[The only real revelation was the realization that hanging all your hopes on an assumption was going to get you nothing but hurt.]

“No, you mad mare, I will not ask Bosco to copy my body to 'spit roast' Breeze!” Cept was almost foaming at the mouth at my suggestion. “I do not even know what that is, though I am sure it is sexual!”

I was not done, however. “Not even if dear Breeze herself asks for it?”

Whatever your answer, Cept-dahling, I can still enjoy the idea in my mind.

The three of us had approached Plottawa from the back, so far managing to avoid any Plottawan patrols while in the forest. We weren't far from the wall, and Naiara had scouted ahead to confirm we were safe to talk.

The zebra filly was doubled over in a belly laugh. “I would trade everything I have in this world to hear Breeze ask that.” Still unable to stand, she waved Cept over. “C'mere, I'll tell you what it means.”

Watching the mounting horror on Cept's face as a barely-able-to-keep-a-straight-face Naiara whispered the possibilities of three-person intercourse into his ear was a treat in itself. His golden eyes were widening at the same rate his striped face was reddening.

By the end of the explanation, he could only stare straight ahead, open-mouthed.

I sidled up next to him, rubbing along his side. “Now you know the theory, dahling, but I would be happy to give you some hooves-on practice.”

His resulting leap carried him straight over Naiara's head. She and I collapsed into further giggles. Oh, you lovely boy. Breeze will be very satisfied when you finally find your courage, I am sure.

Marching stiffly around us, Cept waved us on. “You are not here just to make rude jokes, Schwarzwald. Why did you come with us?”

My loose gait easily kept up with his tight movements. Smiling, I tapped my forehead, where a unicorn's horn might be. “This 'Overmare' comes from the same Stable as our dear Snowflake. Talking to Willow Wisp should be very informative indeed.” For more than one reason.

Naiara trotted up beside us. “Why would she talk to you? Cassie said she wasn't really on good terms with Snowflake, or those who know her.”

“And she has Plottawan soldiers with her.” Cept supplied.

I flashed my biggest grin. “I will just have to convince her. It will be fine.” You two are not the only ones to overcome danger and anger. “Focus on Atesh, dahlings, and leave the Overmare to me.”

“We meet Atesh first,” Cept said with finality. “He is the reason Naiara and I are here. After that, we will deal with Willow Wisp.”

“Aye aye.” The cheery reply from Naiara had me raising an eyebrow.

They are used to working together like this. No arguments. “Understood, Cept. It is nice to hear such a commanding voice.”

“Can't wait til he tries that on Breeze, either. She'll murder him.”

Cept coloured nicely at Naiara's quip.

“Come now, Naiara. Confidence is always attractive.” Leering, I leaned in to slyly faux-whisper in her ear. “Besides, even a strong-willed girl like Breeze will sometimes want her lover to... take the reins.”

Coughing loudly, Cept turned and walked diagonally away from us, hind legs slightly crossed.

Naiara shared my knowing look. She winked at me before nodding ahead. “There's the wall. You want a second to think about ghouls, Cept?”

He refused to turn his head, merely grunting a response. “I am fine. We should get to the wall before any slavers arrive.”

Taking pity on the stallion, Naiara and I took the lead. No Plottawans arrived by the time we got there, but our scout wasted no time in barking out several hails in the zebra tongue.

Within moments, two striped heads popped up over the top of the wall, eyes widening as they spotted the three of us. One ducked back down immediately, while the other jabbered rapid-fire after them.

“What are they saying?” I took it as a positive that neither of my companions seemed worried by the responses.

“They are getting a rope for us to climb up,” Cept scanned the forest once more, “and they are also informing the Elder of our arrival.”

“Saves us some time.” Naiara was limbering up for the climb, straining her shoulders and hips as she stretched her limbs.

My own warm-up was slightly more sensual. Purposefully so, as I made sure to do it in full view of our stallion companion.

To my delight, Cept had to turn away again.

“Breeze is gonna kill you.” Naiara managed between chuckles.

“No,” My tongue ran across my lips, “but she may make me squeal.”

Clearing his throat again, Cept muttered to himself.

Oh, do not deny yourselves your fun, Cept. Breeze is far less uptight than you.

A rope descending cut off any further teasing. Cept was halfway up before I even noticed he had moved.

Naiara waved me forwards after he reached the top. She gripped the rope and wrapped it around my hoof. “Hold it tightly. Use the friction to hold yourself in place with your back legs, and pull with the front. Call out if you need help, they'll pull you up.”

I hmph'd, “I am not so old yet.” and began to pull myself up.

I am not old, but I have not done this for quite some time. It is not as easy as I remember. My limbs felt heavier by the time I pulled myself over the top, but I waved away any assistance.

My pride was only slightly wounded when Naiara appeared mere seconds later. “Let us find Atesh, dahlings.”

“Whatever you say.” Naiara and Cept stayed close to me, as the other zebra formed up around us.

I suppose you two are as concerned with keeping me safe from harm as your clan mates are with keeping me from causing it.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

We were led down and through some slave pens on the way to Atesh's office. Gaunt faces stared out at us from the other side of the fences.

Naiara's jade eyes dimmed at the sight. “What happened to them? They weren't like this before.”

“What do you mean?” Cept spoke out of the side of his mouth.

Naiara followed suit. “They were more active. Healthier. It's only been two days!”

“Sickness?” Cept glanced around. “All the more reason to resolve this quickly.”

“Please...” A dirty hoof pressed against the walls of the pens. “Just a little food...” The pony behind the hoof couldn't even hold themselves upright, and slumped backwards.

“They are starving, not ill.” I ventured. “It appears they have not been fed in those two days.”

Cept tried to talk to the other zebra, but was rebuffed. “Has the Plottawan attack drained their supplies?”

I sized up the fit and toned bodies of the zebra guards accompanying us. “Your clan mates do not look underfed.”

We stopped at the foot of the stairs to Peanut's, now Atesh' office. Two of our guards climbed the staircase, while the others waited at the bottom. Naiara didn't wait for permission to head up. “No, they don't. We'd better ask Atesh.”

“Naiara, he is still our clan Elder.” Cept's warning was barely acknowledged.

I followed behind them both in silence, halting a few steps down to listen. This will be interesting.

Naiara opened the door and walked in, cutting Atesh's “Enter” off mid-word. Cept followed after her. From my vantage point on the stairs, I could see Atesh's hoof on the desk, but not his face.

The hoof moved in greeting. “Naiara, Cept. You have returned. I am pleased.”

“Elder.” Cept bowed.

“Atesh.” Naiara didn't. “What happened to the slaves?”

“Has something happened?” There was a hint of confusion in Atesh's statescolt-like voice, but mostly indifference.

“'Has something happened'? They're starving!” Naiara kicked a hoof against the wooden floor.

“Elder,” Cept laid a calming hoof on her shoulder, “has their been a shortage of food from the Plottawan attacks?”

“No, we still have food to last several months.” Atesh's tone, though proper, seemed utterly bored. “Now that you two are here, it is time—”

“If you've got food to last months, why are the slaves starving outside?” Naiara shrugged off Cept's hoof, frowning at the older stallion.

Atesh's hoof pressed flat against the table, and the trundle of wheels on wood showed that the clan Elder had risen from his chair. “Scout, I permitted you to speak your mind when you were last here. I do not give permission now. Do not interrupt me again.”

“You said you were going to test the slaves for a suitable unicorn for the horn. They can't prove themselves if they're half dead!”

His controlled tone slipped. “They already failed to prove themselves. The few unicorns present are of no use to me with their pitiful levels of magic. Why should I waste supplies on them?”

“Because they're people, victims!”

“They are ponies, Naiara.” He shot back with a razor-sharp tongue. “They are unimportant, not worth wasting food. I thought that your return here with Cept meant that you realised that.”

This feels like the right moment. I climbed the rest of the stairs and trotted into the office. “You are such a charming stallion, Atesh. It is a wonder you do not have mares around you wherever you go.”

At my entrance, Atesh drew in a long, slow breath through his nose. His frown deepened as he did so. The younger of the two stallions found himself skewered by a flat hazel stare. “You brought a pony into my office, Cept?”

“I did not bring her, Elder. She accompanied us.”

Atesh slashed a hoof through the air between them. “There is no difference, Cept. You should not have allowed her to follow you. You should have returned with Naiara, and no other.”

Snorting out a laugh, I lounged against the office wall. “I do wonder how you believe he could stop me.”

Atesh smiled, a reptilian effort that did little more than expose teeth. “Unlike Naiara, Cept is a capable enough fighter to overcome a pony in combat.”

Bristling, Naiara squared her hooves. “The hell is that supposed to mean?”

Atesh pointed to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. “I have been watching the footage of how you fought Peanut in this very room. It was disappointing to see one of my zebra students fall to my unworthy pony pupil.”

All three of us started. “What?!”

Atesh sat back down. “Fifteen years ago, I trained Peanut in the fundamentals of hoof combat. He learned quickly, but was ultimately unsuited to any style. Not unexpected, no pony is truly capable of mastery of zebra arts.”

Cept was utterly thrown by the revelation. “Elder, why would you do that?”

Atesh didn't falter. “The young colt was a useful tool in other areas. He had knowledge and skills I made use of. These were payment for the training. After we parted ways, I had little interest in what he did next.” He rubbed his chin. “However, it is intriguing how he has merged what I taught him with pony techniques. There may even have been some griffon fighting involved too.”

Naiara gaped at his casual attitude. “You hate ponies! You've always hated ponies! Why would you teach one zebra secrets?”

Hazel eyes rolled. “As I said, scout, Peanut had other talents that I could make use of. He provided information. Information that mixed with other knowledge to form steps on the path to the horn. It has been a long process, and I have been patient. Still, I will agree that it was a mistake to train him, no matter the reward. I could have found a better way without him.”

“It rather sounds like he got the better deal, dear Atesh.” Peanut used what you taught him to build his slaver empire. You and your clan have been without a home for longer than his Plottawa has existed.

Whispers from the hallway showed that Atesh's secret was not so easily accepted among the clan.

If Atesh heard the whispers, he gave no sign. “Possible, mercenary, but I did learn that I could not trust ponies because of my trade with Peanut, which was a valuable lesson indeed. Zebra cannot coexist with ponies, we can only use them like the tools that they are.”

Quiet descended upon the office. Atesh, smug in his chair, faced us all with half-lidded eyes. Cept stood tall, but his cheek twitched. I watched Naiara, who was vibrating with rage.

“You're wrong, Atesh.” She didn't raise her voice, but the whispers ceased immediately. A quick glance down the stairs showed the other zebra waiting with baited breath.

He sighed. “You still cling to this folly. I have given you too much freedom, scout. Now, you must fulfil your duty to the clan.” He stood up and thrust out a hoof. “Naiara. Cept. You two will retrieve my horn, Red Ice, her unicorn follower Undertow, and Latvi. You will find them, and you will bring them to me. No more delays, and no more failures. Go now, fulfil your destiny.”

Cept stared back without moving, unimpressed. “Our destinies?”

Naiara was far more animated. She stepped forwards, so that she was standing right in front of his outstretched hoof. “And if I won't?”

Atesh lowered his hoof, but did not back down. “Then you doom your clan to wander this poisoned land forever. We are heretics and outcasts. We cannot go home without a means to prove our worth. This is the way we will do it.” His eyes panned over to me. “Your friends are as damaging to our cause as the fools in Roam claim the stars to be. The difference is that something can be done about your friends; Schwarzwald, the two pegasi, the griffon...”

Finally. I was waiting for you to make that threat. I didn't have my battle saddle, but I still had my holdout weapons. Clenching, I readied for everything to go wrong. You will not harm Wings, nor any of the others. She is necessary, you are very much not.

Stepping forwards, Cept gently pulled Naiara back, and imposed himself between the two. “I ask again, Elder, what are our destinies?”

Inconceivably, Atesh's visage turned prideful. “Is it not obvious? You two, Cept and Naiara, are the finest of your generation. The finest of our clan. With the horn and its unicorn vessel in my possession, I will be able to return to Roam in triumph. The horn can provide the crystals that our nation needs, and show that I was right all along. The stars do not decide our fate, we are born with our fates.”

I nickered, hoof over my mouth. “You talk of only yourself, Atesh. Cept did not ask of your destiny.”

Hatred burned through the Elder's hazel eyes. “Our destinies are intertwined, pony. When I return to Roam, I will be raised to a higher calling. I will be a senator of Roam, a leader of our people, not just this clan. When I earn my new position, Cept will take my place as leader of this clan.”

The announcement caused a burst of chatter from the bottom of the stairs, and a frantic eyes-only conversation between the two guards in the room with us.

Did you tell anyone of your plans, Atesh?

“Congratulations, Cept.” Naiara's snark was not aimed at the younger stallion.

“When were you going to tell me this, Elder?” Cept remained standing between Atesh and Naiara.

“When you needed to know.” Walking around the desk, Atesh tried to put a hoof on Naiara's shoulder, but she shrunk back while Cept jumped between them again. “As for Naiara, she will return with me to Roam, at first to control the unicorn...”

Eyes already wide at the thought of going to Roam, the jade-eyed filly jolted at the last sentence. “'At first'?”

Atesh nodded in agreement. “At first. After the crystal farm is safely in place and contained, then you will fulfil your destiny. You will give me a son.”

“WHAT?!” Naiara gasped, echoed by Cept. She leapt straight backwards, away from Atesh. “You... you want me to... you're like a father to me!”

Unfazed, the Elder ignored her revulsion even as his eyes roamed her form. “It does not speak well of a leader of an entire people to be without a family of his own. As I said before, you are the finest female in our clan, and it is time to use all of your body's gifts to their fullest. You will be my wife, and the mother of my children.”

I burst out laughing. “Are your own followers strangers to you, 'Elder' Atesh? Naiara is a free spirit, unchained and born to explore. You think she will be happy in your gilded cage?”

Returning to his statescolt-like manner, far more fitting to his delusions, Atesh smiled serenely. “Naturally. She will be nobility. Any thing she desires will be hers, and all will know her as the mother of the changing times.”

Naiara moved to use me to cover herself, spitting out her discontent. “Oh yeah right. You want me to capture my friends. Then you want me to drag them to Roam, WHERE I'VE NEVER BEEN by the way, and then sit around making babies with you, the guy who practically raised me. You're nuts, Atesh!”

Sighing, the Elder returned to his desk. “Still you do not understand, Naiara. I am not cruel. Why do you think I allowed you all the freedom you have enjoyed? Days, weeks, months go by with you away from our clan. I wanted you to see the world, live your life to the fullest you could in this dying place. It will suit you well when you see the splendour of Roam reborn, to know of the world outside its walls. Why do you believe your true home to be a punishment? It is no prison, it is where we were always meant to be.”

“The hell it is!” She shouted back. “I won't live my life to someone else's ideals. You wouldn't do that, you left Roam instead, so why should I?”

Zebra murmurs increased in volume as she made her case.

It is a good point, Atesh. How will you pretend otherwise?

A thunderous BOOM, strong enough to shake the windows and doors, cut off any response Atesh might have made. Panicked shouts rang out almost immediately, along with the sound of gunfire.

A gashed and bleeding zebra stormed up in the stairs and into the room. “Plottawati! Plottawati!” He continued to rapid-fire words in the zebra tongue, with Atesh and Cept responding just as energetically. The zebra at the bottom of the stairs departed instantly.

“What are they saying?” I murmured over my shoulder to Naiara.

“The Plottawans've blown the main gate. They're coming in. The others are going to help fight 'em off.”

“Then we should do the same. Where is the armoury?”

Naiara made to head out, but stopped when her ear perked up. “Hold on.”

She turned back to the desk, where Atesh and Cept were now arguing with each other. The other zebra in the room were watching nervously, visibly uncomfortable with Cept squaring up to their Elder.

“What are they saying?” I asked again.

Naiara dutifully translated, though at just a whisper.

The older stallion hammered at the desk. “I told you to get the others to safety. We are finished with Plottawa.”

Cept slammed a hoof down too, the force bouncing Atesh's limb up. “And I said no. No more! I've had enough. You and your stupid decisions have caused nothing but trouble for our clan. I won't let you have your way anymore.”

Atesh pointed back down the stairs. “Our enemies are here, why are you wasting time like this?”

Cept pointed out the window, at the slave pens. “Because you want to cut and run, leaving those ponies to the slavers. You've starved them. They won't last!”

“They're pony inrispa, who cares about them? We aren't here to babysit. I wanted a strong unicorn, but there aren't any among the slaves. They are no good to us!”

The stomp of Cept's hoof made the messenger zebra jump. “You're wrong about that too! If we work together with the slaves, we can beat the slavers, and get everybody out, not just we zebra.”

“We zebra are the only ones you should be concerned with.” Atesh jabbed the younger zebra in the chest. “Follow my orders, Cept. I am the leader of this clan!”

Naiara and the messenger both gasped as Cept violently knocked Atesh's poking hoof aside.

On a half-second delay, Naiara translated what his next words. “You have shown yourself as the selfish bastard that you are. Everything that has happened to Naiara, to Plottawa, and to our friends, is because of you! You trained Peanut! You worked with Latvi and the Raiders! You starved the slaves here when you could have easily released them, and you want to force my best friend into a jailed life she doesn't want, all for your own satisfaction! You are not fit to lead this clan anymore, Atesh, and I hereby take it from you!”

I couldn't have stopped the smile spreading across my face if I wanted to. The sight of Cept, standing tall and proud, promised to stay with me for a long time. Especially on cold nights.

Stunned by the force of Cept's outburst, Atesh slumped back into his chair.

The new leader of the clan paid him no more mind, instead grabbing the messenger by the shoulders. Naiara's awe was evident in her voice, but she continued translating.

“Rally the others, brother. We will drive back the Plottawans! Tell them not to shoot any pony not in an enemy uniform, they will be helping us. I will be there soon, now go!”

The messenger was out the door in less than a second.

Cept turned to Naiara and I, switching to Equestrian. “Naiara, Schwarzwald, go the slaves. Find any who are still fit to fight. Tell them that they will have their freedom this day, if they help us to fight off the Plottawans. If they won't help, show them where the food stores are, so that they can feed their friends. Whatever happens, they are not slaves any more.”

Neither of us questioned his orders. Halfway down the corridor, I started to laugh. “It seems dear Cept is a natural leader.”

Naiara didn't laugh. “Yeah, I just hope he knows what he's doing.”

“What do you mean?” Her reply had sobered me.

At the entrance to the pens, she skidded to a halt. “There's more than one way to be put into a cage.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~