//------------------------------// // Freezing Fire // Story: From the General // by ISKV //------------------------------// With enough funds to start a base, and the rescue of roughly three dozen prisoners, the operation was considered a success. Cider and music flowed that night as they all celebrated a small victory around a bonfire. While most of the ponies were in a large clearing designated the center of the camp, two pegasi were with a certain griffon in the Barracks. *** "So. Are you going to talk? Or am I gonna make you?" "Um, Rainbow Dash...? We aren't really-" "Come on! What's the plan? Huh? Why are you here?" The first minute was torture for the griffon. Rainbow Dash had somehow missed the note that said that the griffon was a former prisoner and was not to be yelled at. After a show of intimidation, the pegasus' target was left shaking under a blanket and any chance of her talking dropped pretty much to near zero. The griffon's face showed fear. Pure undiluted fear. But if one looked at her closer, there was also a hint of, of all things, nostalgia. Rainbow had disappeared shortly after while her friend took the more gentle approach. Fluttershy shuffled around, hoping the griffon wouldn't explode from the rather rough methods used. Gilda would've gone ballistic long ago, but she mentally hit herself to remember that this was not Rainbow Dash's old friend. Still, the resemblance was there... "So, um..." Fluttershy looked around for something, something that would help the feathered creature speak, even for a little bit. She spotted a cupcake that Pinkie had left on one of the chests that lined the wall. With a grin, and a hint of desperation, she held out the rainbow sprinkled creation. The griffon stared at the colorful baked cake. Unknown to the pony, the former prisoner was being overloaded. After living in the equivalent of hell, everything from the wool blanket to the cupcake where she could smell the pure diabetes was too much to handle. She reached out and experimentally took a miniscule bite, no more than a few sprinkles and a bit of icing. The second it touched her tongue, a nuclear sugar bomb went off in her mouth and she started to violently gag on the intense sweetness. The tasteless gruel she lived on in the mines just did not compare. Fluttershy quickly backed off, memories brought back up of that fateful day Gilda decided to visit her old friend. However years of experience working with animals soon took over, noticing that she was less pissed off bear and more rabbit trying new food (With Angel, she had a lot of practice in that field.) "I'm sorry, was it too much?" More coughing, "Too sweet?" This time the griffon nodded. Fluttershy walked over to the fridge two bunks away. Walking back with a glass of water on her head, the griffon immediately gulped down the water to clear the taste. "Was that nice?" Fluttershy asked as she put away the cup. "...Ye... yeah..." A voice cracked from behind her. The pegasus gasped, not expecting her to talk so soon. "Thanks for the... water." The griffon stuttered. Still a bit scared for her life, she was under the blankets but was starting to ease up. They were both silent as each of them tried to figure out what to say next. Fluttershy broke the silence. "Um... what's your name?" "It's..." the griffon trailed off, trying to remember something as simple as her own name. But within a short while, memories soon rushed back to her. "My name is Grizelda." *** After the after party, the ponies retreated to their designated sleeping areas in one of the three buildings, while the hardier ponies slept outside in the somewhat bitter cold. Tom was hooking up his dozer to a Chinook, ready to leave whenever while the Rangers and the Chinook pilots had been ordered to salvage what they could from the wrecks. A few Quad Cannons and Dragon Tanks were the only vehicles found that could be easily fixed at the future War Factory. Curiously, several disabled Sentry Drones were also found, most likely set to guard the area around the base against stealth units, then abandoned and forgotten after the attack. *** Twilight was quietly reading one of the many manuals that she found in the cabinet. She was in the sorting section of the Supply Center, currently resting under a conveyor belt. Fluttershy had fallen asleep in the sleeping quarters next to Grizelda. Pinkie had disappeared, and Rainbow Dash and Rarity were curled up in cardboard boxes while Applejack was sleeping outside with her family. Twilight watched as the lunar princess tossed and turned, trying to sleep. "Can't sleep princess?" She whispered. Luna sighed and looked from under her blanket, "Nay... I can usually sleep very easily, but this night..." The unicorn closed her book, "What's wrong? Is there anything I can do?" "I worry for the ponies outside. It is getting colder faster that I anticipated. Without the pegasi, the weather is slowly coming in from the north." "Princess... ah.. Sorry, but I don't understand. I thought the pegasi only controlled weather, not resisted it." Luna looked around the room to see if anypony was awake. After seeing that nopony was, she closed her eyes and whispered, "What I am about to tell you is somewhat of a secret. So I would appreciate it if you did not mention to anypony." Twilight nodded, bringing her head low to hear the princess better. The princess whispered, "Without the efforts of the weather pegasi and my dearest sister, the whole of Equestria and the surrounding lands would be frozen solid." At this, the unicorn's eyes grew wide. Twilight was silent. Luna continued, "Clouds thick enough to block the sun slowly drift in from the north. The cold air comes first, then it gets colder when the sun is blocked. The pegasi take these clouds to Cloudsdale, where the necessary facilities process them into more manageable forms. Remember the story from Hearth's Warming Eve? The three tribes resided north of here, and they got together in an uneasy peace..." "Until a blizzard came..." "But here is where the story changed over the years. You see, pegasi are naturally somewhat lazy, and once they decided to ask for payment in advance without moving the clouds, the food shortage began, and they moved south towards more forgiving lands." "So the pegasi were the ones who... well... started everything. But wait! What about the Windigos?" "The Windigos actually do not exist, rather they represented the cold, and after the skies were cleared, the sun raised, the crops tended, they prospered. But yes, Equestria did form because of the failure of the pegasi and peace has been maintained since, but if this became publicly known... We do not need anything else to disrupt the harmony." Twilight crossed her heart and stuffed an imaginary cupcake in her eye, "Your secret is safe with me princess." "Thank you Twilight Sparkle. But it still worries me..." Luna said as she slid under her blanket again. "Princess, would it reassure you if I went along to help with the new base? I mean Applejack is the only one going because we're going to be really close to Appleloosa. The others are busy taking care of the ponies, and after Rainbow Dash threatened her with jumper cables, Fluttershy's the only one the griffon-I-I mean Grizelda will talk to. I mean, I know Rainbow didn't know that she wasn't our prisoner, but I hope she can forgive us." She paused and shook her head, "Anyways when I think about it, I'm the only one who doesn't have an actual job. I could send you regular updates on how we're doing." Luna nodded, "Then go. The reports are not necessary, but tell me when the shelters are ready." "Should I go tell Tom now?" Twilight asked. "No, wait til morning." "Alright then. Good night princess." she opened another book, this time on the supersonic Aurora bombers. "Good night Twilight Sparkle." *** As the transport helicopters got ready to leave, many ponies came to see them off and to take a peek at their cargo. While the ponies hugged one last time, promises were made with friends and family. The Chinooks whirred as their engines started up, and the massive rotors started spinning. Applejack turned to her sister and her friends, "Now you three stay out of trouble ya hear?" "Ah promise sis!" Applebloom said as she hugged her older sister. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle said similar words while Twilight was being taught a spell by Luna not unlike the enchanted fire Spike was able to create. Tom walked out of a Chinook while shielding his eyes from the dust that was being blown around by the rotors, "Applejack! Twilight! Ready to go!?" "WAIT!" Out of nowhere, a pink blur shot out with a trays of cupcakes decorated to look like the camouflage on the Ranger's armor. What happened next, no one knew. Tom picked up, "Cupcakes," "Extract sugar," "Party"... Pinkie was going off like a machine gun and one of the pilots wondered if she could be weaponized, not knowing that it had already happened. "And that's how Equestria was made!" By the time she finished, she had put on a hat not unlike Trixie's. (Unbeknownst to her that it actually was Trixie's. She was currently holding the entire Blu Team hostage due to the fact that they had stolen her hat in the past.) Pinkie removed the blue headgear and reached in as if she would pull out a rabbit. Visibly, she used no more strength that one would use to pull out a medium sized book. What came with her was a DJ (you know who) complete with equipment. The music started and the mood lifted. They all shrugged, having gotten used to her antics. The pilots turned off the Chinooks and the Rangers got out to grab one of the sweets before they were taken... "Heavenly" was the only thing close to describing the intense flavor. Moist and delicious cupcakes~ *** Tom walked back towards his designated chopper when a voice called for him to stop. He turned around to see the princess of the night running towards him. "Tom... I... well..." She said as she took deep breaths from running, "Thank you." He stopped for a moment, but then remembered the promise between them. Tom nodded, "So rescuing ponies was an accomplishment?" Luna let out a short laugh, "Yes. Yes it is." They exchanged no more words, only nodding in acknowledgment. With the going-away party over, they climbed on and sat in the seats where they could all see each other through the open door. As the helicopter slowly took off from the camp, all of the ponies waved. The other transports soon followed and the convoy was off. Grizelda watched as the massive whirling machines took off. Stared would've been more appropriate as she had never imagined that a... a... thing of that size would've ever left the ground. They flew away and after a few minutes, were no more than dots on the horizon. If this is what they were like on a budget, her comrades were screwed. *** A while into the flight, and all on board were settled in. By now the helicopters crossed over in the plains, and smooth terrain could be seen for miles around only interrupted by plateaus and tumbleweed. Twilight and Tom were discussing base plans while Applejack was staring at a Ranger who was eating a not-so-vegan ration. He was chewing on a brown lump that came out of a similarly colored bag. Her head told her to keep quiet about human diet, but her mouth betrayed her. "Is that..." she gulped, "meat?" The Ranger picked up and read the packaging. Something about beef, corn syrup, salt, and a plethora of ingredients he nor others could understand. "I hope so." He answered while chewing on a particularly tough piece. "How can ya hope it's meat?" Applejack asked, "Isn't it... Ah dunno... supposed to be meat? The Ranger smirked, "Best said by Dr. Thrax - Oh, what do you have against toxins eh? Have you seen what they put in food these days? Ugh." "What in the hay is that supposed to mean?" After laughing hard and choking on a bite of the mystery meat, he explained the concept of processed food. Halfway through, Applejack was ready to buck open the door to empty her stomach. As they continued to "discuss" food, another human pony pair not far off were talking about base building. Twilight continued to read the manual she had borrowed from the Barracks, "So we need to build several "Tech" buildings before we can have a complete base or build select units?" Tom nodded, "That's how it's done." "That's pretty confusing." she closed her eyes in thought, then raised her head, "Can we cheat with buildings from different factions?" "What do you mean?" Tom sat up. "Well, say I wanted to make a..." she looked at the various plans strewn around her, "...an Arms Dealer. We already have a Supply Center, so could I use an American building to make a GLA one?" Tom was silent. Because really, what's the difference between a Nuclear Reactor and Cold Fusion Reactor? "I... I dunno. I'll have to try it out." Tom laid down, "Or maybe not." "Why?" "We're on a freaking budget. At least until we get the Supply Drop Zones set up..." Twilight quickly read the description on the Drop Zones. Massive power drain... support supplies... C-130... Wait what? She read it again until one phrase caught her attention. ...extra supplies flown in from other bases... "Tom, I don't think the Drop Zone will work." He shot up, "What." Holding, rather levitating, the description up she explained, "Supply Drop Zones allow... skip that... skip that... here we go! ...Where supplies are flown in from outside bases." Twilight looked at Tom to see if he had understood. He had not, "If we built Drop Zones, there wouldn't be any money coming in because there aren't any other bases!" Tom held his head in his hands and groaned, "How many innocent virgin pony souls would I collect for some Oil Derricks..." *** The Rangers were arguing Scrabble words. Applejack bailed out of the conversation when one of the men spewed out a long word that she would probably never use nor hear again in her simple lifestyle. Twilight had joined out of pure boredom. "Hey mom!" A Ranger called out to Tom. Not knowing he was being called he kept staring out the window. The soldier grabbed an empty MRE box and threw it towards the dozer driver. It bounced off of his head with an empty *Thunk* and his attention turned to the Ranger. "Whaaaat?" Tom groaned. "Is limo as in limousine a word? Miss purple pony here-" "It's LAVENDER!" Twilight said, irritated at the blatant misuse of color. "Yeah whatever. Anyways, she says it's only a shortened version similar to slang words." Tom sighed, "Yes. It's a word." "But-But-But-But..." Twilight sputtered. "It's a word because I said it was." He laid back down, only to remember what the Ranger had called him. "Ranger!" The soldier stopped proclaiming victory long enough to answer, "Yeah?" "Why the hell did you call me mom?" He answered with a grin, "You kept us updated and called us a lot. So... Mom." "The whole base better not be calling me that." Chuckles went around as the Rangers resumed their discussion of word based board games. One of the men, deciding to be a bit snarky, interrupted the peace. "And in a twisted sort of way, you kind of created us." *** The rest of the flight passed with relative silence... Just kidding. The Rangers got bored and took potshots through the open door at anything they saw. It was a relief to all when the pilot announced that they were nearing their destination. "Good afternoon ponies and gentlemen, we have arrived at our destination, middle of nowhere. The time here is I have no idea, and the temperature is hot as hell. Please check under the seat in front of you and in the overhead bins for luggage. All mobile phones and electronic devices are to be turned off until the chopper has come to a complete stop. Thank you for flying with F--K Yeah Airlines. Don't forget to write!" The Chinooks blew up a cloud of dust as the transports touched down onto the unending smooth surface of the plains. Appaloosa was to the east, in the more uneven land dotted with mountains. As the Rangers got to work to unload the cargo, Tom and Twilight continued to talk. "So Drop Zones are no good. What others are there?" She asked as various papers floated around the unicorn. "Well, we could build Black Markets..." Twilight suddenly stopped as she imagined a trio of heavily armed fillies for hire calling out- "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MERCENARIES!" "Twilight?" Tom waved a hand in front of her. She shook her head to clear the rather frightening image. "No. For the love of all that is good, no Black Markets." "Fine. Hackers it is then." He looked around, the land here was only step one. He stopped when he remembered the most important thing. They needed a name for this base!