Few pegasi flew about the clouded compound. With Commander Hurricane gone, most of the soldiers had decided to take it easy for a day. Normally they wouldn't, but today many had decided that they could afford a day off especially considering how the overall energy and physical health of some of them were.
Private Pansy flew toward a military hospital building on a separate cloud, inside of which a few pegasus nurses treated treated the sick and cold pegasi soldiers that nearly filled up all the beds. Pansy passed through the halls, checking on the patients. She knocked on one of the doors that had been propped open. Inside this particular room, a nurse was attending to a patient that was currently sleeping. His body showed early signs of being malnourished, and had thick bags under his eyes. His armor rested on a mannequin, waiting for its owner to be well enough to wear it again. Part of the plume of his helmet was thinner than the rest. Pansy didn't know what had happened to the plume to make it look that way, but she did know that the sleeping private would receive some choice words from the commander for it being out of uniform.
"Excuse me," the yellow pegasus asked the nurse, who had looked up from her notes when she head the knock. "Is there any way I can help?"
"Not here," she quickly replied.
"Oh, okay." Pansy turned away from her, facing the door, but paused when she felt a hoof on her back.
"I didn't mean it to sound that way. What I meant was that this patient is stable. Why not check the hypothermia and frostbite unit? It was pretty busy last time I checked."
Pansy thanked the nurse and made her way down toward the other unit. When she approached, she saw a lot of pegasi with their hooves in hot water, wrapped in blankets, or in other ways of staying warm. Several nurses buzzed around, attending to more patients than they were used to. She approached one of the nurses and asked how she could help.
"We could've used some extra hooves earlier. Things have just started to slow down." This nurse did not apologize for her rudeness the way the first had.
Pansy stood there for a moment, hoping the nurse would continue, or tell her what to do, or something. Instead, it seemed like the nurse was ignoring her. Pansy turned away, and asked a nearby patient if he needed anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pansy smiled, resting on a small cloud after helping all the ponies she was able to in the hospital. Suddenly there was a streak of blue as Commander Hurricane sped by, startling Pansy, and he landed in a crouched position on the steps of the administration building. He straightened up and turned around, seeing the bright yellow mare on the gray cloud, who had hidden behind some of the cloud.
"Atten-tion!"
Pansy straightened up and saluted. "Oh, Commander Hurricane! Sir. Welcome back."
"At ease." Private Pansy fluttered down to the base of the steps. "Follow me, Private."
"Yes, Sir."
He turned around, not checking to make sure she was following him. After all, he was her superior officer; she was obligated to follow his orders.
Pansy climbed the steps, following behind him. They passed through the halls in silence until they reached his office. Once in, she stood in front of his desk as usual. He turned around to face her. There was silence for a moment.
"Well?" She looked up at him, puzzled. Hurricane cocked an eyebrow. "Aren't you curious about how it went?"
"Oh, of course. How did it go, Sir?"
"Horribly!" he replied, stamping his front hoof on the desk. "Those other tribes are so disrespectful!"
"I'm sure you don't really mean that, Sir. Smart Cookie and Clover the Clever were very respectful when we met last week, Sir."
"I'm sure they were, but the other ponies watching the summit and their leaders certainly weren't. Sure, we started peacefully enough, but it wasn't even twenty minutes later they'd both shown their true colors. Don't they realize that we're a mighty tribe of warriors and should not be crossed?" Pansy started to reply, but Hurricane didn't notice and continue. "We've got to break rank with those weak foals!"
"Break rank, Sir?"
"In times of war, going against an enemy head-on doesn't always work. We can practice drills and techniques until they're perfect, but if the enemy refuses to acknowledge the rules of engagement, then none of that matters. Well, it still matters. Just less so. In such cases, it is advisable to part with procedure until a time comes when we have the tactical advantage."
"Does that mean we'll be going to war with the unicorns and the earth ponies?"
"I wouldn't have made you my adviser if at my age I still wanted to go to war at the drop of a hat. No, Private Pansy, we just need to go somewhere where there will be no need to go to war."
"Where would that be, Sir?"
Commander Hurricane smiled. "It's a simple solution, really, although the execution has the potential to be dangerous or exhausting. We go find a new land where the other tribes aren't."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Open the gate!" called out Princess Platinum to the two guards. "And so help me, Red Tape, if you try to keep me out again, you'll pray to Monokere to keep me at bay!"
"Just do what she says, Red Tape," said the other guard as he started opening the gate without his partner. "The King and his daughter are exempt from the new policy, since they're the ones who seal the letters anyway. Besides, you know that not even Monokeros says no to his wife."
By the time Princess Platinum reached the gates, they had been opened with plenty of room for her and her robes, which billowed behind her as she ran. The castle's doors opened, and the princess made her way inside.
"Clover! Clover?" she called down the halls, populated by the unicorns who worked at the castle and some of the kingdom's subjects. "Has anypony seen Clover the Clever? I need her!"
Twilight's ears perked up, turning toward the sudden commotion. The library was much smaller than the one at Canterlot, of course, and although it was about the same size as the Golden Oak had once been, there were several times more books due to the presences of proper shelves, rather than hollowed out sections of the tree's trunk. Twilight had read some of the books in King Bullion's library before when she'd browsed the shelves of the Canterlot Library, but most of the books she was reading she had never heard of before, many of which having been lost over the millennium between now and then.
She saved her place in the book she was reading, and stood up. She hurried toward the uproar, soon seeing the princess surrounded by the other unicorns in the halls.
"Has anypony seen Clover the Clever? I need her!"
"Excuse me. Sorry. Pardon me. What is it, Your Highness?"
"To my quarters, Clover. We need to talk about the summit."
They entered Platinum's chambers, where the princess lay on her side on a cushion near the wall.
"Could you be a darling and help clean me up? I made the mistake of galloping most of the way here, and I am exhausted." Twilight only nodded, levitated a brush over as she removed the princess's crown, and started brushing the disheveled mane. She also started filling a small wooden tub with water from the princess's tub and started heating it up for her hooves.
If life is a play and the world its stage, then nearly every line, nearly every blocking, is improvised. Nopony was supposed to know their cues, or what elements of the plot were to happen next. It was what made watching a performance on a stage enjoyable; though the audience usually didn't know what was going to happen, they knew the actors knew, and had practiced for weeks. The thrill of life is that you can be prepared for almost anything, but you could still find yourself not knowing your lines or the key plot elements.
Twilight knew the plot of this play, and she knew her lines.
"Did the other pony tribes see reason as I predicted?"
The grey princess scoffed. "Hardly. Those other tribes are impossible to reason with! I, for one, can no longer bear to be anywhere near those lowly creatures. The unicorns are noble and majestic. We will no longer consort with the likes of them!"
With the tub full of warm water, Twilight levitated it over, setting it before the unicorn. Platinum stamped her forelegs in the warm water, splashing some of it out and onto Twilight's muzzle. She wiped her wet fur with her foreleg and sighed.
"Okay, breathe." They both held their hooves to their chests, inhaling slowly, then just as slowly exhaled, extending their hooves. "Now, start at the beginning. What happened at the summit?"
Platinum sighed. "I really wish I hadn't been there alone. Still, what's done is done. Things started well enough. I was chosen to start, and I did as you said. I stated only what was truly known, with no speculation. That part went well."
"And then?"
"The three of us remained calm for a short time, but then things quickly got out of hoof. Commander Hurricane accused the earth ponies of hoarding food, she accused the pegasi of causing the snow, and he responded by accusing us unicorns of causing the snow with our, and I quote, 'freaky magic'! It was so infuriating to be accused in such rude terms that I lost some of my composure. Needless to say, it quickly got out of hoof. Diplomacy has failed, and now I don't know what to do."
"Would you like my advice?"
"Please."
"Any military action is out of the question. The pegasi already have that in their favor, and the earth ponies are very strong and sturdy. There are other options we could try, too. We could have another summit, but this time the leaders' advisers could join and help maintain a calm environment."
"Ugh. Not another summit so soon."
"I thought you might say that. In that case, there's only one option that's practical. You father actually mentioned it a few weeks ago."
"He did?"
"Mhm. If you recall, he suggested that if peace couldn't be found, the unicorns may have to leave the pegasi and the earth ponies behind in order for the unicorns to survive without this strange winter."
"I do recall now. He also said that the nation wasn't the country's borders, but the unicorns themselves."
"Exactly."
Platinum smiled. "Thank you, Clover. Talking with you has filled me with determination! We shall find a new land to call home!"
Twilight knew the plot of this play, and she knew her lines. And yet, as prepared for this role as she was, there was still a great deal of improvisation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Smart Cookie faced the door, but heard a thud behind her. Turning around, she saw a dissipating cloud of ash and the chancellor lying on the floor, covered in soot.
"Thinkin' inside the chimney again, Chancellor?"
"You know it, Smart Cookie!"
The tan mare went into the other room and returned with a towel around her shoulders. She took it in her mouth and tossed it to her friend. "You've got some soot all over you again."
"Thanks."
"So how did the summit go?"
Puddinghead sighed. "Not well. At first it was kind of fun, though. I entered with a kazoo fanfare!"
Smart Cookie chuckled. "Of course you did."
"Yeah, gooood times," she said with a smile and a far-off look. It wasn't long, however, until her eyes refocused and a sad expression filled her muzzle. "But then things got mean. Oh, speaking of which, don't call me Chancellor Pinhead again. That unicorn princess ruined it!"
"Aw, so the other tribes didn't come around? Shoot. I really thought we could get through to 'em if we--"
The chancellor put her hoof to her friend's mouth. "Shh, shh. Let's not worry about them, Cookie."
Suddenly a low growl rolled through the Chancellor's Mansion. Smart Cooki looked out the window.
"What the hay was that?"
"Just my stomach. I didn't eat before walking all the way back here. We still have food left, right?"
"Well, yes, but it's nearly all gone."
The two sat at the table, eating what was left of the food in the mansion in silence. Puddinghead ate slowly, deep in thought. Smart Cookie watched her, waiting for the gears of Puddinghead's mind to finish cranking. The white mare's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Cookie, hold onto your hooves. I'm about to be brilliant! It's in there somewhere. Somewhere... come out of there!"
I can see you being smart, thought Smart Cookie. Lucky a lot, smart quite a bit, but brilliant would be a first.
"It's simple. We just have to go somewhere new where we can actually grow some food without the other tribes to bother us! And with me as our fearless leader, what could possibly go wrong?" Puddinghead left her food on the table, trotting into the foyer, opening the door. The mansion had been built with little thought to how the wind would flow around it. As a result, it just so happened that the wind had blown plenty of snow against the door, causing it to be much higher than was outside the windows. When the door opened, and the snow's support vanished, much of it fell onto the waiting chancellor.
Smart Cookie started clearing the snow away from the door so it wouldn't block it from closing. That's one.
Puddinghead's hoof shot up through the snow. "Onward to the new land!"