Holiday Parole

by libertydude

Skate on By

Cozy stared at the passing rides with a disdainful face. Her body bobbed in time with Tempest’s walk, still glued to the unicorn’s back by the medallions. Nopony gave the duo or their glowing neckpieces even a passing glance.

Gritting her teeth, Cozy grasped the silver token. Another sharp pain shot through her hooves, and sparks flew everywhere around her. A few passersby caught sight of the affair, but shrugged and moved on. Most assumed the little filly was just playing with fireworks or some magical Hearth’s Warming token that produced magical flashes.

Tempest hid her amusement from the filly by facing forward. “I was going to ask you what you wanted to do first,” she said. “But since you’re deciding to make this little trip difficult, I’m going to pick our first activity.”

“Swell,” Cozy muttered, flapping her hooves like they were on fire. The movement was doubly difficult, as the Medallion’s pull kept her barrel virtually glued to Tempest’s back and her limbs seemed to instinctively hold onto the unicorn. She let her hooves fall around Tempest’s midsection.

Suddenly, Cozy’s face lit up. The Medallion around Tempest’s neck was just in reach from this position. Were she to slowly reach up from Tempest’s withers to the base of her neck…

Inch by inch, Cozy shifted her front hooves up toward the bouncing medallion. She made sure the progression was gradual, unobtrusive to her appointed custodian. Tempest would assume the filly was just adjusting her hooves.

One quick swipe and soon, Tirek wouldn’t be the only prisoner to escape Tartarus.

The medallion swung just out of reach. Cozy inched herself forward another quarter inch.

Just a little more, she thought. Then I can ditch this grump and-

A final push forward, and the medallion fell into Cozy’s hoof.

“YEOOOOOW!” The filly’s holler was accompanied by the sharp crackle of sparks.

A miniature fireworks display went off under Tempest’s chin, yet the unicorn seemed unperturbed. She simply looked down at the last few embers falling off the Medallion, then back to her charge furiously blowing on her front hooves. She likewise caught notice of confused stares from the surrounding fair-goers.

“Don’t mind us, everypony,” Tempest said in a cool, authoritative voice. “The little one is just learning why you don’t touch enchanted objects.”

Tempest kept marching on, for she knew the explanation would do the trick. Ponies, in her experience, would accept an explanation without question if it were delivered with seeming honesty. Indeed, this perception proved correct as the few gawkers to the lightshow broke away and went on with their holiday.

“Ripping-tooting-dad-gum-peevey-weevey!” Cozy cursed from behind.

Tempest gave a soft tsk-tsk. “Such nasty language. My whole time as the Storm King’s commander, not one of my soldiers ever cursed that much.”

“You put a protective spell on both medallions!” Cozy said through gritted teeth.

“Technically, Luna did that. Though I’ll admit it was a good idea. You trying to swipe the Attractor Medallion was my first guess of what you’d do to escape.”

Cozy sighed and let her legs fall around Tempest’s midsection again. “Well I guess that plan’s shot…”

“Speaking of shots, let’s give ice skating a shot!” Tempest stopped and gestured ahead of her.

Cozy looked up to see they’d stopped right at the edge of Lake Lundy. One whole side of the fairgrounds rode the coast of the frozen lake, which stretched out further than Cozy’s eyes could see. The snow added to the difficulty, though the snow-capped mountains on the other side of the lake could be faintly seen through the winter deluge.

The only place that seemed unaffected by the oncoming snow was the lake itself. An immaculately clear surface shined up at the two ponies. Vague outlines of fish could be seen through the ice despite its thickness. The reason was soon clear to Cozy; a faint blue aura of magic hovered above the lake surface, dissipating the snow that would’ve otherwise covered the frozen water. This aura continued along the coast and a hundred yards out into the lake itself. Ponies in winter wear and ice skates filled the cleared area. Soft skrt-skrts from skates filled the whole area.

The awe of the sight only grasped Cozy for a moment, for she soon stuck out her tongue. “Ice skating is silly!” she said.

“Nonsense,” Tempest said, easing her way towards the skate rental stand on the lake’s edge. “It’ll do you good.”

“I don’t know how to skate!” Cozy cried.

“Then it’s time to learn.” She turned to the mare at the stall. “Two large skates and four small ones, please.”

The turquoise mare nodded and produced the skates. Tempest picked them up and walked over to nearby benches. She gave the Attractor Medallion a tap, and Cozy flopped onto the snow.

“Put on your skates,” Tempest said, not even looking at the filly struggling to get up.

“A little heads-up next time, thank you!” the filly huffed. She hopped on the bench and looked at the little purple skates beside her. White laces looped around each other and gripped the skate’s main body.

“Be sure to tighten the laces,” Tempest said, pulling her own hard. “Don’t want to lose a skate on the ice.”

“Thank you, Commander Genius,” Cozy grumbled. After a few moments, the skates were nice and snug against her hooves. Tempest walked with just two skates on her back legs, her front legs providing adequate balance to her lithe form. Cozy, meanwhile, could not stop wobbling with every step she took. None of her hooves were free.

“Could you c-carry me to the ice?” Cozy said, legs shaking.

“Sure I could,” Tempest said. “But I’m not.”

“Come on!”

“The ice is ten feet away. Use that time to get used to the skates before you get on the ice.”

“I’m going to fall!”

“Probably. But better to do it on snow than on ice.” With that, Tempest took her first steps onto the ice. Pulling herself forward with her un-shoed front hooves, she took off.

“That big, stupid…” Cozy looked down at her skates and sighed. No point in trying to take them off now, she thought. She’ll just find some other way to torture me.

With that, Cozy took her first real step in the skates. Her front left leg wobbled like wet spaghetti. Her whole body seemed to shake as she desperately tried to keep her balance. Any second now, she expected to spill over and get yet another face full of snow.

Yet her leg held. It still shook hard, but the skate’s blade penetrated deeply enough through the snow to keep her front half steady. Nervously, Cozy took another step forward, this time with her back right leg. Another horrible shake, but her balance still remained true.

On and on this process continued, one step at a time. The shaking never truly stopped, but Cozy found that each new step brought firmer balance and made her body less tense. Her steadiness was no longer forced, but natural to her stance.

Eventually, the snowy coast of the lake gave way to the lake itself. Cozy gave a relieved sigh.

“Made it…” she panted.

“Good!” Tempest’s voice called out. Cozy looked up to see the mare bee-lining straight for her from ten yards out. Unlike the rest of the ponies on the ice, Tempest was skating on only her back legs. Her front legs were behind her back, and she bent forward to keep her weight forward rather than directly over her feet. The result was a fierce speed that even Equestria’s most talented speed skaters would’ve been hard-pushed to defeat.

Cozy Glow’s appreciation of the skill soon waned, however, for Tempest was speeding directly toward her.

“Ach!” Cozy said. She brought her hooves up just as Tempest seemed ready to connect.

Cozy felt herself yanked upwards and carried. She opened her eyes to see herself rushing along the ice, hovering above the surface. Tempest carried her with one front leg on her right side. Cozy’s skates were still high enough to not be touching the ice.

“Now,” Tempest said over the rushing wind around them, “I’m going to pull you along the ice. Hold onto my tail with your teeth. You keep a good grip and maintain your balance, you’ll be just fine.”

“O-Okay,” Cozy said, still gaping at the unicorn’s prestigious skill. “How did you get so good at this?”

Tempest’s chuckle could be heard over the wind. “One of the Storm King’s requests was for Ice Troopers, just in case he needed to invade during winter. So I had to learn how to skate in case I needed to lead our army upon frozen ice, and, well…” She looked down at her shuffling back legs, cutting smoothly over the ice, and smiled. “…Practice makes perfect.”

Her gaze wandered over to Cozy, still hanging from her leg. Instead of the dismissive scoff or bored expression she expected, Cozy’s face was filled with awe.

“You mean…the Storm King made you learn to ice skate so you could take over the world for him?” Cozy said. There was a reverence to her tone that Tempest had only heard in foreign lands when the inhabitants talked about their hallowed gods.

“Um…yeah,” Tempest said.

Cozy started wiggling. “Put me down on the ice!” she squealed. “I need to learn how to be an Ice Trooper!”

“That wasn’t really the point I was-“

“First, I shall conquer the ice! Then winter itself! Not even the Windigos will be free from my power! And then Equestria is mine! Mu-wa-ha-ha-ha!” Cozy Glow gave an ecstatic laugh that echoed across the ice.

Tempest’s soft look hardened, and she donned a sardonic smile. “You want ice? You got it!” She kicked her back legs harder under her. At the same time, she dropped Cozy Glow with the skates pointing down at the ice.

The impact left Cozy Glow sprawled upon the ice, skidding across the smooth surface. A few colts behind the duo laughed at the display and continued to do so as they passed. Cozy looked up to see Tempest skating around her.

“You did that on purpose!” Cozy growled.

“Yeah, I did,” Tempest said. “Because if I’m going to teach you how to ice skate, I want you to do it because it’s fun. Not because you could use it to take over the world.”

“Fine,” Cozy said, wiggling herself back onto her hooves.

“Fine, what?”

“Fine, I will learn the art of ice skating for personal enjoyment, not personal ascension to supreme power.”

Though her hard face remained, Tempest nodded. She turned her back to Cozy and flicked her dark rose tail. “Now bite onto my tail. And only my tail.”

Cozy bared her teeth and chomped down onto the tail's end. “Mmph-kay,” Cozy grunted.

Tempest immediately started going, and Cozy’s clutch on the tail seemed to be all that was keeping her steady. The ice below her battered against the skates’ blades, the latter of which seemed ready to snap at any second. But her grip on Tempest’s tail held firm, and the skates did not break. In fact, the momentum seemed to making them slide smoothly over the ice.

Woah! Cozy thought. This is actually…kind of fun!

Her eyes opened wide. She shook her head.

No, no! she thought. First thoughts are on takeover, always! Fun comes later when-

Her eyes grew even bigger. Tempest’s tail was no longer in her teeth! The unicorn skated ahead of Cozy by several feet, seemingly unaware that her passenger had lost her tow-line.

“Tempest!” Cozy screamed. Her first instinct was to slow down, so she dug her skates into the ice. However, she soon realized the folly of this, for without the momentum to keep the blades cutting along, her balance began to wane.

“Help!” Cozy cried out. Her hooves danced over the ice in desperate flailing. The blades stabbed for some kind of hold, but it was all in vain. Cozy would be flattened upon the ice in no time.

Then, without warning, Cozy found herself pulled forward. Her dancing feet stiffened as they glided over the lake. The momentum restored her balance and she continued forward. Cozy’s confusion doubled as she saw the medallion around her neck started to glow once more. Looking up, she saw Tempest in front of her, skating backwards to look down at her. The Attractor Medallion glowed its amazing yellow hue.

Tempest gave a wry smile. “Turns out this thing can actually help you.” She slid beside Cozy and kept her front legs on her back. “I’ll help you balance from here on out. Though you were actually doing pretty well by yourself.”

“Really?” Cozy said.

“Really. Though you could’ve just let go of my tail. You didn’t need to shake it.”

Cozy gave a small grimace, then focused on the oncoming ice.

Author's Note:

I really liked the idea of Tempest being able to ice skate, given how athletic she was in the movie, so I whipped up this scene as a way to demonstrate that.

Comments

[Sunset_Shimmer83]

i'm kinda expecting by the time her parole is over cozy won't want to go back to tartarus due to the things she'll miss being free, and reform