Previous Chapters
Close
Ch. 11,077 words
Ch. 21,344 words
Ch. 3811 words
Ch. 41,318 words

Ch. 4

A harsh wind whipped across the battlefield. It swept through barracks and barricades alike, across the backs of equines and over the blinding white dunes that separated them from their foe.

The separation dwindled as ochre mounds phased in and out of view from the command tent, gradually shrinking as they lumbered forth to meet the enemy.

There were still several minutes until the engagement began, still vectors to consider and account for. The zebra closed his eyes-

"Is that all of your unit then?"

"Yeah, he'll stay back in deployment."

-and felt the chill of the air rush over his face. He didn't have to look at the flag outside to tell what direction it would be facing.

"Zeal, our orders?"

"Prepare to fire."

At that moment, the dampened sound of arcane discordance erupted from across the battlefield. The unicorns, intruders upon the Taiga's path, must have detected the vanguard's presence.

A cascade of color poked through the haze as if a prism hung in the air. It poured over the open field, swallowing the earth ponies shrouded by the rolling drifts. Zeal had seen the damage a single spell could unleash, let alone so many in tande-

"They've got 2+ armor saves and you're hitting at -1 from the storm, Zaida."

"Oh, sorry."

A cascade of color poked through the haze as if a prism hung in the air. It was scattered across the field, and from the plumes of solid white filling the air, Zeal could tell that none were making solid contact with anything but snow. He smirked, thinking that it would hardly matter if they did. He knew just how resilient their armor was, and the strength of the ponies that bore it. It would take more than a few parlor tricks to hamper their assault.

Zeal stood and departed the command tent. A glance as he retrieved his pocket watch told him when to raise his hoof. A count of his heart's beats told him when to lower it.

The sequential retort of his subordinates' armaments that filled the air told him that this battle was already won.

"So, what did you think?" Pepperpot asked, returning the store's figures to their default arrangement for demo games.

Her opponent answered from across the table, "That was pretty fun, even if it ended rather quickly. Didn't you say you were going to go easy on me?"

"Well, it wasn't really your army."

"Hm, if you wish to play it that way then how about I start one?"

She smiled. "What suits your fancy?"

And so, half an hour later, they stood before the counter with a box and bundle of paints. Zaida had told her that he'd come back on his own time for the rest, but that this would be a good way to "kick things off."

She turned the package over in her hooves and inspected the frail frame of the deer depicted in the art. It was a command unit from the Grove, but a fairly obscure one for smaller armies. And he'd seemed to skip over all the other units she pointed out to him in their section...

"That'll be 38 bits, miss." The store owner barked, laying his claw on the counter palm up. Pepperpot reached into her bags and retrieved her purse. After a thump as the weight of the gold struck the counter, her ears were met with the owner's voice again, "Ah then, 32 bits."

She turned her coin purse on its side and counted out the figure the griffon had told her. "32?" She asked, ignoring the sound of the bag's insigne as it tapped against the counter.

"The boys lakeside told me 'bout you," he answered, accepting her coin, "wanted to make sure ye got your discount."

"How kind of them." She drew the strings to the purse and returned it to her bag. "Y'all just want to keep me coming back." she remarked, hoofing the package over to Zaida.

The griffon merely scooped the bits into the register and threw his claws into the air with a shrug and some sort of pained grimace. She'd worked with the creatures long enough to read it as a smile.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"Garnet."

"Pleasure to meet you Garnet. I like the Grove."

"I'll see what's on the slate for 'em."

"Good rok," she mused, turning to Zaida, "Shall we be off?"

He held the package to his chest and said "After you."

She'd explained some tips and tricks to him for assembling the models, little quality of life practices to keep from being frustrated. He'd smiled and nodded along with the conversation, only pausing to ask a question every once and a while.

It wasn't until some time later that she realized they'd both been trotting in the same direction. "Where are you headed?"

"I, uh, actually live up this way."

Pepperpot thought over what she knew of the city. It'd been a couple of years since she was last in the area. There hadn't been much of a residential presence in this district but it was nice to know they were expanding that, apparently. "Say, would you know if there is anywhere to eat near here?"

"There are a couple of nice places, yeah."

"Could you show me?"

"I can't."

"Oh." She could see the hotel named in her papers up ahead. She squinted her eyes as the waning light glared off a window. She couldn't tell if the frown was from that or his response.

"I've to get back and get ready for work," he explained, "besides, I think I can get this guy put together before then." He took a few steps, then stopped to face her as she stood on the street in front of her hotel.

"It's been fun," she replied, "but I should probably finish moving in."

"Goodnight, Pepperpot."

She gave a weak smile in return. "Goodnight Zaida." She walked towards the door, halfway there she heard him.

"I had fun tonight, see you around?"

"I did too." She opened the door and went inside. Her thoughts turned to the forms tucked away in her saddle.

Back to the grindstone.

The room was small and plain. Always the frugal masters, her work had spared many expenses in arranging her stay.

She, unlike several of her peers, didn't mind that fact too much. This hotel chain usually served waffles in the lobby every morning, so there was that to look forward to.

Her saddlebags were discarded, carefully, just inside the door. She walked past the pony-sized crate at the foot of the bed and entered the bathroom.

A bundle of commodities rested in the sink, probably delivered along with the crate, just as she'd requested. In a minute, she had taken out her braid and combed her mane to the side. There wasn't any point putting the gel in just yet, so she returned to her bags to grab the folder.

Just as she suspected, it was the same as always. Problems with inventory management, shift scheduling, safety violations, she sighed as she sat cross-legged on the bed. Her reading ceased before the personel files. Why did they even include these? The handbook didn't even let her talk to half of their positions back home.

Pepperpot closed the folder and slid off the bed to face the crate. Her speech was coming up, just before sunset as per her orders.

The courtyard faced west, so it was either looking at the princess' sun for an hour, standing in it at high noon wearing an oven, or waking up in the morning and she knew that was impossible. So dusk it was.

Besides, it was the best time to set in her authority. She instinctively grinned as she unclasped the lid to the crate and flung it open.

Before her rested the purple trimmed armor of an EUP officer.

64 views

Previous Chapters