A water tendril slammed one Ranger acolyte into the steel corridor wall, but Undertow had to duck back as his buddies returned fire, peppering the metal where her head had been with laser scorch marks.

Breeze retaliated by whipping a grenade down the passage with her wing, mouthing “Three, two, one” until the boom came. Screams sounded from the Rangers’ position, making me glad my stomach was empty right now.

How do my sisters do this?

When the enemy fire didn’t immediately resume, Buff tightened the straps on his sheet metal shield. “We need to get through if we’re gonna get to either destination.”

My youngest sister tugged on his shaggy fur. “I can clear a path for us, we some help.” She looked past him to the other side of our T-junction, where Lexi, Esto, and Amber waited, with only Lexi’s shotgun to protect them. “Mom, get ready to shoot.”

The older unicorn shook her head, frizzy orange mane going haywire in the process. “Ah can’t line up a shot fast enough without getting mah head blown off.”

“Then leave your head where it is,” Undertow continued, unconcerned, “I only need THEIR heads occupied.”

“Awright. Jus’ gimme the word, babygirl.”

Nodding, Undertow turned to the pegasus. “Do you have any of Naiara’s flashbangs left?”

Pausing in the middle of replacing her Spell Shooter’s crystal, Breeze dug into her pack. She withdrew a clearly-cobbled-together device. “Yup.”

“Great.” Half a dozen bottles of irradiated water floated out in her aquamarine magic, bottlecaps twisting off as she pulled the liquid around her in a six-strong orbiting halo. “You, then Mom, then me. Buff and Al follow after me with your shields.”

Breeze tossed the flashbang, pre-cooking it for a second first. The corridor filled with light within moments, through which I could just make out the purple glow of Lexi’s shotgun as it barked out at head height, even when she had no chance of seeing anything herself.

Undertow wasn’t next to me anymore. I couldn’t see her, or much of anything. I could hear plenty, even with the shotgun, including energy weapons discharging. There were other sounds too, dry rips followed by wet pops, and finally more screaming, though often-times it cut off abruptly. Buff and I knew our jobs, and followed our sister down the corridor. Occasionally, a stray beam sizzled against our shields.

The whole thing had taken around ten seconds, before the light began to fade, and a voice, even more watery than usual spoke up from between Buff and I, a second after we ran into the far wall.

“It’s clear.” Undertow stood stock-still, six tentacles of water extending from her legs, frozen needle tips dripping crimson.

Lexi scampered up the corridor first. “E’rypony okay?” She came up short when she spotted the blood running down Undertow’s back, and the fact that—

OH SHIT! Her mane’s on fire! Me, Buff, and her mother all slapped at the embers until they died out, leaving blackened ends. When that was taken care of, a pair of tweezers came out of the medic’s bags. “Stay still, baby, Ah gotta get the pellets out. Why gotcha, didya see?”

Wincing and shuddering as the surgical tools dug around under her skin, Undertow still managed a smile. “You did. I thought you would aim higher.”

Fedexi Lexi’s heart visibly broke. “This was me? Undertow, Ah’m so sorry.”

Her concerns were waved off. “It’s fine. I knew the risks. But, can I have some healing bandages anyway? We still have work to do.”

Breeze, Esto and Amber had caught up by this point. Esto was covering one corridor with a pistol she looked anything but comfortable carrying. “Where to next?”

I pointed the opposite way she was looking. “Down this way’s the Monitor Room. Undertow, Lexi, and Amber and I will get in there, and gets eyes on the rest of you. We’ll keep you updated.”

Buff stepped up next to Esto. “You and Breeze are with me. We’ve gotta move carefully though. There’s no way the Overseer’s Office is unguarded.”

Breeze stuffed the two best-condition laser weapons into her bags, and what looked like the power packs for the rest. “Doesn’t matter. Snow told us what his computer can do. We need that access.”

Esto nodded stoically. “Then good luck to you four. Contact us via Breeze’s communicator as soon as possible. Let us know what we might face if we do not reach our target first.”

Amber silently clicked her communicator on and off, the static sputter confirming the signal on Breeze’s end. Satisfied, the buffalo, Pegasus, and Unicorn swept down their path, further into the grey-walled Stable.

Our remaining quarter moved off half a minute later, once Undertow was mummified to a compromise between Lexi’s satisfaction, as her mother and a healer, and her own, as a warrior with more fighting to do.

We only saw one more group of Steel Rangers on our way to the Monitor room, a pair of scribes bearing plasma pistols, but my Pipbuck alerted us to them before they noticed us. We managed to scramble out of sight before they passed, avoiding another encounter, which would just lead to another delay.

The Monitor Room itself, when we reached it, had its door wide open. Voices could be heard inside.

Damn Rangers had the same idea we did.

My Pipbuck’s Eyes-Forward-Sparkle only showed two red dots inside. “We got this,” I whispered to the three ponies huddled behind me as I hefted my shield, “just two in there. C’mon.”

Leading with the metal, we all surged towards the door of the room. At the threshold, I met one of the red dots coming the other way. Solid metal, backed by buffalo bulk and momentum, soundly beat the walking-pace Earth mare in thin robes. She careened backwards, ragdoll limbs flailing uselessly, until she bounced off the Monitor Station desk, hitting the floor without complaint.

We were all already in the room with the remaining Ranger before he got his mouth closed at the sight of his unconscious colleague. Half-risen from his seat, his eyes flicked between us and the pistol by the keyboard.

“Don’t.” I half-warned, half-pleaded. “You won’t reach it. Please, just surrender.”

Sweat dripping down his face, he made a decision. “Damn Wasters!” Hoof snapping out, he went for the weapon.

Lexi’s shotgun blew his head off before he got a good grip.

Far too casually, Undertow’s water wiped the blood and bone from the desk and camera feeds, allowing Lexi and Amber to sit and work unimpeded. My sister and I took up position by the door, shield and spells ready.

Undertow looked to the two older mares. “How is the situation?”

Amber grimaced, daintily pointing at one screen in particular.

When the three of us saw what she saw, we all halted. “Uh oh.”

Lexi recovered first, and keyed the communicator. “Y’all need to hurry, Ah’m lookin’ at where the Stable door used t’be, an’ Ah’m seein’ a whole mess o’ griffons, an’ one blue unicorn. They’re inside.”

“Not just them,” Undertow had somehow become even less thrilled as she continued watching, “I see two Plottawan uniforms with them. One is Peanut, the other is a Pegasus.”

I almost howled my next words. “That’s Willow Wisp. It’s the Overmare!”

If she could, Amber almost certainly would have said more. Her face was saying plenty already, even as she watched the monitors like a hawk.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

My family’s radio update brought me skidding to a halt. “Peanut and the Overmare are working with Latvi? Since when?”

Cept, without looking away from scanning a corridor, spoke over his shoulder. “Willow Wisp was taken by McCoy’s Monsters when my clan fought the slavers in Plottawa. Now we know why.”

“And, apparently, she invited her boss along too.” Cassie, facing the other way from the stallion, did not appear all that surprised. “She knows this Stable well. That is a dangerous advantage for our enemies.”

Yeah, it is, but-wait, hold on… I spoke into the communicator again. “Mom, what about Wings? Has she come too?”

“We ain’t seein’ her, sweetheart. Latvi didn’t bring his bots, though. Looks like she’s still tanglin’ with them an’ Rangers outside.”

“She is a capable warrior,” Cept tried, “we must trust her.”

“She’s doing her job, Snowflake.” Cassie reminded, not unkindly. “I’m worried too, but her reputation is keeping us from being swamped by two armies we can’t defeat. The faster we take out the leaders of both sides, the safer she’ll be. She’s buying us the time to do it.”

I don’t want her buying me time. She’s alone, those Sprinkles guards won’t be able to keep up with her. “Let’s hurry then. Residential area’s up ahead.”

We broke into a gallop. Cept kept pace with our shorter strides rather than charge ahead. “You are sure a zebra and a Pegasus will be welcome here?”

To my mild irritation, Cassie beat me to the answer. “This Stable is not the Wasteland, Cept. It houses more than just ponies. Zebra, griffons, buffalo, and others make up the population.”

Oh, thanks for filling me in, Cass. What would I do without you? “Short answer: You’re fine. Don’t worry.” We turned into the housing quarter of the Stable, and I stopped again in front of a familiar door. “Can’t say the same for me. You two go and deal with the Stable residents. Make ‘em stay out of this. We don’t want any casualties if we can help it.” Well, you guys don’t mostly. It’s more the pain of having to fight through living shields for me.

The two of them wheeled around, perplexed frowns on both of their faces. “You’re not coming with us?”

“It would be better to have a Stable dweller speak to them?”

“If it was one of my brothers, sure.” Who knows what stories they’ve heard about me by now. “I’m… probably not the best choice for this, all things considered. I wasn’t popular here in the first place, and you two know better than most that I’ve made some… questionable decisions since leaving.” I tapped the door I stood beside. “I have a little business in here, and then I’m gonna head for Chrysalis’ core. I think I’ve got an idea of where it might be.”

Their eyes met for a split second. Cassie spoke first. “Where might that be?”

I met her stare. “Further in. Someplace where… Cadence and Chrysalis could stay hidden, and not have some random stumble across them.”

“And the Stable dwellers?” Cept had resumed his watch of the corridors. “You know them better.”

Well, I was around them more, at least. Doesn’t seem like we ever really ‘knew’ each other. “You’ll do fine. You’ve just gotta remember that they’re not Wastelanders. They don’t know killing like we do. Keep your weapons down, and speak softly, like they’re babies. Which, in a way, I guess they kinda are.” Harsh heat swelled in m breast. Coddled little fucking babies in a steel crib. Children with their playground games, don’t know anything about the world outside of these walls. “You’ll do fine. Just be kind. You got this, Cept, Cassie. Get them to stay in their rooms, and we’ll go back to the real work.”

While they had moved on to the main residential area, I stayed in the outskirts. Triggering the door to my old room, I took a deep breath. Wonder if they gave my room away while I was gone?

BEEP BEEP BEEP

OH SHIT! Magic surged as an ice cocoon shot up around me. Through the frost, I saw the flash as the mine went off. The explosion blasted me, cocoon and all, straight backwards into the far wall.

The shield around me shattered into tiny, frozen razor shards, digging into and across my flesh as I cowered. Only when the twinkling hail subsided did I remove my hooves from being wrapped around my head.

What remained of my room was a complete shambles. The bed’s frame was warped and burned. The mattress, sheets, and pillow were still ablaze. All that remained of my spare Stable jumpsuits, and the wardrobe that held them, was a pile of smoking fibres. The dresser across from the bed was overturned.

I can’t believe they boobytrapped my old room. Still blinking away stars, it took a few tries before I could get my shoulder under the dresser to lift it upright again.

When I did, I found I could breathe a small sigh of relief. “Oh, thank heavens.” There it was, the only thing in the room whose survival I actually cared about.

The frame was cracked, but intact. Soot and ash marred the glass cover, and the bottom quarter had been burned away in a rough triangle. That’s fine, I didn’t need that part. So long as the rest is okay. Digging a small item out of my pocket, I eased the frame away, and slotted it into the gap where the bottom triangle had been.

“Perfect.”

I left the room without a second thought, heading to the next door over. The boys’ room was far larger, and had been mercifully spared further explosive surprises. Apparently the Steel Rangers hadn’t known of the connection between the Doublehorns and I. Still, I didn’t delay. It hadn’t been a lie that we had other things to take care of, and I couldn’t linger too long.

It might have been my imagination, but I could swear that Mama Doublehorn smiled a little brighter in her frame when I placed my room’s salvaged treasure next to her picture.

A long second glance held me at the door this time. “My only good memories of this place were here. Love you.”

The Doublehorn’s door shut solidly. Glad to have taken the time, I started back the way Cassie, Cept, and I had come, back towards the Stable’s core.

The further away from the rooms I got, the more the outrage built in me. Who boobytraps a bedroom, seriously?! Steel Rangers, more like Steel RAIDERS!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cassie and I heard voices up ahead, the loud whispers of a large group talking quietly. It never occurred to anybody that so many talking together made them louder than one talking normally. I looked down at my companion. “What should we say?”

“Shall we open with a joke?” She replied, her voice flat. “We shall have to just tell the truth, and hope that they believe us. At least enough to stay out of the way. We probably will not receive any help from them.”

“Hmm.” I grunted, as I considered this. “Then we should not speak long. The others need us.”

“Fine by me.” Cassie stopped before the final corner. The voices were just around the bend. Taking a deep breath, she smiled brightly, then stepped through into the main residential area.

Following after her, the number of beings stuffed into this space surprised me. Even with the large, open atrium, the residents of Stable 61 were packed in tight. Buffalo, Diamond Dogs, donkeys, and ponies pressed together on one large bunch. Foals, pups, and calves were perched on backs to ease the crush. At the other end of the room, I saw through to what came after, rows and rows of open doors, living quarters and other residents within.

Even the air within was full, with Pegasi and griffons flapping wherever they could stretch their wings. Two catwalks stretched from balcony to balcony, with zebra standing in a clump in the center of the far crossing.

None of the present bodies paid us much attention. Most were absorbed with their families and associates, while the zebra all seemed to be looking away from us.

Tilting her chin up, to carry her words further, Cassie opened her mouth to speak to the assembled creatures. “Excu-” She broke off almost immediately, grabbing at my shoulder. “Cept, look!”

Crouching, my eyes darted around the room, searching the walkways, atrium, and connecting stairways. “What is it? Enemies?”

She hunkered down too. “You will need to decide that.”

Her face seemed tight when I looked at her. “I do not understand. What do you see?”

She didn’t take her eyes off whatever sight she saw. “Cept, on the walkway with the other zebra. It’s Atesh.”

“Dhu?” I exclaimed, slipping into my native tongue before correcting myself. “How did he get here? Is he working with Latvi and the others also?”

She shook her head, black and red mane wafting into my face. “I do not know. He had the Overmare’s Pipbuck. He could find this place without their help.”

Her eyes were better than mine. I still couldn’t see him through the activity around us. “I must know what he is doing. Can you see from here?”

She slumped. “He’s talking, but I can’t tell what about. He’s not speaking Equestrian.”

For the zebra ears only? What does it mean? “Follow me.” Slinking to the right, I began to move around the edges of the mob, towards the stairs up to the walkway. Cassie stayed behind me in the edge of my vision.

None of the Stable dwellers would move, at first, just complaining and grunting as we tried to move through them. They only stepped aside when I growled back. Even buffalo did not want to fight an angry zebra, or perhaps it was because they did not know me.

Either way, they made what room they could, allowing Cassie and I to slip through to the staircase. Hidden on the stairs themselves were more zebra, all listening to the former Elder’s words. Sliding past them, I stopped just out of sight of the walkway, and perked up my ears.

In his calm, commanding tone, Atesh held court with the gathered zebra in our native tongue. “<and with your help, we can convince the masters of Roam to see the error of their ways.>”

My eyebrows shot up, and my entire body locked.

I didn’t move an inch when Cassie pulled at my hoof. “Cept, what is it? What is he saying?”

Red was rapidly overtaking my vision. “Wait here, Cassiopeia. Do not interfere.”

She pulled harder. “Cept, tell me what he said. Is it about Naiara?”

Rising, I ignored her as her hoof fell away. Everything fell away. All I saw was Atesh’s grinning face. Thundering up the last few steps, I launched myself straight at him. “ROGA INRISPA!!!”

My hammering hoof barely missed his eye as he danced aside at the last moment, shock across his face. “Cept…”

I rose again at once, wheeling on him, even as his audience headed for the walkways, taking Cassie with them. Atesh and I were left alone on the walkway. Snarling in zebra tongue, my hunched form had him stepping back. “<You still persist? After all that has happened, you still think you’re right?>”

One hoof in front, Atesh gathered his Elder’s robes around him. “<Of course I do. I will lead this clan to our destined glory, no matter what. These zebra are free to join us.>”

“<There is no ‘us’!>” I shot back, heart pounding in my heaving chest. “<You are no longer part of this clan. You gave up that right by conspiring with animals like Latvi and Peanut!>”

“<Yes, I was mistaken to trust ponies with zebra fates, I admit that.>” Atesh held out a hoof, smiling paternally. “<I should have trusted you, my proud successor. Join with me again, and we will bring our people home. Our mistakes don’t have to be forever.>”

There were no longer words for what I felt at that moment. My backhoof lifted Atesh into the air before I even realised I had moved. He barely managed to flip upright before landing, but I was on him the moment he touched back down. “<YOUR MISTAKES AREN’T FOREVER?!>” He twisted around my straight, but I threw him away on the backswing. “<NOT FOREVER? YOU DARE SAY THAT TO ME?!>”

“<Calm yourself, Cept.>” He had the nerve to snap, even as he danced away from my bucking thrust. “<You should be ashamed to speak to your Elder this way.>”

“CEPT!” Cassie called from three metres into the open air. “Don’t fight him angry, that’s what he wants! Calm down, then beat him!”

“NAIARA IS DEAD BECAUSE OF YOU, ATESH!” I roared in Equestrian, before switching back to the zebra tongue. “<You would know that if you hadn’t run like a damn coward!>”

“<The mother of Roam’s new order is dead?>” Astonishment and anger warred across his face. Anger won. He went on the offensive, twisting and slamming against me. “<Why didn’t you protect her, Cept? That was your duty!>”

I barely felt the hit. “<Don’t talk to me about ‘duty’, Atesh, or about Naiara. You don’t have that right.>” Elbowing him in the ribs, I tried to flip him but he kicked out at my front leg, breaking the hold.

“<It is obvious you are not ready to be a leader, Cept.>” Seizing my roundhouse kick, he yanked my leg fully straight, then spun into a counterblow straight to my stomach. “<I will take back the clan until you are ready, and you will follow my orders again.>”

Gasping from the hit, I pushed up and away on my front hooves, putting some distance between us. “<I will never follow you again, nor will the clan. I won’t let your selfish ambition ruin any more lives, including those of these zebra here.>”

Atesh’s neutral face fell into a scowl. “<Then stop me, boy. I taught you how to fight. There is no technique you can try that I do not know.>” He leaned back into a ready stance.

“<If you think that, then you haven’t been paying attention.>” I smirked around breaths. “<Normal for you, Atesh.>”

His scowl turned into a sneer as he threw off his robe. “<You will address me as ‘Elder’, if I allow you to speak at all.>”

I didn’t blink at his threat, instead getting into my own stance. “<I’ll address you as ‘prisoner’, if I allow you to LIVE at all.>”

Cassie’s voice broke our stare down. She was addressing the now-retreating Stable dwellers. “Everyone, please, don’t panic. This is an internal matter. None of you will be harmed, I promise. Just stay in your rooms for the time being.”

I looked over to her. Her back was to the walkway. Atesh moved towards her, winding back to throw.

I sprinted in between them. “Cassie, be careful!”

Too late, I realised Atesh’s plan. I blocked his view of Cassie, but put myself off-balance. Atesh planted a doublehoof strike into my face, and followed it up with vicious hook when I ricochet’d off the walkway’s railing. “<Naive, Cept. You will learn to see beyond the obvious, eventually.>”

Catching his next attack, I slammed my body weight down on his knee. “<You mean the obviousness of your failed plan? You failed with Peanut. You failed with Latvi. You failed with Snowflake, and you failed with Naiara. You are only going home in chains, Atesh. What good are you?>”

Howling with rage and pain, his teeth snapped shut just in front of my nose. “<I am the future of the Zebra Empire, boy. The failings of lesser beings are not my concern!>”

We spun apart again, then charged. Meeting in the middle of the catwalk, his thrust glanced off my shoulder just as his hoof turned my punch aside. Both of us reared up onto our hind legs, kicking and hacking at each other with hoof and tooth.

After a furious volley of back and forth blows, Atesh’s entire left side seemed to become totally boneless, whipping out and in and under my guard. Whatever the attack, it knocked my legs from under me, dumping me on my back. Rolling back, I just managed to avoid his follow up stomp. “<What was that?>”

Though his breathing had gotten heavier, Atesh wasn’t yet tiring. “<Neither Fallen Caesar nor Stompeii Emboli. I told you that you have more to learn, Cept.>”

He came at me again, strange movement on his right this time. Tensing, I took the attack, muscles screaming at the impact, but holding. While he was still in close, I rammed my forehead into his. Stars exploded in my eyes as he reeled, but I reared back and headbutted him again.

I couldn’t hold on the second time, allowing him to stagger away while I shook out the cobwebs. He silently glared my last question back at me.

It was my turn to smirk. “<Drugged Raider style. You weren’t my only teacher, Atesh. If you ever lifted a hoof for yourself, rather than act through agents, you might have known about dirty fighting.>”

Bloody spittle leaked from the corner of his mouth. “<There is nothing worth knowing from this dead place!>”

I licked scarlet from one of my cuts. “<And that is why you will lose. Now let’s finish this.>”

On shaky legs, Atesh attacked. I parried strike after strike, not countering, just continuously avoiding any damage. His breathing became more ragged as we danced like this, and he belched blood after a surging strike that seemed to begin from a mile behind him. I was content to simply step aside, and let him jolt his own limb when it connected with the railing.

Clutching the limb, he glared daggers at me. “<You think you have won?>”

“<No,>” I remarked, eyes low and drooping, “<nobody has won. Naiara is dead. There is no winner here. You have simply lost. I have outlasted you, as has the clan.>”

“<That means nothing!>” Atesh hopped up, both hind legs scissoring for my head.

I twisted under it, back leg spinning up to drive into the back of his neck. He crumpled as I straightened, face inert. “<Naiara taught me that. Stompeii Emboli. A nerve strike. You should have seen it coming.>” Ignoring his glare, his twitching body lay unmoving beneath me as I stood tall. “<The power you craved from the horn required too high a price, even without Naiara’s death. If you had not been blinded by your petty beliefs, you would have understood that, and none of this would have happened. Not Latvi, not Peanut, not anything.>”

Cassie landed beside us, unfurling a cord from her bracer.

I took it with a quick “thank you”, and began tying Atesh’s limbs. I wanted all listening to hear my next words, so I switched back to Equestrian. “A mare I love very much said these words, not long ago. They are still true now.” I pointed to Cassie, and then to myself. “We love Naiara, and she loved us too. We saw her worth. That makes her ours.” I finished cinching him tight, so he couldn’t move even when his muscle control returned. “You did not see the truth of Naiara. To you, she was a birth giver and nothing more. Because of this, Naiara was never yours. She was not one of yours, she was one of us. And we will not let you have her, even in memory.”

Working together, Cassie and I pulled him upright. “You have lost this battle and you have lost your clan, former Elder Atesh. Be happy, though. You will see Roam again, to answer for your crimes.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~