Chapter 10-1: Objects and Images

[Losing a friend’s trust is the fastest way to lose a friend forever.]

“Breeze? Breeze can you hear me?” Naiara, with me struggling behind her, was racing around the hotel rooftop, trying to re-establish contact with Breeze through the device held to her ear.

My tired and confused self couldn’t keep up with her. “Naiara,” I puffed out, “what’s going on?”

“I don’t know.” Her jaw was set firm as she moved. “I was talking to Breeze and it just cut off. Do you think she’s in trouble?

I’d only caught the tail end of their conversation, but that didn’t seem unlikely. “Did she say what she was doing? Was anybody with her?”

Having explored every inch of the roof for the best position, Naiara finally stopped and shook her head, worry evident on her face. “She didn’t mention anyone, and I didn’t hear any other voices. There was a lot of noise, though, and it just stopped mid-sentence like that.”

A chilling thought came to mind, given the last few times Breeze had been with Naiara and I. “You don’t think it’s Plottawa? Or the Rangers?”

Her jade eyes darkened at the idea, but she finally shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think I heard gunshots. It was more like rumbling. Plus, remember what she said at the end? ‘La Buque’. It’s a series of smallish canyons. There isn’t even anything there, I’m not sure why she’d go in the first place.”

“So why was she alone? Why didn’t she take Cassie, Wings or Schwarzwald?”

Still looking at the silent device, the zebra just shrugged. “I don’t know. She could have called me, too. La Buque isn’t that far from Lethbridle. It’s to the southwest, but not so far as to reach Undertow’s lake. We were only a few hours outside of it at one point.”

I blinked, surprised at the proximity. “Really? Should we ask Undertow about it?”

Naiara made a face. “She probably won’t know. She isn’t the travelling type. Breeze probably knows it better than she does.”

“And she definitely didn’t mention what she was doing there?”

“No, but it must be important. Even if it is out of the way, she might still get caught on her own and end up in trouble… like now, basically.”

Finally an easy decision. “Then let’s go find her.”

Barely hiding a smirk, as if she’d expected this all along, Naiara looked up. “Even though she said to stay away? Probably trying to warn us of some danger?”

I smiled back, happy to be doing something straightforward for once. “She’s your friend. We can’t exactly leave her if she’s in trouble.”

A measured stare was given. “She’s not your friend?”

I twisted my hoof back and forth in a ‘yes and no’ motion. “She’s… getting there. I mean, we’ve literally fought each other hoof and nail in the past.” I began ticking things off with my hooves, “She’s tried to mug me, electrocuted me, hit me with magic, but… on the other hoof, she’s saved me at Grindstone, and Neighlway, and wasn’t there when her sister stole my Pipbuck and Memory Orb…”

I shrugged, the scales weren’t tipping wildly in either direction. “Eh, she’s your friend. That’ll do for now. Let’s go rescue her.”

“And what about Undertow?”

I airily waved a hoof. “Well of course Undertow’s my friend. She can be Breeze’s friend too.”

Naiara facehoofed. “No, I mean what about Undertow’s ‘diving lights’? She’s not going to leave without getting them back.”

Whoops. “Oh, right. Yeah, that’s a good point. We can always come back though, Breeze needs us right now. We’ve got time for the Raider stuff. I’m sure Undertow’ll understand.”

“Well alright, I’m glad we’re going quickly, but just to be sure… you can tell Undertow that she’ll have to wait, Lady Ice.”

~~~~~~

A dozen bottles of irradiated water rose off the table in the hotel cafeteria. “We… are not getting my diving lights back, Lady Ice?”

As one, Bosco, Naiara and I eased back from the table. “Easy now, Undertow, remember that the rest of us still get sick from that water.”

The bottles, thankfully still sealed, very slowly descended back to the table. I’d said one line and it’d set her off immediately. “My apologies, Lady Ice, but you promised to help me get my diving lights back.”

“I know,” I soothed, “but you heard Inbox. He’s not going to get rid of the Orbs any time soon. Breeze needs us now. I’m really sorry, but this can’t wait.”

As she looked at each of us in turn, Naiara sweetened the deal. “Look, ‘tow. If it helps, I was talking to Breeze about you, and she thinks she can help with your diving lights. She’s really good with all sorts of technology. She might be able to help you find another set of lights. I mean, those ones do kinda belong to the ghoul.”

“Oh yeah, they do…” I muttered.

The zebra continued as if she hadn’t heard me. “Breeze can make all kinds of gadgets. She might be able to make some lights for you that aren’t those Memory Orbs. If she does, you can get the Deep Divers back on your side again.” She tactfully neglected to mention the Raider alliance I was trying to create, which would have muddied the issue even further.

It tore at my heart as her shoulders slumped, and I thought I saw her lip start quivering. If her eyes weren’t permanently hidden behind those goggles, I was sure I’d be seeing her eyes watering. “But… my lake… the Deep Divers…”

“Will not hurt you,” I stressed, “I won’t let them. If you want to go back to your lake, I’ll make sure you get back safe and sound. Please, please just wait a little while longer.”

After several seconds, Undertow wordlessly rose and began packing the bottles of water into her saddlebags. Taking that as an affirmative, the rest of us stood up too. “You’re the best, Undertow.”

There was the tiniest unbunching of her shoulders. “We… should hurry.”

As she left, I pulled Naiara and Bosco back slightly. “Listen, when we find Breeze, just… try not to mention that Undertow’s kind of a Raider.”

The two exchanged glances. “Why?”

“Um…” regardless of my feelings towards Cassie, this wasn’t the sort of secret I just went about blabbing. It wouldn’t be fair to Breeze, “I can’t explain now, but Cassie hates Raiders. Like really hates them. I have to think that Breeze might too. We don’t want any… overreactions.”

I received two pointed looks. “From who?”

“… Let’s just say we shouldn’t tell her.”

~~~~~~

Undertow, while still not straying far from me, had been acting sullen and disappointed ever since we left Lethbridle, despite my repeated assurances that we’d be back to get the Memory Orbs as soon as we could.

When we stopped for a rest, hours into our brisk stride, I’d seen a golden opportunity to mend some fences, as well as prepare for the upcoming situation.

As Bosco was grilling Naiara for some information about Breeze, who he’d be meeting for the first time, hopefully, at least, I called out to the Deep Diver as she laid out her possessions. “Undertow?”

She stopped working, but didn’t turn around. “Yes, Lady Ice?”

I’d noticed that she hadn’t once called me ‘Lady Snow’ since I’d given her the bad news, when she’d broken her silence at all.

On the plus side, since it seemed like she was mostly blaming me, Bosco and Naiara were treated with the cautious, but growing, curiosity and general politeness that she’d always shown them.

I hoped she would soon open up to them properly. Naiara already loved to see her acting adorable, and Bosco wouldn’t last long if Undertow turned on the charm. “I need your help.”

Now she did turn around, giving me a look that, even while hidden behind goggles and damp turquoise mane, came off as surprised. “My help?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I need to become a better fighter. I’m useless with guns and can’t fight hoof-to-hoof, so I need to be able to fight with my magic.”

I absent-mindedly reached up and rubbed my horn. “Right now, my magic is not strong enough to allow me to fight well enough that I can avoid… the worst outcomes.”

She cocked her head to the side, confused. “I do not understand, Lady Ice. You are extremely strong. If not, you would not have defeated me at the lake.”

“Undertow,” I hesitated, trying to find a diplomatic way to word what I would say next, “… I got lucky. My magic is ice magic, and you are a water user. I had a natural advantage. Even so, you’re still a far stronger magic user than I am. The only reason I was able to use my one single spell on you was because of Naiara’s agility and Bosco’s smarts.”

The Deep Diver was fully facing me now, sitting with her hind legs spread, like a foal. “Lady Ice… what are you telling me?”

I rubbed a hoof into my tired eyes. “I’m telling you that I’ve survived longer than I should have, and others have not, because I’ve been very lucky several times, and very fortunate that I have strong friends. I always end up needing my friends’ help… and I can’t do anything for them.”

I felt a small pang when I imploringly reached out a hoof to her and she shied away from it slightly. “I’m a bad shot, and useless with my hooves. My magic is the only way I can fight, and I can’t use it well enough to protect everything I want to. You, on the other hand, can control all that water without getting out of bed. I need you to teach me.”

Her jaw dropped. “You… need me? To teach you?”

I nodded again, unable to hide my shame. “Yes. I’m so sorry that I didn’t tell you earlier. You asked me to protect you, and I acted like I could. However, the truth is that I don’t know if I can. Bosco told you before that I have caused him a lot of trouble, and he’s right. I’ve caused him trouble, I’ve caused Naiara trouble, we’re going to see Aqua Breeze, and I’ve caused her trouble too. Clearly, I’ve caused you lots of trouble…”

“That’s not true, Lady Snow!”

“Thank you, Undertow, but it is. All the friends that I’ve made, you included, I’ve put in danger, again and again. All the enemies I’ve made are stronger than I can handle. Just ask Naiara or Bosco what happened in Plottawa with a stallion named Peanut sometime, it’s a really good example, especially since it’s when I became Red Ice.”

I stepped forward and reached out again. She didn’t move away from my hoof this time, just watched it, dumbfounded, as I lay it on her shoulder. I put the other hoof under her chin, to draw her goggled visage back to mine, wanting her to see truth of the matter in my haggard, awake-for-days, bloodshot eyes. “I’m begging you, Undertow, please… teach me how to use better magic. You are the strongest Unicorn I know. You control water, I use ice. There’s a connection there, and I have to, I have to become stronger so that I can protect you, Bosco, Naiara, Breeze and any others that I need to.”

She needed to know the truth, now, before this went any further. As soon as we find out what happened to Breeze, Undertow will need to make the decision about the Raider alliance herself, with all the facts. ‘Lady Snow’ is not the one to make her decisions for her.

“I… I’ve never taught another. I only know how the water moves for me. The Taint made it so that the water is part of me. I-I don’t know how I would help you with your ice, Lady Snow!”

I hated seeing her looking so trapped, she was even quivering! But I couldn’t stop now, this was my best chance. She was my best chance. “Please,” I stressed again, begging, “I trust you, Lady Undertow. You’re more than capable of this. Can we please just try?”

I’d shaken her deep to her core. I could almost see the thought process: This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. She thought I was stronger than her, and I’d promised to protect her. If it turned out that I wasn’t strong, then what protection could I offer?

I’ve made her vulnerable. She knows this isn’t my territory. I don’t have authority here, and therefore my protection is worth nothing. I’ve taken a girl from her home, her place of strength, and dropped her into a big, bad world with nothing but lies and false promises.

Heh, and now I’m asking her for help.

A helpless glance was sent towards Naiara and Bosco, who’d long since ceased their own conversation and had been watching us.

Naiara, somehow, gave a bright smile. “Your big sister needs help, Undertow. You’re not gonna say no, are ya?”

I frowned at that. The joke was cute at other times, but milking it right now seemed unfair.

Bosco took the more pragmatic approach. “Don’t listen to Snowflake, Undertow. We need her, and she needs you. Please give her some help.”

We were ganging up on her, and it wasn’t fair. I made to take my hoof from her shoulder, but a pair of sea-blue limbs shot out and grabbed it as it withdrew.

Startled, my balance was disrupted, and I instinctually pulled the hoof towards me, dragging the other unicorn with it, so we ended up with her face buried in my chest, and my hoof wrapped protectively around her.

“-dy Snow?” She’d been mumbling into my chest, but that was all I’d made out. It was similar to how she’d acted in the crowd at the market.

“Undertow?”

“You promised to protect me. Do you promise to become stronger than anypony else, Lady Snow?”

It was incredible how small she looked just then. I hadn’t been exaggerating before. She was an incredibly gifted unicorn, to move water with such power and ease, but all I could think of at that moment was that she looked so much like my brother, Lo, back when we were very young.

The day he finally understood that his mother wouldn’t wake up again.

I’d have promised Lo anything then, and I would have meant every word. For the rest of my life, I’d have kept the promise I made then.

I’m gonna mean it just as much now.

“Yeah, Lady Undertow, I’ll become stronger than anybody else, and I will never let you come to harm.”

With misting goggles, she finally gave a short nod. “Very well.”

We were all silent for a few moments, as Undertow and I each managed a soft smile.

“Although,” Bosco’s flat drawl began, “that’s gonna mean that Snow’s gonna have to be stronger than Un-OW! Than Under-OW! OW! Why are you kicking me?”

Naiara kept on kicking, staying on him as he jumped away. “You totally ruined the moment, you jerk!”

“OW! Naiara! Leave me alone!”

“Yes, Undertow,” I answered her unasked question as we watched the zebra chase the colt around the clearing, “Naiara and Bosco are friends. This sometimes happens between friends. When it does, just go ahead and laugh.”

~~~~~~

We were in a hurry, so there was no time to sit around for a protracted learning session. That made Undertow’s first lesson a mobile endeavour. “What magic do you know, Lady Snow? You mentioned that you only had one spell.”

“Right.” I sighed, embarrassed, “My Cryo Serpent. It’s a sorta ice trail that spreads out from what my horn is touching. I… can’t really control it too well yet.”

“This Cryo Serpent was the spell you used against my water shield?”

Shrugging, I tried not to act like I’d done anything special, which I hadn’t. “Basically. I fired it point blank range when I fought you, so I didn’t need to control it. I just let it spread across the water anyway it wanted.”

“I… see.” Yeah, you got beat by an idiot caster with a half-formed spell. Sorry about the damage to your ego, Undertow.

“So what do you think? Any ideas, Undertow?”

“Let me think for a moment.” She turned her attention inward, focusing hard on the task at hand, though still taking care to watch where she was going. Keeping her awareness at all times was probably needed if you wanted to dive underwater.

I left her to her thoughts and trotted a bit faster, catching up with the others. “How’re we doing?”

Naiara had been periodically testing her communicator for any word from Breeze.

So far, there’d been nothing. “Not far now. Maybe an hour.” She clicked the device again. There was only static.

After a few seconds, she switched it off, and we lapsed into silence. Naiara kept walking, increasing her pace ever so slightly.

“We’ll find her.” Bosco’s usual business-like tone was gone, and in its place was a soft, comforting rumble. He sped up to keep pace with the zebra girl. He was being pretty tactful about the whole thing, not trying to cover up any doubts with a wall of words, which was hardly his style anyway, but instead just making sure that Naiara always had somebody to talk with in case anything occurred to her on the way. Since I’d been so absorbed with Undertow, I’d not been available too much.

I owed the colt a few drinks, for making sure Naiara wasn’t fretting about her friend alone.

Naiara herself managed a nod at his words. “Yeah. Cept’d never forgive me if I didn’t. He thinks she’s cute.”

“Oh yeah?” Bosco was no gossip by nature, but the enthusiasm in his voice wasn’t the least genuine I’d ever heard.

“Big time. I think it’s the wings. We don’t get those back home.” She bounced up and down a little bit to accompany her words. It was apparent that she was still worried, but seemed to appreciate the distraction.

Quickly checking that Undertow was still with us, even with her inward contemplation, which she was, I weighed in. “So tell us a little bit more about Cept.”

Surprisingly, she shook her head. “Nuh-uh. Not my place. Cept’ll show up sometime in the near future, you can ask him then. I’m not telling you anything until then.”

“Except that he’s got a crush on a tech head Pegasus.” Bosco’s deadpan was practiced.

“Well yeah, but that’s really juicy. Besides, that’s not something he could hide if you ever saw the two of them together.”

Sensing that it was unlikely that he’d learn much more about the zebra in the Wasteland right now, Bosco wisely let it drop. “Fair enough, his secrets are his own. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

I had to roll my eyes at that.

“So tell me a little more about Breeze,” he continued, quickly throwing up hooves in an ‘easy now’ motion at her questioning look, “Just enough so I can help find her quickly. Looks, what she might have on her, what she might’ve been doing, stuff like that.”

“I would like to know too, so that our chances are the best they will be for finding Aqua Breeze.” Undertow’s liquid tones were slightly robotic, as if she was still focusing attention elsewhere. Still, it put to rest any doubts I had about her concentration.

“For all we know, she’s wearing the Steel Ranger armour she got from Cept. Best bet is look for blue feathers, she’s a blue-on-blue Pegasus, or some random tech lying around. We’ll try to find her quietly first. If she’s not alone, we don’t want to tip them off. Still, as soon as we think we’re safe, start hollering for her at the top of your lungs. Just call out Breeze, it’s faster.”

“I understand. Um… Naiara?”

“Yeah, Undertow?”

“Would you like a hug?”

Oh, that is precious. Just look at Naiara, she doesn’t even know whether to laugh or cry.

She elected for half of both. Letting out a chuckle as she discreetly wiped her eyes, Naiara spoke up without turning back. “Thanks, Undertow, but I’m oka-” she stopped suddenly as a thought struck her. Whatever the thought was, it brought a sly smile to her face. “Tell you what, save that hug for Breeze, when you meet her. It’ll make her day.”

“Oh… very well.” The Deep Diver turned back to me, “Lady Snow, shall we begin the lesson?”

“Just a second, Undertow.”

I gave a quizzical glance to the grinning zebra, before dropping my voice to a whisper. “Breeze isn’t going to know who she is. She’ll freak if Undertow tries to hug her.”

“Hah, I know!” At my disapproving frown, she relented, “I’m not gonna let either of them get hurt, big sis, it’s just for a laugh.”

“…”

“Lady Snow?”

“Oh, right. Coming, Undertow.” I stopped to wait for her to catch up, while Bosco and Naiara continued on, talking quietly among themselves.

“Think she wants her for a sister?”

“Which one?”

“Either.”

“Well…”

Undertow caught up, diverting my attention to her. I fell into step with her as she drew level. “Did you think of something for me to try?”

A bottle of irradiated water floated out of her bag in an aquamarine haze, and the top began to unfasten. “I believe so. You mentioned that your horn must be touching whatever it is you wish to affect with your serpent spell. I believe it best to work on your magical range first.”

The bottle cap popped off, and was swiftly pocketed, while a small volume of water rose from the bottle, undulating like a snake, before turning and moving towards me.

I looked up, almost going cross-eyed, as the watery sliver spun into a ring around my horn, never touching, but following as I moved my head. The inner wall of the ring was less than an inch from my horn itself. “What’s this?”

“It is a way for you to practice. I will hold the water so that it will never touch your horn. You will try to freeze it with your magic. If you can do that, I will widen the ring. It will get wider each time. I am sure you will master it immediately, Lady Snow.” I’d never ‘mastered’ a single piece of magic in my life, even back before I had a magical blowout in the Stable.

Although… there have been times when I managed something different. My first fight out of the Stable, and that chubby guy outside of Vanchoofer… Huh, come to think of it, those both happened with Raiders around. Undertow’s… kind of a Raider. I’ll take any straws I can grasp at here.

Okay, here we go…

I closed my eyes… then almost immediately opened them again as my lack of sleep brought on a wave of nausea. I kept my pace, but hesitated at first, taking several deep breaths.

Matching my step, Undertow said nothing, merely kept her horn glowing, and the ring of water slowly revolving around my horn, never faltering.

Marvelling at her control, and keeping the aquamarine haze in my peripheral vision, I concentrated, slowly but surely working my horn up to full force, with my own glacial glow emerging in the centre of the sea-blue circle.

Holding that glow for a moment, I made no move to actually attempt to cast a spell. I had no spell to cast. I wasn’t trying to use my Cryo Serpent, I was trying to form new magic, albeit on a basic level. I thought about nothing but the ring around my horn, trying to focus everything I had on it.

“Freeze.” I muttered.

It didn’t. It just kept slowly revolving, still as liquid as ever.

“Freeze!” I pumped more effort into my magic. The tip of my horn began to glow brighter than the rest, and the air began to cool, but still the water remained unaffected.

I glanced over at Undertow, but I couldn’t read her face behind those goggles. “Don’t stop, Lady Snow.”

“Alright.” I ground out, my horn pulsing brighter and brighter. I was giving it everything I had.

“No, wait, that’s not what I…”

A rolling mist burst from my horn, travelling back down my body, instantly soaking every inch. “Gaah!” My concentration faltered, as did my walking pace, and the glow from my horn faded, leaving just Undertow’s aquamarine aura.

The water remained entirely unaffected.

At my disgruntled grunt, Undertow’s water ring lifted from around my horn and rolled through the air between us. “More power is not the answer here, Lady Snow. That will come later. First you must train your magic to recognise your surroundings, and have your unicorn abilities interact with them.”

The water ring returned to my horn. “Look. You see that the ring is not your horn, correct?”

“Right…”

“Nor is it mine. We recognise that it is separate from either. Just as it floats in the air, but is not the air. Your eyes see that they are different, yes?”

“…Yes.”

She reached up a hoof and tapped her own horn. “As your eyes can see, so can your magic. I am not attempting to move all of the air, just that water within the air. Your magic need not travel through all that air simply to reach the water. You merely have to notice the difference between them, and choose which you wish to affect.”

“I… have never thought about it like that. How did you think that up?” She’s got a point. It’s like how my horn glows when I use magic, instead of my entire body.

Undertow’s rebreather shifted as her hoof rubbed across it. “It was a lesson I learned soon after reaching the lake, the first time I went under the water. My magic aids me greatly when I dive, but it cannot bear the weight of the entire lake at once.” Both her head and the corners of her mouth drooped downwards as she relived the memory, “I almost lost my life that day. My magic was overwhelmed through the effort, and I only survived through my rebreather. I did not attempt another dive for weeks.”

Reminds me of the medical bay after the Memory Orb. I’d say I’d been overwhelmed. I hadn’t really considered the possibility that I might not have woken up from that cold snap until now. My own out of control magic might have killed me.

Covered eyes rose again. “I, and my magic, love the water, but I couldn’t do nearly as much as I can now. It took practice, and thought, and time. I believe that you will learn faster than I did, and I will try to aid you in sidestepping the mistakes I made, but it will not happen all at once.”

Despite the gravity of her words, I couldn’t help but smile. “Even though you said I’d master it immediately a little while ago.”

Blushing, she flashed an embarrassed smile. “I… merely meant to bolster your confidence. You truly are strong, Lady Snow, I just…um…”

It is impossible to stay mad at this girl. I grabbed her in an affectionate hug. “Don’t worry, Undertow, I really appreciate it. Come on, help me get strong enough to protect you.”

Relief flooded over her features. “Of course, Lady Snow.” She pointed back to the water ring, “As I said, try to focus on the water itself, separate from the air around it.”

“Aye aye.” My horn lit up again, but much gentler this time. Trying to force the magic had done nothing but gotten me wet and given me a headache. It wasn’t about strength yet.

I was finally getting some basic magic teaching. Any help I might’ve been given in the Stable was years and years ago, and had long since been forgotten through lack of practice. All I’d been able to do back then was make ice cubes, and that took months of self-‘teaching’.

Still, I didn’t need to dip my horn in the damn tray to do that, so I must’ve figured out a way somehow. With Undertow helping me, I’m sure I can do it again. And I’m gonna, for her sake, and everybody else’s. Buoyed slightly by the magic I’d once wielded, however little, I set to work again.

What did my magic feel like? I’d never thought about it before. It was difficult to pin down the sensations I could feel in my horn, especially as weak as they were now. Still, there was a definite feeling there, and I lapsed into silence as I tried to pin down the experience. Bosco and Naiara were still ahead of us, but Undertow stayed with me as I walked, since little of my concentration was on my hoof-falls.

It’s… um… flat? No, that’s not right… jagged? No, still not right. It’s… it’s like a crystal, except… more fluid. Sort of. There’s cold there, and it’s crisp. It’s… like ice. There’s no other way to describe it.

I gasped as I felt my horn pulse in response to my thoughts. Happy as I was to make even that simple tautological breakthrough, ice magic being like ice, I still had a more difficult task ahead.

I still had to recognise the water.

Forgoing my horn, where the glow had faded to a dull imbue, I tried to focus outwards. As soon as I moved my magic sense away from my horn, I fell into nothingness. I almost panicked right there. I knew I was looking at the air, but it was so empty from my horn’s eye. I couldn’t find anything, it was like a void, empty of all purpose.

No, I realised after more probing, there IS something there. It’s different from the air, and my magic. My ice is… harder, more solid. This is… it’s like it keeps slipping through my ‘hooves’. It’s free, and wild, but also calm. There’s… um… I dunno. It kinda feels like there’s more there, but it’s not obvious how. It’s close too, really close.

IT’S THE RING! I found it!

“Excellent, Lady Snow!” Undertow’s excited and encouraging voice came in from outside of my sight, which had fallen into tunnel vision as I looked inward, “Now try to touch it with your magic. Don’t attack it, just reach out.”

Buoyed by her words, I fell back into the magic sense, seeking again for the sensation of the water. However, in my excitement at finding it the first time…

“It was right there! I had it!” …it was proving difficult to re-locate the water ring.

“I know,” she soothed, “stay calm. It will come.”

“But it was right theeeeeere.” I was whining, but I didn’t care.

“It is still right there, lady Ice,” The slight rebuke made it clear that my complaining wasn’t productive, “Don’t think of your magic and your other senses as separate. Use your eyes. You know where the water ring is. You can see it. Your magic can follow your eyes. Just keep trying. You already succeeded once, you will again.”

Following her advice, and mindful of her warning, especially since she was the one with a magic ring perilously close to my horn, I blinked away tears of tiredness-fueled melodrama, then glanced upwards at the shining ring.

Hokay, so it’s right there. I can see it. Sooo, that’s the way I need to send my magic through the air void. Simple enough… I hope.

And, comparatively at least, it was. Instead of fumbling blindly in the dark, I had a direction for my fledgling magic sense to head. It took only seconds until I found the change again. It was like recognising when you move from walking on soil to walking on stone, similar but different.

I’d found the ring again, and let my magic sense explore it as much as possible. The influx of sensations I got back were far more than I could really understand, but the basic gist was becoming clearer.

Now for the tricky part… Taking my own crystalline-tasting ice magic, I imagined it stretching out, reaching, from the familiarity of my horn, through the blind emptiness, until it reached the liquid circlet. I was almost there, just metaphorical and metaphysical inches from my ice making contact with the water, when something strange happened.

I found I could probe no further.

I had the location down pat, both in my eyes and with my horn. My magic had reached the ring. It had travelled away from my glowing horn and found something to touch outside of my immediate influence.

Except… it couldn’t touch it. Wherever I probed, the magic sense reached no further.

My heart sank as I tried to withdraw my touch, disappointment swallowing my desire to continue.

“No, Lady Snow,” Warmth existed in those words, but it was definitely an order, “we are not yet finished here.”

“What? Why? I can’t go any further. I’ve tried all over and I can’t get through.”

My companion would not be dissuaded. Her one-word answer brought me back to the matter.

“Why?”

Hell if I know. I really thought I had it. I mean, I can see the water just fine, it’s running around and around my horn. And my magic can feel it too, even away from my body. But for some reason, I can’t touch it. It’s like there’s something in the wa-it a minute now. Is she hinting at what I think she’s hinting at?

Once again demonstrating her incredible poker face, Undertow gave nothing away. I opened my mouth to speak, but her brows creased in a frown the moment I did. Back to the magic sense I went.

Curious now, I was so focused on the water that I felt my nose growing wet. Finding it again took a full minute, which worried me slightly. I was so close to doing this right, and I didn’t want to stop since Undertow’s lesson was going so well.

Reaching out again, my magic found its way to the ring for a third time. As before, I probed around the edges, looking for an opening. And, as before, I found none. There was definitely a barrier around the water.

Withdrawing my focus from the liquid itself, I turned it back on the area around the water, seeking confirmation of my growing suspicions. The feel of the water was strong, far more so than the feel of my ice magic. It was like it was more… concentrated.

Stymied, I relaxed slightly, and let my magic follow the flow that the water was creating, like a wake, or a slip stream,

Or an undertow.

There it was. I knew there was something going on. Extra information filtered back down my magical connection, surprising me: The smell of wet pony, the slippery elusiveness of the water, but not only that. There was something else there, something reminiscent of how my ice magic felt, but still very much the water, too. A bridge between them, between mystical ice and physical water, neither one or the other, nor both at once, but borrowing from each and forming its own identity.

There was a resonance with my magic, as if the two were connected somehow.

It reacted to my touch. While maintaining its hold on the water, the ‘barrier’ seemed to open voluntarily, as if inviting me in. Reminiscent of how our after-battle first meeting had begun, it was clear what the barrier really was.

Undertow’s water magic was inviting me in.

Cheered, I moved forward eagerly, which proved to be disastrous. I got only the faintest touch at the physical water before the entire enterprise collapsed. My magic shut off like a closed valve, and my eyes refocused on the world around us.

The water splashed down onto my forehead as my knees buckled, its levitator having abandoned her task to rush forward and prevent my fall.

Blowing drops from my lips as I leaned into her, I looked up gratefully at the Deep Diver. “I felt you.”

You could have read by the light of her smile. “And I you.”

Gingerly, I reached up and brushed some of the water away from my fur, it was still irradiated after all, and I didn’t have Undertow’s natural resistance. For a moment, I thought I heard the snap of ice breaking around my horn, but some probing provided nothing but more water.

Must have been my imagination. Still, even as I sniffled my wet nose, I felt rather pleased about the whole thing.

“Shall we keep going, Undertow?”

She didn’t meet my eyes. “Um… perhaps not, Lady Snow.”

“What, why?” I thought I’d been doing pretty well.

Gingerly, a sea-blue hoof wiped fluid from my nostrils.

The fluid was red. My nose had been bleeding.

That would be just about the time my temporarily ignored exhaustion re-announced itself.

Ow. “Ow.”

“What’s wrong now?” Gruffer than Undertow had ever been, Bosco seemed nonplussed that we’d stopped moving. What was strange was that he had his gun drawn, with his knife ready if needed.

“I’m fine,” I blew some more blood from my nose, “Just overdid it a little.”

“Yes, I believe this is a fine place to stop for the day. I am pleased with our progress.”

The colt just nodded. “Good timing, considering we’re here.”

What? “But Naiara said we had an hour to go?”

“She did say that,” he agreed flatly, before smirking, “an hour ago.”

The whites of my eyes were very visible. “We were at it for an hour?” I turned in shock to my tutor, “You kept that up for a full hour?”

Even with a permanently wet mane, and eyes hidden by goggles, pride radiated from the Deep Diver. “And so did you.”

~~~~~~