“So, that is ‘high-speed’ train? It looks rather … small.”
Pinkie nodded, “Even the Friendship Express is bigger … and why is it the ‘Express’, anyway? The main line from Canterlot takes half the time.”
“Compared to the passenger lines, it’s much smaller,” Shining agreed, “Engine, tender, dining and pantry car, an extended sleeper car and a caboose, with a crew of four working two-pony shifts. It’s not pretty, or very comfortable, but these Guard trains are fast and tough, and we shouldn’t need to stop for coal or water until we get to Hay River.”
“Hey, there’s a ram on the front!” Rainbow, who had wandered off, called back.
“Oh, I’ve read about that!” Twilight said happily, as the group joined the pegasus before the locomotive, “It’s for pushing through snow drifts without having to slow the train.”
“Too bad tha rail line doesn’t go all tha way ta tha Crystal Empire,” laughed Applejack, “Tha train may be small, but I bet old Sombra would have quite tha turn if’n it came roaring out of tha night, all belchin’ steam an’ it’s lamps glowin’ like tha eyes of Tartarus, ta slam inta that shield of his,” the group exchanged grins and some chuckles at the thought, when they were interrupted by a polite cough.
“Mares, gentlecolts,” said one of the engineers, “We’re ready for boarding.”
“Huh, goin’ ta be a mite cramped,” Applejack remarked, as she tossed her packs onto one of the bunks that lined the car.
“Not ‘very comfortable’ indeed,” Rarity sniffed as the train got underway with a lurch and a blast of the steam whistle, “Still, we’ve endured worse,” the unicorn glance at the tiny bathroom at the back of the car with a shudder, “I suppose.”
“We only have to put up with it for a few days,” Cadance reassured the fashionista, “Although we will have to be mindful of cabin fever and keeping our tempers in these close quarters.”
“Not to vorry, Princess,” ‘Caller grinned, “After a few hours trudging through a blizzard, ve’ll all vish ve vere right back here, bored, cramped and varm.”
Time soon began to drag; there was only so much information available for them to review about Sombra and the Crystal Empire, and most of the party were experienced travelers, so the exchange of survival tips had resolved quickly, while what few books had been brought were soon read, along with any other literature they could get their hands on.
****
“I see that coiner in Appleoosa has been convicted,” observed Rarity, glancing up from the newspaper she had gotten somewhere, “There’s also an editorial piece about Luna ‘fondly remembering the hanging of counterfeiters’ and how it ‘shows the barbaric savagery of our benighted ancestors’,” she added with a small frown, “I’m sure that particular word choice went over well with the Princess.”
“Hanging is good,” ‘Caller remarked from where she lay, stretched out on her bunk, “Ve used to hang counterfeiters back home.”
“I’m pretty sure I’m going to regret asking this,” Cadance sighed, “But what does your Imperium do with coiners now?”
“After var vith Hammerdeep, ve decided to adopt dwarves’ method,” the demoness replied, “If they vant coins so badly, they can be fuel for smelters.”
“I was right, I do regret asking,” Cadance sighed, turning slightly green, as the demoness smirked at her.
Applejack titled her hat back as she glanced up from her own bunk, “Hey, Rares, where did ya get a paper anyway?”
“From one of the crew,” the fashionista replied, “Unfortunately, they’ve already done the crossword,” she sighed.
“Um, Rarity? Can I have the funny pages when you’re done?”
“But of course, Fluttershy, darling.”
****
Conversations, while initially bright and eager, eventually became desultory, and then just odd.
****
“I’m telling you; it makes perfect sense!”
“‘Caller, Luna is not a fetch!” Twilight sighed in exasperation.
“Then vhy did she change appearance so much from vhen you first saw her?” the demoness challenged, “Vhy did she suddenly have problems vith ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ vhen she spoke perfectly fine before? Vhy did no one see her for a year?”
“Actually,” Cadance interjected, “I saw Auntie Luna several times during her initial year back. And we, well, the entire Palace actually, learned that Luna drops back into the Royal Canterlot Voice when she is … um … excited. Yes, let’s go with excited.”
Trixie raised a curious eyebrow at the Princess, “Excited?”
“Auntie Luna was alone for a thousand years,” Cadance replied, “And a mare does have her needs, after all, and Luna has a very healthy appetite ….”
“Oh my divines,” wailed Twilight, as she buried her muzzle in her hands, “We are not having this discussion!”
“I could stand to hear some more,” Rainbow declared.
“I said this discussion is over!”
“Vhat about ---”
“Discussion. Over!”
****
And, really, there was only so many games of Eye Spy, or Go Fish, that one could endure, while Pinkie’s attempt to start a game of strip poker was loudly shouted down (much to Spike’s, Pinkie’s, and ‘Caller’s disappointment).
When the train finally pulled into Hay River, after several hours of plowing through the drifts that covered the rails, there was nearly a stampede as everyone rushed to get off.
“Fresh air!” Rainbow exclaimed happily, immediately taking to the sky to hover above her friends.
“And it’s snowing!” Pinkie declared happily, spinning around as she tried to catch snowflakes on her tongue. Seeing everyone’s’ bemused looks, the hyperactive pony only shrugged, “I know it’s been snowing for like the past day, but now I’m outside to enjoy it.”
A unicorn mare trudged up to the group, “Hello! I’m Borgmester Chimebrook, what you would call the mayor,” she said, “Welcome to Hay River. You’re the detachment from the Palace?” the mayor looked them over uncertainly, her eyes widening at the sight of Spike (half buried in the snow), and ‘Caller (idly flipping a long-bladed dagger in one hand and looking at the town as if she was considering the best way to sack it), before finally falling on Cadance, “Y-your Highness!” she stammered, “If we had been informed you were coming, we would have prepared a proper greeting!”
“It’s alright, Borgmester,” Cadance reassured the fluster civil servant, “We’re trying to keep this mission quiet, after all. Now, Captain Armor and Lady Fluttershy have determined what additional supplies and materiel we’ll need to requisition from your town, so if you would talk with them, and then we’ll be out of your mane as soon as we can.”
“… of course, you Highness,” Chimebrook said with a pained smile – getting reimbursements from the bureaucracy in Canterlot was unlikely to be quick, or easy, and she was the one who would be bearing the weight of her townsponies’ aggravation while they waited – “I’ll gather some ponies and we’ll get right on it.”
The party was gathering the last of their things, including a small sled to carry Spike and some more supplies, when howls broke out at the town’s edge. As Twilight and her friends raced through Hay River, she could see anxious ponies peeking out their windows, while others, presumably part of the local militia, stumbled out their doors, awkwardly trying to hold spears or light hunting bows while strapping on their boiled leather cuirasses.
As they reached Hay River’s northern periphery, the gathered ponies (and drake, and demon) saw a gang of hulking bipeds, covered in shaggy white fur, step out of the snow, their nose sniffing the air and squat snouts wrinkling to display mouths filled with fangs as the wind increased, pelting everyone with sleet.
“Ahh, look at the scary monsters,” Pinkie giggled, “Who’s a big scary monster? You are! Yes, you are!”
“Pinkie, could ya not foaltalk at tha monsters?” groaned Applejack. “It ain’t professional.”
“A moment, please,” Cadance asked, “They may well just be frightened and desperate from the snows,” spreading her wings, the princess was just able to rise above the ground in the driving winds, as her aura flared, “Be at peace,” she said, magic filling her words, “I know you are frightened by the snows, that you are hungry because the storms have covered up the plants and driven away the animals, but the ponies of this town are not your enemies, not your prey. The forests and fields are not buried yet, you can gather food there, just leave the towns alone, Summer will return, you just have to be patient.”
The bulky simian-like creatures stopped in their tracks, gibbering and snarling at each other, while a few even shuffled their feet and started turning away, only for the whole troop to lunge forward with savage shrieks as the storm howled louder.
“It was worth a try, Cadey,” Shining comforted his wife, “HellCaller! Rainbow! Applejack! Forward with me!” As the heavily armored members of the party advanced, the shaggy bipeds charged, fangs and claws outstretched.
Yet, even as the initial rush was thrown back by the ponies’ (and demon’s) heavy panoply and Shining’s and ‘Caller’s spells, more simianoids poured in from the sides, seeming to appear out of the blowing snows.
One band of three bipeds descended upon Trixie, who regarded them with amusement, “Trixie is here! No, no, Trixie is over here!” she called as the brutes flailed ineffectually at her illusionary doubles, “Here Trixie is!” the showmare crowed as she brandished a wand and sprayed the simianoids with fire, throwing them wailing back into the snow.
“They’re afraid of fire!” Spike shouted, spewing out a stream of dragonfire that sent almost a dozen of the bipeds fleeing, their shaggy fur ablaze. Inspired by the drake’s and unicorn’s efforts, Twilight, Rarity and Cadance added their own fire spells to Trixie’s and Spike’s, while Shining threw up a magical shield to keep the simianoids back on one side, while Fluttershy raised the snow into an icy wall on the other.
With their front restricted to a single arc, occupied by the Equestrian’s best warriors, and beset by spells and dragonfire, the snow beasts’ attack faltered, only to shatter entirely as the Hay River militia finally arrived, smashing into the troop’s flank, and sending the simianoids fleeing en masse.
As the group treated their injuries, Applejack had time to wonder “What were those varmints, anyway?”
“Yetis,” one of the militiaponies replied, “We usually only see them in the depths of the worst winters … and I don’t think we’ve ever seen them in numbers like this before.”
“I was getting through to them,” Cadance sighed, “I know I was! But then they ….”
Fluttershy put a comforting hand on the alicorn’s shoulder, “Luna did say that Sombra enthralled the creatures of the artic to make them fight for him,” she murmured, “They’re his slaves just as much as the crystal ponies.”
“Yes …,” the Princess wrapped Fluttershy in a quick hug, drawing a small “eep” from the pegasus, “And we’re going to free them all!” she declared fiercely, her eyes blazing.