//------------------------------// // Chapter two: Patrol // Story: Into The Fire // by Jack of a Few Trades //------------------------------// “It’s bugging me, buddy. Why the long face?” Headstrong asked. “Haven’t been sleeping well lately. I don’t know why,” Coal Dust answered, not putting much into his reply. “Maybe you should try sleeping pills. My mom used those a lot when I was younger,” Headstrong offered. “It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.” “Alright then.” Headstrong looked up to the front of the room. The crowd at the bulletin had thinned out most of the way already, so he stood up from his chair. “Well, might as well see what the damages are,” he quipped. “Yup,” Coal Dust agreed, hopping down off of the tabletop and fluffing his wings a bit. There was still enough of a crowd up at the bulletin to keep them getting a look. Headstrong, not known for his patience and also for taking advantage of his size, began muscling his way into the group, receiving a few shouts of annoyance. Coal Dust followed behind in his wake, taking advantage of the opening and depositing himself directly in front of the board. He scanned the far right side of the list. Seeing his name there would mean he wouldn’t go out on patrol for four more days. The absence of his name led him to the day three section of the list, then to the day two section before he finally swallowed his pride and looked at the section for that day. In the top box, for morning duty, was Headstrong’s name. The next box put Apache in for the afternoon duty. In the bottom box, for the night patrol duty, was his name and a small picture of his face. Damn it. Headstrong and Coal Dust backed their way out of the crowd, nearly bulldozing a smaller stallion. Once out of the crowd, they exited the meeting room and went to Nest’s office. “Well, that really sucks. Didn’t you just have a patrol last week?” asked Headstrong. “Yeah. Oh well, I guess that just falls into line with the rest of my morning…” “What?” “Nothing. Never mind.” Nest’s office was not as big as would be expected of a leader in his position. It was more reminiscent of a school principal’s office than a commander’s. A secretary’s desk, where Aurora sat, was in the first room. Without even looking up at the stallions, she pointed to Nest’s office. Both stallions went into the already open door. Nest’s office was extremely well kept. A shelf on the left side of his desk held several plaques and medals. A large portrait of Celestia decorated the right side wall. Nest’s desk was slightly off center to the left, to allow for passage. A few stacks of papers and a plain name tag sat on top of the desk. The old green stallion was sitting looking at the papers when the two stallions walked in. He looked up and smiled. “Ah, hello boys!” Both stallions in front of him stood rigidly in salute. “Sir!” they said at the same time. “At ease,” said Nest. “You two are the patrol leaders for today?” Both stallions took a more relaxed stance. “Yes, sir. First Sergeant Headstrong and Staff Sergeant Coal Dust reporting for duty, sir!” yelled Headstrong. “Alright,” Nest looked down at the desk and produced a manila envelope. “This one’s for you Headstrong. Go on, get moving! You have to leave in an hour!” “Thank you, sir!” Headstrong said with a salute before he walked out of the room. “Coal Dust, you hold on a second.” Nest dug around in a drawer, finally finding the correct envelope. “Here you are, son. Be sure to read that carefully, and I’ll see you this evening.” Coal Dust saluted and walked out without a word. Headstrong was waiting in the hallway when Coal Dust walked out of the office. “Did he try to give you another lecture?” “Surprisingly, no. He just talked to me like I was still a recruit.” “Wow, you got off pretty easy.” They had walked back out into the morning sunlight. The sun was quite a bit higher now; above the height where looking to the East for too long can be blinding. Still, it was morning, so it was quite chilly in the shadow cast by the building. Headstrong turned to the left and started walking, “I’ll catch up with you later, Dust!” He broke into a dead sprint to meet his team at the armory. Coal Dust walked slowly back to his barracks, grumbling angrily over his new duties. Today was supposed to be a day off, and now he was stuck leading night patrol. His not-so-pleasant thoughts were accompanied by a scowl, one that made a younger recruit up ahead stop in his tracks and duck back in between the buildings. The barracks door swung open, creaking loudly. The lights were on now, and a lot of noise and steam was radiating out of the showers. A few stallions sat on their beds with their hoof-lockers, looking at pictures of their marefriends or reading books. Coal Dust trotted over to his bunk and flopped down, shaking the entire bed frame. I guess now is as good a time as any. He picked up the envelope, sighed, then folded the top up and shook the papers out of it. A few landed on his lap, two more floated down and slid under the mattress. Coal Dust retrieved the two pages of his orders and climbed back into the bunk. He neatly stacked all of the papers in order, and began reading his file. The first page held a somewhat lengthy and standardized introduction. Having read it many times before, he set it aside without giving it a second thought. The second page was a topographical map. It showed the border with Changeling territory and its relation to the Crystal Empire, along with the elevation changes and several landmarks. His path was marked with a red line. He studied the map closely, then set it aside. The third and fourth pages outlined his assignment. It included various points along the route that needed a checkup, things to be on the lookout for, and a detailed description of the terrain.The farthest point they would make was not far past an outpost that sat about halfway in between the Changeling border and the Empire itself. After mulling over the description for a moment, he dropped the two information sheets and looked at the last page. The last page contained a small table. In it were the names of his squad mates. Fire Chaser. At least I know someone on this list. He smiled slightly and looked over the rest of the list. Gust Rainstorm. Flash Point. Greenfield. The rest of the names were ones he did not recognize. He looked at the chart again and noticed that all three of them were part of the recruit station that sat adjacent to his quarters. That explained why he didn’t know the names. Shouting suddenly erupted from the showers. Blister, a light blue earth pony, came stumbling out of the shower, looking like he had been shoved out while laughing. “Hey! I was only going to—” he began to yell through the open door but stopped. A loud chorus of stallion’s voices curtly answered with, “SHUT THE BUCK UP! Coal Dust chuckled to himself while the dripping wet stallion walked back to his bunk. Once he reached it, he had a small epiphany, so he slunk back over to the shower doorway. “Can I have my towel?” he yelled through the entrance. A white towel promptly smacked him in the face. “Thanks!” he yelled sarcastically. Coal Dust’s eyes moved from Blister to the orange unicorn that was just coming out of the shower. He was running a towel over his head. “Morning, Dust,” Fire Chaser said calmly. “Good morning.” Coal Dust looked down at the papers. “Hey, I need to talk to you,” he said. Fire Chaser continued rubbing his towel over his mane while a few drips of water rained down on Coal Dust. “And watch it; I already had my shower!” “Sorry,” replied the orange stallion with a grin. He stepped back and continued drying himself. “What was it you needed to talk to me about?” “New patrol schedule.” “Ouch. How bad is it?” “It isn’t pretty. They’re giving us three a day now instead of just one.” “What, why!?” “Nest said something about bigger threats from the new Changeling king over there.” “They got a new king?” Fire Chaser said through the towel, as he wiped his face. “Yep, and it looks like he’s not someone to mess with. They must be worried that he’s gonna do something reckless soon like invade.” Coal Dust scratched his head, “Anyways, back to the patrols. Because of these new schedules, I got put on for tonight—” “That sucks,” interrupted Fire Chaser. He was now digging through his hoof locker. Coal Dust sat up and moved to the side of the bed. “Let me finish. My patrol is going to leave tonight at about sundown, and you’re part of it.” Fire Chaser’s head shot up. “Tonight? Me?” he sounded a bit distraught. “Yes, you. Here’s the roster.” Coal Dust tossed the sheet of paper to his friend, who caught it and immediately started to read through it, all the while his expression getting angrier and angrier. Finally he threw the paper down. “Dammit! I had a big date tonight!” “That’s too bad,” Coal Dust replied. “It IS too bad! You know what I have to do now?” Fire Chaser said. Coal Dust shook his head. “I have to get some flowers and try to explain to her to why I have to cancel. I’ve had this date planned for an entire month!” Fire Chaser reared back on his hind legs and dug under his mattress, retrieving a small bag of bits. “Do you know how much she’s been looking forward to this? Because I do—oh yes, I do, and I also know how it’s gonna make me look to have to cancel. Dammit man, I’m gonna need a wagonful of flowers to keep her happy!” Coal Dust had been trying his hardest to contain himself, but lost control. He rolled over on his bed, belly aching from laughter at his bunkmate’s hysterics. “Sure, this is all just a big joke to you! Well, I have a heartfelt apology to whip up in a few minutes, so if you’ll excuse me...” Fire Chaser started running to the door. “Fire Chaser?” Coal Dust said between laughs. “What?!” “Your horseshoe’s loose.” Fire Chaser looked down at his hooves frantically. Each horseshoe was perfectly straight and tight. “Yeah, funny. I’ll see you later!” He burst out of the door, hitting his head in the process. Coal Dust collapsed into another laughing fit. A few minutes later, Coal Dust rose from bed and made the short journey across the path that separated his barracks from the huts of the recruit station. Before he opened the door to the quonset hut, he checked his list again. According to it, he would find Gust and Greenfield inside of this hut; Flash Point was in another one just down the way. He cracked the door open and the familiar smell of boot camp filled his nostrils. The walls of the sheet metal hut were lined with bunkbeds. Hoof lockers flanked the ends of each bed. A foldable ping-pong table sat in the middle of the room. Aside from that, the place was quite plain, almost exactly what Coal Dust remembered from his own experience back at the academy outside of Fillydelphia. A few of the recruits inside were laying in their bunks reading. Two more were walking down from the other end, talking so loudly that they were almost yelling at one another. When they spotted the newcomer, they immediately took the rigid attention stance. “At ease,” said Coal Dust. The two recruits walked forward slowly, now silent. “I was wondering if you two could help me. I’m looking for two recruits; They go by the names of Gust Rainstorm and Greenfield. Do you know where I could find them?” One of the recruits spoke,” Yeah, I’m Greenfield.” “Good, I need you to come with me. Do you know where to find Gust?” “He’s down at the mess hall right now. I can go get him if you want, sir,” Greenfield said with a bit of eagerness in his voice. “No, that’s alright. If you could just step outside with me for a moment, I need to talk to you.” Coal Dust turned and walked to the door; Greenfield hesitantly followed. When they were outside, Coal Dust quickly explained the situation. Greenfield reacted enthusiastically, as it would be the first time he went on patrol. “Thank you, sir!” he said as he ran back inside. “Hey guys, guess what!” The door slammed shut, muffling the joyous yelling from the stallion. Coal Dust groaned. Judging by the overly-enthusiastic reaction, Greenfield had never gone out on patrol before. Now I have a greenhorn to break in, great. Huh, Greenfield the greenhorn. Maybe someday I’ll be a freaking comedian. He chuckled to himself at the pun and walked down the row to the hut at the end. It looked almost identical to the first inside and out. Coal Dust found Flash Point laying in his bunk, took him outside, and gave him the same speech that he just gave the other stallion. “Are you serious?” asked Flash Point. “As a heart attack. I need you to meet me at the armory at about four o’ clock. I’ll go over the mission plan a little more in depth then.” Flash Point groaned, “Alright. I’ll see you then, sir.” With a half-hearted salute, he slunk back into the building. Coal Dust slowly made his way over to the mess hall. Armed with a brief description from Greenfield, he set about finding the last member of his squad. The mess hall was a good deal more full than when he was there earlier. A low roar of talking and the clattering of kitchen utensils filled the air alongside the smell of oatmeal. A good number of stallions sat at the tables, some silently and others talking loudly. Coal Dust stood near the door and scanned the cafeteria for a small brown stallion with golden hair. It took a moment to sort through the crowd, but he eventually found him at a table near the back of the room. “Gust Rainstorm?” asked Coal Dust, still a few feet away from the table. “Yessir, that’s me.” Gust still was somewhat distracted by his food and his friends. “Would you come with me please?” “Yeah, sure.” He stood up and bid farewell to his group, then rounded the table and followed Coal Dust over to a corner of the room. The same speech about the new schedule passed through the black Pegasus’s lips. Whereas Greenfield had been enthusiastic, Fire Chaser had been surprised, and Flash Point had been upset, Gust was calm. “Thank you, sir. I’ll see you at four.” Gust turned around and walked back to his table, leaving the other stallion with the anticipation of a reaction. It was mid-morning, and hunger was becoming a nuisance. Breakfast had been an unmitigated disaster, so going to eat lunch didn’t exactly sound appealing. Still, nature called, so after his meeting with Gust he went and joined the food line. To his surprise, lunch went off without a hitch. The food was at least decent and no embarrassing events took place. Afterwards, he was left with quite a bit of free time. Some stallions would have taken the opportunity to go off base, go gambling, go to the theatre, wrestle, or do some other recreational activity. With the type of luck he had been having, Coal Dust instead decided to go the safer route and just go back to his bunk and read. An astronomy book and a bottle of soda kept him company for much of the rest of the afternoon. He dozed off for a few minutes and got rewarded by a towel whip to the nose. A short and easy wrestling match with Blister later, he looked at the clock and realized that it was already time to head to the armory. With a groan, he put the book away and headed for what had become known as Nest’s Hidey-Hole. Naturally, he was the first one there. The armory was a sheet metal building, similar to the recruit station huts. It was, however, much shorter and had no windows lining the sides. Inside, shelves upon shelves of equipment lined the walls. They contained everything from armor to packs, weapons, such as knives, swords, and bows, to medical kits and everything in between. Each article was neatly stacked and organized according to type. A row of hanging lights ran down the center of the hut, providing at best mediocre lighting to the room. Coal Dust walked in and sat down on the table that lay in the middle of the room. After an already long day of mess-ups and sleep deprivation, he was ready to go back to bed. Maybe I could sleep through the rest of the winter. Wouldn’t that be nice? For a few minutes, he sat still on the table and rested his head in his hooves. He had almost drifted off to sleep when the door opened. Flash Point walked through the door with another unicorn. “I’ll see you later, bud,” said Flash to his friend. They bumped hooves and parted ways, Flash walking over to the still groggy Coal Dust. The other unicorn walked back out of the door. A rush of cool air accompanied his exit, followed by a slam. “Good afternoon, sir,” Flash Point said to Coal Dust, who jumped down from the table. “Yeah, sure.” The stallion still hadn’t fully regained his alertness. Flash Point shrugged, “Whatever.” He turned and walked down the row, grabbing two packs and throwing them onto the table. He stopped on the shelf that ran across the end of the hut. The door opened, and in trotted a much happier looking Fire Chaser. “Hey Dusty!” he yelled when he saw his friend. “Where have you been all day? I haven’t seen you since you ran out this morning.” “Oh, you know. Out and about, getting my story straight.” He looked frazzled, like he had just gotten through putting a hundred foals to bed. Coal Dust smiled, “So how did she take it?” “She was a little mad, but all in all, she took it pretty well. I was expecting her to cut my head off!” “I bet. So why did it take so long?” Fire Chaser grimaced, “Well, uh, you wouldn’t expect me to pass up on an opportunity to spend a day out on the town, would you?” “No, I guess not,” replied Coal Dust warily. A small red mark on Fire Chaser’s neck caught his eye, “What’s that little thing there on your neck?” The orange stallion’s pupils shrank to the size of pinheads, “What thing?” “It looks like a hickey to me…” “What hickey?!” demanded Fire Chaser. Coal Dust laughed, “Day out on the town, my hoof! You were getting a quick once-over, weren’t you?” Fire Chaser’s orange cheeks turned a bright shade of red, “Maybe I was, so what?” “Calm down, you’re only making this funnier!” Flash Point yelled from the back of the room. “Both of you can go kiss off!” yelled Fire Chaser. “Alright, don’t get sand under your saddle. We’re just giving you a hard time!” Flash Point chimed in from the back of the room, “Or was it you that gave her a hard time?” Fire Chaser just shook his head and walked to the other end of the hut. Both Coal Dust and Flash Point enjoyed a hearty laugh. “What’s going on in here?” asked a small brown stallion s he came in the door. “Oh, it’s nothing. Inside joke!” Flash Point answered quickly. Gust stepped in cautiously, followed by Greenfield. Coal Dust had recovered from the laughter enough now to speak, “Good, you’re all here. I need everyone down at the end of the building.” The four ponies went down to the end of the hut, where Flash Point was still chuckling to himself at his own joke. Coal Dust grabbed the envelope and emptied the contents out onto the table. Each stallion grabbed a sheet. Coal Dust began, “This is our patrol map…,” and launched into a detailed run through of the mission plan covering the layout of the mission, the route, objectives, and other details. Most of the soldiers didn't need this information, as most patrols were exactly the same routine, but the one greenhorn in the room called for a once over of the plans “...and that about sums it all up. Everypony good?” All four nodded. “Alright, then let’s go get our gear together.” He clapped his hooves, “Let’s go!” The five ponies assembled all of the necessary items they would need for the patrol. Snowshoes, goggles, extra food, first aid supplies, a few pieces of weaponry, and armor among other things. The armor wasn’t too extensive, just something that would help protect them from the elements more than anything. By the time they were finished, the sun was beginning to flirt with the horizon. The door opened once again, this time admitting a green stallion with a buzzed short gray mane. “Good evening, boys,” said Nest. All five ponies froze in place and saluted, “Ten hut!” “At ease.” All five ponies relaxed, “Now, you all are set to head out for evening patrol duty.” “Yes sir!” “And you all know the plans inside and out?” “Yes, sir!” replied all five ponies in unison. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go over them again for you?” All five ponies groaned mentally at the thought of having a Commander Nest style lecture, “Sir! No, sir!” “Good. I’m glad to know I’ve got good soldiers working with me.” He turned to the door, “Good luck, boys. I’ll see you in the morning! Carry on!” “Good night, sir!” The door closed. The ponies went back to their preparations. Flash Point began, “That was close! We almost had to sit through another lecture.” All five ponies breathed a sigh of relief. For the rest of the time, they worked in silence. When all were ready, they gathered at the door. Coal Dust looked at his squad, “Are you all ready to do this?” “Yeah!” yelled Greenfield, perhaps a bit too loud; Gust cringed and held a hoof over his ear. The rest nodded. “Alright then, let's go!” All five ponies fell into line, trotting through the door and out into the compound. A few other stallions gave a salute as the group passed. They passed the gate, which was already held open by the gatekeeper. A left turn would have taken them into the city, but they kept right, taking them past the last few outlying homes and towards the edge of the city. They passed under the gateway arch, took a deep breath, and plunged through the magic field that kept the Empire from being covered with snow. The magic left a warm sensation when they passed through it, running from their noses to the tips of their tails. The warmth passed quickly, replaced by deep cold in their hooves. The snow crunched under their hooves, coming up to about pastern depth. “Good thing we packed snowshoes!” exclaimed Greenfield. Each stallion pulled the set of snowshoes from their backs and fitted them to their hooves. As they put on their shoes, the earlier patrol appeared over a small hill. Six stallions, each caked with snow and ice, came trotting up to the five that were there. Coal Dust began, “Hey Apache! How’s the weather out there?” Apache, the leader of the patrol, answered, “There’s a good old fashioned blizzard coming in from the Changeling zone! It starts getting pretty bad up around the cabin, and it’s nearly whiteout all the way to the fence!” Coal Dust frowned, “Sounds fun! Oh well. Good seeing you, Apache!” “Good to see you too, Coal Dust. Good luck out there!” Coal Dust fitted his goggles over his face, “Thanks!” The two groups split, the earlier patrol entering the relative warmth of the shield while Coal Dust’s group walked away from it. The final glimpse of safety came when the last stallion ducked through the shield, and then they were alone again. They took one last look at the Empire and trotted on their way. The group didn't keep to any tight formations or any real structure. It was almost a stroll through the snow-packed tundra more than a patrol. As they went along, Coal Dust kept an eye on his compass and frequently checked the map to make sure they were on the right path. As they went along, a few light flakes of snow began falling. Not much at first, but it soon started picking up. “They weren’t kidding about the storm,” said Fire Chaser, breaking the silence. “They sure weren’t,” said Coal Dust. Gust joined the conversation, “Can’t the Changelings control their weather like we do?” Coal Dust, the only Pegasus in the group, had the greatest knowledge of weather. “I’m not sure. Everything they do over there is strange, and that includes weather. I think they just let it go wild and try to ignore what it does. Because they don’t control it, it often sends a lot of snow our way. It usually dies out before it gets too far into Equestria…” “Geez, sorry I asked,” interrupted Gust. “Fine. I’ll shut up,” replied Coal Dust. Silence again prevailed over the group. For the next hour, most of the walk passed without another word. It was pitch dark, snow was falling quite heavily, and the winds had greatly picked up from the time they left the Empire to when they came into view of the cabin. The two unicorns used light spells to see in the rapidly deteriorating conditions At first, it was only a faint glow through the storm, but it soon revealed itself from behind the curtain of snowfall. Coal Dust looked at Greenfield. “This is your first patrol, right?” “Yeah, why?” “Just watch out for the old coot that lives here. He can be a little bit crazy sometimes.” “Okay, I will!” The five ponies all grouped up on the porch of the small cabin. Coal Dust rapped on the door, sending an echoing knock through the small room on the other side. Some hoofsteps and a crash later, the door cracked open a hair. “Patrol?” asked a dry and scratchy voice. Coal Dust answered, “Patrol!” The voice behind the door cracked a little, “What’s the password?” Coal Dust rolled his eyes, “Gravy stew.” The door clicked shut, a bit of fidgeting occurred, and the door swung wide open. An old yellow stallion with a wooden pipe in his mouth stood in the open doorway. “How are you, Jackshot?”, asked Coal Dust. Jackshot smiled, “About like a sharecropper in a dry year, Dusty. My old bones aren’t putting up with this cold so well anymore!” The pipe swung precariously from his lips with each word, but never came too close to falling. “Isn’t that the way of the world?” “Let me tell you about it, son. Come on in for a minute and warm your hooves, yer gonna get frostbite!” The patrol went in to the cabin, each soldier breathing a sigh of relief after getting out of the cold. The old stallion plopped down in a chair while the soldiers gathered around the wood stove in the corner. Jackshot began, “I wasn’t expecting to see you until next Tuesday, Dusty. Come to think of it, Apache wasn’t due here until tomorrow. What’s the deal?” Coal Dust looked back at the old pony, “There’s been some new stuff coming out of the Changeling zone, so they want extra patrols to make sure that nothing’s going on.” “Well that’s the first I’ve heard of it! I swear that Nest is makin’ a point not to let me know things anymore.” “Well remember, your job isn’t exactly on the grid. We don’t have these stops on the official schedule.” “I guess so, but you’d think he’d send a note or at least have somepony tell me!” Coal Dust chuckled, “I do have a copy of the schedule with me if you want it.” Jackshot stood up, “You’re derned right I want it!” “I thought so.” Coal Dust backed out of the huddle around the stove, “Could you look at something for me?” “Sure, what is it?” Coal Dust took the map out, “They screwed up our planned path. They want us to go over the hogback.” “What are they, blasted fools?” The hogback was an infamously jagged ridge that ran from just west of the Empire up to the northwest. It laid just about two miles west of Jackshot’s outpost and continued up into Changeling territory. “Here, let me see it.” Jackshot took a quick glance at the map, “Yep, they done messed it up.” He pointed to a spot on the ridge just northwest of the cabin, “There’s a spot you can get through right about there. I’ve been through it myself a couple of times, so you can get through there. It may be a tight squeeze, though.” Coal Dust took a pencil and marked the pass, “Thanks. I owe you one.” “If I had a bit for every time I’ve heard that come out of your mouth…” “Yeah, yeah.” “Okay, back to what you said before. There’s news from the Changelings?” Coal Dust took a seat across from the old yellow earth pony, “They’ve got a new king.” “So? What’s that got to do with anything?” “Apparently he’s a radical. One of those who wants to take over Equestria, typical stuff.” “Even after that whoopin’ we gave those sorry love-thieves back in the first war?” Flash Point turned his head and opened his mouth to speak, but decided against correcting the old stallion. He instead nodded, “You wouldn’t think so. They must not be too bright.” Jackshot frowned, “I wouldn’t underestimate those little suckers. They can be pretty nasty, ‘specially when you get a group of ‘em on your tail!” Flash Point turned back to the stove before he would say something he would regret. The soldiers stood around the fire for a few more minutes while Coal Dust chatted with the old stallion. The conversation began to wind down, and Coal Dust stood up, “Well, it’s been good seeing you, but we had better get back on our way.” He looked at the huddled ponies around the fire, “Alright boys, time to go!” The soldiers groaned and made their way to the door. Each one murmured a goodbye to Jackshot. Before Coal Dust followed the others out, Jackshot pulled him aside. “Be careful out there. This storm is gonna be a big one!” Coal Dust was expecting something with a slightly deeper meaning and was caught slightly off guard. “I will. Watch out for yourself, old timer.” Jackshot smiled and slapped the black stallion on the shoulder, “Good luck.” Coal Dust smiled and stepped out onto the porch. The snow was whipping around the corner of the porch, spraying his face with white powder. He squinted and walked back out into the snow, which was becoming considerably deep. He waved to Jackshot one last time, looked at his team, and set out once again. The mission plan had called for the patrol to move past the outpost and go along the hogback to about halfway between the fence and the cabin, adding an additional ten or so miles to the walk. If they went quickly, they might be able to return by sunrise. The snowing had increased since the ponies had stopped; it would now qualify as a full-on blizzard. It drove its way through their pelts in the uncovered spots and down to their skin. The snow that made its way down to skin was quickly melted by body heat, chilling the stallions further. Each gust of wind sent the cold deeper into the stallion’s bodies. They walked silently again, heading towards the ridge that was hidden by the snow. As they walked, Fire Chaser noticed something. He moved up alongside Coal Dust and tapped his shoulder. “Do you see that?” Coal Dust whipped his head around, “See what?” “Shh.” Fire Chaser pointed his hoof and whispered, “Look left, ten o’ clock.” Coal Dust followed the hoof to the left. He squinted, peering as far into the storm as he could. Up on a small rise, only about a hundred yards away, was a group of what appeared to be small black ponies. “Kill that light, Flash Point.” The unicorn powered down his horn. Coal Dust continued watching the forms as they moved along the rise. Then he turned and whispered to the team, “Alright, game plan. Fire Chaser and I will move in to investigate. You three stay back a little ways and be ready to act. This could get ugly.” He turned to Fire Chaser, “Let’s go.” Coal Dust and Fire Chaser crouched low, almost to their bellies, and began to move toward the suspected targets. The other three waited a moment and followed a short distance behind. Up on the hill, the three forms trudged through the storm. The leader walked a short distance ahead of the others. The one behind him held a map, and a third followed along silently. The leader looked back at the map-holder,“There was ssupposed to be a cabin around here somewhere!” “Well, I’m doing my best to find the thing, cut me some slack!” yelled the map-holder. “Are you sure this was such a good idea - to invade in a blizzard?” asked the third form. The form holding the map looked back with annoyance, “Yes. Yes it is. Just think of all of the cover that this snow is giving us!” Watching intently from fifty feet away while laying flat on their bellies, Coal Dust and Fire Chaser listened to the conversation. While they couldn’t visually see what the forms were, the voices identified them as Changelings. Nest said they won’t go peacefully. I guess we have to engage... The thought of what was about to happen sent a different kind of shiver down Coal Dust’s spine. “We are engaging. Sneak around to the other side and we will attack at your go,” whispered Coal Dust. He tapped Fire Chaser’s shoulder, and the orange stallion began a wide loop around to the other side of the slowly moving group of Changelings. A few tense minutes passed, and the moment came. A low glow appeared on the other side of the group, and Coal Dust sprang from his spot on the ground and charged. The Changelings had turned toward the orange light from Fire Chaser, just as Coal Dust jumped at the leader and an orange beam cut through the map-holder’s chest. The leader spun around, only to be knocked flat by a heavy hoof that connected with his jaw. He reeled backwards, shook his head, and sprang forward onto Coal Dust. While the two group leaders struggled, the third member of the Changeling party took aim. His green charge built, but just before he had a chance to fire it, another orange beam impacted the side of his head. The green shot was sent straight into the ground when the Changeling’s head jerked forward, and he fell like a rag doll to the ground. In the ongoing fight, Coal Dust had quite a worthy adversary. Both lashed out, back and forth, on and on. However, the Changeling was just slightly less skilled in the art of hoof-to-hoof combat. As they wrestled around, every so often Coal Dust would deliver a heavy hit to his head. Teal-colored blood was running from his mouth and forehead. The fight was slowly turning in Coal Dust’s favor. The lead Changeling was growing less and less capable. His swings were softer and more badly placed. Finally, Coal Dust grabbed hold of one the forelegs when the leader tried to attack. Then, with complete control over his opponent, he quickly ended the fight. He drew his knife, and finished the Changeling with one swift jab. The sound of a knife being used in combat is often described as one of the most nauseating sounds known. The knife scraped against exoskeleton, giving a resounding ring; It lived up to the reputation. The changeling quickly went limp, signalling the end of the fight. With the deed done, Coal Dust stood up. A forlorn look was plastered across his normally kind face. Though the nausea never set in, it still took its toll. For some reason, a memory of his swingset from home played through his mind. Maybe it was temporary insanity, maybe it was a subconscious attempt to cope with having just killed the first thing in his life that was any bigger than a squirrel. Either way, the same happy memory continued flashing through his head. A tap on his shoulder broke the trance. He looked over at Fire Chaser, who was almost cowering next to him as if he expected a violent reaction. When the reaction didn’t come, he relaxed. “You okay?” Coal Dust sighed, “Yeah, I’m okay.” He looked down at the corpse at his hooves, then back to Fire Chaser. “Get the others up here.” Fire Chaser trotted off, and just a moment later returned with the three other stallions in tow. The reactions were quite varied among the other three. Greenfield leaned over and vomited when he saw the corpses. Flash Point frowned, “You got kills and I wasn’t he-oof!” Fire Chaser punched him in the ribs to shut him up. Gust was indifferent. He looked at the three Changeling corpses neutrally, almost coldly, then stood silently, watching Coal Dust. Coal Dust turned around and faced the rest of the group. A small trickle of blood was running from a cut on his forehead. “Remember what you saw here. Remember every detail so you can report it to Nest. Remember-” Gust’s eyes widened, “Oh hell, GET DOWN!” Before anypony could drop for cover, a green glow lit up the area like a flare and an explosion ripped through the air.