"This has been long overdue."

"Indeed."

Twilight grinned at the zebra in front of her, but made no move to hug her, or even touch her. She knew Seeker wouldn't appreciate it, if her memory of the mare was still accurate. "It's good to see you, Seeker."

"And you, Twilight Sparkle." Seeker glanced down for a second, then back up to offer Twilight a sympathetic smile. "I heard you lost one of your friends at Mount Chembechembe. I am sorry."

"Uh, thanks," Twilight said dumbly, caught off guard at the sudden mention of Sunset. All of a sudden she could feel the journal like an itch in the back of her mind the moment she thought of the amber unicorn again, and felt guilty that her thoughts had drifted far enough away to almost forget that she was no longer among them.

Seeker frowned as Twilight said nothing more, having been expecting at least a sigh. "Forgive me for asking, Twilight, but are you well?"

Twilight ignored the question and stared at the wall of the chamber they were in, the very one in the Kumbi Mzee where she'd been brought after returning from Mount Chembechembe. The very one where she'd imagined the message from Sunset in the journal. She really hadn't needed the reminder about Sunset, or the unwanted distraction it provided her.

"Twilight?"

"So, what have you been doing since getting back here from Mareitania?" Twilight asked, forcing the conversation away from places she didn't want it to go.

Seeker's lips went flat as Twilight hadn't merely dodged the question, but grabbed it by the throat and threatened it to dare speak again. She knew the pain of loss though, and knew how fresh it still was for Twilight, so decided to leave it.
"Surprisingly little. Thanks to what was done to my stripes I was unable to return to most of my former duties." Seeker tugged at the hem of her robe, "A shame, but it isn't something I can change. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the loss of my stripes does not hinder my ability to fight, so I have maintained being able to do so, even if put on desk duties. Convenient considering the threat we now face."

"Yeah."

Seeker waited a beat for Twilight to say more, but there wasn't any. "With Celestia's weapon destroyed, perhaps this fight might go better in our favour."

"I hope so. If we can start pushing back here in Zebrica, then we should stand a chance in Equestria. We almost have everything we need to end this."

"You speak of the Kuua?" Seeker asked, getting a nod from Twilight. "If it weren't you asking, I would have significant doubts about giving the Kuua to the griffons. It feels to me as though you are giving the griffons the tools of your own downfall."

"If that's true, the griffons will come to regret it. Compared to Faust, the griffons feel extremely surmountable."

"True," Seeker laughed. "Very true. But it is another cost you would have to pay, and you grew tired of war some time ago."

"I know, which is why I would probably pay the Emperor a very personal visit if he betrayed our trust like that, and have some very strong words with him."

"To put the fear of alicorns into him?"

"Fear can be a powerful motivator."

"Is that really something Twilight Sparkle would do?"

"If it spared us another war with more death, it is."

Seeker nodded slowly, satisfied with the answer. "And if he didn't listen?"

"Hopefully his heir would. Princess Clarissa isn't the sort to make needless war, and even if the Emperor were to start thinking Equestria might be better off in his claws, she would hopefully talk him down. Part of that's why I think Zebrica would be better off joining our security pact. The Emperor wouldn't really consider attacking another member. Not without considerable difficulties."

"Not least because being surrounded by a series of united nations would be enough to give even the mighty griffons pause?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Twilight's mouth, "Now you're getting it. Unfortunately, I doubt your Elders would go for even a loose alliance if it meant even the slightest loss of independence. Which it wouldn't, I feel I should point out."

"We've been sharing intelligence with the Saddle Arabians for a great many years. If you were to ask some of the Elders, even that is too much of a dependence upon others. Zebrica should stand tall and free, according to them."

"And yet they have few problems with us princesses coming here and fighting for them, or even with putting us in charge of the defence of their country. Rather hypocritical, don't you think?"

This time it was Seeker's turn to stay silent.

"It seems as though Elder Kifuniko is the only one really thinking clearly on the matter."

"Ah, but she is young and idealistic, while the others are old and stuck in their ways."

"And why is an Elder so young?"

"Because the shamans act as a separate tribe with tribes, so to speak, and choose their Elder based on their merits, rather than on how greyed their stripes are. You'd almost call it sensible."

Twilight smiled at the joke, but it died quickly. Although the topic had quickly moved on from Sunset, she was still finding the conversation exhausting. She wanted to be happy to see Seeker, but the reasons she was there sucked all the joy from it. Thankfully Cadence came to her rescue when she entered the room.

"Sorry to disturb you but the Council wants to see us, including you, Seeker."

"No doubt they wish to dismiss our plans as too risky," said Seeker. "Amusing then that we have little choice but to exercise risk at this point."

"You must admit they have a point," Cadence said back. "Drawing the Mareitanians into the city could do considerable damage."

"Fighting a losing battle outside it could do more."

"That's... not for me to say."

"I know, but if I can get Mistress Tazama on our side, they should listen. Or at least they should listen more." Seeker stood and offered a hoof to Twilight, pulling the mare to her own hooves. "When the enemy is at your gates there will always be risk involved."

"Your plan is untenable," were the first words Twilight heard as they entered the Council chamber. They were directed at Luna, who was stood as patiently as she could be with one injured leg. "The idea is to keep the Mareitanians out of the city!"

"The point was to remove the Mareitanians from the country, if I remember correctly," Luna said back. She glanced at Twilight as she heard them entering the chamber, then looked back to the Elders. "I believe this plan presents your best chance of that happening."

"And I believe it presents the best chance of us losing!" the Elder Mareed half shouted back, to the agreement of some of the other Elders.

"That's always a possibility, no matter what we try," Luna replied calmly.

"Would you be willing to risk so much if these were Equestrian soldiers you were using to fight this battle?" a different, female Elder asked. Twilight wished that she'd taken the time to learn their names. "Or pony civilians you were putting at risk?"

"There is always risk in war. Your warriors should know what is expected of them as much as any Equestrian soldier. The protection of their homeland is worth a little risk."

"And what of you, Princess Twilight, Princess Cadence? Do you agree with Princess Luna's proposed plan?"

"I won't deny that I have some concerns," Cadence admitted, "but I would have some regardless of what the plan is, so I'm not the pony you should be asking."

"I support this plan," Twilight said once Cadence went quiet, even though she wasn't fully aware of what the plan entailed. She could guess enough of it. "Your zebras would be decimated on an open battlefield, Kuua or no Kuua. Drawing the Mareitanians into an enclosed space that your zebras know a lot better, and that can hide your numbers while decreasing the Mareitanians ability to fight to their own strengths, is the only realistic way you have of winning this battle."

Seeker took a step forward, "I too support this plan. You ordered me to lead the fight against the Mareitanian invaders, so believe me when I say this plan will work far better than facing the Mareitanians on the open savannah. Mistress Tazama, how much time do we have until the Mareitanians reach the city?"

Tazama raised an eyebrow at the question, and the rather coarse manner in which it was asked by a subordinate. "They are six, maybe seven hours out, although I doubt we should expect an attack right away. My assessment is that they would wait an hour's distance away for an overnight rest, then attack. We could make an attack on them then."

"They would be expecting it," Luna told her. "I would only be tempted to try such an attack with a flight of my thestrals at my side. Even then I would still expect losses. It'd be a suicide mission for your zebras."

"So you would let them attack us while well rested?"

"It's not ideal, but them thinking that we were too afraid to attack during a time when they were vulnerable only adds to the illusion we wish to bestow upon them of not having the numbers to resist."

"And should they not fall for it?" Elder Fumbo asked. "Yours is an audacious plan, princesses, but it is heavily dependent on the Mareitanians entering the city as you want them to. You cannot guarantee they will do that."

Luna shrugged at the Elders, "Perhaps not, but I strongly believe they will. My sister is not currently in a state of mind for enacting patience. We have shamed her twice, and the Mareitanians once, not including the loss of their kirin. I suspect they will not hesitate for long, if at all."

"And if they do? If they decide to siege the city?"

Luna smirked. She didn't mean to in this company, but it happened anyway. "If they want the city, they'll have to. Even if they don't, that's fine, it'll still keep them distracted and unable to aid Faust when it matters. If anything, keeping this army here would aid the war against Faust as much as defeating them."

"You are adamant, aren't you," Fumbo said with a shake of his head. "Mistress Tazama, your thoughts?"

"We do not have a better plan," Tazama said simply. "They are not lying when they say a fight on the savannah will see us destroyed. The Kuua would lessen the impact of their magic, but not to the degree where it would be an even fight. As long as their Adepts have range, they can hurt us. Enclosed spaces would even the fight. I'm also of the impression yaks do not fight well in small spaces."

Fumbo thanked Tazama, then stood silently save for a tapping of his hoof for several long seconds. "This is a decision that could make or break our country. If we lose this battle, Zebrica falls."

"Zebrica would rise again," Luna said confidently. "Our course to defeat Faust is set, so even if Zebrica were to fall this day, it would only be temporary."

"Why not surrender then?" Mareed asked. "Save our warriors from dying in a battle where the outcome is irrelevant? Would that not be the more sensible course of action?"

Twilight held her breath. She hadn't even considered that, and even though she would happily avoid fighting now, the outcome of a surrender could be so much worse in the long run. Thankfully Luna could see that too, and had the words to argue against it.

"And allow Faust to bring her soldiers back to Equestria? While allowing her to forcibly conscript your zebras to her cause? We would then have no choice but to fight them in such a case, and with those numbers we may even lose the war. That would serve none of us. At least let your warriors fight to protect their homeland, rather than die unwillingly serving Faust."

Mareed sneered at Luna, "I was under the impression it wouldn't matter."

"It does if you're willing to give her back not just her army, but yours with it."

Fumbo banged a hoof on the wooden floor of his stand, "Enough, Mareed. She does raise a valid point. We are here to vote though, so vote we will. All those in favour of surrendering, raise your hoof."

Twilight fought to hide her smile as only Mareed raised his hoof. Mareed himself seemed disgusted with the others for being so willing to fight. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Seeker and Tazama sharing a look and a nod, which she hoped to mean Mareed would be closely watched for any treachery he might be planning.

"Those in favour of following the princesses plan, raise your hoof."

Fumbo raised his hoof, as did Kifuniko, and one other. After a couple of seconds a fourth joined them, then a fifth, putting the majority in the favour of Luna's plan.

"It is decided then, the fate of Zebrica lies in your hooves, princesses."

"I have to ask," Twilight said she, Luna, and Cadence departed the Kumbi Mzee along with Trixie, Ember, a grey unicorn that actually Nightmare, and the Wonderbolts, "can this plan actually work? I'm only asking because I feel like it should've been explained to me before I had to go in there extolling its many virtues."

Luna gave Twilight a sideways look, "Of course it can work. And it will work, mostly because of the Kuua."

Twilight groaned up at the sky, "I knew it. I knew this plan would depend on something like that. The Mareitanians won easily in Canterlot, and this fight isn't much different. At best we're only making it even."

"And what would you like me to say?"

"That this won't end up like Vanhoover," Rainbow said before Twilight could speak. "Every time we've tried something like this, it doesn't work."

"Truer than I'd like to admit. But all of those fights have had the Mareitanian Adepts clustered up at range where they're most effective. Between the Kuua, and the enclosed spaces, and the absence of Faust, I'm confident the zebras can prevail."

"If the Mareitanians were composed of just unicorns, sure, but they aren't. There are plenty of earth ponies and yaks there as well."

"If you think this plan will fail, why did you not bring it up sooner?" Luna glanced around the others, only getting silence from them. "If we didn't have the Kuua, and if they had siege weapons, this plan wouldn't work. With the Kuua, and without them having siege weapons to turn on the city, I am confident it can."

"It'll be hard for me to fight in the city," Ember lamented. "This place does look flammable."

"And what about Celestia?" Cadence asked. "She's capable of doing quite a bit of damage on her own, even if she has lost Solaris."

"I realise, which is why you will stay with the Council, to protect them in a place we can hide them. Celestia will probably go straight for the Kumbi Mzee once her forces start entering the city. Twilight and I shall face her there while the rest of you will aid the zebras."

"This city isn't exactly ideal for us either," Lightning pointed out. "We could easily get caught in these tight spaces."

"If you're having that much difficulty, pull out. The Adepts are likely to be shielding wherever they can, so using lightning against those shields would be enough. Just wait for us to engage Celestia before you try that though, because that is attention you won't be able to handle."

"I think I should fight."

All of them stopped to look at Cadence after she spoke, save Trixie, who burst out laughing instead.

"What? You're expecting me to fight when we retake Equestria, so why can I not fight now? I need to learn."

"Do you trust any zebras here to protect Flurry while you are fighting?" Luna asked. "You know she has no place in a battle."

"So that's it? I become a mother and suddenly I can't do anything?"

"Do you wish to fight?"

"No! Of course I don't! But what I want doesn't seem to have mattered for a long time now!" Cadence glowered at an unapologetic Luna for a long moment before continuing in a calmer voice. "If I don't learn to fight, I'm going to be no use to you when I really need to fight."

"She's not wrong," said Twilight. "I'm sure Moondancer, Daring, and Mayfly can watch Flurry during the battle if Cadence takes her back to the retreat. If you and her face Celestia, I can help the zebras."

"Very well," Luna said begrudgingly, her tone of voice alone saying that she thought this was a bad idea. "Since Cadence will be needed to fight Faust, fighting Celestia will be good practice."

"Assuming she aims to engage you," said Trixie, speaking her first actual words since leaving the Kumbi Mzee. "After beating her twice already, I'm thinking she'll try her best to not fight you alone if she can avoid it."

"Then we shall join the battle until she feels she has no choice. Her failure to distract us will only damage her forces chance at victory."

Trixie rolled her eyes at Luna, "You mean that victory that will probably only be a pyrrhic victory for either side at best? Don't act like at least one of us wouldn't work that out."

Luna didn't say anything for a while, and they were almost to the edge of the city nearest where the zebra army was encamped before she did.

"Can you at least agree that the zebras surrendering presents a potentially worse outcome than all the others?"

"Sure," Trixie said, readily agreeing. "The problem is that I was under the impression that we would be making our move against Faust in a matter of weeks. There's no way Faust could secure the entirety of Zebrica and have them fighting for her in that time, meaning they could surrender. Or... order them to carry out a guerilla campaign, keeping Faust's army here bogged down while we do what we do. If we're lucky, she might send more soldiers here to help, making our job easier."

Luna's jaw hung open, only closing it when she tried to splutter a sentence, failed, then tried again. "Why didn't you mention any of that before?"

"Because I wasn't invited to the meeting with the Council?" Trixie said haughtily. "If I was I might've."

"Of course." Luna thought about it, but ultimately ended up dismissing the idea with a shake of her head. "If the zebras lose the city, they effectively lose the country, and the Mareitanians could hold the city hostage against any attacks. While I'm sure that wouldn't matter too much given our end objective, the zebras are unlikely to accept being used like that. They want to keep their city and country."

"So suicide plan it is then," Trixie sighed. "Armour don't fail me now."

Twilight was learning quite a bit about certain aspects of zebra culture. Or at least the parts of it revolving around warfare. Each town and village was required to provide warriors in times of need, which this certainly was, and each warband was led by the village's best warrior. Considering the varying sizes of zebra settlements, a warband could consist of anything from fifty to well over a thousand warriors, and yet each Kiongozi wa Vita, or War Leader, was of equal rank regardless of how many warriors they led. Naturally this led to some friction, but Twilight could understand it to a point.

If a settlement sending a thousand warriors lose half their number, the settlement could still prosper with its five hundred remaining warriors. However, a settlement sending fifty warriors faced a more uncertain future if they lost even half their number. Because of that, each warband was viewed as being equal, even if vastly different in size. The sacrifice of each settlement was ostensibly the same, so the importance of each one was also the same.

That bit Twilight could understand, and even appreciate. The problems arose when not every War Leader also appreciated it. The ones leading larger warbands did not consider the importance of a smaller settlement as being the same, even though the loss of even a hundred zebras could theoretically mean the slow death of an entire village. Those villages had sent warriors anyway, even if it meant their ends, so Twilight was more inclined to side with them. Even then she could still possibly argue that a zebra leading a thousand warriors might have a little more to say on matters than one leading much less, but they were all viewed as equal, and that was that.

Of course it got worse still, if having thirty seven different War Leaders wasn't bad enough. Overarching command usually fell to the Rangi, or Night Maidens, or the Council's chosen leader, but this time it had fallen into the lap of the princesses, who weren't even zebras. Quite a few of the War Leaders didn't like that. A lot of them also didn't like Luna's plan, considering it cowardly and dishonourable, not that many could express that directly as out of the thirty seven War Leaders, four spoke ponish. Seeker, and those four, were translating as fast as they could for the others, but they seemed more frazzled by the dissenting voices than Luna did, who could only stand there waiting politely for the translated words of a lot of angry zebras.

"I was under the impression that there were only, like, seven tribes in Zebrica," Trixie said as she, Twilight, Cadence, and Nightmare observed events. "I don't get why the Council doesn't lead this so there are less leaders."

"Each tribe can consist of several settlements," Cadence told her. "Tribal identity is important to the zebras, but it's not totally rigid in some respects. A settlement can have members of all of the tribes living there, like Zanzebra, so for one of the Council to take command of zebras from one of the other tribes would be massively frowned upon. That's why its fairly decided that the strongest warrior lead each warband."

"But that leads to crap like this, where they're arguing amongst themselves more than anything else. It's ridiculous! And grossly inefficient."

"I had no problems leading them," said Nightmare. "I'm also sure my tactics were just as dishonourable as Luna's."

"The forces you led mostly consisted of Zanzebran warriors, and other larger settlements, who, and I hate to say this, tend to be better educated, not as traditional, and far less..."

"Racist?" said Twilight.

"I was going to say isolationist," Cadence replied primly, "but... yes. I don't see why; we're all equines after all. My point is those zebras would have far less of an issue being led by a princess." Cadence eyed Nightmare, "Including me it seems."

"Alright, but that doesn't explain why they all followed my lead like they did, even on a 'dishonourable' plan."

"The four that can speak ponish are the War Leaders for almost half of the warriors here. Zebras from Zanzebra alone make up a third of the warriors here in total, with three large settlements nearby making up another quarter. Thirty four of those War Leaders lead zebras that count as less than half of the warriors here."

Trixie rolled her eyes and laughed, "That's just stupid. I get the feeling that if I asked why it's like this, the answer would be 'tradition.'"

"And you would be right."

Twilight smiled sideways at Cadence, "I see you've been busy learning things."

"I've heard a lot of it being discussed in the Council. I brought up some of your concerns myself, which was when I learnt it was 'tradition.'" Cadence sighed as the argument in front of them seemed to escalate, "Seems the tradition of following the Council's chosen Njaa isn't being observed particularly well today."

"And how does Luna fix that?" Twilight asked.

"Traditionally," Nightmare answered with a grin.

"And what does that mean?"

"What do you think?"

"Oh," Twilight said after a moment of thought. If this was going to be solved, it could only be solved with violence, the traditional way. "I hope she doesn't hurt them too much."

Luna waited as a circle was drawn in the dirt. That was going to be their arena, which she wasn't allowed to leave until all those that wanted to had gotten their chance to take the role of leader from her.

Apparently some of them were dumb enough to try.

Admittedly she was being denied the use of her wings and horn, and her injured leg put her at a reasonable disadvantage, but she was still confident she could prevail with relative ease since they would be coming at her one at a time.

Once the circle was drawn she stepped into it, an easy smile on her face which she was sure was infuriating her opponents. One of them seemed to be frothing at the mouth and barely holding himself back, so naturally he was first. The stallion strutted into the ring, posturing for the crowd and saying a lot of stuff that Luna had no hope of understanding. She waited for him to stop, then looked to Seeker for a translation.

"I'm... not going to give you a direct translation, but he says this Equestrian... harlot, has no right to come here and tell us what to do. Zebrica is for zebras to protect, not ponies."

Luna raised an eyebrow at Seeker, "He called me a whore, didn't he?"

"I... maybe... yes?"

"Tell him something good back, maybe about the size of his penis."

Seeker snorted and rolled her eyes, then rattled off something quickly in zebra. Luna wondered what she'd said as the stallion went stiff and wide eyed, then howled with rage. Some of the ponish speaking zebras behind him were grinning with amusement, and it seemed to be at Luna's expense. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that you laid with both his mother and father, and that you're sorry he inherited his father's tiny stallionhood." Seeker smirked at Luna, "Don't ask me to make up your trash talk."

"No, that's perfectly acceptable. In fact, ask him if his mother is still around, because she was superb in the bedroom."

"I'm not going to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because, Nightwalker, I suspect there weren't any zebras on the moon for you to actually do any of this stuff with, since that's where you were when he was born, and I'm far from the only one to know that."

"Alas no, there was no company on the moon, and serving oneself with hooves covered in moon dust was the absolute worst."

Seeker squirmed in disgust, "Please stop talking and fight him so we can get this over with."

"Very well." Luna gestured with a hoof for him to come at her, hoping that at least didn't require a translation. Since he did just that, it was clear it didn't. She ducked low as he ran at her, then punched upwards when he was close enough, launching him into the air. With a strong roundhouse to follow up, she punched him clear out of the ring to land in a pile on his head.

"He was the best warrior of his village?" Luna said as the stallion struggled to breath. She worried that she might've hit him too hard, but decided to not worry about it over much as he finally sucked in a breath.

"I suspect he underestimated the strength of an alicorn."

"That was silly of him."

Seeker eyed Luna with disapproval, "Must you enjoy this so? This is supposed to be serious!"

"Remind me again what I did with his parents?"

Seeker blushed a little at having been caught out, and waved for the next challenger to enter the ring. Surprisingly there was one less now. Clearly they'd taken the opportunity to sneak away while everyone else was distracted.

The next challenger, also a stallion, entered with considerably more grace than the last one, and bowed before Luna. Luna returned it, glad to be fighting a more level-headed opponent, but also disappointed that there wasn't more trash talk. The shrug she got from Seeker about his quiet entrance lead her to suspect this was going to be it.

Luna signalled for the fight to start. The stallion, still in his calm demeanour, walked up to Luna to stand in front of her. Too curious to do anything to attack, Luna cocked her head a little as their staring match continued. She was totally unprepared for when he suddenly hit her on the chest with a speed she wouldn't have suspected.

"Ow," Luna said dumbly, taking a defensive stance as the stallion shook some life back into his hoof. Then he bowed and left the ring, leaving Luna even more curious than she was before. Did he do that purely to brag that he once struck a princess and lived to tell the tale? It was weird, whatever it was. Still, she couldn't help but smile at the strange stallion.

Seeker called for the next challenger, and even in a different language Luna could tell it was a bit weak. Unlike her next opponent. This stallion was musclebound in a serious way, and gave the appearance of having worked to be that way every day of his life. That was unfortunate, because Luna could tell he was going to be a grappler, and would try to use his strength to force her out of the ring when her onet leg probably wasn't up to that particular challenge.

Luna waited as the stallion flexed at the crowd. He appeared to love the attention, which was a great shame since he looked more like a stripy sack full of beach balls than an actual zebra. If anyone liked the way he looked, Luna seriously had to wonder why.

Seeker signalled for the fight to start, and the lumpen mass of muscle turned to face Luna. With a self satisfied nod, she concluded that yes, he was going to grapple her, and that she was going to lose if she went along with that. Instead she was going to go for a weak spot shared amongst many. Punching him in the face as hard as she could.

The stallion ran in low, further confirming Luna's theory. She wasn't going to match it, so stayed upright to deliver the blow she hoped would win this. Hopefully it worked, otherwise she'd just cost herself the leadership of this army to a silly looking lump of meat. She snapped her hoof out as he got close, and with a sound similar to two halves of a coconut being banged together at ridiculously high speeds, hit the zebra right between the eyes, then stepped back as he collapsed to the ground.

"It feels like you have little regard for how this is really meant to go," Seeker said to Luna as the latter dumped the stallion outside the circle. "You could at least have made a bit of a show."

"We have a massive army breathing down our necks, and you want me to make this waste of time take even longer?"

"An extra few minutes isn't going to hurt. Besides, do not think your next opponent will go down so easy."

"And why, pray tell, is that?"

"You'll see." Seeker bowed deeply to the remaining challenger, who happened to be the only mare who had stepped up. Words were exchanged in the zebras native tongue, but Luna was aware enough to pick up the respect in them. She started to suspect her final challenger was a member, or at least former member, of the Night Maidens.

"It is an honour to make your acquaintance," the mare said as she stepped into the ring. She did appear to be older, but not too old, and had the dark rings around her neck that Mistress Tazama had been wearing. That, and the respect Seeker showed, led Luna into thinking that this was the former Mistress of the Night Maidens. She could be wrong, but rather suspected she wasn't.

"And a pleasure to make yours," Luna returned, showing no surprise that this mare could speak ponish. If anything it helped confirm her suspicions. "So you wish to take command from me, hmm?"

The mare smiled, "Actually my motives are far less sinister. I am quite aware of how skilled an alicorn is with magic, but I am curious to see whether you have comparable skills in hoof to hoof combat. Plus the chance to fight one of Equestria's princesses?" The mare smiled, "How could I pass up that opportunity?"

"This is boring!" Nightmare shouted from amongst the spectators. "I am bored. I am not getting less bored. Get on with this so we can get back to the war!"

"What is your name?" Luna asked, ignoring Nightmare.

"I am Mistress Mjuzi." The mare smiled at Luna, "We keep our title, even after retirement."

"I see." The fact that this retired zebra managed to be the strongest warrior out of whoever she led here was impressive to Luna, and left her with the feeling this wasn't going to go how she expected or wanted. Winning this fight against such an opponent would at least hopefully quell any further naysayers.

"Begin."

As soon as Seeker said the word Luna found herself under attack. She blocked the first blow with a leg, but the Mistress was quickly sidestepping to deliver another, then another, with a speed that Luna couldn't quite follow. The hits, although strong, weren't enough to topple her, although it left Luna feeling like a dumb and lumbering beast under attack from a pack of wolves. Each individual strike would do little, but enough of them would wear her down.

Luna jumped away, leaving the Mistress to punch empty air as Luna gathered her wits. She hit out at the zebra, finding her hoof getting easily deflected to the side, and again. She spun, and tried to kick the mare, but had that idea ruined as the Mistress ducked under her and punched her in the gut, winding her for a moment as she rolled to the side to escape, covering herself in dust. Aside from her hooves, the Mistress was still aggravatingly clean. It was then that Luna noticed the hoofprints on her own hide where she'd been hit. There was quite a few of them.

"You're too stiff, Princess. Loosen up and stop fighting like a wrestler."

Luna rolled her eyes at the advice from her opponent, even if she knew it was true to a degree. She was being too rigid, which was unhelpful against a fast opponent like she had now. She had to be faster herself.

Luna ran forwards, hoping a more aggressive tact would throw the Mistress off. She threw a hoof towards the zebra, using her strength to power through the attempt to block it, and ended up knocking the zebra to the ground. The Mistress rolled and sprang back to her hooves, and returned the attack by striking Luna just below the horn.

Stars blossomed in Luna's vision as a sharp and insistent whining filled her eyes. That had hurt, and worst of all it left her vulnerable to a follow up attack. An attack that never came. When Luna's vision cleared, Mistress Mjuzi was stood in front of her, smiling softly. Luna knew then that she was being toyed with.

"I thought alicorns were supposed to be tough!" Nightmare jeered. "You're making us look bad!"

Once again Luna ignored her counterpart. She needed to ignore all distractions if she was going to win this. She waited this time, studying her opponent for any obvious weaknesses, not that she'd really displayed any so far. Her advancing years didn't seem to make a difference, and her skills at fighting were excellent, so... Luna had nothing and she knew it. At the same time, she wasn't as good at fighting unarmed, and had a glaring weakness in her leg that the Mistress had made no attempt to exploit.

"You're really bad at this," Nightmare interjected, ironically helping Luna to make a decision.

"I forfeit," Luna said after a moment. "Without flight or magic I can't beat you, not while also injured. Command of this army is now yours if you want it, Mistress Mjuzi."

The Mistress seemed shocked for a moment, then grinned at Luna. "Is that so?"

"It is."

"Then my first act as Njaa of this army is to appoint Princess Luna as tactics adviser."

Luna blinked dumbly, "Excuse me?"

"I never had issues with your leadership, or your proposed plan. I was only interested in the opportunity to spar with a princess. Your decision to forfeit was an unexpected move, and probably a wise one."

Luna shrugged, "If I'd been allowed to us my magic..."

"I would likely have lost, yes."

"Do you not have to now accept any challengers?"

"If any would dare."

Luna cast a glance at Twilight and Nightmare, getting an indifferent shrug from the former, and a look of disappointment from the latter. Trixie seemed rather indifferent herself, while Cadence seemed more anxious than anything. She supposed that as long as the plan remained unchanged they saw no reason to rock the boat. Plus the other War Leaders might be more inclined to listen to a zebra, so it might even have some advantages.

"It seems you have none," Luna said after a moment.

"Good. When are your pegasi due to return from scouting?"

"One will return as soon as the Mareitanians are two hours trot away. Then another at one hour to report whether the Mareitanians are stopping to rest or not. After that they will take it in turns to watch for movement."

"Good. That is good. I take it you are to face Princess Celestia?"

"Myself and Princess Cadence, yes. My other companions will join your zebras in fighting the Mareitanians and yaks."

Mistress Mjuzi nodded thoughtfully, then started barking orders in zebra faster than Luna could ever hope to understand. Zebras started running off to fill those orders, leaving Luna to wonder what was going on until the Mistress spoke to her again.

"I've ordered some of our warriors to start evacuating civilians out of the north of the city so that they will not be in the way when the fighting heads that way. Do you believe the Mareitanians will fall for being drawn into the city?"

"I do," Luna confirmed, "if we make it convincing. We will have to put up a fight first, and let them think they have beaten us into fleeing." Luna lowered her head, "There will have to be losses for that to happen."

"I agree," the Mistress said solemnly. "Explain your full plan to me, and we shall see what we can do to minimise them."

"This is weird," Trixie said to Twilight an hour or two later. "I'm too used to having you or Luna in charge. I can't believe Luna forfeited."

"She was at a disadvantage," Twilight said back. "Fighting could've reopened her wounds, or led to different injuries when she needs to be fit enough to fight Celestia. I know it sounds like a dubious decision, but it seems to have been the right one. Mistress Mjuzi has done nothing to change the plan at all."

"It's still pathetic," Nightmare growled, jabbing a stick into the fire they were sat around, earning herself an angry glare from the zebra using it to cook. "I can't believe she did that."

"It was a tactical choice," said Twilight. "If one of the others had won, we'd probably be charging at the Mareitanians right now, screaming as loud as we could to try and scare them. To be honest, if one of the others had won, I'd have stepped up to challenge them."

"But not this Mistress?"

Twilight shook her head, "She's a Night Maiden, so I like to think she plays to win, rather than to satisfy some misplaced sense of honour on the battlefield. She's adopted Luna's tactic, and quelled the dissent from those not wanting to be led by a pony princess. Honestly, giving up was the smartest thing Luna could have done."

"Still annoying," Nightmare grumbled.

"You'll live."

Silence, or at least as near as you could get when surrounded by thousands of zebras, fell onto the group. The coming battle occupied much of their thoughts, and there was nothing much to really say about it. For Twilight and Trixie, this battle was the largest they'd been in since the end of the Mareitanian civil war, and the taking of Stalliongrad. Sitting around waiting for the battle to start was something they were uncomfortably used to. Arguably, since she had all of Luna's memories, Nightmare had even more experience with this than they did.

It took Twilight a while to work out what the difference was. They weren't in charge. Yes they'd already recognised that, but it took a bit longer to really understand what that meant. They weren't privy to the planning, or involved in the preparations. They were literally waiting there with all the other soldiers, no more important to events than the zebras around them.

It was quite strange.

After a while the sound of music started up as the sun started to dip below the horizon. Drums and other basic instruments started hammering out a tune, and around it the zebras started dancing around a fire, with some of the braver ones jumping over it, shouting in zebra.

Twilight started as a bowl of food was held under her nose, then accepted it with a smile for the zebra that had given it to her. She had no idea what was going on, but sat there with Trixie stuffing her face on one side of her, and Nightmare bobbing her head along to the beat on the other, it was in its way quite enjoyable. Perhaps that was rather the point, to have one last good time with those you might never get to do so with again. Since most of the other fires had their own little party going on around it, Twilight felt inclined to think she was right.

Once Twilight was done eating, her bowl was taken away to be reused for those that hadn't eaten before. Most of the dancers stopped to enjoy their fill, and while they ate a lone mare stood by the fire, a pole in her hooves that she poked into the fire, first one end, then the other, until both ends were alight.

A slower beat started now as the mare started twirling the flaming baton around her hoof, starting a slow that soon had her rearing up onto her back hooves as she gyrated with the music, spinning the baton around and around. Twilight wondered if there was some greater significance to the dance. The mare was quite beautiful by zebra standards, and even some pony standards, and her slow dance was quite sensual in its way. It didn't seem right to just call it 'a dance.'
All the same, in the dark the dance was mesmerising as the two flames left trails in the air, which left Twilight quite unprepared for when a hoof tapped her on the shoulder, and a short, sharp scream escaped her before she could slam a hoof over it.

"Sorry," Seeker apologised. "I hadn't realised you were so engrossed. The wajane ngoma is quite the beautiful dance."

"The what?"

"The wajane ngoma. The widow's dance. Its from one of our legends. Two great warriors fell in love on the battlefield, both paragons of strength and beauty, and both loved to dance. Many lusted after them, but they only had eyes for each other. They married, of course, and had many children, but as is the way of warriors, her husband was killed in battle."

"His widow was distraught, but resolved to live on for their children, rather than seek a faster way to reunite with her love. She still loved to dance though, and often would, but her beauty attracted too many stallions, and she sought to keep herself unsullied for her husband when they met again in the afterlife. To keep those stallions at bay while she danced, she set the ends of her spear alight, and created the dance you see now to keep them away."

"That's nice and all," Trixie said, having been listening, "or rather tragic I suppose, but I fail to see the significance of performing the dance right before a battle."

Seeker half smiled, "It used to be tradition that any zebra that wed was wed for life, even if their partner died. They were forbidden from remarrying, or even laying with another, to keep themself pure for their departed. This dance was used to remind our warriors that should they fall their loves would wait for them, and it is still danced now even when that tradition is all but gone." Seeker snorted with mirth, "Let's not also ignore the fact that its quite pleasant to watch, and the dancer quite beautiful."

"Thank you for telling us that," Twilight said earnestly.

"You're welcome, but it is far from the only reason I'm here, unfortunately. The second of your Wonderbolts has returned, reporting that the Mareitanians have set up camp a short distance from here. It seems Luna's prediction was right."

"They tend to be. Should we get ready in case they attack tonight?"

"We would have plenty of warning if they try that, and we would be more than ready. For now we should let our drums cry our defiance, and let them know that Zebrica will never bow to their tyranny. Zebrica milele! Zebrica forever!"

The shout was taken up by the other zebras until it echoed across the savannah where even the Mareitanians might have heard it. Twilight smiled at the sentiment, but in the back of her mind she could only remind herself that nothing lasted forever.

Author's Notes:

Not sure where I was going with this chapter, but it was a thing that happened, and is a pleasant piece of calm before it all kicks off, with bits of zebra culture thrown in for funzies.