The Crystal Caves of Confuzzlation (Iota Force Issue #6)

by The Iguana Man

Epilogue: True Illusions

There was a short silence as everyone stood in the corridor, taking a moment to calm down after all the excitement.

The silence was not technically broken by Lance tilting his head and pointing in the direction Conundra had been taken, but it effectively was as those who were attuned to his gestures understood his meaning and those that weren't saw that others had.

“What'll happen to her?” Archer asked, translating Lance's curiosity into an actual question.

Cadence sighed. “Well, she'll obviously have to be tried in some capacity – I'm not sure if it would be a full court trial or not, we'll have to figure out exactly how to proceed.”

“You don't?” Icy asked, though she almost immediately caught the unintentional incredulity in her voice and soon amended it with, “I mean... sorry, I didn't know...”

Cadence giggled gently, assuring Icy that her words had not offended her. “It's quite alright – we're still catching up to modern times in many respects here in the empire. We lack both experience with such... unintuitive threats and the infrastructure to automatically deal with them. But rest assured, she will face the consequences of her actions.”

Archer sighed. “Probably less than she deserves though,” she said, lowering her head and kicking a hoof against the ground lightly. Her head raised, again, when Zatrathan put a hoof on her shoulder.

“Take heart, dear Archer – we have won our war,
and she can't trick or hurt us any more.”

Archer exhaled slowly, holding onto her annoyance for a second before putting a hoof on his. “Thanks, Zat.”

Icy was about to add something when a light in the corner of her eye drew her attention. Looking up at Cadence, she saw her horn faintly glowing and, though she could have been imagining it, she thought she saw a few tiny stars in the Princess's eyes.

However, the alicorn soon cleared her throat, dispelling the expression and getting everyone's attention.

“In any case, rest assured that we will take whatever actions we deem appropriate. While it is true that her parents are powerful and important ponies, who I would... prefer to keep on friendly terms, they are also reasonable enough to recognize the severity of the crimes their daughter has committed – not only breaking into a forbidden area and stealing a powerful spell and artefact, but actively using one of the most cruel spells ever created on innocent ponies...” Cadence shuddered a little at the mention of that spell, “no, we may not have the procedures or facilities Equestria does, but she will be punished, believe me.”

“Hey, that reminds me,” Aura said after a moment, not seeming especially motivated by the reminder. “There's one thing I still don't understand.”

Alula snorted. “I dearly hope you mean in relation to this event. If you were claiming there was only one thing in the universe you didn't understand, you would be either a liar, extraordinarily deluded or the envy of all lifekind.”

“So, if that filly used Sombra's fear-illusions-thingy spell,” Aura began, not seeming to have noticed Alula's snark, “how come it was so, like, ineffective and... well, lame.” She shrugged, also not seeming to notice the glares being levelled at her. “I mean, yeah, it worked and it showed things they didn't like, but shouldn't it have been, like, stuff that'd totally destroy them, make them scream or whimper or... just take 'em out of action? I mean, they were able to break out of it pretty easy, so... what was up with that?”

“Um, it wasn't...” Icy began, taking a moment to push past the fear of the memory, “it wasn't like that for all of us,” she pointed out, her voice lowering into almost a squeak before she shook her head and spoke a little louder. “I don't think I could have broken out of it without help.”

Aura thought for a moment before shaking her head. “Nah, you could have. Trust me.”

Icy frowned, a little confused and unnerved by the certainty in Aura's voice. “I... I don't think...”

“No, I'm with her on this one,” Alula interrupted, though she still gave a somewhat sour look to Aura. “You would have.”

Aura raised an eyebrow, though her smile didn't diminish. “You've been with me on most of the stuff we’ve seen so far, you know.”

Alula shook her head. “Your conclusions, yes, your reasonings, less so, but that's irrelevant. Icy,” she continued without a pause, “while playing to your phobia did, I assume, make it more frightening, it was still simply a physical scenario and you would have been able to power through it sooner or later.” She gave a glance to Dinky, who responded with a firm nod.

Icy gulped loudly, entirely unconvinced by their words, but didn't have time to question them before Cadence spoke up again.

“Indeed you would, but the reason why requires an explanation. In short, it has to do with the nature of dark magic.”

“Oh, are we...” Dinky began, pausing to let everyone look at her before continuing. “Are we allowed to know this then?”

“Dunno 'bout the rest o' you,” Runt growled out, “but I know I am.”

“In any case,” Cadence said before anyone had the chance to think on and be disturbed by Runt's declaration, “the knowledge isn't forbidden or illegal, it's simply... not talked about much, for obvious reasons. However, there's no need to stay around here while I tell you – let's walk, shall we?” she asked, though she began moving before anyone could answer – she was a Princess, after all, so she was evidently used to ponies doing what she suggested.

“You see, the usual way ponies think about dark magic is that it's inherently more powerful than the regular kind, but it automatically corrupts whoever uses it,” Cadance explained as the large group moved. “However, neither of those assumptions is really right. You see, dark magic isn't necessarily as powerful, let alone more so, than any other kind. The reason it has a lot of potential power is that, well,” she looked around, evidently a little hesitant to continue in front of children, but nevertheless kept talking after a moment, “it's powered by a pony's negative emotions – their anger, hatred, revulsion, spite... some spells are even powered by the user's sadness or fear. The more of those emotions a pony has and channels into the spell, the more intense the dark magic will be. And since there's not much limit to how dark a pony's thoughts can be, such spells can be incredibly powerful.”

“That makes sense,” Alula chimed in, nodding to herself, “perhaps in a similar way to how certain powerful magicians can channel positive emotions such as friendship and love.”

Cadance raised an amused eyebrow. “Indeed, if only I knew of such a pony to ask.” She smiled and continued talking as Alula blinked, having been too busy analyzing to remember who she was talking to. “Anyway, that's why dark magic is so dangerous and why it so often corrupts its users – there's nothing inherently mind-altering about it, it simply encourages ponies to indulge and give in to their darkest aspects in order to enhance it, which in turn makes even darker aspects and tempts them with even more power if they give in to them too.”

“So,” Dinky said, speaking after Cadance a fraction of a second too early to sound entirely comfortable with the topic, “it doesn't corrupt them, it just gives them a reason to corrupt themselves.” She finished quietly, her big eyes quivering at the prospect.

To her credit, Cadance didn't look that much happier with the idea. “Essentially, yes. Of course, it’s probably possible to use it in the long term without succumbing to temptation, but there's been understandable hesitation to research it. Besides which, most ponies virtuous enough to remain uncorrupted by it tend to also be humble enough not to believe they are. In any case,” she shook her head hard, as if to help everyone else shake off the depressing topic as much as to help herself, “that's why young Vision's use of the spell wasn't nearly as powerful as intended.”

“Hmm, I'm not sure I'd describe it like that,” Truffle said, thinking hard about his experience without any notable hesitation. “The illusion itself was pretty much perfect – seemed entirely real with zero indication of if it was fake. It just... wasn't all that frightening. Certainly wasn't what I was expecting.” He cleared his throat sharply, turning away a little to hide his expression.

Cadance didn't seem to notice as she smiled gently at the group. “Perhaps, but that's not quite what I meant. The illusion itself may have been well-made – I'm sure Vision's Talent for illusions helped with that – but that was only part of the spell, and not the part that requires the dark magic's power. No, that part was the part that searched your minds to find what you were afraid of. Without the power of true malice behind it, it could only scan your minds on a very surface level and find things that scared you in a shallow way. Even when it got lucky and found a phobia, it was still appealing to an instinctive fear and,” she turned to regard Icy specifically, though with a glance to Caprice to make sure she knew she was included as well, “as your friends said, you could and would have overcome it.

“Hmm,” Archer piped up, again a little too early to sound entirely natural, though Icy got the feeling it was to help her not dwell on the memory of the incident – something she was thankful for, “so you're saying the reason her spell didn't hurt us as bad as it should have... was cause she didn't really want to hurt us?”

Cadance nodded. “Essentially, though it was more that she didn't have any direct desire to hurt you, she just thought it was necessary to escape. Had she been more sadistic... or had someone like Sombra cast it, you would have been...” she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, swallowing hard before pushing forward. “it would have found the one thing, the one scenario that would hurt you and make you despair more than any other, one that struck at the very core of your being, your own personal nightmare and put you right in there with no way to escape on your own. It wouldn't creep you out or spook you or startle you or even paralyse you... it would scare you.”

There was a long, uncomfortable silence as the gravity of what Cadance was describing truly sunk in. For her part, Cadance just looked sad at having said that, even though there was no shame or regret at informing them of the danger they had potentially faced and may one day face again. It was the face of one, appropriately enough, who had done something terrible but necessary.

After a little while of quiet walking, however, Zatrathan spoke up.

“This helps to make the situation clear,
as little as the topic suits us foals.
Conundra showed us what our bodies fear,
while Sombra's spell would share what scares our souls.” He gave a shudder at that, seeming to give an uncharacteristic amount of thought to that scenario.

However, Archer soon bumped him gently, giving him a smile as he looked at her. “Well, guess we should just be happy we were up against someone too wussy to do that, huh?”

A quiet, tentative chuckle went through the group at that, helping to dispel the general malaise that had fallen over them due to the topic. Still, there was a slight discomfort that still permeated the assembled beings.

All, that is, except for Cadance, who was looking at Archer and Zatrathan with that same, slightly starry expression and glowing horn. And, though Icy was probably imagining it, she swore she had heard a sound uncannily similar to a rubber duck.

Still, she soon dismissed it as the group reached one of the exits to the palace. Icy turned to Cadance to say goodbye, only to see that she wasn't slowing down, instead walking to the door with the clear intent to accompany them outside.

She wasn't the only one to notice this, either, as Alula quirked an eyebrow at the Princess. “Are you intending to accompany us back to our hotel, Princess? I'm sure you're aware it's not necessary and, if it is, one of your guards can escort us.”

Cadance smiled pleasantly at her. “That's quite alright, I have a little... errand I need to take care of anyway, so I might as well come with.”

Alula's eyebrow remained thoroughly quirked. “I see. It is, I presume in the direction of the hotel... except you almost certainly don't know which one it is, so...”

“No, it's at our hotel,” Aura said, not seeming to be bothered by pre-empting royalty. “Because it's our hotel.”

At this, Alula's eyebrow did lower, along with the rest of her expression in order to give Aura a dirty look. “I wasn't asking you.”

“Well, she is right,” Dinky piped up from Cadance's other side. “The Princess wants to do something to do with us.”

Alula sighed. “I see. Thank you, Dinky.”

“What, so you don't mind when she tells you things she just feels, but when I do it, you get all pouty and cross?” Aura asked, sounding more puzzled than offended at the contradiction.

Alula resumed her glare. “Because she doesn't “just feel” things. She comes to her conclusions based on direct observation and examination of a pony's mannerisms, language and personality – something I cannot do myself, but I nevertheless accept as a valid cognitive skill.”

“Well, to be fair, I don't really... think about it too hard,” Dinky pointed out, sounding a little awkward at being used in a criticism like this. “I just kind of... watch ponies and see what they're like. I'm pretty sure anypony could do it if they tried.”

“Exactly,” Alula nodded, not seeming to register the intent of Dinky's words to modify her statement, “it's largely reflexive, but it is nevertheless a result of empirical perception. She doesn't pretend that it's some vague, oracular mysticism that tells her these things.”

“Um, Alula,” Icy spoke up, beginning to feel rather uncomfortable at the tone the conversation was taking, “shouldn't we just be... happy she knows things that can help us?”

“No, she's right,” Archer said, tilting her head a little at Aura. “There's gotta be some kinda rational explanation for it.”

Zatrathan gave a slightly sardonic smirk, though with a touch of melancholy to it.

“Indeed, but good luck finding out just what,
For we have searched for years and we've found squat.”

“Regardless,” Alula said, still somewhat testily, “the problem isn't so much the lack of explanation for her insights. It's that her insights don't make sense! You can't figure out these things just because you get “feelings”.”

Icy frowned for a moment, hesitating before bringing up the obvious counter-example. “But Pinkie Pie...”

“...is not an example of something that makes sense!” Alula finished for her in a growl. She exhaled sharply before taking a deep breath in, calming herself. “Besides, that's not quite the same thing – Pinkie's premonitions are, at least, limited to imminent and concrete events – it is possible, if far-fetched, for one to subconsciously predict such things.

“But the things Ms. Gaze “feels” are deep, far-reaching or complex facts about a person or situation. Figuring such things out is a matter of careful observation, analysis and logic, not just “kinda knowing them,” as she claims,” she said, a faint, momentary flicker of green around her throat suggesting she had to actively stop herself directly mimicking Aura's voice to quote her. “As such, she must be performing such reasoning on some level, even subconsciously, and I resent the implication that she is not.”

“Well, I mean, I might be,” Aura pointed out, not sounding bothered at being talked about like she wasn't standing right next to Alula. “I mean, like, if it's all subconscious, then I don't know it's happening, right? So, if you wanna tell me it's happening, that's fine – you do you. But if I can't see it, I don't really see why I should worry about whether it's happening, right?”

Alula sighed. “Ms. Gaze. I do want you to know that I appreciate your help, be it successful, unsuccessful or accidentally successful. As such, I hope you will not be offended when I say that I hope I don't spend any significant time with you for the rest of this trip.”

Aura shrugged. “It's all good, buddy. Guess we'll just hope we're not on any of the same tours.”

“Oh?” Alula raised an eyebrow. “Don't you “just know” whether we will be or not?”

Aura chuckled. “I dunno. You tell me whether I can know that.”

There was a long, tense silence as Alula frowned and pouted at the possibly-a-gentle-jab. Silent, that was, because no one was making any real noise, and tense because everyone was trying to hold in their laughter.

---

The next short while was a bit of a blur for Icy, partly due to the recent inactivity reminding her how tired she was. Still, soon enough, they had arrived back at the hotel and the organizers of the two school trips had been woken. However, it had been collectively and silently agreed that the assembled children didn't want to be around to hear what was discussed, as it might prove somewhat disheartening. After all, regardless of how justified they thought their actions were, they did technically go out without an escort and trespass on secure government property. Icy got the distinct impression there might be a bit of detention in her future.

Still, that was at least a week in said future and that was far further than Icy was willing to imagine at that point. As such, she simply left along with many of the others, less than half staying behind - Alula, Archer, Aura, Griz and Zatrathan. Icy considered considering why, but didn't particularly feel like it.

Instead, she focused on walking towards her room, with Dinky, Truffle and Caprice coming with her – Scootaloo and Runt had rooms on the other side of the building.

Dinky's was the first room they came to and they politely paused while she swiped her magically-attuned card over the lock, opening the door and revealing Pip strolling up and down, a little agitated.

He whirled around when he heard the door open, his face lighting up as he saw Dinky rushing up to him, opening his hooves to receive her hug.

“You're back. Is everything okay – you were gone a while and I thought you might have...”

“We're okay, Pip,” Dinky assured him, sinking into the hug a little more. “If you were worried, you should have contacted me – you do have a badge after all.”

Pip blushed as he looked away – quite a feat, given that the pony he was talking to was still hugging him and didn't seem likely to stop any time soon. “Well, yeah, but I thought you might be busy or concentrating and I didn't want to bother you and...”

Dinky shook her head against his chest. “Don't be silly – I'll always make time for you, Pip.”

Pip's blush intensified. It was extremely noticeable, too, given that Icy saw it while her eyes were focused on another part of the room.

“Hey, why are your beds pushed together?” she asked when the conversation between the two lulled for a moment.

Pip's eyes widened as he and Dinky hastily disengaged the hug and stood apart, looking suddenly awkward.

“Well, you see, it's because we like to, um...” Pip began before Dinky took over the sentence.

“We like to read together – the same book, that kind of thing – and it made it easier to...”

“...to sleep afterwards,” Pip resumed talking, “we could both fit on the same bed or just read on the floor, but we figured this'd be...”

“...be better than having to walk across the room all the time!” Dinky finished with a slightly brittle grin.

Icy tilted her head a little at their expressions, but shrugged her acceptance.

Caprice, on the other hoof, just scoffed with a smirk. “Yeah, sure you are. Come on, guys, let's leave these two “bookworms” to their “readin'”.”

She strolled off, soon followed by Icy and Truffle to the sounds of Dinky and Pip stammering.

“What was that about?” Icy asked, prompting a chuckle from Caprice.

“If you don't know, I ain't gonna be the one to tell ye's,” she said as she turned down a short side corridor. “That's fer yer folks to do. All I'll say is good night and that I hope I don't see ye's in costume again.”

Icy blinked in place for a moment, even more confused than before, before shaking her head and catching up with Truffle.

She was just opening her mouth to ask him what had just happened when she noticed her own room down another side corridor and began turning down towards it.

“You're leaving?” Truffle asked, prompting Icy to freeze in place and look over her shoulder at him, her tired brain not quite comprehending what he was asking.

“Er, yeah...” she said, trailing off in the hopes Truffle would fill in the conversational gap. After a second, though, she continued. “Is... is that a problem?”

“Oh, no, not at all, if you want to,” Truffle replied, looking a touch nervous. “It's simply that I thought we were going to... well, I said I'd tell you about... my little... the thing I imagined when... my, um...” he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and swallowed before finishing with an unusually quiet tone. “my own nightmare.”

Icy's eyes narrowed in confusion, thinking for a moment that he meant what Conundra had shown him with her failed spell, before his nervous tone twigged something in her memory. After a second, her eyes widened as she remembered what they had talked about a while before that – the image he'd imagined when he heard about the spell; the nightmare he'd thought he was going to see.

Icy blinked heavily, the fog around her brain rapidly draining as both the memory and the severity of it flooded back into her brain. “Oh, right, yeah, sorry, I forgot...” She shook her head, cutting off that sentence to hopefully stop him thinking she didn't care. “After everything, I didn't... anyway, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to.”

Truffle shook his head. “No, no, I'm a stallion of my word. Besides, I think it might... help a little to get it off my chest in front of both of y-” he cut himself off with a slight grunt before continuing. “But, like I said, it's not entirely my decision, so let's get to my room, shall we?”

Icy raised an eyebrow, unsure what to make of that statement, but followed him anyway. Fortunately, his room wasn't that much further and they were soon at his door.

“Would you mind waiting out here while I ask about this?” Truffle asked as he swiped his own key over the lock. Icy nodded, seeing no issue with that.

Smiling thinly, Truffle strode through the door as if it wasn't there, throwing it open to reveal Twist sitting on her own bed.

Looking up, Twist barely had time to open her mouth before Truffle enveloped her in his own hug, the door swinging closed a moment later.

“Er, hi, Truffle,” Icy heard Twist say a little wheezingly, suggesting that Truffle was squeezing her fairly hard. By most ponies' standards, that was – if Truffle squeezed her as hard as he could, she'd probably be crushed to the width of a bamboo shoot, but it was still clear that he was holding her tight. Not that Twist seemed to mind.

“Um, I'm not complaining or anything, but ith there a reathon...” she trailed off as Truffle spoke, too quiet for Icy to make out any words. She knew she could probably hear clearer if she put her ear against the door, but she didn't want to intrude – it seemed as if their conversation was extremely personal.

This feeling was intensified by the occasional snatches of noise she did manage to overhear – not enough even to make out any individual words, but just about enough to get a sense of Twist's emotions – surprise, nervousness and hesitation, but no anger or offence.

After a couple of minutes, the door opened to reveal Twist, looking as she had sounded. Still, she beckoned Icy inside.

“Okay, I... come in, Ithy, I... I think Truffle'th right about thith.” She said as she stood aside, allowing Icy to stroll into the room.

The moment she did, she noticed something.

“Hey,” she asked as Twist joined Truffle on the bed that, Icy now saw, wasn't alone. “How come your beds are pushed together too? Do you read together too?” she asked.

Truffle shook his head. “Occasionally, but no. This is so we can snuggle, but that's not important right now.” Twist blushed brightly, but said nothing, a wobbly smile on her face showing that she did appreciate Truffle's candour.

Shrugging, Icy sat down on the floor in front of the bed.

Truffle swallowed hard, recognizing his cue to start talking. “Right. Well, as I said, when that filly told us the spell she was after I sort of... got ahead of myself and I... imagined what it would... what I thought it would show me. Though I suppose a part of the reason I did was because I already think about it sometimes. But what it is requires... a bit of explanation.” He turned to Twist, a sympathetic look on his face. “Do you want to explain it or...”

Twist shook her head, looking extremely uncomfortable for a moment before pressing her head against Truffle's side firmly, clearly finding it a comforting presence.

Truffle nodded. “Right. Well, it all goes back to the incident with the Mane-iac.”

“Miniac,” Icy corrected instinctively, the nickname for the child version of the character they'd fought helping to soften the impact of what it had done. And it was needed, considering exactly what had happened – a disembodied spirit of the Mane-iac, escaped from an enchanted comic, had possessed Twist and used her body to rob and terrorize ponies and try to kill them. And while Twist wasn't able to consciously remember those actions until after the spirit had been pulled out of her, she had understandably been traumatized by the experience.

Truffle nodded. “Of course. Well, you remember what happened afterwards?”

Icy nodded. “You both went to the Mane Coast for a while to recover.” That she remembered because it meant that Truffle hadn't been there for Icy's first encounter with Magic Eye. Not that she blamed him for it, she was simply a touch jealous that he didn't have to deal with that whole business.

“Yes, but...” Truffle hesitated, turning to Twist and gently nuzzling her for a moment, clearly as much as a comfort to himself as to her. Still, he turned back to Icy and continued, “what I didn't tell you was what happened the first night we were there. Me and Twist were sleeping in the same room... well, we were when I went to sleep. But when I woke up in the middle of the night, she wasn't in her bed. And what's more... well, the reason I woke up was because I heard something from the door.”

Truffle took a deep breath, pressing a hoof against the mattress below him as he prepared to say more. “Well, naturally I rushed out to see what was going on and I... I found her in the kitchen... with a pair of scissors wrapped around her beautiful mane.”

“It’th not...” Twist blurted out, her head leaping away from Truffle's side before she stopped herself, taking a breath. “It didn't feel beautiful. It felt... it felt horrible – that wath the thing I'd... that thing had uthed to try and kill you all and I jutht wanted... I didn't... I never wanted it to be able to hurt anypony ever again!”

Truffle wrapped a hoof around his marefriend and squeezed her gently, allowing her shaking to gradually subside without erupting into tears. “It's okay, gumdrop, it's okay.” He said, his voice gentle but firm.

Nodding, Twist inhaled slowly. “I know... thankth. Anyway,” she looked at Icy again, “Truffle wath able to talk me down...”

“Thank Celestia for that,” Truffle added, nuzzling her frizzy mane gently, eliciting a melancholy giggle from Twist.

“And we thort of thpent the night on the kitchen floor, crying and then thleeping,” she finished.

Truffle laughed a little himself. “Had a heck of a job explaining it to her parents the next morning.”

Icy couldn't help but let a small chuckle escape before she schooled her expression to once again reflect the seriousness of the conversation. “So, you thought you were going to see Twist with her... after she'd...” she rolled a hoof to finish her sentence, not wishing to say it herself. It would certainly explain why Truffle had been so disturbed by the idea, though Icy wasn't sure why he had decided to tell her about it – surely just talking to Twist about it would be enough.

Truffle nodded with a slight hum. “Well, yes, that... that was half of it. I thought I would see Twist with... with her head shaved and covered in cuts and blood, her tail a fleshy stump and even her coat and cutie mark mostly gone...” he grimaced, his face compressing tightly before Twist nuzzled into his side gently, which seemed to help, “but that wasn't all. She would be sitting there, looking so hurt... and she'd be holding a body.”

Icy's head jerked back as the sudden, unexpected wrinkle was introduced to the description. “What... a body? Whose?”

Truffle straightened his head and looked Icy dead in the eye, his expression apologizing for what his mouth was about to say. “Yours.”

Icy blinked for a moment, too confused to do anything more. “M-me? Why would I...?”

“Because you were... you would have obviously been drowned.” Truffle explained, his voice clearly being pushed past the lump in his throat. “You'd have been... wet, ragged and bloated. Like you... you almost...”

“I remember,” Icy said, cutting him off. Not that she thought he needed the reminder – falling into a pool, being pulled through pipes and dumped under a frozen lake and nearly dying was not the sort of thing one should be expected to forget. “But why... why would that... why would you see...?”

“Because it was my fault!” Truffle blurted out at nearly a yell. “Don't you remember? I was the one who came crashing in without thinking while you were teetering on the edge. I was the one who knocked you off balance because I couldn't... because I didn't think to crash into the ground with less than all my force. I was the one who was too busy picking myself up to notice or catch you in time. You almost died and you did get a massive phobia... because of me.”

“You didn't mean to...” Icy began before Truffle cut her off.

“I still did.”

There was a long silence after that, only avoiding seeming awkward because that aspect was overwhelmed by the impact of what had been said.

After a while, Truffle cleared his throat. “So... that's what I saw. I don't expect comfort and I'm not going to ask for forgiveness, I just... I felt like you had a right to know since you played such a big part in my potential nightmare... and since I'm responsible for yours.”

Icy's lips squeezed together as she held her head rigid, preventing it from nodding – while she did understand and Truffle may have been factually correct, she didn't want to seem like she was validating his self-reproach.

I guess Princess Luna was right, she thought to herself, there really is nothing “only” about being a child. We can be just as powerful and smart as an adult... and have just as much guilt and pain.

Still, she dismissed the thought quickly – Truffle was still her friend and just because he didn't expect comfort didn't mean he wasn't going to get it.

However, she hesitated, unsure exactly what to say. For a second, she wished she had Alula's analytical skill or Dinky's gentle charisma – she was sure either of them would know a way to put things to help Truffle. For that matter, Scootaloo's directness, Archer's breezy serenity and Lance's meaningful silence would probably be useful to this conversation. Even Truffle himself would be better at it if he wasn't the target – his bluster and joie de vivre could be immensely comforting. Mind you, direct comfort wasn't the only way to handle things, as Alula would no doubt prove. She'd find some way of looking at things that would help, but it would be direct and she wouldn't hold back. Unless there was something she wanted to keep in reserve, like...

The sides of Icy's mouth twitched up as she thought of something, a way of looking at things that might help.

“Well,” she began, drawing attention back to her, “yeah, I'm not gonna lie. You screwed up a lot that time but...” she added quickly, hoping to mollify the hurt look on Truffle's face and the death glare on Twist's, “but you're... well, that doesn't really make you special does it – it happens to everypony.”

Truffle snorted slightly. “Everyone makes mistakes, you mean?” he asked, clearly not finding the cliché that compelling.

Icy shrugged. “Well, yeah, I know, it sounds kinda silly and hack when we're talking about this kind of thing but... it is true. We all mess up sometimes. I mean, even Alula did earlier tonight – if she hadn't insisted on keeping everyone else back, we probably wouldn't have been teleported into Conundra's hooves. I understand why she did it, but it was still a mistake, right?”

A smirk briefly poked its way onto Truffle's face. “I suppose so. No wonder she was so grumpy when she found us.”

Icy nodded, seeing the logic behind her attitude. “Yeah, I guess we all have different ways of dealing with that kind of thing.”

“It's still not the same, though,” Truffle said, his face falling again. “Yes, she helped put us in danger, but I did more than that... I almost killed you and I did hurt you. Badly.”

Icy kept her expression firm once more, preventing herself from raising an eyebrow – exactly how much danger they'd been in from Conundra and the caves was debatable and she wasn't sure the risk of death was that much less than hers had been under the ice, but she didn't feel like that was a worthwhile avenue to pursue.

Still, she wasn't sure what, if anything, she could say to help his guilt over what had happened to her. For that matter, she almost certainly couldn’t say anything to help his pain over Twist, that would be up to her. In fact, now that she thought about it, she didn't know exactly why he felt guilty over that – there was no way for him to know what had been happening to her before they found out and she doubted there was much he could have done. He probably simply blamed himself for not finding out and being able to overcome the possessing spirit sooner.

Of course, that wasn't his fault at all. The only real time they could have done anything was when they first confronted her with the full team, and that had ended when...

Her hoof pressed in the ground as she realized what she could say. “Well, even if we say you did hurt me... it wasn't that much worse than how I hurt Twist.”

Both their heads whipped up in confusion at her words.

“What are you talking about?” Twist asked. “When did... how did you...?”

“Well, remember when we... all of us first met her in that barn? We were all ready for a fight, ready to take her down... until I accidentally gave her the idea to use the stuff she stole for a laser.”

Twist's eyes widened behind her glasses as she remembered. “You didn't mean to...”

“But I did,” Icy interjected, consciously echoing Truffle's earlier words. “If I hadn't done that, we could probably have defeated her there and gotten her out of Twist much earlier. She wouldn't have had to be possessed and... go through all that for as long if I'd just been paying attention and thinking about what I was saying.”

“You... you don't know that,” Truffle pointed out, though his expression clearly showed that he was beginning to see her point.

Icy shrugged. “Well, no, but we could have and I definitely screwed up. It'd make sense if Twist hated me for that.”

“I don't,” Twist said, still a little confused at the direction the conversation was taking.

Icy nodded. “I know and I'm really happy you don't, but...” she paused for a second, gathering her thoughts before the final push. “We all mess up sometimes. We shouldn't pretend we don't or we haven't and we shouldn't tell ourselves it isn't bad when we do. But we also shouldn't spend all our time worrying about them. We should focus on making up for them. Because we can make up for them, if we try and get better from them. That doesn't make the mistake okay, but... but it can make us okay.”

She locked eyes with Truffle, pulling his steadily falling gaze towards her. “We shouldn't forget our mistakes, but we can't...” she searched for the right word for a moment before she hit on it, “we can't define ourselves by our mistakes either, but on how we make up for them. How we improve on them.”

She smirked a little at Truffle, bringing his own mouth up a little in sympathy. “And, well, you've been helping and protecting me... all of us before and after your mistake. So, as far as I can tell, you're making up for it just fine. And even if you didn't ask me to, I forgive you.”

Truffle sighed, the tension in his face gradually fading. It was clear the guilt wasn't completely gone – that would take a lot longer if it happened at all – but it had been lightened considerably. He relaxed into Twist's side, a thin but genuine smile coming onto his face.

Twist, however, just got a slightly more devilish smirk. “And if that doethn't work, all we need to is find a way for me to hurt you and we'll have completed the thircuit!”

The instant she said that, all remaining tension in the room was washed away in the tidal wave of her remark. A sharp, barking laugh escaped Truffle, seemingly as much out of surprise at the remark as what was actually said. “Well, aren't we sassy today, gumdrop?”

Twist shrugged into him. “I learned from the betht.”

Truffle turned his head towards her, a mischievous smile spreading across his own face.

Icy, meanwhile, was suddenly feeling intensely awkward – the fact they had seemingly forgotten she was in the room meant the whole force of her third-wheeldom had slammed onto her shoulders all at once.

“Well, I'm happy I could help, I'll just... leave you two alone,” she said awkwardly as she nudged the door open and slipped through as quickly and quietly as she could.

“Bye, Ithy, thankth fo- eep!”

Icy didn't see what had caused Twist to give off that particular delighted squeak and, as she scampered back to her own room, she was immensely glad of that.

Seeing her door was ajar, Icy pushed it open. “Hey, Archer, how ar-” she cut herself off with a strangled gasp as she saw who was in the room.

Standing by the bed and placing her hammer down, its handle leaning next to the pillow, was the massive form of Grizelda the Griffon.

Turning around, Griz waved her thick talons at Icy. “Ah, you are new roommate, yes?”

“Er,” Icy hesitated as she walked calmly and non-threateningly over to her bed, getting perspective on exactly how much bigger Griz was than her, “well, this is my... er, the room I'm sleeping in, but... I thought Archer was my, erm...” she trailed off, swallowing nervously.

Griz nodded. “Correct, was roommate, as Zatrathan was mine. However, Princess Cadance asked that we change places so Zatrathan and Archer can be in room together.”

Icy's brow lowered as she tried to parse this new information. “Why?”

Griz's beak pursed a little as she too thought about the request. “Do not know, was not clear. Something about ‘cute’ and... a boat, I think. Did not make sense.” She shrugged. “Ponies weird. Royals weird. Therefore royal ponies? Very weird.”

Icy sighed – there was a slight impulse to object her assessment, but she couldn't really come up with any counterarguments.

Still, she did tilt her head at the griffon. “Well, I mean, I guess most things are. I mean, you're...” she paused, thinking hard on how to phrase her next sentence so as not to offend the big griffon with the big hammer, “your whole “Griz smash” thing is... I guess it really is just an act, right?”

Griz gave an affirmative hum, not seeming bothered by the question or the slight hint of surprise in Icy's tone. “Indeed, yes, is pretending. And, yes, is little weird but very useful. Does wonderful things to bad guys’ morale.” She looked at Icy with something between a smirk of confidence and a grin of genuine enjoyment. “If think enemy is smart, can trust enemy to do what normal ponies will do. If think enemy is stupid brute, cannot predict what stupid will be done.”

Icy nodded, seeing the logic in it. “Okay, that makes sense. Oh, does that mean Runt's whole “scary intense” thing,” she narrowed her eyes at Griz in a pale imitation of Runt's glare, “is all an act too?”

Griz swallowed hard, a touch of nervousness coming onto her face for the first time since Icy had first seen her. “Sure, let us be going with that.”

Icy's eyes widened a little, her face falling slightly before she looked away and cleared her throat. “So, is there anything I should know about being roommates with you,” she asked, forcefully changing the subject.

Fortunately, Griz willingly took the change and ran with it. “No, nothing can think of. Have been told I am good roommate...” she paused, thinking for a moment, “by ponies bigger than me, so would not be lying because are scared. Do not snore, do not talk, do not walk. Only thing to know: sleep with hammer next to me, in case I am woken suddenly.” She looked at Icy seriously. “Do not wake me suddenly.”

Icy nodded, getting Griz's implication instantly. “Or, if I need to, do it from a distance?”

Griz smiled at her. “You are having it!” She turned back to the bed, beginning to climb atop it. “Of course, will not be in room much outside sleeping times – is big empire out there, do not intend to waste holiday sitting in room.”

Icy smiled as she walked over to her own bed. “Well, I can understand that, but I guess we're kinda different – I'm probably going to be spending most of my evenings in here.” She looked up, seeing Griz give her a puzzled glance, so she continued. “I mean, I'm gonna be going on all the tours and stuff during the day, but once that's done, I'll probably just want to relax in here with a few comics.”

Griz's head bobbed to the side for a moment considering this. “As you wish, but you are welcome to join me in after school times if you like.”

Icy shot her a grateful smile, but still shook her head. “Thanks, but I think I'll be okay spending my evenings here.”

“I don't think so,” a new voice growled.

Icy and Griz whipped their heads around to the door, where a figure clad in a thick brown cloak stood, the door closing behind them. A hood was drawn over its face, masking even the tip of its muzzle, and the hem of the cloak trailed across the ground.

Griz slowly slipped a hand around her hammer's handle. “Who are you being? Friend or Foe?”

The figure gave a rasping chuckle. “Oh, have no fear, I'm definitely a friend and I'm here for you, Icy Flight!”

Icy's head jerked back a little in surprise. “Me?” She shot a worried glance at Griz, thankfully seeing her pick up her hammer fully, just in case. “What do you want from me?”

“Oh, many things,” the figure replied, “but first of all, I want you to answer me one question!”

The figure drew their legs into themselves a little and a palpable sense of tension came into the air as Icy tensed her wings and Griz hefted her hammer.

The figure exhaled, letting the moment hang before their legs, mane and tail seemed to explode outward with a bang and the sound of a kazoo, sending wings and hammer flying over faces to protect them. Through her feathers, however, Icy saw an incredible amount of pink burst into view. Lowering her wings, she squinted, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

“Pinkie Pie?”

“Were you surprised?” Pinkie asked with a massive, expectant grin on her face – apparently that was the question she wanted answered. “Were you? Wer- Ahem!” she cleared her throat, seemingly to banish the last of the rasp she'd used to disguise her voice. “Were you? Huh? Huh?”

“Er, yeah,” Icy nodded, surreptitiously waving at Griz to lower her hammer. She didn't know that this wasn't a threat, but it was definitely a friend. “Yeah, I was surprised, alright. What, er, what was with the cloak and the voice and everything?”

Pinkie shrugged. “Oh, that's just what you're supposed to do when you're a traveller, Icy.”

Icy raised an eyebrow but let it slide. “Okay, so what are, um... what are you doing here, Pinkie?” She asked, hoping to keep as much of her apprehension out of her question as possible. As much as she liked Pinkie, what she needed right now was to relax and regain a sense of concrete reality and Pinkie Pie was good for neither of those things.

Griz nodded. “I was understanding school was going to empire because adults busy with wrapping up of winter. Are you not being involved?”

Pinkie waved a hoof. “Pft, of course I am, but I don't need to spend all that time preparing.”

Griz tilted her head. “You do not need to prepare.”

“Of course not,” Pinkie said with a proud grin. “I'm always prepared. Preparation is my middle name – Pinkamena Diane H. Pie! Also, skating over the ice doesn't need that much preparation anyway. And that,” she thrust a hoof out for emphasis towards Icy, “is what I'm doing here.”

“Skating?” Icy asked, still completely lost.

Pinkie flicked her eyebrows up at Icy. “No, helping you to skate. You remember how you started learning how?”

Icy nodded, as if she could forget. They had had one lesson before the business with Skrik happened and after that whole incident, including her near-drowning, the idea of skating on a frozen lake suddenly didn't seem so appealing.

“Well, I know you couldn't keep up with the lessons after what happened,” Pinkie continued, with a level of tact that might have surprised those who didn't know Pinkie that well, but those who did knew she... usually exhibited, “but you still want to learn how to ice skate, right? Right!” she said, not waiting for Icy's confirmation. “So I had to ask myself how you could keep learning without going out onto the water and getting all scared. But all I could say was 'That's an excellent question, myself, but I don't know. However, if I think of something, I'll definitely let myself know!' And then, when I heard you'd gone up to the Crystal Empire, I did think of something!” She finished, punctuating her sentence with a cheerful hop.

Icy blinked hard, managing to hang onto the conversation by her wingtips. “So, you came to teach me ice skating? But how? I don't think there are any ponds or lakes in the Empire and even if there are, they wouldn't be frozen. Plus, well...” she trailed off, leaving unspoken the fact that she would have the same problem as in Ponyville.

Pinkie just smiled blankly, however. “Where are we?”

Icy raised an eyebrow – as always with Pinkie, it was hard to tell what was a point, what was a joke and what was a lapse in her sense of reality. “We're... in a hotel room?”

Pinkie nodded, her smile widening a little. “And where's the hotel?”

“In the Crystal Empire?” Icy asked, hoping desperately to find some solid point to hang onto in this new tangent the conversation had gone into.

Pinkie's smile widened a little further, into something that looked a little more knowing and in control. “And where's that?”

“Um, out there?” Icy replied, waving a hoof out of the window.

Pinkie closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. On anypony else, it would have been a sigh, but her smile stayed put and remained genuine – Pinkie rarely sighed. “Yes, but where is the Crystal Empire? In the world?”

Icy, however, did sigh. “In the frozen nor-” she cut herself as she realized what was being alluded to. She looked up to see Pinkie's smile blossom into a victorious grin. “You don't mean you're...?”

“I do mean I'm!” Pinkie replied. “We could go out of the city and skate until our blades get blunt and we won't find a single drop of water beneath us!”

Icy nodded, the possibility crystallizing in her mind. “Wow, that's... that could work. Although,” she turned away from Pinkie a little, uncomfortable at having spotted a flaw in the plan, “I was hoping to see the empire with the rest of the classes and go on the tours we have scheduled.”

Pinkie giggled. “Well, fear not, Icyrella, you shall go to the ball. Er, tours!” She waved a hoof as if it contained a magic wand. “You can go around and see the empire in the day and then, after school-time's done, you can come out with me and learn to skate!”

Icy swallowed, a little daunted at the prospect. “That won't give us much time. Are you sure you'll be able to teach me much in a week like that?”

Pinkie thought for a moment before nodding firmly. “I'm sure. It'll be hard, sure, but I can do it. Get ready for the crashiest crash course you ever crashed into!”

Icy winced. “Um, do you mean crashiest as in the fastest and most effective or as in the one where I crash the most?”

Pinkie scoffed. “Oh, please! What makes you think there's an “or” there?”

Icy sighed, though it was soon interrupted by a chuckle at Pinkie's phrasing and tone.

She thought about it. It would certainly be a challenge and she'd be incredibly tired out by it. But then, she had been wanting to learn to skate, make herself more of an asset to the team and work on her physical fitness. And, while it had been comforting to imagine, she was never under any illusions that that would be easy. Plus, as intense as it was, it was only for a week and she hoped that she could take such a trial for a week. Plus, if she couldn't, it'd be good to know that and try to rectify it in case she ever needed to.

She looked sidelong at Pinkie, looking for any hint of doubt or dubiousness. “You're sure you can teach me in a week?”

Pinkie's smile dimmed a little into something a lot more gentle. “Trust me, I can.” It then intensified once more into a grin as she held a hoof out to shake. “By the end of this week, you'll be an Equestria Games skater! What do you say?”

Icy giggled at the idea – it was a nice image and an impressive boast, but she knew for a fact it was an exaggeration. At most, by the end of her training week, she'd be somewhat competent. The idea she could become an expert after a week, or even a month or six, was just silly. Like many such lofty goals, it was just an illusion.

But, she thought as she put a hoof out and shook Pinkie's, I think this one is one illusion worth chasing.

Comments

[Scholarly-Cimmerian]

Wow. I did NOT expect that answer with who was searching for Icy! But hey, looks like I was right about wondering if it could be "friend" or foe. XD

This was a fun chapter, as always. Very much enjoyed the character work, as usual you do great stuff.

[CMC4TW]

Y'know, part of me says that Caprice and Sweetie Belle need to sit down and talk.

Another says that Sweetie Belle could be part of a Day Guard version of Iota Force, thus why we're unlikely to see it happen.