//------------------------------// // Departure // Story: Forgotten: The Frozen North // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Hitch gave an exasperated sigh as his 'squad' approached the Scouticus Maximus with him. "Now come on, guys. I'm afraid you can't go along. The climate we're going to isn't that great for seagulls and crabs. But I'm counting on you to keep an eye on my subs while I'm gone, alright? Seriously, if they try anything remotely fishy, please, run them out of town." The two seagulls and crab shared looks of disappointment, but gave salutes, and began slowly moving down the street towards the police station. Sprout had pulled the vehicle out of the rear basement access of CanterLogic, so they could avoid taking it through all the crowded city streets. The planned route would keep them largely on the west coast, taking them around the Smoky Mountains, and then roughly on a northeast trajectory, going largely off of Zipp's aerial recon that her team had done in the weeks beforehoof. Pipp was doing a walk around the vehicle while livestreaming, and Sprout was making the final checks before getting ready to go. Sunny was in the passenger seat, going over a checklist of all the food they had packed. Zipp was stretching her wings, keeping them limbered up, as she would be spending much of the trip airborne until they reached colder weather. Izzy was assisting on loading up the last crates of food. When that was done, Izzy took a magical hold of the tailgate and pushed it up, and it latched into place. "Alright, food's all loaded!" Izzy announced. The spare tires took up about a third of the space in the bed, the crates of food another third, and the rest was empty crates, ready to hold any artifacts that they found. They had arranged the crates so they could be sat on semi-comfortably, as sitting in the bed until they hit the arctic would be the best way to get fresh air. "Alright everypony, I'll be back when we're en route to the Crystal Empire!" Pipp announced, giving a smile and wave, before cutting the stream on her phone. "Alright, one last thing..." Came the voice of Toots, walking out of one of CanterLogic's rear entrances carrying a trio of what looked to be devices of some kind on telescoping poles. "What are those?" Hitch asked. "These are long-range emergency transponders. You should only need one, but, you know, redundancy. Just stick it in the ground, extend it, and hit the button on top. We'll have someone here monitoring this frequency at all times," Toots told them, and got them securely placed in the back of the bed with Izzy's help, as Phyllis also came out. "Sprout, come down and give me a hug before you all get under way," she told him, trotting up to the driver side as Hitch got on board. "Mommy..." Sprout whined, as his cheeks tinted red, as he had been trying to show a little more maturity the last few months. He climbed down out of the cab, stepped up to his mom, and she pulled him into a tight hug. "I'm very proud of you, sugar cube. You put in a lot of work these last couple months, and this is the farthest you'll have traveled without me. Just remember, drive safe. You've got five other ponies counting on you to get them there safely, alright?" Phyllis asked. "I will, I promise," Sprout told her, returning the hug. With that, Phyllis released him, and Sprout climbed back into the cab. Izzy hopped into the back along with Zipp, and once Pipp climbed inside, that made all six on board, and Sprout started up the engine. "Alright, see everyone in a couple weeks!" Sprout announced. The six ponies gave the nearby factory staff a wave goodbye as Sprout pulled on the air horn twice, before gently pushing the throttle forward, and the Scouticus Maximus started climbing the first hill. Phyllis felt her throat tighten as the vehicle and six ponies on board crested the first hill and slowly left her sight. "Everything alright, Phyllis?" Toots asked, coming up to her side. The factory director swallowed the lump in her throat. "I'm fine. This will be the farthest away he's been from me in his entire life. And for the longest amount of time. I hope he'll be safe." "He will, I'm sure of it," Toots reassured his boss. "He's gotten a better head lately, and he's got the other five to help him out. "Yeah, you're right. I'm probably worrying too much," Phyllis resigned. "It's part of being a parent. Now, if you'll excuse me, ma'am, me and Sweets have a police station to run. That litter isn't about to patrol for itself."