Cheerilee said the same and asked I just be patient. Being patient is one thing, but not constantly thinking about it is another thing entirely. Walking into the kitchen, I sat down in a huff at the table. Without moving, I grabbed a glass from the cupboard, a pitcher of orange juice from the fridge, and poured myself a glass, all with my magic. Telekinesis was one form of magic I was really good at. While other unicorns my age were struggling to keep more than two or three things aloft, it just came naturally. I had trouble lifting large objects, or holding up more than 5 things, but doing complex things, like putting a kettle on to boil for my Mom's tea, and measuring out the coffee grounds, putting them in the filter and starting up Dad's coffee maker, all without looking. That was easy. "Show off," Dad said as he walked into the room and directly towards the coffee maker. I didn't have to look to know that he was now looking around for his battered Acadamy Class of '79 mug. "It's in the sink," I told him as I took another sip of my juice. As if on queue, just as the kettle on the stove started to whistle, in walked Mom, looking like a thousand bits, a sharp contrast to the abysmal bed head she had earlier. How she did it, I had yet to figure out. "Morning, Zoe." Mom said as she passed, giving me a quick kiss on the top of the head. With the kettle still whistling, I turned to see that she too was looking around. "Thumper is in the cupboard, second shelf," I told her, referring to the ceramic bunny mug she got at Disney World two years ago. Its a miracle that these two who couldn't find their favorite mugs in the morning managed to raise me. I thought. With the horrible din of the kettle silenced, the kitchen started to fill the smell of bananas and pancakes. My favorite. "So, just how old are you?" Dad said, sitting down across from me. He thought he was just being clever, but he did this every year. "Dad, don't you think I'm just a little too old for that?" I said, giving him a sideways look. "And you know exactly how old I am." "Too old huh?" He said, turning to Mom. "Hear that, hon, too old." "That so?" She said, flipping a pancake. "Yep," Dad responded. "I guess I can give these Coloratura Farewell tour tickets for the show in Vanhoover two nights from now to some other birthday girl that's not... too old," He said, holding three tickets up. My jaw hit the floor. "How'd you get those?!" I asked, grabbing the tickets out of his hooves with my magic. "That show's been sold out for months!" "I thought you were too old..." Dad said, grabbing the tickets out of the air and looking at me with a wry smile. I looked back at Mom, who was just whistling to herself cooking breakfast, bobbing her head back and forth. She was obviously complicit in this scheme. Et tu, Mother? "I'm ten, I'm ten!" I said louder than I had intended. With a smile, he handed me the tickets and hugged me tightly. "Happy birthday, angel," He whispered in my ear. "Front ROW?!" I screamed with glee. Cold brisk air blew through my mane as I weaved down the slopes. The snow pack was perfect. Without a cloud in the sky, it was idyllic. Then Dad passed me. This will not stand. Getting low on my skis to reduce drag, I made a beeline for my Dad who was now looking back at me sticking his tongue out. Trees and other skiers on the slopes seemed to zip by as I picked up speed. Just as I caught up to Dad, we sped past a pony in a bright red jacket with fluorescent yellow stripes. "Dad!" I yelled up to him. "Ski Patrol!" "I saw 'em!" He answered back. "Double Diamond trail coming up on our left!" This not being our first time 'bending the rules' at this ski resort, we knew the trails pretty well. 'Folly's Curve' as this trail was called, while not as difficult as the other double diamond trails, it was labeled as such because of the curve along the edge of a cliff with a vertigo-inducing eighty-two-foot drop. Everything was clearly marked, but if you were not paying attention, the cliff could very easily come out of nowhere for a less experienced skier. But Dad and I knew this trail pretty well, having used it in the past to evade the ski patrol trying to bust us for going too fast. It's not our fault that we're better than them. Or so we thought. Up ahead, just before the turn that would lead us to the cliff-side curve, stood three Ponies from the Ski Patrol, and they didn't look happy. Careful to not spray snow into their faces, we skidded to a stop just in time for the two ponies chasing us to come up behind us. "Mr. Scott, we've had this discussion before on several occasions, including when you were human, and this is the second time you brought your daughter along for your antics." An irate Pegasus mare scolded my dad. "I don't care if you're some big-wig in the government, you can't ski that fast on the hills! You're going to hurt somepony!" "Where's the fun in that, Coldsnap?" Dad asked with a sarcastic smile. Coldsnap literally growled. "Safety is everypony's responsibility!" Coldsnap, well, snapped back at him. "This is your final warning, I catch you ignoring the slope rules, I'm banning you from the resort!" Stepping up between them, I stood in front of my Dad. "Miss Coldsnap, we're sorry that we've caused you grief. We won't do it again. Dad only wanted to have fun with me on my birthday" I explained, emphasizing the last word. Coldsnap looked down at me, then up at Dad, finally letting out a sigh and putting a hoof on her forehead. "Fine," She said. "Go," As soon as she said that, Dad and I were already on our way around the curve and could see the Ski Lodge at the bottom of the slope. "I was serious about banning you!" She called after us. "You really serious, boss?" One of the other patrollers asked. "By Tartarus, no!" Coldsnap laughed. "The amount they pay for their passes could make my mortgage payment," She explained. "That and the Manager would have my head on a ski-pole." "You two have fun?" Mom asked as we walked in through the door of our suite at the chateau. She was sitting on a blanket by the fire with another one of her novels. How she can read those things is beyond me, no adventure at all. Bleh. "Tons!" I said enthusiastically. "I beat Dad down the hill!" I continued, walking towards the kitchenette for a drink. Holding the cup aloft, I walked to the sliding glass doors that led out onto the balcony to look at the scenery. "You two aren't given that nice Miss Coldsnap any trouble are you?" She asked. I cringed slightly while Dad scratched the back of his neck. C'mon Dad, that's your tell! I thought to myself wishing he had a better poker face. "You did, didn't you," She asked rhetorically. She already knew the answer. "Well... I..." He stammered. "He started it," I chimed in before hiding my face behind my glass of water. "Traitor." Dad quipped at me. "James Matthew Scott." Mom said in a stern voice, making his head whip around to face her only to be greeted by one of Mother's patented stares. His ears splayed back and he lowered his head. "What am I going to do with you?" She asked after letting out a sigh. "Smile and tell me you forgive me?" Dad said with the cheesiest of grins, waggling his eyebrows a couple of times. Mom's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed tightly. While she knew pretty much all of his tells, he knew exactly how to get out of trouble with her. And it's embarrassing at just how often it works. "Don't do it again," She told him before turning back to her book. Sauntering over to me with a smug smile on his face, Dad gave me a light shoulder check, which I returned with one of my own, adding a small push of magic. "You could have helped me out there, you know," He told me. "Dad, I love you, but you have a pretty obvious tell." "What are you talking about? I don't have a tell." "Yeah, you do dad." "No, I don't." I laughed, Even when he knew he was wrong, this was a little game we would play, longest we've gone in this circular argument was about twenty minutes before mom put a stop to it. The look on her face was priceless. "You scratch the back of you neck when you're hiding something." "I do, don't I, huh?" I nodded yes as sarcastically as I could, then I paused. "Dad," I started, looking up at the tall stallion next to me. "Yeah, munchkin?" I started to speak, but nothing came out; I had totally lost my train of thought. "Nothing; nevermind." Unexpectedly, he pulled me under his wing and held me close. "Happy Birthday sweetheart." "Thanks, Dad," I said, wearing a genuine smile when something on the ground below the balcony caught my attention. A large group of ski-patrol ponies gathered at the entrance to the ski lodge. Out in front of them all was Coldsnap, who appeared to address them all. "What's going on?" I asked. "I don't know. I think they're organizing a search party." Dad told me. "Search party? Oh dear. Is somepony lost?" Mom asked, joining us at the balcony. "Looks like it. I'm going to go see if I can help." Dad said, giving his huge wings several strong flaps that easily sent him airborne. "Please be careful." Mom yelled, calling after him. "I'm always careful," He told us, before nosediving towards the ground. Mom and I continued to watch as the search party grouped around who I would guess was the family of the missing pony. Something familiar about the way she wore her mane. The curls, the silver hair with brilliant crimson highlights, I knew I knew it from somewhere, but I just couldn't place it. Then it hit me. "Mom..." I said, turning to her with concern on my face. "That's Ruby Star, I go to school with her daughter." I said, neglecting to mention that her daughter, Sapphire Moon, was one of a group of fillies who spared no effort making my life miserable at school. "I'm going to help." I decided, not knowing what came over me. She started to protest, but I had already teleported down to the ground, tossing up a flurry of snow from the ground. Thankfully I was still wearing the scarf that Miss Rarity had knitted for me, its warmth already making itself known as it kept the snow I sent aloft off my neck. I galloped towards Ruby just as the search team, my Dad included, were walking away, leaving the distraught mother alone in the snow clutching a scarf in her magic with Sapphire's cutie-mark embroidered on its ends. "Mrs. Star, are you ok?" I asked quickly. "Is Sapphire ok?" I continued, almost as quickly as the first question. "Wha-?" Ruby said, having startled her out of her haze. "Zoe, what are you doing here?" She asked, then appeared to realize the question was redundant, as the older mare would have seen my father in the search party. "I let Sapph go up the hill by herself." She explained. "She did such wonderful job at ski school last year that I thought she was ready." Ruby continued, a new round of tears welling up in her already worry filled eyes. "She went up the slope two hours ago and hasn't come down." "Zoe, you shouldn't pop off like that," Mom scolded as she gracefully glided down from the balcony, landing next to Ruby who she immediately pulled into a hug, causing her to drop her daughters scarf. "Don't worry, they'll find her." Picking up the scarf in my own magic, an idea popped into my mind. Earlier that week, Aunt Twilight had taught me one of the spells she uses to send books she had finished using back to its place in the vast library she keeps in her castle. It was a simple enchantment spell that had the book float back to its place. If something like that could work for a book, maybe it could work in reverse for an object like this scarf and have it return to its owner. I knew Mom would not let me go off on my own, I waited until she wasn't looking to make my attempt. Not knowing how far away Sapphire was, I cast the enchantment on the scarf with as much magic as I could. Shaking off the lightheadedness from overexerting myself, I opened my eyes to see that it worked! Floating off into the woods up the mountain slope, I followed the scarf. I noticed that there were hoofprints in the snow, no doubt from the ski patrol, so I started to get some inkling of hope that maybe she had already been found; but that quickly faded as the scarf started to lead me into fresh powder. I followed the scarf for what seemed like an hour before the enchantment wore off and fell limp onto the snow. I steeled myself to cast the enchantment again, not sure I would be able to do that with the same potency when I heard faint sobbing. Tossing the scarf around my neck, I walked in the direction of the sound, I soon found myself in the middle of a small clearing. On the other side, sitting on her haunches, was Sapphire Moon. The blue-coated unicorn was beneath a tree, the sound of her own crying let me get close enough without her noticing to see that she was shivering from the cold. Lying next to her were her skis, one of them broken in half. She had obviously gone off the posted trails and probably hit a rock or a log. "Sapphire?" I asked as gently as I could as to startle her. "What?" -sniff- "Zoe? What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised at my presence. "I came looking for you," I told her. "In fact, half the mountain is looking for you," I explained further. "Are you ok?" "No... I'm cold." She told me with some pain showing through her voice. "I think I hurt my knee when I fell." "I can't help with the knee, but I do have this," I said, using my magic to wrap her scarf around her neck. "Why are you helping me?" She asked. "It's the right thing to do?" I stated. "Look, I know we have a history. You and your friends haven't been the most friendly lot towards me." I continued. "And none of that matters when somepony needs help." Sapphire gave a small chuckle, followed by a sharp inhale caused by pain from the sudden movement, but she managed a weak smile even as she avoided looking into my eyes. "Anyways, you're hurt, so walking out of this is not going to happen," I said, changing the subject. "And leaving you here alone while I go and get help is out of the question," I stated. "So I'm going to go... look for... firewood... What is it?" I asked as I noticed that Sapphire had the cold look of fear on her face, her ears splayed back and her eyes wide as saucers. I slowly turned my head to see what had frightened her to see a gigantic brown bear. A low growl filled the otherwise quiet clearing. "Uhh... Hi there, buddy..." I said nervously as I stood frozen in place. The large animal slowly walked towards us until there was but a scant few feet between us. Then he let out an ear shattering, blood-curdling roar. Afterward, the clearing was deathly silent save for the fluttering of wings from a small flock of birds. The bear then looked in the direction of the summit and began to run in the opposite direction. That was when we felt it, and I mean we felt it. The ground beneath us began to rumble as I watched in horror as a massive wall of white was leveling everything in its path, and it was heading directly at us. Without hesitation, I did the only thing I could do: I began to cast a shield spell around the two of us, putting as much magic as I possibly could into it just as the avalanche passed over, throwing us into darkness as the snow blocked out all light. A faint white glow then illuminated the small hemisphere lined with ice caused by the flash melted/frozen snow that had come in contact with my shield. My knees buckled under me, sending me to the ground. "Zoe!" Sapphire yelled, but it seemed so far away. I was just so tired. My head ached and all I wanted to do was sleep. "Zoe! Stay awake!" she called out to me from what seemed like a mile away, but I didn't care, I just closed my eyes. At the foot of the mountain, two mares watched in horror as what seemed to be the side of the mountain break free and come tumbling down at terrifying speed. "Zoe!" Fluttershy screamed.