Everything had happened so quickly after the world went dark for Comet, one moment he was on Drill’s back ready to go home, the next he was underground in pitch blackness with a bag over his head.

Then he heard gunshots, screaming and lost track of time.

From what little he could gather, he was sitting down on the floor somewhere with his hooves bound, he heard an engine running, felt the world vibrating all around him and sensed some kind of force pressing against him, the same kind whenever Drill slowed down.

Was he moving? Instinct leaned on yes.

The bag over his head was suddenly pulled off and he shut his eyes, briefly blinded by the light. When he came to, there were three Diamond Dogs standing around all looking at him.

A big one on the right, a shorter leaner one on the left, and something in between in the middle. He looked to be the one in charge and stared at him with an evil smirk.

“Good evenin’ kid, any idea why yer here?” Kade asked.

Comet looked at the dog unamused. “Well let’s see, I’m tied up, you hurt Mr. Drill Bit and we’re travelling somewhere. I’m going to take a wild guess and say you foalnapped me.”

“Smart kid, kinda thought a colt like yourself would’ve been more scared in this situation.”

“Last week my wing was torn off by a machine that would’ve crushed me like a soda can. A few days ago I was almost splattered like a stream of tomato sauce and yesterday I nearly burned a Hothouse down.”

The room went dead quiet, all three dogs sharing mixed expressions of shock and even a little horror.

“The scariest thing about you is the way your breath smells. So why don’t you just let me go and we can call it a day?”

Both Scout and Kade stared at the kid with partial shock and annoyance. Terry meanwhile blew into his hand and sniffed, gagging briefly.

Kade sighed and met the colt’s gaze. “That’s not how this is gonna work kid, see we’re conducting a lil’ business and you? You’re our meal ticket.”

“Yeah and when the guards catch up you’ll be sorry. Bad guys always lose.” Comet said with firm confidence, only for the dogs to smirk.

“Oh you idiot,” Kade laughed, “See where we’re going, New Canterlot ain’t gonna find us, cus we’re not going to Dogtown.”

For the first time that conversation, Comet felt a tinge of fear and his eyes widened. Sensing that fear Kade continued.

“And even if yer pa did find us, I ain’t like the two mutts behind me.” He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder. “See where those two were forced to join the army and got rushed in because of it, I didn’t, I learned how to fight…”

“Oh no…” Comet thought. “He’s one of those bad guys.”

“So you’d better hope me and ya pa don’t meet, cus if we do.” He then slung forward what could be crudely described as a gun. An arrangement of cut and re-welded piping with a large rivet and spring for its cocking handle, and a bulky drum fitted just in front of the trigger.

“I’m gonna smoke him.”

Drill held onto the rattling frame of the Steamsled, the roaring of its engine like a chainsaw drowning out the howling winds. Their equipment repeatedly hit the hull with larger items, like Smoke’s bolt-action rifle, swaying in the wind. Smoke Stack likewise drove to the best of his ability given how little either of them could see.

The Steam Hauler had thankfully left faint, but visible tracks in the snow they were following. Even so, Drill still had his doubts.

“How are we going to catch up to them though? They only have a couple cars and Steam Haulers have powerful engines!” He had to raise his voice to near shouting just to be heard, further muffled by the mask.

“If they have any lick of sense they’d be driving slowly in a storm like this. Either that or Diamidians really are as dumb as I’ve heard. One large rock and the whole thing gets thrown onto its side.”

The thought sent a shudder through Drill’s body and he tightened his grip. “We can only hope.”

Several minutes passed as the two travelled through the snow, kicking up plumes of white behind them. All the while Drill’s nerves were racked with stimuli.

He couldn’t let it distract him, he would not let it distract him. He’d lost many chances to let this one slip.

Somewhere off in the darkness, he saw a dim light. One that threatened to be swallowed whole by the storm and in that moment Drill was struck by an odd sense of deja vu.

No, he wouldn’t let it happen again.

“There! I think I can see the Hauler!” He pointed with a hoof.

Smoke turned up the throttle and little but little, the light began to shine. Brighter and larger as it pierced its way through the heavy weather. Until eventually the two began to make out the shape of the rear most boxcar.

“Good eyes, Drill! I’ll pull us up to the side and hopefully they won’t spot us, won’t be long now!”

“Good! Poor Comet, I can’t imagine how scared he must be.”

“THIS IS THE SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYPONY’S NERVES, EVERYPONY’S NERVES! THIS IS THE SONG THAT GETS ON EVERYPONY’S NERVES, AND IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS!”

All three diamond dogs howled and whined with their hands over their ears as Comet’s voice wreaked havoc on their senses.

“Boss! Make small pony stop!” Terry moaned, his massive paws unable to block out the singing.

“Do we have anything to shut him up?! What about your belt?” Scout shouted.

“I am NOT giving you my belt!”

Smoke pulled up next to the boxcar behind the locomotive and maintained speed. “We gotta stop the hauler somehow, or this could get ugly real quick!”

“Have any ideas? I’m just a single earth pony and there’s three of them in there!”

“Why do you think I asked you? I need to make sure I don’t crash this thing!”

Drill looked at the Hauler with a scowl. If his prior experience taught him anything it was not to underestimate the Diamidians. All it would take is one well aimed shot or a single knockout blow and he was as good as dead. So trying to stop the engine from the inside was a fantasy at best.

“What about the outside?”

He scanned the locomotive’s exterior for anything to exploit. Drill wasn’t an engineer by any means, but anypony with a brain knew jamming up the wheels for any vehicle was bad. He pulled up his saddlebag and saw several items inside.

A compass, firestricker, first aid kit, tinned rations…

A Cooling Crystal

“Bingo.”

Drill withdrew the enchanted ice shard and turned to the Hauler’s wheels. “Could work, but stopping the wheels on this side alone this fast would cause a crash. I can’t risk Comet’s safety like that.”

Quickly his mind went over all he knew of the situation and what actions he could take.

“What if I put the engine out? That’d kill the Hauler’s speed but if it detonates the boiler it’ll tear Comet apart.” Drill groaned in frustration and turned back to Smoke.

“Hey! How well armoured is the locomotive compartment? I’ve got an idea but it’s a risky one!”

“Uh…well that depends, if it’s one of the first Haulers the city made then not very, but after having to deal with Diamidia they up armoured the whole thing. Why?”

“Do you see the Hauler’s exhaust funnel? I’m thinking of flash freezing the engine, but I need to assess the risk!”

Smoke turned to him and saw the Cooling Crystal tucked under his arm, then he looked to the locomotive for a time before shaking his head.

“I can’t tell, it’s a bad idea Drill you’d be flipping a coin!”

“Well I’m all out of good ones! So unless you wanna pitch in!”

Smoke shook his head and grasped the crystal with a thick coating of magic. “You sure you wanna try this?”

Drill hesitated, taking second glances at the Hauler and trying to wrack his brain for another idea. But he was coming up short.

They didn’t have time for this. Their suits could only protect them for so long in these conditions.

With his consciousness screaming and his limbs stiff, he conceded. “No, but I don't have much choice. Do it!”

Smoke nodded and ducked his head low, Drill mimicking him. The sled sped up and pulled close to the locomotive and Drill was nervous about being seen, any moment that window could open and they’d both get shot full of holes but…that didn’t happen.

They couldn’t see what was going on through the blacked out windows nor could they hear anything over the rumbling engines. But if the Diamidians were aware of them they didn’t respond.

Not wanting to waste time, Smoke steadied the sled and readied the crystal. He looked up to the exhausted funnel bellowing black stacks of smoke and focused. He’d have to contemplate the irony later.

“Ms. Miracle, be my mare!”

With a mighty toss the crystal was flung upwards and both stallions cheered as it tumbled down the funnel.
There was a loud crack as bolts and rivets flew out the steel panels and steam gushed out wherever it could. Metal grinding and mechanical churning signalled the dying breaths of an engine and the wheels began to slow down.

But the duo’s celebration was short-lived as soon after, the Hauler began to sway. Destabilised by their stunt the massive machine’s size was suddenly realised, and Smoke put the brakes on in hopes they could evade the train by simply slowing down faster.

The last boxcar however swayed too much and swatted the back of the sled.

Their vision became a distorted mess of monochrome colour as chaos unfolded around them. Control of the train was lost and a simple incline was all it took to finally tip the scales. The Steam Hauler flew upwards and landed on its side with the links connecting the boxcars being torn apart like metal chains.

Metal and wood splintered as the cars collided with each other, briefly showering the snow with debris.

As quickly as it started, the chaos stopped and everything came to a grinding halt. The hauler stopped sliding, cars stopped crashing as both Drill and Smoke were left face first in the snow.

Drill took a moment and patted his chest. His heart pounded and adrenaline coursed through his veins as his panic slowly died down.

Smoke meanwhile was faster to the uptick, picking himself up and reaching for his rifle near the now wrecked Steamsled.

They were on some kind of rocky plateau, with several exposed boulders scattered throughout in between pieces of wreckage. Half a boxcar here, a few warped wheels here, and some large rocks and cliff faces all around. All of it half illuminated by dim and dying blinking lights from where the Hauler had tipped onto it’s side.

“Drill Bit!” Smoke called whilst rushing to his side. “Are you alright? Anything broken?”

“A few bruises, but nothing I can’t walk off.” Smoke offered a hoof and helped Drill to his hooves, still shaken from the crash. “Come on, we need to find Comet!”

The duo began trudging through the deep snow towards the Hauler, deep enough it reached their barrels and half buried most of the wooden remnants of the boxcars. But they pushed through regardless, Drill’s racial strength coming into its own as he waded through much faster then Smoke.

Even so as they drew within a boxcar’s length of the locomotive, a loud bang suddenly sounded on the door and both of its hinges snapped instantaneously.

They both froze with Smoke readying his rifle, flaring his horn to amplify his voice to that or a dragon.

“By order of the New Canterlot Guard, you are under arrest! Come out unarmed and with your paws in the air!”

Despite his best attempt to remain stoic, there was no hiding the trepidation in Smoke’s voice. Even with both their faces covered in at least two layers of arctic gear there was no mistaking the look he had turned to face Drill Bit.

If there was a fight, they were outgunned.

“Do you think they’ll listen?!” Smoke shouted, though he had a pretty good idea as to the answer.

“Maybe….Unlikely….” Drill licked his lips. “....Probably not.”

As if on cue, the heavy train door was torn from its frame and used as an improvised shield by Terry, while Kade and Scout followed behind both armed with a submachine gun and revolver respectively.

All of them wore cloth wraps and goggles in a crude attempt to protect themselves from the cold. Already the difference was made clear as their appeal was quickly caked with snow. But their taller biped forms could just as easily contend with the deep snow they had to trudge through as they pushed forward.

Both stallions were struck with the same sense of danger and sought cover, Smoke ducking behind a warped metal frame and Drill behind a rock.

Their evasion was well timed as Kade leaned around Terry’s shield and fired a spray of bullets, chipping and ricocheting off Smoke’s hiding place.

“Aw what’s the matter ponies? Scared of a little gunfire?” Several more rounds spat out the dented barrel, until a crack signalled a failure in the ejection port which halted Kade’s onslaught. “Oh, mother!” He bit his lip.

Sensing their chance, both stallions rose from their hiding places and returned fire. Drill quickly found that he was terrible at aiming as his shots flew past the eight-hoof tall Diamidian, and even the shots that did connect with his shield failed to penetrate.

Smoke on the other hoof fared much better. The first shot sliced through the metal train door and a pained yelp followed.

But Terry didn’t break, he didn’t even bend.

Instead, he let out something in between a howl and roar,picking the door up with both hands over his head before throwing it at Drill, not realising he wasn’t the one who’d actually shot him. Smoke tried to fire a follow up shot but a couple loud cracks from Scout’s revolver threw off his aim and he ducked down again, cursing.

The rock Drill was behind meanwhile blew into a hundred pieces as the door crashed and crumpled into it, throwing the stallion back. He was afforded little time to recover as Terry rushed towards him on all fours, roaring as he did so.

“I will BREAK little pony!”

By the time he’d got to his hooves again Drill had to leap to the side to avoid an oncoming strike, which landed into and left a mighty dent into a cliff face. The stallion retaliated with a buck to the brute’s chest and immediately the oversized mutt began coughing and reeling, steadying himself for a moment before continuing his assault.

All the while, Kade continued having difficulties with his firearm. “Diamidian engineering at it’s finest my ass.” He mumbled, trying to pry back the jammed charging handle.

Drill ducked and dodged all he could but he was no athlete, and his retaliatory kicks and punches didn’t do nearly enough to stop the Daimidian. It slowed him down yes, but it was like trying to tear down a brick wall with a claw hammer and eventually Drill was struck.

A mighty blow to the shoulder sent him tumbling to the ground where Terry pinned him in place with a hand, cocking back his other, ready to punch his head into pulp…

Comet felt cold.

It was a feeling he’d become increasingly familiar with over the past few months but right now, he didn’t just feel cold, he was freezing.

One moment he was screaming pandemonium inside the Hauler, the next the room was flooded with steam and there was shouting, then the lights went out and it got really hot.

“Wait…”

What was he doing again? He’d been foalnapped, then there was a talk with some bad guy-

“Mr. Drill Bit! I have to help him!”

He tried to get up only to find his hooves were still bound. His wing was still free and nothing had been wrapped around his head so he looked around.

While dim, the inside compartment was still half illuminated by some flickering lights. Allowing him to see that a few floor panels had come undone or were partially warped and torn, creating several jagged edges.

Comet grinned and extended his wing, using it to push and shimmy his way over before grinding the ropes on the torn metal. In moments they came undone and he was freed, quickly rushing to all fours and out the door.

The first thing he found was that it was hard to see, he had to shield his eyes with a hoof and even then it was righteously cold outside. Already he felt fit to shiver from the sheer windchill blowing through his clothes. But he couldn’t, he had to help somehow!

Quickly he spotted two dogs shooting at someone behind a wrecked car and the big dog bullying someone else. He couldn’t tell who was who at a glance so he had to make a crucial choice…

Terry pinned Drill Bit in place with a hand, cocking back his other ready to punch his head into paste.

Or at least he would’ve had a pair of hooves not suddenly wrapped around his eyes.

Terry let go and began flaying about trying to grab the one winged pegasus that cling to his neck. “Gah! Get off tiny pony!”

“Comet!” Drill cried, slipping away for a moment to breathe as Terry crashed against the local terrain. Rocks and boulders were smashed up as he slimmed his back against them, kicking up debris and clouds of snow.

With Comet in danger Drill threw himself back into the fray and began punching him like he was a bag at the gym. Multiple cracks and crunches met their ears and soon the behemoth struggled to stand on his hinds, ending with a stong buck that sent him into a pile of scrap metal.

Comet couldn’t see the damage for himself but the dog was out cold, save for a protracted groan, and that was good enough for Drill who rushed to retrieve him.

Meanwhile, Scout and Smoke were playing chicken. The moment he tried raising his head to maybe fire off a shot he risked another of Scout’s bullet’s drilling a hole in his head. But the shivering pitbull didn’t have a steady grip and so far nothing had landed.

Smoke couldn’t wait, any moment Kade could fix his gun and his problems would only get worse. But his body didn’t want to cooperate and the involuntary hesitation was getting annoying.

“Five shots, typically revolvers, have anywhere between five to eight depending on calibre. If I can just get him to waste his ammo…”

Smoke turned to his saddlebags and began rifling through them, looking for anything he could use.

He didn’t have any other Cooling Crystal and he hadn’t packed any more special equipment with him for the sake of time. There was a tinderbox, small chunks of coal.

The tinned rations gave him an idea though.

“Hey Mutt! Nice aim you got there!”

“Shudup! I ain’t the one hiding like an Abyssinain!” Scout retorted.

“Oh, calling me a pussy now? I’ll show you!”

Scout saw a shape rise from the metal wreckage and fired, a sharp metallic clink meeting his ears and for a moment he looked on excitedly.

“Did…did I get 'em?”

Smoke then rose out with his rifle and Scout hastily tried firing, only be to met with the empty clicks of death. If his face weren’t covered up he’d see the smuggest grin across his face, a blown open box of food laying splattered in the snow.

“Shi-!” CRACK

A spray of blood blew out of Scout’s back, sending the dog down and out.

Kade stood unfazed as he finally fixed the jam and turned towards Smoke, who’d already chambered another cartridge. The two found themselves in an impromptu quickdraw as one raced to focus their weapon on the other faster.

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!

Drill and Comet turned to the direction of the gunfire and when they did Drill’s heart sank into the snow.

Smoke’s hood had been turned into a bloody mess with his body falling limp to the ground, splattering the snow with crimson. His body convulsed on itself as what was left of his brain fought to stay alive, but the effort was vain.

The world stopped for Drill Bit, his limbs locked up and his eyes didn’t blink. Had his mouth had more room it would’ve been left agap.

Unamused, Kade swayed away from the grizzly scene and over to the duo without so much as a second thought.

Comet once more spared Drill Bit as the colt dived into him, pushing them behind a large rock as another torrent of mismatched bullets threatened to end them. It was enough to shake Drill from his stupor and pull him back to the present. He turned to Comet and found the colt clutching a hind leg in pain, grinding his teeth together.

It was yet another nail delivered so freshly into his mind after seeing Smoke’s fall. In seconds memories flashed behind his eyes and fear flowed through his system.

He remembered the guard that had gone out of his way to make sure he returned home safely. Then furthermore help him here rescue Comet, but now he was gone.

Another victim of this screwed up world he and so many others found themselves in.

Drill looked at Comet’s wound and remembered the gore from the day he lost his wing, the blood splat across his face and the screams from when he fell from the Generator. Like that of a banshee coming to torment him.

And finally his mind intrusively flashed back to Copper Pan, the horrible accident and the bloody display it left. The exposed bones and torn tendons, the splintered wood and shattered limbs…

Comet’s pleas for help only added to the pressure mounting on his mind. It all became a distorted mess of noise and voices, screams and machines, a storm of emotions.

But in the eye of that storm, he saw a light.

“Ya don’t do these things because their hard-”

“But because their worth doing.” He whispered to himself.

Kade held his position out in the open with his gun trained on the rock, keen not to play with his food like Scout did, but growing impatient none the less. “Come on ya little shits! It’s cold enough out here.”

He suddenly heard an uncharacteristically loud cry from behind the rock- “You Bastard!” -before said rock was sent barreling towards him. Taken by surprise he barely had time to dodge or brace and his left side was caught, ripping the gun away from his grip and landing some lengths away.

Kade was then rushed by the stallion who’d since been filled with a terrifying resolve, caring little for if he still had that weapon. Instinct kicked in and although still reeling, Kade was able to prepare some kind of stance.

Drill crashed into him like a raging bull and his racial strength would’ve seen Kade get thrown like a ragdoll, but the Diamidian instead twisted and wrapped his arms around Drill’s neck, turning the stallion’s own momentum against him.

Both hit the ground and entered a brawl. Kade lost his grip on Drill’s neck and the stallion rolled out of his grasp, only to be met by a wolf-like lunge that saw the Diamidian sink his teeth into his arm, tearing the insulated fabric but failing to draw blood.

Twisting his hoof, Drill wildly fired off his pistol in a vain attempt to shoot him but the angle was too wide. The gunshots however wreaked havoc on Kade’s more sensitive hearing and he was forced to let go clutching his head.

With a clearer shot Drill bought the pistol up and-

Click Click

“Buck!” Drill scrambled to his hooves and not a moment too soon. Kade recovered and they both saw the same thing at once.

Kade’s sub-machine gun half-buried under a rock.

In an instant, both raced the other to reach it first but rather than going in a straight line, Kade charged into and body-slammed Drill Bit before throwing a clump of snow into his face.

By the time the stallion recovered and wiped his goggles it was too late, Kade had too much of a lead and ripped the gun away from the rock, raising it to level with Drill Bit.

But there was something notably absent from the gun and he quickly saw it. Judging by Kade’s expression he felt it to and checked under the frame.

The oversized ammo drum was missing, in fact it was still under the rock, pinned to the ground where the metal had torn.

Kade actually chuckled a little at the sight. Almost amused at the situation, though Drill could tell something was up.

“Yeah, okay I get it, Diamidian made stuff isn’t the best. But guess what’s in the chamber?” With a smug grin Kade levelled the weapon and without a moment’s hesitation pulled the trigger-

SNAP

-only for the bolt to jam once more.

Kade’s smug grin was wiped clean off his face as he turned to look where Scout had died, clutching his empty, but still working revolver.

“Ya know, in hindsight, I’ve made many bad decisions recently.”

Steam was positively fuming from Drill Bit and he reached for the boulder behind him. When Kade turned back he went wide eyed.

Drill was somehow holding a boulder twice Terry’s size.

“I. Have Had Enough. Of You Bucking Mutts!”

With only the might an Earth Pony could muster, Drill lugged the giant rock at the panicked Diamidian who turned to flee. But his efforts were in vain as with only a short bark, Kade disappeared under the hunk of dark grey stone.

And that was that, all the Diamond Dogs were gone and Drill stood frozen. The sounds of the wind overtaking all others once more and the weight of the act now his to bear.

But it wasn’t over yet.

They still had to survive the storm.

Author's Note

Snowsuits are specially made pieces of arctic gear typically employed by scouts, who are expected to stay outside the reach of any heat source for long stretches of time. Using a combination of thick, insulative clothing and a system of small tubes connected to a heating device to pump heated liquid around the body, these suits are highly sought after outside the cities.

Thermal Regulators act as the heavyweight big brothers of the common slow burner. Saddlebag sized devices produce heat equal to the ambient temperature to keep the user warm. More fuel is consumed to counteract colder weather.