The more skilled you are at something, the worse you are at it when showing someone.

I kept my eyes pointed up to the sky. The empty blue above me, cloudless and clear, felt as familiar to me as if I’d just walked out the front door of my parents home. The warmth of Celestia’s great sun greeting and trying to envelop me like a caring embrace was something I’d have given anything to hold onto back then.

Walking across the bright tarmac, the numbness I’d grown so used to from my augment made certain I’d never feel its warmth. The dozens of ranger corpses I had to step over and around to make it this far dragged me from the fantasy of a life that could have been. Just like then, while I’d hoped for the perfect morning every time I woke up, the real world came and did its best to pull me down.

Trotting up to where the main bunker entrance was, I did my best not to look at any of the injured and weary Ranger eyes that stared at me as I hobbled past them. Of course, that didn’t mean I didn’t catch glimpses. Tired, scared, angry, confused. Every ranger wore some unique mix of the look. Until an hour ago, today was just another miserable morning of an otherwise unremarkable day in their lives.

It was a sympathetic feeling I’d come to know well these past few months.

As I walked through the open hatch and stepped onto the stairs that dove back into the depths of the Ranger bunker, I couldn’t help but get stuck on a thought. One that had emerged from that same song Ping was still looping in the back of my mind. It was irrational, yet I accepted it as easily as the numbness that had become my constant and relied upon companion.

The Architect had promised that no machine, should it become damaged enough to die, would continue to operate. That if something like what happened to Ping were to, well, happen, then that the machine would self-terminate. Yet, seeing Ping sitting inside that intake doing what he had to in order to survive felt like a betrayal of the Architect’s promise.

I felt guilty for even thinking that after everything that’s happened. That Ping should just kill himself like some rule was more important than his life. He didn’t ask to be caught out in the open during the Metro Ranger’s attack. He didn’t mean to get caught in this city with some sort of jamming signal trapping him here. He deserved as much of a chance as any of us to live through this, despite the promise the Architect had made.

A pained moan from one of the injured Rangers pulled my attention as I was led deeper down the stairwell. A stallion no more than a few years older than me stood over a charcoal mare whose uniform was so torn and blood soaked I couldn’t even tell where it ended and her fur began. She let out a visceral scream as the stallion used his magic to levitate several surgical tools over and got to work on her.

“Hey, wait right there!”

A hoof came down on my side and stopped my descent. Before I could even look over, another hoof came around and pulled me sideways. Panic flushed through me and I struggled against the iron grip that had just wrapped around me.

“Woah, easy there!” The stallion squeezing me laughed as he loosened his grip enough to let me turn to see him. Blinking, I was met with a teary eyed gaze and a beaming smile. Working slower than normal, I blinked as my brain took a moment to reboot before I realized I was being hugged by Double Delta.

I blinked again, and instead it was the mare who’d slid out of the Arcturus holding onto me. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, I just… I wanted to thank your Talon for saving me.”

“Sure.” I nodded and forced up a slight smile. “We’re both glad that you’re safe.”

“I didn’t know… if I could trust any outsiders before.” She shook her head and pulled her hooves back. “But now I know I made the right choice to stay here. You’ve helped to show me that it’s better to have unlikely allies, rather than to think we could just keep going on our own.” With a nervous smile, she brought her hoof up and rubbed at her neck. “It may sound silly to you, but it probably shouldn’t have taken me falling out of a cloudship to learn that.”

“And somehow, you still haven’t learned your duties.” Ducky snapped as she trotted up the stairs from below. “Get back to work. You can take a break when your fellow rangers aren’t still dying around you.”

“Uh… yes, ma’am!” The mare shot up a quick salute before tearing herself away from me and galloping up the stairs.

“And you.” Ducky snorted and jabbed her hoof at me sharply. “The Elder is waiting. This way.” The annoyance and anger in the way she said that felt hollow to me. When she’d ‘captured’ us on our arrival, there was at least a tone of smug amusement to her words. Now, I could almost feel her seething loathing for me.

Not that I could blame her after a fight like this.

Following her down even more flights of stairs, we dipped down lower than the level I’d been interrogated on. The hustle and bustle of rangers trickled off with each level, down to the point where it was just the two of us, and a pair of heavily armed stallions guarding a sealed hatchway.

I opened my muzzle to ask why the negotiations were being held so deep within the base, but I stopped myself. I suppose if I’d invited Solomon for a ‘chat’ somewhere, I’d want it to be in the most secure place I could think of.

“Outsiders aren’t cleared for this level, ma’am.” One of the stallions nodded to Ducky as he stepped slightly in front of the hatchway.

“This is the negotiator requested by the Elder.” She snapped back sharply, forcing both stallions to stiffen up. “Open the door.”

The two guards shared a glance before they stepped aside and hoofed at a pair of keypads set into the wall beside them. A mechanical whirr picked up from the other side of the hatch, and it slowly pulled itself open to reveal a bright hallway beyond.

I followed Ducky through before the door had even finished opening, and nearly slipped as my hooves were immediately soaked by the thin layer of cold water that coated the floor. The smooth almost marble-white concrete walls of the hall glistened with wetness, and the coverings of the buzzing fluorescent lights above were tinged with a light layer of green algae.

With splashing steps, I did my best to keep up as we headed for the junction at the end of the hallway. As we neared, Ducky’s steps slowed slightly, and she threw a sharp look back at me over her shoulder.

“This level is normally closed to outsiders, but as much of an exception as you are today, that means I will only tell you this once.” She flicked her wet forehoof at me stiffly with a grunt. “You speak of nothing you see down here, to anypony. Understand?”

“Understood.” I gave her a nod, but unless there was some collection of megaspells or the like being hidden away down here, I somewhat doubted there was actually anything down here that I’d care about mentioning anyway. While the hoof deep water was certainly strange, once you’ve seen one ranger tunnel, you’ve seen most of them. Then again, maybe there was something to that… “What’s with the water, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s none of your concern.” She grumbled and stomped her hoof down. “You were brought here to negotiate, not for a tour. So shut your muzzle until we get to the elder.”

“Sure, whatever.” I know I was always more curious than others cared for, but I guess this was a mystery I could let slip.

Satisfied with my response, Ducky continued on, taking us down the left side of the junction. Again, I nearly tripped as we came around the corner, but this time it was because the Hallway itself seemed to run off for hundreds of meters in a straight line. Interspersed along the right side of the hallway were long sets of algae-coated windows broken up by a hatchway door every now and again.

Stepping up to the first window, I did my best to peer through the green growth on it. Though it was hard to judge its size at first, on the other side of the window was an expansive tunnel that followed the hallway. A large, rusting and broken equipment gantry ran the whole length of the ceiling, with various lifts and cranes sitting half submerged in the dark, almost black water that came up to the same level as where it sat in the tunnels.

“Woah…” A soft gasp escaped my muzzle as I thought about just how big this tunnel was, and how it had to run right under the runway above. The memory of what Ping had said earlier sent a sparking thought through my mind that forced its way out of my muzzle before I could stop it. “This must be the tunnel that connects to the cloudship factory north of the city.”

“How the fuck do you know about that?” Ducky squeaked and spun around fast enough to splash me in the muzzle with a good bit of the brackish salt-water.

Spitting out the foul tasting liquid, I shot her a glare. “It’s none of your concern.”

Her gaze hardened as she studied me. Honestly, out of all the rangers at this base, Ducky had been hard to pin down. On one hoof, I understood why she was wary of us at the start, but call me entitled, but I’d think we’d helped enough in the fight for her to know we were on her side by now.

“Not. A. Word. Remember that.” She finally snapped back with a grunt before turning herself back down the hall.

It wasn’t much further down the wet hallway before we reached another junction that we turned down. This hallway was shorter than the original one we’d come down, and built slightly different, with the floor sloping gently upwards until it rose above the waterline. Dozens of drying hoofprints showed that this place was pretty well trafficked, and the fact that some hoofprints were twice the size of others and looked treaded told me that power armored ponies had recently come through here.

Ducky physically seemed to relax slightly as she trotted out of the water, giving each leg a quick shake, as well as a long shiver down her back before continuing on. As I followed at my hobbling pace, I was once again thankful that my augment did its part to save me from the undoubtedly freezing cold water.

Despite bringing us out of the fetlock deep water, the hallway continued to slope up before turning back on itself on both sides at the end of the hall, leading to a pair of sealed hatchway doors. A pair of Steel Ranger guard ponies were stationed at the door, same as at the bottom of the stairwell. As Ducky turned up the rampway and headed for one of the doors, one of the guards at it turned and opened it for her.

Following through the hatchway, the room opened up into what looked like a large command center. Two story tall terminals and catwalks sat along each of the walls, with rows of smaller terminals interspersed throughout the rear half of the room. The glowing and beeping terminals were attended by a dozen or so robed ponies, who worked alongside an equal number of well dressed and fairly chatty rangers who were using headsets to talk to Celestia knows who.

The far wall was sloped, and held tall, pony-wide windows that looked down into the flooded tunnel below. My guess was this had been some sort of control point during the cloudship manufacturing process, but at some point the rangers had converted it into their base of operations.

Somewhat out of place here, was the large, round table sat in the far corner near the windows. Almost a dozen armed rangers stood around three power armored ponies who were seated at it, facing a ragged but steadfast looking Elder Fenestron. Her gaze shifted as Ducky and I approached, and a visible wave of relief washed over her. Getting to her hooves, she waved aside some of the armed ponies to make a path for us to get by.

Approaching the table, I was able to see that the power armored ponies were in fact, not from the Airfield rangers. Their standard flat-grey armor had taken a few dings and scratches from the battle on the tarmac, but looked to be in almost perfect condition otherwise. In fact, if not for those dings and scratches, I could have confused these suits as having just rolled off the factory floor.

What certainly surprised me however, was the fact that none of the three had any weapons bolted on them. Maybe it was a gesture of good faith, or maybe they’d been stripped off for the negotiations. Still, it made the accompanying armed guards huddled around them seem a bit like overkill. Though, I suppose just being wrapped in armor like that, you wouldn’t exactly need weapons to cause a good bit of damage if you wanted to….

“Thank you for offering to help.” Elder Fenestron offered as she pointed for me to join them. “The Elder here and I are eager to get started.”

“Yes, your expediency is appreciated.” The Steel Ranger in the middle spoke and stood up as Ducky and I split, taking opposing sides across the round table from each other. Lowering her helmet, she reached her armored hooves up and gave a twist to it. With a hiss, her helmet detached, and she pulled it off. “I can only hope you will be impartial as we…”

Red Velvet froze up mid sentence as her pair of strawberry red eyes left her helmet and fell on me. The velvet coat that had once covered half of her face had been warped into a wicked burn, and the white braided mane that had adorned her head was worn loosely in an unsuccessful attempt to cover it up.

“You.” She snarled as she sprung up onto her hooves and maneuvered herself to line up her weapons at me. “You are supposed to be dead!” A point she must have realized as the Airfield guards shifted and hovered their guns around her and her power armored friends even before they could react and get to their hooves. “How...”

The rage burning behind her eyes burned like so many I’d run into up in the north. It was a fire that I’d gotten good at forcibly putting out, but even here surrounded by the Airfield rangers, it didn’t mean Red Velvet wasn’t still dangerous. If anything, this was going to make things more complicated.

“Elder Velvet, you know this pony?” Fenestron asked, trading a somewhat confused look between herself and Ducky.

“We met last night when her goons captured me.” I spoke quickly, thankful for once for the short bridge between my thoughts and muzzle. “She tried, unsuccessfully, to kill my talon and I.”

“This mutant murdered Elder Pilaf and nearly two dozen of our best rangers.” She seethed back, shaking her armored hoof sharply at me. “I refuse to negotiate with this thing. In fact, you will detain them and hoof them over to me when this is over.”

While murderous ponies wanting me dead ending up that way themselves was normal to me, what slightly unnerved me was the look that flashed across Elder Fenestron’s face when she heard I’d murdered Pilaf. Sure, I knew it was pretty much in self defense, but would Fenestron see it that way? She hadn’t wanted him dead, and I’d all but told her I wouldn’t kill him.

But we hadn’t asked to be captured. If I had or hadn’t wanted to kill Pilaf didn’t matter, because that choice had been made for me. Thinking back to what Madame Mystic had told me, my ‘talent’ had made sure the metro rangers had an opportunity to change the way things went, and they’d made their choice. All I could do now was point that fact out, and hope that it gave me the leverage I needed to actually change things around here.

“Tell me, Elder Velvet,” I asked as I slowly turned a flat gaze from Fenestron, “What incentive does a Steel Ranger have to bring rare technology back to base?”

“What? What does that have to do with anything?” She seethed and gave a dismissive wave, “Scribe Fenestron, I will not waste my time with such pointless questions from a mutant who couldn’t understand the first thing about being a Steel Ranger.”

“That’s Elder Fenestron, traitor.” Ducky snapped and brought her hoof down on the table hard.

“Please, let me rephrase my question then.” I offered as I sat down and stared into Velvet’s burning glare. “If your Ranger were to damage a piece of rare technology in their care, what would happen?”

“That is none of your concern.” She uttered in a low growl as she leaned toward me slowly. “Again, I will not have my time wasted by someone so…”

“Elder?” Turning from Velvet, I brought my gaze over to Fenestron’s stern gaze. “Can you answer my question? Before your split, what would happen to a ranger who irreparably destroyed or lost a piece of technology in their care?”

Her eyes studied me for a moment, and I could see the hesitation to trust me creeping into the back of her mind.

“There would be a formal reprimand.” She finally answered. “A lot of it depends on the circumstances of the incident.”

“Thank you.” I nodded to her with a forced smile. “Another question. What if the offending Ranger was ill-equipped to protect said technology and ended up losing or breaking it?”

“This is no negotiation.” Red Velvet snarled as she slammed her hoof down on the table before jabbing it back at me. As she did, the collective group of armed ponies behind her leaned in, weapons trained right on the back of her head. “This is simply a ruse to buy these traitorous rangers more time to regroup! I will not be a party to this!”

“It’s a simple question!” I kept my gaze pinned on Elder Fenestron as she looked between Velvet and her own soldiers. “What harm is there in a simple answer?”

“I am beginning to agree with Velvet that this is a strange way to begin a negotiation as an impartial mediator.” Fenestron pressed her forehoof against her head with a long sigh, but carefully turned her eyes on me. “But I’ll indulge your simple question. It’s the responsibility of those of higher stations to dictate tasks to those capable and equipped for completing them.”

“A crude summation.” One of the power armored stallions muttered through his helmet.

“But a correct one.” Ducky fired back at him.

“If you agree, then here’s how I see it.” Taking a deep breath, I walked my glance across the table toward each of them slowly. “Neither of you care to follow the rules of the Steel Rangers.”

“That’s absurd!” Velvet snarled.

“Would you care to arrive at a point, mediator?” Fenestron tensed up and pinched the bridge of her muzzle with her fetlock.

The room fell silent with both outbursts, leaving only the buzzing of the working machines in the background, and the frustrated breathing of two quite angry Elder Rangers.

Good, now that I’d gotten the sole attention out of each and everypony here...

“Would both of you care to explain to your soldiers, why all of them on both sides, went into a fight this morning they were unprepared and under equipped for at all.” Standing up, I propped myself up on the table with my one hoof and did my best to growl out my words. “From what I’m hearing, taking responsibility doesn’t apply to being an Elder!”

“And what responsibility do you take for murdering Elder Pilaf?” Red Velvet brought her own hooves down on the table, hammering it nearly hard enough to throw my hoof from it.

“Would you like for me to recount how it happened?” I shot back at her. “How my talon and I broke out of your holding cell? How we made it past your guards into your ‘secure’ armory? I may have thrown the grenade that killed Pilaf, but you need to ask yourself, Elder, who’s fault was it that I had that opportunity in the first place.”

Not giving her any time to voice an objection, I wheeled my gaze around onto Fenestron.

“And you, Elder.” “You are so unconcerned with what happens outside of this airfield that you had no idea that your convoy had been replaced with an invasion force.”

“I don’t know how things were in the Enclave, but we don’t have the resources to be everywhere.” She began “To suggest otherwise is…”

After everything I’d seen and learned about them, just being compared to the Enclave brought my blood to a boil.

“Elder.” I raised my hoof and cut her off sharply, “Respectfully, your intentions are all well and good, but the city of Seaddle is your resource. You want to help the ponies of this city? Then asking for their help is part of that.”

“See how pointless this is?” Velvet snorted and smirked, “There is no impartial mediation here when this Mutie has already committed to giving you traitors this city.”

“This city is nopony’s to give.” I fired back and once again wheeled around to glare at Red. “You want to negotiate? Alright, what will it take for you to stop fighting with the rangers here?”

“You could never understand, Enclave.” One of the two armored rangers spat through their helmet.

“Yeah,” Ducky snorted with her own smirk, “well you assholes will only be happy when you’re watching the ponies of Seaddle suffer under your hoof again.”

“It’s for their benefit.” The other armored ranger hissed at her, “You are wasting irreplaceable tech on those who so easily fall into barbarism!”

“That’s a laugh! You hear that, guys? The oppressors want to talk about barbarism!” One of the soldiers holding them at gunpoint spoke out.

This was once again swiftly getting out of hoof.

“HEY, unless you have some magic solution, I suggest leaving these negotiations to the Elders and I!” I howled out with as much force as I could. “Now, let's roll it back.” I took a deep breath and got myself seated onto the cold concrete floor again. “Why is it that you are fighting each other?”

“Maybe somepony hasn't explained it to you, but the Steel Rangers used to protect ponies.” Red spoke with a sharp, cutting tone that implied all the malice I’d personally seen her capable of. “And these trai…” she paused as Fenestron sharpened her own gaze, “and some of us have forgotten that.”

“We protect them from themselves, right.” Fenestron nodded and brought both forehooves down lightly onto the table. “Except you aren't saving them from another, future apocalypse when you deny them clean water and medical care every day.”

“That’s rich!” The power armored pony closest to me chuckled as he raised his voice, “Wasting finite resources on druggies who are going to get themselves killed tomorrow isn't helping! From the looks of things, your side can’t even help your own soldiers now!”

Are you kidding me? Again!?

“And who by chance are the ponies who shot up all of our rangers!?” Ducky raised her own voice, rousing an enthusiastic response from all the soldiers holding the power armored rangers at gunpoint. “From where I’m sitting, your selfishness hasn’t left your side any better.”

“ENOUGH!” I screamed at the both of them sharply enough that they both leaned back as far from me as possible without flat-out falling over. “This goes for everypony here. If I have to stop either side from speaking out again, then these negotiations are over and nopony gets to stay in Seaddle.”

“Please,” Red scoffed and gave me a dismissive wave of her hoof, “you don’t have the resources to do that.”

“There’s that word again. Resources.” I shook my head and looked between both elders. “You want to know what the Ranger's problem is? You are so focused on hoarding resources because 'you know how to use them right' that you can't see the irony in the fact that that's what caused the end of Equestria in the first place. Those with the resources decided they were better used for a war that both sides lost.”

“That’s not…” Ducky snorted, but let her words die in her throat as I shifted my glare to her.

“Resources are limited, I will give you that.” I continued and returned my gaze back to Fenestron. “You need to better choose who to help, and how to help, regardless of who or what they are.” A spark of inspiration hit me like a lightning bolt. “The donkey under your command, for example. She told us that she joined you because she lost her family to an ambush, and she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she did.”

Fenestron nodded at that. “She spoke of that when asking to join us, and I thought it an admirable enough reason to become a Ranger.”

“And yet, while this airbase is the safest place around for a lot of ponies, the city remains a deathtrap, despite you thinking her cause was worthy.” Sighing, I shrugged and looked over at Ducky and the other Airfield rangers intently listening in. “Even if you didn't help the city, the rate of ponies you are helping is not sustainable.”

“Well, we’ve been stretched thin after our… separation.” Fenestron admitted as her gaze at Velvet softened slightly.

“Are you, though?” I offered back. “You’re more than well enough protected behind these walls. And with the Starscream, this place is a veritable fortress.” Turning back across the table once more, I locked eyes with Red Velvet. “You’re stretched just as thin as they are, and it’s not because of a lack of resources, it’s because you both are intent on taking what the other still has.”

“They have almost everything that belongs to us.” Red snarled and sharply jabbed at Fenestron. “We only want to take back what is ours!”

“You know, I’ve heard something like that before.” I offered to her, leaning forward against the table. “Why all the prejudice against the Enclave? They only wanted to take back what they thought was rightfully theirs.” It almost made me sick to use what they’d done like this, to sound like what they did could so quickly be written off as the responsibility of the few in charge. But was this conflict really any different, if just on a smaller scale? “It may not be between the Enclave and the ground, or the zebras and ponies this time, but this a war. But it’s one we can end here and now. Where both sides get to walk away, even if one side has to leave the city to the other.”

"While that's... a valid comparison,” Ducky made sure to keep her tone and voice level as she spoke. “Do you really think it’s better than keeping the rangers intact and strong?"

“Well, you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to.” I shrugged and met her concerned gaze.

“You think after all this, that anypony would trust either side to just leave for good?” She asked plainly.

"I think that a lot of Rangers were put in a difficult spot,” Again, I couldn’t do anything but shrug. “Between loyalty to the Ranger ways, and their innate desire to help those who need it. They shouldn't be punished for falling back on the safer choice." Smirking and shifting my glance to Red, I was met with a souring of her expression. "Expulsion is just another easy and safe choice, and if you want to leave, no pony should stop you."

"Separation for the sake of safety has been the Ranger's way of life for two centuries, and it's kept us alive.” Red spoke up in a surprisingly soft tone. “Following the codex has saved countless lives by the virtue of keeping the means to cause destruction away from those who would use them. The choices we’ve had to make haven’t been easy or safe, but rather what needs to be done."

“And how many have we put down in order to secure those tools?” Fenestron matched Red’s gentle tone, offering a caring smile to go along with it. “We still believe in protecting them, but we needed to question the idea of are we not hypocritical for using those tools ourselves? Who are we to say we alone have the authority on this?"

“Not to jump in, but This is not a debate on whose philosophy is right or wrong. I’m sure it’s really somewhere in the middle." Despite this probably being the calmest discussion yet, jumping in here was the best way to keep things from spiraling again. “Look, it will take time and effort to show both sides of the Rangers and the city that you can change, but I have to believe that change is worth making if you are willing to set aside your differences...”

“You speak of the homogenization and dilution of the Rangers, not an outcome where the Codex guides us and takes precedence. As it should.” Red’s sharp undertone returned swiftly, and the fire in her gaze sparked back to a blaze. “How can one half function, or even keep discipline if the rules simply don’t apply to the other? We will not work beside those who would undermine the very foundations of…”

“I get it.” I spoke up again and raised my hoof to quiet her. “Then if unification isn’t acceptable to you, the Airfield Rangers here will help your side leave the city.” I could see that fan the flames in her, and quickly cut her off again. “And before you ask why you have to go, as stated before, it’s because this city belongs to neither of you. If you refuse to help the city or rangers here, then you can leave.”

“I will not give them free reign to strip this base…” Fenestron protested sharply.

“They won’t.” I fired back, “Red Velvet will order her Rangers to remand authority to you when it comes to supplying this exodus. Ammunition, spare parts and tools, as well as enough food and water to ensure you find a place you can call your own.” Pausing for a moment, another idea came to mind, “In fact, the Airfield rangers will be providing those aircraft for you to going to use before your war. The ones with the cargo boxes under them should provide enough capacity to set up anywhere you’d like.”

“Excuse me?” Fenestron huffed and crossed her hooves. “You must be joking.”

“I’m afraid that in a negotiation, both sides make concessions towards a mutual agreement.” I know it was asking for a lot for them to give up a fleet of airworthy skycraft, but I had to believe that the Elder could accept that sacrifice as part of the greater good here.

“We’d never make it out of the city.” Red shifted herself and swung her hoof around sharply again. “They’d sabotage them.”

“They won’t.” Again, I fired back as I turned back to Red. “Elder Fenestron will order her Rangers to remand authority to your scribes for maintenance and flight preparations for the exodus.” Turning back to Fenestron, I leveled a stern glare at her. “If somehow, Red’s Rangers don’t make it out due to foul play, my crew will know, and we have enough connections here to make sure everypony who comes to Seaddle knows that the Rangers here are not to be trusted.”

That was taking a leap of faith on being able to count on the Skycaptain and all the pull the Inuvik could have with the ponies of Seaddle, but it was a gamble I was willing to take.

“You wouldn’t dare try to turn this city against us.” Fenestron’s gaze narrowed as the scowl she wore looked more like it would have been at home on Red’s muzzle.

“You may test that assumption at your convenience.” I simply offered. Okay, doubling down it is! “Don’t forget, the Arcturus and all aboard are at my command. Don’t underestimate the difference we could have on others' opinions.”

“Fine, I can agree to that.” Red sighed. As she seemed to relax, a wicked grin pulled itself along her face. “Besides, they'll be out of supplies in a year, and we'll just come back and reclaim what's rightfully ours.”

“About that…” I grunted, “Should you return, you will be wiped out.” Those words stole her grin faster than I thought it would, and that brought a smile to my own muzzle. “Even leaving in this peaceful exodus, this city will know not to trust you. You may find things easier out in the wastes with that outdated attitude, for a time. But there's a reason these rangers kicked your ass into the metros. They've begun to understand that everyone is stronger when they work together. And if they can put in the hard work to get this city behind them, you won't ever come back until you learn that for yourselves.”

“Then maybe we won’t leave.” Red huffed as she leaned back, giving subtle glances to the two armored stallions. “Maybe we pick right up where we left off in this fight and finish off these traitors.”

“Going to throw a bunch of wounded and tired soldiers at us?” Ducky laughed, “We are more than prepared to wipe the rest of your sad lot out.”

I didn’t even have to step in this time as the boiling blood under Fenestron’s skin finally burst.

“That’s enough out of you.” She snapped and pointed to the door we entered from. “You were warned about speaking up, so you are hereby relieved of duty.”

“But…” Ducky tried to speak, but a hard slap across the face from Fenestron shut her down, and brought the entire room to an uneasy standstill. With a frustrated huff, she threw up a short salute before turning and unceremoniously trotting across the quiet room.

As the door to the command center sealed once more, it was as if a weight was collectively lifted off the shoulders of everypony here.

“I don’t like this outcome any more than any Ranger under my command.” Fenestron growled as she stood up and stared across the table at Red. “However, in this fight, neither of us will win in a way that matters. If we continue, this base will fall to any opportunistic group who wishes to, and we will in turn have hoofed any number of unscrupulous ponies an arsenal which they can in turn use to terrorize the citizens of Seaddle. Is that what we want? Is that worth the differences between us?”

Finally, the first bit of common sense I could agree with so far.

“By exiling us, you may already be doing just that.” Red offered back as she too got to her hooves. “If we leave, you may be under equipped to handle such a hypothetical threat, and if we leave, we will not return to render you aid in any form.”

“Look, nopony’s going to like this outcome. That’s the point of a negotiation.” I jumped back in as I stood up myself and looked between the two, “But you can either set things aside and try to work together, or embrace the risks that this plan leaves each of you with.”

Both leaders fell silent as their gazes drifted down toward the table in front of them. I could see the both of them were busy weighing the options here, and I could only really hope what I’d proposed was enough to keep them from fighting again.

Elder Velvet nodded to herself before looking up and glancing at me.

“If we were to agree to these terms and decide to leave,” Her gaze once again narrowed suspiciously as she threw a healthy dose of side eye to Fenestron. “it would likely take weeks to gather supplies and prepare the skycraft needed for this journey. You expect me to split my forces between tasks? Half my rangers would spend their time as nothing more than privileged hostages while we gathered what is needed from the metros.”

That’s… a good point that I didn’t really think about. While Fenestron didn’t strike me as the type to go back on a deal, given Ducky and the other Rangers here’s… eagerness to keep an advantage, I could see a setup like this just asking for small groups to take it upon themselves to ‘protect’ the Rangers interests despite Fenestron’s orders. If only they would just fucking work togeth…

“You’ll work together.” The words escaped from my muzzle even before I’d finished formulating my thoughts on it, leaving both Red and Fenestron to simply blink at me. “Fenestron will remand as many of her Rangers as you need to your command to help you gather what’s needed.”

“Excuse me?” Fenestron’s tone sank faster than the pallet jack we’d used to launch off of the Inuvik. “You are simply a mediator, and by far the worst one I’ve ever met.”

“Of that, I can agree.” Red offered quite unhelpfully with a sly smirk.

Fenestron shot her sharp gaze over for a moment before returning it to me. “While I will admit that this has been a swift negotiation so far, you have no authority to delegate the tasks and duties of any Ranger at this base.”

“And yet…” Red offered her stinging side-eye to me while she shifted her muzzle toward Fenestron, “what counter-offer do you propose to sate my concerns?” A twisted smile pulled itself across her face, and she let out a chuckle that was equal parts malice and mirth. “Perhaps, these negotiations were meant to be a sham from the start. A tool to simply bide the time until your rangers could regroup, and a measure that in fact, carried no good will from the start.”

Not going to lie, but it wasn’t exactly a great feeling actually having Red defend me here. But despite my own feelings, I couldn’t deny that given how Fenestron fidgeted from her words, it wasn’t getting results.

“That… that’s not true.” Fenestron stammered as she sharpened her expression further. “We both agreed to this ceasefire with the genuine hope that this frivolous fight could finally be brought to an end.”

“Yet, I am the one being asked to leave.” Red snarled as her toothy grin grew even wider. “I am the one who must deal with the risks and dangers of the wasteland. From where I sit, it is my side that is sacrificing everything in good faith.” Leaning forward, her expression fell completely flat and her voice turned hollow. “Am I to understand that putting a few soldiers at risk is asking too much of you? Forgive me, Elder, but true leadership is understanding and dealing with the risks to those you command. Perhaps even with losing so many today, you have yet to wisen to that fact.”

“Fine, I will remand the Rangers you require.” Fenestron grunted.

“Excellent.” Red smirked and tipped her muzzle up at the Elder across the table. “I will require a comprehensive roster of capable…”

“I will decide who to remand.” Fenestron spoke sharply as she frowned. “It is only fair, as I will not be choosing who you get to post for repairs to the Boxcar fleet.”

“Fine.” Red again huffed and sat down as her smile died. “That is… fair enough I suppose. However, should I come to hear of any violent incidents with my Rangers, I will not hesitate to respond in kind to yours.”

“And I will ensure that none of the Rangers I send with you have any thoughts of reprisals or malicious acts during their time under your command.” Fenestron huffed and lightly nodded across the table to her. “I will give you no excuse to detain or harm my Rangers in any capacity on unfounded suspicions.”

“Then it is settled.” Red turned to each of her power armored escorts and gave them a nod. With a clambering shuffle, they got to their hooves and lined up next to her. “Given the terms of this agreement are held to, then this conflict is over.” Turning to the armored pony closest to me, she nodded at him. “Paladin Rotor will remain here in order to coordinate on my behalf. He carries my authority when it comes to our Rangers, so I hope you treat him with all the respect you would with me.”

Fenestron looked over to one of the ponies still holding them at gunpoint and gave a sort of sideways nod to him. With a nod in return, he lowered his weapon and motioned for the other Rangers to do the same.

“We are in agreement then.” Fenestron sighed and held her hoof up to a robed ranger across the room, waving them over. “If you wouldn’t mind, Scribe Stator will escort you back to your forward command post to coordinate as well. She will act as my liaison, and likewise, I assume your cooperation with her will reflect your willingness to see this operation through peacefully.”

“Of course.” Red nodded and forced up a smile that couldn’t erase the disdain behind it, but she left it at that and moved to leave. Only to stop just short of fully turning around. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, her burning gaze locked on me. “Oh, and mediator? Should our paths ever cross again, I would be interested in continuing the… discussion I had with your Talon last night. It was such a shame I couldn’t finish it properly.”

“I’d say I’m looking forward to it,” I shrugged and sat down with a sigh, “but having been out there, in the wastes? If we do happen to meet again, just know that if you’re in need of dire assistance, all you have to do is ask.”

I’d tried to put my talent for annoying brutish dictators to work, and from the snarl that pull across Red’s muzzle, I’d say I haven’t lost my touch. With a smile spreading across my own muzzle, I gave a little wave of my forehoof to Red as she and her escort turned to leave, followed closely by Fenestron’s liaison.

Overall, I think that went well! Or at least, well enough. I can’t say for certain that Delilah would have… chosen to take the route I did for this, but at the very least, I’m sure she would have been proud to see how far I’d come. Even so, I would have given anything in the wastes to have had her here running the show…

“Well then.” Fenestron sighed as she stepped around the table toward me. “That was certainly… something.”

“The war is over, and that’s not nothing.” I offered back to her, sitting up straight as she looked down at me.

“Not that I’m arguing with the results, but you really are a terrible mediator.” She smirked and let the barest hint of a chuckle bleed out of her muzzle. “Still, I can only hope this fragile peace holds long enough for them to go.” Her gaze drifted from me across to her Rangers in the room. “And I can only pray that what we’ve given up for it, was worth it.”

“I have to believe it is, or the ponies in the city of Seaddle will be worse off for it.” Granted that the Rangers were only a single threat to the city, it was my hope that with the Airfield rangers in control, that at the very least they’d have a chance against any threat that could pop up. “Elder, I know that things are going to be complicated around here for the next few weeks, but I meant what I said about those in the city being a resource.”

“I understand you mean well,” She nodded and hung her head somewhat at that, “however, I do not have the spare pony power to even begin to coordinate with the city on anything. And before you offer to help, I think you’ve done enough for us to fulfill your end of our original agreement, and I would like to complete repairs to your ship before finding myself in your debt for any other jobs.”

Was I really that predictable? Wait, did I really ask myself that question? Have I even met me on this trip? Even if not with the city, I could at least maybe get the Skycaptain to commit the Inuvik to helping. Then again…

“But that’s the thing, Elder,” I offered her a soft smirk as I thought about something for a moment. “You already have somepony who can coordinate some help with the icebreaker that came into port. Miss Bell can reach out and negotiate on your behalf.”

“Miss Bell has little experience in the ways of Ranger procedure.” She gave me a dismissive wave and a roll of her eyes.

“But she does know the Skycaptain from before the war.” I offered back. “Miss Bell is a resource you Rangers have ignored for two hundred years. Why not use her to help?”

Taking a moment to think, her frustrations were worn close to her skin as she shifted uneasily on her hooves.

“I will… consider it.” She finally answered with an indecisive bob of her head. “I suppose on a day of compromises, one more may not be the ‘end of the world’.”

I let out a small sigh of relief at that that I hadn’t realized I’d needed. Maybe not getting involved in a days-long negotiation between the city and the Rangers was a good thing. I’d made a promise to the others that we’d go after Solomon, and I intended to make good on that. At least, once we’d collected Buck and dealt with the signal that was jamming Ping… who I’d hoped was at least fairing better.

“If that’s everything, Elder, then I’ve got an injured crew member I must return to.” I offered as I held out my hoof to her.

“Thank you for your help.” She smiled and gave my forehoof a firm shake. “However, there may be one more thing to discuss, but I believe that can wait for now.” A genuine smile pulled across her muzzle as she looked around her command center once again. “For now, I hope your crewmate a speedy recovery.”

“Captain!” Tofu had hardly given me half a second to step inside the massive hanger where Miss Bell’s fantastically large plan still imposingly sat. “Ping’s going to be alright!” She shouted as both she and Miss Bell trotted over to me. Behind them, both Happy and Daisy sat with a more whole looking Ping. He still wasn’t doing anything more than looking around blankly and munching on metal strips they hoofed him, but… he was still alive.

“Thanks to young Tofu here bringing some stocks out from your airship, it looks like both your friend and my life’s work is going to be alright.” She offered with a glance over her shoulder. “Might take a few days before he’s at one hundred percent, but he’ll get there.”

“Thank you for your understanding and help.” I let out a long breath. Thank Celestia he’s going to be fine. I don’t think the Factory could have ever forgiven me if we’d lost him, and I’m not going to let that happen. “Likewise, I’m glad your plane wasn’t too heavily damaged either.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind,” Tofu tried to hold back the excitement in her voice, but was doing a pretty poor job at it. “I’ve never seen a skycraft this large with so much… thrusting potential. And those wings look like they can articulate. As far as I know, nothing this big has ever had variable geometry wings!”

“That’s quite the eye you’ve got there.” Bell nodded and stared at her skycraft with the same reverence as Hardcase had with his own creations. “The XB-70. She was Bow-wing's entry in the 'Valkyrie' contract competition to build a long range, high speed megaspell bomber. Six of the most advanced arcane ramjets ever developed, variable-geometry wingtips to adjust for high altitude mach flight, and a damn near rainboom capable speed. She was going to be perfect, the fastest thing in the skies outside of Ministry head Rainbow Dash herself.”

“Was?” Tofu scrunched up her muzzle. “You mean, you’ve never flown it?”

“I mean, she put in a few dozen flight hours back in the day, but… she had kinks to work out, and we were too slow. I was too slow.” Bell sighed and turned back to us. “Another company submitted their proposal. R&G Manufacturing, a small time player in the industry from up Trotisk ways produced an admittedly impressive prototype, and they won. Some days I wonder what improvements they would have made to their advanced model, or how quick she would have been, or even if they ever got around to building her.”

“But… it's been two centuries.” I offered as the words jumped out of my muzzle on their own. “With the end of the world, why not continue to fly her? Was it a parts manufacturing issue or something?”

“Well,” She cringed at that and brought a rotting hoof up to rub at her neck. “Firstly, I had to deal with the end of the world. Becoming a ghoul, realizing everything was gone. Then the depression set in, thoughts of killing myself…” She paused at that and glanced between Tofu and I before forcing a softer expression across her muzzle. “I got past all that, but… I had to wait a few decades for the radiation to dissipate enough that I could even think about firing up the ol’ gal.” Again, her expression sank as she shrugged. “By the time it had dropped to a good level, I no longer had ‘clearance’ to fly anymore.”

“Clearance?” Tofu again scrunched her muzzle at that, though I caught on right away what she meant.

“By the time the air cleared enough for flight, it had cleared enough for the Rangers to resurface?” I asked, getting a nod in response.

“Hopefully, things will continue to get better for me around here.” She spun herself around to face the large skycraft again as a bright smile spread across her muzzle. “These last few weeks have really been something, and seeing her again this morning…” She paused as it looked like two centuries of tension melted out of her body. “Nothing holds a candle to what tomorrow could be like. We might once again soar through the skies together, and I will not let the opportunity pass me by again.”

From the love exuding out of her words, I was more than certain that she wasn’t talking about the XB-70 anymore, but it didn’t matter. What she was feeling was something I’d never dream of questioning, and I couldn’t help but feel ashamed it had taken her so long when it took me a fraction of the time. She’d spent two centuries locked up here, and I was glad she could finally feel free.

A short burst of static shot through my head, making me wince.

“Hey, are you all done with those negotiations or whatever, Dum Dum?” Hispano’s voice came through with a crackle, making me blink and look around the hangar for her. With Tofu’s ambush, had I really missed the fact that she wasn’t here? “Hello? Ground control to major Dum Dum. Please respond.”

“Shit, yeah, I’m here Hispano.” I nodded as Tofu raised an eyebrow at me.

“While you’ve been sitting on your flank and chit-chatting, Eliza and I have been hard at work.” A sharp whine came through with her voice only moments before I could hear it through the hanger walls. “Just enough of the repairs are done on the Remora that it’s finally flight worthy.”

“That’s… that’s great news!” After a day of trials, another piece of good news was really quite welcomed to hear!

“So…?” Hispano offered, letting her voice trail off like I was meant to answer her.

“So?” I screwed up my muzzle as I waited for her to actually ask something.

“Are you done chit-chatting or not?” She huffed in way that I could just about hear her eyes rolling at me. “I mean, I could go get Buck alone, but I’d thought I’d do the ‘nice thing’ and ask if you’d want to tag along.”

“Oh, uh, yeah!” I nearly jumped over Tofu back toward the hanger door at that. Looking at Tofu and Bell, I knew I deserved the strange look I was getting from them. “Tofu, can I leave you in charge here in case the Rangers need anything more from us? The Remora’s back up and running, and Hispano and I need to go find Buck.”

“Yeah, t-totally.” She nodded and offered me a stiff salute. “I will literally not let you down, Captain!”

I was about to turn back towards the hangar wall when I was stopped by Bluebell’s hoof on my shoulder.

“I know I said it before, but you really do remind me of her, you know?” She spoke to me using the same feeling of love as she had earlier. “I know I don’t really know you, but if you are anything like her? Then I know that you, and your friends, will never stop trying to make things better for everypony, and, just in case I don’t get a chance to again, I wanted to say thank you for that. For not seeing us as who we are, but for the best in what we could be.”

“Thank you for all the help you’ve offered to us despite the risks, and for saving Ping’s life.” I offered the most genuine smile as I did my best to nudge her hoof off of my shoulder. “But I think we’ve taken up enough of your time for now. I know there’s a certain Skycaptain that, right now, is probably waiting by the radio to hear your voice again.”

Bell’s muzzle stretched into a sad smile before nodding to Tofu and turning toward the far hanger doors. Each step of hers carried less and less weight, and in a matter of moments, she was galloping away like an excited schoolfilly.

Turning myself towards the exit and staring at the bright sunlight that streamed in through it, I couldn’t help but keep smiling. It had been a hectic night, and one hell of a stress filled morning. Even so, with a few wins now under my belt, there was still hope yet that this afternoon would turn out to be one worth remembering.

“Alright Hispano, I’m on my way.” Taking a few steps through the doorway to the outside again, my eyes strained against the sunlight only momentarily before it was darkened. I winced as the Remora’s jet wash blasted me as it hovered just in the air ahead of me with Hispano half leaning out of the door.

“You’re too slow, you know that?” Hispano offered through her headset as she waved me over. “Haven’t you learned yet that speed is life in the wasteland?”

“It’s almost as if I’ve got one hoof tied behind my back!” I laughed as I hobbled over to the Remora.

“And that’s why Celestia graced you with a pair of wings.” Hispano deadpanned at me as she held a talon out for me. “Use ‘em for me sometime, will ya’?”

Giving a few hard flaps of my wings, I pulled myself up into the air and reached out for her talon. Unfortunately, the wash from the Remora’s engines was more than I’d anticipated, and it thrust me right up against her. With a grunt, we both came down onto the floor of the Remora as the door mechanism slid it shut behind us.

“You know, I think I’m going to stick with Buck from now on.” Hispano huffed. “He hardly ever finds himself in the middle of something dangerous, and nothing ever as frustrating.”

“Yeah, but you see, out of the two of us?” I offered, looking over across the cold Remora floor at her deadpan. “Who always takes you to fun places to meet new, exotic people that you get to shoot at?”

With a huff and a smirk, she had to finally relent.

“You’ve got me there, Dum dum.” She laughed and rolled herself over onto her back. “You’ve got me there.”

Author's Note

As I always endevor to do, I want to give a MASSIVE thanks to thefurryrailfan, who as always, has helped shape a rough chapter into something a bit more readable! Seriously, I always appreciate the time and effort you put into staying current with the story, and I can't thank you enough for the help.

And of course, a big shout-out to Kkat for creating this wonderful wasteland in the first place!