Brain Freeze [Frozen North] Attn: Pyro

[Skycoaster]

The Icy white unicorn sat at his desk, spell books strewn about. He mumbled to himself. He was so close to perfecting a new spell. "Yes, Borrowing from this...And with this theory...and the...No that won't work." With a heavy sigh he crumpled up the parchment and levitated it into the small fire in the center of the room. His head would drop in frustration to the desk with a small thump. "Who am I kidding...Its-" An old clock would gong as his head perked up. "Supper time at least. Perhaps I'll try it again on a full stomach."

 

Blizzard would get to work quickly preparing his meal. He opened the supply crate and removed a dusty K-Ration. "Still has a few years of life left on it," he chuckled at he date stamped on its container. The cold had a funny was of preserving things. It would open with a pop followed by a hiss as he removed the lid and levitated it over the fire. As he added a few small pieces of wood, the fire would slightly pick up in intensity. "That should do it," he mumbled, as he reclined in a near by rocker built of old supply crates. Relaxing, he closed his eyes as he waited for the half hour chime of the clock. The sound disturbed him however was much more hallow...a knock.

[PyroBlaze]

Dox was... not thrilled about the climate in this area, but hey, he could live with it. Especially if it meant he could talk to a fellow mage about any discoveries he may have made. To that end, after tracking the magical energy of the unicorn, he found himself in front of a door, which he promptly knocked on. The sooner he got out of the cold, the better. Sure, fire magic was keeping him warm, but if he could be warm without using energy, all the better. 

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard's eye would open, but then narrow again as he glared at the door to his Snow Fortress? No, in reality all it was was a large igloo. One that had been designed to blend into the Frozen Wasteland of the Frozen North. "Ugh..." he groaned, removing his dinner from the fire and setting on a wooden box near his chair. "Hold your horses, I'm coming..." He mumbled loudly enough that who ever was knocking could hear him. First though, he had to tidy up...He quickly closed and locked the field desk and levitated his spell books over to the shelf. With a quick glow of his horn, a thin sheet of Ice would form a glass like door. "Can't be too careful..." he mumbled.

 

He wold make his way over to the door and slowly open it, his horn glowing as his eyes glared at the pony before him. "Yes...." is all he would say as a greeting. This...pony did not look like a regular pony, nor looked like he could survive on his own. Blizzard began to contemplate how he even got out here, let alone found him. "I supose you'd like to come in?" His voice held a bit of sarcasum. "Pardon the mess, you caught me at dinner time. If I'd known I'd be getting company I would have redd up...." Taking a step back, he'd motion with a hoof, his horn still glowing.

[PyroBlaze]

Dox looked at the pony that answered the door, a grin spreading across his face when he confirmed that the unicorn was the source of the magic he had been tracking. Said grin also showed off his fangs. Quite the interesting location for a base, but he supposed it was fine for an ice mage. 
 

“Yes, coming inside would be preferable to staying out here.” He responded, entering as the pony stepped out of the way. “No need to worry, as a scholar myself, I understand how one’s workspace can become messy.”

[Skycoaster]

The unicorn would roll his eyes as his horn stopped glowing. He let out a heavy sigh as he began walking towards an old chest and removed an old blanket. He would set it on a crate that was near the fire and the perfect height to be used as a seat. "Make yourself comfortable," as he pointed with a hoof before walking over to his home made rocking chair and sitting down. Blizzard looked the stallion up and down, taking note of his features. It was clear by his body language that Blizzard was irritated to be disturbed, particular at meal time. "I hope you don't mind...don't want it to get cold," he said as he would eat the small meal from its metal container. "Sweet Potato...though not the best ether. Needs salt and I ran out of that weeks ago..." He would levitate a quill and a notepad and add it to his list of supplies. From his chair, a small pot of snow was put onto the fire and brought to a boil. He would remove the pot after a few moments and add two scoops of a substance from a rather dated looking brown and red can. Stirling it, he would then pour the now thick brown liquid into two metal cups and levitate one towards his guest. Blizzard would wait for his to cool before drinking his. "That should warm you up..."

 

"So...How did you find me....or a better question, why did you want to find me?" He said taking a sip.

[PyroBlaze]

Dox gazed around at the inside of the structure, taking it all in for a few moments before taking the offered seat and gesturing for the pony to eat his meal. Made him glad he didn’t have to eat food, as it were. He barely had to feed at all anymore, actually, it left plenty of time for the pursuit of knowledge. His horns glowed softly as he took the offered cup in his magic, taking a moment to identify the liquid before taking a sip as well. 
 

“Thank you for the drink, much appreciated.” He nodded before answering the questions. “The how was rather simple once I locked on to your magical energy, but as for why, I already told you I am a scholar, so I am here to see what you have to add to what I already know, perhaps starting in magic. Ice magic, if you want a more specific starting point.” He smiled again, taking another sip. “Of course, I would not expect to receive something for nothing, so you could gain knowledge from me as well, on many different topics. I could also provide other forms of repayment, though as to when you would receive them, that would depend on what you want.”

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard would levitate his now empty meal tin into a nearby container. He let out a rather heavy sigh before taking another sip of his coco. “So, you really want to know about ice magic...” he said as he looked Dox over once more. “The real question is how much are you willing to give up to learn what I have...” The unicorn stood up and would began to walk around Dox. Most of his attention fixated on his unique horns. 
 

“If we are going to get started, I believe you can tell me who you are...or better yet what you are,” he said with laugh. “I’m sure if you came all this way, you already know who I am...”

 

Blizzard would levitate a photograph of a family of ponies down from a shelf to show his guest. “That’s my mother, father, and do you see that happy guy in the middle, that’s me. That was me before I started experimenting with what I was capable of up here. I’ve sacrificed a lot over the years. The least of it was my appearance. This ice and snow isn’t a fashion statement.”

[PyroBlaze]

“Sorry to disappoint, but there is no word for what you see here. No word that I have found, at any rate. Regardless, I am Hei Xue.” He said, taking another sip of his drink. As the picture was presented, he looked it over, humming slightly to himself. 
 

“That is one big advantage of learning from someone else, you can build on their successes while avoiding their failures.” He said in response to the talk about how the unicorn looked now. That was why he was doing this, partially. He had no doubt he could figure out the magic himself, but this way he could avoid the same fate as Blizzard. 

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard let out a heavy sigh and his eyes narrowed. "Failures?" his voice now showing signs of annoyance. "Trial and error is an important part of the learning process though...Isn't it?" he said sarcastically. "I hate to burst any bubble of ease that you may have had, but the first, and most dangerous step is to lower one's body temperature. It's how I'm able to survive up here without any special equipment. Having a colder body temp also increases the duration that one can do spells." Blizzard chuckled. "Though if you want to start with an actual simple but effective ice spell, we can step outside and I can show you different ice beams."

 

In a way, a small part of him wanted to see just how this curved horned pony would do a directional spell with the way his horns where. Unicorns could at least point their horns at their intended target. In a way he hoped that Dox would attempt to try the easy way first and learn about horn icing. Blizzard slowing walk over to the door and step outside into the cold but calm frozen tundra and motion for his guest to follow.

 

Blizzard would lower his head and focus on a spot forward, producing an ice beam that he was able to hold for well over a minute without effort. At the receiving end, a large, thigh chuck of ice formed around the snowdrift he had aimed at.

[PyroBlaze]

“Yes, unless you wanted to look like that, I’d call that part a failure. And yes, trial and error can be an effective teaching tool, but if you want to have your students avoid the mistakes of the past, you must tell them what to avoid.” Dox sighed, looking over at Blizzard. The ancient changeling had taught others in the past, he likely knew much more about teaching than this unicorn. 
 

When the discussion turned to ice magic though, he tuned in more and nodded along. The body temperature thing was particularly interesting, he would have to look into that more. As Blizzard went outside, he followed, watching him form the block of ice. 
 

“Right. I suppose I should have mentioned that I am not a novice in most fields of magic.” He shrugged, looking to the side of the ice Blizzard had formed. After his horns began glowing again, another chunk of ice formed, though it formed as a simple ice sculpture of a swan. He could do better, but he had to keep some cards to himself. 

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard would glare at the stallion. "I see...It appears you you are no novice in deed." He said as he rolled his eyes. "Well, looks like we're past the first four lessens then. Lesson five is a bit more...challenging. Snow manipulation," he said with rather skewed grin. "This ability has to be learned in steps or else you'll end up as a ponysicle." He intended to laugh lightheartedly, though it came out much more menacing.

 

His horn would glow lightly as snow from the ground was levitated up into the air would go where directed. Blizzard would encircle Dox with a few passes before placing it nearby in the shape of a snowpony. "This is the basis of what I do out here. It's how I built my home and more importantly the first step." Sighing he would continue. "As you probably noticed, I did not do a simple levitation spell. There was no magic field around the snow." Using the same spell, Blizzard would wright out the actual way it was cast into the snow before both of them. "If you do not master this...I'm afraid everything else to follow will fail. Oh, and don't try to showboat this time. It can have some rather interesting consequences."

[PyroBlaze]

Dox hummed as he watched the display of snow manipulation, taking in what he could and reading over what was then written in the snow. Interesting, overall, and it could prove to be quite useful in some situations. He read it over a few more times to make sure he got it before starting to carefully feel his way through it with his magic. He wanted to avoid these consequences, after all. After a bit more, some pieces of snow began floating without any trace of the levitation field, and that amount slowly increased over time until he felt he couldn’t do any more until he got more used to it. 

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard would watch as Dox got the hang of it, nodding in approval as he stopped. "A good first start. You don't want to overdo it." The unicorn would quickly erase the spell from the snow, making it appear as if nothing was ever there. "With some pratice you'll be able to even move large amounts of snow." Blizzard's horn would glow brighter then before, this time eight foot tall walls of snow would surround three sides of them. With another quick glow, a blast of ice would reinforce the walls. "And...Instant snow fort." he chuckled. His horn would glow again, though nothing noticeable would happen. "You seem like you know different types of magic. Go around and hit it with a fireball spell...guard level. See what happens."

[PyroBlaze]

Dox nodded to Blizzard’s words, watching as he formed the wall of snow and reinforced it. He was a bit skeptical of launching attacks after that last bit of reinforcing that didn’t seem to do anything, but he moved off to do as the unicorn said. Dox was confident he could defend himself if it reflected somehow, so once he got into position, he called upon some fire magic and launched a fireball of the suggested level at the wall, prepared to shield himself or teleport as needed. 

[Skycoaster]

Blizzard slyly smiled as the fireball hit his wall of ice. Though it held up fairly well, the first inch of the snow began to melt, though began reforming as a layer of ice. The unicorn’s horn would glow bright as the remain slush would form a puddle. A second puddle of slush would form under Dox from the heat he would have put off casting the spell. 
 

Using his technique, he would begin to move the slush in a similar way to the snow earlier, this time beginning to form ice around Dox’s hooves. ”Always have a counter,” he would say dropping his spell and allowing his guest to move. “Well?” he said with a smirk.

[PyroBlaze]

Dox spotted the two puddles forming and guessed what was coming next as he lifted off the ground slightly. Through illusions though, Blizzard would see the ice catching him even though in reality he was safely above the threat. He touched back down after the ice dissipated, stopping the illusion as he got back into place. 
 

“Indeed.” He responded simply, walking back over to the unicorn. “That seems to be an impressive wall you’ve made there, very well done.”