Princess Luna had noticed her sister still standing outside on the observation platform that had been set up for them right outside of the massive tent that had also just been built for them. She gathered that her sister had been standing there next to the roaring fire pit in icy winds for an almost hour. She seemingly hadn't moved at all during that time, her eyes locked on the west where the mountains into disappeared the dark swirls of clouds. It was a dark and grey atmosphere with moderate snow and occasionally brutal winds.

She had just gotten back from helping out other ponies with their tents of shelter and she attempted to comfort the parents and families of those with missing little family members. As difficult and emotionally distressing a task as that had been, she now wondered if she faced the hardest case of all in her own sister who had been so quiet since they departed. Princess Luna herself was no stranger to sadness and loneliness and her sister had always been there. But now it was her looking out at her sister who stood so alone in a gray darkness that was almost like night.

She was so still. Luna wondered if anything different stirred in her heart than what stirred in her own restless one. She knew that doubt had to be one of the strongest feelings in her. She hoped that guilt was not one, though she sensed it was.

"This is not your fault, you know," she said, finally walking out as she came to a halt at her sister's side. She glanced over with a caring gaze but her sister's eyes remained squarely on the mountains with a serious and unchanging expression that could do nothing but hope. After receiving no response Luna looked over at her again hoping for a more effective effort. "You do know that, don't you?"

"They've been gone for almost twelve hours now," she finally remarked with no change of emotion.

"My heart tells me they're alive," replied Luna.

Celestia did not change. Her face remained still and her eyes locked on the mountains to the west. Her sister sensed the thoughts swirling in her sister's head, but she remained so resolute and unresponsive. She wouldn't even give the slightest glance over at Luna, which was very troubling to her. Luna took a deep breath and stared out at the mountains alongside her. She felt terrible for the little ones but also the team going to get them, each of whom she was able to bond with before sending them off.

They stood there like that for several minutes. Eventually Luna began to think that she had no shot at getting through to the white princess, so she sadly lowered her head and began to walk back towards the tent. It was at this time that her sister spoke again.

"That valley is so dangerous... Do you think we should have sent them in after them?" Princess Luna heard her sister ask in a whisper. She turned around quickly.

"The team? Yes, of course," she responded, walking back to her sister's side and staring squarely at her. "We cannot leave our little ones to die out there by themselves without a fight. We have to try."

Princess Celestia lowered her head and sighed, finally breaking her concentration.

"That's what I thought," she whispered back, shooting her sister glance, though she still wondered if it was fair to have the team risk their lives in this way, especially now that many hours had passed.

Princess Luna saw how tormented her older sister was as her eyes went from the mountain, to the village streets, and finally to the heavens above. There was so much that weighed on the both of them - even the air itself seemed to have some supernatural heaviness to it - and they'd been working so hard that they hadn't had a chance to weep for the children, for the team, or even for themselves. There was nothing left for them or anyone else to do but place all their hope and faith in the team.

"Do you think Spitfire has what it takes to lead those ponies?" asked Princess Luna. She had visited them in the dreams of them all before they had left as the train sped north. Though she had told no one, not even her own sister, she knew that certain ponies - including Spitfire - had not had the most encouraging dreams.

"Given what she's accomplished with the Wonderbolts, it would seem so," she said, finally showing a change of emotion; the question prompted a glance in Luna's direction, almost as if to suggest that she had been possibly questioning it herself. "Why do you ask? Do you think that Spitfire's titles and accomplishments have gotten to her head?"

"I think it's entirely possible, if not probable," she replied.

Another silence followed as they both looked up at the towering mountains right before them and the raging winter clouds that surrounded them, only wondering what the team could be enduring at this given moment.

"Out there in those conditions, the true leaders will emerge, titles or not," muttered Princess Celestia, before she took a deep breath. "If leaders out there, they will emerge. If they're not, then they won't," she continued, as a particularly unsettling feeling came over the both of them. "I'll tell you one thing, my sister. We're about to find out a lot about our subjects and ourselves."

"Maybe Miss Dash... I think injuring her wing has been quite humbling for her," whispered Princess Luna. "Nothing is more humbling for a pegasus, especially one as proud as her."

Princess Celestia sighed, lowering her head in distress.

"I wonder if I regret letting her go out there," she remarked quietly. "I'm not sure how she fits in with the team unable to fly... unable to flee or defend herself. Yet my only other option to keep her from going out there would've been to throw her in the dungeon. But maybe that was the better-"

"No, sister," replied Princess Luna tenderly. She was beginning to see that her sister was chained not just by the horrible situation itself, but the heavy burden of guilt that she seemed to bear. "Rainbow's will is strong... She will not go down quietly. And more importantly, there is a pony out there who's will is just as strong if he only has her to encourage him."

At this, Princess Celestia turned towards her sister with a look of strong emotional distress. She stared straight ahead for a moment and then buried her head in her right wing, and began to cry. Princess Luna decided that she couldn't take anymore herself and wrapped herself around her sister as the two engaged in an emotional embrace that was long overdue.

"Sonic's past is not your fault, you know that," she whispered. "You have no control over the actions of his parents, nor the late discovery of his innocence in Ponyville."

"It's not just his parents. He was cold and alone for a long time. It may well be that he's not the only one out there," she muttered, resting her chin on the top of her sister's head and pondering what other Sonics might be out there, besides the little ones that were lost to the valley. "I know he's not."

Princess Celestia had wanted to believe her sister that there was nothing she could've done. How his parents could have done what they did, she didn't understand. But she also knew that many ponies besides his parents had failed him throughout his life considering the state she discovered him, and that reflected upon her. To make the already unbearable pain even worse, they had also just learned only hours before that Sonic was dismissed by the entire town of Ponyville for a error that he did not commit.

"Poor stallion," remarked Princess Luna admiringly, picturing his kind and humble stare. His dream featuring the dark woods and the perishing little ones he was desperate to save was among the most moving that she had ever seen.

"I know," replied Princess Celestia tenderly, who now also imagined his gentle gaze. "His fate is tied to those children."

"I can confirm that it is," replied Luna sadly. "His dream confirmed beyond any doubt that he deeply cares for those foals. If any one of them is lost, then a happy life may well be lost for him."

"That is true of Rainbow as well. If one of them does not return, the other is doomed... and if any of the little ones are lost, they are doomed, at least for a great long time," added Princess Celestia, and the two traded soulful looks.

After a long silence of deep thought between the both of them it occurred to Luna that there was something she had wanted to ask Celestia for some time now, ever since they met with the team back in Canterlot and made plans. She was anxious to ask it, and though she did not want to make her sister any more uncomfortable then she already was, she also needed to know.

"Sister... I know there something about this mission that you are not telling me."

Princess Celestia withdrew herself and stood in front of her, looking straight at her. In her heart she was afraid she knew what she might be referring to, but she wasn't completely sure.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I know you, sister," continued Luna, holding her ground. "I know that there are many things that are weighing your heart. The little ones, the team, the morale of Equestria, Miss Dash, Mr. Sonic, and more perhaps. But there was a fear in your eyes back in Canterlot that was not any of those things. What, may I ask, was it?"

Princess Celestia had fought to hide these emotions from everyone, especially her sister, but she knew that Luna was the only one who would eventually see through it. The only reason she had done this was to refrain from causing her anymore angst and worry. On the one hand though, she was surprised that Luna hadn't guessed yet.

"Do you really not remember?"

"Remember what?"

"The Valley of White Death... is not named so for its weather," remarked Princess Celestia quietly. Luna searched through her memories gasped when it hit her.

"You think it's White Death himself?" asked Princess Luna.

Just then the captain of the royal guard appeared behind them. He was a large chestnut stallion of about forty, waiting for the green light to approach.

"It's ok Captain, come here," said Celestia. He walked up to her side and saluted. "At ease. This is informal for the time being. Talk freely."

"Your Highness," he replied, relaxing out of his salute. "There is nothing to report, other than that many ponies seem to be arriving here off the trains."

"Hmm... interesting. Most of Ponyville was already here I thought?" she said out loud. "Captain, I may request your counsel on how to proceed should certain suspicions of ours be realized."

"Yes, your majesty," he replied stiffly.

"I know you're curious, so I will tell you," started the Princess. "A thousand years ago, there were reports of strange occurrences in some of the northern villages. Where today would be the outskirts of Whinneapolis there were some disappearances, some of which included even foals."

The recollection of the event was so visibly unpleasant and uncomfortable for her that Luna almost asked her to stop mid-telling, and a growing part of her no longer wanted to hear the rest of this story already, though she already knew it.

"The ponies there began to refer to something in the land that they called 'white death'," continued Celestia, breathing deeply with long pauses. "Well... It turns out, there was a strange and evil creature that was haunting the woods of the north. This being, an ancient spirit of our like, would lure unsuspecting ponies under a mask of friendliness. He would talk them for a great while, but it was all so he could bring them down from within."

"So why did they call him 'white death'?" inquired the Captain. Her sister took a few more deep breaths, wanting nothing more than to rid herself of the memory of this being's face.

"His eyes... they were pure white, unlike any eyes all of Equestria. A cloudy, milky white... Eventually, like Tirek if you remember, he absorbed the magic out of a victim pony when they stared long enough into his white eyes. Only unlike Tirek his victims did not-"

Princess Celestia began to choke on her words, eventually lifting her eyes to cloud-covered stars above for help. Princess Luna, meanwhile, was reciprocating all of her worst feelings.

"His victims did not survive."

"What happened?" whispered the Captain, overcome with horror.

"Eventually we discovered and uncovered his whereabouts and attacked him with a host of royal guards. He eluded us at first, but when I threatened the of elements of harmony against him, he fled and never showed himself again..." she continued, lost in her own story as she stared into the oblivion and Luna saw her reliving the battle in her eyes. "He fled us with the fear of hell... but not before-"

Princess Celestia stopped her story once more and lowered her head.

"You think he fled to this valley, didn't he? He is the reason you banned trains passing over the mountains above the valley," asked the Captain. Celestia, whose head was still down with her eyes closed, nodded her head.

"We never heard from him again," she finally continued. "I assumed that he would never again present himself as he obviously recognized the power of the elements. The ponies from the area he ravaged never spoke of him again, and back then there was no radio or established press so his legend quickly died out. There are many things about him that are unclear, but it can be certain that he is deeply jealous of the pure-hearted. That is why he hates children most of all."

"He will have a special hatred for dear Sonic. And many others as well - Clear Skies, Merry May, Buddy..." started Princess Luna, as indescribable worry overcame her. "Sister... if you suspected it was him why didn't you tell them about this creature before they left?"

"Their courage hung by a thread," replied Princess Celestia, burying her face in her wing once more as she fought hard to repel the pain in her heart. "I didn't want to make it any more difficult for them - especially if by some chance he's not behind this, which he may not be. Ice dragons and other creatures are fearsome enough, I figured, and they may be all that the team needs to overcome."

Princess Celestia said this, but in her heart, something inexplicable began to tell her that the evil white-eyed creature they called White Death was in fact responsible. She had been telling herself that he was not the problem and she avoided thinking about him at all costs, but now she was forced to confront the past.

"What is this creature capable of?" asked the Captain.

"One of his more disturbing qualities," stuttered Princess Celestia, who once again needed a moment to regain herself as she was tortured interiorly. "Is that he takes on the general appearance of his most recent victim, though he still retains his distinguished white eyes," she uttered. "The good news is he lacks Discord's raw magical powers and ability to create. I believe his power must be drawn from others, so he does not have an infinite supply of it," she continued, and Luna finally experienced a small-if-fleeting feeling of relief. "But he is more evil than Discord ever was, hidden beneath a mask... and possibly even more intelligent."

Princess Celestia stared sadly into the snow for a great many reasons, but one of those feelings was very old compared to the others, though not far off in terms of the level of pain it delt her. The truth was that she had lost one of her most beloved protégés to this monster all those years ago...

A young unicorn stallion had climbed through the ranks of the royal guard all the way to Captain. He loved the Princess, who cared deeply for him in return. Leading the guards against him, he fought White Death bravely, but he fell to the villain's white eyes before she could present the elements of harmony against him. He was an extraordinarily handsome stallion, magenta in color with a darker purple for his mane.

She never spoke about her former student, not even to her sister. She still thought of him from time to time, and remembering his smile and enthusiastic loyalty had brought her both happiness and sadness. Though now he was just another source of pain in a sea of sorrow that hit her from all angles, affecting so many different ponies from the children to the children's families to the team and to their members' families.

Together, the two sisters looked up at the sky and saw for the first time break in the clouds above where a few rays of sunlight pierced an opening in the clouds creating a brilliant pink and white. Behind them were a few twinkling stars shining in a purple sky. As quickly as the skies had opened, they shut, and darkness covered the land once again.

Bucky Quill's eyes opened to a diminishing fire, down to smoldering red ash-covered sticks. It was the fire that was keeping him asleep, and he realized that it's imminent death was the reason he had woken up; he was freezing, even with three heavy blankets on him. He sat up and saw his two assistants sleeping in cots on either side of him, shivering and shaking.

"Oh no!" he cried, and threw off the blankets to rush to the front of the tent.

He stepped outside and instantly a blast of arctic air hit like a wall, though he ignored it and looked around in all directions. There were still tents all around him, and just like it was when he drifted away for a nap it was very quiet. Smoke came out of some tents while a few ponies walked slowly and sadly around him, usually with another pony or two. The towering mountain range to the north stretching down into the west was still right before him in the near distance, it's tall peaks covered with dark clouds. Snowflakes fell all around him and thick clouds overhead made it so that it never felt like daytime in the first place. All in all, it seemed, not much had changed from when he went to sleep other than the completion of all these tents going up.

Now that he knew he hadn't missed any major developments and that the team couldn't have arrived while he was asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief. He noted how remarkable it was that this entire town had uprooted itself and built itself anew on these railroad tracks in the northwestern plains, all for the sake of the team and the children. Bucky had never done anything quite like this before... he left a very comfortable situation in Manehattan to come and report first hoof on this story that broke his heart when the situation was relayed to him through Fashion Plate through a private radio message. In his heart he actually quite liked the adventure, though he knew it needed to have a happy ending for it to be worth it.

Unable to stand the cold any longer - at least not without clothing on - he hurried back inside and stared irritably at his sleeping assistants shivering in the cold.

"Ash! Lucky!" he shouted, and the two of them shot up instantly with alert eyes, only to find Bucky staring with a raised eyebrow.

"You were supposed to wake me up if there were any developments," he remarked coldly.

"What happened?" asked Ash eagerly, the charcoal gray stallion, and Lucky - the green stallion - waited earnestly for Bucky's response as well.

"Nothing, it seems," replied Bucky calmly, walking over to his coat which he began to slip into. "But if there had been something, I wouldn't have known, because how can you tell me of anything if you're asleep?"

"Sorry," Ash remarked groggily, rubbing his eyes and trying to stand up.

"Come on, let's go," said Bucky, referring to the very large tent that was set up for the town in the center next to the railroad tracks where there was a big fire with chairs, couches, beds, and tables for the waiting town to use. "How long was I asleep?"

Lucky reached over and fumbled around for a pocket watch, and had a startled reaction when he finally looked at it.

"Uh... about six hours," he uttered, knowing his answer would not be well received.

"What?!?" muttered Bucky. "Geez, we're lucky nothing happened. Come on, I wanna check and see how my story was received," he continued.

After learning about Sonic Rain from local mares Lyra and Jetstream, he immediately scoured the town for Rainbow Dash to interview the suspected love interest of the intriguing stallion, but they made a truly startling and mind-blowing discovery; Rainbow Dash had left the town and ventured out into the Valley of White Death... by hoof. Following this revelation, which had shocked much of the town, he immediately went to the Princesses for more information though they were not able to provide him with much either.

From there, very quickly with help from his assistants, he typed up a brief summary of the situation and encouraged all of Equestria to will the return and safety of the team and the foals, along with a picture and a short paragraph biography for each pony that was out in the Valley (which for the most part Fashion Plate had gathered). With a little help from Princess Celestia's magic, he was able to send the story/summary along with all of the individual pictures to his office in Manehattan to be printed all over Equestria. He achieved all of this in just a couple hours after arriving.

"Grab coffee," ordered the handsome white gold-maned stallion, resting his glasses over his eyes as he finished up the touches on his tailored winter-coat. In order to check on the reception of his story back in civilization, he would need to head to the private train he came in on where he had a radio line set up to try and get in touch with someone back in Manehattan.

He exited the tent and stood at the door for a moment until he was joined on either side by his assistants. They all stopped inexplicably for a moment to experience the wind, of all things. Beyond the natural unpleasantness that many ponies feel at first, there is a spiritual feeling that accompanies a truly cold rush air... though the entire body is covered, a blast to the face sends shivers across the whole body and eventually makes its way into the soul so that it seems to give it an awareness of the world it hadn't had before. Though he did not know how, as Bucky looked across camp and beyond to the mountains, at that moment something informed him that - far from just Ponyville - a major event in the history of Equestria was unfolding, and that the true scale of this event and all it encompassed was well beyond his comprehension at that time.

He looked back to this assistants and found them staring in all directions with the same wonder that had been on his eyes. He looked across again and noted the long range of the north extending well out of view and the wide vast of plains as far as the eye could see behind them. It felt like on this corner of the world they were directly between Equestria and the heavens.

"You know... on second thought, let's head over to the big tent and warm up first," he said to them, which required no more coaxing or persuasion whatsoever for them to agree.

When the three arrived and entered the giant shelter tent, they stood deathly still at the entrance. There was a much different scene than had been there when they were in there beforehand, and Bucky's heart collapsed... The room was filled with ponies young and old from Ponyville, and not a single face in the entire room had even the slightest positive expression. Most of them appeared inconsolable. When he entered many eyes in the room turned towards him, acknowledging his celebrity status, but their demoralized expressions were only met with his free-falling morale. The emotionally shattered mares were especially difficult to look at, as it was immediately identifiable which of them were mothers with sons and daughters in the hooves of Spitfire, Rainbow, Sonic, and the rest of the team.

Bucky's hooves moved with painful slowness through the crowd while his eyes scanned the ponies closest to him. The worst part was the silence. Aside from whispers, ponies were afraid to speak their thoughts. A friend, brother, sister, father or mother with someone out there stared back at him with every stop, overwhelming him with the worst feelings he'd ever experienced in an incredibly short amount of time. His assistants trailed him, experiencing the exact same. He finally reached the back of the tent and settled down by the big fireplace, sitting back and putting his hooves on his head, staring ahead blankly while he succumbed to numbness and watery vision.

After some time, he happened look down and notice that he was sitting on a collection of pictures of young stallions and mares that were mostly from same collection he had used for the newspaper story. He scanned through them all and thanked each one of them in his heart for risking their lives for these ponies. The initial shock from when he first entered the tent was starting to settle down somewhat, as he reminded himself not to lose hope, but that could only go so far. He sifted through the pictures and eventually found two different individual pictures of Rainbow Dash and Sonic Rain that naturally happened to be right next to each other.

He picked up the picture of Sonic... it was the same picture he ended up using for the newspaper, and one he discovered with the photographer after they had discussed the picture of Sonic and Rainbow together that captured their intense feelings for each other. Sonic, of course, was the one pony that no one seemed to have any information on other than that he was by everyone's experience an uncommonly gentle stallion who was infamously blamed for a critical error he did not commit, and tragically left without acknowledgement from the ponies whose foals he was now fighting to save.

In his pursuit to publish information on every team member - after their discovery of Rainbow's departure into the Valley - he instead asked Princess Celestia directly for more information on Sonic. He'll never forget her reaction; upon mentioning his name, Princess Celestia's eyes filled with sadness and she lowered her head and looked away. It was the least of what he was expecting and had left him in an awkward position. She would not give Bucky the specifics, but she clarified that Sonic had a very rough past that was not his fault and that he had a heart of gold. Bucky was already deeply intrigued, but the experience only left him even more curious.

The picture that Bucky now held, the one that Manehattan and other parts of Equestria had surely read about by now, was a closeup of Sonic's face with several ponies in the background. He was not smiling in the picture like most other ponies' individuals used for the paper, but Sonic's expression was thoughtful and docile and inexplicably seemed to shine with a captivating innocence that demanded acknowledgement. It was a direct contrast to Rainbow's fearless and confident mannerisms that she displayed in every one of her pictures, which was every bit as attention-grabbing and enthralling as Sonic's. What a subplot, he unavoidably thought to himself, referring to the budding secret romance between two of the team members, though if anything Rainbow was more of a rogue agent going out there by herself without the ability to fly.

He remembered his brief write up for Sonic's behalf, which was shorter than the other write ups of encouragement he had written for the other individuals out there. He hadn't included any specific mentions of the apparent romance between him and the famous mare, which he wondered if he should have, but he didn't want to say too much without their approval. Little is known about Sonic's family or his life before Ponyville. He was wrongly believed to have been the cause of an incident involving the disruption of a water lift into Cloudsdale, and his name was cleared only after departing into the Valley with the team. He is known to be best friends with Rainbow Dash who has joined him in this journey to save Ponyville's foals on hoof. He said to be a gifted flier an extraordinarily kind stallion.

Two young stallions, younger than Bucky, came and sat beside him in front of the fire, so there were now five of them including Lucky and Ash. They were initially silent, staring into the fire with serious faces. It wasn't before long that one of them spoke up.

"Hey, you're Bucky Quill aren't you?" one of them asked quietly.

"That's right," he replied quietly, figuring they were just wondering and not thinking much of it.

"You got any inside info?" the stallion asked eagerly in a whisper.

"Inside info? On what, the team?" responded Bucky, and they nodded. "No."

An awkward silence ensued after they acknowledged with the five of them sitting around the fire quietly. Bucky saw their expressions were anxious and humorless if not as devastated as some others he'd seen.

"You got anybody out there?" Bucky asked them in a hush, and the two stallions looked at each other.

"Not any family, no, but we know Rainbow and Thunderlane and Whitewash pretty well," said the closer one, a dark blue stallion. His friend was brown.

"I see," replied Bucky, knowing Rainbow well obviously and remembering writing the profiles of the other two stallions they mentioned. "Well, what do you think of Rainbow going out there?"

The two stallions looked at each other again. It seemed like it was perhaps adrenaline for them that they were talking to a celebrity, despite the gravity of the situation.

"Insane," said the blue stallion.

"For someone who can't even fly?" muttered the brown one.

"Gotta admit though, that's pretty brave on her part," said Bucky.

"Oh, for sure! We wouldn't last five minutes out there. She's the only pony in Equestria who would do it," said the blue stallion.

"And who could do it," added the brown stallion. "We just hope she makes it."

"Me too," said Bucky, his heart echoing their feelings and then some. Right then he looked over to his left and saw Ash whispering something to Lucky. "What?" he asked them, curious and unamused.

"Nothing," replied Ash, his eyes looking up and away.

"You can't do that - come on what did you say?" reiterated Bucky.

"I just-" Ash started, looking distraught. "I'm just not sure it was smart to send them in after them if all the things they're saying about this valley are correct."

"I definitely wouldn't say that out loud," whispered Bucky with a glance behind him. "I also don't think we really need that kind of thought right now."

"Hey by the way," started the blue stallion, who was obviously now speaking for the brown stallion as well. "We think it's pretty awesome of you to come here and stay with us. We know that this is quite a sacrifice for you coming all the way out here, you didn't have to do this."

Bucky genuinely appreciated his comment, though it didn't help his prospects much but for a very short moment of initial gratitude. He stared into the fire and tried to take what he could from it.

"Thanks," he replied, managing a small smile that faded quickly. "Like you said though, the real heroes are out there. It's easy for me to sit here by the fire, though I will say this is the coldest I've ever been and it's definitely not Manehattan."

"Where have you been?" suddenly asked the voice of Fashion Plate, who forced himself down in between Bucky and the blue stallion. Of course it was something of a reunion, as Fashion Plate and Bucky had met when he first got here initially to discuss the situation.

"Ask these guys," said Bucky, looking sullenly over at his two assistants before taking some responsibility for himself. "I can't put it all on them... I fell asleep for a little bit. I couldn't hardly sleep on that train," he added, and to his defense he had had heard about the story around midnight the night before then arranged for this train to travel himself across all of northern Equestrian through the early morning hours of earlier that day until he finally arrived right after "sunrise", if it could be called that here.

"Wonder how long we can keep this up," said Fashion Plate with a deep breath.

"So what are they saying? No news on the team?" asked Bucky.

"You would know before me. But no, nothing," said Fashion Plate, looking behind him to make sure no one sitting around could hear him. "Word is," he continued in a hush, "couple ponies are saying everyone's probably dead by now."

"Shut up," muttered Bucky, refusing to hear such a thing after everyone sitting there had shuttered. "Come on, don't say that."

"Any word on your story?" asked Fashion Plate, intentionally changing the subject. .

Bucky had almost forgot about that. Seeing all the hurting ponies in here had really set him back and completely cleared his mind of that sort of thing. He didn't really care so much to go check it's reception anymore, he mostly cared about comforting the ponies here, though he didn't know how. He was beginning to wonder if he should stand up and encourage them to not lose in the team, though he didn't know if he could do that right now, even as a relatively famous pony whom many ponies in the tent definitely already knew.

"Good question," he remarked.

Suddenly a stallion walking fast through the crowd with an urgent expression came up to Fashion Plate and whispered something in his ear. A few ponies throughout the tent had taken notice to him and were watching him curiously, as if maybe had some new information that everyone craved. Bucky watched Fashion Plate's face for any sign, desperately awaiting the update himself. Fashion's eyes widened as the stallion finished, and he looked to Bucky.

"He says there's several trains arriving!" he said in a whisper.

"Several trains?" asked Bucky, raising an eyebrow in the direction of the door and wondering how that could be.

"After you!" urged Fashion Plate, deferring to his fame.

Bucky sat up and walked fast towards the door, immediately joined by all the other stallions that were sitting there and gathering the attention of just about everyone in the tent at this point. The amount of curiosity in everyone skyrocketed, and several more ponies began to follow him out. As they moved, the sound of trains were suddenly heard throughout the tent, with whistles and chugging. Everyone's attention was now outside.

Bucky was the first to exit the tent and venture back into the cold with a host of ponies following behind him. Right there were the railroad tracks, and sure enough, Bucky saw a train coming in from the north and what looked another train following that one closely behind. His squinted, wondering if they were going to blast right through the town or what. They couldn't do that though because Bucky had his own personal one-car train still sitting on the tracks right in the middle of the town. The train that had brought the rest of Ponyville had departed back down the southbound line.

Bucky remained at the front of the curious, confused crowd, waiting eagerly for answers as the first train slowed down and began to come to a halt in front of his train that sat idly. As the unofficial duly appointed spokesperson for the town, he looked back at the crowd behind him; they were all looking at him for answers, which he had none. He glanced at Fashion Plate and his assistants who were right behind him... nothing. The first train came to a screeching stop, the steam coming off especially strong in the cold, and Bucky noticed the several train cars were filled to the brim with ponies that were crowded at the windows looking out at them.

Stepping out of the first car with a purpose was none other than Coloratura, another Manehattan celebrity (though not quite as famous as Bucky outside of Manehattan) and friend of his, a singer. The mare was amply dressed for the cold, and she stepped out of the train car and ran up to Bucky so that all eyes were now on those two, which included hundreds of Ponyvillians standing behind Bucky and countless more ponies on Coloratura's long and crowded train.

"How is this possible?" asked Bucky. "What's going on?"

"We read your story!" she exclaimed breathlessly.

"We?" asked Bucky, loudly over the steam and wind.

"We read about all the poor little ones and their families and the brave pegasus that are out there trying to save them," she said, practically tearing up on the spot before recovering herself as everyone stared at her. "But we're doing exactly what you asked us to... at Pinkie Pie's urging, we're giving you all of our love and support until the team gets back with the kids!" she exclaimed.

"Come again?" said Bucky, shaking his head.

"Your story took off. It sold out in every city across Equestria," she replied, standing right in front of him with wide eyes and enthusiasm. "It's the talk everywhere."

"S-s-sold out?" he muttered in disbelief. He knew this story was going to gain national ground quickly, and he had his share of popular stories but he never put anything out there that was sold out, much less in *every* city.

"Yeah! We're rallying behind the team and Ponyville, that's why we're here! There's more trains coming too, Pinkie's is packed!"

"I don't understand!" remarked Bucky, rubbing his head with his hoof and still very overwhelmed.

"We're here to support you, and welcome the team back with the foals," said Coloratura, putting her hooves on him and shaking him back and fourth for clarity. She motioned to the ponies on the train cars to come out, and they flooded off the doors onto the snowy ground. It was mostly young ponies, though there were some older ones mixed in, all of them in winter clothes and eager to help.

"But they're not back yet!" cried Bucky, whispering to her in front of everyone and trying to hush himself so only she could hear. He pulled her aside. "Coloratura - we don't know for sure if they're even going to come back, all we can do right now is hope and pray!"

"Don't talk like that," she suddenly whispered to him with a pleading expression. "By the way, they want you to go on the radio so you can make a broadcast with an update. Do you have a radio here?" she asked.

"What? Yes, but, I-I don't-" stuttered Bucky.

"Bucky... Entire families all over are huddled around their family radio waiting for an update on the team and the kids."

"Entire families?" he muttered, barely able to comprehend it. "I mean... I guess so," he remarked, finally starting to settle down as he came to grips with this overload of shocking information. "You... you say you're here to support us? Er... support them?" he asked, and pointed to the distraught Ponyvillians behind him.

"Yes, we sure are," she assured him. "And we're not leaving until the team is back safe and sound with those foals."

Bucky looked back across at the horde of ponies rushing towards the big tent and the crowd that waited there. There was an eruption of emotional support, words of comfort, hugs... Bucky never dreamed that his story would have had this kind of effect, though he couldn't deny that he was tremendously warmed to see these ponies coming from across the land like this for their own.

"You said there's more trains coming?" he asked with a thrilling rush.

Suddenly Princess Celestia and Princess Luna appeared, rushing in urgently with a host of royal guards. They were just as confused and bewildered as anyone. Their sudden appearance caused a great number of bows and widespread silence, especially from many ponies off the train who had never seen them in person before.

"What is this?" muttered Princess Celestia.

"We're here to support Ponyville, Your Highness. Pinkie and Bucky led us here," replied Coloratura.

"We don't have enough firewood or supplies to support all these ponies!" she declared grievously, and Coloratura's mouth dropped open with no answer while the rest of their heart's sunk. "Did you bring any with you? Did they?" she responded, pointing to the train behind hers that was now coming to a halt also and more ponies began flooding the village streets.

After Coloratura had nothing to say and another extremely uncomfortable silence followed, another sound suddenly commanded the attention of every pony there in an instant. A train whistle blew from the opposite end of the tracks, and this time heads whipped around and beheld a train coming up from the south. Initially they figured it was more ponies, but they deduced this was actually a freight train with several freight cars trailing it's locomotive. They watched this train come to a slow halt in front of Bucky's locomotive as many ponies now turned to the Princesses for answers, which they could not provide as the two sisters looked at each other incredulously.

The engineer stepped off the locomotive with a royal guard, and the two walked up to the Princesses.

"What is this?" muttered Princess Celestia again to the royal guard. After bowing, and looking rather nervous in front of the huge crowd watching him as well as the monarchy, he began to speak.

"I have a here the train of supplies... firewood, water, food, and material to build shelters..."

"Say what?" uttered Bucky, laughing with disbelief.

"Who authorized you to send this train?" asked Princess Celestia. She was not angry with him at all, but like everyone else shse was wondering how this could be sent with such absurd convenience.

"Well... you did, Your Highness... indirectly at least," replied the royal guard, bowing his head submissively.

"What do you mean? I didn't send for this train until just a moment ago, how could it have possibly gotten here so quickly?"

"Your Highnesses decreed all commanding authority over everyone except Yourselves to the six elements of harmony. This train was ordered and organized by Miss Rarity several hours ago," he replied.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both managed brief smiles at each other before they returned to focus. It seemed the entire town aside from just the influx of ponies had just gotten a fresh dose of energy and enthusiasm that spread its way to everyone, including the princesses. Princess Celestia turned to her royal guard, who immediately lined up and awaited assignments.

"Set a guard on the western side of camp, I don't want anyone more going into the Valley, it is far too dangerous," she commanded, and two royal guards on the end of the line departed for that side of town. "I want a team of pegasus positioned at the base of the mountains near the entrance, but they are not to enter. Send them with flares and instruct them to light if any of our own emerge. Green flares for our own, red for any threat of any kind."

"The rest of you can help us unload this train," said Princess Luna, and the situation fell into chaos as ponies started running around in all directions and operations got underway. A large group of ponies from the new arrivals rushed in and asked the Princesses if they could help, which the Princesses eagerly allowed as a few more hundred ponies moved in from the train behind.

Meanwhile, another group of ponies from the arrivals was forming near Bucky and Coloratura, ready to follow the two celebrities wherever they went. Bucky took a deep breath and came back to her with a faint smile of thanks, though it quickly left when she reminded him about the broadcast.

"So... radio?" she asked, to his displeasure.

His stomach moved around him. He was used to writing, not public speaking. He was also used to writing in an area that was private, where he could voice all of his thoughts and ideas onto a typewriter that would later be distributed by the publishing company. He was used to being recognized by ponies in public who knew his face only by the small picture printed next to his stories, but being asked to go on radio and give a live broadcast to all of Equestria was not something he was accustomed to.

He looked back at the mountains and noted their fearsome appearance and the dreadful winter weather that no doubt raged inside. Taking a gulp, he forced himself to think about what they were going through. Do it for the team kids and the team, he thought to himself. Things suddenly just got a lot more intimate with those out there, and they dominated his heart and mind.

So Bucky and his assistants climbed onto the train and set up their portable radio, and through his friends at Manehattan's radio station Bucky delivered a static-filled verbal update to all of Equestria on the status of the team and encouraged them all to not give up hope.