Winterfall

"Work, dammit!" Epsilon gave the crystal contraption in his hooves a shake. No dice.

Dropping the radio unit in his tent, the Stallion ambled back towards his small fire. He had hoped to send word of the situation and return the next day. Sipping his canteen cup, he added some pine needles to a pot of boiling water and mulled over the days events.

Upon closer inspection, the hole was obviously the work of some sentient creature. The neatly severed links and bent back section of fence had dashed his hopes of some natural cause. It was then that the gravity of the situation had occurred to Epsilon. Considering that he was a fairly fit pony himself, somepony that could manage to trudge to a border fence through blizzard conditions and then proceed to rip a hole in the fence while avoiding all motion sensors in the area was a serious threat.

The crystal generator had only a couple of singed diamonds left in the power box, as it turned out. Somehow, in all of his preparations, Epsilon had forgotten to check that. At least he was able to find some dry pine branches under a dead tree. Things had only gotten worse from that point on. The heavy natural storm moving in was messing with the auralogical sphere in the area, making transmission via crystalline energy spotty at best. As a hostile border breach was considered a class III event, the issue had to be reported as soon as possible. And while Epsilon did not fear getting reprimanded for issues beyond his control, he did fear what had caused the breach, and what it was now doing in Equestria.

He poured himself another canteen of pine needle tea, and downed it, relishing the warmth it gave off as he swallowed.

There was no other option for the matter. Darkness was approaching, but the crystals he had on him would give enough energy to run a makeshift headlamp. Epsilon was going to make the return trip at night, and with only three hours of rest.

The snow was blowing sideways, and managed to get into every small opening on Epsilon's parka. He felt uneasy. Even as he grew increasingly restless, he understood that it was fear itself that threatened his life the most. Yet for some reason, he could not maintain his military bearing. As he pushed farther forward through the icy blackness around him, a nervous whinny escaped him.

Four hours later: Checkpoint four. Shit, only halfway! Epsilon chewed his lip nervously, then made a decision. Grabbing a knife from its shoulder sheath, he quickly severed the sled harness. Hopefully he could return for it another time.

Six hours later: The light bulb surrounded by a mass of wires around his head began to flicker. At his current pace, he still had a kilometer to go! Epsilon twisted the light bulb, trying to secure it. He heard a pop from the last diamond as darkness engulfed him. Terror was swirling about him in the wind. All about him, he saw only an inky sea of nothingness. His chest began to rise and fall rapidly. Epsilon Ruby knew the statistics: he was dead. He closed his eyes.

* * *

"Hey, Red! Wait up!"

Epsilon Ruby stopped walking down the hallway. A mare, two months younger than him, trotted to his side. "Say, you look snazzy."

The stallion blushed. "You do too, Brighty."

Bright Hue stuck her tongue out. "I'll bet you that I scored higher on the exit exam! That old coot, Sergeant March, looked shocked when I handed him my test."

"Probably because he'd never seen such horrid handwriting." Epsilon winked, then ducked his head as Bright Hue swished her tail at his face.

"Com'on, we have time to catch the train to Ponyville yet. I heard a group from academy squad three is meeting up at Sugarcube Corner to celebrate the end of finals!" Bright Hue ran ahead of Epsilon, who took a moment to stare at his marefriend. Boy, he was lucky.

* * *

Epsilon snapped open his eyes. The darkness still consumed his vision. But he hadn’t moved; he was still facing South. He stood, shook the snow out of his forelock, and began trotting forward once more.

A nice cup of coffee. And all the fresh hay I can eat. Epsilon repeated this mantra, and when it wasn't enough to keep him moving forward, he dug into his heart, and began thinking of the mare with the sky blue mane and lemonade yellow coat.

Finally, Epsilon sank to his hooves once more. His muzzle dripped with spittle and wet snow. Looking up, he saw the red beacon of Outpost 12.