It was early morning, far earlier than anypony should have been willing to wake and yet here Nightfall stood. He had only been up for a few minutes, but had already begun to collect his gear and put on his snow suit. After spending five years as a part of the TRST Initiative, he had grown accustomed to wearing it for long periods of time. The spots where it felt just a little tight no longer bothered him and he often thought of it as a second coat of fur.

Being based in Canterlot, the Initiative was known for having access to some of the best equipment in Equestria and that extended to the snow suit. It was light weight despite the ballistic weaving in the torso that was often used in heavier military vests. The thick insolation kept the wearer warm in even the heaviest of snow storms and the watertight seal at the neck prevented snow from making its way into the suit itself. A hard-case helmet with extra space for the ears protected from any blunt force trauma that one may acquire in the tundra. Snow shoes that folded up around the legs, plenty of velcro pockets, and a stylish fur collar made the snow suit the prized and most essential piece of equipment in a ranger's kit. The best part was that the Gen V Mark II was standard issue and there was plenty of space for additions should one chose to spend their field credits on such things.

It didn't take long for Nightfall to put on the suit. Unlike the last generation, the zipper was on the front and one pony was able to put it on without assistance. He left his weapons and survival kit on the table though, along with his helmet, instead taking along a fleece winter cap that did just fine in keeping his ears warm.

Paper and Bastion were still asleep, but that was okay. Nightfall was actually up much earlier than usual. Unfortunately for Celestia though, she would need to accompany him outside for a while.

"Princess," Nightfall whispered softly after making his way to her side. "Celestia. Wake up."

Celestia rolled over to face him before pulling her head from the couch. "Nightfall?" she said sleepily as she rubbed the drowsiness from her eyes. She looked around the room to see that it was still mostly dark, the dim light from the windows being the only thing that allowed her to see at all. "Is something the matter?"

Nightfall shook his head. "No," he answered. "Everything's fine. I just need to you come with me. We have some things to take care of before we head out." He motioned towards the door. "I'll give you a second to wake up. Find me outside when you're ready."

"Should we not wake the others?" Celestia asked.

"Nah, let them sleep," Nightfall replied. "This wont take long." He wasn't even to the door yet when he found Celestia trailing directly behind him. "That was quick," he said as he opened the door and a few flurries of snow made their way inside.

"I am used to it," Celestia explained. "Having ruled a country, I've become accustomed to early mornings." She followed the thestral outside. A light dusting of snow was falling within the town, but was not much stronger outside the storm spires. Despite the improved weather conditions, the clouds had not dispersed at all. "Where are we going?" she asked, noticing that a few ponies were already up and about. Most were guards, donning full body coats similar to the one Nightfall now wore.

"We're going to get you outfitted real quick," Nightfall replied as he threw on a heavily tented set of shades. "You'll need a snow suit if you want to survive beyond the walls. Of course, it wont be as nice as the one I've got but it will keep you warm enough that your hooves aren't falling off from frostbite. You'll also need a survival kit."

As the two continued through the streets, Celestia began to take note of everything around her. In the night before, she had had little chance to just take in her surroundings. A mix of confusion, shock, stress, and darkness had prevented that, but now that the dim light of morning allowed her to see, she was quickly making observations about this new world.

The town itself was unlike anything she had ever seen. Of course, the building were nothing strange. Most of the houses were made of stone and logs with wood shingled roofs. They could easily be compared to those of her own time, but they lacked the same architectural style. If anything, they were just plain. It was the way the town was arranged that struck Celestia as odd. Despite its small size, it was very dense in the sense that all the houses were very close together, creating long narrow alleys that served as the main road system. The overhang on most roofs simply ran together in some places. Around the entire town was a small wall, composed of logs and stone, with only a few towers.

The only open space within these walls was from where they had just come from. The small town square, just outside of the assembly hall, housed a large pedestal on which a large fire burned. Around this fire, three large brick smokestacks rose into the sky, a black cloud billowing from their tops. From what Celestia could infer, it seemed that this was the signal fire that Nightfall had spoken of the previous day.

After their short walk, the two stopped at a small building by the gatehouse, where a couple of town guards sat drinking coffee and gazing out into the tundra beyond the storm spires. It was a relatively clear day, and from here Celestia could see that the world beyond these structures was one of ice, snow, and endless cold. She sighed a tired sigh as Nightfall opened a door for her.

Celestia and Nightfall now found themselves in a small cabin, lit only by hanging candles and a large fire from a stone fireplace. There were several guards seated at tables, either eating breakfast, drinking, or playing cards. A staircase on the right that led to a basement seemed to suggest that this was a combination of a tavern, barracks, and, if the crates scattered about were any indication, a warehouse.

Nightfall casually walked up to an older stallion seated behind a desk. The unicorn looked over to the thestral over his book before looking to Celestia and back to Nightfall again. He just sat there for a moment before something in his brain connected and he realized who was standing before him.

"Oh shit," he said, jumping to his hooves and throwing the book under the counter. "You're the alicorn, aren't you. No, no. Don't answer that. I'm partially deaf, not partially blind." He chuckled a bit. "You're probably here for the requisitions order, aren't you?"

Nightfall nodded, before pulling a paper slip from one of his suit pouches and sliding it across the counter to the quartermaster.

The unicorn took the slip in his magic and glanced over it once. "Yep, that's it," he said, before stamping it with a seal and neatly laying it in a stack. He turned and began rummaging through some boxes. "I tell you," he continued, "when I found out that this order was for an alicorn, I didn't believe it. It was horse shit, had to be. Alicorns are just fairy tales we tell the kiddos so they sleep well at night. Of course, when I get an order I make sure it goes through regardless of how ridiculous it sounds. Here you are though. Absolutely miraculous!"

He finally found what it was he was looking for in the organized chaos of crates, weapons, and armor. Using his magic, he dropped two duffle bags on the counter, one being a bit larger than the other. "This is everything you need. We didn't have anything for a pony in her size, but I did manage to get my hooves on something for hippogriffs," he said gesturing towards the larger bag. "Should fit just fine. Had to replace the shoes with something more suitable for hooves, but it was any easy fix. You've even got some extra wing space." He disappeared behind the counter again as he ducked down to grab something, returning only a second later with what appeared to be a helmet... a very strange looking helmet.

Nightfall and Celestia both gave each other skeptical looks.

"I know. I know," the quartermaster said, raising his hoof to keep them from saying anything. "You're probably thinking this helmet is really happy to see you. Well, it is." A large grin spread across his face. "I assure you, though, an extended horn cover is more than necessary. Take it from someone who's experienced it firsthoof, you do not, I repeat, you do NOT, want to get frostbite on your horn. And yes, it is a little top heavy, but it's all for the greater good." He dropped the helmet on the counter with the rest of the gear, before turning to the smaller bag.

"Here, you've got a basic survival kit. Emergency rations, first aid, spare matches, personal heater, you get the idea."

Nightfall took the larger of the bags into his hooves and turned to the door allowing Celestia to take her supplies and helmet. Before leaving though, Celestia slipped off two of her golden shoes and left them on the counter. The ground outside, being frozen, had been quite cold. She had decided to leave her crown and regalia back at the assembly hall, but had worn her shoes to stave off the cold of the stones beneath her hooves. She slid them to the quartermaster. "Here you are," she said with a grateful smile. "Thank you for all you've done. It is very much appreciated."

In return, the quartermaster gave her nothing but a blank stare before finally taking the shoes and feeling them in his hooves. They were somewhat heavy. "Holy hell," he whispered to himself, before looking back to Celestia. "Is... is this real gold?"

"It is indeed," Celestia answered with a satisfied smile. "I do hope that it may help you in acquiring what you need in the future."

Yet again, a dumb look was displayed. "Y-yes," the quartermaster said after finally finding his tongue. "This will do wonders for us. I can afford to upgrade our suites to the next gen. Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You are welcome."

And with that, Celestia and Nightfall were out the door and on their way back toward the assembly hall.

"That was awfully generous of you, Celestia," Nightfall pointed out as they made their way through the streets. "Now that I think of it, those shoes must be worth a fortune."

"These ponies need it far more than I do," Celestia said. "They have been more than hospitable thus far, despite their own hardships. It would be wrong for me not to repay their kindness in some way."

Nightfall did not offer a response, instead favoring silence as he thought things over a bit. Eventually, the two made it back to the assembly hall. Bastion had woken up in their absence and begun to gather his gear. He was halfway into his snow suit when the two entered. Paper Cut on the other hoof was still sound asleep, or at least he was until Nightfall dropped the unicorn's gear on him.

He moaned in clear annoyance, before rolling over onto his other side, causing his helmet to roll off the bed and onto the floor with an audible thud. He sat up and threw the covers off. "Morning?" he groaned, making it more a statement than a greeting.

"Yep," Bastion said as he pulled the last of his legs into his suit and zipped it up. A bit of fur got caught in the zipper and he was forced to adjust the collar slightly. "Get you're breakfast while you can, sleepyhead."

Paper just rolled his eyes before hopping out of bed and beginning to dig through his gear for an apple. "Hey, that looks pretty good," he said to Celestia after seeing that Nightfall was helping her put on her own snow suit. "A little dated, but it suits you." Although it hadn't been intentional, his choice of words caused him to smile.

"Yes," Celestia agreed. "I must admit, it is rather comfortable, but..." she frowned as she took her helmet in her hooves and looked it over. "I'm afraid I fail to understand the geometry of this helmet. How in Equestria is one supposed to put this thing on?" She ran her hooves along the horn cover and snout. "It's impossible."

"Here, let me see," Nightfall said, taking the helmet from Celestia. "Ah, yes. The good-ole Gen IV. These things were standard issue for a year after I got stuck in the Initiative." He fiddled with it for a moment. "There should be a..." With a few cranks of a twisty bit up near the ear, a series of clicks sounded before a satisfying pop. From the rear, the helmet split apart, opening up with the use of a spring hinge at the mouth. "Here you go," Nightfall said, holding the helmet back up.

Celestia lowered her head, allowing Nightfall to place it on her. With it sliding down onto her horn, Nightfall helped her clamp the sides and bottom of the helmet onto the upper plating. Now, the helmet fully covered her head, all the way down to the thick collar at the top of her neck.

"I must say," Celestia began. "I'm surprised by how breathable it is. Somehow, I also expected a strange smell, but it has the odor of a new carriage." She inhaled deeply, taking in the pleasant smell.

"I think I read an article once about the Gen Is and all the problems they had," Paper said, as he too began to gather his gear. "Apparently, the wearers nearly suffocating was a big issue. Saw one in a museum once."

As everyone continued to get ready, Celestia walked a few slow laps around the room, testing out her new suit and getting a feel for the weight. "So, how I do I take this off," she eventually asked, pointing to the helmet that now snuggly sat around her head.

Over the next few minutes, Nightfall gave Celestia a quick lesson on how to use all the features in her snow suit, including a small radio unit that had to be plugged into the back of her helmet, which Celestia simply clipped to her hip to be worn later on. Once everyone was set, the small group headed outside.

The sun was now about halfway up passed the horizon, casting an array of color through the cloud cover. Had it not been for the dreary atmosphere of the tundra below, the scene would almost have been beautiful. Instead, it only served as a reminder to Celestia of her current situation.

Once outside, they wasted little time getting through the town and to the front gate, where a small group of guards had now taken their posts. Along the way, a small crowd had formed in the same manner as before, when Celestia first arrived. There were far fewer of them now, but they took great interest in her.

"Princess," a voice called out, causing the alicorn to stop and look for its origin. Sure enough, it was Mayor Gale, trotting along at a brisk pace. "Hello, Princess," Gale said, taking a respectful bow.

Celestia gave him a acknowledging nod. "Hello, Mayor."

"I'm glad to have caught you," Gale began. "I wanted to say farewell before you departed and wish you luck on your journey."

"Thank you, Mayor," Celestia replied. "I too am glad to have run into you. I wanted to give you something."

"Really?" Gale said, sounding more than surprised at the idea being given something by the Princess.

From her back, Celestia retrieved her large chest ornament that she usually wore. It was much too large for her to wear underneath her snowsuit, and it had become somewhat troublesome to carry around. "I wanted you to have this," she began. "For all that you've done. I know that you think that it may not have been much, but you have been a more than gracious host."

Mayor Gale just stopped and stared at the golden item that had been placed in his hooves. It was large, but not nearly as heavy as he had imagined. No doubt, it was worth a fortune, especially considering that fact that it belonged to an alicorn princess, nevermind the skyrocketing value of gold. "Princess... I..." the words seemed to die in Gale's throat, but he eventually found his voice. "It was only the right thing to do, Your Highness. I cant accept this as payment."

Celestia only smiled. "Then please, accept it as a gift. Though I have been here less than a day, I have seen that your town goes through hardship. This is the least I can do."

"I don't know what to say?"

"You dont need to say anything. Just do me one favor. Continue to be good to your constituents. They are fortunate to have such a kind heart leading them."

"I will, Princess," Gale replied. "I promise."

And with that, final farewells were exchanged before Celestia found herself heading out beyond the city walls, passed the storm spires, and into the frozen lands that she used to call home.

Three hours. The group had been walking for three long and tiresome hours. Nightfall, Paper, and Bastion had all had little trouble keeping pace with one another, as they trudged on through the snow. The storm from the previous day had passed on and the weather was now mostly clear, with the exception of the flurries of snow that fell every so often, making their journey much easier than it had been on the original trip.

Celestia was a different story. Her legs burned and her neck had become sore from looking down so often. She was no where near being used to walking in snow shoes, and found herself having to watch her step every time she lifted her leg. The added weight from her snow suit and helmet made her wish she had done more cardio and eaten far less cake in the past. She hated feeling like she was slowing everyone down, but given the relatively clear weather, nopony really seemed to mind too much.

The worst part of it all for Celestia though, was not the physical exertion or the cold that nipped at her exposed face. Rather it was what surrounded her. All around her was a barren, featureless snowscape of white. As far as the eye could see, there was absolutely nothing and it was everywhere. There were no trees, no grass, no houses. There wasn't even a discarded wagon wheel or some kind of rough evidence that a civilization once existed here. Everything was just white and void of shapes.

Celestia, in an attempt to distract herself, had engaged in casual conversation with her new friends. She was only mildly successful. She had thought it best to bring Bastion up to speed on the current situation, seeing as he was absent during her original explanation to Nightfall and Paper. This subject matter did little to keep her mind off of all that had been lost.

"So you're telling me, that you would raise the sun all on your own?" Bastion asked, after being a given the run down on what had transpired a thousand years ago.

"I did," Celestia answered. "It was my responsibility to do so for over a thousand years, along with the moon until my sister returned from her exile."

"And she did that all on her own as well?"

"Yes, she did indeed."

Bastion thought for a moment, before looking back over to Celestia. "If you dont mind me asking, why did she get exiled?"

Celestia hesitated to answer, but gave one nonetheless, though it was somewhat less than truthful. "She was... corrupted by a dark magic. It took control of her mind, twisting her will into its own, and ultimately attempted to bring about eternal night. Imprisoning her in the moon was all that could be done."

"Wasn't there a cure or a remedy?" Paper asked.

"I'm afraid not," Celestia answered sorrowfully. "Not at the time at least. It would be a thousand years before the bearers of the Elements of Harmony could cleanse her."

"Elements of Harmony," Paper stated. "Most of what I've read about those is just myth and stories. I'll have to bust out the old history book when we get home and get your take on all of it. It'd be interesting to see how much of it is accurate."

"I'd be more than happy to take a look," Celestia replied. "It will be fun to see what has survived the ages."

"Awesome," Paper replied excitedly. "You said the Elements had bearers didn't you? What were they like?"

A small smile grew across Celestia's expression as fond memories returned to her from a time long past. "They were kind and generous. Loyal, honest, and made ponies laugh. Although they began as my subjects, they grew to become my peers and my very best friends. Twilight Sparkle, my own personal student who ascended to become an alicorn herself, was the Element of Magic. I was so proud of her."

"They sound like they were wonderful ponies," Bastion added.

"Yes. They were."

It was warm and cozy inside the diner, a stark contrast to the frozen and unforgiving land outside. It was now the middle of the morning, the sun having now risen well over the horizon and doing its best to shine through the cloud layer.

Each of the ponies of the group now sat around a small table, silently enjoying coffee and preparing for the rest of a long day of travel ahead. Celestia still wore her Gen IV snowsuit and consequently did not draw too much attention from anyone around the outpost that she now found herself in. Of the few ponies who were here, a few noticed that she was rather tall, but did not question it.

After having walked for so long, it was simply nice to sit down and enjoy a hot drink for a moment. All was quiet. There wasn't really much to talk about anyways.

Celestia lit her horn with a golden aura, as she absentmindedly levitated her coffee mug to her lips, before placing it back on the table and continuing to stare at the ponies passing by outside the window. This action quickly drew the gazes of her escorts as she repeated it a few more times.

Eventually, Celestia noticed their stares and returned them with a confused look of her own. "What?"

There were now five ponies in the group. Four of them trudged on through the snow, their snow shoes keeping them from sinking to far into it. The fifth simply hovered along, growing in size every so often as more and more snow was added to the snow pony that Celestia had begun to form with her magic. She lacked any additional materials to make it into a true piece of art at the moment, but it was coming along nicely regardless.

"Okay, okay," Paper began after watching Celestia form her snow pony. "I'm dying to ask. You claimed that you could move the sun, right. Soooooooo..." He looked up to the sky before casting his gaze back to Celestia.

Celestia returned this with a skeptical look. "Are you asking me to move the sun simply for entertainment?"

"Of course not!" Paper defended. "I'm not asking you to do anything, but seeing as you have your magic back, if you wanted to... I dont know... celebrate a little by showing off, I certainly wouldn't mind."

Celestia's expression turned into one of mock offense. "Well, seeing as you've previously informed me that a council of unicorns is now responsible for the raising and lowering of the sun, I do believe that the tampering of such an entity without informing them ahead of time would be nothing short of reckless and irresponsible." A playful smile suddenly spread across Celestia's face.

In one clean motion, Celestia took a stance, raised her head toward the sky, and lit her horn.

...

Nothing happened. She tried again.

...

Still nothing.

"That's strange," Celestia said. "This usually works."

"Well, at least you can still-"

"Everyone down! Now!" Nightfall suddenly whisper yelled.

Without even a hint of hesitation, the three rangers hit the deck, their snow shoes folding up around their hooves and their legs burying into the snow below them so that only their heads stuck out. Celestia mimicked this action, but was several seconds slower due to having to fiddle with the latch on her somewhat outdated gear. "What's going on?" she asked after finally getting herself tucked into the snow.

Nopony replied, but she was able to understand from the looks of her escorts that now was not a time to be talking.

Nightfall had brought a set of binoculars to his eyes and was peering out at something far off in the distance. Bastion and Paper had both gone to work clearing out the snow around them to form a little foxhole as inconspicuously as they possibly could.

"Rifle," Nightfall whispered, before trading his binoculars with Bastion for the flair rifle that he had been carrying.

"What do we got?" Paper asked as he unloaded a few black boxes from his pouches.

Bastion took a look through the binoculars before tossing them over to Paper. "See for yourself."

Paper too took a look, before allowing Celestia to see as well.

"Are those... timberwolves?" Celestia asked, a little confused by what exactly she was seeing. "That cant be. There are no forests here. How have they survived into this age?"

"They probably didn't," Paper answered. "Those are ice wolves."

"Yeah," Nightfall added. "Looks like they got their paws on a caravan too. Poor bastards probably never stood a chance."

Celestia took another look through the binoculars. Downrange was a scene that did not sit well with her stomach. There appeared to be three carriages of some sort, each having been adapted for use in the tundra. Two were toppled over. The third seemed to have tried to escape, but failed to get very far before also being flipped. Around each were several bodies lying in the snow which had been turned red with the blood of the ice wolves' victims.

These creature were large, being about the same size as the timberwolves that Celestia was familiar with. In fact, they appeared to be exactly the same in everyway other than their color. Gone were the colors of brown and green bestowed on them by nature. In their place were whites and blues, their bodies being transparent in some places due to their icy composition. The only other color was the crimson that stained their muzzles and paws.

Currently the beasts were stalking around the site like the predators they were. A few were scratching at the carriage at the front, attempting to get to the cargo inside. Some others were eating their freshly caught prey. Two towards the rear were fighting over a single corpse, pulling in opposite directions until it gave way and burst open, its insides spilling out onto the snow.

Celestia ducked back into their hole as her stomach did a one-eighty inside of her. She grew pale and felt as if she were going to throw up. Her heart raced and despite the cold she began to sweat furiously. "We have to help those ponies," she suddenly muttered.

"I dont know, Princess," Nightfall replied. "There's seven of them and only four of us. Trying to fight them would be suicide. It would be best for us if we moved on."

"What? No," Celestia protested. "We cant just leave ponies to die like this. There could be survivors."

"You don't know that though," Nightfall countered. "Those carriages could just as easily be empty."

"We dont know that either," Celestia pointed out.

"She's got a point, Nightfall," Bastion added. "We cant assume anything either way, but we should at least take a look. Not to mention, if we leave them be, they'll just attack the next caravan that passes through."

"I'm not saying we shouldn't do anything," Nightfall said. "I'm just... trying to figure out how to go about this." He popped his head out of their foxhole for just a moment to further scope out the situation. Two of the wolves were still trying to get into one of the carriages. The other five seemed too caught up in eating to care.

"We might be able to sneak past the ones around the perimeter if we circle back from the rear," Paper said, looking through the binoculars to look for entry routes.

"That still leaves the two at the carriages," Nightfall continued. "We cant take them out without making too much noise, so we'll have to draw them away somehow."

"Well whatever's in that carriage must have quite an interesting scent for them to be scratching at the doors like that," Bastion said as he too joined his squad mates in scoping out the situation.

Nightfall thought for a moment, pondering everything that he had just heard. They needed a distraction, something that could draw them away from the scent of the gruesome scene around them. Scent. Nightfall's eyes widened as he suddenly had an idea, one that he almost wished he hadn't had. "Paper, how good are you at cooking?"

"I cant believe we're doing this," Paper said in disgust from within his helmet, trying his hardest to stave off the pungent smell of death and bleeding flesh. "This is so wrong. This is so wrong. This is so wrong." It was about to get much worse, as the young unicorn reluctantly ignited his horn.

"Keep it together, Paper," Nightfall said, his own insides feeling as if they were doing gymnastics within him. He resisted the urge to gag as he flew up off the ground to raise the torn open corpse by its forehooves.

Since formulating their plan, the group had circled around to the other side of the wolves and had dug themselves into a position not too far away. After that, they were able to drag off one of the corpses without being spotted. Celestia had originally gone against their current course of actions, using words to describe it such as barbaric, disgusting, and unethical. Nopony disagreed with her on that, but this was the only thing they could think to do and time was running out.

Paper lowered his head and conjured up a tongue of fire from his horn. While it did not initially catch to the corpse, it did eventually catch to the uniform the once living pony wore. The fire slowly spread creating a small cloud of dark smoke that smelled of burning hair and cooking meat.

Paper quickly ran off, hopping into the small trench with Bastion and Celestia, away from the repulsive smell.

Nightfall on the other hoof had been elected to do the hard job, being the only one among them with wings other than Celestia, and they weren't about to let her put herself in harms way. He had had to undo a couple of zippers to expose his wings to the elements, but all he could do was ignore the chill and hope they didn't go numb.

As quickly as he could, Nightfall made his way toward the wolves nearest to the carriages. "Hey there," he said nervously as he approached, roasting corpse still dangling from his hooves. "Look what I've got," he continued in a sing song tone. "Big, juicy, delicious-" He nearly vomited in his own mouth.

The two wolves did not notice him at first, until the smell of charred flesh reached them and they began to sniff the air. Then they saw him, the first beginning to walk towards him as the second jumped down from on top of the overturned carriage. They began to approach him, snarling and growling as they split up in an attempt to encircle their new prey. Only now was Nightfall beginning to realize just how big they were.

"That's right, you mangy mutts. Come and get me!" Nightfall took off, away from the carriages as the first wolf jumped out at him. The wolves barked ferociously as they chased him off into the tundra, able to keep pace with him, but not quite fast enough to catch up. Nightfall stayed low, giving the wolves a reasonable chance of catching him so that they would not lose interest.

The others watched from their foxhole in the snow as Nightfall's silhouette grew smaller and smaller on the horizon.

"Let's go," Bastion said, jumping out of the hole and staying low to the ground.

Paper quickly followed behind, but not before turning to Celestia. "Stay here," he ordered. "Don't go anywhere until Nightfall gets back."

Celestia just nodded before anxiously watching the two go to work.

They crept towards the caravan slowly but carefully, using the snow to mask their approach. When they finally reached the first of the carriages, Bastion placed an ear to the side and listened. Nothing. Not a sound. At the same time, Paper peeked around the corner to see, but quickly brought his head back in at the sight of the giant wolves only meters away. Each of their hearts pounded in their chests and sweat dripped from their brows, threatening to drown them in their own helmets.

"Ready?" Bastion whispered to Paper, who replied with a simple nod. Bastion then took his position, allowing Paper to step up on him and climb to the side of the carriage that now pointed straight in the air. With his magic, Paper opened it up and used the door to hide from view, before looking down into the haul. It was empty with the exception of wooden crates full of silk, spices, and other goods.

"It's empty," Paper called back down to Bastion as quietly as he could.

Bastion cursed under his breath before the two moved on to the next carriage, repeating the process from before. It too was empty and yet again Bastion cursed. Then they moved to the third.

"Third time's the charm, right?" Paper whispered. He climbed up again and peered inside.

Nightfall beat his wings as hard as he could. His breathing had grown heavy and the cold air stung at his lungs like a series of freezing needles. His wings burned even worse as the chill of the air seared into his flesh and began to form a thin layer of ice. He had dumped the charred body long ago and was now making his way back to their rally point as fast as he could carry himself.

The wolves had chased him relentlessly, but after dropping the corpse and taking off, they easily favored staying and devouring it, the burning flesh being far too savory of an opportunity to pass up.

As Nightfall got closer and closer to where he had initially taken off from, he began to swear internally as more pain crept into his body. Finally, he found the point at which he was to meet his squad, just beyond the wreckage of the caravan. Sure enough, there were three ponies there waiting for him. He landed, misstepping as a result of his exhaustion and pain, causing him to take a dive face first into the snow. He groaned in annoyance before lifting himself up.

Paper, Bastion, and Celestia all stood there before him. They each wore sad smiles.

"Good to see you again," Bastion said as he helped Nightfall to his hooves. "Paper and I had a little wager going to see if you would make it back in less than five minutes or not. I won... as usual." He chuckled a little, trying to mask grief that was apparent in his tone.

Nightfall looked around them. It was just them. The team that he knew and Celestia. There were no others. "Let me guess," he said sadly. "No survivors?"

Bastion just nodded.

To this Nightfall only replied with a sigh, before tucking his wings back into his suit and zipping up the sides. "Well," he eventually began. "At least we tried. Let's go."

Bastion watched as Nightfall began to walk off. "Nightfall, you're not even going to-"

"There's nothing more we can do," Nightfall interrupted in a depressed tone. "Hell, we just desecrated a corpse. If anything, we've done too much already. Best thing we can do now is get home." With that, he turned and resumed the journey.

"I'm sorry," Celestia eventually said in a seemingly deflated tone after a long moment of silence. "That was an unnecessary risk. I shouldn't have gotten us off track like that."

"You weren't wrong to want to at least try, Celestia," Paper replied. "It was the right thing to do. We just weren't lucky this time around."

Celestia sighed, looking back in the general direction of the caravan. "Nopony was."

The team had now marched on for another day. They made it to an outpost late in the evening where night had fallen and the sun had then risen to begin the next day. A new day, a new snow storm it seemed. All Celestia could see beyond the spires was white. The sight did little to preserve her already failing sunny disposition. During their time at this outpost, Nightfall had used the radio tower to contact Canterlot just before the storm moved in. Celestia had listened in on the call, where Nightfall had informed them that a VIP was currently in their possession, although he intentionally left out the part about her being an alicorn. He had also taken the liberty to request medical personnel to be onsite upon their arrival. Celestia had insisted that there was no need, but Nightfall naturally ignored her, much to her annoyance. Meanwhile, Bastion had taken part in a snowball fight with some of the local children who described his gear as being "really cool" and "awesome." Paper simply sat back on some stairs while writing in his journal.

After the dawning of morning, the team did not stay in the relative safety of the outpost for very long. Instead they opted to head out into the tundra again. It was best to keep moving if they wanted to maintain their current timetable, despite the less than favorable weather conditions. Despite the low visibility and strong winds, the group continued forward as best they could, passing the time with casual conversation.

"So you're telling me that you used a floating city to manufacture your own... weather?" Paper asked, not entirely believing the stories that Celestia had been telling.

"We did, indeed," Celestia answered. "Every region of Equestria was mostly responsible for controlling its own weather, but Cloudsdale played a significant role in coordinating these efforts and producing the required materials."

Everyone just went quiet for a moment after hearing this.

"No way," Nightfall eventually said. "You're pulling our legs."

It seemed as if there was no end in sight of the snow that had been falling for the last day. No matter where they went, it seemed that it followed them. The world had been bleak before, but now it was just an endless expanse of white. It would have been miserable for them had they not currently been on a train headed towards Canterlot. They had made it to the station at a rather large outpost earlier in the evening. Among the much smaller ponies, yet again Celestia had drawn some attention, but the presence of her escorts had dissuaded anypony from interrupting them though she did get more than a few curious stares.

Celestia had never cared too much for trains. Having had a chariot, train rides were few and far between for her back in the old days, though she did have a private train car for the rare occasion in which a chariot would not suffice. Now, a chariot it seemed was completely obsolete. There was no doubt that the poor pegasi pulling would freeze to death.

She leaned her head again the glass of the window. It was cold, but strangely comfortable. She closed her eyes as she allowed her mind to fall in line to the rhythm of the wheels rattling against the rails.

"So, Princess," Bastion began.

"Hmm?"

"I've got to ask. If you're here, do you think that means that the other alicorns are as well... somewhere out there frozen in stone, I mean."

Celestia thought for a moment before answering. "I see no reason to assume that they aren't. It would certainly make some sense. Given the circumstances of how I was found, I do believe that when our spell failed, it discharged a great amount of magical energy to send me where I ended up. It would only stand to reason that the others were sent off in a similar fashion."

"Exactly how many ponies were involved in your spell," Paper asked curiously.

"Just the five of us," Celestia answered. "Twilight, Cadence, Flurry, Luna, and myself. Discord supplied us with a focusing crystal, but he was absent at the time of its casting. More than a few mages helped in the spell's overall design, but only the four of us were required when it came time to use it. Why?"

"Just curious I suppose," Paper said with a shrug.

"What were the others like?" Bastion asked. "If you dont mind me asking."

Celestia thought back to before everything went crazy. Fond memories returned to her as she called upon the times she had spent in the company of the other alicorns. "Twilight was a student of mine ever since she was a little filly. She was brilliant and eager to better Equestria with her knowledge. She was also anti-social and somewhat paranoid until she discovered her destiny as the Element of Magic. Upon her ascension, she was crowned the Princess of Friendship. Cadence was similar, although much more outgoing. She was somewhat of a sister to Twilight, even more so after marrying her brother. I still remember the day she became the Princess of Love. She eventually went on to rule the Crystal Empire with her husband. Flurry Heart was their daughter and did eventually take over. She did well as a ruler, especially for being so young. I think the whole situation worried her the most though. She most certainly took after her aunt in that regard."

"Hearing you say Empire when referring to the crystal ponies still feels weird if I'm being honest," Paper said. "I've never met a crystal pony who wasn't a complete doormat."

Bastion suddenly thumped Paper upside the head before turning his attention back to Celestia. "What about Luna?" he asked. "What was she like?"

Celestia smiled as the memories came to her. "She was my sister and best friend for many years..." Her expression turned to that of a frown. "That was before the dark days. When she did return to me, I was... so happy. She was a much more direct kind of pony than I ever was. Strict. Over concerned in many matters. A bit blunt, but graceful most of the time. It had been a thousand years when she returned from exile. I guess I'm kind of experiencing what she went through." Celestia thought for a few moments in silence before finally turning back to the ponies before her. "What about you?" she asked. "Do you have any family?"

"I do, actually," Bastion answered. "My old man and mother live over on the East coast in a fishing village. I left home to join the Guard in Canterlot. That's where my wife is. We're... um... expecting soon, actually."

Celestia's expression suddenly lit up from somberness to one of delight. "Congratulations. That is wondrous news. Have you decided on a name yet?"

Bastion chuckled. "No, not yet. But we've still got six months to think about it, so..."

"I'm sure you will come up with a beautiful name for your foal."

"I've already offered suggestions on multiple occasions," Paper pointed out jokingly. "Of course, Bastion here thinks that all my ideas are silly. There's nothing wrong with naming your foal after a fictional character, especially one who wields the mighty weapon, Mulenir."

Bastion just rolled his eyes as Paper continued to smile at him with a troll like grin.

"So why leave the Guard for this?" Celestia asked. "Law enforcement is an honorable enough role."

"Yeah, but it's redundant as all hell," Bastion pointed out. "You solve one problem and another takes its place. Society doesn't really improve and ponies dont change. The Initiative may be extremely dangerous, but I'm actually making a difference out here. With every mission we complete, things get a little bit easier for the ponies living out on the edge."

"I see. What about you, Paper?" Celestia eventually asked. "What is life like for you?"

"Well," Paper began. "There's not really much to tell. My parents own the printing press in Canterlot. I used to work for them, but now I'm over with the Canterlot Times as a journalist."

"How did you end up in the TRST Initiative?"

"It was my own brilliant idea," Paper answered sarcastically. "I write articles about things going on out in the tundra. We have it really good in the city. I dont think ponies understand just how good. From what you've told me about the old Equestria, I'd guess that you'd probably think of life in Canterlot as, quote unquote, normal. I figured that taking field notes would help me shed some light on the daily lives of ponies out in smaller settlements and bring attention to their struggles, maybe even encourage some charity."

"That's very noble of you, Paper," Celestia assured.

"I'm glad you think so," Paper said in a cheerful tone. "There's a few at the Times who think it isn't worth while. They're only concern is where the money is, so to speak. You know how tabloid journalists are."

Celestia stifled a small laugh. "Yes, there were more than a few in my time. You wouldn't believe the things that I would read on occasion." As the group shared a quick laugh, Celestia took notice of the thestral at the other end of the empty train car. Nightfall had fallen asleep nearly an hour ago, stating that one had to catch it when they could. "What is Nightfall's story," Celestia asked in a somewhat concerned tone. "He said earlier that he got stuck in the Initiative, as if he is here against his will."

With the exception of the soft click clack click clack of the wheels against the rails outside, the train car grew deafeningly silent. Bastion and Paper both exchanged nervous looks, each hesitating to finally address Celestia's question with an answer.

"It's complicated," Bastion finally said as he scratched the back of his head. Meanwhile, Paper opted to shut up, allowing his friend to do all the talking on this matter. "If you really want to know, you'll have to ask him yourself," Bastion continued. "It's better that way. Nightfall's had it pretty rough and I dont think it would be wise for us to run our mouths on matters like that... sorry."

"It's alright," Celestia acknowledged, as she looked over to the sleeping thestral. "I understand." She didn't know why, but a thought suddenly came to her. It had just dawned on her that she had never once seen Nightfall smile, not genuinely at least. She had seen a few acknowledging nods and smiles here and there, but every conversation she had had with him lacked the life and vitality of those she had shared with Bastion and Paper. Even now as he slept, Celestia could tell that something was distressing Nightfall. She could just see it on his face.

Celestia sighed softly. She didn't know what it was but her heart went out to him. Clearly there was something there that burdened his very soul.

Bastion and Paper both seemed like wonderful ponies and she was more than happy to be able to call them friends. Though she did not yet know Nightfall as well as the others, she hoped that one day that he too could be called friend. For now, Celestia was content to just sit and talk, until Canterlot finally came into view.

Author's Notes:

Suddenly, a wild chapter 3 appears.
I'll have chapter 4 out before the end of the month. Chapter 5 should be out within a week after that.