The Brothers Don't

"Strong" was not a word that well described Zephyr Breeze. Though he wrapped his forelegs around Shining Armor's chest and pumped his wings to slow their fall, his lack of physical strength and flying expertise resulted in a rather rough—though far from deadly—landing. The deep mountain snow certainly helped.

Shining pushed Zephyr away as soon as he could and flopped onto his back, breathing hard while staring at the white sky and trying hard to gather any clear or useful thought in his mind.

Zephyr Breeze flicked snow out of his mane and looked at the distant mountain where the aircraft had crashed. "They're... probably fine, right?" he asked.

Though he tried to calm it, Shining's thumping heartbeat would not slow down. If anything, Zephyr's words somehow sped it up past the falling to my death rate.

Scrambling wildly in the deep, shifting snow, Shining twisted himself onto his hooves. His mane was wet and hanging in front of his eyes and his breath shot from his nostrils in thick vapors.

"I swear to the Sun, Moon, and Stars," Shining Armor growled, "if any of them are dead, you'll be next."

Zephyr gulped and pointed at the mountain. "Do you want me to go check, or?"

Shining dove at him. Zephyr tried to fly away, but immediately dropped into the snow with a bleating howl of pain. "Aaahhh-ha-haaa, oh, my wing!" He turned his head and regarded his right wing with a frightened, pale expression. "It's broken! Look at it! It's broken, Shiny!"

Shining Armor grabbed the strangely angled wing between his hooves. "Don't call me Shiny!" he screamed, and twisted it at the main joint.

Zephyr howled in pain and rolled around in the snow as Shining backed away. "Oh Celestia, why? Sweet, sweet Celestia, why would you do that to me?"

Shining rolled his eyes. "It was just dislocated, Zephyr. I popped it back into place."

Zephyr blinked and checked his wing again. It looked normal, if a little bruised. "Oh, yeah. Look at that."

"It's probably sprained, though. You won't be able to fly for a while." Shining closed his eyes and lit his horn, forming wide pink disks under each of his hooves. He began to trot over the snow, and while his progress was slow he didn't sink into it.

"Hey, where are you going?" Zephyr asked. "You can't leave me here at the summit, brother! I'm like a sitting duck, except ducks can still fly if they get the gumption!"

"We need to reach the crash site and regroup," Shining said. "Follow me."

Zephyr nodded. "Right, right, of course, right behind ya. Uhhh..." He lifted his lanky legs one by one and shuffled through the deep snow. "Any chance I could get some of those rad magicky snowshoes you conjured up there?"

Shining didn't answer. Shivering, Zephyr hopped along behind him.