The motes of light swirled continuously as they had for a century. Necrotic green mixed with a black that reminded me of the night sky. I was staring into the balefire egg again. Something about it was beautiful, but I knew it was a deadly, almost malevolent object. It was once birthed by a creature of legend, a dragon. What did it say when the villain’s master plan was for a pony to use a weapon like this? I didn’t know, but as I forced myself to look away from it, I knew that I shouldn’t spend time around it.

“Icepick?” Crescent Moon said politely enough as she walked into the tent where we were storing some of our munitions, including it.

“Y-yeah?” I said as I turned to face her. My armour was sitting in a central area, being worked on by some of the rangers that had the skills required to check over the auto repair protocols.

“I’ve been talking to some of the Arab prisoners,” Crescent Moon said before pausing to look at it too.

“It’s too beautiful,” I said to her. She shook her head and looked back at me.

“I think it’s watching us,” Crescent said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Let’s leave this tent.” I didn’t argue the point.

Moments later, we closed the tent flap and stood in the cooling evening air. Activity surrounded the camp, hunting parties had ventured out, and construction parties were busy felling trees with makeshift tools. She met my gaze again, the lanky Arab mare not having to look up to do so.

“They told me something very important-”

“Which is?” I interrupted her, it was almost like she loved to have the optimal dramatic effect.

“Those defences pointed at the jungle weren’t made for us,” she said pointedly.

“Who were they for? And why haven’t the Imperials talked to Permittivity about them?” I asked, wondering why the fuck I hadn’t heard about this earlier.

“I don’t think they trust him, truly. And as to who those enemies are, I’m not sure, because they aren’t sure. All I know is that the patrols sent into the jungle were likely to not come out again. Only one survivor ever emerged from the jungle, and they spoke only of ghosts attacking them. They expired shortly after making it back to camp, multiple stab wounds and lacerations covering their body,” Crescent finished and looked at me with a tinge of fear in her eyes.

“Ghosts huh,” I said before smiling slightly. “Well, I guess it’s good we’re already on high alert and have sentries posted out in the jungle… Oh, fuck!” I said before starting towards our makeshift communication station.

“What’s the status of our forward sentry post?” I yelled at the watch standing ranger.

“Uh, I was just about to tell you, they haven’t reported back in an hour,” the watchstander said to me.

“Celestia fuck!” I paused and thought this out. “Is anyone ready to go search for them?!” Many hooves raised into the air. Ironsight was among them.

“Okay, we’re gonna take six ponies, myself included,” I said quickly, before starting towards my armour.

“Three Steelies, three camos?” Serenity said, before meeting Ironsight’s gaze. “C’mon it’s a good way to differentiate…”

“She isn’t wrong!” I said as I keyed the opening to my armour and stepped inside, my helmet was on top of a tree stump a meter away, and moments later I felt the hiss of the overpressure system. My leg ached a little as my pressure was stuffed into the wounded flesh. I bit my lip and turned around, quickly testing the actuators. They were solid.

The walk through the jungle was tense, everyone had their heads on a swivel as we watched for ponies in power armour stomping out of the foliage. That or those ghosts that the Arabian garrison believed in. My missile launcher was fully stocked, and I still had a full belt loaded in my gun.

Eventually, we made our way to the little outpost, one of the camos with us had been switching off positions with the ponies up here. The first thing we noticed was the lack of violence, there was no blood, no shell casings and everything was methodically taken… It was like we had never been there.

I was standing in the middle of the small clearing smoking a cigarette when a beam of sunlight caught something interesting. At first, I thought it was just a small feather from one of the many, annoying birds on this island. Then I noticed the small wooden shaft attached to it. Fletching…

“Hey Serenity, come over here?” I said to the unicorn ranger.

“What is it Icepick?” She asked naturally. I just pointed to the small dart. Within the second she had picked it up with her magic and was examining it in the small streams of light that made it through the foliage.

“Some kind of dart?” She said after a moment’s examination.

“Yeah, and it wouldn’t do very much damage on its own, it has to be coated with something,” I explained to myself, as much as to her.

“That’s not a steel ranger tactic,” Serenity said ruefully.

“I mean, the fact that half of the forest isn’t on fire pretty much rules out the Steel Rangers penetrating this far into the jungle,” I said with a laugh.

“Hey Icepick, look at this?” Ironsight said from the opposite side of the clearing. I trotted over briskly, before staring at the lichen covered ground. There were hoofprints, but they didn’t look like anything I had ever seen before. There were oddly shaped claw marks alongside a flat surface that pressed heavily into the mud.

“What the fuck made those?” I asked aloud, and the collective shrug that followed from everyone didn’t help matters much.

“No clue, but from the looks of it, those darts wouldn’t pierce armour,” Serenity said before looking at me. “Probably why they didn’t try attacking us.”

“We’ll have to keep someone in full armour at all times out here,” I said doubtfully.

“We aren’t abandoning the post?” Serenity asked questioningly.

“I mean, we could just keep going further into the jungle, towards the mountains,” I said with a contemplative look on my face.

“We did make contact with our ship,” Ironsight said curiously.

“Yeah,” I said, before thinking of something. “We could meet up with them on the south side of the island.”

“That’s a hell of a march,” Ironsight said.

“What if they break our codes?” Serenity also questioned.

“We have a couple of single-use cyphers ready to use in those instances,” Ironsight said to my relief.

“Good shit,” I said before looking down at the ground, a few meters further on. “Follow me, I’m curious about something.”

“By your command,” Ironsight said with a half laugh. “Mare, I can’t believe I took a pay cut and a demotion to join your company.”

“I haven’t been paid in months, and I have a feeling I’ll never get that back pay. For obvious reasons,” I said before meeting the eyes of all the other rangers, Camo or Steely. “But we’re fighting for what we believe in, so that’s a kind of benefit package.”

“I mean, it all comes down to belief in an afterlife, and the value judgements that stem from that,” Serenity said quickly. “If there is such a thing, then fighting for a just cause is kinda worth it. If not-”

“-Then you’re making your life mean something, that’s one hell of a luxury. A luxury not many ponies get,” Ironsight finished for her, a hint of anger sliding through her defences. I needed to talk to her later. She was in a lot of pain, but she was holding it down for all she was worth. That wasn’t healthy either… but it was the ranger way.

The silence that followed was tense. Within a few minutes, we were ready to make our way back, but my mind was elsewhere. I needed to make a decision, whether to go deeper in or re-establish the outpost and plan for a delaying action. That and Permittivity…

“So there are massive creatures with blowguns out there in the jungle,” I said to the assembled ponies. Nearer to the Arabs was Crescent Moon, translating my findings into Arabic. One of them exclaimed and pointed out at the jungle.

“What’s he saying? That they’re out there?” I asked Crescent who smiled wryly.

“Icepick, you have to see the forest for the trees,” the mare paused and looked critically. “That’s the expression correct?” One of the Camos nodded at her. “He’s saying that they’re supposed to climb the trees, and live in them as well.”

“That’s a good insight, and I believe he’s probably right,” I said loudly before turning to face the other assembled ponies. “Watch the trees especially, and if you get hit with a dart, please scream to let us know. Anyway, just to let you all know, we’ve contacted our ship and they’ve been able to evade detection so far,” I finished hopefully.

“So when is our pick up?” A steel ranger asked.

“That has yet to be determined,” I answered honestly. “Any other questions?” I waited probably ten seconds, before looking back at the ponies. “We’re gonna find out what happened to our outpost. For Equestria!”

“For Equestria!” A chorus of replies met my ears. I had them under control for the moment. We needed to dispose of the bomb and leave this damn Island.

“We need to try to talk to them,” I heard a tired voice say from behind me. I spun around and faced the pony I had the strongest feelings for, they were also the most conflicted. There was a neutral expression on his muzzle, but his eyes were tired.

“To the big stompy things that took our people?” I asked while tilting my head to the side in disbelief.

“This is their home, and we’re the heavily armed ponies that have massive suits of steel,” Permittivity answered softly.

“Granted,” I said before looking at the ground for a second. “But what’s your plan?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Permittivity said before pointing at one of the trees to the right of us. “We plant three stakes of different lengths, put a helmet on each of them-”

“To symbolize the lost Rangers,” I said to him brightly.

“And we line them up so that the tallest stakes shadow covers the two shorter stakes. From there, we send a single pony in powered armour at the time when the sundial strikes the appropriate time,” he finished his simple plan at the same time as I realized the biggest problem.

“What if they don’t want to talk? What if they can’t?”

“Then we’ve lost some steel helmets and a little bit of time,” Permittivity answered quickly. His eyes met mine. There was a pleading element to them. He wanted to do this, wanted to help out. He would do whatever he could.

“Alright, go find a ranger volunteer and a clearing not too far from here,” I said before smiling slightly at him. “I’m pretty sure this won’t work, but I’m hopeful that it will. Thank you Permittivity.”

I turned around and started back towards my tent. I needed to convince captain Rapids that staying anchored to some of the shoals to the south was a good idea…

“Ma’am, I’m ready to fight, and so are they,” An imperial named Frostbite said to me. He absentmindedly smashed a mosquito on his neck, a bad mistake on its part. Frostbite gestured to the ponies standing behind him.

“Why?” I asked simply, before pulling out one of my last remaining cigarettes. I had an appearance to keep up.

“We want to go home,” he said simply. “But going home with that monster pulling the strings, I’m not sure if we could live with ourselves, knowing that.”

“Even if you have to fight other Imperials?” I asked after listening and finishing my long drag.

“Ma’am, I’ve fought a lot of ponies, killed a lot too. At least I’ll be doing it for a good reason this time,” Frostbite said. His white coat gleamed in the motes of sunlight spilling through the canopy. Perm was off doing something else, but I didn’t need his assistance with this. It was my judgement call.

“You’re now a Paladin or something, basically a sergeant I think was the old word for it,” I said to him, before looking at the ponies lined up behind him. “I need a couple of volunteers to learn the ropes of powered armour because we have three spare sets.” I didn’t need to explain why we had spare sets of armour. Everyone with a functional brain stem could figure that out. Fittingly, one of the ponies with their hooves in the air was Frostbite. His dark mane framed his face as I met his eyes. Everyone that had been touched by the war had that in their eyes.

“May I choose the other ponies who receive the training? I’d like to put them at the core of our small units?” Frostbite asked me formally. I think half the reason these ponies volunteered is that a command structure made them feel more comfortable than not. I didn’t mind that at all.

“That’s a good idea, though the bigger the pony the better the results in the powered armour, making it fit I mean,” I said to him, before looking over at the group of ponies with odd accents, literal strangers in a strange land.

“I’ll remember that,” Frostbite said.

“Volunteers, move out,” He said before the whole group turned to the right and marched off organically.

I found her at the edge of the camp, there was a piece of bread in her hooves. She was absentmindedly gnawing on it while staring into the darkness of the jungle before her. It was about time for everyone to hit their racks… Something told me she couldn’t sleep.

“How do you deal with it?” Ironsight said quietly.

“Deal with what?” I asked her.

“With someone who lied to you,” she paused and met my eyes in the near darkness. “Someone close.”

“In my case, it was a little easier, because he admitted the truth at the last moment that he could’ve made a difference,” I said sadly.

“I’m sure that he would’ve rationalized it after the fact, whatever he was going to do,” Ironsight replied. “I found his body before we cleared the submarine. It was in a janitor’s closet, alongside an Arabian with a portable intercom.”

“You found Tegarni?” My voice went up a few decibels as he was brought up.

“Yes, and he had shot himself in the chest, but not aimed at his heart. I saw it on his face, he died in agony,” Ironsight said nearly emotionlessly. “My brother died in the same way, at least, before his armour administered enough painkiller to well, kill all his pain.”

“What?” I asked suddenly.

“It’s a bug that became a feature...” Ironsight spoke quietly. There was little emotion in her voice as she explained why a ranger that was mortally wounded would get finished off by the drugs in the suit.

“Why did no-one ever mention that to me?” I asked Ironsight, suddenly worried about the microinjectors and combat drugs in my own armour.

“It can’t really be triggered by much short of deathly injuries, things that you aren’t walking away from anyway, and if the injury is much worse than what Reflex had done to him, well, the drugs aren’t going to affect a corpse very much,” Ironsight stopped and looked at the crushed leaves beneath her hooves. “There are ways to override it if you think the pony can be saved. There was no saving Reflex, somehow that unicorn friend of yours managed to put the barrel of a pistol right up against his jaw. The base of it, with all the muscle and bone.”

“Celestia fuck,” I said aloud. The image of that was enough to make me feel a pang of sympathy for the stallion I had loved.

“I don’t know what kind of doctor would do that to someone,” she said with a note of finality. “I don’t know how he was able to get that gun aimed at him like that, it was perfectly aimed and with someone like that, I know they aren’t a marksmare.”

“I-I, thank you for telling me this stuff, as much as it hurt to,” I said to her.

“It’s good that someone else knows now, especially someone who knew him well,” She said before starting towards her own tent. I knew what I wanted to say, but the words wouldn’t leave my mind.

“The armour will do most of the work, it’s a change for sure, but you’ll learn to love it,” I said to the three ponies stomping around the outskirts of the camp. My own armour was helping my movements along, though the helmets for each of us were currently sitting on a convenient tree stump a few metres away.

“It’s weird only doing the first third of a movement,” Frostbite said with a fair amount of sweat dripping down his face.

“Damn, the only mare to hear that was me,” I said with a smile. He was a rather big and attractive stallion…

“What did you say?” Frostbite said a moment later, a blush apparent on his face. Maybe he thought he misheard.

“Damn, it should be more like a quarter of the movement,” I lied and smiled internally. The more time I spent around these ponies, the more I realized Perm was both strange to them, and just like them in other ways. They were strong, hard-working earth ponies, mostly. But most of them had signs of combat fatigue. They had seen too much, been pushed too hard…

“Alright, I’ll keep working on it,” Frostbite said with an affirmative tone of voice. “Did you hear that Blizzard, Mooring?”

“Icepick, we succeeded,” I heard a voice from behind me. As I turned around, I met Permittivity’s smiling face. That had been happening more and more often now, I guess not having those lies pressing down on him helped more than I thought.

“You did? Who was the one who made contact? What did they say about our ponies?” I asked excitedly, without making any attempt to hide it. Having those three ponies back would be great for morale, and make me feel a lot better about putting them out there to get captured in the first place. It was honestly a blessing, especially since those stakes had been out there for five days straight.

“It was Ironsight, she volunteered for the job today,” Permittivity said before becoming more pensive. “She wanted to tell the story once, instead of eight different times.”

“That’s understandable,” I said quickly. “Let’s go find her and Crescent.” I finished before grabbing my helmet off the stump and stowing it in my saddlebag.

We took off a moment later, Permittivity leading me towards something important. He was trying so hard to be better, to make up for what he did. I tried to gather my thoughts and focus, but he consumed them. We had taken to sleeping in separate tents, without even asking each other. In fact, we had barely talked about our relationship since he had gotten his memories checked out.

A few moments later, we were in front of my tent. I opened the flap for Permittivity, and we both had to adjust to the relative lack of light within. Standing there in the middle of it was Ironsight. She met each of our eyes in turn as we stepped inside.

“First impressions?” I asked her quickly, mindful of the fact Crescent wasn’t here yet, and neither was Rosetta. He had been sent to fetch her.

“They’re fucking big,” Ironsight’s eyes were wide. “And there were three of them.” As she finished saying that, two ponies entered into the tent. Crescent Moon moved gracefully inside, and Rosetta brought up the rear.

“How large are they?” Crescent asked as she walked in.

“The one who signed at me was the biggest, he had these weird cheek extensions on his face, and the two behind him were a bit smaller,” she said before looking at each of us in turn, “They walked on their fists, and they stood on their hind legs. Well, their leg, legs. Which ended in hands like a griffon. But they were as big as earth pony stallions, and their front legs were as wide as our powered armour legs.”

“Fuck!” I said before managing to force a confident smile on my face. “Big outlines though, pretty easy to hit.”

“We shouldn’t be thinking about violence towards them,” Permittivity said quietly beside me.

“I know, it’s just, we gotta remember all of our options,” I said with a slightly embarrassed laugh.

“Anyway, when the biggest one got about two meters away, he pointed at the sun before looking me in the eyes,” Ironsight stopped speaking for a minute. “Then he pointed at the stakes and made a circling motion with his fingers. After that, he met my eyes again before walking away.”

“Did you see where they went?” I asked.

“Yeah, until the jungle ate them up,” Ironsight said with a bite of her lip.

“Progress is progress, we have to bear that in mind,” Permittivity said to everyone as we all realized what would happen in little less than twenty-four hours.

“Okay, we’re gonna approach these unknown, large creatures that took three of our people, and many more Arabs, diplomatically,” I said to the assembled ponies. “Any suggestions?”

“One pony needs to stay in sealed armour,” Ironsight said instantly.

“I should come, perhaps they’ve learned some Arabic from the captured Arabs,” Crescent Moon added. She was level headed, and I was beginning to start to rely on her for a lot of things.

“I’ll come along because I look a lot less threatening than I actually am,” Permittivity said with the shadow of a grin on his muzzle.

“Any more than four is likely to spook them,” Rosetta stated.

“Those are all fair points. Crescent, Iron, Perm, you’re coming with me to the meeting tomorrow,” I finished before letting out a deeply held breath. “For now, focus on getting rested for tomorrow.”

“Can I get a look at your leg again, I should check it’s progress,” Rosetta said as everyone else took their leave.

“Sure, let me just step out of my armour-” I said before realizing Permittivity hadn’t quite left yet. He was standing near the opening of the tent, staring back into the room… Staring at me.

“I’ll be checking over what the sappers have done at the edge of our encampment,” Permittivity said before pausing. “I’ll see you later Icepick, and you too Rose.” I knew he wanted to say something else. But, I wasn’t going to force him to. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to hear what was on the tip of his tongue.
It didn’t matter, he was out the door a moment later.

“How are you two?” Rosetta asked hesitantly as I keyed in the commands to open my armour up.

“I’m honestly not sure, I’ve just been so busy since well… Since we left the ship,” I said to him as I stepped over to the little bed I had been sleeping in for the last week. I laid down on my back and spread my hind legs. I could still see the healing tissue and the bandages still wrapped around it.

“Alright, so have you been redressing the wound,” Rosetta said as he leaned over me. His magic gently tugging at the bandage while also grabbing his own set of dressings. When he floated out the medical alcohol, I automatically winced.

“Oh come on, be a mare, as my teacher used to say,” his magic floated over the potent solvent and spread some of it inside my remaining wound.

“If you just wanted to cause me pain, I have a tail hole that hasn’t been used in a while!” I said to him as I felt the sensation of burning that was the evil twin of every good drink I’d ever had.

“U-uh,” his mouth slipped open after he heard my joke. “You know, anal sex doesn’t have to hurt-”

“Of course you would know that,” I said a moment later as I noticed his mood had shifted. My own face was flushing at my coarse joke.

“Not personally,” Rosetta said softly, before dabbing at my wound with a piece of sterile gauze.

“How do you know then?” I asked, somewhat flustered and a little curious.

“When I ran through Perm’s memories, I became intimately familiar with the sensations,” He said before looking away. That would do it. My mind instantly went to what Perm must have taken… Was it just me or was it hot in this tent?

“H-hot,” I admitted with a stutter. Then he looked at me with curiosity and hope bubbling up in his eyes.

“It kinda was,” he said quietly, as he finished packing the wound. “Icepick?” He asked after a moment of silence as we both realized the situation we were in.

“Honestly, the only thing that really makes us compatible is our insatiable libidos, Perm’s like that too…” I said with a smile plastered across my muzzle. I had my favourite healer and confidante, and here we were mutually horny and close…

“He keeps that a bit closer to his barrel than you do,” he replied softly. Without saying anything, he lowered his chest and leaned over me. Our muzzles came closer and closer to each other, our breaths somehow hotter and wetter than the musky jungle air.

“Now more than our barrels are close,” I spoke softly into the tiny space between us.

“I can always get closer,” he said with a smile on his muzzle. It was like he was glowing, like he had found himself finally, finally grown more confident in his own fur.

“I’d like that,” I said just before he pressed his lips to mine. His warm lips met mine, not hesitantly like before, but just forcefully enough to show his commitment to the act. My tongue pressed against his lips, pressing insistently, as he slid himself over my body, letting his barrel rest over mine. And then I felt it against my hind leg. He shifted over a little as I spread my hinds out for him.

“I can tell,” Rosetta said as my hooves started to drift down his back, caressing him, holding him. “Just- do you love Perm?”

“With at least three-quarters of my heart,” I replied as we stared into each other’s eyes.

“Are you sure you want to do this then?” Rosetta asked with a mix of hesitation and excitement in his voice.

“You’ve been through his memories, if you think he’d have a problem with it, you would know,” I said before pressing my lips against his insistently. One of my hooves squeezed his butt, and he gasped cutely at that particular bit of attention.

“Honestly, I think his biggest problem would be him not being a part of it,” he said before letting one of his hooves trace down my body, getting closer and closer to-

“Aaa!” I moaned gently as he touched me, even as I knew his hardness was pressed up against my lower stomach. I managed to get my voice back under control. “Next time, we’ll have to tell him.”

“Yeah, this time is a punishment for him lying to us,” he said huskily. His hoof wasn’t exactly dry, even if I wasn’t quite ready for him to fuck me. “Then again, we can always not tell him about this-”

“No, I won’t lie to him about this, we’re still-” I paused and thought about what Bajada had said to me. “I still love him, I just know he would understand.” There was a look of shock on his face, though he immediately tried to hide it.

“I understand,” he said before starting to pull back. I wondered what he was doing for about half a second before a line of kisses and attention followed his mouth down my chest and stomach. My hooves shifted to his head, giving his ears a little poke and prod as he drew closer to the really good places…

The four of us were ready way before we needed to be. I had my helmet strapped into my saddlebags, Iron had hers on, and Crescent just wore light barding. Permittivity, he was wearing his chest plate and gauntlets underneath a reduced set of desert clothing. Around his neck was that same checkered black and green scarf Bajada had given him. I hadn’t wanted to guess why he kept wearing it, but I knew that if I tried to ask him about it, he’d downplay the real reason…

“Is everyone ready to be diplomats?” I asked the assembled ponies.

“Around you, I always have to be diplomatic,” Permittivity said a moment later. I just laughed and nodded at him. It seems he was in a good mood, which again, seemed to be happening more frequently.

“Everyone else?” My words were met with a noncommittal nod from Ironsight and-

“Of course, this is what I left my home for,” Crescent Moon said proudly. Her eyes met Perm’s for a second, maybe scolding him for making that joke earlier, maybe trying to make a point of connection between them. If anyone hadn’t noticed the relative coldness of Perm and I to each other after the battle of the Submarine, it wouldn’t have passed by her. Whether that meant she wanted to well… Permittivity said nothing for a long moment, it was like he was trying to remember something that was on the tip of his tongue.

“My people believed that leaving our homes and our lives for a grand adventure was a wonderful thing. When it first began, it was easy to fill the armies,” Permittivity said with a far off look in his eyes.

“That didn’t last,” I said.

“Considering I was conscripted…” he finished with a haunted tone. Whatever us knowing the truth about him did, it didn’t fill the deep wounds in him.

The walk to the stakes was silent, whatever we had needed to say to each other had been said previously. That and we wanted to keep our attention focused on the jungle itself. Something about the dense foliage and just the abundance of life weirded us out. At best some of us were used to dense cities, concrete and brick labyrinths, not life boosted by abundant rains and sunlight. A few minutes before the sundial aligned, we arrived in the small clearing and noticed that our contacts weren’t there.

“Well, I guess we wait,” I said to the other ponies. “You know, I have to wonder, why didn’t this island get used as a lumber yard, if nothing else.”

“If I were to guess, I’d say that it was the distance from either Ramsgard or Paradise,” Permittivity answered swiftly. “The need for lumber wasn’t very high for either society, given the abundance of other fuel sources and building materials.”

“Nevermind the economic explanation, obviously this place is inhabited and those inhabitants are a significant danger,” Crescent seconded with that fast mind of hers.

“To ponies other than Steel Rangers,” Ironsight added brusquely.

“Yes, but your mines and your foundries beat to the drums of war,” Crescent Moon said. “You have no use for wood.”

“And Paradise wasn’t about to create a colony for the purpose of gathering wood for luxury items,” Permittivity said a moment later. “It’d be an expensive project.”

“That all makes sense, and it’s good enough for me-” I lost my train of thought as I spotted something moving into view. At the other edge of the clearing, a quadruped looked at us with something like curiosity. They looked like a smaller earth pony, less broad in the withers and barrel, but covered from head to tail in black and white stripes. There was an actual zebra in front of me.

A moment later as all of us, except maybe Perm, were baulking at the presence of the unfamiliar zebra, the Jungle came alive. Two dozen of those fist walking creatures came to the edge of the clearing, forming a nearly perfect circle.

“What are-” I began to ask the zebra as he came into the centre of the clearing.

“Silence,” The Zebra cut off in harsh but understandable Equestrian.

A moment later, three more of the creatures came into the clearing. One was the largest, and he had large cheeks on his face. A few seconds passed before we heard the sounds of unfamiliar words being exchanged between the zebra and the creature.

“You mean to speak about the prisoners,” the zebra said while shooting a glance at the three stakes.

“Yes, we’d like them back,” I said simply. He whinnied in response like I was some kind of world-class comedian.

“Why should we give them back? You trample on our forest, cut down our trees and hunt mercilessly,” the zebra spat out.

“We do what we need to survive, our fight isn’t with you, our fight is with those that want to use the Balefire bomb,” As soon as I said those last two words his eyes opened in fear. Before he said anything to us, he turned to the creatures and started speaking quickly in that mutual language of theirs. Maybe a minute passed, but his expression stayed the same. I was getting a bit nervous. If all of those creatures rushed us, I doubt we’d win in that straight up fight.

“You have one of the weapons?” He asked with a mix of awe and anger.

“Back at our camp, in pieces,” I answered slowly.

“You attacked the underwater boat to get it?” He asked.

“We did because the ponies occupying it were planning on using the bomb,” I said to him. “We don’t want the weapon, we want it destroyed.”

The silence that followed my words was pregnant with tension. But after that silence, the clipped tones of their common language hit our ears. I looked back to the other ponies with me. Crescent was listening intently to the words being exchanged, Permittivity was eying the circle of creatures, and Ironsight was just staring in the general direction of the Zebra. Her helmet blocked all insight into her mind.

“We trade the egg for ponies,” The zebra said.

“And you won’t bother us as we march to the opposite coast?” I asked him immediately. Safe passage through their territory would be a great thing.

“Other coast?” He asked. “The pony island?”

“What pony island? We have a boat, we just need to get to it, and get home,” I answered abruptly. He had a dumbfounded look on his muzzle as I spoke. He turned to the creature beside him. They spoke a few excited words to one another before turning to us. The creature beside him smiled, as did the zebra.

“You have much to learn about our island,” the zebra stallion said with a smirk.

“First things first, how did Zebras get here?” I asked instantly.

“The underwater boat,” the zebra said. My lips pursed in thought.

“Where are the other ponies? Are they peaceful?” He met my eyes, before smiling broadly.

“The other ponies live on an island at the head of the great river,” he paused and pointed a hoof vaguely south. “They don’t kill like the ones who took the underwater boat, but they do other things.”

“Thank you for the information,” I said to him. “I take it you learned Equestrian from the other ponies on the island.”

“Yes,” he said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. “We trade with them, so some of us speak your language.”

“Good to know, now let me return the favour,” I said before clearing my throat. “There are a bunch of ponies with magic armour, coming to take the bomb, we set a trap for them, but it likely only slowed them down.” He took the news silently. There was a flash of resentment in his eyes before he stuffed it back down. Without showing any more emotion he turned to the creature beside him. I could see anger blossom on the face of the creature. His teeth were bared, with fangs that looked a little too sharp to be herbivorous.

“We need to think about this,” The zebra said.

“Two things,” I said before waiting for his attention to land on me fully. “What’s your name? And what’s the name of well, them?”

“Xibatsu is my name, and they call themselves Orangutans,” He finished before turning his back on us, with the rest of the Orangutans doing the same. They started walking into the denser jungle around us at a steady clip.

“Where will you meet us for the exchange?” I asked him. He didn’t stop or turn his head.

“Your camp.”

“So, that was informative,” Permittivity said as we started towards our camp.

“Yes, now we have a destination, for us and the ship,” Crescent Moon said a second later.

“We don’t know if the river is navigable, or if those ponies will be as ‘peaceful’ as the Zebras and Orangutans,” Ironsight said.

“He did call it the Great River, that does imply a certain size,” Permittivity said.

“That doesn’t mean it has a large width,” Ironsight said neutrally. “Or any girth,” she was grinning by now. Permittivity looked shocked at the idea. Crescent was blushing and trying to hide it. Apparently, she got the joke.

“I-I don’t have that problem, if that’s what you’re implying,” Permittivity nearly yelled. If he was stuttering in mixed company, Crescent had a healthy red to her chestnut cheeks.

“Sure,” Ironsight goaded from the inside of that opaque helmet.

“No, he’s pretty girthy,” I said impartially. Permittivity stared smugly at Ironsight. Crescent Moon was watching Permittivity walk with a reinforced swagger, her face betraying her interest and embarrassment. I met her eyes and got her attention before glaring at her. She looked away, suddenly much more worried about attacks from our right flank…

“For once, I think everything is going to go alright,” I said a moment later. “We have a destination and the beginnings of a plan.”

“I think we’re one step closer to our goal,” Crescent Moon stated softly. I glanced at her and saw that her blush was nearly gone.

“Which one?” I asked her.

“You were as diplomatic as anyone could’ve been with the Zebra and Orangutans,” she said to me, to which everyone else nodded in agreement. “And so, we’re a little bit closer to beating Sombra.” I smiled at her, even as I knew how little a few Apes and zebras would be worth in the fight against a nation of millions.

“It’s a start,” Permittivity said.

“I’m honestly just surprised you didn’t make any threats or ultimatums,” Ironsight said neutrally, her helmet speakers making her words lose some of their original tone.

“I’ve learned some things since then,” I said with a glance at the jungle floor I was trodding over.

“Good,” Ironsight said. “A leader needs to never stop growing.”

“Yeah, something like that,” I responded. We were nearly at camp, and we had good news for once. I made myself look more triumphant than I felt. Because that’s what they followed me for. I had to look like a winner, even if I felt like I was barely keeping up with the events around me. “It helps to have good ponies around me. You’ve all helped a lot. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Ironsight said.

“I’m always at your service,” Permittivity answered.

“The more I get to know you, the more I think I made the right decision in helping you,” Crescent Moon replied last, with a note of contentment in her voice.

I smiled at each of them in turn. I didn’t have to force it.

With the rest of the day, we started our march south, towards the mountains and hopefully a port for our ship to pick us up. We abandoned the fixed defences and trenches we had begun to build in the Jungle. It wasn’t a hard sell, because everyone there, even the imperials, had realized that we were explorers now. Adventure and knowledge were our fruits, even as our original food and spare parts were beginning to run dry… It was the next morning, about ten in the morning when we heard the calls from the sentries. Not an attack warning, but a warning nonetheless.

I marched out wearing my barding and ran into Permittivity, he had a book levitating beside him. He was wearing an even more stripped down of his desert get up. There was no lack of moisture in the air around us, so the protective cloth layer was gone, only the green and black bandana hung loosely around his throat. Below that was only the body armour that had been with us since our escape from Tegarni-

“Do you think it’s them?” He asked me suddenly, breaking my mind out of the memories that I didn’t necessarily want to remember.

“Well, given there’s no shooting, it’s pretty likely,” I said to him as ponies milled about around us, frantically trying to make the base look more presentable.

“Good point,” he admitted a moment later. “How many do you think there are?” Permittivity asked me just before we came around the side of one of the larger tents. Standing on the other side of the loose demarcation line of our camp were perhaps, two dozen zebras. Many of them had melee weapons that looked to be fashioned out of repurposed metal and hard jungle wood. Others had rifles that rivalled our older assault rifles, the ones out of the pre-war stockpiles that had been remanufactured and rebuilt a couple dozen times.

“Does that answer your question?” I said with a laugh. Out on the edges of the group were a few solitary looking Orangutans.

“That really comes down to epistemology, as do most things in the end,” Permittivity said with the closest thing to a giggle that I had ever heard from him. My smile deepened. It was nice to see him happy. I guess rare things usually have a higher value…

“You’re a dweeb,” I said to him quickly before getting my muzzle right up to his ear. “You’re still my dweeb,” I whispered in his ear before I nipped him behind the ear lightly.

“D-duly n-noted!” He said in a low voice as he tried to figure out whether or not other ponies had seen me bite him.

By now, Ironsight and Crescent Moon had noticed Perm and I’s presence at the edge of the meeting place. Crescent Moon met my eyes respectfully, before smiling slightly at Permittivity. Ironsight didn’t even meet his gaze, her helmet visor stayed locked on me as she trotted up. Because she was wearing her armour, and I wasn’t, it was one of those rare situations where she looked down at me. Physically, I mean.

“They’re here, and they already showed us that they have the prisoners,” Ironsight stated matter of factly.

“Good, well, I guess we should help get those three-” I started to say before Ironsight cut me off.

“Icepick, they’re giving us all the prisoners,” Iron said in a comically subdued tone.

“Yes! All the Arabs that were captured from Tegarni’s forces are going to be given to us,” Crescent Moon said excitedly. “I thought that they had all perished.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure that Icepick wants another set of prisoners to watch,” Ironsight replied instantly as if to deflate the other mare’s expectations.

“Can you get them to fight against Rangers?” I asked thoughfully.

“It will be a challenge, but I believe so,” Crescent Moon said.

“We’ll take them,” I said to Ironsight.

“Tell them that,” she replied a moment later. Ironsight turned and started towards the Zebras chatting with some of the Steelies and Camos. I took that as a good sign. Permittivity and I started towards the group at the same time, curiosity and nervousness hitting us both pretty hard.

“I will,” I said to her without a hint of hesitation.

“Oh hey Icepick, Perm. We’re uh, talking about the exchange,” Rosetta said over his shoulder as he stood before a pair of Zebras, a mare and a stallion. They wore no clothes, but a string of beads were interwoven into their manes. The stallion was familiar, the mare was not. And kinda hot.

“Icepick, your leader?” The mare said in near perfect Equestrian. Over her shoulders were a pair of saddlebags woven from some rough material, burlap or flax. “I think you were right, Xaibatsu.”

“That’s my name, and my current occupation,” I said quickly, before meeting her eyes. “What do you feel?”

“I can sense two souls bound together, across the illusions of distance and desire,” the mare said softly but surely.

“Distance isn’t an illusion, and neither is the pain suffered by ponies,” Permittivity said without biting back any of his own anger at the suppositions this mare threw out as easy truths.

“You of all ponies here should know that the boundaries between the realms can be breached, the worlds stacked on top of one another like the paper in a book. As to the pain experienced by individuals, it all passes, coming into existence like bubbles in a stream, always fated to pop down the line,” the mare said before realizing something important. “I’m Zenji, the shaman of our little tribe.”

“The only time I’ve ever seen the edges between worlds breached was through the use of powerful magic,” Permittivity nearly growled. “I’ve seen many such momentary lives end in great suffering, for no good reason. You mean to tell us that there is some moral arc to the universe, some cosmic justice waiting to be brought forth through personal rightness.”

“You’ve lived a very different life than I have, your ideas of the world coloured by the things you’ve seen. That much is apparent. But we aren’t here to debate the nature of the universe. No, I wanted to tell you of your nature in this life. I thought you should both know that your souls are intertwined.”

“How do you know?” I asked her.

“I noticed it from the moment I saw the two of you,” she took a moment to meet both of our gazes, even as the other ponies around began to pay attention to her. “It’s in every gaze, every smile, every conscious exhale. You don’t realize it, but you know one another nearly as well as you do yourself.”

“Oh, trust me we’re intimately familiar with each other,” I said to her. “That doesn’t mean we’re any different than the other ponies here. Lot’s of them have found others to support them.”

“Yes, but they’ve never lived as each other,” Zenji replied. “But, we are here to collect the evil of our ancestors, the spark that burned the old world to ash.”

“The balefire egg,” I stated in a flat voice. “Can someone grab that thing, without like, looking into it too much.”

“Ah, it’s refreshing to see someone treating objects like that with the proper respect,” Zenji said.

“I just find it really, really creepy. It feels alive,” I said to her quickly, and a little self-consciously. I really didn’t want everyone to see how superstitious I was about an explosive. But for some reason, her attitude assuaged my fears and loosened my tongue.

“That’s because it is,” she said automatically. There was no attempt to play up the knowledge, just a straight up statement of fact.

“What? How?” I started to ask before she interrupted me.

“Balefire eggs are created by enchanting fertilized dragon eggs. The fire within the soul of a dragon is the explosive,” Zenji laid out that truth casually, even as my jaw hung open.

“That soul has been trapped in there for a century,” Permittivity managed to say after a few seconds of silence.

“That’s why we must destroy it,” Zenji exclaimed.

“Good fucking riddance,” I said loudly.

“Then the exchange is on,” Xaibatsu said with something approaching a smile.

“Exactly,” I replied merrily. Maybe we were doing better, we were becoming allies of the zebras, not murdering them… Some part of me took hope from that, even as I knew our enemies wouldn’t be idle.

“So this is our little tent city,” I said to Zenji and Xaibatsu as we walked through the interior of our camp. “Over there is our mess, and beyond that is the training grounds.”

“You continue to drill even as you march?” Zenji asked suddenly. “Aren’t you all exhausted by the setting up of your camp and the march itself.”

“Well, kind of, our powered armour allows us to carry a lot of equipment without overburdening all of our troops, that and the knowledge of who our enemies are is a great motivator,” I said to the Zebras. Permittivity stood silently at my side. He didn’t seem cold as much as exhausted by the proceedings. Still, he was by my side. Maybe he was drawing strength from my presence, maybe-

“I wish our ancestors would have left us something that useful,” Xaibatsu complained loudly, but with an edge of amusement.

“They left us the rules of alchemy and a knowledge of what was lost. That’s plenty enough to my mind,” Zenji replied to him somewhat sternly.

“Alchemy? The transmutation of metals?” Permivitty perked up at the mention of something so anti-scientific.

“Oh, that kind of Alchemy was practised by the ponies of Equestria in centuries past. Our Alchemy is based on trial and error, to make potions and fetishes that improve our lives. It’s all rather simple spells, nothing like the talismans to build Golems or anything of that sort,” Zenji said with a smile and a giggle. “Trust me, if I knew how to turn lead into gold, I would be wearing something a lot more pretty.”

“But you’re nude,” I said with mock surprise.

“Exactly,” she replied with a slight curtsy.

“Are you willing to trade these potions?” I asked her after a moment’s pause. We were nearly to my tent by this point.

“Very willing, where do you think we get most of our metal tools and weapon parts?” Zenji chuckled at Perm and I as we stood there stunned for a moment.

“Well, we have a lot of spare weapons, if you’re looking to increase your firepower,” I said quickly, before meeting Zenji’s eyes. “But what exactly are you willing to sell us?”

“Some of our most popular brews are ones to heal the soul or increase your libido, but I assume you want something more useful to warriors,” she said with that infectious smile on her muzzle. If Perm had gravity to him, then she had levity.

“I like the idea of both those things-” I began before Permittivity coughed loudly.

“She doesn’t need libido enhancement,” Permittivity said just loudly enough for the two zebras to hear. Both of them broke into grins at his admission.

“No, I just want you to be able to keep up!” I said loudly, before clocking him in the shoulder softly. And then, before he could reply, I pressed my lips to his. It was the first time we had kissed in a while. As soon as he realized what was happening, he pushed himself into the kiss, hungrily opening his mouth and waiting for his counter-attack. It was a well-practised dance, but rarely had he been so passionate. He was almost needy in his caresses. I didn’t mind him taking more initiative when it came to the pleasures of the flesh, I mean, a girl doesn’t always wanna ride…

“Our other popular product is a bone strengthening brew,” Zenji said from behind us. She didn’t seem to be fazed by our sudden passionate kiss.

“That isn’t a euphemism, just so you’re both aware,” Xaibatsu said automatically, as he looked away from us.

“Oh come on, they’re enjoying each other,” Zenji said sternly to her co-leader. “Who are we to snuff out the embers of love suddenly blazing before us?”

“Zenji, you may walk the path, but not everyone else does,” Xaibatsu said suddenly.

“That’s true in a way, many don’t even know the path’s outline, but we all walk it, in this life or the next,” Zenji said resolutely. I broke the kiss and turned around to face the two Zebras, hopefully without my muzzle bright red. I knew my impulsiveness was gonna bite me in the ass someday, but Perm looked like he needed a kiss. That and I wanted one too-

“What’s this path you’re both referring to?” Permittivity spoke up before I did, seemingly unfazed by the kiss we had shared. Damn, that was usually my schtick.

“The path is a way of living that helps people reach nirvana, or true understanding of the world,” Zenji answered in a chirpy voice. “I’d be happy to teach anyone here the path.”

“As much as Perm is intrigued by new metaphysical concepts, why don’t we scale back to the question of the hour: how many guns do you want?” I added that last part slyly enough, and less than subtle wink at Xaibatsu. He just smiled broadly at my words or my look.

“She’s like me, she likes to get to the meat of the matter,” the large zebra stallion bellowed, before chuckling loudly enough to draw outside glances to us, for the second time.

“As with any leader, she needs to keep her eyes on the conventional world and all of its infinite detail,” Zenji said. “I would like to speak to her on other matters though.”

“Sure,” I said to her brightly. I had a fair amount of interest in what a Zebra shaman could tell me, especially considering her impressive cold read of Perm and I’s relationship. “Perm, why don’t you give Xaibatsu a demonstration of the Imperial rifles?”

“If it saves me from arguing about the size of the universe, and our place in it, I will,” Permittivity finished with a slight glower towards the Zebra mare.

“I would be happy to instruct you some other time,” Zenji said to Permittivity. “You know a great deal about the causes of things, like the non-living forces of the universe.”

“Unless you can teach me how to use my magic better, I’m not interested in wasting my time,” Permittivity said. He turned his back and started towards the practice range.

“That really depends how you define better. Magic of all kinds is based on intention, and the control of your intentions is one of the steps along the path,” Zenji paused to take a breath. Permittivity was looking over his shoulder at the mare, eyes projecting a cold fire to them. “I can’t help you become stronger than you are when your emotions, your attachments in the Samsara are fueling your magic, however, things of this world are as fleeting as the magic fueled by them. Without understanding the true nature of the world, without being freed from Samsara-”

“You can teach me how to use my magic without exhausting myself?” Permittivity asked excitedly. There was doubt in him too.

“Through understanding the universe, the essential transience of all things, you can use your intentions made manifest differently. Enlightenment is a gateway to many things, one of which is an understanding of magic itself,” Zenji said finished with a smile.

“You need to teach me this power,” Permittivity said simply.

“Permittivity, you’re an intelligent person, but you have much to learn. I will, however, attempt to teach you,” she said with a note of finality. She turned to her companion. “Xaibatsu, you should go with him, learn what you can about their equipment.”

He spoke something in their native tongue back to her, before he left with Permittivity. I turned to face the odd Zebra mare.

“Does this feel kinda weird to you too?” I asked the mare before me. Even as I started towards my tent.

“In what way?” She asked after a moment’s thought.

“It’s just, our ancestors destroyed the world, and now we’re having a pleasant conversation,” I finished just as I held the tent flap open.

“That’s true, but we are not our ancestors, they lived different lives, different forces and pressures made them who they were. Their time is over, they are gone now, whether by balefire, starvation or old age. It’s the nature of all things,” Zenji said as she entered the tent. Her eyes opened slightly upon seeing the single sleeping roll laid out on the ground.

“What would you say to someone who wanted to restore Equestria or Zebrica,” I asked softly, mindful of what others had told me all my life.

“They are foolish, what once was, cannot be again. Something new can take its place, something composed of ponies or zebras that believe they have resurrected their past, but even if the invisible fires started a century ago are snuffed out, nothing ever exists in a vacuum. The forces acting on the world that built Equestria and Zebrica are no more. New forces act on us because the world has moved on.”

“Can those past ideas be used to help the present?” I asked her, wary of her answer, yet wanting to listen all the same.

“Yes, because the remembrance of the past is a force all its own, our attachments to ideas can be used to build great things, to motivate masses of people to do things they otherwise wouldn’t. Therein lies the danger though, as with all attachments, without realizing the transient nature of the world, they can cause great harm. But you knew that already. The past weighs heavily on your shoulders,” Zenji finished.

“I’ve been told all my life that fighting to rebuild Equestria in Sall’han is a Ranger’s duty. Now, I know it’s wrong, impossible really. But the remembrance of Equestria, our homeland unites my ponies,” I said to her loudly, even as I felt my own emotions begin to boil over.

“An interesting quandary,” she started. “Equestria as an idea is strange, at least given your understanding of it. For a thousand years, ponies lived in peace with one another, and with the Zebras nearby. Both the government of the Freehold and the one that created the Steel Rangers you trace your ancestry through wanted to suppress the truth. The truth of co-existence. For as long as my great grandfather could learn himself, through the archives or the shared memory of our tribe, zebras lived among ponies, and ponies among zebras. So, to answer your original question, we aren’t our ancestors, but all the same, most of our ancestors had no qualms with one another. It was the loss of the path, greed and attachment to evil ideas that destroyed the world.”

“I’ve never heard of that?!” I nearly yelled as I remembered my history lessons, themselves far in the haze of my past.

“Why would any group so attached to an idea want to tell their underlings about it in detail, details are tricky things because there’s always a contradiction. People who focus on the pure idea within their minds, blind themselves to their other senses to keep that idea pure,” She said with resolve. Where had this mare come from? Why was I listening to her? Because she spoke the truth and pulled no punches.

“That makes a terrible amount of sense,” I said before letting my eyes drift back towards her. “I know it’s the burden I placed on myself, but what would your advice be?”

“It’s simple, but simple does not mean easy. Be open to new information, because ignorance of the conventional world is not virtuous. I think you’re more than capable of doing it, or else you wouldn't be leading a nascent movement. Secondly, remember what it is you’re fighting for. I take it your enemies believe in restoring a peculiar version of Equestria, one that existed for a brief while, if at all. If your clarion call is the memory of Equestria, learn what it truly was, and what it might have been if the ponies that lived it hadn’t embraced greed and causing suffering.”

“When I say: for Equestria! I need to remember that the Equestria worth fighting for didn’t hate zebras or arabs, because Equestria was created when three separate tribes became one. Being Equestrian didn’t mean that we were better than others…” I trailed off as I realized what I was thinking. The Rangers had it so wrong, so willfully wrong. “What if ponies don’t believe in it?”

“Then you might fail in your goals, but without a compelling vision that includes rather than excludes, you are doomed just the same. You can only do what you can do, with right intention and goodwill for all in your heart,” Zenji paused and met my gaze. With a graceful hoof, she raised my chin up a degree. “Just as I can’t promise your love greater power, I can’t you promise you victory.”

“Can anyone?” I asked quietly a few seconds later.

“Yes. But they would be lying. The forces that make the world what it is are beyond the control of anyone. Be they god, or pony,” She said before laughing slightly.

“If no-one can promise me victory, then no-one can promise me defeat,” I said defiantly. Not to her, but to the heavens, to Churned Waters, to Sombra, and most importantly, to myself.

Her eyes held neither hope nor despair. But, there was an encouraging smile on her face. She knew what she had done, helping me realize what I was fighting for. Perhaps we knew something forgotten had been born again. And, Zenji was more aware of the cycle than me.

In truth though, the world had just turned, even if neither of us knew it yet.

Author's Notes:

This was a fun one! I hope my readers like the way things are headed!

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