The stream's gentle murmer filled the silence between them until the young mare called out across the glade. "It's me, Apple Bloom."

Silver didn't react at first, save to calmly breath in the scents of the woods. Bloom was beginning to find the silence awkward by the time he replied. "Whatcha doing heah, Apple Bloom?"

"Ah saw ya were headin through the south field, and ah wanted to see what ye were up ta?" She cringed. It sure sounded stalker-ish when she heard it said out loud.

Silver Slash's voice wasn't harsh, but there was a challenge in it. "Why ya caeh what I'm up ta?" he didn't open his eyes.

"Me'n the girls, we've got a club. Cutie Mark Crusaders, ya remember? It's what we do ta find our destiny, an' get our cutie marks. We were thinkin of invitin ya ta join." Finding a bit more confidence in her words, the young mare took another hesitant step into the clearing. "So what are ya doin?" she pressed.

"Listening."

Apple Bloom cocked her head, focusing on the sounds of the forest. She heard the song of a far off tern, the soft susurrus of a distant breeze through the canopy above, and the gentle burbling of the stream below his perch. "To the stream?" she ventured a guess.

At last Slash opened his eyes, and turned the blue orbs to regard her with a cold gaze. "I don't needta be in yer club."

"Why not?"

"Because ah already know mah destiny." He got his hooves under him and rose gracefully. "Don't need a cutie mark fah that."

"Whatcha mean? Even if yer right, why not join the club anyway? We have lotsa fun."

The colt cracked his neck, stretching muscles made stiff by his period of silent contemplation and took a step in her direction. It reminded Apple Bloom uncomfortably of his stance on the school field the other day. "Probably not my idea of fun." He was ambling in her direction now, at an unhurried but resolute pace.

"Leave." There was an unstated threat in the colt's tone. He clearly resented her intrusion, and Bloom again felt like she'd interrupted something deeply personal by following him out here. But her sister had taught her not to quail in the face of adversity, and she stood her ground even as he approached.

"Why ya gotta do that? Ya think pushin ponies around'll get ya what ya want?"

Slash shrugged. "Ah like ta fight, and I'm good at fightin."

"Everypony's so afraid of ya, and yer hard case act... Ya'll only push everyone away. Ain't it lonely?"

She saw his eyes tighten and glare went from cool to icy. He practically growled his response. "It's no act, filly. And ah don't needja or anyone else dragging me down." The distant tern had finished his song, and thought better of starting a new one in the midst of the confrontation.

"Friends ain't a thing that drags ya down. Friends lift ya up, and make ya better."

Silver Slash's only response was a contemptuous snort.

He was now practically muzzle to muzzle with her, and she had to fight her instincts not to back up to get some distance. Instead she stepped forward, closing the remaining distance between them before he could. "Well, if you like fightin so much, how about you an me have a tussel? You win, and me'n the girls leave ya alone. But if ah win, you gotta join the crusaders."

He laughed, but she spotted a gleam in his eye that she knew meant he was interested. "This is stupid. Ya really that eagah ta get thrashed?"

Apple Bloom regarded her classmate with an unimpressed glare, which he answered with a shrug. "Suit yahself, filly. Come on, ah got a place we can throw down."

He turned away from her and trotted downstream a bit, to an old trunk fallen across the flowing water to form a makeshift bridge. It was slick with moisture and moss, with eddies swirling in a deep, dark pool on one side where it had dammed the flow. On the far side, the water was shallow and swift, and the sandy bottom could clearly be seen.

Slash hopped up confidently and crossed to the other side, before turning to face her. "Rules are, stay on the log. Other than that, nothin."

Apple Bloom climbed onto the log and took a moment to shift back and forth on her hooves. It seemed plenty stable, though it wasn't wide enough for her liking. This wouldn't be a fight with a lot of maneuvering, but in many ways that would play to her strengths. The colt may be bigger than her, but years of backbreaking labor on the farm had honed Bloom's muscles to peak efficiency, and she was no slouch when it came to channeling her magic for an extra boost either.

Nor was she entirely untrained either. One of the many things the trio had tried in the search for their marks had been the martial arts, working with her sister's friend Rainbow Dash. The brash wonderbolt excelled at combat sports, as she did with practically every other sport. The cloudominium had a spacious trophy room with her tournament awards mixed in with flying ones, according to Scootaloo.

But whatever her personal skill, Dash proved to be an ineffective teacher. The crusade for martial arts cutie marks ended with no cutie marks and three bruised and exhausted fillies. Only Bloom had stuck around for lessons after the first, and now she was glad she had. She'd probably never get her cutie mark in it but she enjoyed the challenge, and Dash never failed to work her into a sweat.

She stooped low, into one of the familiar stances she and Rainbow Dash had practiced, one which emphasized stability and reaction.

It didn't seem to impress her opponent. He'd had a lot more practical experience than her formal training amounted to. "So yah one of those ponies thinks some neighponese threads and a colored belt make ya a fighter, huh?" he sniffed dismissively.

"Hearin a lotta talkin, not seein any fightin." she taunted.

Author's Note

Another action scene coming up next time! Stay tuned!