My hooves crunched through the snow as I followed behind Chief Misting Ice. All around us swirled the endless blizzard, but not a flake fell on our heads. The bubble of perfect calm dutifully followed the old buffalo and he lead the way. It had been several minutes since we left the crystal hideout, and I was still reeling at the display of absolute power. The memories of hanging limp and useless between my friends after I tried the same thing were still vivid. “I sense your confusion, Sleet Gray.” The buffalo said. “What troubles you?”

“I’m…” I could barely take my eyes off the dome of calm, but managed to look at him. “I’m still just shocked that you are managing this. When I woke up this morning I didn’t even know buffalo existed, let alone that you had magic. Now you casually perform a feat that nearly killed me to even attempt.”

Misting Ice nodded. “You are strong, young pegasus, but…” He stopped speaking when I started snickering. “Did I say something amusing?”

I coughed and forced the sardonic smile from my face. “No, it’s just, I’m not strong. Not at all. You are though, incredibly so, and to hear you call me as such was…” He had stopped walking, which I didn’t notice until I bumped into him. Looking up, I took an unconscious step back at his loaded gaze. “It was…darkly humorous.” I finished lamely.

I couldn’t puzzle out what he was looking at me for. Was it anger? Disappointment? Pity? No, I knew what those looked like, this was something else. Something inquisitive. “And why do you think you aren’t strong?” He asked, starting to walk again.

Following behind, I answered. “I’ve always been weak, physically. I can’t throw a punch, I can’t run without wanting to die from exhaustion, and I can’t fly quickly. All I’ve ever had going for me was being clever, and sometimes I even question that.”

“Strength is more than the force in one’s arm and the weight they can carry on their back, Sleet Gray. You say you attempted to calm the blizzard, what were the results?”

“I managed to stop it from snowing in about a five foot radius, but I couldn’t move. Trying to take a step and bring the calm with me broke something in my head. My nose started bleeding and I collapsed.” I shook my head. “I was unable to even get on my own hooves for the longest time after that. My friends had to carry me.”

“You ceased the storm?” He ask, sounding shocked.

“Yes,” I said, confused “isn’t that what you did?”

“Touch our little bubble, where calm ends and storm begins.” He instructed. I did so, and was nearly blow off my hooves by the force. “What the Hell?” I yipped, forgetting politeness as I jumped backwards.

What was keeping the storm off of us was an incredibly fast moving barrier of wind. Touching it had nearly shorn off my fetlock it was so intense. “To calm the storm even in a small area would be far beyond my abilities. Instead, I beseeched the spirits to shield us with the winds, both to ward off the storm and hinder the sight of the beasts that stalk the snow.”

Of course, now that I thought about it what he was saying may perfect sense. Rather than force the fire to die down for you, wear an asbestos suit. I sighed, feeling like an idiot. “Leave it to me to do things the hard way.”

“Hard, yes. But the fact that you performed even slightly is impressive. Perhaps you could show me?”

“If I did I’d be nearly crippled by the strain!” I protested. “In the best case scenario you’d have to carry me to this meeting. Worst…” I shuddered, not even wanting to think about worst.

“I have faith that your fears will not come to pass.” Misting Ice said easily. “I sense great strength in you, Sleet Gray, but if you never test that strength you will never realize it.”

I looked up at the storm raging outside the little bubble and swallowed hard. “Alright…alright I’ll give it a shot.”

Misting Ice raised his hoof and stomped, the bubble popping with it. Immediately the roar of the storm consumed us and I lost sight of the great white buffalo. Panic gripped my heart at how quickly I was left alone, but I forced myself to calm down. Spreading my wings, I closed my eyes and reached out with my talent. The great raging turbine of the storm hovered over me like a terrible beast. My spirit quailed at how tiny I was compared to it, but I knew now wasn’t the time to back down.

I decided I’d try a new approach in my effort to calm the storm. Last time I tried to force it to spread its energy thin so as to calm the area directly above me. Now I was going to try something similar to what Misting Ice had done. I was going to metaphysically “cordon off” where we were standing. Theoretically, it would cut off a circle of the storm from whatever “battery” was keeping it going. It would be like pulling a burning log out of a bonfire and leaving in to go out by itself. The rest of the bonfire would burn, but that log would be used up.

Gently flapping my wings, I mentally drew a five-foot wide circle around myself and sealed it tight. Pouring energy through my wings, I felt the storm resist my efforts. The circle was battered relentlessly, both inside and out as the storm tried to break free. It was a tremendous effort to keep the circle secure, barely five seconds had passed before sweat started running down my forehead. Ten before my skull felt like splitting open.

Still, I could feel it working. The storm within the circle was slowing, losing its power just as I planned. Slowly, I opened my eyes. Every muscle in my body was wire-tight and shaking as I slowly looked up. Snowflakes fell gently on my upturned face, burning cold as they felt on my feverish head. “There…I…did it…” I grunted through my clenched teeth. “Now…remake…your spell…I can’t…hold it…”

Misting Ice stomped his hoof and I felt the wind suddenly shift. The battering on my circle of calm abated as the storm was pushed physically away from it. Still, I could maintain it no longer, and screamed as the spell shattered. I flopped onto my side, wings and legs splayed at crazy angles as I gasped for breath. I buried my face in the snow, desperate to cool off. I felt like I was just waking up from radiation poisoning again, overheated, clammy, and barely whole.

The snow crunched as Misting Ice walked over to me. Painfully, I managed to lift my head and stare at him. “See?” I wheezed. “Nothing.”

“No,” he said “I do not see.” He offered a hoof, which I took, groaning as I stood. “What you just did was exceptional for one of your race. To have such fine control over the weather without having to touch a cloud. I have never heard of such a thing.”

My legs wobbled underneath me, but I managed to stand. Touching a wingtip to my temple in a vain attempt to ease the headache, I said. “Fat lot of good it ended up doing. I couldn’t even maintain it.”

The great buffalo rumbled in thought before setting off again. “Come, I will tell you a story while we walk.”

“In the time before the War, the Tribe Hidden in the Ice went by a different name. We were Esat-Tsanh Tkin, the Frozen Listeners. Back then, we did not often speak with the spirits, choosing instead to listen, and follow the paths they whispered. We lived in harmony with the land, and though it was difficult to survive, the spirits never led us astray. Even when the War began, and the violence of pony and zebra began to tear the land, we remained unaffected. We believed that, being so far from any conflict, we would be safe.

“We were mistaken.

“Leading the tribe was a council of thirteen shaman. All of them members of a proud lineage with deep connections to the spirits. They were the ones who listened, and who lead us on our never ending journey in the North. Through them, we heard stories of the plight of other lands. The Heartland, turned into an industrial machine. The Zebra Plains, peppered with bodies that rotted under the sun. The sea and skies between the two, choked by the byproducts of hate and fear.

“We heard these tales and arrogantly believed ourselves separated, that when the Final Day came, we were unprepared. The Thirteen were simultaneously awoken one night by terrible visions of the world devoured in flames. Many did not want to believe such a thing was possible, but the spirits had never been wrong before. Panic began to spread through the tribe as the End came swiftly upon us. Desperate to save themselves and their people, the Thirteen came to a rash decision.

“You see, the thing that had always separated how ponies and the buffalo interact with the world is that, were you demand, we ask. Ponies break the earth, bend sea and sky, and even reshape the stars to fit their liking. Buffalo coax with gentle words, and where we are ignored, we simply leave the place to itself. But on that day, as the fear of annihilation tainted our hearts and minds, we too demanded.

“The Thirteen came together and spoke as one, ordered protection from the spirits of the North. When the spirits didn’t listen, we ordered again, and again, and again, too scared to see reason. Eventually, as clouds of malefic fire began spreading all about the horizon, one spirit listened.

“A mighty Lord of Ice, a Primordial of terrifying strength, ripped forth from its home in a gale of ice and wind. The entirety of the tribe was struck blind by the magnificence of the Lord. So great was its power that the dread fires the Thirteen had been warned of dissipated before its howl. Though the lands to the South and the Crystal Empire were destroyed, the tundra we called home was safe.

“As quickly as it began, the End faded away. The world settled into ash, save the tribe’s home. The Thirteen made to thank the great Lord, but were shocked to find their voices could not reach its ears. The Lord continued to rage, the storm never abating. The Thirteen begged and pleaded, but they couldn’t be heard. The fires had ravaged the world, and the Lord could not find its way home.

“The Lord turned its anger on the ones that had trapped it here, cursing the tribe. Their fur, once brown as the earth below their hooves was bleached white, and they were forever damned to wander the storm. The tribe had thought themselves safe, separated from all the cares of the world.

“And they were never more right.”

Misting Ice fell silent as he completed his story, looking at me as we walked. After a moment of contemplation, he spoke again. “Do you understand the fault of my ancestors?”

“They were arrogant.” I said, rubbing my chin with a wing. “They believed they could control forces that were beyond them.” I made a noise of exasperation, shaking my head. “But what does that have to do with me? I already know everything is beyond me!”

“That is the problem, Sleet Gray.” He said. “The Thirteen ignored their limitations and brashly tried to go beyond them. You do not even acknowledge the limitations you have, choosing to ignore them by calling yourself weak. You are the other side of their coin, and if you do not strive further, it will be your downfall.”

I had no easy response to that, instead choosing to walk in silence. Was I stronger than I thought? Of course not! How could I be? Sure I had taken on tasks that were beyond me, but I was relying on help from others far more competent than I to get them done. I was nothing more than a catalyst, something that brought the relevant pieces together and told them were to go. If I was still in the Enclave, I’d be the equivalent of a relay officer. Just cause I can tell ponies to do things doesn’t mean I can do so myself. How could this mighty buffalo think I was strong? How could anyone?

My musing was cut short as we came upon our destination. The buffalo camp was as ghostly as the beings that inhabited it. Encircled in a much larger bubble of calm than the one we carried with us, tents made of thick hide covered in white fur were painted with swirling symbols in a variety of colors. It was almost as if I’d stepped back in time and found myself in a field of flowers, the petals blowing all around me. “Wow…” I whispered, unable to say much else.

“We have survived in the blizzard for over two hundred years. Though our connection with the spirits has been weak, we know where to look for what we need.” Misting Ice explained, walking amidst the tents. I could just barely see other buffalo in the camp, bowing to their chief as he returned. “We make the tents from the hides of the beasts that stalk the snow, and paint them with plants carefully grown around the rare hot springs.”

“Hot springs? Then you’ve know Meltwater?”

“Indeed. We rarely enter the town itself, mostly we speak with Head-In-The-Clouds. She helps us grow herbs and food in exchange for what parts of the beasts we do not use.”

So that’s how Clouds was able to study the yeti. I thought. “Why do you call her that?”

Misting Ice chuckled light-heartedly. “She is a good pony, and brilliant, but her mind is as scattered as snowflakes in the wind. Only a few of us know your language, and that is the best way to translate hers to ours.” He stopped outside a relatively small tent and turned to me, all traces of levity gone from his face. “The one you must meet is in here. He asked me to send you in alone.” The giant buffalo stepped to the side of the tent’s entrance flap and nodded me in.

I had no idea who this person was, which bothered me. Usually if I had even the faintest idea of who I was going to talk to was, I could prepare what I was going to say. Right now though I was going in blind. “Did he mention what his name was?” I asked Misting Ice, only to find that somehow the giant had disappeared. Sighing, I squared my shoulders and stepped through the tent flap…

To find something flying at my face. Screaming, I leaped up to avoid the attack. Turning, I meant to fly through the flap and escape, but with a rush of wings my assailant got in front of me and shoved me away. Landing heavily, I tried to call for help. “Misting Ice! Hel-“ I was cut off as my attacker landed, dropping his weight onto my stomach and knocking the air out of me. Gasping for breath, I finally got a good look at him towering above me. He was made of two creatures, part bird and part cat, and was currently raising a talon above me. “Ar…Arterial…” I gasped, recognizing the tawny feathered griffon.

He grabbed my head with his talons, digging painfully into my scalp. “Hello again, Sleet Gray.” He growled, twisting my head to the side. He pressed his free talon against the throbbing artery in my neck. “Remember what I said as you were leaving?”

If you fail, or have tricked me, I will find you. “What are you talking about?” I asked hurriedly. “What have I done?” I gasped in pain as he slid his talon across my neck just hard enough to hurt. I could feel blood leaking out from the cut.

“Don’t fucking lie to me, Sleet Gray.” He growled. “You know what happened.”

“No! I don’t! I really don’t!” Goddesses how the Hell did this happen? Did Misting Ice not know? Did the “spirits” not warm him the fucking homicidal griffon wanted to kill me? “What are you even doing here?” I asked.

“Looking for you, obviously.” He said. “And what do you know? It worked.”

I swallowed and felt his talon ride on my throat. “You still haven’t told me what I’ve done.”

He was silent for a second. Then, I felt his weight leave me. He appeared just as quickly before me, glaring into my eyes. His talon never left my throat. “You’re a good liar Sleet Gray. I should have noticed that when you tricked me, should have let my brother rip your head off and hang it from the ceiling with your guts. Oh well…” His talons dug into my neck, positioned to tear out my esophagus. “Better late than…”

He never finished his sentence, because that was when the screaming outside started. Both Arterial and I froze in shock and traded glances, wondering what the Hell was going down. We received an answer when a mechanically-amplified voice called out, “COME OUT GRIFFON! WE KNOW YOU’RE HERE! FACE YOUR DEATH WITH SOME PRIDE, OR DO YOU WANT US TO KILL ALL THESE DIRT ROLLING SAVAGES UNTIL WE FIND YOU?”

Enclave. “Fuck…” I whispered, eyes wide with fear. “I’m dead.” I said dully, unable to blink. “Dead. Even if I survive you they’ll string me up. I have no way out…”

“Yeah, because you had nothing to do with them finding me.” Arterial growled.

“YOU HAVE THIRTY SECONDS, GRIFFON!”

“I didn’t you fucking idiot.” I said, still unable to speak in more than a terrified whisper. I think I looked at Arterial, but I wasn’t seeing much. “Don’t you see? Don’t you fucking see? I have nothing. No way of contacting them. How could I have told them you’re here?”

“TWENTY!”

“Fine, then prove it to me.” He said, hauling me to my hooves. “Take them down.”

“What?” I snapped before covering my mouth with a hoof. “Are you fucking crazy?” I hissed. “I can’t fight an Enclave hunting party!”

“Then I guess I have no choice but to use you as a hostage.” He said, grabbing me by my greatcoat’s collar. “Surely they won’t shoot me through one of their double agents.”

“No! No! No!” I stammered. “Fine! I’ll do it! Somehow, Celestia damn me, I’ll do it!” He let me go right as the Enclave soldier outside yelled again.

“TEN!” The crack of plasma fire was accompanied by a scream of pain. “WOOPS, TRIGGER SLIPPED! BETTER HURRY!”

I ground my teeth, hurriedly forming a plan. Despite being outnumbered and massively outgunned, I did have one thing going for me. While I couldn’t stop the storm, I could definitely work with it. Cantering to the back of the tent, I managed to force myself under it as the soldier counted down. “NINE, EIGHT, SEVEN…”

Finally back outside the tent, I closed my eyes, and spread my wings. “Sorry Misting Ice, gotta make things a little loud.” With a few quick flaps, I had a sizable flurry of snow blowing around me. Vaguely, I could feel the storm outside the bubble react to it, fighting harder to get in.
“SIX, FIVE, FOUR…”

“Oh shut up you pompous, cloud headed idiot!” I screamed, taking to the air as fast as I could go. Zipping around the tent, I dragged the flurry of snow behind me and quickly scanned the situation.
Five soldiers, all in power armor, stood in a circle with their backs to each other. Their weapons were pointed out at the buffalo who formed a rough ring of agitation around them. One female was desperately attending to a warrior with a hideous burn mark along his shoulder. The loud mouth with the megaphone in his helmet looked up at me, and I swear to the Goddesses I saw his eyes widen behind his lenses. “IT’S GRAY! TAKE HER DOWN, TAKE HER-“

His order was cut off and I directed the flurry right on their heads, driving snow into the group. I knew blind or no they had E.F.S. to track me, so I flew up instead of sideways to throw off the system. As I predicted, the hail of retaliatory plasma fire burned under me instead of into me. Stopping my flight for just a second, I free fell in order to concentrate and tighten the flurry on them.

Now, this trick would have gone fine for a skilled pegasus. Unfortunately, I am not one. Sure enough I was able to increase the snowstorm’s power and hold them down longer, but rather than gracefully regain my flight, I crashed into the ground. Desperately, I rolled to the side, praying I wouldn’t be disintegrated before I could get off the ground again.

I was, surprisingly, in luck. Loud Mouth ordered them to break the flurry while he fired on my position. The significant reduction in deathly plasma made my haphazard dodge much more effective. This came at the cost of my little flurry being dissipated by the collective efforts of the soldier. Now, though, I could see them and aim.

In my roll, I managed to pull out Black Powder. Lining up my sights, I fired as fast as my tongue would go. A few shots struck home, charring armor and even starting a few fires. Using the distraction, I kicked off the ground in another flurry of snow, doing everything in my power to throw off their aim.

“GET IN THE AIR! SURROUND HER!” Loud Mouth ordered, making my blood run cold. I had a better chance of seeing Celestia pole dance than outfly five trained Enclave soldiers. What I could conjure wasn’t enough to stop them, so I needed to add something bigger.

I flew straight up towards the “roof” of the calm. The swirling snow and ice outside was being stonewalled by the invisible wall of air. A spell of this size would be delicate, extremely so. Frankly, it was amazing the Enclave soldiers hadn’t broken it when they came into the camp. Probably because they didn’t want to.

Well, I did. When I reached the apex of the bubble, I twisted myself so I could thrust my wings through the wind wall. Mentally, I screamed one word, pouring all the energy I could into it. STOP!
The bubble popped and in came the blizzard.

Only because I was expecting was I able to brace myself against it and stay even. The Enclave soldiers had no such forewarning. The five figures were scattered like leaves in a twister. I only saw what happened to them because their matte black armor stood out against the white.

Two of them crashed together at high speed, their limbs tangling like string. Another plowed headfirst into the ground, his neck taking a decidedly unnatural angle. One more flew through a tent, knocking it down and twisting in the hide and rope. The last one was sent flying right at me.

Loud Mouth slammed into me, knocking both of us out of the sky. We landed heavily in the snow, falling apart on impact. “YOU…YOU BITCH…” He still had his megaphone on, amplifying his insults as he staggered upright. “I’LL TURN IN YOUR HEAD MYSELF!”

“I don’t think my brother would appreciate that.” I said, pumping my wings. Hovering upright, I drew the storm around us, turning everything white.

“WHERE ARE YOU?!” He bellowed, his voice tinny in the raging storm.

“What’s the matter? E.F.S. not working out for you?” I needed him mad. Mad was predictable. I allowed myself to be taken by the storm, blown hither and tither on winds of my making.

“MONSTER! FREAK! MURDERER! TRAITOR!” He kept screaming into the wind, randomly firing his plasma weapons.

Bolts of deadly green energy barely missed me, sending my heart into overdrive. I was in a winning position, but all he needed was one lucky shot. All I needed was a little more time, and a much colder storm. “B-B-BITCH….CCccCCcuntt…” His words were slurring, becoming stuttered as hypothermia set in. The bolts of plasma became more infrequent as I sapped his heat. Finally, they stopped altogether, and all I could hear was his ragged breathing.

Halting the onslaught, I had to suppress a relieved sigh as the strain of focusing the storm left me. Dropping to my hooves, I took up Black Powder in my mouth and strode towards the shivering, defeated soldier. “You lose.” I managed to say coherently around the gun grip, firing several times into his chest.

There was an audible CRACK as his chest plate shattered from the extreme heat change. The broken pieces dropped into the snow as the following shots burned holes into him. For a second, he swayed on the spot and I thought, crazily, that I had warmed him enough to attack. Then, he dropped down, dead.

I stood there, taking deep, cold breaths to try and calm the rising feeling in my chest. I failed to do so, and dropped Black Powder as I stumbled a few steps off to the side and vomited. My head felt clogged with a strange mix of excitement, disgust, weariness, and exultation. I was simultaneously thrilled I had triumphed in my encounter, and abhorred by what I had to do. Of all the things I’d done in the Wasteland, Loud Mouth was the first nonpsychotic pony I’d intentionally had a direct hoof in killing.

Part of me was amazed it took this long.

After taking a moment to compose myself, I took a bite of fresh snow, let it melt in my mouth, swirled and spat. I repeated the process several times until the taste of sick was gone from my tongue, either that or it was too numb to notice. By the time I was making my way back towards the gathered buffalo, the storm was receding again. My skull felt like powder; I needed to keep my wings pressed to the sides of it just so it didn’t feel like my brain was running out my ears.

As I stepped into the camp I came to the two soldiers who had collided. Their helmets had been torn off and their throats opened, splattering the white snow with red. Looking for the collapsed tent, I saw Arterial standing on his hindlegs as he hoisted the unconscious soldier by her scalp. The griffon dug his talons into her exposed throat and yanked. There was a sickening squelch as her neck was hollowed out.

I went over to him as he tossed the body down, trying not to gag on the smell of blood. “I thought you wanted me to kill them.” I said.

“I said ‘take them down’. You did that. Are you mad I stole your kill?” He held up the removed trachea and squeezed, blood running through his talons. I shook my head, swallowing hard. “I trust you removed the one who crashed into you?”

“Body is over there.” I said quickly, jerking my head in the general direction.

Arterial spread his wings and flapped away, still not trusting me. My eyes kept drifting to the corpse of the soldier, blood seeping into the hide of the tent. My stomach churned again and I had to turn away. “Damnit.”

Arterial was back almost immediately. He didn’t have the torn out throat with him anymore, I didn’t want to think why. “Well, look who stepped up.” My eyes stayed firmly locked on the snow, trying to lose myself in the white. “Hey.” He placed a talon under my chin and made me look up at him. “Cheer up now. You proved yourself to not be a dirty traitor. Now you won’t join these bastards. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“I didn’t want any of this.” I said firmly. “I do what I have to. If the Enclave want to destroy everything and I have to kill to stop them, I will.”

“Same thing.” He said, shrugging. “You want to save the world, so you have to kill. You just cut to the chase.” He snickered at my glare. “I’m not damning you for it. That’s a good way to think if you want to get anything done.” We both looked up at the sound of crunching snow. Misting Ice was approaching. “Guess you were right, Chief.” Arterial said. “She really isn’t my enemy.”

“Wait.” I said firmly, feeling my anger rise. I turned to Misting Ice and gave him my best withering glare, which was ultimately ineffective. “You knew? You knew he was going to try and kill me? You knew and didn’t warn me?”

He answered my question with another. “Did you need the warning?” I took a mental step back, shocked.

“Bu- Wh- OF COURSE! A bloodthirsty freaking griffon wanted to tear my throat out! How was I supposed to survive NOT KNOWING?!”

“But you did.” He said simply. “Otherwise you would not be here to be angry about it.”

“I….I…” My left eyelid spasmed.

“If it lessens your anger, know that I did my best to convince him he was mistaken. However, he would not be turned.”

“Not a day after I set her free so she could make the Enclave ‘burn’, they breach our mountain and start killing!” Arterial interjected, gnashing his beak angrily. “Forgive me for being just a little convinced I’d been tricked!”

“Wait,” what he said gave me something to focus on other than being angry. “The Enclave breached Talon?”

“Yes.” He said, voice low and dark. “I’m still not sure how, but they blew a sizable hole in the peak and started pouring down plasma on us. If I hadn’t been gathering supporters for that ill-advised little rebellion you made me start, I might have been the only one to get out.”

“I did not make you start anything! That would have been a seamless escape without any blame on you if your brother hadn’t interfered!” I said indignantly.

“Now we’re scattered all over the Wasteland, the ones that are alive anyway.” He continued, heedless of my interruption. “I don’t know if my family made it out or not, but I don’t think I’d want to find them anyway.”

“Ugh…” I sat in the snow and pressed my hooves against my forehead. “Great…more problems…”

“Like the dwellers above the clouds.” Misting Ice said, looking at the corpse of the soldier.

“Yeah…look I…” I had nothing, no excuse or white lie out. Maybe if my brain wasn’t such mush I could have come up with something, but I had no such luxury. Instead, I tried a tactic I hadn’t in a while, honesty. “I…lied about that. I apologize.”

“Do not be regretful. I knew from the moment I saw you that your origins came from above.”

I looked up at him disbelievingly. “How? How the Hell could you have possibly know? Other than, you know,” I spread my wings “these?”

“When Arterial came to us, I sensed his mission for vengeance. I eventually got him to tell me who he sought, and after learning about you, I consulted with the spirits…”

“Of course you did…” I muttered.

“Excuse me?” He asked.

I twitched. And of course he heard that! Oh well, honesty. “Look, I mean no disrespect when I say this, but I don’t exactly buy all this spirit business.” Misting Ice tilted his head, confused. “The Enclave aren’t a very spiritual people. We survived because of science and that’s what we trust. Even if I reject being a part of them, I was still raised by them.” I looked up at the clouds, formulating my next few words carefully. “I understand that you have magic, and magic I accept. Magic has rules, it can be understood. Spirits, though?” I shook my head. “From the way you’ve been talking, it sounds like the wind has thought.”

Rather than being offended, the giant buffalo merely laughed. “Well, yes, it does!”

I blinked once. “Huh?”

“Perhaps not to the knowledge of your science, but all things in this world have thought. The spirits are manifestations of the natural world, the ‘souls’ of the land, so to speak. Those souls have their own thoughts and wants and desires.”

“But…Then what about all the scientific advancements of society? Do they all mean nothing if we could have just asked?”

“No. Your science is your own way of understanding the spirits and how the world works. You call them scientific laws, whom do you believe enforces those laws?”

My eye twitched again and I was getting a slight throbbing just under my skull. “But nopony has ever seen ANY evidence of these things! Surely there had to be somepony who saw something!”

“Those who do not wish to see something never will. Even when presented with the most overwhelming evidence they will staunchly refuse to acknowledge that which they do not understand.”

I screamed in frustration and clutched my head in my hooves. “You surface people make no sense…”

Misting Ice merely laughed. “Tell me, how did you break the bubble of calm?”

“I used my magic to make it, that’s what I do!” I practically yelled. Pulling my greatcoat aside, I jabbed a hoof at my Cutie Mark. “That’s what this useless piece of shit says! I needed it to stop so I made it stop!”

The chief shook his head, still smiling. “You are a strange one. How about you try again, but this time ask instead of demand.”

I made a noise half way between a sigh and a growl, pulling myself to my hooves. “Oh fine! I’ll give it a shot. What do I do?”

“What you always do, only instead of demanding, ask.”

“Right, cause this’ll work.” I murmured sarcastically. Nevertheless I spread my wings and closed my eyes. I decided to try and make the bubble this time, maybe then I wouldn’t break myself in half (metaphysically). Alright ‘spirits’, I guess, help me out here. I thought, reaching out with a small amount of power. Can you…I don’t know…do the thing you do for Misting Ice? The air bubble thingy? Please?

I stood there, feeling like an utter fool for the longest time. A minute passed and I asked again. Another minute, another ask, still nothing. Oh come on! I’m asking nicely! Isn’t that what you want?
I felt a little gust of wind on my face. Snapping my eyes open, I saw a few flurries of snow whipping around my hooves in the rough shape of a circle. It was nothing more than that though. “Alright, who’s fucking with me?” I said angrily. Misting Ice and Arterial looked confused. I pointed to the little circle. “This is hardly what I was ‘asking’ for! I could do ten times as more in a quarter of the time if I just did it normally!”

“No one is creating that other than you and the spirits you asked for aid.” Misting Ice said with utter confidence. “For one who has never before trained in shamanism, this is quite impressive. You show great potential, Sleet Gray.”

There he went again, describing me in ways that weren’t true. “Yeah, whatever you say.” I said dully, sitting down again and rubbing my head.

The chief laid a hoof on my shoulder. “Give it time, Sleet Gray. You will know your true strength, one day.” He turned and started walking away. “Now, please excuse me. I must see to my people and aid the injured. Your friends will arrive soon.”

After he left, Arterial turned to me. “So, what’s the plan?”

I blinked, confused. “Plan, what do you mean ‘plan’?”

“To deal with the Enclave? What are you going to do?” I thought about how best to explain it, and started laughing. “What? What’s so funny?” I was laughing harder and harder, until I finally fell on my back and started rolling in the snow. “Gray, I’m being serious here! What’s your plan?”

I wiped away tears and managed to gasp out words. “O-oh (hehehe) you know…nothing special. Just gonna betray a stupid powerful evil shadow pony with a fucking (hahaha!) army at his command! Then (hehehe) I’m going to just fire up an ancient kingdom that’s been cooking in rads for two hundred years and use the light it generates to change the Enclave’s mind en masse! No big deal!” I heaved a huge sigh and let my laughter peter out. Having him ask had made me think about what I was doing for the first time. I wasn’t lying to convince someone to help me or flying by the seat of my flank just to survive, I had to explain it. And explaining it made me see just how ridiculous it was, and how utterly screwed I was. “Oh holy shit I’m so fucked...” I watched the sky above for a few minutes while Arterial contemplated what I said. “So, why do you ask?”

“Because I’d like to know what I’m getting into. And while I don’t like it, I’ll still do it.”

I raised my head up to stare at him, snow falling from my mane. “What?” I asked flatly.

“I’m joining you.” He answered equally flatly. “I have no home to return to. Working with you is the best way to rectify that, or at least get some revenge.”

“No.” I said. “No, no, no, no!” As I repeated myself, I rolled onto my stomach and raised up on my forelegs. “Enough people are risking their lives for me, even just tangentially! I have a hard time sleeping at night thinking about those who directly get into harm’s way on my account! I’m not adding another to that list!”

“Well that’s just too bad.” He said, walking towards one of the tents. “C’mon. We’ll draw up a contract while we wait for the buffalo to get moving. This cold it killing me.”

I watched him for a second before my legs gave out and I collapsed face first into the snow.

“Fuck.”
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Footnote: EXP gained!
Quest perk: Buffalo Shaman (Rank 1). You’ve received basic instructions in how to talk to the spirits of the world and get their help. Reduces the strain and power usage of weather-manipulating spells by 10%. This perk and Zebra Witch Doctor are mutually exclusive

Author's Notes:

Skin of my teeth, its out on time! MAN that feels good! Let's do it again, September 18th, Chapter 16 or bust!

The usual special thanks go out to Kkat for writing Fallout: Equestria in the first place and my prereader/sounding board for ideas Mobius. Like if you did, dislike if you didn't and tell me why with a comment! See you all next time!