Winter Bloom's Story - Part 2
"If that is victory, woe unto the victors!"

"Winter Bloom isn't cut out for it, she couldn't hurt a bloatfly."

"That is not what I hear. I hear she's proven herself quite capable."

"You're not putting her on guard duty."

"You are testing the very last thread of my patience, Hazel. You may be one of my best scouts, but you do not tell me what to do. Don't forget who is in charge here."

"Of course, Deadeyes. You're the boss."

"Don't get smart with me. She's not a good rock breaker. She can fight, and she's going to."

"And if she dies..."

"Red Eye is tightening the noose. It's only a matter of time now before he makes his move, and I am not having this discussion with you. You know what you need to do, you can either do it, or get lost."

Hazel stepped out of Deadeyes' office, and as soon the door closed behind him, his entire demeanor of confidence and defiance sagged into something more resembling resignation. His ears drooped and he looked down towards his hooves, but his attention was on something far beyond them. Before he took more than a couple steps, Winter Bloom was standing next to him, frowning unhappily.

"What were you doing in there?" She whispered angrily under her breath.

"Oh, come on." Hazel moved to get away from Deadeyes' office. "You were listening in. What did you think I was doing?"

"Why are you trying to sabotage me? I can't believe you talked to Deadeyes behind my back." She was upset, but her voice ended up sounding more hurt than angry.

"Sabotage?" For a moment, Hazel was truly surprised, and couldn't help but look over to Winter Bloom in shock, while he scrambled to think of something to say. "I'm trying to help you. You don't want patrol duty."

"You go out on patrols all the time." Winter Bloom took advantage of Hazel's slow pace and trotted up in front of him, turning her head to look him in the eyes.

"That's right, so why don't you believe me?"

"You don't have to do this alone, you don't have to take care of Tail Wind and me all by yourself, I can help!"

"Look around you, Winter Bloom, what do you think is going on here? You can't tell me you don't know what we do to keep this place running." Unwilling to look Winter Bloom in the eyes, Hazel focused on keeping his voice down in spite of his anger. "It's better that only one of us gets our hooves dirty."

"Well, maybe we can put a stop to it. Topaz says..." Winter Bloom was quickly interrupted by Hazel.

"Oh sure, Topaz says he doesn’t approve, but when has he ever lifted a hoof to stop it? I mean damn, if we hadn't heard his voice on the comm, I'd have thought Deadeyes was making him up. Well, if you ask me, actions speak louder than words."

"And how am I supposed to act? What does it say if I don't try, if I don't do anything at all? This place is never going to feel like home if we don't do something."

"This place, home?" Once again, Hazel found himself struggling to find any words at all. "This place is a prison. It always was, and it still is, even if the doors open from the inside. It's a prison for desperate ponies who can't survive any other way. That's all it's ever gonna be."

"Why won't you believe me?" The anger had all but faded from Winter Bloom's voice, "I've been trying to tell you that we can change it, we can make it better."

"Not while Deadeyes and Topaz are in charge, we can't."

Hazel wasn't about to concede the point, but when Winter Bloom lagged behind and spoke in a sad voice, he felt his resolve waiver. "I thought you'd be happy for me... I finally realize what I'm supposed to do, and you're still treating me like a little foal."

"You're not supposed to..." Hazel stopped and finally turned towards Winter Bloom, ready with a blistering retort, but when he saw her face, resignation once again took hold. "I, uh... Damn, I am an idiot."

Drawing to a halt, the two ponies stood in awkward silence. The rhythmic clinking of metal against stone and the unusually gentle pitter-patter of rain wasn't nearly enough to fill the sudden void in the conversation. Hazel stared down at his hooves, only occasionally glancing at Winter Bloom, waiting for a reply that wasn't coming. Winter Bloom's cheeks burned with embarrassment, frustration, or some mixture of the two, she wasn't sure which. Unsure how or why, somehow she knew she'd struck a deeper blow than she'd intended, and in spite of how angry she had been at him, she already regretted it. I just want him to understand. Why does this have to be so hard?

"So, I guess there's not much time before I set out." Winter Bloom didn't notice Hazel taking a step closer when she decided to break the silence and say something, anything, even if it wasn't really saying anything at all.

"Yeah." Hazel stopped mid-step and looked around to see who else might have been listening.

"I wonder if you'll be around when I get back." Winter Bloom tried offering him an easy opening.

"Maybe..." Hazel however, looked lost in thought and didn't take it, at least not right away. As the silence crept back in between them, he blinked and pulled himself back to the present, "... I sure hope so, anyways."

"They said I should only be gone a couple of days, maybe three. Just a quick loop of the Eastern Range." Winter Bloom forced herself to breath slowly, trying not to sigh as a new set of feelings twisted themselves up inside. They weren't arguing anymore, and she couldn't help but feel relief, but they were practically talking past each other instead, and she wasn't sure if that was any better.

"Come on then, we'd better make sure you're ready."

New and yet the same, Winter Bloom found herself walking into parts of Shattered Hoof that she'd never been in before. The walls of the armory were the same rust spotted and chipped concrete as the rest of the compound. The windows showed nothing but the same stone canyon walls and featureless sky that every other window did. She imagined though that the crates and boxes that rested up against the walls held bullets, guns, and dangerous things, rather than the hammers, blasting powder, and the other dangerous things that were stored elsewhere in the compound.

Most of all, Winter Bloom was seeing new faces, or at least old faces up close for the first time. Notes of excitement, anxiety, and nervousness struck a chord on her heart as Hazel and she caught the attention of three other ponies who had been standing around looking bored. They didn't look particularly friendly or pleased, and Winter Bloom quickly noticed that Hazel was the recipient of most of the hostile and wary glares. So how do they know each other?

"Well lookie here. If it isn't Hazel, coming to pay us a visit." One of the ponies, a tan colored unicorn with a dark brown mane, took a step forward and spoke up in mock deference.

"Cut the crap Quickfire. I'm here with Winter Bloom, and as long as she gets treated fair, you can screw off however you like for all I care." Hazel stared Quickfire down, but the unicorn just rolled his eyes and turned his attention elsewhere.

"You must be the new gal. I hope you're ready to rumble, cause we are kickin' it outta here soon as we can."

"Yeah, that's me." Winter Bloom tried to smile, even if the introductions weren't at all going how she hoped. "I'm almost ready. I mean, I still need to get my supplies."

Winter Bloom's voice trailed off when Quickfire stopped paying attention to her and turned to watch Hazel. With a smug grin on his face, he waited to speak up just long enough for Hazel to open a cabinet across the room and start looking through it. "We already got her supplies picked out, just thought I'd save you the trouble, ya know?"

Quickfire motioned to one of the other ponies, who proceeded to shove a pile of leather and canvas into the center of the room. Hazel set his jaw and slowly closed the cabinet again. Walking back across the room, he didn't respond to Quickfire's rhetorical question, and Winter Bloom could tell he was trying to stay calm. The realization made her heart sink a little further. So much for a good first impression. Not that he’s making a good one either.

"Hey uh, Quickfire was it?" Winter Bloom worked to keep her smile. As distasteful as he was acting, she knew she would have to try to get along anyways, if they were going to work together.

"That's the name, but don't wear it out."

"Right. I was just wondering if there’s anything else you need me to do? Anything not in the plan?" Winter Bloom tried to make herself look non-threatening enough to offset Hazel’s aggressive posture.

"You're the rookie here, so for now you just need to watch and learn. This nut job over here is Buddy..." Quickfire motioned with one hoof at the dull grey Earth pony mare leaning against a box.

"It's River Bolt!" the mare shouted, kicking a loose stone in Quickfire's direction.

"Like I said, you should call her Buddy. That's her name, and don't let her tell you any different. You're new, and she might try to pull one over on you, but just remember that I'm in charge, and I'm telling you her name is Buddy. For everything else though, just do what she does and you'll do fine."

Winter Bloom felt her smile faltering, but quickly nodded, not wanting to appear contrary.

"And this sad sack in the corner is Summer Wish." Quickfire pointed with his other hoof at a light blue unicorn mare who was only paying attention out of the corner of her eye. "I'd keep an eye on her, I guarantee she'll be keeping an eye on you. It's always the quiet ones."

"Seriously, would you give it a rest?" Summer Wish rolled her eyes, sounding thoroughly unimpressed with Quickfire, then went back to minding her own business.

"Everypony, say hi to Winter Bloom," Quickfire didn't give anyone the chance before he continued. "There. Now we're all a big happy team. Grab your stuff so we can get a move on."

Winter Bloom nodded and moved to gather up her new saddlebags, pausing for a moment to put on a stiff, layered leather jacket. It wasn't much, but it was the first time she had worn armor of any kind, and it took a little bit of fumbling, fidgeting and help from Hazel to get it on right. While it wasn't a bad fit, it had clearly been made for a larger pony, and Winter Bloom felt a little bit odd wearing clothes at all.

Trying to get used to the weight and the texture, she briefly wondered where the leather had come from in the first place. Did it used to be a pony? It doesn't have any color, maybe it was a monster? Something that used to kill ponies, and now it's keeping me safe.

She wasn't sure which thought made her more uncomfortable, but she didn't get a chance to think too deeply about it, as Hazel caught her attention. His sharp voice was directed at Quickfire though. "There's a healing potion and food in the bags, but what about, I don’t know, a weapon? You weren't planning on taking her outside completely defenseless were you?"

"Oh ye of little wit. Do you really think I would be so... irresponsible?" Quickfire's horn glowed a dim orange, and while Hazel nodded affirmatively to his question, he grabbed a spear off of a weapon rack with his telekinesis. "Here, an old guard spear. Deceptively simple, strong, still sharp after a hundred years. Probably enchanted with some unicorn nonsense. Besides, from what I hear, she's talented with her hooves."

Winter Bloom felt a little flustered at the compliment, not entirely sure her scuffle with Limelight was something she wanted to be remembered for.

Hazel's frown only deepened. "Horse apples. That's a piece of junk. I know for a fact that you've got an energy lance and you never even use the damn thing."

"That's right. I've got. As in mine. And I'm not about to just give it away for free, what if I need it someday?" Quickfire spoke with insincere indignation.

"Technically, all this stuff belongs to Mr. Topaz. You're just borrowing it." Hazel took a menacing step forward, much to Winter Bloom's dismay.

"You might have Deadeyes' favor, Haze. Might, I should stress, since I hear you've been burning that favor up real fast, ever since you were clued in on the Red Eye plan." Quickfire's mocking smile suddenly became similarly menacing, "But I am still in charge of my team, and that means I get to decide who gets what and who does what."

Winter Bloom noticed Hazel's ears twitch nervously, even though he was keeping an otherwise straight face. He stopped advancing, but held his ground. "If she gets hurt on account of you, all the favors in the world aren't going to make a lick of difference."

"It's fine." Winter Bloom edged Hazel out of the way with the broad side of her shoulder, forcing her way in between the two, "I'll be fine. Come on, Hazel, I've been through worse, remember?"

Seeing Hazel get pushed around drew snickering from River Bolt and a dry, triumphant laugh from Quickfire. "See? She says she's fine. Now if you'll excuse us, we've got a route to patrol."

Quickfire turned his back and walked out towards the main gates. River Bolt trotted along merrily, as if the confrontation didn't even happen, while Summer Wish lagged behind. Winter Bloom had just finished picking up the spear and strapping it down to her saddlebags, business end pointed safely towards the ceiling, when Hazel placed one hoof firmly against her neck, right above the shoulder.

Looking her straight in the eye, he quickly had her full attention. "Look, I know you don't think much of me, but I just want you to be safe, ok? Watch your back. Watch the sky. Always pay attention to where the nearest cover is, and the next after that. Don't wander off and get lost. Don't let anyone on your team wander off and get lost. Don't assume anyone you see is your friend. Don't assume that your friends will recognize you if you lose sight of each other. Look out for your team, but don't assume they're going to look after you. And whatever you do, do not try to impress anypony."

Winter Bloom wanted to say "I don't think that at all," but she forced herself to pay attention. As much as she wanted to dismiss his concerns out of a determination to carry her share, she was no stranger to how dangerous the wasteland could be. And then all the sudden, he wrapped his hooves around in a big hug, and her heart began hammering against her chest.

"You come back in one piece, alright?" The tension in Hazel's forelegs was mirrored in his voice.

Winter Bloom struggled once again to think of something, anything to say, trying to ignore the burning in her cheeks. "...You too."

"Hey, come on Rookie, we don't got all day!" Quickfire's voice was a bucket of ice water.

Winter Bloom pulled away and cantered for the exit, slowing down long enough to look back and say, "Wish me luck!" but she was already gone before Hazel had a chance. The clip clop of her hooves against the concrete drowned out everything else.

Gentle but constant rain fell as Winter Bloom and her patrol team departed Shattered Hoof, just as it had the past few days. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable itself, lacking the driving winds of a wild storm, and it was relatively warm for something in a world deprived of the sun. However gentle though, the rain had turned the Earth into a layer of mud, and every stone outcrop into a slippery obstacle. Winter Bloom's hooves sunk in almost an inch with every step, taking that much more effort to pull back out for the next. The resulting trail was painfully obvious for anyone or anything else to follow, should they happen to across it.

Quickfire and River Bolt's constant chatter made listening for danger difficult, and the misty rain wrapped in close around them. Winter Bloom tried to follow Hazel's advice even though they weren’t really expecting trouble so close to home. She kept a close watch on her surroundings, but in the uneventful monotony, her thoughts kept returning to the same place. You too... ugh. Couldn't have said something that wasn't super dumb. No, of course not.

"Hey Winter Bloom!" River Bolt's sudden shout caught Winter Bloom in a moment of distraction, and she nearly leapt straight up in the air.

"What?" Looking around for any signs of danger, all Winter Bloom could see was River Bolt Snickering and Quickfire looking at her, clearly unimpressed.

"Damn girl, you are jumpy." Quickfire rolled his eyes, putting his whole head into the motion. "You need to relax a bit or you're going to burst."

"Sorry. I, uh, guess I haven't been outside in a while." Winter Bloom looked around nervously, but when she saw that River Bolt was grinning like a fool, and Summer Wish was hardly paying attention, she relaxed a little and tried to brush it off with a smile. "I mean, the last time, I almost got burned, shot, blown up, and sold into slavery. In no particular order. And I was the lucky one."

"Great. Just make sure you don't come undone on us, ok?" Quickfire rolled his eyes and started walking again. "I'm gonna need you standing front and center if anything goes down, not shivering in a heap."

Winter Bloom mumbled something vaguely affirmative and nodded along, even though Quickfire wasn't paying attention to her anymore. Before her mind could wander off again, River Bolt trotted up alongside with a great big self-satisfied grin on her face.

"You should have seen the look on your face. Totally. Priceless. Am I right?" River Bolt looked over to Summer Wish, who simply made a noncommittal shrug.

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?" Winter Bloom muttered dryly, trying not to sound agitated.

"Absolutely." Bolt's grin only got bigger.

"And I take it I should expect more of the same, right?"

"You catch on pretty quick." River Bolt's smile turned a little more sympathetic as she spoke. "Quickfire isn't wrong though. You need to relax a little. All this is peanuts compared to what's out there waiting for us."

"Yeah, I suppose it could be worse. I mean, we're supposed to be looking for Red Eye's slavers right? I'm not even sure what we're going to do if we come across them. My instructions were a little bit vague."

"That's easy. We run away." River Bolt tried to make it sound like the most obvious thing in the world. "It's a shame too. If I could get a spot in his little army, I'd be raring to join up. But no, I'd probably get shot, or put in chains and stuck working the factories, and that is even worse than breaking rocks."

"You're joking, right? Red Eye is a real monster. Why would anypony want to work for him?"

"How do you know? Let me guess, you heard all about him on the radio, huh? I wouldn't believe everything ol’ DJ Pon3 says. You should hear what he says about us. I tell ya, only maybe half of it is true."

"I don't believe everything I hear on the radio, I'm not a complete foal. I've heard other ponies talking about him too."

"Just ignore her, she's trying to get under your skin." There was an edge of warning to Summer Wish's otherwise flat voice, but when it set River Bolt off laughing, she turned her attention elsewhere again.

"Haha! You are just way too easy." It took a little while for River Bolt's snickering to subside, but eventually managed to calm down enough to form a complete sentence. "Oh, my. Seriously though, you gotta admit Red Eye's got style. There’s somepony getting things done. If you ask me, we should be the ones expanding. But no, Topaz has got his little corner of the world and he doesn't care about anything else."

"What would you do if you were in charge?" Winter Bloom felt her ears drooping and struggled to avoid sounding defensive, "I mean, forget Topaz and Red Eye. If you had it all, what would you do?"

"Ha! I dunno." River Bolt looked up to the sky with a far away, but vaguely pleased look on her face for a while before coming back down to reality, "I guess I'd probably eat, drink and sleep, like a super ton, till I turned into a giant bloatsprite or something. Guess its a good thing I'm not in charge, huh."

"Right..." Winter Bloom didn't really know what she was expecting, but River Bolt left her speechless anyways. Is there anything that she takes seriously?

River Bolt gave Winter Bloom a triumphant grin and trotted back up to Quickfire, casually splattering mud all around, where they proceeded to go right back to chattering endlessly about seemingly trivial topics, like whether a peanut was a pea or a nut. Summer Wish had gone back to walking silently nearby leaving Winter Bloom alone with her thoughts again, but this time she was worrying about how to get along with her new companions.

Walking all day long on dry ground had been tiring enough, from what Winter Bloom could remember, but walking through the mud was an ordeal. The group had to take frequent breaks to rest, and as night was falling, they had not yet reached the border of Mr. Topaz's domain. The rain had slowed to a series of intermittent sprinkles, but even if it stopped entirely, it would still be a day or two before the ground dried enough to walk easily, so Quickfire decided to set up camp on the first patch of rocky ground they came across.

A thin, rolled up mat and sheet of waxy cloth were Winter Bloom's only shelter from the elements, but as tired as she was, she suspected that she could fall asleep on the barren ground. Not good. I've got to be able to stay awake for my watch tonight.

Winter Bloom made a futile attempt to wipe some of the mud off of her hooves before she settled down on her mat, and before laying her head down, she took an equally futile look about the surroundings. A heavy fog had moved into the area since the rain started tapering off, and working in concert with the fading light, it prevented her from seeing more than a few pony lengths in any direction. At least it'll be hard for anything to spot us too.

As if on cue, the silence was broken by a blast of music. Quickfire had turned on an old music player as loud as it would go, and whatever protection the dark of night provided was stripped away by an old coffee tin filled with liquid fuel. Winter Bloom resisted the urge to rub her eyes with muddy hooves, but she couldn't help but stare in shock as Quickfire and River Bolt pulled out bottles of something hard and started whooping and shouting along with the lead vocalist of the frantic guitar and drums monstrosity.

"Shouldn't we stay quiet and try to get some sleep?" Winter Bloom found herself nearly shouting to be heard over the racket.

While Quickfire moved to turn down the volume on the music, a little, River Bolt laughed and waved her hoof to dismiss Winter Bloom's concerns. "Didn't I say you need to relax? Relax already." River Bolt popped the cap off her bottle and took a swig before continuing, "Besides, this'll scare all the wasteland critters away."

"And it'll let Gawd and her mercenaries know where we are." Quickfire had a smug grin on his face, as he stalked his way around the fire and came head to head with Winter Bloom. "You wouldn't want them thinking you were a spy."

Winter Bloom tried her best not to look intimidated, but she ended up shrinking back anyways. "Um. I guess not."

She could tell that Quickfire was trying to get a reaction out of her, but she couldn't figure out exactly what or why. Before she could decide whether standing up to him would earn respect or a hoof to the jaw, River Bolt caught his attention. "Oh, and don't forget the best part. Since this is Gawd's turf, if we get killed, she'll get in trouble for it! Ha!"

Quickfire laughed along with the apparent joke and trotted back over to his own bottle. "Buck Gawd, and buck Deadeyes and Topaz too. Out here, we get to do what we want to do." He picked the bottle and drained it down without stopping for breath. "Ah, I have been waiting for this. If you don't like it, Little Bloom, you can go keep watch with Summer Wish. She's better at that anyways."

Winter Bloom glanced over at Summer Wish, who was sitting near the edge of the rocks on her own little mat, staring off into the fog with an expression on her face that suggested she was contemplating murder.

Turning away, Winter Bloom decided not to push her luck any further on the first day, her own weariness drawing her head inexorably down to sleep. I spent a year keeping my head down and staying out of the way to get here, I'll have another chance get on their good side tomorrow.

She adjusted her saddle bags so that she wasn't lying on anything big, but she didn't bother readjusting her spear. Compared to the uneven rocky ground biting into her side, she barely noticed the wooden pole, and on some level, keeping it close was a comfort. Even with the jarring music, her companions' laughter, and the ever-present clammy dampness that seemed to infiltrate everything and everywhere, Winter Bloom found herself drifting off to sleep.

*Thum thathum* *Thum Thathum*

Winter Bloom awoke with a start. Her eyes flew open but she quickly froze in place. Already the memories from that same old dream were swept up in the sudden panic of waking up someplace unfamiliar. Looking around as best she could without moving her head, she could see the fog had grown even heavier as the night waxed ever colder. She could see the coffee tin, no longer shooting flames out the top, but still lit by an inner fire. The sound of music and chatter, more subdued and perhaps a little slurred reached her ears and finally she remembered where she was.

*Thum thathum* *Thathum Thathum*

A faint tremor coursed through the rocks underneath her, traveled from her hooves, up her legs to her spine, and with her head still lying against the ground, an unfamiliar sound blossomed in her ear. The hairs on her back stood up, and she felt a sudden, inexplicable fear.

Whatever weariness she had felt before was replaced by the prickling of adrenaline under her skin and she bolted upright. "Did... Did anyone else hear that?!"

Caught in the middle of a yawn, Summer Wish rose to her hooves and started a slow pirouette, trying to get a sense of something, anything at all through the fog. Quickfire, contrary to his namesake, took time in pulling his rifle out, holding it unsteadily in his telekinesis.

River Bolt just blinked in surprise. "Huh? Hear what?"

"I thought I heard hoofsteps." Winter Bloom glanced around nervously as she readjusted the balance on her saddlebags with one hoof.

"You thought? Are you sure it wasn't..." Quickfire was getting ready to work himself into a full blown rant, but Summer Wish cut him off with a sharp hiss.

"Shut up! I hear it too. Something's coming, big. Damn, where is it?"

*Thumtha-thumtha-thum*

The sound was clearly audible, getting louder and closer. Winter Bloom tried pressing the fear down to the bottom of her stomach as she looked around in a frantic attempt to figure out which direction it was coming from, but it echoed off the nearby rocks, and seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

Whether by chance or some unconscious intuition, Winter Bloom turned her head just in time to see a massive silhouette materialize in the fog. Whatever it was, it was moving fast, charging straight at Summer Wish, who was looking the other way leaving her flank unguarded. Before she could even discern what it was, Winter Bloom's hooves were in motion, trying to close the gap before the thing could reach her teammate.

Hooves not yet firmly planted, spear halfway in position, Winter Bloom was thrown backwards as the creature made contact with the spear tip, still held in place by a strap around the barrel of her chest. The creature shrieked and roared in pain as the spearhead pierced its hide, and twisted violently, trying to shake Winter Bloom off.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Winter Bloom, and her surroundings disappeared. She didn't notice the creature knock over the coffee can, spilling burning oil across the campsite, but in the sudden burst of light she could at least see the creature clearly. A giant, furious rad-hog, at least twice as tall as any pony.

After being tossed to one side like a rag doll, Winter Bloom hit the ground hard and she felt herself being dragged for a short distance before the butt of her spear caught in a rocky crevice. The sudden stop wedged the spear further into the thick mass of muscle between the creature’s shoulder and jaw, and it roared out in pain again.

Winter Bloom could feel the tension in the spear shaft as it reverberated through her side, she could feel every little stop and start as it began working its way out of the crevice. With it, came the realization that she hadn't yet been trampled to death, and so she scrambled to keep the spear held in place. Wedging one hoof into the crevice behind the spear, she stopped it from slipping, but moments later she heard the crack of splintering wood. With time running out, she reached down to try to unhook the belt clasp that was trapping her in place.

"Hold it steady, will ya?" Winter Bloom barely heard the voice beside her over the creature's furious wailing, but even that was drowned out by the ear splitting thunder of gunfire.

*k-krak krak krak*

A salty tinge of red mixed in with the already misty fog as the massive rad-hog cried out one last time and toppled over. The spear trembled in her grip. Dutifully and without complaint, it gave its all, then snapped in half as the creature slammed into the ground next to Winter Bloom.

Although the whole ordeal had felt like an eternity, it had only taken a few seconds. River Bolt and Summer Wish hadn't even the time to unholster their weapons.

Quickfire let out a victorious shout and went over to hoof-bump River Bolt, but in their inebriated state they missed on the first two attempts, and burst out into laughter on the successful third try. "That's what you get when you mess with us!"

“Yeah, don’t mess with us!”

Winter Bloom worked back to her hooves and forced herself to look away from the wall of gnarled hide in front of her, while the world stopped spinning. Coming down from the rush, she still managed to feel a sliver of surprise when Summer Wish walked up to her with a genuine smile on her face.

"Thank you..." Words didn't come easily to Summer Wish, but she pressed on anyways, "You saved my life."

Almost instinctively, Winter Bloom shook her head. "It wasn't anything special. I didn't really have time to think."

Winter Bloom frowned as she tried to remember what happened. None of it seemed real, and if it weren't for the ache in her rump where she was slammed into the rocks and the dull throb of spent adrenaline, she might have been able to dismiss it as nothing but a nightmare. She replayed the fight once again in her head, but it seemed just as unbelievable as the last time. Why... Why did I rush in like that?

"Well, thanks anyway..." Summer Wish had an understanding smile on her face, but there was a faint note of melancholy still clinging to her voice. "Whatever you did, you did good. On your first time out, too."

"Hey heeey!" Before either of the two could say anything more, Quickfire staggered back over to Winter Bloom and sent Summer Wish retreating back to the sidelines. "I knew it. I knew it all along, you're gonna work out just fine. Hey, did you see me take the shot? It was all *bam bam* and it was like, 'I'm done.' Ha!"

Winter Bloom hadn't really been paying attention to Quickfire at all, but she nodded along hesitantly. The smell of alcohol on his breath adding a bit of nervousness to the whirlwind of emotions already running around her head.

"And just look at this thing. Tomorrow, we can make a quick detour by a griffon outpost. They'll pay big caps for this sucker, and I'll make sure you get a few, don't you worry." Besides just being drunk, Quickfire gave Winter Bloom the impression that he was talking past her more than to her. She hadn't been worried about getting a fair share until he mentioned it, but suddenly Hazel's warning from earlier in the day came back to her.

"Well, if we're going to carry this thing, maybe we should get some sleep?" Winter Bloom finally willed herself to look at the creature again, taking in its size, its look, and inescapably, its smell. It was bigger than all four of them put together.

"Hey, if you can keep spotting things in your sleep, you can have all the sleep you want." Quickfire gave Winter Bloom an uncomfortably firm slap to the withers with one hoof. "Just don't forget to grab your spear. Who knows if there's any more of these things out here."

"About that." Winter Bloom took a step back, her ears downturned. "It kinda broke. I'm sorry."

"Haha! Don't worry about it. That was just a piece of junk anyways. Here, you can take my lance. Now that I know it won't be wasted in your hooves."

"Oh? I thought you knew all along." River Bolt's voice echoed out from somewhere on the other side of the carcass.

"Shut your mouth!" Quickfire hurried away to strike up a heated argument between himself and River Bolt, interrupted frequently by laughter and juvenile name calling.

Winter Bloom stood and stared at the giant creature for some time, trying to sort out the jumble of emotions she was feeling. She felt relieved and glad to be alive, thrilled by her victory, although the thrill was slowly fading. There was some elation from being praised, along with some embarrassment from the fact that she still couldn't explain why she put herself in harms way like that. I saved Summer Wish, but was that really it?

Staring the creature in its lifeless eyes, Winter Bloom felt a swell of anger too, but the more she looked, the more pathetic it looked, and she couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity as well. It tried to kill us, it's just nerves. I can't let this get to me. Everypony else can do it, I can too.

As the last slivers of the overturned fire died out, Winter Bloom sat back down and to her own surprise, drifted off to sleep again.

Woken up several times during the early morning to gunfire and bloatsprites who had been attracted to the increasingly horrid stench, Quickfire set everyone back to marching as soon as the faintest glimmer of light started filtering through the clouds. Winter Bloom got a chance to test out her new lance as she sliced up a pair of old, dead trees to use as a sled for dragging the rad-hog's corpse along with them.

The rains had stopped though, and the fog that obscured the night was beginning to lift. While the ground was still muddy, it was slightly easier to walk across it. That and the occasional strain of unicorn telekinesis made dragging the sled possible at all. They still had to go around each and every stony obstacle in their path, but true to Quickfire's word, there was a griffon mercenary outpost nearby.

Winter Bloom had never seen many griffons up close, and Quickfire had insisted that he be the only one to do any of the talking, so once again it was her job to keep her head down and stay out of the way.

Still, she couldn't help but smile and wave at a small group of griffons who had been watching her off to the side, apparently tasked with doing the same thing she was. One of them smiled back and more than one scowled, amongst other mixed reactions. After that, Winter Bloom endeavored to pass the time by carefully studying the patterns in the mud at her hooves.

As they left, saddlebags a little bit heavier with supplies, Winter Bloom looked back to see the griffons already getting to work carving up the beast. She didn't look back a second time.

No longer dragging a massive weight behind them, the group began covering ground at a casual pace. Quickfire and River Bolt kept right on chatting about nothing in particular, and Winter Bloom was surprised to find Summer Wish walking alongside her.

"Hey. I wanted to say thanks again for saving my flank last night." Summer Wish had a tired smile on her face as she spoke. "Its been a while since I've seen somepony jump in front of an oncoming train like that, and you pulled through without a scratch."

"Well, if Quickfire hadn't stepped in, it might have turned out differently." Winter Bloom looked down at the ground as the same confusing mix of pride and uneasiness welled up from her heart again.

"I suppose those two aren't completely useless. Most of the time though, I do the hard work, and Quickfire gets all the credit. I guess that's just how life goes, huh?"

"I'm not sure I want that kind of credit." It was only after she blurted it out that Winter Bloom wondered if she was leaving herself exposed by talking about feelings she didn't understand herself.

Summer Wish made a faint chuckle and shook her head. "Don't say that out loud then. The wasteland might be listening."

Winter Bloom and Summer Wish chatted for a while, the topic drifting to trivial past experiences, but it didn't take long for them to reach a rain swollen river at the border of Topaz's domain. The river made for an impressive natural barrier to anyone without wings, and they had to work their way along the riverbank until they came across an old pre-war bridge that was still mostly intact. After spending a long time watching for any signs of an ambush waiting on the other side, they crossed one at a time. Winter Bloom could feel the bridge swaying ominously under her hooves as it was battered by the flood waters, but it managed to hold together.

Once on the other side of the river, much to her surprise, the chatter from Quickfire and River Bolt died out, and they managed to look serious. Winter Bloom tried to follow Hazel's advice, and never stopped watching her surroundings, but as the day dragged on, she found it increasingly difficult to stay alert and focused. Occasionally her mind would drift back to the night before, and she would redouble her efforts, but it seemed that for a second day in a row, there was nothing to see.

The most exciting find of the day was a discarded tin can, which looked like it was only a few days old. Summer Wish still made a point to note when and where they found it, but with the recent rains, any hope of finding some tracks had been thoroughly washed away.

Daylight was bleeding fast as the recon party slipped through an underpass and started heading towards a nearby farmstead. Winter Bloom felt a wave of unease wash over her when she saw a light coming from inside the house. She looked to her companions, but none of them seemed very concerned. Quickfire looked the most anxious of the three, which wasn’t much, and Summer Wish looked away indifferently.

"Hey..." Winter Bloom spoke quietly, trying to get her companions' and no one else's attention. "I don't remember any settlements on our route, I think we might have taken a wrong turn."

"Just a little detour. Don't worry about it." Quickfire spoke in a more conversational tone. "As long as you don't do anything stupid, that is."

Summer Wish moved up alongside Winter Bloom and whispered in an almost resigned voice. "Whatever happens, just try to roll with it, alright? This'll be over before you know it."

Winter Bloom got the feeling that they were trying to be reassuring, but there was some unspoken subtext that she couldn't quite put her hoof on, and it ended up putting her even more on edge. The fact that everyone else calmly drew their weapons didn't help, and she quickly followed suit. The grip had a vaguely bitter, dusty tang, but the apparent looming danger pushed such trivial concerns aside. Not like there's anything in the wasteland that doesn't taste awful.

With every step towards the old, patched up farmhouse, the tension grew, and one horrible possibility after another ran through her mind. But when Quickfire opened the door with a flare of unicorn magic and casually walked inside, the most horrifying fears faded away. Though no longer worried that some monster might be waiting for them inside, she still couldn't shake the feeling that something was still very wrong.

The four ponies quietly filed into a sparse, but clearly lived in entryway, then spread out as they moved into the living room. A single earthpony stallion sat on a patched up old sofa, and with old steely eyes, he stared at Quickfire contemptuously.

"I was wondering when you'd show up next, Quickfire." The stallion spoke in a measured tone, but a hint of anger worked its way into his voice anyways. "Still alive and kicking, I see."

"Don't get your hopes up Iron Sight, I'm not planning on going anywhere anytime soon, and since you aren't either, I expect you to make good on our deal." Quickfire spoke with the same false sincerity that Winter Bloom saw earlier, when he was dealing with Hazel, making the two ponies' dislike for each other clear.

Winter Bloom took a step back, trying not to freeze up, get in anypony's way, or otherwise mess everything up like she was warned against. She turned her head to Summer Wish pleading for help with her eyes, but before she could open her mouth to say anything, Summer Wish cut her off with a stern glare and a slow, deliberate shake of her head.

When Quickfire called out her name, it was a jolt of electricity. "Winter Bloom, you can handle yourself in a fight. Why don't you keep an eye on him while we look around? Make sure he doesn't try anything. Don't let his looks fool you either, he's a tricky one."

She hastily nodded and the other three ponies split up, working their way through the house. Quickfire rummaged around the living room for a little while, searching under and inside furniture for something, while Iron Sight tried tried talking him out of it, though his voice was too angry to be pleading. "I'm telling you, I've got nothing."

"Then you won't mind us taking a look around, will you?" Quickfire made one final jab before walking into the kitchen.

Alone in the living room with a total stranger, Winter Bloom found Iron Sight's baleful stare directed squarely at her. It felt as if a physical weight were pressing against her, and she had to remind herself to push back, standing up tall and holding her ground. I can't just move out of everypony's way forever. I have a responsibility to... well, maybe they're my friends. They're helping me.

Winter Bloom held her lance at the ready, but uncertainty was still written across her face. The sounds of something being overturned upstairs caught her attention and with it came a realization. Are we... Are we robbing this pony?

"You've already taken everything else..." Iron Sight leveled the accusation straight at Winter Bloom. "What is there left to take? Are you going to take my life, or just leave me for the wasteland to finish off?"

"I'm really not trying to..." Winter Bloom tried to speak, but her words were badly muffled by the grip held between her jaws.

Before she had the chance to try again, River Bolt's voice called out from a nearby room, "I found it! A false panel in the bottom drawer."

Winter Bloom turned her head for a split second, and in that moment, Iron Sight lunged from his seat, straight at her. Moving reflexively, she turned her head and bit down on the grip. The tip of her magical energy lance sparkled to life with a neon pink glow, and sank deep into her attacker's chest. Anger mixed with pain as his eyes went wide, and then lost their focus entirely. Winter Bloom pulled back, trying dislodge her lance and get some distance. But as soon as he was no longer propped up, Iron Sight crumpled to the ground, and the smell of burnt flesh assaulted Winter Bloom's nose.

Loosening her grip on the lance, the tip winked out with a sizzle of vapor, but she held its sharp point out in front of her cautiously. Iron Sight didn't move though, didn't even breath in or out. She stared in disbelief, and before the fatal implication had a chance to sink in, whether it was seconds or minutes she wasn't sure, Quickfire and River Bolt walked back into the living room.

"What was that you were saying about not having..." Quickfire's triumphant speech trailed off as he surveyed the scene, but instead of looking dismayed, his smug grin made a comeback. "Daaaamn. You really bucked him up. Did he try to run, or pull some kinda trick, what’d he do?"

Winter Bloom couldn't find her voice, so she simply nodded along with Quickfire's last guess, replaying that moment over again in her head. If I hadn't looked away...

River Bolt slapped a hoof across Winter Bloom's withers and chuckled, "That's what you get when you mess with us. Course, no one ever learns."

The sudden jolt brought Winter Bloom back to reality and she carefully slipped the lance back into place under the strap of her saddlebag, giving her a chance to talk without a grip in the way. Winter Bloom felt a nervous smile creep onto her face unbidden as it became clear that everyone else in the room seemed happy about the unexpected turn of events. "Yeah, heh. I guess."

"Well, we got what we came for, but now that this old nag isn't around to complain..." Quickfire gave Iron Sight's corpse a little nudge with one hoof, and Winter Bloom felt her stomach lurch to see the way it flopped limply onto its side. "...we might as well help ourselves to the rest. Take whatever you like."

"I think I'll go look around outside..." Winter Bloom didn't wait for a response before turning and heading back out into the twilight.

Moving unsteadily, she tried to banish the memory of the accusing look in his eyes, the pained faraway stare, and she realized she couldn't tell if she was remembering his eyes, or her parent's. What color were they?

She had only just made it around the corner of the farmhouse when her stomach lurched again and she was forced to stop. Moments later, she painted the dirt outside the now abandoned home with all that was left of her dinner.

The urge to run pressed at the back of her thoughts, but a heavier weight held her in place. The feeling wasn't like loss, she had lost enough friends and family to know that, although it threatened to overwhelm her all the same. Whatever it was, it hurt, and she knew she wanted the feeling to go away. This has to be a dream. There's no way this is real. Please, let me wake up. Wake up.

Before she could compose herself, she felt the presence of somepony standing behind her. Wiping her mouth with a foreleg, she turned to see Summer Wish watching her with an expression that might have been sympathetic, if it wasn't also disappointed.

"It'll get easier for you, trust me." Summer Wish looked down at Winter Bloom, but there was a gentleness in her voice. "You've got to try to get used to it. If you don't, well... You're a nice pony, and this world isn't kind to nice ponies. I know."

Winter Bloom turned away, unable to look her in the eye. "How? How am I supposed to that?"

"I don't know, maybe you can tell me once you figure it out." Summer Wish shrugged and turned to leave. "Just remember, it's us or them out here."

Standing alone, Winter Bloom eventually found the strength to move again, but since she had nowhere to go, she just walked back to the front of the farmhouse and waited.

Winter Bloom stared up towards the sky and the setting sun. That was what her parents called it anyways, but it didn't look anything like the sunsets she read about in the old books. Somewhere beyond those clouds was a great, warm disk of the purest light, but all the could see was an intimation. If it didn't light up the sky, it might as well have been a shadow, for all anyone on the ground could tell.

It didn't feel right to her. Nothing felt right. Sitting outside on her own, more or less, the certainty that gave her focus the morning prior was as obscured as the sun. Is this really my destiny, or is there something else that I'm supposed to be? Is there a better world out there, just beyond the clouds, or am I just kidding myself?

She turned her head to look at her cutie mark, but stopped herself. What am I thinking? Nothing's changed, and it's covered up anyways.

"Alright, we want to get back across the river before we camp for the night, so lets make some tracks." Quickfire caught Winter Bloom's attention as he pushed his way through the front door, and the others followed close behind.

Leaving the farmhouse behind, the group of ponies worked their way back to Topaz's territory. Once again Winter Bloom fell into a monotonous pace. Once again, the journey proved uneventful, and once again, she tried to focus on keeping track of her surroundings. But the memory she was trying to avoid was very different than the one she left Shattered Hoof with.

Hazel was gone by the time Winter Bloom got back to Shattered Hoof, and bringing dinner to Tail Wind was a short and awkward effort. Winter Bloom tried to put on a smile, but the whole time she felt like Tail Wind was looking past her facade, watching and judging.

After exchanging pleasantries, she made up an excuse to leave, and that was how she ended up in the mess hall with a little tin cup of apple whiskey in front of her.

"Hey, there you are!" Rosebud had a great big grin on her face as she sat down next to Winter Bloom. "Celebrating your big win, eh? Everypony's talking about it, you know."

"Heh, yeah right. More like Quickfire's enjoying the sound of his own voice, I bet."

"You can believe whatever you want." Rosebud turned up her nose in mock indignance. "If you ask me, you should seize the moment. You're much too humble for your own good."

A part of Winter Bloom wanted to set the record straight, wanted to explain how she really felt, but her drink left her with a warm and comforting feeling, like an old blanket, and for the moment her concerns felt small and far away. Instead, she just shook her head gently and took another sip. When she turned toward Rosebud to reply, she spotted Misty Blue and Chase walking in their direction, and she braced herself.

"Don’t think you’re anything special, and don’t think you have to like it." Misty Blue didn't pause, she just said her piece and kept right on walking.

"What was all that about?" A suddenly confused Chase asked as he followed Misty Blue to the far side of the mess hall.

"I guess ponies really are talking about it." Winter Bloom could hear the resignation in her own voice as if someone else was talking, as she turned back to her drink.

"Hey, don't get all mopey on me now." Rosebud gave Winter Bloom a playful jab to the shoulder, "This is a good thing. Seriously, I'm a little bit jealous. Being able to kick flank and take names, that'll win anypony respect."

"Respect, huh." Winter Bloom looked at her now empty cup and moved to stand up. "I'm getting another, you want anything?"

"Oh, no you don't. You're the one celebrating here, the next round is on me."

Winter Bloom and Rosebud's celebration when on into the night, growing in size as River Bolt and Summer Wish showed up, and growing in volume as the drinks piled up. As the night went on, her concerns slowly fell by the wayside, but even the jokes and the laughter didn't banish them completely.

Author's Note

The line between slice of life and adventure seems a little bit blurry in a setting where daily life can involve life or death struggles.