Chapter 20-1: Mirrors And Roses

[Killing is personal - so’s vows, promises. Last bit’s more important to me than the first.]

On shaky legs, I followed Wings up the stairs into the bar. Her grumbling, as she fiercely scrubbed her claw with a towel, barely registered.

I didn’t even react when a snarky voice piped up from the other end of the countertop. “So she lives.” Breeze was tinkering with… something or other, it didn’t seem important at the time. She didn’t seem important. I didn’t seem important.

After a quick rinse in the sink, Wings’ claw settled around my shoulders, guiding me towards a booth. “Come on, Snow. Sit down and breathe it out for a little while. Then you need to tell us what you saw.”

There was a clunk behind us as Breeze set down whatever she was working on. “What’s wrong with her? Three days with no food leaving her constipated?”

Irritation laced Wings’ response. “Knock it off, Breeze. Whatever she saw in the Orb, it wasn’t easy to see.”

“What wasn’t?” A clattering of hooves accompanied Bosco’s question, as some or all of the others, I wasn’t able to tell, strolled in.

“Snowflake?” A familiar face moved into my vision. I saw it, but didn’t really register it. “What’s wrong, Sister?”

A hint of anger bubbled through the worry as she growled at the chocolate-furred griffon holding me up. “You were supposed to be watching her! What happened?”

“Easy, Undertow,” Naiara stepped in. “Snow’s fine. Look, no broken bones or bruises. She’s probably just had a little fright is all.”

“She does look somewhat nauseous. Naiara, can you brew her something to settle her stomach? Before anything unpleasant happens.”

A feather brushed my eyelid. “Too late for that, Cass. She already let rip downstairs, all over my claw.”

“Again?” Chorused Bosco and Schwarzwald.

“Again.”

“Sorry.” I mumbled, startling Wings and Undertow.

“Ah. You are back with us, Snowflake-dear.”

I just nodded mutely.

“...Or close enough.”

Undertow’s comforting warmth pressed against me from my free side. “Snowflake, what did you see? Was it the Stable?”

“...Yes… and no.”

“Helpful.”

“Breeze…”

“Alright, alright. Come on, Snow. Tell us already.”

Mercifully, nobody said anything as I looked at each in turn, marshalling my thoughts. Their expressions ranged across concern from Undertow and Naiara, focus from Wings and Bosco, intrigue from Schwarzwald and Cassie, and mild irritation from Breeze.

I took a mental deep breath to match my physical one. Here we go. “...My h-... where I grew up, Stable 61… there’s always a blizzard around the mountain it was built into. It didn’t stop, ever. Every second of every minute of every hour-”

“I think we get it, Snow. The blizzard never stops. Keep going.”

“Well, according to the Memory Orb, it’s… actually not a blizzard at all.”

And then I told them. I told them about Chrysalis, and Cadence, and the Windigoes. About the Changelings, and about the balance between love and hate. I didn’t hold anything back, though my cracked and parched throat forced me to stop at some inopportune times. By the end, though, even Breeze was giving me nothing but rapt attention.

When I finally wound down, the room’s atmosphere weighed heavily on me. I looked first to my sister, whose orange eyes were wide, and then to Wings. She wasn’t really looking back, not at first, but I could see her Blue Fire eyes dancing a thousand ways at once. After half a second, she caught me staring, and the twin blazes settled a little as she nudged my shoulder. “Wow, Snow. Never thought I’d hear a tale like that all the way out here.”

Her forced cheer broke the tension, and suddenly everybody had questions.

“How can a blizzard be a… a ‘Changeling’?”

“Yeah, and what is a ‘Changeling’, anyway?”

“You’re sure that’s what you saw, Snow. The Orb wasn’t still broken?”

“I didn’t know Equestria had another Princess. Where was she back then?”

“This Shining Armour, what role does he play in all of this?”

“And where are these Changelings now?”

My tale told, I found myself quite exhausted. Stepping down onto the hard floor, I slowly and deliberately stretched, relishing in the pops and bursts that ran along my awakening muscles. I was quite happy to do this for a while, and let the debate go on without me.

Schwarzwald ambled past me. “Please excuse me, dahlings, but I must consult with my sources on this. It might take some time.”

Going to ask Watcher, huh? Good call. I had just enough self-control not to say that in front of Wings, but it was a stretch.

Breeze, Undertow, and Bosco were deep in discussion about the magi-mechanical implications of maintaining a blizzard like that for two hundred years, and I’m sure I would have liked to join in any other time, but for now I just wanted some air. Wings and Cassie followed me out, but held their own conversation as I took a few minutes to face north and just stare.

~~~~~~

After a break to digest this new information, we reconvened. For the first time, we all sat together on the floor, with no obvious barrier between my sister and I, and the twins. Everybody was too preoccupied for that.

“So…” Wings began, “...I guess we can add that to the list of things we need to look into.”

“AFTER all the other crap we’ve already got to take care of. It can wait.”

“Can it?” Undertow challenged Breeze. “You heard my sister. If nothing is done, the Windigoes will overrun Equestria eventually.”

“It’s been two hundred years, and the blizzard’s still going strong. It can wait another few weeks or so.”

Undertow’s brow furrowed over her goggles. “I don’t think you are giving this the attention-”

“So what SHOULD we look into next?” Bosco broke in. “Now that we’ve got Naiara back, I vote for finding my other two Memory Orbs. I’ve already lost three more days because of Snow’s vision.”

Not having a counter argument, I stayed silent. He’d earned my help a few times over, so I’d just go along with whatever.

“Do I get a vote?” Naiara piped up. “I wasn’t here when you guys were making your list. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really thankful to you all for coming to get me at La Buque, but I still need to find my clan. They have to know by now that their plan for Latvi and the Raiders failed.”

“They do.” I supplied. The full details hardly needed to be stated at this point.

“Right, that’s what I mean. It was my mission, and I kinda screwed it up. Atesh is gonna want answers, and I need to make things right… somehow.”

Breeze quickly raised her hoof. “I vote for Naiara’s thing.”

“Why?”

Her sister’s one-word question seemed to wronghoof her. “Well, I… I mean, she’s my friend, I wanna help her, and…”

Cassie nodded knowingly at Breeze’s developing blush. “Ah, you want to see your new beau.”

“NO! I just want to help my friend!”

“Of course.” The sniper Pegasus smirked, before affecting a more serious expression. “Unfortunately I cannot agree with you.”

“What?! Cass!”

“I am sorry, Breeze, but Naiara’s tribe should wait until we have retrieved Bosco’s other two Orbs.”

After shooting her a grateful smile that morphed into a smug smirk, Bosco faced Naiara and Breeze. “Your dating life’ll have to wait. It’s finally my turn to get what I want.”

Cassie moved quickly to forestall any heatedness. “I support Bosco because of what we’ve just heard. Snowflake had only one Orb, and yet it held such an important secret. Bosco has three.”

“Anyone else got a vote?” Wings looked at each of our remaining three, myself included, as the twins glared at each other over the stalemate.

Without hesitation, Undertow cast her vote. “Bosco’s Orbs.”

And was quickly countered by Schwarzwald. “While I do wish to hear more stories from the past, I think that spending time with some muscular zebra stallions sounds just lovely.”

All eyes went to Wings for the decider. After hemming and hawing for a few seconds, she shrugged and sent an apologetic look towards Bosco. “I swear that you’re next. You can punch me in the face as hard as you want if I’m lying. Hell, you can punch all of us. But I gotta go with the zebras here.”

“Of course you do.” The charcoal colt seethed, “Nothing like being outnumbered, huh?”

Wings didn’t back down. “The zebra interfered at Gull Gulf. McCoy and his Monsters, and probably some other griffons too, will be out for stripey blood. They should be warned, if nothing else. It also moves up the timetable on anything to do with Naiara’s clan. Sorry, Bosco, but your Memory Orbs might end up being around longer than those zebra.”

Shaking slightly, Bosco stood up and stalked out of the room. We all watched him go. The others didn’t look like they thought much of the victory, not even Schwarzwald. I certainly didn’t.

~~~~~~

The mood hadn’t lightened much after we’d set off. Naiara led the way, though she was working on guesswork, as our first outing as a full eightsome didn’t have a definite destination. The zebra moved around often enough that we could do nothing but rely on Naiara’s experience and tracking skills.

Bosco trudged along in the very centre of our not-so-little pack, stoically ignoring any attempt at communication. The way he pulled his neck back into the gap of his barding brought to mind the old detective stories from the Stable, turning their collars up against the rain.

Much more encouraging was the fact that Undertow and Breeze had resumed their discussion on magic from earlier. Each would occasionally catch mine or Cassie’s eye, tense up for a moment, and seem to withdraw from the conversation, but soon enough would be swept back in. I should have been listening to what they’d been saying, but couldn’t keep up. Still, Undertow and Breeze don’t have to hate each other. It’s fine if I’m the only one who Breeze and Cassie don’t like.

Breeze’s sister, Schwarzwald, and Wings formed a triangle of lookouts. They tossed snippets of small talk at each other, in between watching the horizons and covering Naiara on point.

I sidled up to Bosco, keeping my eyes ahead, and speaking out of the side of my mouth. “I’m here, if you need to talk, alright?”

A noncommittal grunt was the answer.

Dropping it, I swung around and began walking backwards, looking north. We were heading south and, in the fading light, it was too far to see the mountains which housed Stable 61, or the ‘blizzard’ which swirled around them.

Two hundred years, Chrysalis. Two hundred years. You and Cadence spent every second maintaining the storm. How… can you possibly be that strong, yet still fear something? Just what kind of demons are the Windigoes, if they require this much power just to hide from? And how strong is the Crystal Heart, to focus all that love like that? Will it last? Will you?

...What’s it like, being a blizzard? Can you still see the world around you, Chrysalis? The blizzard blinded the Stable, but what about you? Do you even see anything at all? Do you hear, or feel, or taste the world around you?

Cadence… Chrysalis… do you know how badly we fucked everything up?

My eyes dropped slightly, imagining the mountains under Chrysalis and Cadence’s blizzard. I thought about Stable 61. All the ponies and buffalo and zebra and others who called it home. I thought about my brothers. How long would they struggle without me before they found their hooves again?

They’re only as old as Undertow. They shouldn’t have to lose their mother AND their sister. Buff will do his best, he always does, but the Overmare better be treating them right after what she did!

I thought back to the last pony I’d talked to before leaving Stable 61. Both times. She’d thrown me out in reality, and then I’d killed her in the Sombratic dream. Quite the contrast. What was her role in all of this? Did she know about the blizzard? Did anyone from the Stable? For all the times I had been stuck with monitor duty, there had never been much supervision, hence why most ponies just slept through their shift. I had done so a few dozen times myself, being one of the most frequent screen watchers.

They’ll be okay. Even if the blizzard stops. Nobody really ends up hated in the Stable. Even I was just an outcast, rather than a menace. My brothers got along fine with tons of people in the Stable.

Yeah, they’ll be safe. They don’t hate and aren’t hated. Just like Undertow.

I loved my family.

“Hey, Bosco, still pouting?” Breeze’s brash tone cut through my reverie. I sidestepped as she dropped back to draw level with the perturbed colt.

“Leave me alone, Breeze.”

“Nope! So anyway, I wanted to ask you…”

Seizing the opportunity, I moved past the burgeoning, though one-sided, conversation, and increased my pace until I passed my sister. As I did so, I nodded forwards for her to follow me. Moving past the others, we kept going until we caught up with Naiara. “Hey, we gotta talk.”

Her jade eyes on briefly flicked back to us, but the corner of her lips did turn up. “Sure, what’s up?”

Lowering my voice, I leaned in close. “What’s gonna happen when we find your clan? As far as I know, Atesh still wants the Horn. How far is he going to go to get it? And does he know what could happen if he tries to use its magic?”

I had to pause and turn to Undertow, seeking out my reflection in her goggles. Good. Normal eyes. I got a bright smile from her out of it, too.

Naiara hadn’t immediately responded, which didn’t fill me with confidence. “Atesh… will definitely want the Horn back, if you’re not going to use it, or let Latvi use it. It’s pretty much his only shot now.”

“Shot? Shot at what?”

Naiara’s next words made me stumble into Undertow. “For going home.”

“What? What’s that supposed to mean?” Why wouldn’t Atesh be able to go back to the zebra lands?

“Are the zebra lands so inhospitable without the horn?” Undertow had moved to the other side of Naiara. “Were you unhappy there?”

Naiara just shrugged. “I’ve never been.”

THAT surprised me. “You haven’t? I thought your clan travelled to the Wasteland?”

She nodded, pointedly looking forwards. “They did… almost twenty years ago. Technically, I WAS born there, Cept too, but Atesh got us all exiled when the two of us were just weeks old.”

“Exiled?!” Breeze’s startled proclamation made us all jump.

At our quizzical looks, the pegasus turned defensive. “What? I’ve got good ears. Told you that the first time I met you.”

Cassie turned away from her sweep of the area to address the group. “Please, Naiara, enlighten us all.”

Grimacing slightly, she relented. “...Fine. Here’s the thing: Atesh doesn’t believe in the stars, and he was vocal about it. Got the wrong sort of attention placed on our clan by the rulers in Roam. Long story short, we all got shipped off to Equestria as punishment. We’re not supposed to return until we repent, or make amends.”

“That’s crazy!” Wings burst in, feathers rippling in irritation. “Why are you all suffering because of what one guy did? That’s not right!”

“He’s the clan leader.” Naiara deadpanned. “He represents the views of all of the clan. At least he’s supposed to. After we got kicked out, plenty of the others found their faith, and fast. Not Atesh, though. He’s still not a believer.”

She waved a hoof at our surroundings. “So yeah, I’ve only known this place in my life. Cept and the others might tell you different, but Roam’s home to Atesh, not me.”

“Svara…” My heart went out to her. She didn’t even get any time in what should have been her home. She was only here in the Wasteland because of the actions of another.

Naiara surreptitiously glanced at the others, before shuffling in close again. “Seriously though, Snow. Keep it out of sight. Things could get ugly if Atesh is getting desperate. While you were under, Wings filled me in on you and Cept trying to capture Latvi, and how it went wrong. Atesh knows how to be patient, but he’s not gonna wait forever.”

~~~~~~

“I don’t see why we couldn’t just go stay at Sprinkles Supplies.”

“Because they’ve got a business to run, and we can’t be dropping in all the time.”

“But this suuuucks.”

We’d stopped for the night at a burnt-out husk of a vehicle. Some sort of carriage, though I couldn’t see any tracks or rails to carry it. Out first job had been clearing out the bones. Bosco was in his element here, scoping out the place in a matter of minutes, assigning sleeping areas, and arranging a watch rotation.

I was on first watch, along with Bosco, Schwarzwald and Cassie. Still, after only an hour or so I found myself yawning. I hate monitor duty. Still, I struggled through it, and was more than relieved when we were relieved by Naiara, Wings, Breeze and Undertow. I pushed as far into a corner as I could, and was asleep in moments.

I awoke again to a hoof shaking my shoulder. Struggling to blink the sleep from my eyes, I just barely made out the stripes running along the length of the leg in the dark. “Nrgh… Naiara?”

The only answer I got was her holding a hoof up to her lips, then pointing outside. Bleary-eyed, I nonetheless got to my hooves and followed her as she swiftly moved through the wrecked carriage. There was nobody else awake in the carriage. What’s happening Naiara? Are we under attack? The Raiders?

Naiara said nothing as she disappeared outside. I stopped for a moment to pat the horn, under my barding. Still there. Good. And there it’ll stay. Almost fully awake now, I took another step towards the opening.

“Enough is enough, Naiara. Atesh demands the relic.” Cept’s rich baritone banished the last vestiges of sleep. “Step aside.”

“Cept, stop this!” Naiara’s response was full of stress. “Leave her… leave all of them alone! The Horn’s not worth it. It’s not what Atesh thinks it is!”

Okay, time to go outside now. I can’t leave Naiara to handle this alone. I hopped out of the opening, quickly seeking out the two zebra clanmates. Cept was standing tall on the ground outside, while Naiara was crouched atop the carriage. How the heck did she get up there so fast? “Cept!”

Both zebra turned towards me. Cept’s dark gold eyes were hard. “Red Ice. Give me the Horn.”

“Cept, Naiara’s right. It’s bad news. Nobody can use it safely, and letting Latvi get his hooves on it would be the worst idea.”

The stallion just shook his head. “I honestly no longer care. Atesh wants the horn, and I am tired of putting myself and my clan in danger to get it. I will take it, and I will take it now.” He nodded over my shoulder.

Strong hooves kicked my legs out from under me, and a knee like a rock pinned me down by the neck. Straining my eyeballs, I managed to just catch a glimpse of the zebra, the same who’d roused me in the carriage, in the corner of my vision. “You’re… not… Naiara!” I hissed out.

“Mua leija.” She responded, mockingly.

“LET HER GO!” Our friends boiled out of the carriage, disturbed by our confrontation. None of them looked happy. Undertow started towards me, horn glowing, but stopped when the nameless zebra mare pushed down harder on my neck, causing a pained grunt.

“Cept?” Breeze floated above him and Naiara. “What are you doing?”

There was only the slightest waver in his eyes, before they hardened again. “I am sorry, Aqua Breeze, but this is a clan matter. Please stay out of this. It is nothing of concern to you.”

Breeze looked between the two, before facing him again with a frown. “You really think I’m not gonna care when Naiara’s pulling that face? This isn’t like you, Cept. What are you asking from her?”

“Her duty to her clan.” Cept was stone-faced as he matched gazes with Naiara, but spoke to Breeze. “The duty Atesh believes she has been neglecting for too long.”

“The hell is THAT supposed to mean?!”

“I haven’t neglected anything!” Naiara retorted. “I did as Atesh asked, even if it meant putting my friends in danger.”

“I wondered when Atesh would lose patience.” Schwarzwald’s grinning cheer was at odds with her battle saddle’s minigun spinning up.

“Please do not do that.” At his signal, the mare on top of me produced a needle from between her lips, holding it to my eye.

“...Poor sport, dahling.” Schwarzwald’s weapon spun down, and she no was no longer smiling.

“Cept, please!” Naiara pleaded, stepping before the two zebra stallions. “Latvi won’t do as Atesh wants. He’ll turn on us again, just like he did the first time!”

“From what I have heard, he only turned on Red Ice.” The stallion snapped back. “And that is no concern of mine. We will force him to do as we say. What he did to Snowflake is unimportant.”

“It won’t go the way you want.” I called out, still unable to turn my head. “Latvi’s gonna play you, and Atesh, for fools, just like he has with all the others.”

“You mean like he did with you?” Cept raised an eyebrow. “Do not think that we are the same, Red Ice. Atesh has lead this clan for decades. You could only lead your Raiders for days.”

“BECAUSE OF LATVI!” I yelled. “He. Will. Betray. You! Why don’t you understand that?! He can’t get you home!”

Grunting, Cept glared at Naiara. “You told them?”

“I did. Cept, Atesh is too focused on getting out of Equestria. I’m worried about the cost to the rest of us.”

Cept’s golden eyes dimmed. “That is a private matter, Naiara. You should not have revealed it to outsiders. Atesh is concerned about the influence all of your… friends are having on you. He thinks it might be time to cut ties.”

“NO!” Six voices cried out at once.

“LATVI WON’T HELP YOU!” I tried again. “DON’T DO THIS!”

“Well now, don’t I just keep hearing a certain name I’m very interested in?” The heavy voice startled us all as it called from out of the dark.

“Who’s there?” Cept demanded, covering Atesh.

Thick hooffalls sounded out in the night, and seconds later large shapes loomed out of the blackness. Bearing battle saddles bristling with ordnance, four buffalo stepped into our engagement. “So all you tiny ponies keep talking about Latvi. We’re pretty interested in finding him too. Why don’tcha go ahead and tell us where he is?” He punctuated this by racking a round into one of his weapons’ chambers.

Another of the buffalo, this one smaller, with a hastily welded metal helmet covering his entire head, leaned in to the first one. “Hey, Crush, there’s a griffon here too.” the second buffalo’s voice was muffled by his helmet.

“What?!” Crush followed his companion’s gaze, zeroing in on where Wings floated above the wrecked carriage. “Hey, beakface, get down here and take me to Latvi, right now!”

Wings didn’t move, just lazily pointed her revolvers at him. “Why don’t you come up here and make me, big guy?”

“Heeey,” Breeze murmured. “I know this guy.”

Surprised, everybody looked at her as she pondered. After a moment, comprehension dawned in her eyes, and she clapped her hooves together decisively. “Yeah, he’s that racist buffalo from Grindstone!”

“Hey, yeah. He is!” Naiara joined in. “What’re you doing here, buffalo? You weren’t exactly looking to get involved in non-buffalo business the last time we saw you.”

“So you’d be the stripe,” Crush growled. “and I’m guessing the other one is around here too. The nosy unicorn, whoever she is.”

“‘Whoever she is’?” I repeated, gritting my teeth in the dust.

“Whatever. ‘s not like she’s important.”

“This fool knows nothing.” Cept gnashed. “Leave us, buffalo. You are delaying us without reason.”

All of the buffalo pointed their guns at Cept, except the armoured one who was still looking at Wings. Crush’s already low voice dropped further. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that, punk. My name’s Crush. Remember it! All of you damn equines, and griffon bastards, are always causing problems for us buffalo. We’re here for some payback. Now there may be more of you but we’ve got a hell of a lot more guns. Tell us where Latvi is, or we’ll kill you all!”

Cept just smirked at the threat. Raising a hoof, he mocked Crush’s bravado. “All of us?”

At his signal, six more zebra shimmered out of thin air, on all sides of the buffalo.

“What the hell?!” Wings and Bosco both started, drawing their guns.

“Zebra stealth cloak.” Naiara supplied darkly, still focused on Cept. “Good for ambushes.”

All six new zebra bore powerful looking rifles. The big bovines quickly did their best to form a defensive circle. One of the non-armoured buffalo muttered to their leader out of the corner of his mouth. “I don’t like this, boss. That’s a lot of fire.”

Cept stepped forward purposefully. “We have entertained your foolish notions this long, buffalo. You are not welcome here any longer.”

Eyes whipping back and forth, Crush didn’t immediately answer. It was a tense few moments before he finally spat out. “Them’s fightin words, stripe. How ‘bout you back ‘em up? No weapons, just one on one?”

Cept wearily waved a hoof at his clanmates. “Fine. I’ll finish it quickly. After that, if they do not leave, kill them all.” He turned back to Crush. “Drop your weapons, and we will begin.”

Crush chuckled thuggishly. “Oh no, boy. You don’t get to fight me. You’re fighting him.” The leader turned to his smaller, armoured compatriot. Hesitantly nodding, the faceless buffalo moved to the front slowly.

Cept just sighed. “It makes little difference.”

With the unnamed zebra mare still atop me, I was dragged back with the others, to form a perimeter for the fight. Cept made no move to attack his opponent, only affecting a fighting stance and staring down the armoured buffalo.

Said buffalo moved back and forth jerkily, but didn’t take a step forwards. Cept’s patience quickly ran out. “I do not have all night. You will leave us, just as soon as I finish this.”

And then he waded in.

What followed was one of the most one-sided plotkickings I’ve ever seen. Despite the size and strength advantage, the armoured buffalo never stood a chance.

With an array of punishing kicks and bucks, Cept’s Fallen Ceasar mastery absolutely dominated his opponent, who was clearly no fighter. The buffalo’s counter attacks were slow and sloppy, never once coming close to hitting their target. He couldn’t defend himself as Cept systematically chopped him down like a tree.

First, Cept took out his legs by chopping and stomping the knees. Then, when the armoured buffalo crashed to the dirt, he worked his way around the entire circumference, leaving rapidly forming bruises and gashes in shoulders, hips, ribs, and finally cheeks.

The whole thing couldn’t have lasted more than two minutes. Cept never took his eyes off his opponent, and showed no joy, nor remorse, in his task. The zebra had a job to do, and he completed it with brutal efficiency.

Panting and groaning, the buffalo tried to rise a few times. Just stay down, you dumb bastard. You never stood a chance. You and your boss should just get the hell out of here before this gets lethal. I wouldn’t shed any tears for Crush, but you are just punishing yourself now. Every time it looked like he might stand up straight, Cept would knife in and drop him again.

Crush was getting angrier and angrier. “Hey, fool, why are you letting this runt push you around?! You’re a buffalo! We’re the biggest and baddest things around! Nobody does this to us!”

The armoured buffalo in the ring half-groaned, half-cheered, and tried to rise again.

Oh, just end this already, Cept. Slappy there clearly is too dumb for his own good. Maybe getting his flank hoofed to him will knock some sense though that helmet of his. We’re all wasting time with this.

There seemed to be a general feeling of satisfaction when the buffalo finally rolled over, unconscious… at least until the guns came up again, pointing at Crush and the rest of his posse.

Cept dusted himself down, though he was hardly dirty at all. “Now then. Go. Away.”

Snorting and slobbering, Crush had to be dragged away by the two remaining healthy buffalo, with his beaten companion slowly following. The big bruiser just wouldn’t go quietly, however. “You think this is over? I swear I’ll be back, with more guys, and we’ll take you all apart! You don’t get to walk your tiny selves into my home, like Dent and his pet pony bitch did! Damn griffons too, bastards came and killed Dent without a word! And now there’s Raiders sniffing around! All of you are nothing but vermin to me! I’ll wipe you all out! I SWEAR I’LL KILL YOU ALL!”

As they vanished into the night, it became very apparent that not many, besides the stealth zebras watching them go, were giving them much thought.

Even I wasn’t immune. We’ve all got bigger problems than you, punk. Take a number.

A water whip sent the zebra pinning me down sprawling. While I scrambled back to the safety or our line, weapons came up on both sides. Cept calmly helped his clanmate up, then turned back to me. “The horn, Red Ice.”

I stayed right where I was. “You know I’m not going to give it to you. Atesh knows a little about what it CAN do, but not all that it WILL do.”

“And YOU know that I will carry out my duty to my clan.”

Everybody bristled at this, zebra, pony, and griffon alike. The mare holding me had rejoined the other zebras, and some of them were laying hooves on their rifles.

“Naiara,” Breeze tried, even as she brandished grenades. “what should we do? Atesh isn’t going to let this ‘horn’ business go, is he?”

Still standing across from Cept, in the gap between our two sides, Naiara shook her head sadly. “No, he’s not. He’ll keep trying until he gets what he’s after. Even if Cept doesn’t get the horn now, more zebras will keep coming after us. And they won’t be as polite.”

“So what do we do?” The question was aimed at both Naiara AND Cept.

It was Cept who answered. “Come with me to meet with Atesh.”

Bosco and Wings hadn’t taken their guns off the zebra stallion. “Funny joke, guy. Want to try another?”

Undertow’s horn glowed. “It would be foolish to follow them. We will be outnumbered if we do.”

“She’s got a point.” I chipped in, while rubbing gravel from my coat and glaring at the mare who’d sat atop me.

“I give you my word that you will not be harmed.” Cept supplied, turning his hooves up in gesture.

“And what value does that have for us?” Cassie snapped. She had the biggest rifle here, but the zebra had more of them. “We don’t know you, Cept. Why should we trust you?”

Naiara wheeled around and faced the rest of us. “Hey! Listen, I know we’re not in the friendliest situation right now, but Cept is still my clan. If he gives his word then he’ll keep it, and make sure everybody else does too. He’s just trying to do right by our tribe. He hasn’t seen what happened with the horn, so he doesn’t know.” She took a step backwards, placing herself between us and Cept. “Please, guys. Let’s just listen to what Atesh has to say. I won’t let him take the horn from you if any of you aren’t satisfied. Trust me.”

I grimaced. “That’s the problem, svara. We do trust you, but it’s like you said. We don’t know the others, or what they’ve been doing. Atesh might not let you two keep your words. That’s really not something that I can take the gamble on with the Horn.”

Her tone turned pleading. “Snow… don’t. Please? I can’t fight my clan. I just can’t. That’s what’s going to happen if you say no. Don’t put me in that position.”

And there it was. As I exchanged glances with the rest of our group, I couldn’t help but feel that that was the problem in a nutshell. I had the Horn. Atesh wanted the Horn. His decision to take it, and my refusal to give it up, had put all of us, Naiara and Cept included, in an impossible position.

“What do you want from us, Naiara?” Bosco kicked at the dirt with his hoof. “Do you want us to just surrender and come quietly? We can’t do that!”

“I-I know, but…”

“But what?”

Her next words were a child’s whisper. “... but they’re my family. This could get them home.” She looked up, morose. “I know the danger. I know what you went through, all of you, but this could be Atesh’s last chance. He wants to go home.”

A long, tense silence followed. Nobody seemed to know what to say, while Naiara looked more and more unhappy as she found no support from us.

Grunting, Breeze face-winged. “Damn it, alright, alright! Stop looking so sick, Naiara. I’ll come with you.”

Some of the shine returned to the zebra’s jade eyes. “You will?”

“I will.” Breeze’s feathers teased apart, revealing the half-smile underneath. “I still don’t think that Atesh should get anything, but I’ll hear everything out. You deserve that after all you’ve done for us.”

Scratching the back of his neck, Cept took a half-step forwards… until glares from Undertow and I drove him back. “Thank you, Aqua Breeze. I am truly grateful for your assistance. You are a great friend to Naiara.” The hard look behind his eyes was gone as he looked at Breeze and Naiara standing together.

Breeze’s feathers twitched closed, in an effort to hide the red in her cheeks. “Yeah, well… I trust Naiara, and she trusts you. I want to trust you, Cept. However, I really don’t want to end up regretting this.” The two stared intently at each other for a moment, before being interrupted.

“If we are to do this, dahling, then it shall be done on our terms.” Schwarzwald’s gatling was spun down, but she hadn’t relaxed.

Reluctantly breaking eye contact with the technophile, Cept switched back to all-business. “Name them.”

Schwarzwald smiled a familiar smirk. “At this meeting, Atesh will be in our custody until we are done.”

Instant alarm shot through the gathered zebra. The unnamed watchers rapidly began jabbering in zebra tongue, while Cept choked on his spit. “What?!”

Bosco stepped up to support Schwarzwald. “We’re walking into enemy territory, and all on YOUR word that we’ll be safe. We get Atesh in our custody for the talks, and release him when it’s all said and done. Try anything funny, and I’ll put a bullet through his skull.”

“You cannot think that I will agree to this!”

Bosco remained stone-faced. “Take it or leave it, Cept.”

Schwarzwald’s smile grew at the zebras’ unease. “How can we trust your word if you will not take ours, handsome Cept?”

Battling every emotion, Cept looked to Naiara. Eyebrows rose, jaws tightened, cheeks puffed, and foreheads creased as the two went through a rapid, utterly silent back-and-forth. It was only when Breeze pressed her cheek to Naiara’s, and the two gave a simultaneous stare, that Cept gave in.

Gritting his teeth, he looked to the ground. “Very well. It shall be done.”

Bosco and Schwarzwald nodded their agreement, bringing the total up to four.

Cassie swiftly made it five. “I am still unsure as to this ‘horn’ and its importance, but I will support Breeze, and Naiara, if they believe it to be the right course of action. But,” her rifle whipped up and fixed on Cept, “I will not accept you putting my sister or her friend in any danger. This is your only warning.”

To my surprise, Undertow backed Cassie up. “I know Atesh’s plan for the horn, and it will not work. We shall convince him of this. For Naiara’s sake, do not make us do it lethally.”

And that left Wings and I. All eyes looked at us. We looked at each other.

She shrugged. “I don’t know the guy, Snow. Can’t say more ‘til I do.”

I snorted, unsatisfied. “...Fine. Just remember what else is at stake here, Wings.” Can’t mention the Orb out loud, but for pity’s sake get my meaning. We can’t start the old war up again. It will literally kill us all.

~~~~~~