//------------------------------//
// Chapter 15: Point Of No Return 
// Story: The Unity Pact 
// by Truthseeker 
//------------------------------//

Night had fallen over the newly inhabited town. The Humans were in the middle of celebrating. People were busy making plans for what they wanted to do in their new home. They spoke of how houses would be built, what kinds of new foods they could make, a few couples even discussed the possibility of marriage. In their hearts, the people knew that it was far too early to hope for any possible solidified future yet, but for the night they could pretend and forget. To them what they needed most was to forget. They had been terrified, hungry, smelly, dirty, and all around miserable for more than forty days. They needed time to forget, even if it was only for a night.

A six foot tall bonfire burned brightly in what had been dubbed the Town Square. Set all around the bonfire were smaller fires which sported no less than forty, twenty-gallon cast iron cauldrons. Each cauldron had been filled with what water had been left in everyone's spare canteens. The people had enough wilds experience to never drain both canteens ever again unless a source of fresh water was close by. The spare water had been enough to allow the carrots, potatoes, celery, and fish to be plopped in for a nice thick stew.

People milled about in the cobblestone streets talking, passing around news and gossip and just all around having a good time. Word had spread about the coming feast and everyone wore their bags with their mess kits in the front pouch. They were used to being hungry after so much time in the wild and the thought of having a full belly for the first time after so long made them more than eager. Eighty people, hand-picked by Jason, stood by the series of cauldrons stirring and preparing to serve everyone else.

Apparently the natives had neglected to pack large spoons in the crates so everyone had to stir with swords and taste test with ladles. The group had the mess kits from the bags so basic silverware, cups, and bowls weren't an issue, thankfully.

Jason casually reached into the front bag hanging over his shoulders and dropped a handful of purple flowers into the cauldrons then stirred and sniffed the aroma with a satisfied look on his face. Alex Ludwig watched him curiously while stirring another cauldron, 'He sure was excited to find those . . . What did he call them again? Oh yeah, passionflowers. I've heard of them before and how people make teas with them.' Alex shrugged, 'Meh, he's the cook here. If he thinks it'll make the stew taste better then more power to him. I wish we had some salt though. The garlic he found earlier was great, but I REALLY want something salty for some reason.'

"Hey Jason." he addressed.

"What's up Alex?" the herbalist responded.

"What kind of flavor are those flowers going to add to the stew?" Alex asked.

Jason smiled a real smile for the first time in weeks, "It's kind of bitter and kind of sweet at the same time and there's another flavor I can't quite identify." he reached into his bag and withdrew two more, offering one to Alex, "Here, try one with me. See if you can figure out the flavor?"

Alex accepted the flower with his left hand while he kept stirring the cauldron with his right, "Sure is pretty." he sniffed it, shrugged, then popped the whole thing in his mouth and chewed.

Jason was chewing too, "See it's good." he said slurping some drool leaking from the corner of his mouth, "Like I said, it's both bitter and sweet at the same time. Can you taste that other flavor in the background?"

Alex could, it was hard to define, "Yeah, I do. It's good, really good but I can't really describe it." he swirled his tongue around his mouth several times, trying to collect more flavor then swallowed, "It's got a bit of a sweet aftertaste to it too."

Jason swallowed his mouthful and continued stirring, "Yeah it does. Now it has a bit of a relaxing effect to it but considering how little of it each person is going to get, it's not likely to be anything drastic." he shrugged, "It's probably a good thing considering how much stress everyone has been under recently. It'll help everyone sleep well tonight so we can be well-rested in the morning."

Alex was a little leery, but Jason was right, besides they both ate a whole flower, "As long as people don't end up comatose or anything, I don't see a problem with it. No offense, but I think you probably need it the most. You've been completely out of sorts for about a month."

Jason nodded, "Yeah I guess I have been a bit cranky."

Alex chuckled, "Cranky? You've been downright scary, but hey if you're trying to do better, we'll all support you. You've been a huge help and we probably would have been in quite a bit of trouble if not for your expertise. If we've seemed upset at you recently it's because we care about you."

Jason smiled sadly, "I know. Don't worry, everything should be better tomorrow. There's no substitute for a good night's sleep."

Alex clanked his sword against the cauldron, "Amen to that. Looks like the stew should be about done. What do you think?"

Jason slipped his sword out of the cauldron and picked up a spoon lying on a cloth next to him. He dipped the ladle into the stew and withdrew a small amount. He brought it up to his lips and blew on it several times. He gingerly sipped the stew and smacked his lips appreciatively.

"Oh yeah, everyone's going to love it." he turned to Alex and performed a flourishing bow, "Would you like to do the honors?"

Alex smiled and cupped his hands over his mouth, "FOOD'S DONE! COME AND GET IT!"

The onslaught was instantaneous. People tried not to push and shove but the thought of something that was hot and cooked was nearly too much. Alex and Jason had their hands full ladling out stew as fast as they could. Once someone had a full bowl they walked away, sat down, and ate with gusto, leaving others to be served.

The line of people took a long time to satisfy. Most went back for seconds, many for thirds, and some even for fourths. The Fellowship Of Leadership waited patiently in the background. They all agreed not to eat until everyone else was finished. The end result was one and a half cauldrons worth of stew left for the eighty servers and the Leadership. The fires under the cauldrons was nothing more than embers by the time the servers and Leadership ate. The stew was still hot though so the servers surrounded the last full cauldron while the Fellowship dug into the one that was half full.

Everyone was so busy with eating the fantastic stew, no one noticed the smile that passed between Jason and the eighty servers. The young man calmly walked into the big building and headed up to the roof. The Fellowship had determined the roof was to be the place they held their daily meetings. Tina, Rachel, and David had been fully voted into the fold and were welcomed with open arms. Everyone sat in a circle and chatted earnestly about the future while they ate. They had taken their bags off and set them aside.

Mike Joyner raised his voice, "Alright everyone settle down. We've got plenty to discuss. First of all, everyone did a fantastic job today so give each other a hand."

There was a smattering of applause and Mike continued, "First off, dissemination of information. What happened today, anything and everything is important."

"I'll go first." Chris volunteered, "First off, all seventeen buildings are solid. We can start using them any time we want. I had my guys clean them up a bit while we checked for structural integrity. Of special note, when I came up here earlier today, I saw a bunch of the natives."

Jason's head snapped up from his bowl, "What?"

"It wasn't a big deal, so don't go getting all crazy on us again." Chris said dismissively, "Now one of them landed on the roof with me. He was one of the armored ones, but he didn't have any visible weapons. He was a Pegasus type and he startled me at first but he didn't make any move to attack me or block me from leaving. He motioned for me to look up so naturally I followed his eyes. He must have had a good two thousand others up in the clouds. Honestly it kind of looked like they were standing ON the clouds. At the time I thought they were showing themselves to try to be intimidating, but now that I've had time to think about it, I'm pretty sure they were just showing themselves to let us know they were there." Chris held up his hands and shrugged, "In either case, they didn't do anything to me and they just let me walk right off the roof."

Mike Spearman raised his hand next, "R.J. and I had an experience like that when we were chopping firewood. A bunch of the ones that don't have a horn or wings just appeared and watched us. They were wearing the same golden colored armor the rest of them have but they didn't stop us or anything. R.J. went to take a leak about halfway through the day and just walked right past them. They didn't move a muscle and they didn't stop us from doing anything." he pointed to Chris, "I think you're right. I think they're just showing themselves so we know they're there. It's more like non-spoken honesty than intimidation."

R.J. added his two cents, "Mike got it right. They was scarry an' erething at first, but after a while," he shrugged, "You just don't notice 'em. They wasn't hurtin' nobody or nothin'. I think they was being so close an' open so we could get used to seein' 'em without flippin' out like my man Jason over here."

Jason scowled, "It's called . . . "

"Alright that's enough." Joyner said evenly, "We're not here to pick on Jason. He's been one hell of a help and he's probably saved every one of us several times over. Show him some appreciation." Mike turned to Jason, "Now I'm not picking on you but I'm going to be direct. You really need to cool it with all the hate talk. The natives have extended us an olive branch here and we can't waste it. So I need you to be calm and collected when we see them otherwise I'm going to have to take a vote that might end up removing you from the Fellowship Of Leadership. I don't want to do that and I'm not trying to embarrass you, but we all have to work together. That doesn't just mean Humans either. We need the natives but they don't need us. They've been helping us out of the goodness of their hearts and we cannot afford to waste it. Understood?"

Jason scowled but nodded stiffly, "Yeah, I got it."

Joyner smiled, "Alright, any other news?"

Morris held up his hand, "Yes, when Darryl and I were moving the crates we discovered a trap door downstairs on the first floor. I managed to open it but we couldn't see what was inside. I'd like to head down there and see what's there. If it's cool enough, we might be able to use it as a root cellar to preserve food. If nothing else we can use it as a storage space."

Darryl raised his hand, "Eduardo and I set up patrol routes and a patrol roster today. He brought up the idea of a type of loud alarm system, like a bell or something and we were wondering if maybe we could use a spare cauldron for one."

Alex Ludwig shook his head, "You could but it would be high maintenance. See the cauldrons are cast iron and they need to be cleaned and oiled frequently to make sure they don't rust."

Jason spoke up, "Speaking of cleaning cauldrons, I need to head back down and supervise the servers when they clean the cauldrons, so can we speed this along? I don't want anyone ingesting rust by accident."

Mike Joyner nodded, "O.K. we need to figure out what the plan is for tomorrow. We can't afford to slack off. We've been generously given provisions and a place to stay so let's not squander it. Tomorrow we need to get started on settling in properly so, at this time I'd like to open the floor to any and all ideas. This is supposed to be a brainstorm. What that means is that no idea, no matter how crazy or strange, is written down as a possibility. Morris would you be willing to act as our scribe?"

"Sure thing." Morris reached into his bag and removed several sheets of thick paper and what looked almost exactly like a Number 2 pencil, "I don't know how or why, but the natives packed us a bunch of pencils that look just like what we have at home. Go ahead Mike."

"First thing we need is fresh water." Kolo Calvin said, "We ain't got any that I saw an' that's gonna be a big problem real quick. Another thing, I figure the natives gotta take a crap just like we do so they musta had a way to deal. I say me an' my crew get goin' on clearin' off a couple o' them foundations an' look for any hints as to how the natives did it. The same goes for the fresh water too. I figure we can prolly build off it an' use it ourselves. It wouldn't make no sense to just stick us out here with all these crates only for us to dehydrate. There's water here, we just gotta find it."

Mike Joyner nodded in the affirmative, "Good point. You want the job of Public Utilities?"

Kolo shrugged, "Ain't no problem to me but I need someone with technical skills. I can handle simple stuff but the more complex stuff I'll want some help on."

"I can do it." Tina volunteered, "I was studying to be a mechanical engineer for N.A.S.A. I'm sure a little water system won't be a problem. You're the muscle and I'm the brain." she winked at Calvin.

"Hey, my man Kolo ain't no dunce." R.J. spoke up.

"I never said he was." Tina defended, "But we each have our strengths. Mine is mechanics but I can't hardly lift anything, especially since I'm pregnant. Don't worry, I'm not about to start treating anyone poorly, no matter how strong they are."

"Aiit then, my turn." R.J. said, "We done used up almost half the firewood that me, Mike, an' our crews chopped up today. We gotta ease up on that stuff or else we gonna be chopin' down trees before the week's out. I don't know how the natives feel about us chopin' they trees down, but we are gonna need to do some lumberjackin' here soon if we gonna have the materials to start buildin' our own structures. We got enough man-power for it between Mike's group an' mine's, but we ain't so sure how to ask the natives if it's aiit. I had the idea to make chopin' motions at a standin' tree then askin' 'em with a thumbs up, but Mike done pointed out that they ain't got no thumbs an' prolly don't know what it means anyway. Mike thought o' makin' the motions then smilin' at 'em, but they might not know what that means either."

"They do." David said, "When Rachel, Tina, and I had our encounter with them, the tan Unicorn smiled at us, so the smiling idea should work. If nothing else just make the motions then stop and look for a reaction. No negative reaction is just as good as permission."

"We need to get going on cleaning up the rows of crops as soon as possible. The weeds and wild-growing plants will strangle the growth of the plants we want. Food should be our single biggest priority. It takes a lot of farm land to feed even a single person. The fish we catch will help to supplement our diet and slightly lessen the strain on our fields but it's going to be a lean winter, I can already tell. We need to start stocking up as soon as we can. Put all the non-perishable food we can into storage somewhere and only use fresh food to eat every day." Alex had a good point, no one argued.

"Along those lines," Jason added, "We should probably save a few of the useful, fruiting plants and start experimenting with the shiny gold vomit we saved in the canteens."

"And that brings up the next concern," Bobby Jewel spoke up suddenly, "The first time we threw up it was seven days since we arrived. The second time was eleven days after that and we only got queasy the third time. The thing is the third time was fifteen days after the second time. We didn't throw up then and we haven't since. I'm pretty sure that our bodies have adapted to whatever it was that was making us sick."

"Yeah an' did you notice, Tina, David, an' Rachel didn't get sick the second time, then the third time it was Chris, Alex, Tina, Rachel, and David who didn't feel bad. Anyone notice a pattern here?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Cessily said, "They all ate some o' them rolls the tan Unicorn gave 'em." she looked at Chris with a smirk, "Chris done loved them rolls." she pointed to him playfully, "This asshole ate three of 'em an' didn't share none."

"Hey," Chris defended, "Those things were good. Anyway, I think we should also get going on something we've been putting off ever since we raided that camp." he reached into his bag, withdrew the wooden box of multicolored crystals, and set the box down in front of him, "I got these from Mike to lighten his load and I've been toying around with them a bit in my spare time." he opened the box and pulled out two five inch long, teardrop shaped, yellow crystals then tossed one to Mike Joyner, "This is gonna sound crazy but try talking into it like you would a radio."

Mike arched an eyebrow at Chris then held up his hand and spoke into the crystal,
"Hello?"

"Hello?" the crystal in Chris' hand spoke with Mike's voice.

The Fellowship Of Leadership was utterly silent from shock, all except Chris who was giggling like a child, "YES! You guys should see your faces." he reached back into the box and pulled out a red crystal and a green crystal, "Now I'm not certain how it does this but it seems to be that if you touch the narrow end of the tips of each crystal together they turn the same color, and you can use them like radios. I haven't had time to work out anything more than that but these things could be seriously useful." he grew somber and let out a sigh, "Honestly these crystals might be the whole reason we were attacked." he held up a purple crystal, "I've heard the natives talking back and forth on this one. The volume seems to be linked with distance but I'd guess the range is well more than ten miles and the signal is, heh, CRYSTAL CLEAR." he set the crystal back in the box and folded his hands, "We know that not every one of their military have these, otherwise we probably wouldn't have been attacked at all. My guess is that only really important ones have them, or maybe they have specific designations for their soldiers to use them." he shrugged, "I don't know, but the way I figure, these crystals are probably worth a lot to the natives. If we end up getting into a bad situation with them we might be able to use the crystals as a bargaining chip. Just a thought." he opened his hands in front of his face, "Can I have it back or did you want to use them. We don't have enough for everyone."

Mike looked at the crystal in his hand and chewed his lip, "Let's use them. These things could be really handy. We normally divide up into groups of us so the Fellowship in the groups can have one per different assignment. Like one for our lumberjacks, one for our medical team, one for the patrol leaders, one for the scouts, one for the field workers, one for the fish harvesters, one for our public utilities crew, and one for provisions." he looked around the group, "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Bobby said, "I need a set staff to help work the medical station. I figure with Cessily, Leo, and I we can handle most small things but we need at least a few people working with every group who know basic first aid. I figure I hold a class with twenty people who can act as field respondents then fill us in if it gets serious."

Mike nodded, "Sounds like a plan. Eduardo, Darryl, I want you two to help Morris with keeping our inventory in top shape. We have very finite supplies and we can't afford to let them get damaged. Morris, select a crew of ten other people to help you with inventory and send the rest to work in the fields. Eduardo, Darryl, you two do the same. Alex and Jason, I want the two of you to begin teaching people how to take care of our crops. You already know how vital they are. Rachel, I want you to get a group together and find out who, if anyone, among the pregnant women know how to sew clothes. The natives gave us a boatload of fabrics, needles, and thread. We need sturdy clothes for everyone. It's light work that pregnant women can do and you can monitor their condition since you have medical training. Masonete and Kaneesha, I want you two to finalize those maps and make a copy for each of the Fellowship. After you're done with that, I want you two to scout around the surrounding countryside and see what other resources we have available to us that we might not know about. Mike and R.J. I need you two to keep chopping more and more wood. Start stockpiling it in one of the empty stone buildings to keep it dry. R.J. do you know anything about woodworking or house building?"

"I know a little, but it ain't enough for me to make straight, flat two-by-fours or nothin'. I could make you a kick-ass log cabin, but as for the finer details," he shrugged, "You got me."

"I appreciate your honesty. Does anyone know about wood working and house building?" Mike asked.

"Chris and I do." Darryl said, "We both worked construction before."

"Alright then, once R.J. and Mike start bringing down whole trees, I need you two to set up a type of mill to refine the lumber as best you can. Unfortunately, our list of tools doesn't include the kinds of things you need so . . . "

Morris raised his hand, "Build me a forge and I can melt down and reshape the metal from our swords and weapons. Calvin's hammer would make a good forge malus."

"No." Jason said, "We need our swords. When we work in the fields we need light-weight weapons that we can hang on our waists."

"I can make you guys a bunch of light-weight trowels and things. You can use those as weapons if I make them right." Morris offered.

"Morris is right." Masonete said suddenly, "We don't need the swords, they use too much metal. Spears are just fine and a sharpened trowel is just as good as a wide-bladed dagger."

"Yeah but those who melt down their weapons to make plows, will plow for those who didn't. Thomas Jefferson." David said, "I think we can make do just fine with the spears but we absolutely cannot take the chance of disarming ourselves completely. I don't feel right about that idea. Spears are great and versatile weapons let Mike Spearman train our patrols and I'll take over lumber-jacking for him."

Joyner looked to Spearman, "Is that alright with you Mike?"

The muscular man smiled, "Oh yeah, I like the sound of that."

"Anything else?" Joyner asked.

There was no response so he stood up, "Alright then, everyone knows what they need to do tomorrow so let's get to sleep and start building tomorrow."

*          *          *

Jason walked out of the big building and headed off toward the South-flowing river. He had instructed his servers to haul the heavy cauldrons there for washing. As he looked around the Town Square he could see they had followed his instructions. He sighed and shook his head, 'They're all fools.' he thought sadly, 'Those damned natives gave us the crates, yes, but now they think they can push around because we 'owe' them. We need to make them fear us enough to leave us alone. I know why they were watching R.J. and Mike. They're there to keep us in line. I don't have to be a language major to understand that. They're showing us that they control everything we do and everyone else is too ignorant to see it.' a sly smile played across his face, 'Well . . . almost everyone.'

A few minutes later Jason arrived at the river. He could see his eighty servers working hard, washing out the cauldrons and he immediately moved to join them.

He sat down on the river bank and began untying his foot-wraps, "I have news." he said to the people.

One young African-American man with a lean, athletic build straightened up and addressed Jason, "Like what?"

Jason pulled off the wrap for his left foot and set it down on the bank, "A bunch of the natives showed themselves to Vacca today. He said he was on the roof of the big building when it happened." he pulled off the wrap of his right foot and set it next to the others, "One of the armored ones with wings landed up there with him then showed him two thousand more that were in the clouds."

The young black man snorted derisively, "Where the fuck are we, prison? They our corrections officers or some shit?"

Jason waded into the river and bent over to begin washing out a cauldron, "Oh it gets better than that. A bunch of them were watching Brinsin and Spearman today. Apparently they watched all day long."

The young man threw his wash rag into a cauldron, "What the fuck!?" he punched the iron wall of the cauldron with a clang, "Man, I'm about ready to just kill the next one O' them motha fuckas I see! I don't give a shit what fuckin' Joyner or anyone else says!"

Jason smiled in the darkness, "How about a chance to do exactly that?"

Every 'server' stopped washing and listened, "All of you lost someone in that massacre." he pointed to the young black man, "Ron'del, your girlfriend died that night." he pointed to a young Caucasian man, "Eddie, your boyfriend died." his hand switched to one of the nine women with the 'servers', "Ashley," he said sadly, "Your sister was pregnant, wasn't she."

The blond young woman turned her face toward Jason with a scowl that bordered on rage, "You know full, fucking well I did! I lost my sister, my twin sister AND my nephew!" she took a breath and shot Jason a glare, "What do you mean by 'a chance'? What kind of . . . chance?"

Jason looked all around him with a secret smile. The so-called 'servers' had been hand-picked not for their skills at culinary arts, but because each of them harbored a deep, seething resentment of the equinoid natives. He had found them, one-by-one, and slowly pieced together his little band. He kept their hatred under control by using his access to information. For the past month and more, he had been promising them their chance to strike back at the equinoids. When he had discovered the passion flowers, he had instructed his group to pick as many as they could then slip them into the cauldrons of stew when no one was paying attention. They had no idea why he said it, but they were his and they obeyed.

Jason picked up a rag, bent over and began cleaning one of the cauldrons, "Those flowers you slipped into the stew have a sedative effect. Everyone will be out like lights in no time. There's a native village not too far to the West. We snuck past the natives the first time and we can do so again. We leave the field from the North and circle around and head West. I can get us there in no time. Once we're there, we take a good look around before we do anything. If the coast is clear we give them some well-deserved payback then skedaddle. We'll be back here before anyone knows we were gone. We get our payback and no one's the wiser." he straightened up and cracked his back, "The natives shouldn't have any trouble figuring out who did it. Once they see that fucking with us brings them heartache, they'll back off and leave us be."

"What if they don't?" Ron'del asked, "What if they come here and wipe us the fuck out? They got the numbers for it, easy."

"So what if they do?" Jason said evenly, "I'd rather die a free man than live under some alien animal's foot." he hauled the cauldron onto the bank and picked up one of the oil flasks the 'servers' had brought, "We're Americans, but more importantly, we're Human beings. Humans don't enslave very well. We don't cower in fear, we storm the beach. We don't shrink away crying like pussies, we wipe off our bloody noses and put up our dukes. They murdered sixty three of us, so we return the favor." he tipped the cleaned and oiled cauldron upright, "Soon they will respect us as an equal species. Soon they'll know that picking on us means we pick back. Soon they will know our wrath, and suffer like we have suffered." he turned and gazed at his 'servers', "Tonight we taste revenge."

"So," a voice called out of the darkness, "Yall wanna be murderers like me?" Mario LeBlanch walked out of the shadows, he stopped twenty feet from Jason and leaned casually on a staff, "Cause that's the way you're headed right now."

Jason turned toward the outcast, "You could join us, you know."

Mario shook his head and chuckled, "Nope." he said, "I already made my mistake an' I ain't gonna make it worse. Yall cats need to cool your jets a bit. Hard feelin's is one thing, murderin' a bunch o' innocent civilians for revenge is another. Yall are gonna make a bad situation worse. Them innocents never did nothin' to yall. Are yall willin' to make others suffer a worse fate than you did? We weren't totally innocent. We stole they shit. These civies didn't never even lay eyes on yall, hell they prolly don't even fuckin' know we're here. You gonna stir up a motha fuckin' hornet's nest with this shit. They fried our asses like bacon with just fifty o' they Unicorns, whadda you think gonna happen with six fuckin' thousand of 'em commin' down on us?" he pointed at Jason, "You was talkin about them treatin' us like slaves." he opened his arms and looked around, "Where's the fuckin' whips? Where's the collars? Where's the brandins an' beatins? We ain't slaves man!" 

He pointed at the 'servers',  "They givin' us our fuckin' space an' yall are about to spit in they faces after they gave us a whole shit ton o' useful shit?" he walked up to Ron'del and poked him in the chest with a finger, "You sufferin' because one o' them killed your girl right? Well how do you think ome o' them will feel when yall massacre fuckin' families?" he turned away from Ron'del and pointed his finger at Ashley, "You lost a sister?" he took a step toward her and couldn't see Ron'del scoop up several handfuls of dirt from the riverbank, "Yall gonna murder they kids an' make they families suffer worse?" Ron'del plopped the dirt into a drying rag and tied the end, "Where do it stop? I don't want yall to make the same mistake I did . . . "

Ron'del brought the impromptu blackjack down on Mario's head as hard as he could, the outcast dropped to the riverbank like a stone, "Shut the fuck up!" Ron'del said to the unconscious Mario, "We know what we doin'."

Jason nodded, "We should get going. He might wake up soon."

"What do we do with him?" Ashley asked.

"Leave him." Jason said, "We don't kill Humans."

Even though no one dared to say it, Mario's words had hit home with many of them.

*          *          *

The patrols of Earth Ponies and Unicorns were as frequent as Bold Move, Steady Plod, Swift Wind, and Peach Pit could manage, but even so, Jason led his crew through the gaps in the patrol route easily.

He had planned fairly extensively. He had memorized the direction of the little village in relation to the field every time Joyner let him look at the map. He already knew what weapons he and his crew would take: swords only. Spears and shields would slow them down and make way too much noise if they struck a rock. He'd taken some time every night to gaze up at the stars overhead, trying to determine which ones were in set locations in the sky and his determination has paid off. It wasn't the North-star but it did point East reliably enough that he could navigate by it without needing the sun.

The trip took well over an hour, by Jason's estimation, but they finally came into sight of the village. Jason had his crew hunker down in the treeline and watch the houses for a good twenty minutes, just to be sure there were no patrols. The pause gave everyone ample time to finally get a good look at what the natives had to work with.

The village was a clearing of flat land with enormous fields of crops to the North and South. It was like the forest just gave up and said, 'I'm done.' The treeline was a straight line as far as Jason could see both North and South. The far side of the village was partially obscured by the buildings but it looked like the flat clearing went on for miles. The distance between the treeline and the closest house was well over a hundred feet, all taken up by a huge playground. The houses were short but very wide and seemed to hold a great many bedrooms, if the number of windows were any indication. Every house had two chimneys, one on either end of the houses. There looked to be over a hundred buildings and the Humans had no basis for telling businesses apart from homes. The roads were made of cobblestone but the village looked to be set up on more of a grid pattern than the wheel-like pattern the Humans had seen before.

The buildings were generally made of stone, just like the buildings in the field. The noticeable difference was that the buildings in the little village were painted in bright colors. Their roofs were slanted and layered with shingles that dimly reflected the light of the waning moon. Most of the houses had dim lights on inside but none of the Humans had yet spotted a single silhouette passing any of the windows. The houses looked just like any other normal home. There were small toys laying on front and back lawns.

Jason turned to the others and forced down the doubts rolling around in his mind, "Alright, it looks fairly clear, but there may be a problem I overlooked. If the doors are locked, we're out of luck. Breaking a window would make way too much noise and none of us have the skills much less the tools to pick a lock." he looked around at the people who had followed him and saw sparks of doubt written across every face, "Let me go first. I'll take care of the first house. If they don't raise the alarm, I'll come back and get you."

The others nodded silently and Jason turned and stepped out of the treeline. He crouched down and moved slowly, keeping his eyes peeled for any sign of movement as he crept toward the closest house.

His mind spun in circles as he made his way across the playground, going from cover to cover, 'Why did I let Mario of all people get to me like that? He's a murderer.' one part of Jason's mind grumbled irritably.

Another part chose that moment to intervene, 'Because it really means something when a cold-blooded murderer says you're going too far.'

The first part of his mind took exception to the rebuttal,  'So what! They murdered a bunch of us!'

The other half of Jason's mind snapped back,  'It doesn't matter! Nothing, nothing gives you the right to murder!'

The first part was not to be denied, 'It's not murder if they aren't Human.'

The second half responded with venom, 'So what, just because they look different means they are inferior? That was a weak excuse for the K.K.K. and it's just as weak for you and you know it.'

The first part responded quickly, 'Shut up! We're here.'

Jason crept the last couple of feet to the rear door of the house. The door was made of wood and even featured a level handle. Jason slowly pressed down on the lever, almost hoping it was locked so he could have an excuse to go back and think about his choice some more. As fate would have it, the handle clicked and the door swung open silently.

Jason froze and strained his ears, listening for any sounds of clopping hooves as he looked around the dimly lit room before him. The room was spacious, probably a good twenty feet by twenty feet square. There was a single low table set in the middle of the room with large, multicolored, fluffy looking cushions set all around. There looked to be close onto a dozen cushions. Spread all around the room were small toys and other objects meant for little ones. An easel stood in one corner of the room with paints of different colors sitting on the lip of it. Five small paint brushes rested in a clear glass jar of water on the floor next to it.

The table in the middle of the room was covered in child like drawings done in, what looked like, crayon. The drawings were of crudely drawn houses and brightly colored, four legged, creatures that were very likely meant to represent the equinoids. Small dolls littered the floor as did several balls of different colors and sizes. Also laid out on the table was a set of building blocks that looked to be made of painted wood.

The house was home to a family and no mistake, 'See how much even their children have compared to the paltry stuff that was in those crates!' the angry side of Jason's mind raved.

The more calm side responded quietly, 'You can be as angry as you want, but even you can't deny that the children here are obviously loved. Come on Jason, what are you doing?'

Jason shook his head and put his focus back onto his task. He had listened for quite long enough. There was nothing stirring in the house. He slowly and carefully navigated the veritable minefield of the room and moved into the room beyond. It was a kitchen. Jason couldn't help but stare at the modern style conveniences the family apparently had. A brown refrigerator sat to his left. It was short but wide and Jason was sorely tempted to open it just to see what was inside.

He wrenched his eyes away from the tempting fridge and looked at the counter tops to his right, which were eye level with him, since he was in a crouch. A cutting board sat upright, resting against the wall behind it. Close by the cutting board were a set of brown earthenware jars with round topped lids on them. They were different sizes and he figured, likely contained different things. A hand crank style mixer also sat on the counter. Just to the left of that was a sink with an easily recognizable faucet. On the far side of the faucet was two more feet of counter then came the stove. The stove looked fairly new but it also had the layout of a wood burning stove.

The bitter and petty side of Jason's mind couldn't help itself, 'What a comfortable place. Very nice. THEY LIVE LIKE FUCKING KINGS COMPARED TO WHAT YOU HAVE!'

The other side shook its metaphorical head sadly, 'I just don't have the words describe how petty that argument is.'

Jason crept through the kitchen and into the hallway beyond. He looked left and right, the hallway ran from one end of the house to the other with open doorways down each direction. On either side of the hallway, Jason could see the fireplaces were not lit, yet the home was almost perfectly comfortable and warm.

The apparent setup of the home was strange to Jason's senses. The front door seemed to lead to a type of 'proper' style sitting area and beyond that was the hallway then the kitchen and finally the den area he had seen on the way in. He looked left and right trying to figure out the logic of the setup. The fireplaces were setup inside of what were obviously spacious bedrooms at either side of the home. Jason shook his head and simply decided, 'First come, first served.'

Jason debated whether to head left or right, there were an almost equal number of doors either way. On a whim he decided to go left. He could feel a thrill of excitement coursing through his body as he contemplated the kills to come. He had felt it every time he thought about the massacre. It was a terrible thrill that made his hands tremble and his breath quicken. It frightened him of course. He knew no one should ever get any sort of thrill out of the thought of killing, but the feeling was addictive.

More than even being addictive it drowned out the terror, anger, and agony that constantly plagued his heart and thoughts. He had to embrace that thrill so he didn't see his sister's dead body every time he blinked. Just the thought made him feel sick. He felt dizzy and his vision blurred almost instantly from tears un-shed for a month. He shook his head violently, flinging tears from side to side. He gritted his teeth and imagined the slaughter to come. His stomach settled and his vision cleared almost instantly as that same old thrill overtook his mind.

'I'll make them pay.' he thought with a bitter, malicious, sort of joy, 'They deserve it.' he ground his teeth together as thoughts of rage ran in a torrent through his head, 'They deserve it. They deserve it. They deserve it! They DESERVE it! THEY DESERVE IT!' he repeated the mantra over and over in his mind. The thrill of the coming kill made him nearly drool with anticipation.

His mind was completely immersed in utter confusion. One half stoked his anger and wrath while the other protested that what he planned to do was wrong, so wrong. He did his best to ignore the second voice and relished in his thoughts.

Jason crept down the left hallway with thoughts of blood and death swirling around his mind. He imagined the feeling of the weight of the sword in motion, the resistance as it bit into flesh, the spray of blood and the looks of agony on his victim's faces as the bled to death with his enraged face being the lest thing they ever saw.

The closest door was a door on the right side of the hallway. It was wide open so Jason silently crept around the corner. The room was dimly lit with some sort of nightlight type device resting on a tiny table beside the single bed.

The room was fairly small, maybe ten feet by ten feet. The one bed was situated so the head of the bed was against the wall opposite the door. The head of the bed lay directly underneath a large, glass window, through which pleasant moonlight filtered. The bed was very short though, maybe three inches off the ground and only another foot after that of mattress. Jason could see a figure in the bed, he didn't much care what it was, he planned for everything in the whole house to die.

He snuck over to the right side of the bed, sword in hand, and slowly rose to his full height. His breathing quickened as the thrill intensified as he gripped the sword in both hands and raised it above his head for an overhead chop. His first victim lay in front of him on the bed, snuggled under the covers and facing away toward the mirror . . . 'Mirror?'

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness and the combined illumination from the nightlight thing and the moonlight gave him all the light he needed to see his victim's face. It was one of the natives sure enough. Its eyes were closed, snuggling into its pillow. Its coat was mulberry blue and its mane was golden colored, framing its face. The luxuriously long lashes on its eyes seemed to indicate it was female. It was tiny, maybe a foot and a half long. It looked so peaceful laying there, safe and secure in its bed.

Jason's mind halted as the tiny creature turned over in its sleep, 'Her.' he was powerless to stop the thought, 'It's a little girl. Someone's little girl.' His eyes shifted without any conscious effort as he began taking notice of the rest of the room. He had merely glossed over it at first, but as took a second look he saw, really saw what was in the room.

A small box lay next to the mirror. Its lid was open, revealing a small mound of dolls within. He pulled his eyes away, 'I can't afford to think. I need to focus on something else.' His eyes wandered to the far wall and his breath hitched in his throat. The wall was absolutely covered with little crayon sketches depicting the little girl with two older natives, 'Her parents.' Jason's eyes began to water, 'What was I doing?' he was confused.

His eyes continued to scan the pictures. His will broke when he saw a picture with the little girl standing next to what he could only assume were her six brothers and sisters, 'Brothers and sisters.' he thought, 'Oh god,' he was powerless against the emotion raging against his heart, 'What am I doing?' his hands lowered and he looked back at the mirror.

The thing that stared back at him was no more a man than an evil, shadowy wraith. His arms and legs were spindly and thin in the dim light. The shadows the moon cast over him obscured his face except for his eyes. His eyes were glassy and red-rimmed. His face was covered with a thick beard and his hair was longer and matted. The towel wrapped around his waist was soiled and tattered and the sword in his hand glinted harshly in the moonlight.

His reflection was terrifying even to his own eyes, 'What am I doing?' his heart and mind warred within him as he looked down at the sword in his hand as if only just realizing it was even there, 'Oh my god, what am I doing!?' without realizing it, his hands loosened their grip and the sword clanged to the floor loudly. He placed his hands over his mouth, his mind felt like it had suddenly cleared and he was disgusted by what he saw.

Motion caught Jason's eyes and he looked down. The little girl was staring up at him with the most terrified expression he had ever seen. Her eyes were huge and afraid, 'I was ready to kill her?' he thought as his hands rose and gripped his hair, 'Oh god, I was ready to kill a little girl!' he felt dizzy and sick.

He stumbled back into the wall and pulled at his hair in frustration, 'What have I become? Oh my god!' his breathing quickened, 'Oh my god!' his breathing sped up even more as his mind delved into its guilt, 'What have I become?'

The little girl suddenly cried out,
"Lamanea!" she paused for a breath then screamed, "Lamanea!" she scrambled back and fell off the bed calling the word a third time, "Lamanea!"

Jason couldn't stand the look of fear in her eyes, it tore at his soul, 'I scared her. She's scared of me.' He let go of his hair and held out his hands toward the little girl, trying to calm her. Seeing such fear directed at him made him almost physically ill.

"Hey, it's alright." he tried soothing her, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The volume of her screaming drowned out the sound of running hooves striking the wooden floor. Before he knew it, Jason felt an impossibly powerful force impact his left side. Jason felt several of his ribs instantly fracture as he and his assailant sailed through the window next to the bed. The glass in the window shattered with a deafening, almighty crash.

*          *          *

Beacon, former Corporal in the Royal Guard, had chosen to go to Flankfurt as the location where he would endure his punishment. He had been in the village for just over a month. He had seen three others from his group of survivors in the little village. He had never been so ashamed of himself in his entire life. He had spent nearly every day silently watching the goings on of the village during the day and contemplating his crime every night.

His every meal was provided for by the tiny volunteer group for homeless ponies in Flankfurt. He had quickly realized the volunteers had only begun the program BECAUSE of him and the other three. There were no other homeless in the tiny village. The realization weighed heavily on his heart. Not only was he a criminal under punishment, but also a castaway from the most illustrious and elite group in the entire nation, and he had become a burden to the kind residents of a small village in the middle of nowhere.

The volunteers had offered him blankets, work, and places to sleep. Every act of kindness compounded his pain and shame. He could not speak, or use magic, or own a single possession until his punishment was at an end. He felt so terrible every time he had to turn down a warm blanket or place to sleep. To see the puzzlement in the eyes of the kind villagers every time he shook his head, after they offer him so many things out of the goodness of their hearts, it made him feel sick.

He had taken to sleeping right next to the fireplaces on the outside of the homes. It was the only warmth he had. He would wander around all day and watch the village, making sure everypony was as safe as they could be. They always were. The four outcasts had silently agreed to watch the four corners of the village as their own and they had yet to encroach on another's 'territory'. They all had their punishments and they all knew they deserved it.

Beacon had gone through his usual routine. He ate dinner, tonight had been a wonderful bowl of six bean soup and two hefty pieces of fresh cornbread. He had gone to the river secretly to bathe as well as he could, soap counted as a possession after all. He had watched the different families collect their playing foals and herd them inside.

He envied them. They had each other, they had homes, they had jobs, they had love. Every time he thought about what they had that he didn't, he forced himself to remember what he and the others had violently taken from seventy innocent, helpless souls. He silently cried himself to sleep every night. He wept for the innocent people he had killed. He wept for his family who he had shamed so badly. He wept for his brothers in armor who had perished in the massacre. He wept for those who wandered through the forest hurt and alone when they were supposed to receive help, but instead had received death. He always made it a point to think of every other . . . being who had been hurt, before he wept for himself. His final thought before he drifted off to sleep every night was, 'I hope nopony else ever has to go through this.'

His dreams were always the same. Every night he dreamed of that night. The flashes of light, the startled screams, the sudden spasms of the Humans as lightning bolts struck them, the flashes and splatters of gore, bone, and viscera. He saw each and every death in slow motion from his magically enhanced vision, the memories etched into his mind with horrible clarity.

The sudden sound of a filly screaming woke him violently from his disturbed sleep. He raised his head and swiveled his ears, trying to get an exact direction of the source. The little filly was calling for her father, specifically for her 'Daddy'.

Beacon was on his hooves in an instant. The sound of the screams was not from a bad dream or an imaginary monster under the bed, no those cries were not just cries for her 'Daddy', but cries of fear that only her 'Daddy' could protect her from. Foals called for 'Mommy' for comfort but the called for 'Daddy' for physical protection. 'Daddy' was the powerful one while 'Mommy' was the comforting one. 'Mommy' could banish imaginary monsters but 'Daddy' could fight the real ones. The issue was a deadly serious one.

The sudden sound of shattering glass and harsh cries of a stallion accompanied by the juicy thumps of hooves on flesh galvanized Beacon into action. He had a point of origin and he was going to be there as quickly as his legs would possibly allow.

His hooves clopped heavily against the cobblestone street as lights came on in every household in Flankfurt. His ears told of three other pairs of hooves joining alongside his own. He didn't need to look, to know the other former Royal Guards were with him. Exiles or not, dishonored or not, they had dedicated their lives to safeguarding the ponies of Equestria and that was the single objective they still held onto. The safety of the villagers was their absolute highest priority and they had determined to take any action and make any sacrifice to fulfill their duty, whether it had been stripped from them or not.

Beacon rounded the corner of a house and saw a stallion and some creature scuffling around in a pile of glass on the cobblestone road and decided to break his silence,
"Get the stallion to safety! I'll hold the creature!"

The stallion was an Earth Pony who had a bright grass green coat and teal blue mane and tail. The stallion actually looked to be winning. The creature he was fighting with was making loud screeching noises of pain as the Earth Pony's muscles backed the incredible strength of his rock hard hooves. A strange limb suddenly shot up into the air as the creature cried out loudly and Beacon's world came to an immediate halt. He had seen that kind of limb before. The stallion was fighting a Human.

"He's fighting a Human!" Beacon cried and redoubled his speed.

The other three former Guards collectively tackled the stallion off the Human and did their best to hold him down while Beacon stood protectively over the Human. The Earth Pony stallion's muscle mass was easily five times their own substantial builds. As such, he flung the three Unicorns off himself like rag dolls.

He rolled over and rose to his hooves, snorting loudly as he looked at Beacon standing with the Human under his own body,
"Get away from that creature!" the stallion snarled, "It tried to eat my daughter!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that sir." Beacon answered evenly, "I cannot allow this being to be hurt, by order of Princess Luna."

The Earth Pony stallion looked, in shock at the Unicorn stallion standing over the creature that had frightened his daughter so badly. The Unicorn was plain gray in his coat but his mane and tail were a brilliant shade of royal purple. The marvelous effect of his coloring was terribly distorted by the fact that the Unicorn was thin, filthy, and a known vagrant. His mane and tail were thickly matted  and his coat severely needed a sound brushing. As the stallion, Plank he was called, stared aghast at the Unicorn, he could hear the hoof beats of the rest of the Ponies of Flankfurt approaching the scene. His racing heart began slowing down. With more Ponies, he didn't have to worry. He hoped he would be able to check on his little girl soon.

"Fine." he said evenly, temper calming, "The Civil Guards will take care of that beast." his eyes took in the form of the creature under the Unicorn, 'I nearly killed it that quickly?', he hesitated for a moment before adding, "Uh, thanks. I . . . probably would have left it as a fine mush if you hadn't stopped me."

Beacon merely nodded solemnly. He turned around to get a look at the condition of the Human beneath him and motion caught his attention. Beacon looked up, just in time to see more Humans come running up out of the darkness toward him, swords in hand. He tried to step away from the Humans but he tripped on the arm of the Human he was standing over and fell onto it. The Humans were only a few fathoms away. He opened his mouth to call out and suddenly felt the blade of a sword sink into his flesh. He raised his eyes to the Human that had stabbed him.

The Human had a long, dirty yellow mane that probably would have been pretty in any other situation. Beacon heard the Human grunt with a mare's tone and realized the Human was female. Her bright blue eyes bulged at the sight of the Unicorn she had just run through. She wore a filthy, partially shredded blanket wrapped around her middle.

The Human looked horrified at what she had done. Her knees wavered and wobbled, threatening to give out as she released her grip on the sword and took several steps back. Beacon looked down at the sword sticking out of the front of his barrel, buried almost to the hilt in his body. A tiny shift of moon light reflected off the pommel of the sword. Beacon's eyes were drawn to it for reasons he could understand. A minuscule letter was carved into the pommel, scratched there as if by a child.

As Beacon's body succumbed to the horrendous wound he had been dealt, he couldn't help but to note the irony, 'This Human killed me with my own sword.'