The Brothers Don't

"Sounds like... timberwolves..." Macintosh hummed in his sleep.

"They're back already," said Flash Sentry. He stepped closer to their crate of weapons.

Shining Armor held up his hoof at a right angle. "The shield will hold, Soldier. Do not engage."

Flash twitched. "Shouldn't we be prepared in case it doesn't hold, Captain?"

"Don't go paranoid on me, Sentry."

More howls interrupted them, closer than before. The team spun their heads in every direction, waiting to catch sight of the wolves through Shining's translucent dome.

"Zecora, can you tell how many there are?" Shining asked.

Zecora sat cross-legged and closed her eyes. "Along with those that came before, surrounding us are many more."

"Eeeyhheeehhhh..." Flash Sentry dove for the weapons and scooped up a pair of short blades in his wingtips. "What do we do without Mac?"

"The shield will hold," Shining Armor said again.

Spitfire crouched, wings poised for takeoff.

Big Macintosh stirred in his cot. "Time for... zap apple jam..."

A hundred pairs of glowing yellow eyes appeared in the snowstorm beyond the shield. They grew larger and brighter with every prowling step the winter wolves took.

"Eee-hee-heeeee!" Flash Sentry squealed. "That's a lot more than the five that took down Big Mac, Captain!"

"At ease, Soldier! We're safe in here. My shields have held off worse."

"Captain Armor, my help you're needing," Zecora said, opening her eyes from the trance. "I sense your ribcage may be bleeding."

"Huh?" Shining looked down at his stinging side. Blood was dripping through a cut in his armor. "Horseapples... I knew one of them got me."

"Captain?" Spitfire said in a worried tone.

"We're dead!" Flash croaked, bouncing on his hooves. "We're all gonna die!"

Shining Armor stopped Zecora with an outstretched hoof. "I'm fine. Let me concentrate on this shield."

Zecora gave him a stern look. "The wolves of snow will not depart before a deadly battle starts. If we are e'er to send them home, we must fight back and leave this dome."

Shining breathed deeply. Spitfire gulped. Flash Sentry almost fainted.

"All right, patch me up," Shining said. He untied and shook off his armor for Zecora to apply ointment and bandages to the cut.

"Shouldn't we wait for Big Mac?" Flash asked.

Shining Armor looked at his large, red friend drooling by fire. "He already saved us today," he said, staring down the winter wolves outside. "Time to return the favor."