Agatha tread lightly behind Lightning, bright eyed and excited by the new world around her. She was hungry. They were hungry. They had progressed into their seventh day, and what they were searching for, Agatha didn’t know. That didn’t matter to her, however, for her youthful energy kept her going without asking questions. The foal stared about her, marveling at the sparkling white snow that blanketed the earth and black trees, the cold air, and the homey smell of smoke from some unknown source. They came to a ridge at the edge of the woodland, and saw an open meadow. Suddenly, Agatha spotted a brown quadruped creature, with two ivory branches sticking out of its head. She gasped, and crouched behind the ridge to watch it curiously. To her surprise, her mother did the same. The crossbow that had hung at her side for the past few days was now drawn and loaded, aimed at the creature. Agatha paused, “Mother…is it dangerous?”  
Lightning Dust didn’t respond, but with an inhale without exhale, she pulled the trigger and released the arrow from her crossbow. Agatha watched as the creature fell to its knees, letting out a pained cry. The arrow stuck from its shoulder. It attempted to run.  
The elder pony cursed under her breath, and adeptly drew another arrow and once more pulled the trigger. This time, the arrow hit its mark, and the deer fell. Not making any sound, unmoving.  
“HaHA! Yes!” Agatha jumped as Lightning Dust suddenly burst. She had never heard such excitement, let alone a SMILE, from Lightning Dust. The turquoise pegasus flew over to the deer and landed beside it. She knelt down, and tugged both of the arrows out.  
Agatha glided over softly, confused.
 
“Why…why did you kill it?” She asked softly, her wide red eyes fixed on the bloodied pelt of the deer.
 
“We need to survive. His body will provide us with the food and funds we need to do so.” Lightning Dust pulled out a serrated blade, and began cutting the flesh at the base of the deer’s neck. Blood pooled around her.
 
“You mean…eat him?” Agatha stepped back, horrified. Ponies didn’t eat meat! Never!
 
“You’re overthinking things. You have to eat, and this will feed you.” The blade sliced easily through the deer until it hit bone. Lightning Dust swiftly reared up, and brought her hooves down on the deer with a sickening snap. Its head was effectively detached. “That’s all that matters.”
 
Agatha felt her stomach rise in her throat, and nausea swept over her. “I can’t…he was alive.”
 
Lightning Dust began tearing at the deer’s antlers until they were cut away, one at a time. “Well now he’s dead, and serves no other purpose than to keep us alive.”
 
Tears welled up, and Agatha stamped her hooves. This was truly wrong! “Mother…I…I can’t do that!”
 
Lightning Dust stopped working, and turned her piercing golden gaze to Agatha. Something about that stare made the foal’s mane crawl. “It is high time you learn something, and learn fast. Out here, survival is all one big competition, and you have to do whatever it takes to win. You must realize this. Or die.”
 
Lightning Dust lunged at her daughter, wielding the blade. Agatha yelped, and reared up to dodge the attack. Lightning Dust struck her daughter’s cheek, with enough force to push her to the ground. She pinned down her daughter, her hooves at her throat. “If you want to survive…you have to toughen up. Understand? Out here, you can trust anything. Not even me. This is my kill. I don’t have to share.”
 
Agatha stared up at her mother, terror keeping her frozen to the ground. Then it hit her. If she didn’t do something, Lightning Dust was going to kill her. And if she didn’t take that deer from her, she would starve. Hunger was what drove her. Quick as lightning, she twisted and kicked her back legs up into Lightning’s belly. She groaned in pain, and loosened her grip on her daughter. The foal slipped out of her grasp, kicked her mother’s muzzle and ran to the corpse. As Lightning Dust stood up straight again, blood dripping from her nose, she found her daughter aiming the loaded crossbow at her. Lightning Dust regarded her, and dropped the blade. She gazed at Agatha with a prideful grin.  
“Congratulations, Agatha…I’ve decided to give you a new name…your real name.” Lightning beamed, fanning out her wings. “Deseronto. ‘Lightning Has Struck.’ Good girl.” Lightning stepped to her daughter, and ran an unusually motherly hoof through her mane.
 
Agatha softened, and lowered the crossbow, almost bewitched by the kindness. Lightning took the crossbow from her daughter, and hung it back onto her side. Silently, she gave the detached antlers to the foal, “You get to carry these. You’ve earned them.”
 
Lightning hoisted the deer’s body onto her back. She was just large enough to support its weight. “Now…let’s go home…I hope you’ve learned something today, Deseronto.”
 
“Yes…mother…”
 

 
Whoops. I guess I decided to write a novel for this scene. I’d like to see what you guys think about this before making any comments about what the hell just happened. How was my writing? Would you like to see more of this writing structure? Give me any commentary you can think of!