//------------------------------// // The City of Love // Story: Forgotten: The Frozen North // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// The journey down the gradual slope of snow and ice was slow and gradual, as Sprout had engaged the all-wheel-drive as well as the differential, for maximum possible traction. The memory gems that Sunny had collected showed a bright, flat arctic tundra surrounding the city, but this storm, however long it had unnaturally lasted, had created a considerable barrier of wind and snow and over time it had created a literal snow bowl that would likely keep the city hidden even if it wasn't for the surrounding blizzard. All six of the Scouticus' occupants had buckled in, and Sunny was doing her best to hold two phones recording at once; hers as well as Pipp's, who didn't have that great a view from her side seat in the back. What Sprout found surprising was that the farther down into the city they got, the calmer the wind got as they distanced themselves by the immense vortex of snow that surrounded the city. Slowly, the terrain leveled out, and Sprout brought the vehicle to a halt about 50 yards from the tallest structure, which he assumed to be a castle. "It's safe to shut the engine down, it's warm enough," Sprout said, after double-checking to see that the external temperature had not moved from -15° C. He engaged the parking brake, and cut the engine, and the rumbling in the back of the vehicle faded to nothing, and the near complete silence that took its place was rather unexpected. Unbuckling their harnesses and putting their headgear back on, Sprout and Sunny opened both doors and stepped out onto the steps. The dead quiet was downright unsettling. The blizzard vortex slowly swirled around them on all sides in the distance, but it was like the howling wind had been dulled, if not muted entirely. Sunny climbed down onto the snowy surface, finding it densely packed and manageable to walk on. She checked her watch, and it wasn't even noon yet. She figured that as long as they were in here, they'd be solely using timekeepers to have any indication of the time of day besides being able to see the storm around them, and it being pitch black; that would likely be the only indicator of day and night. "Alright, this might be the only time I can really mean it when I say, 'It's quiet, too quiet,'" Zipp remarked, looking around at the surroundings. They heard every snow-crunching step anypony took as they slowly spread out around the Scouticus Maximus. "Radio check," everypony heard Hitch's voice over the speaker built into their wool hats. With some of them overlapping each other accidentally, everypony gave their reply, confirming that they would be in constant contact with each other as long as they stayed within 500 yards of the vehicle. "So, groups of two?" Hitch asked as he looked at the half-buried structures, trying to figure out which ones would be easiest to get into. "That sounds best. Keep me posted on what kind of things you find. We're not going to be able to take back everything in one trip," Sunny said. "Packs on, everypony," Hitch reminded as Izzy magically grabbed the saddlebags that contained flashlights, flares, rations, and preservation materials. They each strapped them on as everypony came over to the passenger side of the vehicle. "Alright, Sprout and I will take that structure over there," Hitch said, pointing to the closest, half-buried building to the west of the vehicle. "Zipp and I will find a safe way into that big one over there," Pipp said, pointing to the much larger structure sticking out of the snow and ice to the east. "Izzy and I will take the castle," Sunny said, pointing straight ahead. "You make it sound like we're storming a battlefield," Izzy said with a giggle. Due to the masks, she didn't see Sunny smirk at her as they walked side by side to the castle as the other two pairs broke off to the left and right. "Alright, radios; channel 1 is everyone, Sprout and me on channel 2, Pipp and Zipp on 3, Izzy, Sunny, channel 4. Be careful everypony," Hitch told them, each of them tapping the wool hats where their ears were, a mare's voice denoting which channel they were switching to. Hitch and Sprout approached what appeared to be a three-story residence. According to Sunny's ancient pictures, it was apparent that the center zone of the city had a buildup of about 12 to 20 feet of snow. "What do you think? Should we try to dig out the door, or do you think it's safer to try one of the windows?" Hitch asked as they approached the building. Hitch turned and saw Sprout standing still several paces back, body slowly glowing and fading along with the rotating running lights of the Scouticus. "Sprout?" Hitch asked, coming back over to his deputy, who took a hoof and lifted his goggles onto his forehead, exposing his eyes, which the Maretime Bay sheriff could immediately tell were full of uncertainty. "Hitch, listen... I was more than happy to bring all of you here. But... Spelunking into these places... I don't know. Ponies lived here. What if... What if remains are still inside? I don't want to see something like that." Sprout's concern came through crystal clear through Hitch's headset, and he realized his deputy did have a good point. "It's not safe to go in alone, Sprout, but I respect your hesitation. My guess would be that they had time to evacuate. If it makes you feel better, I'll go in and take the first look, and make sure nothing like that is in there, alright?" Sprout took a deep breath, then nodded. "Alright," Hitch said, reaching a hoof over and returned Sprout's goggles to over his eyes. "Let's stay warm." The very top of an archway could be seen on the nearly four-story tall building as the two pegasus sisters approached the front of the structure, about fifty feet away from the Scouticus. Pipp's pace was slow as she captured footage on her phone. "We're outside the vehicle, and onto the streets proper. My sister and I are getting ready to find a way into this large structure here." Pipp narrated, having paired her phone to the radio frequency. The livestreamer had insisted on adding a pocket for her phone, and the designers had acquiesced her request, adding a wool pocket to the barrel with a hole in the front just big enough to allow the camera to keep recording. Pipp slid her phone into the pocket, and came up to Zipp. "This would be a whole lot easier if we could fly. These windows are still intact, so that's not an option. Want to check around the back?" Zipp's voice came through her headset. Pipp nodded, and they made their way around the building on the right side, in between it and another smaller pink-diamond-colored structure. Sure enough, in the back, there was a balcony of some sort, with tables and a set of double doors. Zipp dug into her saddlebags and got an intricately coiled rope out, and once she unfurled it, it was revealed to be a rope ladder. It took a couple throws, but she got the wide hooks around the top rail of the balcony, and gave it a couple test tugs, before trying her full weight, finding the railing to be sound. "After you, your majesty," Zipp said. Pipp took hold of the sagging rungs of the rope ladder, and began to climb, her sister right behind her. They climbed over the railing onto the balcony, finding it made out of the same crystal stone material. Walking over to the doors, they tried the handles and unsurprisingly found them to be frozen. As Zipp took a few steps back to give it a shove, Pipp put a hoof on her barrel to stop her. "We brought tools this time, sis," Pipp said, reaching into her bags, and came out with a small hoof-held canister with a nozzle and lever on the top. She clicked a button, and gently pressed the lever, and an intense, short blue flame burst out of the barrel. A blowtorch. She nearly touched the flame to the handle, then moved it over to the nearly invisible separation between the two doors, and went back and forth between the deadbolt and the handle, gently pushing the handle every minute or so. After about 90 seconds, the lock had thawed enough, and the handle gave way, turning and clicking. The hinges were still frozen, giving a shrill creaking as Pipp pulled the door open after shutting off the torch. Together, the two sisters stepped inside, and they gave gasps almost simultaneously. "Oh my..." Zipp remarked. She and her sister stood on the third floor of a massive three-story library. Pipp tapped her headset and went over to Sunny's and Izzy's channel. "Sunny? You were right, this is going to take substantially more than one trip. This structure is a library. Thousands of books. We'll take a closer look to see what kind of condition they're in." "Sunny? You were right, this is going to take substantially more than one trip. This structure is a library. Thousands of books. We'll take a closer look to see what kind of condition they're in." Sunny smiled when she heard Pipp's voice come over her headset, signalling their first find. "That's great news, Pipp. Keep me posted. We're at the castle," Sunny replied as she and Izzy stared up at the immense towering structure. She dug out her phone and looked at the pictures of the Crystal Castle that she had stored. "Alright, the door should be over there," Sunny said, pointing over to the back right corner of the underside, where the supporting wall formed the starting point for the back and left giant archways. She and her unicorn friend walked underneath the towering arches, and looked at their entry point. "Well, it looks like we'll have to dig," Sunny said, retrieving the collapsible shovel from her pack, and assembling it. "Ready?" Sunny asked. Izzy's horn glowed, and not one, not two, but three shovels came up out of her pack, glowing in her magical aura. "I've been practicing."