Encounters: Part II - Our very first frozen kiss

"If time is what you need, then I shall not plead," her warm breath clashed against your ear. "For you, my dear, I shall wait."

 

The cold wind sharply struck your face as she broke the embrace. The contrast couldn't have been more stark had you wanted it to be.

 

"In you, I hold faith," she spoke as she resumed walking.

 

A morose sigh left you as you followed the beautiful mare in her trail once more. You didn't deserve someone like her. She shouldn't have to wait. With your gaze aimed at the ground, you can only focus on one thing. Perhaps, it was time to give it a try, regardless of your inhibitions. Such an odd world this had proven to be...

Having one thing to rely on wouldn't be such a bad thing. Someone to fall back on...

 

Watching the cloaked mare in front of you swing her hips side to side, you let that smile reside on your face once more. The snow might as well be hitting your face at a hundred miles an hour...

 

That one spot on your cheek was enough to warm your whole body.

 

 

 

Or so you had hoped, at least. Your little standstill had proven opportunity enough for the cold to slowly seep its way into the various layers of cloth you'd shrouded yourself in. Shrill shivers ran down your spine as you followed the mare's trail again. The snow groaned and cracked underneath the pressure of your boots; its almost rhythmic sounds being the only thing to really register with you fully. With your hands stuffed deep down your pockets and your hood drawn as closely as it could, you could only focus on the cold that had now claimed itself master over you.

 

And in a certain way, you were quite glad that it did. The sensation of icy chill was there as a faintly stinging pain, trying to persuade you to leave the forest, albeit not trying very hard at that. The hollow winds pounding against you, dragging little particles of snow into your clothes, distracted you from your struggle with the beautiful mare walking in front of you. There would be a time where you'd have to make a decision. One bearing many consequences with it. But not now. Not yet.

 

You've often thought of why you didn't give her a rightful chance. Seldom did you came with a conclusive answer. Something inside you just wouldn't allow you to dive into a relationship with her headfirst. And so, you thought about building things up slowly. But despite all this time spent with her, getting to know her better all the while sharing yourself with her, you remain to be hesitant. Lately, you think you've found why you can't. It wasn't the fact that she is of another species; through your time spent here, you've come to see past that. Physical differences were far from being a cause of concern. You've gotten to know her for who she is, rather than what she is. She has shared with you the things she keeps closest to her, those whom she cares about the most, her favorite colors, what she likes to eat, that she really likes it when it rains and how the forest goes all quiet as the animals crawl into their hiding, the songs of her native lands...

 

She was nothing short of amazing. And in no way did you deserve a mare like her. Despite the near-frozen state of your face, you can still feel the corners of your lips tugging upwards at the notion that Zecora herself didn't seem to agree much with that statement. But the fact remained that the two of you were not together.

 

Because you are afraid. Afraid to hold on to someone again. Wafts of white vapor float in front of you, the sound of the zebra's intensifying breath swiftly picking up shortly after. You behold the wrapped and cloaked mare as she struggles her way through a persistently growing layer of snow. There aren't many occasions where you think about what Earth used to be like. Twilight might have the occasional question about how things were there, but you answered her curtly in as little words as you could. She quickly picked up on your dislike of being reminded of what you no longer had.

 

She'd told you she'd search for a way to get you back, but truth be told, you think she just doesn't have the heart to tell you that she can't find one. It's been so long now...

>For the most part, you've found your way in life again. Or a way, at least. You don't belong here though. Zecora might have taken a liking to you, and Twilight and her friends seem to think you're an okay guy, but the rest of this town makes you feel... unwelcome, you guess. They wouldn't go out of their way to tell you to go away, but it's clear they'd rather not spend any time longer around you than strictly necessary. Not that you really hold it against them either. You tower above their greatest stallions, frequently venture into a forest they've learned to fear all of their life and hang out with a zebra whom they barely trust.

 

You could probably try a bit harder to fit into their world. But, when you're honest with yourself, you know you don't want to. You never wanted to come here in the first place. And being accepted and integrated into their society is something you don't really long for, either. Zecora is a wonderful mare, there is no fiber in your body that would disagree with that.

 

But if you gave it a shot, if you gave her a chance, you'd cast away what little hope you held of returning to your home one day. And that's something you can't do. No matter how much you want to, it's something you can't force to go away. You don't want it to, either. All that you've done here so far, the way you've been living your life has all been in an attempt to clutch at what was left of your humanity. And you weren't about to give up on that anytime soon. Zecora has learned to see Ponyville as her new home. In that aspect, you couldn't relate to her. Not now. Not yet.

 

The mare's struggle from before seemed to have resolved itself as she kept trotting, weaving through the trees with ease. Zecora's gaze swung to and fro wildly, causing her to take short and quick turns, seemingly at random. At this point, you've long since given up on keeping track of your surroundings. You held blind faith in the zebra, but that didn't mean you were very keen on the prospect of walking in these circumstances for hours on end.

 

"Are we getting any closer?"

 

The mare suddenly halted, causing you to almost crash into her behind. In hindsight, there were worse things to bump into, you suppose. She stared at the tree at her side, scratching at its bark with her hoof. When the light brown covering proved to hide a seemingly glowing orange layer of wood underneath, Zecora turned towards you with a smile on her face.

 

"Yes, it seems we have found the right kind of stem," she said. "Try touching them."

 

You place your hand against the orange wood and find yourself smiling as well upon the pleasant warmth it spreads through your body.

 

"What are these?"

 

"They go by the name of 'Ember trees'," Zecora said as she began to scratch more layering of the other trees surrounding her, "and they are not found with ease."

 

You copied her motions, using your knife to scratch away the bark from the trees around the orange one. About ten minutes later, both you and Zecora had cleared about a dozen of trees, only to find two more like the one she'd found first.

 

"Okay, that's three of them. Is that enough?"

 

The zebra's lips pursed for a moment, before she gave a small nod.

 

"It might not be the grand prize, but for what I intend to do, it shall suffice."

 

"And what exactly is it that you intend to do with these?" you ask, once more dragging your hand over the comfortably warm surface of the burning wood.

 

The mare's gaze turns skyward, letting tiny particles of snow fall on her face. What little foliage remained atop of the trees proved to be inadequate at sheltering the both of you much from the current downfall, though, if the look on Zecora's face was anything to go by, you'd say that's precisely what she wanted as well.

 

"When all warmth and light in the Everfree ceases to be," she spoke, turning her aim back at the ground, "these trees gain a special property."

 

Snow found itself subject to the crushing pressure of her hooves as she trotted up to you, joining your hand with her hoof in brushing over the lustrous wood.

 

"The Ember tree, when grinded in a fine dust, becomes part of a healing potion in which my kind has always placed much trust."

 

Whereas you felt no need to question the shaman's knowledge, you could not neglect just how godforsaken cold it was, only finding little comfort in the tree's warmth.

 

"Sure, that's really useful, but couldn't we have come here when there wasn't a blizzard going on?"

 

Zecora leans a bit into your side; whether that motion was supposed to be in comfort or to share warmth, you couldn't tell, but regardless, you found yourself laying one arm over her as well. Remaining crouched down in front of the tree, you felt the mare's chest slowly expand and contract against your coat. Faint wafts of white vapor trailed skywards as your shared breaths collided with each other, intertwining as they took to the skies. Little of it clashed with the Ember wood, condensing into tiny droplets of moisture, slowly trailing down the tree's bark. And then Zecora laughed a giggle.

 

"Strong as you might be, my human, you'll find that this is not a task that is easily done; the tree will only allow you its gift, in crippling cold, when there is little to no sun."

 

Though the cold might have rendered most of your face senseless, you could still feel your brow taking a little to the air at that. You're not exactly the type to quit when the going gets tough and Zecora's words, true as they likely are to be, only spur you on to prove your worth. Breaking your embrace with the zebra, you stand to make use of your full length again.

 

A grin, doing little to hide the arrogance that it carried with it, etched itself on your face as you spoke, "Now that's a challenge if I ever heard any..."

 

With as much liveliness as the Everfree's freezing temperatures allowed you to, you began carving away in the brightly burning orange wood with your knife, intent on leveling the entire tree in a matter of minutes.

 

Though your intentions were earnest, that's all they were either: intentions. The actual results of your battle with the tree left much to be desired. You couldn't quite put a time on it, leaving only your exhaustion as a reference to how hard the task at hand proved to be, but you'd wager that you'd been carving away at the tree for a good twenty minutes at the least.

 

Your face began to swell as sweat trickled down over it, rapidly cooling down in temperature, almost-but-not-quite freezing to the lower half of your skin as you hacked away at the wood. The blade of your knife collided with the radiating source of warmth over and over again, though refusing to let go of more than barely a strand of wood after a dozen-odd carvings.

 

Zecora had spread down a piece of rough cloth underneath the tree upon which the results of your efforts were gathered for display. A measly five pieces of wood, little bigger than a toothpick in size each, laid on the cloth, mocking you in silence.

 

"Wh-wh-w..."

 

In your attempts to prove your own worth to someone who already held you in a much brighter light than you even held yourself, you might have pushed a bit too hard. As you tried to speak, the full extent of just how tiring this was suddenly struck you, leaving you able to do little more than panting, gasping and wheezing for breath.

 

"Drink some," Zecora said, nudging towards the flask, bound on her flanks, "and your fatigue shall swiftly numb."

 

The liquid was luke-warm and its familiar flavor caused a smile to spread on your frozen face.

 

"I-I'm pretty sure hot cocoa doesn't count as a cure..."

 

"If you'd rather have none, I—"

 

"No!" you yelled, bringing the flask up to your chest. "I mean... It's fine, hot cocoa's fine."

 

You took another swig, deciding to leave some for later. If all of Zecora's shopping list was going to go down like this, you'd need it.

 

"Just what are these things made of?"

 

You dragged your hand over the slightly beaten wood, paying attention to the rough, coarse texture of the wood as it slid along your fingertips. Finding a hunting knife had already proven to be hard enough in a society that could barely work with steel, and now it seemed that you'd been better off making one out of wood all along.

 

"I fear I do not know," the zebra spoke, "All I know is that the forest's magic is what makes them glow and that they can only be brought down in snow."

 

"Wait, they're even harder than this when it's not snowing?"

 

Zecora nodded, tapping against the fiery wood with her hoof. "That they are. The Ember trees are quite bizarre."

 

"You can say that again..."

 

For a moment, you remained crouched down in front of the tree, looking at just how little damage you'd actually manage to inflict on it. The tight-knitted pattern made out of long, fibery strings of the magical wood allowed very little room for penetration. Picking up one of the five pieces you'd managed to separate, you held it in both hands, trying to snap it in half. Trying to simply bend it in half was something you found yourself incapable of doing. Your head tilted slightly as you recalled what Zecora intended to use it for.

 

"Hey, what do you use to grind this stuff down with?"

 

She, too, tilted her head slightly at your question before her eyes lit up a bit.

 

"My mortar and pestle were made out of a rare kind of clay, only found in..."

 

Zecora fell silent, closing her eyes as her gaze wandered towards the ground. Though she hid her emotions well, you already regretted asking in the first place. You shuffled a bit closer towards her, crouching down so you could run your hand down her back.

 

"You know that if you ever want to talk about it, I—"

 

She silenced you with a slight shake of her head.

 

"The day I saw my kind for the last is something I like to keep in the past."

 

And with that, she deemed the situation resolved. But you knew. You knew that as soon as you'd make it towards her hut again, she'd halt for just a moment in the doorway. She'd see all the decorations, foreign to anyone but her. For some reason, she didn't allow herself to forget. Every day she reminded herself of what she had to leave behind, and you didn't know why.

 

You heaved a sigh, lowering your arms to rest them a bit. As your hand brushed over the cold surface the snow provided, you flinched, causing you to drop your knife. As you looked down at your side, intent on resuming your work, you noted a whole other tool you'd been neglecting this entire time. Covered in a thin layer of white flakes, ready to be forgotten on a moment's notice, lied your spear. What little sunlight still reached the ground, reflected on its diamond tip, sending a prismatic array of colors adrift all over the white canvas the forest's ground had become. Perhaps...

 

"Step back a little, okay? I'm going to try something out."

 

Picking up the spear, you stood up straight again. Perhaps your exhaustion was playing tricks on your mind, but you could've sworn the glow of the tree in front of you seemed to intensify. Your grip around the shaft tightened as you searched for a good spot to strike. Slowly, you began walking around the tree, looking for a good angle to make a hit. With the tip of your spear, you dragged the cloth lying in the snow a bit further away from the stem. You turned your waist, turning sideways from the tree, tensing up every muscle in your entire body. Then, like a coil, you unwound, attacking the tree with as much strength as you had left.

 

Sparks flew off both the tree as well as your spear upon impact, sizzling out in tiny cylinders of grey smoke as they burned themselves deep into the snow. At first, you feared to have lost your most trustworthy tool, but as you looked at the tree, and more specifically, the cloth that lied underneath it, a smile grew onto your frozen face.

 

A deep gash, almost large enough to stick your entire fist in it had been cut out off the tree, instead now lying on the rough piece of fabric. You brought yourself closer to the tree again and stared into the inside of the tree. The same linear pattern of woven strings of wood ran through the inside of the tree, though the glow was much more intense than that of the outer layers. Bringing your hands closer to the wood, you quickly have to hold your distance again as the temperature of the wood, too, had increased exponentially.

 

With a content smile, you held your face in front of the gaping hole in the tree, basking in the warmth it radiated.

 

"This is unbelievable," you heard her whisper from your side. "Not even Twilight's magic could cut out a piece this thick."

 

With most of the feeling returned to your face, you took a step back to look at the zebra fawn over the results of your work.

 

"Do we still need to do the other two?"

 

She shook her head, bearing a wide smile.

 

"No, with what we have here, I'll have plenty to make my potion for many a year."

 

A wave of relief washes over you; you'd try to hide it as much from her as you could, but that strike really blew the wind out of your lungs. Nodding your head, you wrap the piece of cloth holding the glowing piece of wood together and pocket it.

 

Turning back towards your companion, you ask, "So, what's next on the list?"

 

Zecora smiled a little grin, before turning around and making her way through the snow again. Quick to follow her, you caught up with her swiftly before looking down on the cloaked mare.

 

"Please don't tell me have to walk this far again..."

 

The only sounds that could be heard were the whispers of cold wind, weaving their way through the maze of trees, much like you and her were doing as well.

 

"...Goddamnit."

 

 

 

[TBC]