//------------------------------// // Gearing Up // Story: Forgotten: The Frozen North // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Two Days Later "The best cold simulation they can possibly do in this entire factory, is walking into the kitchen's walk-in freezer?" Zipp asked as they walked towards the cafeteria. "Well, we don't really deal with crazy sub-zero temperatures around here, so it's the best they could do on short notice," Sunny told her, as she and her five friends entered the cafeteria, heading back towards the kitchen. After she had taken a look at the 'Scouticus Maximus' all terrain vehicle CanterLogic had designed for their journey, she sent a text out to their group chat, asking who wanted to tag along with her and Sprout for what would likely be around a week to ten days. The other four had immediately volunteered. Queen Haven had had some reservations about the distance, as it was considerably farther than a half-day's hike down the mountain, but after Zipp assured her of all the precautions they were taking, as well as the best cold weather gear Zephyr Heights' top outfitters were providing, she relented. Said outfitters were already here, waiting by the doorway to the kitchen, along with several clothing racks containing wool articles of clothing, all varying degrees of tan and brown. "Greetings, Princesses. We're here to get you and your friends outfitted for extreme cold," one of the two stallions announced. Sunny counted quickly, and it looked like there would be ten pieces per pony; four hoof boots, back half, front half, a neck gaiter, scarf, goggles, and a cap. "What about holes for the wings?" Pipp asked as she looked over the barrel and chest piece. "Out of the question," her older sister replied. "Where we're headed, there's some kind of weird blizzard in front of the mountains. We couldn't get anywhere close in the air, it was much too cold. We made camp for a day, and it didn't seem to move an inch. It would certainly explain why there haven't been any explorers up there." Piece by piece, the outfitters helped each pony into appropriately-sized snow suits, and when she was fully clad, Sunny was quite eager to step into the freezer. "We can provide two complete suits for each member of your party, because we highly recommend letting each piece dry completely between excursions. Dampness hinders the insulation considerably," the other outfitter told them. When they were all dressed, they filed one by one into the kitchen's large walk-in freezer, which the staff had temporarily set to -20, just for an hour to avoid freezer burn on any of the food. Sunny was amazed; when she stepped into what must have been frigid air, she didn't notice much more than a very mild chill. "Not bad," she heard Hitch say underneath the gaiter and goggles. In fact, aside from Pipp's height, the only way to tell each other apart were voices, manes, and Izzy's horn. "How's your horn, Izzy?" Sunny asked. "Just fine. Magic spells keep it perfectly warm," her friend replied. "So when do we move out?" Sprout asked, clearly one of the most excited. "We're still getting some food stores put on the vehicle, shouldn't take more than a couple days," Sunny explained. "Once we're under way, I think Sprout should take each of you through some of the basics of how to drive it, just in case you need to, before we get to trickier terrain, where he'll be doing most of the driving." Sprout's gaiter moved just enough to where she could tell he was smiling excitedly. "If we can sleep through the engine noise and the fact that our sleeping spots will be moving, I think it'll be best of we keep it moving as close to all the time as we can." "Sounds like we're sticking around until we're ready to head out," Zipp said. "Anypony up for laser tag? I saw that arena on the way into town this morning." "Ooh ooh," Sprout said, removing his headgear as they began to file out of the freezer. "You're on."