"Welcome to Vanhoover," I read, "home of the world famous Ball of Ice."

After arriving in Vanhoover, I smiled soundly, thinking that I could finally get some real rest before taking on the mammoth task of enduring the Frozen North. I walked around the center of the town and looked for a market first to pick up more food for my journey. I figured that once I restocked on food supplies, then I could begin to look for a heavier coat and, if I had enough bits leftover, a cover for my horn. It's dangerous to leave your horn open to the bitter cold weather and, if left unchecked after a while, it could damage a unicorn like myself.

I looked around and found an indoor market and found myself smiling brightly. This was such a relief to see since I was nearing the end of the original food I had packed back at the school. I looked into my bags and, astonishingly, I could see the bottoms of it, and that wasn't the case when I originally left.

I walked inside the market and began to grab some new supplies to fill up my bags with. I lifted a basket with my magic and made sure not to overfill it with things. I began putting in some new fruit in the basket and thought to myself that I should probably add a thermal that could keep any drinks I had in a liquid state and not a block of ice. I looked around some of the other aisles and found a thermal mug that appeared to be very space friendly. I smiled once more, then put the mug in the basket before going after some canned food.

Can't rely on only fruit for this journey, Astral, I told myself.

I continued to grab some essential needs until I felt better about my situation. Going into this whole journey without a map that could properly define any sense of time was rough; it felt like traveling blind, if I'm being perfectly honest.

I finished up relatively quickly and made sure I had more than enough bits to purchase a new coat for me. I approached the front counter and placed the basket down, taking everything out with my magic before putting the basket back where I originally got it from. The shoppony smiled happily at me as she began to check out all of the goods I'd been planning on buying. As she was checking them and ringing my order up, she spoke to me politely.

"Big haul today, eh?" She asked me. She had a noticeable Caneighdian accent.

I nodded in response, "Yeah, I guess so."

"Planning on taking a trip on the train?" She continued.

That got my attention, "So there is a train here. Do you know just how far north the trains go?"

"The trains go pretty far into the Frozen North," she replied, "but it's not known just how far into them they go. So sorry about that."

I shook my head and waved a hoof around, "It's fine. I gather that not many ponies go up there often."

"Just those that like to ski," the shoppony responded, "other than them, there's no reason to go deep into the Frozen North."

"No?"

She shook her head as she was nearing the end of the order, "Nope, it's just way too cold up there, eh, too cold for us ponies here anyway."

I nodded slowly, "Would you happen to know where I could buy a heavier coat? I have to go up into the Frozen North to find somepony."

"Oh?" The shoppony spoke. "Why not report it to the mounties?"

"Mounties?" I repeated, unsure of who they were.

The shoppony nodded again, "The mounties? They're police force of Vanhoover. If you report somepony missing to them, they should help you look for them quickly."

I blushed a bit, "Thanks, but I need to find them on my own. I can't risk the lives of anypony else for that pony. I need to be the one to do it myself."

"If you wish to go by yourself," she continued, "they must be very important to you, eh?"

"She was," I nodded, "the most important pony in my life."

"Hopefully you'll be able to find her up there then," smiled the shoppony.

She finished ringing up my order and handed me the supplies with her magic. I thanked her for helping me and placed everything in my bags neatly before leaving to find a shop that sold heavy coats. Prior to exiting the building, the shoppony called to me once more.

"If you need that coat," she said, "there's a shop next to the train station that sells them."

"Thank you, so much!" I beamed, happy to know that I wouldn't have to travel far to purchase a new, warm coat. Deep down, I dreaded going further up north. I was used to the cold, but this seemed like it was going to be colder than Whineysota.

I left the shop and walked around, trying to locate the train station and going from there. The sun was beginning to fade behind some clouds again, which made me increase my pace around Vanhoover.

Once I found the train station, I was able to find the store that sold the jackets and coats that appeared to be warm and fuzzy. I entered the store and looked around, seeing a lot of coats, overcoats, and jackets lined along the walls. I walked slowly around the store, trying to find the heavier coats, when a pony came up to me, smiling politely.

"I like your beanie," they said.

I turned around, stunned and a bit surprised. I looked up at the pony who complimented my beanie and smiled softly, hiding behind my mane slightly.

"Oh," I replied, "th-thank you."

"Lemme guess," he continued, "you're looking for a coat, aren't ya?"

"Y-Yeah," I answered, "I need one that can be warm enough to brave the bitterness of the Frozen North. Do you have one?"

He cocked an eyebrow, leading me to a heavy coat, "This one right here," he paused briefly, "I'm sorry, did you say you were braving the Frozen North?"

I nodded, looking at the coat, "Yes, I need to find somepony up there."

"Not to judge or anything," he said, "but you don't seem like the type of pony that enjoys skiing all that much. Who could you possibly find up there in the Frozen North?"

"Somepony close to me," I answered, looking to him, "how much for this coat?"

"This particular coat is forty-five bits," he stated, "but…I'll give it to you, since you're so determined to travel up into the Frozen North."

Surprised, I froze up a bit, "A-are you sure?"

He nodded, "I'm sure. Anypony willing to risk their lives just to find someone up in those mountains needs all the help they can get."

"But what about you?" I protested. "I don't want you to get in trouble for not paying for-"

"Eh, fuggedaboutit," he interrupted, "I own the place, so it's on me."

I blushed slightly, taking the coat and putting it on over the one I had on presently, "Th-thank you, sir."

"You're very welcome, ma'am," he reciprocated, "and good luck with finding that pony. They must mean a lot to you for you to be doing what you're doing."

"Thank you," I finished, exiting the store at once.

As I walked back out of the store, I looked up towards the sky and saw snow falling at a pretty consistent pace. Before I knew it, the ground had been covered with the snow. I walked up the stairs of the station next to the store and entered the station house, trying to find the ticket booth to purchase a ticket to the Frozen North. I saw the schedule for the trains for this platform and tried locating a train that would go straight towards the Frozen North, but the only one that was next, in terms of time, was about five hours from now.

I guess the Frozen North isn't a popular destination for trains, I thought to myself.

I sighed, then went up to the ticket counter. I didn't like the fact that I had to wait so long for a train to get there, but I'm still certain that taking the train there would get me further into the Frozen North than if I traveled on hoof myself. I approached the counter and asked for a ticket to the Frozen North, receiving some shocked looks in response.

"You're going up there by yourself?" The ticketpony asked me.

"Y-yeah," I answered, "I have to find somepony up there."

"Tell the mounties about it," she replied, "they train for those kinds of situations."

I shook my head, "This one is different and I have to do this myself. Please…I need this ticket."

"If you insist," she responded, pushing a couple of buttons and getting a total, "that's twelve bits."

I took out the twelve bits and handed them over to the ticketpony, whom gave me the ticket afterwards. I thanked her for the ticket, then took a seat next to the window, watching the snow come down as I began waiting for the train.

I wonder why a lot of these ponies are surprised by me going into the Frozen North, I wondered, watching a few snowflakes make their way under the awning of the platform.

When the train finally pulled into the station, there was plenty of snow on the ground. The train itself had a snowplow on the front of the engine and continued to chug along the tracks at a safe pace. I grabbed my things and made my way towards the front coach. I looked to my right and saw, from inside one of the other coaches, what appeared to be a pony with a puffy manestyle, similar to Eclipsa's. I began to panic a bit, rushing onto the train quickly, hoping that I imagined what I saw and that it wasn't really true.

I peeked out of the window of the coach and glanced between the ponies that were on the platform, moving into the station house or onto the train. I didn't see anypony from the school and sighed out of relief, chalking up the image of Eclipsa as just a figment of my imagination.

The doors to the train had shut and, before I knew it, the train began to move slowly. The public address system on the train beeped quietly before the conductor started speaking.

"Attention everypony," he spoke, "thank you for choosing the Friendship Express as your mode of transportation. Tonight's journey into the Frozen North will be a little bit longer due to the snow that has accumulated on the ground in front of the tracks, but we will arrive at your destination safe and sound. Train speed is going to be lighter than normal as the train plows the snow in front of it, but prepare yourselves for a slightly bumpy ride for when larger snow drifts come into play.

"As the ticket ponies move from one coach to another, please show your tickets to them in a cooperative manner. If there are any questions in regards to the journey, please do not hesitate to ask any of the friendly employees on board the train."

I reached down towards my bag underneath the seat and took out the ticket. Shutting the bag, I saw a pair of blue colored hooves in front of me. They had stars on them which made me gulp. Looking up, I saw that the hooves belonged to Eclipsa.

"H-Heyyy there, E-Eclipsa…" I feebly spoke.

Eclipsa cocked an eyebrow as the train's whistle sounded off, echoing throughout the land beyond.