I - Eskimo

     The chill of the arctic, the same below zero chill that repels most ponies like south to south magnets.  Yet for one pony in particular, it was home.  In the hard snow, with the wind that  threatened to instantly freeze one’s muzzle off, a pony trotted along the plain.  It was 45 below, yet the pony gave no shiver.  Perhaps it was because she held strong to her warm coat, or maybe it was because she had lived in the cold most of her days.

    For Ice Breaker, it was everyday life.  She was used to living out in the cold; looking, watching.  Going hungry was part of life, just as going hungry was the biggest threat to life.  Forget the cold; anypony could survive in the cold for a time.  The real danger was not knowing where to look for nourishment.  It was probably why Celestia had sent a colony of earth ponies out here, because the unicorns could only handle so much.  Not because they were weak, but because they were naturally attracted by comfort.  The pegasi had their own agenda as to what they were willing to do.

    There were still unicorn and pegasi families in the group.  It was just the factor that most of her colony was made up of earth ponies.  Simply because of an earthpony's factor of survival; the ability to find food just by being in contact to the ground.  Every now and then, a group of earth ponies would go out on a hunt and dig in the snow until the ground was reached, and there they would sense for food.  Effective as it was, it still kept to a daily chore.

    Though Ice was the chief of her beloved colony, it still was in her hoofs to assist in this matter.     Time had hardly given her enough time to learn the skills needed to survive, but she also had to master leading a group.  Her parents, in an expedition, just disappeared.  It was sudden, with no warning.  A topic that Ice found herself wanting to avoid at all cost.

    Ice stopped, closing her eyes feeling the magic within her pulse to sense the ground far below.  It felt like hours with her standing there, but her crew waited patiently all the same.

    Standing there, feeling, sensing, watching,  Ice would occasionally brush her hoof in the snow. What she was doing was rare.  A regular earth pony to sense like this would have to be touching the ground, but for Ice, this was her ground.  It was probably the largest reason why she was out there, to help make it so her crew did not have to dig for ground every sight.  Ice smiled as she came back to reality.  The ground below her was ripe, and ready to be harvested.

    "OK, boys.  This is our camp today.  I want you three to go and spread 30 yards in each direction.  There is enough food here to last us a few weeks."

    With shouts of respect and acknowledgment, her crew started their work.  Ice smiled as her bundled team dug into the snow, raising the canopies and tents.  Digging into the ground and singing a song that could be heard through all the land.  Sleds were parked nearby, ready to pick up and store the winter delicacies hidden below.

    Ice wanting to sing along with the crew, decided it best not to.  Not because she was not feeling like it, more to it actually, it was because she felt her voice would ruin the combined symphony of voices that rang over the mountains.  So Ice made her way over to the directors tent, and went in.  She had some thoughts to ponder.

    Sitting down at her desk, she began to fill out her journal.

~~~

Cake 1st  1,003 AM, 08:00

When I woke up this morning, I would of never thought that a jackpot would have existed.  Yet when we went out scavenging for food, there it was.  The largest pool of food I have ever found!  The stock there could be so great, we could be fed for weeks!  As such I might move the rest of the colony here, that way we won't have to trek so far just to keep each other alive.  Having learned from my last failed coup, the colony will be moved over here.

~~~

    Before Ice could continue her entry, from above she heard a strong flapping of wings.  Smiling, Ice got up and went outside

"Sup Breaker," was all that greeted her as she exited her tent.  Ice looked before her and saw the majestic and the most brutally honest griffon she had ever known.

    Giving out a scuff, Ice replied coldly, as was her nature "Well, if you must ask, we won't be starving for a long time, for we just found the largest resource of food."

    The two friends stared into each others eyes, waiting for one or the other to make the first move.  Their reunion was cut short as another pony interrupted their no-longer imminent competition.

***

"Miss Breaker, we have news from camp-"  a bundled up pony started as he rounded the corner to witness a rather amusing seen before him. If it were not for the intimidating participants, he would of chuckled and commented.  But due to who the subjects were, he found it best to keep his mouth closed.

    Both the pony and the griffon turned their attention to the stallion.  "What is it Blue?  Speak up," said Ice in her usual commanding tone.  Blue Bell was probably one of the most talented unicorns she knew, yet sometimes he could be a bit of a ditz.  That was enlivenment however, because any message sent to him, probably meant it was urgent.

"Um, er, right."  Blue muttered, standing to attention, "Message from the Colony!" With the announcement complete, his magic pulled a scroll out of his overcoat, and levitated it before his boss.  Opening the scroll before her, Blue watched as the earth pony read.

    The expression on Ice's face was at first stern, but as he watched her eyes move down the page, her features more changed to the look of worry.  Once Ice had finished reading, her voice shaking with worry, she began to bark out orders.

"Gilda, go back to the Colony ASAP, they need Back up immediately!  Prepare yourself for a fight. I don't know what it is, but something funky is going on there, and I don't think it’s friendly!" barked the Chief.  "I'll go inform the crew, and see who I can bring with me!"

    Gilda, usually one to make bold remarks, questioned nothing that was given to her.  No, Gilda instantly took off to the sky and headed south to where the colony was camped.

Ice then turned her attention to the Stallion holding the letter, "Blue, I want you to go and gather volunteers from the team, I need about 15 ponies willing to head back to the Colony STAT!"  Upon her last word, the stallion was gone.  Ice stood there as she watched the letter float to the ground.

~~~

To the Chief,

I would not be writing to you if I felt this unimportant, but over the last few days, my worries have grown.  Starting soon after you left, we had been receiving reports of ponies vanishing without a trace.  My personal speculation was that they were going back to Equestria because of loosing all tolerance for this line of work.  However, what started as just a few ponies going on a mission, has grown exponentially in just 4 hours.  I don't know what is going on, but Glue Gut is gone, and we can't find Revite Bourne anywhere.  I am going to call this condition black, and request your Immediate back up.  What is going on here is far more serious than just ponies getting home sick.

~Signed~

~Skate Park~