Polaris Wind, Frosty and Echo strolled up a brick path and arrived at a small rambler overlooking the desert from a bluff. Frosty rang the doorbell and an older mare soon answered the door.

She looked the trio over and said: “Number 2. And Windy. And Number 5!”

“S.” Replied Frosty.

“Are you hot?”

“Negative.”

“Nay!” Echo added.

“Come in!” Called S, opening the door wide.

Frosty was met with a creaking in the floorboards as she did so. A nearby glass marble rolled into the depression the supersoldier’s hoof was making.

“Small steps, dear.” Advised S.

The small house’s frame began rocking back and forth, causing knick-knacks on shelves to shift and dish china to rattle.

“Have a seat?” Invited S.

Frosty carefully lowered her rump onto the sofa, already straining its frame. Echo, however, was none the wiser and sat beside her. With a *CRACK* it yielded under their combined weight.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll get a new one.” Reassured S.

“How can you possibly grow that large?” PW wondered, bouncing up and down on the seat next to it and getting no ills from it.

“Mr. Wind, it is good to see you in an official capacity!” S addressed him, sitting down and opening her manilla file.

“Agreed, S. I am very grateful for becoming a part of the Night-Mare project once again. This time, with a more critical role!” Said a gleeful PW, getting seated.

He looked over at the collapsed sofa.

“With Frosty at 404 pounds and Echo at 357, that sofa is bearing 761 pounds of Night-Mare. No wonder it broke!” He calculated while Echo dumped a box of knives out onto the coffee table.

S got up and rinsed a washcloth under warm water and passed it to PW.

“You have something on your face dear.”

“Oh… yeah the bubblegum!” Remembered PW, turning towards Echo in a judgmental expression.

Echo began whistling as PW wiped the gum off.

“Since I brought you up, Mr. Wind – or, Windy… let’s debrief your mission. Did you have any direct involvement in any confirmed kills?”

“Me? No. Not directly.” PW shrugged.

“Good. Now, what was the number dispatched?” Asked S.

“Three in total.” Responded Frosty.

“How does that break out between you both?” S asked.

Frosty and Echo exchanged glances and retraced their steps.

“I had the fish thing, and the ferret… so, two for me.” Answered Frosty.

“Echo-sama got one. I took out the Racoon.” Answered Echo.

“Three in total?” Asked S.

“That’s right.” Reaffirmed Frosty.

“Captured?”

“Eleven. Six injured.”

“And escaped?”

“Zero. That we know of.” Answered PW.

“And Verko was captured alive?” S asked with a little more caution.

“That he was.” Responded Frosty.

“And the wagon’s destroyed?”

“Yup-yup!” Replied Echo.

“Any other contact worth mentioning?”

“We ran into Captain Celaeno. She provided recon as well as attracted Verko over.” Replied PW.

S frowned. “Did Celaeno ask you any questions about the classified material or attempt to get any classified information?”

“No.” Replied Windy.

“Did Celaeno behave in any way to suggest that she may have had an ulterior motive?”

“No actually, she was very friendly and openly supportive.” Responded PW.

“Did any important information come of your discussions?”

“Actually… she did mention some rogue band off the southeast coast, near Catoshima, that seemed to be causing trouble down there.” He offered.

“Catoshima’s gonna whoop him good!” Shouted Echo loudly.

“Interesting. And any other discussions?” S asked.

“Well I did discuss a few things on the fingers with Special Agent Sweetie Drops. She said tha– ” PW began to explain but was cut short.

“Yes, Windy. We’re aware.” S held a hoof to stop him. “In fact, we can proceed at this point to your next assignment. We’ve already arranged a meeting with the Lead Systems Design Engineer herself on the finger-hoof augments subsystem. We’d like for you, Echo, and Frosty to meet with the engineer to get a technical exchange going and uncover any potential hidden issues.”

“Did this come at Sweetie Drops’ recommendations?” Asked PW.

“Actually, this request came from management.” She said.

“Okay.”

“The meeting will take place in Norfilly, so you three get to go back home. At least for a little while.” Replied S, passing PW three train tickets.

“Your train for Canterlot leaves in an hour. Great job you three. Windy’s presence seems to be making things smoother. Anything to add?” She asked.

“We also seized narcotics. Methamphetamines and cocaine. We gave those to the convoy to dispose of.” Answered PW.

“Thanks Windy. Alright, you’ve got a train to catch!” Replied S.

The Night-Mares stood and the broken sofa responded by firing a loose spring into the air.

“Sorry about your sofa.” Frosty apologized as she went out the door.

“Not your fault. Bye now!” Called S.

“What kinda choo-choo we gonna get Windy-chan? A big Night-Mare train? Maybe a cute, small Windy-chan train?” Teased Echo as they walked down the street into town.

"I'm not a child, you don't need to hype me up." Moped PW.

“Oh…” Frosty sighed in relief at seeing the first car. “Thank goodness! It seems we have the Potomare lounge still in the station.”

PW reared up to see it over the road's incline.

“That’s a siding. Not in the station.” Corrected PW.

“Whatever.”

“We’re gonna travel in style!” Echo chirped.

When the team got to the small station, a teenage earth-pony colt rushed up to the group, alarming them.

“I know who you are… but, I know to keep it a secret!” He whispered. “Can I have your autographs?” He begged, holding a poster up to Snowheart.

“O-okay. What’s your name?” She asked, taking the pen in her fingers.

“Woah cool! I’m Desert Shield.” He replied, starstruck.

“Okay Desert Shield, nice to meet you.” Snowheart replied, passing the colt the autograph.

“‘To Desert Shield… size is measured in spirit – nothing more. Snowheart.’ Aww, you drew a heart!” Desert Shield exclaimed.

“Can I have yours too?” He asked Sweetsong.

“Yup-yup, Desert-Kun!” She replied, proceeding to cover the poster in hearts before passing it back. “‘Luv you Desert Shield, x-o-x-o’ and there’s hearts everywhere! ‘Sweetsong.’”

PW rolled his eyes as the colt started to turn away before abruptly facing him. “Oh, I didn’t get yours! Actually, I don’t remember hearing about any normal sized elite guards?”

“I’m new here. Anyways, I help them both out.”

“That’s so cool! Can I get your autograph too?” The colt asked. PW was suddenly surprised at the colt’s interest in his status.

“Yes, you may.” Responded PW, trying to hold back an intense grin of satisfaction. “To Desert Shield, chase your passion. You’ll never know the limits. - W.” Wrote PW, passing it back.

“Thanks mister! Cool ‘W!’ Keep us safe!” Cried the earth-pony, running off.

“Cool, W?” Asked Frosty.

“I drew the W in the shape of wings.”

“That is neat…” Frosty admitted, walking to the Potomare lounge and pulling the handle.

It snapped off and fell to the ground.

“Locked.” Frosty announced.

“Tiehoof? Are these the mares you were mentioning?” Shouted a nearby earth pony mare.

“I told you, the biggest mares you have ever seen!” Shouted a gruff reply from inside the stationhouse.

“Hello, hello!” The mare trotted over to unlock their door.

She looked down at the broken door handle.

“Funny… I feel like I would have noticed that earlier… let’s try the other door!” She called as PW snickered.

Snowheart quickly lashed her tail against PW’s rump, taking all his humor away and, for a brief moment, he became fearful, until Snowheart winked back at him. PW moved forward to whisper up to her.

“That really hurt!” Whispered PW.

“Don’t get me in trouble.” Snowheart whispered back.

“I’m sorry, ok?” Replied PW expectantly.

She sighed and responded by patting her forehoof on his neck.

“All good to go! You’ll feel a little bump when the train hooks up in a few minutes!” The mare called, pushing the door open.

“Thank you!” PW responded, passing the mare the tickets.

“Ooh, nice!” Exclaimed Echo, looking around the car. “You traveled this way down here?”

“That’s right.” Replied Frosty.

“But, food?”

“They bring the food in here. I hope they have a second dining car, actually. One of us is bad enough, but two? That’s over twenty pounds of food per day!” Realized Frosty.

“And, where do we sleep?” Asked Echo.

“The sofa pulls out into a bed.” She pointed. “Just make sure PW isn’t behind you when you do it. We almost had an accident. No joke!”

“Frosty…” Moaned PW.

“I’m looking out for you buddy!”

“I can do that myself too!” He rolled his eyes. “I know not to get behind you on a moving train.”

“Trying to get a look at Frosty’s big butt PW?” Teased Echo.

“NO! Stop saying things like that Echo! You’re going to get me in trouble!” PW complained.

Author's Note

Thanks to bkam for coming up with Desert Shield's name!