Tiberian Frontier

The Zone Troopers grumbled amongst each other as they trudged through the snow

“We’re in the ass end of nowhere, and Vega has us scouting for signs of locals!” complained the one on the right “This is complete horseshit, who the fuck would live here!?”

“Calm down Morales,” The trooper in the middle replied, "besides people still live in Greenland."

“That’s only because it’s a blue zone.” Morales shot back. "Even Ti-rock has the sense to stay out of there."

“You realize the orders to scout actually came from the Commander right?” the left trooper reminded them.

“Yeah but he didn’t say we were the ones that had to do it.”

“Hey, those look like railroad tracks.” Center said, pointing into the distance.

“We haven’t used wooden ties in years, more evidence of no Tiberium contamination.” Firestorm’s voice broke in, causing the troopers to jump.

“Um, sir?” Left started nervously “How long have you been listening?”

“Oh I just decided to listen in on the scout teams; I wouldn’t want to miss anything important. Personally I think Captain Vega carried out my orders quite well. Major Hodges, what do you have to report?”

“Sir, we've found some railroad tracks and what appears to be a station roughly 400 meters from our outpost. We are currently awaiting reports from the rest of the scouting teams.”

“Good, you make excellent scouts. I’ll make sure to recommend you for more missions.”

“MOTHERFU-“Morales started

“Thank you sir!" Left interrupted

there was a palpable silence before Firestorm could be heard chuckling

“Could you warn me before you piss off the Commander?”Left whined

“Could you warn me before you try to brown-nose the Commander!?”

“Morales! Poole! Shut up and get your asses headed back, you can have your slapfight later.” Hodges interrupted

Firestorm had already left those three to their bickering, he simply listened and let the tone of their voices alone tell him if anything was going wrong. Moving on to the other team's visual feed he was confronted with quite the strange sight.

"Private, can you tell me what exactly I'm looking at?"

"It appears to be a city sir."

“Could you see the inhabitants?”

“Yes sir, they all seemed vaguely horse-like.”

“The term you’re looking for is equine.”

“Sir, all of the structures appear to be made of some kind of crystal.”

“EVA, I thought you said you couldn't detect any Tiberium?”

“These crystals are not giving off any known form of radiation commander, and do not display the growth patterns of Tiberium.”

“Hm, alright. Have any of the locals seen you?”

“We’ve gotten a few curious glances our way, but they didn’t seem too bothered.”

“If you define running inside the nearest shelter as not too bothered.”

“Nobody’s shot at us”

“Fair point, go ahead and head back. We’ve built a Hammerhead for some early warning and it looks like there’s a snowstorm headed your way.”

“Yes sir, should we be worried?”

“It’s a snowstorm, not an ion storm.”

The train’s brakes hissed loudly as it came to a stop at the station, and five brightly colored ponies stepped onto the platform. A particular lavender unicorn seemed remarkably giddy as she exited the train; however her mood paled in comparison to the hyperactive pink bundle of pent-up energy that bounced cheerfully after her.

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