The Frontier: Outskirts Taiga Trouble (Bellosh101 & Raridash)

[Bellosh]

For miles and miles, the lands east of Stalliongrad contained vast tracks of taiga forest. Other than the isolated homestead or hamlet, nature exclusively ruled this domain. While not nearly as infamous as the dreaded Everfree Forest down south, nearly anypony who lived in the north would know not to take the taiga lightly, especially during the winter.

Unfortunately, one little Stalliongrad colt failed to give the boreal forests the proper respect they deserved. According to eyewitnesses, on one snowy morning, he decided to spend the day checking out the untamed wilderness outside the city limits. When the boy never made it back for supper, that gravely alarmed the parents. When he still wasn’t back by the next morning, that triggered a massive search and rescue operation.

Even though the Stallian Guard possessed a lot of horsepower at its disposal, outside help was still requested. Two of the ponies assigned to assist with tracking down the kid were Cpl. Radiant Steel and PFC Flash Sentry, pegasi of the Royal Equestrian Army. Flying above snow-covered fir trees, the two armored royal guards looked over much of the land as they could. So far, no clues had been discovered by the two.

“See anything yet, Radiant?” Flash asked of his partner, wondering if she had noticed something that the stallion didn’t.

[RarityDash]

Corporal Radiant Steel was in a strange mood as she flew just over the northern taiga in search of a lost colt. Considering the bitter cold of their surroundings, it was a somber assignment which demanded her full attention and all the ffort she had. It was a shame then that this was one of the first assignments in a while where she was paired alone with Flash Sentry. She could recall when they were assigned to a guardpost at the grand galloping gala the previous year, and how it had been for the most part a fun and irreverent job, where they could converse freely and enjoy each others company. Knowing that a child's life was on the line, however, Radiant knew she could not let herself relax a moment for this one. Even if there were many, many others involved in the search, the important thing was finding the poor kid before he was overtaken by the elements.

In a way, this assignment brought back some memories. Early in her career, one of her first successes had been successfully tracking down a lost dog in the Whitetail Woods. Sure, the taiga was more dangerous and this was the life of a young pony rather than a beloved pet... but it was still the same feeling of the search. Radiant only hoped she was as successful here as she had been then. Failure would be inexcusable.

"Still nothing..." Radiant said in response to the other's question. "The taiga is so big and the trees obscure so much... it's hard to see anything down there..." she said.

"I think we should fly a little closer..." she suggested as a moment, feeling some frustration.

​

[Bellosh]

Cpl. Steel was right; the two soldiers would have to drop in closer to get a better look. “I copy,” PFC Sentry affirmed; “Just watch out for trees.” Normally, REA flying procedure advised pegasi to not fly below 100 feet during military operations to prevent crashes with potential ground objects. But with the poor luck these two were having, they had no choice but face the trees head-on. Flash Sentry took the initiative in diving down lower, stealing one quick look to make sure Radiant stayed in formation.

The pair now skimmed mere inches above the pines, hoping that flying this low made clues on the ground easier to spot. Of course, with the massive search area, this all could still end up a wild goose chase. With such thoughts in mind, unease filled Flash’s mind; “.....I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

[RarityDash]

Radiant nodded as Flash told her to watch out. "We should be fine so long as we take it slow and keep our eyes wide open," she said. Sure, slower and lower would definitely mean more ground to cover, but the forest was thick and it was unlikely they would be able to spot anything if they kept to the 100 foot protocol for this operation. Considering a child's life was on the line, it was important they worked toward success.

So she darted through the tops of trees, peering ever downward for any signs of movement. For a brief moment, she thought she saw something, but a second look told her it was just some small critter moving in the trees and not a pony. She quickly continued to press onward.

At Flash's comment, she shook her head. "With this kind of operation, we have to keep hope.We can't let ourselves get distracted by the grim thoughts, not with what's riding on us all," she said.

She truly believed it too, though even as she peered down at the taiga floor, nothing of interest yet entered her sight.

​

[Bellosh]

Radiant Steel’s assurance did little to soothe Flash Sentry. The armored stallion couldn’t put his hoof on it quite yet, but something felt off about their surroundings. “I don’t know,” Flash confided in his partner; “This... this doesn’t feel right.” The more he observed, the more that the stallion understood the causes for his uneasiness. All the critters spotted by the pegasi looked busy scurrying off to hide, which was quite unlike Equestrian animals. And the forest itself seemed deathly quiet. What was up with this-?

A distant flash of light from the ground caught PFC Sentry’s attention; a couple seconds later, a boom resonated through the air. Suspicious activity to be sure, although Flash didn’t understand at all what this mysterious activity entailed. But then again, this might be the lead the REA soldiers were looking for! “This way Radiant!” called out the stallion, “Something’s going on over there!”

[RarityDash]

“I don’t know. This... this doesn’t feel right.”

Radiant remained incredulous of Flash's concern for a moment, until after a few moments she began to start seeing the things he was. The animals below were scurrying about erratically as if frightened by something. This was a sure sign of some kind of danger below. A ferocious beast perhaps? Radiant could only imagine what sort. A dragon? Hydra? Timber wolves? An Ursa? Changelings? The forest below was no Everfree or Leota, but that didn't mean something dangerous hadn't come to inhabit it. If so, the poor missing foal was in the most grave and immediate of danger.

"You're right. The ani--" Radiant started to speak, but was almost immediately cut off be a resounding and explosive sound not far away accompanied by a flash of light. Was it possibly just lightning? It wasn't storming. There was at best an occasional snowflake falling from the sky every so often. No, it had to be something else. Something less natural and potentially more dangerous.

​

"This way Radiant! Something’s going on over there!”

"Right! Let's hurry!" Radiant called out as she flew after Flash at top speed. "it didn't sound like it was very far away... but whatever it is it sounded powerful. We need to be prepared for serious danger."

Her words and expression were somber and affectless, but Radiant couldn't deny there was a hint of excitement in her heart. Here she was facing some unknown threat, side by side with the stallion she so admired. It was a subtle excitement, one that energized her and gave her every confidence that, whatever they faced they would succeed.

​

[Bellosh]

WIth Radiant Steel on his tail, Flash Sentry swiftly flew in the direction of where he originally saw the bright light, which by now could be distinguished by a black plume rising upwards into the subarctic air. That could only mean one thing: a fire, potentially from an explosion. That would have explained the loud noise earlier, anyway.

But what could have caused such a disaster? The answer was found several minutes later when the two REA soldiers arrived on the scene. It appeared that a wooden airship violently crashed into the forest; its ruined hull had split and scattered into three chunks, with other small bits and pieces littered throughout the crash site. By Flash’s reasoning, he assumed the airship must have exploded in-flight, accounting for the positioning of the debris.

First things first: to quell the fires, and look for anyone trapped in the wreckage. To do this, the two REA pegasi would have to split up. “See if anypony needs help,” PFC. Sentry advised his partner while shooting towards the nearest cloud; “I’m going to try to put these fires out!” Little did Radiant and Flash realize however the mystery that awaited. Just what exactly was an airship doing, flying way far out from the highly-trafficked sky-lanes?

[RarityDash]

"Right! I'm on it," Radiant started, even as part of her at least was conscious to the fact that she was the superior ranking soldier here and yet it was her responding to the orders and strategy of Flash. With ponies possibly in danger, that wasn't ultimately something that mattered, however.

It was a strange thing to find here in the woods, an airship crashing in such a way. Crashes did happen. The skies were sometimes unexpectedly volatile and there always pilot error and the possibility of interference by some flying beast like a dragon. Still, it was a rare occurrence and not one Radiant had ever previously been on the scene to observe. The closest situation she had seen honestly was her own chariot being shot from the sky on that fateful Nightmare Night. It was odd, especially as Radiant wasn't even sure airships were supposed to pass over the taiga.

She flew down toward the wreckage to see what she might find. It was hard to get close at first for the intensity of the heat from the fires, but lives were on the line and so Radiant had to act.

"Can anyone hear me? I'm here to rescue you?" Radiant called out as she flew through smoke from smouldering airship components. In time she heard a faint cough and then a pony give a yelp. There were survivors.

Radiant went to work at once flying swiftly and steadily, to and fro around the wreckage. In time, three individuals were salvaged from the airship: a pegasus mare who Radiant had to pull from beneath some rubble---her right wing was broken and there was a gash upon her side, but she was otherwise okay; a unicorn stallion who had been cut and stabbed by some splintered wood, but not severely; and finally a griffoness, who had been knocked unconscious in the explosion but otherwise seemed more or less whole. It was too late for all others that could be found in the wreckage.

Flying the survivors to safety, one by one, Radiant found herself quickly out of breath. She wasn't sure what to make of it all, but one thing she was glad for. There was nothing in the wreckage shaped like a small colt... the pony they were looking for, thus had likely not been onboard or in the area.

By the time all were safe, it seemed that the fires had been mostly quelled. Radiant looked back, hoping to regroup with Flash before they tried to get to the bottom of what happened.

​