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// 252 - Crossed Paths 
// Story: Putting on a Silver Robe and Wizard Hat 
// by David Silver 
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Nefertari snorted with obvious irritation. "I'll thank you to not further impede him. He's a working pony."

A smile became visible in the dark, white teeth displayed in a predator's grin. "I will want to know how such a pony ensnared Nefertari. Consider it the first of many payments for what you have come to request."

"In time." She stepped forward and clapped her hands together smartly. The area the older female was hiding in became visible in a rush of light, all the candles in the area stirring to life at Nefer's bidding.

The elder looked very... familiar. Silver squinted at her. "Are you related to Running Paw?" The female had the same pudge. With the light, Silver thought she had the same smile too. With so many jackals being built lean and powerful, how many pudgy ones could there be?

The elder waved the question away, looking at Nefertari directly. "Have you come seeking the chief?"

"Yes," she spoke in a single clear sound, her tongue clicking against her teeth a moment later. "Will he come?"

"Perhaps..." She clacked her claws together. "If he could. You see your own problems, but you are not alone in having them. What you escaped, he did not."

Nefertari scowled without reply. Silver broke the silence, raising a hoof. "He was hurt?"

"As hurt as one can be," sighed out the elder. "We must give him a proper burial." She raised a furry hand to her chest, just over her curves. "I am now acting chieftain, though the rank does not sit well with me." She canted her head to the right faintly, cyan jewelry that dangled from her ear tilting in the other direction with gravity. "You've met her, I assume."

"I have." Nefertari spat out something, what Silver guessed was some foreign curse. "If anyone was to murder that jackal, it was to be me."

"He is, undoubtedly, sorry for inconveniencing you." The elder leaned forward, face straightening. "But what is done has been done. Unless your arts have advanced to defy death, he is beyond your reproach."

Nefertari raised a brow. "He has come all the closer, but we are not here for that... or are we? Perhaps it would be best to speak to him, now. He may have information that could serve the people."

The elder held up a hand, palm displayed. "A year and a day. You are not to call upon the departed until they have settled. You know the rules better than I, Nefertari."

Nefertari's right hand clenched hard enough that a thin line of blood escaped. "Needy times call for needy actions. Will we wait for her to strike again? Will we die, happy that we followed our rules along the way?"

"The way between worlds..." She fixed her eyes on Silver suddenly. "You know this. What is it like, to be pulled from your existence before you are ready?"

Silver tensed at being called upon. "W-what? I don't remember that happ--"

"The marks are clear on your soul. You were manipulated cruelly, pushed and pulled without your leave. Hmmm, I should imagine it left quite the impression."

Silver thought back, but the only time he could even think of was... "That was a dream."

"Call it what you please..." She sat up. "Perhaps your soul wishes to see more than it should. You touched on other worlds, saw what you should not, and left it all unprepared."

Nefertari waved at Silver, a few flecks of blood thrown with the motion. "He has survived this. Are you saying the chief is less than him? Crossed Arms would be furious at the implication, hmmph, weaker than a pony."

The elder was standing. She did not stand up, moving much like Nefertari did at times. "Do not put words in my mouth, Nefertari. He served us well, and will get his year. It is the least we can offer him." She dipped her head slightly. "Now then, you speak to the chief, which is what you desired. What do you want from me?"

Silver took an unsure step forward. "Are you a shaman?"

She raised a brow at him. "In a manner of speaking, this is true. In another, this is false. Nefertari would--"

"No," cut off Nefertari.

"Precisely... I make use of that power, that flows between this world and the next, but I do not call upon the ancestors." She snapped her fingers and Silver's horn began to glow a bright greenish-blue color. "I have no horn, so it does not come from within me. What is it like, unicorn, to hold that magic inside?"

Silver shook his head slowly. "Currently, painful. Today has been a busy day."

"As I have heard." She turned her eyes back to Nefertari. "You survived, a credit to your name. What have you learned?"

Nefertari raised a brow. "I am to be the information? She is fast... powerful. She can grasp the power as you or I do, and tear into it with her claws. She does not fear spirits. They are doing something that... worries me. I felt the stirring of our power, but I did not have much chance to inspect it before she came."

"That matches what little we have discerned." The elder sucked air through her teeth. "Is it true?" She was looking at Silver again. "Have you come to deliver us to a honeyed land of peace and plenty?"

Silver raised a hoof. "Look, first, there is no such place. Everywhere has its issues. Equestria is no exception, it just usually works through them without a war, more often than not by a comfortable margin. People who get mugged are less likely to be left for dead. On the other hand, the monsters that dwell between the cities and towns are quite deadly. People should stop thinking Equestria is some kind of heaven."

The elder shook her head slowly. "What curious phrasing... I would not expect a pony to mention hands so flippantly. Still, you sound honest. I appreciate that. I did not confuse Equestria for a sky, even if they do control the sun and moon."

Nefertari huffed, her eyes on the elder. "You grow used to it. He is home to many strange sayings, not born of the ponies."

"He looks the part." She was beside Silver, running hands across his barrel and rump, exploring him shamelessly. "What is he, if not a pony?"

Silver colored at the proximity and touching. Would moving away or acting up worsen their position? He stood still. "I was something else entirely before I came to this world."

Her eyes widened slightly. "What did I say? Your soul thirsts to see more and more." She patted him just above the tail. "You are a pony now, as much as you can be. I trust you find favor in it?"

Silver nodded quickly. "I've... almost forgotten what it's like to be anything else. So--" His words were cut off with a jump and a squeak.

Nefertari was beside the elder, holding her wrist. "He is mine to do that with, none other."

The elder was a foot back without any movement seen. "That is a lie, honored Nefertari. We know you share him. Regardless. You are here, as is he. It is time we fought."

Silver turned to face her properly. "What? Why? We're on the same side, I hope?"

The elder brought her claws together, meeting at the tips. "Oh no, not each other. We have a much more obvious enemy. We either fight, or we flee."

Silver took a step towards her. "That sounds right, but what is your name? You know me, right?"

"Prince Silver Watch," she answered calmly. "You prefer just 'Silver'. You prefer there to be less distance between yourself and would-be allies." She smiled as gently as one of her kind could, her tail wagging slowly. "Fine traits in a diplomat. Part of me is curious if you could reach her with your words and put this to rest in your own way..."

Nefertari rolled a hand. "She offered to let him try, but made clear the penalty for failure."

"And yet... I burn with my curiosity, wondering how well he would do." She extended one arm, claws on display. "I am only Chieftain, until I earn a proper title, or I surrender it to another."

Silver raised a hoof to her paw, placing it in her deadly grip. "Nice to meet you then. Are you sure you're not related to Running Paw?" He thought she even sounded a bit similar.

Chieftain looked to Nefertari even as she shook Silver's hoof. "How do you put up with him?" she asked in a joking tone. "We must make a decision. We move with strength and unity, or not at all. Do we wage war, flee, or attempt to broker peace?"

They spoke at once. "Peace." "War." Nefertari and Silver glanced aside at one another, a frown shared between them.

Chieftain looked amused, releasing Silver's hoof. "You two are united."

"Do not mock me!"

"I do not." She gestured between the two of them. "You agree that this is not a matter that can be fled from." She rolled her shoulders as if working out a kink. "A shame, that. I might have accepted a retreat, if a safe place was being offered. We stay, we fight. It is only a matter of what we fight for. That is more flexible than most give credit."

Silver looked back towards the entrance they had come from, and saw the path was blocked by many quiet jackals, watching, staring. "Oh, um... Hello?" They did not reply.

Chieftain lifted her shoulders. "This concerns them as much as I, and they do not yet trust me entirely, as they should not. I am untested, and this is a test most dire. I will rise to it, or we will all suffer for it." She wriggled a few fingers at Nefertari. "The comfort that one so known joining us brings would be a relief, if she was not just beaten by the same force we fear."

Nefertari's teeth clenched with poorly-restrained fury. "Surprise is not the same as strength. We will smash her and hers as we have so many others." Noises of agreement rose from the watching crowd.

Silver shook his head. "We should try talking first. We can be ready to fight, but it should not be the only answer. Maybe we can reach her, talk her down."

Nefertari pawed Silver's prominent equine cheek gently. "You are too adorable, my husband. I know you will begrudge me forever if you are not given at least a chance to speak." She flicked one of his ears, getting an annoyed snort out of him. "We prepare for war, hope for peace, and enter battle when that fails."

"Y-yes, that. That sounds right." Silver turned to regard the crowd of eyes. They looked at him with anger, hope, and fear in varying amounts. "I will do my best, to talk her down, or fight alongside you, should that fail." He hoped none of them would test his resolve at that moment. His head still thumped with fatigue and pain from the day's efforts. "For now... where can we rest?"

Nefertari gestured at him. "I will see him to the quarters." She grabbed him behind the withers and began leading him away without waiting for leave.

Though Silver wondered at that, he decided going along with her was the best course of action. He didn't know the social mores of the jackals.

As they left, the Chieftain waved at them. "We will speak more after your husband is rested," she bid farewell. The other jackals moved towards her, sharing quiet words. There was no doubt that they would be a topic of theirs for a little while.

At least, for the moment, they had a relatively safe place to lie down. Silver sank onto a cot and closed his eyes, ready for sleep to claim him, at least until he felt a weight settle against him. Nefertari was half on him. "Mmm?" She wasn't usually so passively cuddly, and he felt certain they weren't trying for heirs.

"You are mine. I need keep that clear."

Silver yawned softly, meeting her statement by fading off to sleep and hoping the pains would fade by the time he awoke.