*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*
Princess Celestia cracked her eyes open and groaned in displeasure. She had enjoyed a good dinner with her sister, she had snuck a slice of double-chocolate cake from the kitchens, and she had gone to bed on time. Her bed was one of the things she truly splurged on. The entire four-Fathom wide and long mattress was wildly overstuffed with down from her own wings, accumulated over thousands of years. The base of the bed was criss-crossed rope, woven from pure silk, and the frame of the massive bed was hoof crafted ebony. Her mass of eighteen brightly colored, fathom long, plush pillows were, like the mattress, overstuffed with down from her own body. Her sheets and blankets were made of 20,000 thread count Saddle Arabian silk.
She had been enjoying one of the pleasant dreams she occasionally received when SOMEPONY woke her. She grumbled and turned her head toward the cuckoo clock she kept above her writing desk, 'Three in the morning? Oh,' she breathed out in agitation, 'Somepony had better be dead if . . . ' the Alicorn Princess snapped awake as soon as the thought entered her mind, 'Oh please don't be that somepony died!' Grumpy and groggy or not, she chided herself sternly for the errant thought. She did not wish such a thing on anypony, time and age managed that quite well on its own.
She rolled off her luxurious bed and onto her hooves even as she opened the door to her private bedroom,
"Yes, who is it?" she did her best to sound pleasant.
A Pegasus stallion in armor stood om the far side of the door, breathing heavily,
"Message *pant* from Flankfurt *pant* your majesty. There's *pant* been an incident."
Celestia's expression betrayed nothing of her actual thoughts and feelings. Her demeanor was absolutely and perfectly neutral. However her mind was already calculating, 'He's out of breath. Pegasi in the Guard are required to be able to fly for three hours without strain. That means he flew straight from Flankfurt, which means a non-stop flight and no time to set up relay posts to pass along a written message. He also neglected to bow, not that I have ever demanded it, so he's in a desperate hurry.'
"Explain." she commanded softly.
The Alicorn Princess levitated her regalia over to herself and began fastening it in place as the Pegasus explained,
"An unknown number of Humans *pant* infiltrated Flankfurt four hours ago. As yet *pant* we have no idea why they did so, however from evidence Commander Peach Pit gathered at one home," the stallion swallowed, "It seems that they were intent on nefarious acts of violence. A sword has been recovered from a filly's room. The filly seems unharmed thankfully. Her father heard her scream and came to investigate. He saw a Human standing over the filly's bed and tackled the Human through a glass window. We know that the Human sustained several injuries from the stallion, though the severity of those injuries remains unknown. Four Unicorns, four of the Condemned, were present and kept the father from beating the Human to death, however the racket brought out more Humans. They were armed and one of them stabbed one of the Condemned with a sword through the barrel, to the hilt. The Humans ran off, dragging their injured member and the Civil Guard alerted us. Specialist Razor Wit said to alert you and your sister immediately. As of now, the Humans are completely surrounded in their field, but we have yet to act."
With the last piece of her regalia in place, the Alicorn Princess regarded the Pegasus calmly,
"What orders did you receive from my sister?"
"Only to wake you and inform you, your majesty. Princess Luna said she is busy with the Night Court and must remain here." the Guard said.
Celestia nodded,
"It seems we have run out of time. Something must be done immediately." she said, "I will take us to the Humans and deal with this myself. Come."
She turned from the door toward the crystal clear glass double doors which led to her balcony. She channeled her magic and thrust the doors open, striding toward them unhurriedly, 'If the Humans are surrounded we have no need to hurry. I haven't enjoyed a good flight for a few weeks now. I'll let them sleep before we shake their world.'
* * *
Darryl Hord was very light sleeper, it was something he had to develop as a Marine. He was lying on the floor of the big center building along with everyone else. The group were all sawing logs. Sleeping together had become a bit of a common occurrence and Darryl couldn't really complain, especially since no one blamed you if you 'accidentally' cuddled up to a pretty girl in your sleep.
Therefore him being the first one to awaken at the sounds of a distant yell was no surprise,
"HELP!"
His eyes snapped open and he rose to his feet quickly. He took up his war hammer, which was always nearby, and headed straight for the large doorway of the big building in the nearly pitch blackness. His steps unerringly found perfect footing as he stepped over sleeping bodies.
He reached the doorway and halted, listening. His ears filtered out the sounds of people snoring and zeroed in on the direction of a second call for help. He took a deep breath and hardened his face, 'I sure as hell hope this isn't another attack.' He turned his head and yelled at everyone else who was sleeping.
"Heads up!" he bellowed, "We've got someone calling for help! Everybody up! Up, up, up, up, up!"
Bobby Jewel and Andrew Masonete sat bolt upright and grabbed their weapons. The entire group was beginning to stir. People were groggy and sleepy but their response time was, Darryl noted, greatly improved from when they had to wake up during the attack.
He turned his head back to the West as a third cry for help echoed into his ears, he bit his lip and headed out to find whoever it was that was calling,
"Keep yelling! Guide me to you!"
"To the . . . West! We're in the orchard!" the voice was female and sounded frightened.
Darryl broke into a run, careful to keep his war hammer away from his body should he trip. He knew from the time he had spent the day before, the doorway of the big building faced South, so he turned to his right and ran. He sprinted across the Town Square and veered around the empty stone buildings, then made a bee line toward the orchard. The source of the voice was easy to discern in the darkness. Nearly a hundred shadowy, humanoid figures struggled through the orchard. Darryl's intuition got a bad vibe when he saw they were all tired and armed. Four of them seemed to be carrying a person and it looked like they were trying to be very careful about it.
Darryl hid behind one of the orchard trees and yelled out,
"Identify yourselves!"
"Jason's been hurt!" the female voice said in what almost sounded like a tearful tone, "Help us! FUCKING HELP US!"
Darryl recognized the voice and stepped out from behind the tree,
"What happened?" he asked approaching them, "How did Jason get hurt?"
"One o' the natives beat the shit out o' him!" Ron'del answered.
Darryl stopped dead in his tracks, a feeling of impending doom coming over him,
"Why?"
"Prolly cause he was in they house!" Ron'del answered.
"Why were any of you in one of their houses!?" He yelled loudly, "What the hell were you doing?"
"We . . . we were going to pay them back . . . for the massacre." Ashley admitted haltingly.
"Oh fuck." Darryl muttered.
Motion far into the field caught his attention. Natives dressed in armor were emerging from the treeline. Many of them were Unicorns and their horns were lit. They weren't trying to hide this time. Darryl scanned the treeline in every direction as far as he could see. There were glowing lights all over the place. They were coming.
"FUCK!" he spat, "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he placed his right hand on his forehead and pulled it down over his face roughly, "As of right now, you're all traitors, but we'll deal with you." he pointed to the natives, "Us, not them." he turned and began stalking back to the big building, "Bring Jason unless you plan to leave him for the locals."
Darryl broke into a dead run, heading back to the big building.
* * *
Every Human was armed. They stood back from the main doorway, shoulder to shoulder, with shields in one hand and spears in the other. The entire assembly was quietly whispering amongst themselves. Everyone was afraid of what would happen. The Fellowship Of Leadership stood closest to the doorway, the first line of defense. They looked out at the armored natives surrounding the building.
The natives had simply marched up, through the fields and orchard, and stopped just in front of the Town Square. The Humans looked outward and for the first time truly had an idea of how many of their military there were. It was blatantly obvious, if the natives decided to attack, the Humans were done for.
"What are they waiting for?" Cessily asked, shifting her weight nervously from side to side, "They been standin' there for over an hour."
"They're waiting for something." Darryl said, "I'd put money they're waiting for a superior officer."
"Speaking of officers," Mike Spearman said, "I count two obvious ones." he pointed with his spear to Bold Move, "I think that one there is pretty high."
"Yeah, that's him alright." Darryl said, "He's waiting for his commanding officer."
"And uh . . . what happens after that officer shows up?" Kaneesha asked.
"Only two things I can think of. Either they go back or they attack." Joyner said, "I don't see any reason for marshaling themselves like this if they had any reason to retreat."
"That's about the extent of it." Masonete said.
"Why not just have us attack now, before they commander get's here?" Leo asked.
"Because we'd be slaughtered." Bobby responded, "Even if they do attack, our only chance is to stay here and defend this building."
"Not like it would make any difference." Eduardo spat, "We're not properly equipped or trained for this. If they attack us," his shoulders slumped, "We're done for amigos."
Ludwig's eyes roved skyward briefly,
"We've got incoming." he said clutching his axe tightly, "This could be it!" he yelled.
Eduardo took over,
"Everyone, shields up, spears out!"
"We've got our backs to the wall and nowhere to run." Rachel said shakily.
"Steady yall," Kolo said, "We got us a defensible spot. We stay behind this doorway they gotta squeeze through one, maybe two at a time to get to us. We can pick 'em off steady like."
"Remember, let them come to us." Joyner shouted, "If we venture outside we have no chance." he paused then added, "If this is the end, say your goodbyes. Once the fighting begins you won't have the chance."
The air seemed to drop several degrees almost instantly as people came to the conclusion they were about to die. Silently thinking it was one thing, hearing Mike Joyner, their leader, say it out loud seemed to make it a reality. Stomachs dropped out all through the building. People's thoughts drifted to their families back on Earth, friends, family, loved ones, people they would never see again. Many silently prayed to God, a few to Allah, a few to Buddha, and some cursed the fact that they didn't believe in anything.
Despite the seeming certainty the air was silent for several seconds as each heart sunk into acceptance. Denial, anger, bargaining, none of it mattered. They had been through too much. The only thing they had left was acceptance. The assurance that death was coming for them weighed heavily on every heart. In that moment there was little comfort. Few had lived a life they were happy with and fewer still were truly at peace with the knowledge they were about to die. There was little left to say.
The eighty people who had brought down the wrath of the natives said there had been only one death they were aware of. Ashley, fearing Jason being beaten to death, had run through a Unicorn with her sword. They had already decided they couldn't do it but the sounds of breaking glass forced them into action. They had drug Jason's mangled body back to the forest and carried him back to the field. The people had been livid with the eighty once Darryl told them the natives were coming, but in the face of uncertainty no one had thought to throw the eighty out to the equinoids. They all knew each other and the tears of regret had run thickly. The main group was still very upset with the eighty servers, but when facing down annihilation, they needed everyone they could get. The eighty servers were armed just like everyone else. The main group had collectively determined they would decide what to do with the 'traitors' later. If there was a later.
Silence reigned over the gathering of seven hundred and twenty-two Humans.
There was little left to do but wait.
A faint hint of melody hummed from somewhere within the frightened gathering.
It was a slow and mournful sound, deep and full of emotion.
The faint sound shimmered into existence a second time, slightly more audible.
"Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . . . Hey . . . . . Hey . . . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
The voice whispered through the building. People were reminded of a football movie where that tune had been used as a funeral dirge. It seemed somehow appropriate. They were basically already dead to everyone they had known on Earth. Some felt a surge of regret flood them and a few decided to join in.
"Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . . . Hey . . . . . Hey . . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
The second time through there were eight or nine voices singing the mournful tune. More people began to feel the sorrow of the situation. They had put in so much effort to get here and now they had to say goodbye to what might have one day become home.
"Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
The voices were growing in number. It felt like its own way of bidding everyone farewell, so more people joined in. They mourned, not as individuals but as a group, unified in their song. All their effort, all their struggles had been for nothing. Their visions of the future, the possibilities, the hope, all of it was gone.
"Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . . . . Goodbye."
More voices joined in the slow singing. Someone lowered their spear and began tapping out the slow beat with the butt of the shaft on the stone floor. It just wasn't fair. They had been ready to work hard to try to build lives for themselves. They had all lost friends to make it so far. Everything was lost to them now, there was nothing left.
"Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . Hey . . . . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
More voices and spear butts joined in as the tempo began picking up slowly in pace. It wasn't fair. They hadn't done anything wrong. They had been willing to work and live with the constant reminder that they were basically invaders in someone else's home.
"Na . . . . . Na . . . . . Na . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Na . . . . . Na . . . . . Na . . . . . Na . . . . . . . . . Hey . . . Hey . . . Hey . . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
The voices began slowly speeding up and the tempo increased as the tone and emotion behind the song began shifting. It wasn't their fault, and yet here they were facing down certain death. How much suffering did they have to endure before they had peace?
"Na . . . . Na . . . . Na . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Na . . . . Na . . . . Na . . . . Na . . . . . . . . Hey . . Hey . . Hey . . . . . . . . Goodbye."
Nearly every voice had joined in by that point, spears tapping out the beat in unison as feet began stomping on the floor. It wasn't fair. Even the people who had gone to pay the natives back couldn't go through with it and now the equinoids were at the doorstep, ready to spill more blood than ever. They were willing to slaughter hundreds over the death of one.
"Na . . . Na . . . Na . . . Na . . . . . . Na . . . Na . . . Na . . . Na . . . . . . Hey . . Hey . . Hey . . . . . . Goodbye."
The tempo and tone became more aggressive as the strength of the spear butts against the floor increased. It wasn't right to punish everyone for what a few did. They stopped before they had even done anything very bad. The natives did worse and the Humans didn't react the same way.
"Na . . Na . . Na . . Na . . . . Na . . Na . . Na . . Na . . . . Hey . Hey . Hey . . . . Goodbye."
The voices grew angry and the tempo changed to match it. They faced down death because of a few people who had some version of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. What right did the natives have to slaughter them? What made them better?
"Na . Na . Na . Na . . Na . Na . Na . Na . . Hey . Hey . Hey . . Goodbye."
The voices were growing more and more angry. The group was working itself up. How dare they come to take the Human's lives! They weren't any sort of superior species! What right did they have to do such a thing!? They weren't mourning their deaths anymore, they were singing to the equinoids who wanted to kill them!
"Na, na-na, na. Na, na-na, na. Hey, hey, hey. Goodbye."
The Humans were ready for whatever happened! They weren't about to die, cowering in some hole only to be picked off one by one! If they were to die, they wanted to go out fighting! If the equinoids wanted suffering, by God the Humans would deliver!
"NA, NA-NA, NA. NA, NA-NA, NA. HEY, HEY, HEY. GOODBYE."
Their blood was pumping, they could feel their anger building them up! They were ready to face death head-on! Their spears would taste blood! If they were to die, they would take as many of the natives with them as they could!
"NA, NA-NA, NA! NA, NA-NA, NA! HEY, HEY, HEY! GOODBYE!"
They were ready to charge out the doors and initiate the slaughter themselves! It was time to be done with everything! No more fear! No more uncertainty! No more pain! No more hate! They were done crying and mourning, it was time for blood!
The white equinoid landed in the Town Square and folded it wings. Behind it, the armored equinoids were shifting nervously. They were actually scared. The Humans pounded out a beat reminiscent of a war march. The white equinoid raised its head and gazed at the Humans within the big building.
One Human shouted out,
"We won't die so easily!"
"We're ready for you, you bastards!" shouted another.
One mind had been calculating ever since the situation had begun. It had spun through hundreds of possible outcomes. It took into account the actions and reactions of the equinoids ever since the two species had met. It took into account the mentality and reactions of Humans as a species. It had calculated movements, motions, and possibilities until the person's head hurt, but the person had a course of action that would be absolutely decisive no matter the outcome. The only problem was that death was a possibility.
One pair of eyes clenched for a brief moment, then opened and set their sights on the tall, white native. Two feet stepped out of the building and into the early morning light. Every Human instantly fell silent as the person slowly strode out ten paces and dropped their shield on the ground. The Humans watched in complete suspense as the person walked another ten paces and stopped. The person hefted their spear and slammed it, point-first into the cobblestones. The Humans watched in disbelief as the person drew their sword and simply dropped it onto the ground at yet another ten paces. The person was heading straight toward the tall, white equinoid in the fancy jewelry, completely unarmed. The Humans collectively held their breath as the person stopped directly in front of the tall equinoid and looked it up and down boldly.
Every living thing except for the person and Princess Celestia nearly had a heart attack as the person reached out with their left hand, extended their thumb, then casually polished out a minor smudge on the Alicorn's chest plate.
"There," the person said, "Much better." the person relaxed their stance and looked around at the gathered armored natives and spoke morosely, "Well, if you guys are here to kill us, then get it the fuck over with. Hell, start with me." the person said seemingly fearlessly.
In truth, the person was absolutely terrified.
Princess Celestia smiled at the person in front of her,
"Hello Chris," she said in plain English, "I had hoped our two species could find a way to exist together without my intervention," she sighed, "However it seems that was too much to hope for. In any case, I'm here now and I can assure you that unless your people begin the attack, there will be no blood shed today."
Chris Vacca's eyes could not have been any more wide,
"Y . . . you . . . you talk." he stuttered in disbelief, "You can talk." he took a breath and tried to let it out slowly, it came out as a huff, "You talk, YOU FUCKING TALK!"
"Please calm yourself Chris . . . " Celestia was interrupted by the Human in front of her.
"HOW!?" Chris bellowed, "How do you know my name and how the fuck can you even speak!?"
"If you would let me speak without interrupting, I could tell you." Celestia said patiently.
Chris clammed up his jaw, so the Princess continued,
"I learned your language from your brother in-law. He reached the outskirts of our city but a misunderstanding caused him a severe injury. Do not worry, I believe he will be fine. The misunderstanding occurred when one of my subjects' spells went wrong. She ended up . . . The closest translated comparison I can reason out is that she 'downloaded' all of his memories by accident. The event traumatized her and I was forced to repair the damage. In the process I ended up with his memories, which explains both how I speak American and how I know you."
Chris took a step back in complete shock, mouth hanging open, 'I sure as hell didn't take THAT possibility into consideration.',
"So who are you?"
"I am Celestia. My sister Luna and I rule this land." the Princess explained.
"This land as in what? The field? The region? The world?" Chris asked.
Celestia smiled warmly,
"This nation, there is no possible American or English translation for the name of our nation." she pursed her lips in thought briefly, "The ancient Latin word for horse is Equus. You may call our nation Equestria."
Chris shot her an absolutely deadpan look,
"Equestria? Really?" he asked in disbelief, "Might as well call it Horsyland." he rubbed his hands over his temples, "Alright," he sighed, "So what do we call your species?"
"You have ponies in your world . . . " Celestia began.
"REALLY!?" Chris bellowed, "Ponies!? Really!? Really!? Ponies!? Really!?"
"Your brother doesn't recall you being so over dramatic." Celestia said pointedly, "Yes, Ponies. It is simply the closest comparison. Some of the breeds you already have names for: Pegasi and Unicorns. There are two others: Earth Ponies and Alicorns." she leaned her head down to Chris, "Are you quite alright?"
"Ponies." Chris said in resignation, "Earth PONIES, Pegasus PONIES, Unicorn PONIES, and Alicorn PONIES."
"Just Alicorns, thank you. There are very few of us." Celestia said calmly.
"O.K. so Queen Celestia . . . " Chris began.
"Princess, thank you." Celestia interrupted him.
" . . . Princess?" Chris asked, "Is there a King or a Queen?"
Celestia dipped her head slightly to her left,
"It's complicated. Princess Celestia if you please."
" . . . Queen Celestia, what do we do now?" Chris asked, "You have your soldiers all here for . . . what?"
The Alicorn's eyes nostrils flared very slightly, so slightly Chris nearly missed it,
"Some of your group entered one of our villages last night for purposes we have observed to be hostile."
"We do not condone what they did, just so you know." Chris said.
Celestia raised her head and looked at the big building beyond,
"Yet you protect them."
"Frankly, we need them. We've lost sixty-seven people since we got here and we're down to the wire on having enough people to sustain a population. That plus we don't want any more bloodshed." Chris said.
"You seemed all too prepared for exactly that just now." Celestia commented.
Chris crossed his arms,
"Well what else are we supposed to think? A bunch of our people go off and kill at least one of your . . . Ponies, then your soldiers freaking surround us. Seems like a good setup for a massacre to me."
"Were I so inclined I could simply collapse the Town Hall right on top of you and bury every last one of you. Furthermore I could do it alone and with absolutely no risk to my Ponies." she stopped when she saw the look of disbelief mixed with uncertainty on Chris' face, "You needn't fear. I have absolutely no intention of doing so. "
"That still doesn't answer my question." Chris said openly.
Celestia smiled,
"No it doesn't." she slowly turned and walked a graceful circuit around the puzzled Human, then smiled hugely, "Clever."
"What?" Chris asked.
"You've been hiding a communication crystal in the fold of your garment." she turned and looked at the building again, then back to Chris, "They've been listening to everything we've said.
Chris reached into the rolled portion of his blanket and retrieved the crystal,
"I guess the jig is up."
Princess Celestia lowered her head to the crystal and spoke,
"Would you please come out here? I would much rather talk to all of you at once."
A voice came back over the crystal,
"No thanks, we're happy right where we are."
The Alicorn Princess sighed lightly,
"As you wish, but I need you to listen very closely to what I have to say."
The voice responded on the crystal,
"Go ahead."
"Lieutenant Joyner, I presume?" Celestia asked.
"Speaking." the voice answered back.
Celestia nodded,
"Listen and listen well," gone was the playful, almost innocent quality to her voice, it was replaced with a commanding tone of absolute authority, "There has been more than enough bloodshed on both our parts. You and your people are foreigners in our world. We have attempted to garner your cooperation with gifts and acts of peace. The attack on you was not condoned by either myself or my commanders and the perpetrators have been punished quite severely, I assure you. We have given you a place to stay, food to eat, and land to live on, yet some of your number still saw fit to venture forth and attempt to attack a helpless village the same way you were attacked. I understand there are many hard feelings from the attack your people suffered without just cause, but that does not give you liberty to threaten the lives of my Ponies." she paused for a moment, debating on playing a gamble before she went forward with it, "Because of that infraction, you have proven that you cannot be trusted to self-regulate. Since that has become obvious, I am assigning eight hundred of my Royal Guard to stay here in this town with you. They are to assist you in building your new home but be warned, any attack on them will be dealt with severely. You and your people have proven beyond any reasonable doubt that you are incapable of wielding the weapons you stole with any sort of responsibility. As such, you will collect those stolen weapons and leave them in a secure location. They are to be used only in an emergency situation and only if one of my Guards gives the command. Should you feel the need to protect yourselves, feel free to utilize the hammers, axes, and shovels that were included with the supply crates. This will remain the norm until either my sister or I say otherwise. Is that clear?"
"So we're prisoners?" Joyner asked through the crystal.
Celestia sighed,
"No. You will be permitted to go about as you normally would, however my Royal Guards will accompany and assist each Human on a one to one ratio. Think of them as bodyguards and teammates. They will be with you at all times. I truly hope you manage to prove to us that these measures are unnecessary. Now do you have any questions?"
"Fuck no!" yelled a voice over the crystal.
"Is she serious?" yelled another.
"Might as well serve us up on a goddamn platter!" a third screeched.
Chris and Celestia could hear a heated dispute going on from the raised voices transmitted by the crystal. Celestia had expected there to be fierce resistance so she had intentionally made her 'demands' realistically extreme. She expected the Humans to balk at any sort of authority from her so she made her demands unnecessarily strict specifically in order to make the Humans negotiate for a better arrangement. This had a two-fold purpose: the Humans would see her as fallible and imperfect, and it would make her seem more approachable than most of her subjects saw her. She had reasoned out that the Humans wouldn't be willing to accept such stringent demands and she wanted them to understand that they had a say in their situation even though she had already figured on an extremely likely point of acquiescence.
"The people are feeling . . . hesitant." Joyner said after a few minutes of yelling, "Frankly they're scared of your Guards. The primary concern seems to be that the Guards will simply kill anyone they want to, they feel like they're being disarmed so they can be killed easily. Honestly I can't argue. The track record of your Guards isn't exactly very pretty or peaceful, more... murder-y. The only one most of us are likely to trust is the tan Unicorn . . . woman who followed us."
"I'm afraid she isn't available anymore. How about a compromise? The Guards will not wear their weapons or armor while they are with you. In exchange, your people will agree to try to form, at the very least, working friendships with them. Please know that my main desire is to get our species to cooperate. I detest forcing any intelligent being to do anything and hopefully in the future, it will prove unnecessary." Celestia suggested.
She and Chris heard more talking from the crystal, this time the voices were much more subdued
"That's not good enough!" yelled a voice.
"They could still overpower us with magic!" another bellowed.
"I ain't doin' that shit!" a third voice cried.
"We have a compromise of our own." Joyner said after a few more minutes, "We keep our weapons and your Guards can come without their weapons or armor."
Celestia had been anticipating exactly such a decision and already had a response on her lips,
"That seems awfully one sided. We have to make all the concessions? That hardly seems fair."
"I ain't workin' with none o' their killers!"
"I'm not having one of their males watch me go to the bathroom!"
"We don't have any armor, they have magic!"
After several more minutes of discussion Joyner's voice came back over the crystal,
"The only way anyone is going to be willing to both disarm and accept your . . . Ponies among us is if they are civilians. Bluntly, everyone is scared to death of your Guards."
Celestia kept her face perfectly neutral but she was smiling on the inside, 'Gotcha.',
"Agreed, but there will be a contingent of fifty of the Royal Guards patrolling your town."
More talking from the crystal.
"Fifty o' them plus civilians ain't so bad, I guess. We're gonna need more supplies to sustain a bigger population."
"I don't like it but it's better than what she suggested at first."
"Man, this sucks. I don't trust 'em but I can deal. They gotta make with some goods though."
Joyner's voice came through the crystal again after several minutes,
"Agreed on one condition, we need more supplies and a source of fresh water. We can make a list for you."
"You're asking quite a lot from the coffers. My Ponies taxes fill my coffers and the finances for the supplies come out of there." Celestia said.
"It won't be a huge list, but we need woodworking tools and enough supplies to build a forge, a grain mill, and a lumber mill. Beyond that, we need some seeds and more medical supplies. Many of our women are pregnant and require special foods and care." Joyner said through the crystal.
Celestia gave a mental hoof-pump of triumph,
"Make the list and we shall do our best to fill it."
"I assume these Ponies will be able to speak as you do." Joyner queried.
"I'm afraid not. I do a disservice to your friend by even keeping his memories as is. I would not spread his memories and secrets around. They are his and his alone. I keep them so I can remember how to speak your language. You will have to use body language and creativity to communicate until our language specialist can come up with a translation guide." Celestia said.
"That's going to make things difficult." Joyner said.
Celestia nodded,
"It will keep you thinking. Humans are creative. I do not foresee too many problems. If nothing else it will help acclimate you to our way of thinking and in the process our Ponies will come to understand your way of thinking as well. Our two species are more alike than you may realize."
"Before you go," Chris said quickly, "I want something. I want to see Dan."
Celestia had been expecting that,
"That would be difficult since he's in a coma."
Chris' eyes bulged,
"He's in a coma!? What the hell happened? You only said he was injured!"
"Peace Chris," Celestia soothed, "He was put into a . . . what's the term you Humans use . . . ah, a medically induced coma. I was busy organizing the attempted relief effort and I neglected to oversee his care personally. The doctors had to put him in a coma so he wouldn't injure himself. Unfortunately, due to my oversight, he wasn't fed a proper healthy diet. He was fed only in proportions that a Pony would be and without the proper amount of protein. He lost a great deal of weight before the doctors managed to find a suitable balance of foods to give him. He is recovered enough that the doctors are going to bring him out of the coma in a day or two." she strode up and placed a gentle hoof on Chris' shoulder, "Do not let your heart be burdened. You will see him before long. I believe he will become a very important person before all is said and done. The Unicorn mare who followed your group is going to work with him to help create the translation guide. He is in good hooves."