The Brothers Don't

"Your turn, Zecora," wheezed Flash Sentry. "I can't hold him up any longer."

Zecora nodded. She allowed Flash to scramble out from Macintosh's side before tucking herself under his foreleg. Flash stretched out his wings and flew a few circles in the open air. They had passed through the storm and continued marching north behind Shining Armor.

"It's thanks to you we journey yet. Your bravery we'll not forget," Zecora said, quiet enough that only Macintosh could hear.

He smiled sadly. "Thanks, Zecora. Glad you came along. Feels like there's a bit o' home out here."

Zecora blushed. "How very kind of you to tell. At times I feel a stranger still."

"In Ponyville?" Macintosh asked. He bumped her with his hip. "Nah. I heard AJ call you a staple in the community. Couldn't agree more."

Zecora bowed to hide a growing smile. She simply nodded, and that was enough.

"Now that it's clear, do I have permission to scout ahead, sir?" Spitfire asked Shining Armor.

"After that lightning trick you pulled on the winter wolves, I figure I owe you one free pass for just about anything you want, Spitfire," said Shining. "Go ahead. Be back in five or less."

Spitfire grinned and saluted in midair. She took off farther north and soon vanished from their sight. The frozen tundra seemed to stretch on forever without a mountain range in sight.

"Do you think we're almost to the Ice Dragon Craters, Captain?" asked Flash.

"No idea. I certainly hope so," Shining said. They marched on.

Spitfire returned quickly. "The Craters are just ahead, Captain," she said with tilted eyebrows, "but they're completely empty. No Ice Dragons."

Shining stomped a hoof in the snow. "Darn it. We don't really need them, but it would have been nice to understand this place a little better."

"Where do you think they went?" Flash asked Spitfire.

She shook her head. "I look around, but... there are no tracks, nothing left behind, no trace of them at all. I mean, I've never been here before, obviously, so I don't know what it's supposed to look like, but... aren't they supposed to live at the bottom of the Craters?"

"Definitely," said Shining. "Twilight asked Dragon Lord Ember all about them. I read through the reports; their ancestors made the Craters with their own fire, and over the generations they evolved into Ice Dragons. I can't think of any reason they would leave their home. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

Shining's eyes narrowed as he gazed into the north. "Unless the invaders attacked them on their way south."

All were quiet.

"So..." Flash Sentry shivered. "So the invaders are from that far north? Princess Twilight and her friends are... wherever they come from?"

"Maybe," said Shining. "We can't be sure. All we can do is press on." He looked at Spitfire hovering above him. "I'm sorry that we slow you down, but I still think its best for us to stick together."

"I agree," Spitfire said, landing. "If whatever's up there can take out an entire race of dragons... I'd rather not find it alone."