Daily patrols had been increased as of late with all the new horses unleashed into the midsts of Helovia from the rifts the gods were dragging back. She wasn't sure how she felt about the aliens. They looked like horses, mostly, but they were very strange and their histories were unknown to her but filled with corrupt gods and corrupt lands. She was also on the look out for more rifts to open up, and could do that best int he air. She was torn between wanting to stay and guard the herd, and wanting to go scout all of Helovia, which she knew was impossible.

Then of course there was the diseases to consider. The boils had come, seemingly from the Blood Falls. She'd briefly gotten it during the battle with the Wolf, but it had also been healed. Another disease was around though, she could only assume from the Green Labyrinth. The healers weren't always a direct cure, but she wondered if they had some kind of protocol to keep the disease from needlessly spreading. What were Megaera and Gaucho going to do or say about all this? She was acting as best she could as Gladiator and Chancellor, but the herd was not hers to govern and she needed the government now when times were so tense and unpredictable.

It was amid this array of thinking that Ampere noticed a figure standing on the off border. Great she thought, just what they needed, someone knocking. Tucking her wings Ampere flew down towards the mare, who upon nearing she learned she recognized, but couldn't recall her name. The mare had wings, so at least was respectable enough to wait. She had no obvious signs of illness, but Ampere was still cautious, not yet landing but instead flying above in circles.

"Are you infected?" she asked tersely.

Ampere got a good look at her as she moved around. There were no apparent bloody boils or black goo, but who knew what she could be hiding - maybe she had tail stank or nipple rot? Still, Ampere thought suspiciously as she settled down to land finally, all the infected so far had been obviously sick, and this mare seemed to match her words.

At her own inquiry Ampere snorted, both dismissive and annoyed. What right did Ghost have to question her when this was where she lived? The strange times had set Ampere on edge more than usual, but she managed to remain civil when she spoke, though it lacked it's usual casual charm and playful mischief. There was no sunlight these days for her, just storms as far as the eye could see, and then some.

"I'm well, but a good deal of the realm isn't." Her wings folded tightly against her back, tense like her muscles and her mind. "The gods have been coming back one by one, and with them they've brought new lands, wrestled from a place called The Rift." Brought was perhaps an understatement, more like conquered, except it wasn't the Gods alone rising in victory, but all of them - Helovia. "Nothing comes easy though, so some aliens from the other side come through with them, and a pissed off god that oversaw the land, and apparently, disease too." Ampere titled her head quizzically, assessing Ghost who certainly bore the appearance of an Outcast. This information was of little value to Ampere, so easy to come by there was no point in not sharing, but she wondered in tense times like this what Ghost could give her.

"Time and Moon have both come back now, we suspect the Sun and the Earth will have similar events. Both times we've killed the other gods." Now that was some news. Before now Ampere had never known Gods could die, and now that she did, she was more than eager to shed their heavenly blood, and not just from the corrupted veins of the Rift gods. Dreams of ending the companion enslavement the Earth forced upon Helovia, could it finally be attainable?

"We're too strong to drop dead," Ampere responded proudly, a hint of a smile tugging at a corner of her lips. "It isn't easy though, and with promise fo more fighting, what are you good for?"

"Somehow, but I'm not sure what. In the last fight mine went away, but the newest one only seems to be spreading," Ampere answered honestly. "The healers are hard at work, I suspect we'll know more soon." Though, in truth, the healers seemed just as lost, which was frightening really.

As Ghost went on to share her value, Ampere's ears leaned forward, attentive and interested. She more than likely wasn't going to turn this mare away, but still it was nice to see how someone prized themselves. Though, Ampere was getting a stronger and stronger feeling that she recognized this mare from something before.
"We're all soldiers, we just go by different names," Ampere murmured with a rough grin growing on her face. Life makes survivalists out of all of us. You're only alive because you've been fighting; the moment you stop, you die. "We can always use spies though. I never see our current ones, whether that's because their good at their job or lazy I can't quite determine."

"Aha!" Ampere exclaimed as Ghost shared their past meeting. "I thought you were familiar." Again she proffered a wide smile, the hard edges of her gone away now that no disease or angry god seemed to be on Ghost;s tail. "I appreciated your warning then, and I look forward to what other information you'll have to share in the future. C'mon, uncharted territory awaits us all, whether due to gods or mortals."

Lifting her wings Ampere readied to escort Ghost across and into her new home.
"Welcome, sister."

At Ghost's acceptance, or at least that's what Ampere was taking her questions to be, Ampere turned towards the pillar they stood near. She had and ear and eye cocked back, still attentive to the new spy and the wolf at her side that required the use of this bridge (would a pegasus need a key because their bonded could not cross? Unbelievable...). While Ghost queried Ampere's key drifted out with her magic, slipping against the pillar which in turn caused flaming wings to don on all of them. Effortlessly they would drift across the sea to the desert island.

"There's keys for the bridge," Ampere began by way of explanation. "Given to those who are head of their ranks and accept members, and for those of the herd who cannot physically cross otherwise." Ampere's gaze drifted to the wolf. "You'll report to Essetia. She wrestled the title from Bucephalus the Morningstar, I've no idea how the two have been getting along since. You've also got Amaris, Misael, and Destry among your ranks." Ampere had seen all of them, but knew little of them - she only even really knew their names and rank because of her own.

"Gaucho the Wildfire and Megaera the Sunspear are our sultan and sultana. I'm Ampere, the Mother of Companions, their Chancellor and Gladiator." She smiled, trying to keep the conversation light even if it was heavy with names and titles. "Goals, philosophies... we just want to keep this herd, our family, strong and safe. If everyone does their jobs and supports each other, we've little need of anything else." Ampere had lots of philosophies, but Ghost's question tickled a new string inside Ampere. What exactly did Gaucho and Megaera want? "It's why we have this island now. Gaucho asked it of the Sun God, and together we removed the land bridge that connected it. Now, no one gets in or out without a key, or wings, and even so our patrols always see." Ampere spoke with a touch of pride. She might still not have agreed with exploding themselves into an island, but it had done better than she originally expected, and they were rather safe.

"We're in good terms with the Falls. Last I heard we're having a truce with the Basin, but we'll see what happens. The Edge remains, quiet and solitary." Her tone steadily dropped with each herd she spoke of, particularly the Edge. She was none too fond of their leads, though it was hardly her place to decide.

"You position suits you," Ampere said as an aside, grinning broadly as they neared the end of their flaming trip. She asked a lot of questions, good questions, things most everyone never bothered to know much less think to wonder of.

Ghost hmm, someone Ampere would have to pay attention to.