The Republic of Equestria: The Rise of a New Nation

"It's about bloody time you woke up!" said Dark Star as Shadow rose from his slumber.

"What?" asked Shadow sleepily. A cold substance coming into contact with his hoof immediately woke him up... and made him jump. "What the fuck?! It's not even December yet!" exclaimed Shadow.

"Which is exactly why we need to get moving. If the first snow is this early, you can bet your ass that the snow storms are gonna come early as well," said Beast.

Shadow breathed deeply and said, "Where would we go? The closest settlement would be Ponyville, but that's still miles away. By the time we got there, we'd be either dead or on the brink."

"Then we don't stop. No breaks, no sleep, nothing. We move constantly," said Dark Star.

"Then the cold will take advantage of our exhaustion and kill us even faster!" exclaimed Shadow, his voice raising.

"It's the only choice we have! If we stop at all, that's less time we have to get to safety," said Dark Star.

As they were arguing, Beast and Nimble were looking at a map of Equestria that they had brought with them.

"We're here," said Nimble, pointing to a forested region south of Vanhoover.

"Ponyville is here," said Beast, pointing to where Ponyville was on the map. He sighed. "I don't think we'll get far enough away for the storm to miss us. Best case scenario, we get caught in the outskirts of the storm and get to Ponyville before any real storms set in."

After looking over the map one more time, he walked over where Shadow Flight and Dark Star were still arguing. They had been arguing for the past half hour, and still didn't have a plan.

"Hey, you two!" Beast yelled. The two stallions stopped arguing and turned to look at Beast. Before they could say anything, Beast said, "Come on, I have a plan." The two friends looked at each other, shrugged, and walked over to him.

"What is it, Beast?" asked Dark Star.

"We are here, in this small forested region, miles away from any civilization. The area is already under a fairly thick blanket of snow, and more is falling as we speak. This only going to get worse," said Beast.

"Beast, we already know all this. What is this so-called "plan" of yours?" asked Shadow.

"We head south," said Beast.

The other stallions looked at each other nervously.

"What? Is there something wrong with this plan?"

"That area is swarming with griffins. We wouldn't get very far without getting arrested or shot," said Shadow.

"And besides, the storms start in the west, particularly the northwest. If we head east then south, we will avoid any large amounts of griffin soldiers," suggested Dark Star.

"Storms also come from The Frozen North, which blanket northern Equestria in a thick blanket of snow," said Beast.

"Well which would you prefer: imprisonment or snow?" asked Shadow.

Beast didn't answer. Nimble spoke up. "I would prefer the cold to imprisonment, personally."

Beast looked over at his brother. He sighed. After another couple minutes of thinking, he nodded in agreement. "Let's go with your plan," he said. Shadow and Dark Star sighed in relief. They then began to plan their route through northern Equestria.

"First, we travel to Galloping Gorge. From there, we go southeast to the Unicorn Range. We climb over the range, and head directly towards Ponyville," said Dark Star.

"Sounds good," said Shadow. "Any objections?" Beast and Nimble shook their heads. "Good. Then we start moving immediately."

"What!?" exclaimed Beast. "We need to at least rest!"

"No. If we wait, we'll get caught in the storm. We have to move now if we want to stay ahead of it," explained Dark Star.

"Beast, they're right. If we wait, we may not have the energy to escape the storm," said Nimble. "We have to leave now."

Beast was still hesitant, but he finally agreed. Immediately afterward, they left for Galloping Gorge. As they left, they didn't notice the mysterious pony watching them from a distance.

"So, they have decided to head east," said the pony. "I had hoped that they would have chosen that path."

"Sir, wouldn't it just be easier to escort them personally?" said another pony.

"Those are not our orders. Our orders are to follow them, watch them, and make sure they get to Ponyville safely. We cannot intervene directly, nor can we give away our presence. If we do, it could risk our whole operation."

"Right. I simply thought that it would be easier to let ourselves be known."

"Perhaps it would be. But the easiest way is not always the best or the wisest." He watched as the four friends walked into the distance. "Now, lets make sure the make it to their destination."