The Unity Pact

by Truthseeker


Chapter 21: Understandings

"What the fuck!" a woman's voice cried.

The exclamation woke Ashley abruptly from her sleep. She opened her eyes but only saw gray. She was sleeping on her stomach, using her arms as pillows. She raised her head and looked toward the voice.

"What is that thing doing in here!?" the voice yelled.

The voice belonged to the young Caucasian woman Ashley had been sleeping beside, Kayla. Kayla was on her knees with her right hand extended, pointing to something between them. Ashley pushed herself up with her arms and followed the Kayla's pointing hand.

The same gray Unicorn from Ashley's dream was laying right next to her. He raised his head and yawned hugely then looked at Kayla in confusion. He shook out his purple mane and rose smoothly to his hooves then stretched out his back. He licked his lips and looked back at Kayla.

Ashley didn't know what to think. She remembered the dream with perfect clarity but she hadn't actually expected the stallion to be there the next morning, 'What did she call him?' Ashley wondered, 'That's right, Beacon.' she looked down at the stallion as he turned to face her, 'He looks exactly the same as he did in the dream.'

"Hello, Ashley?" Kayla asked, frustration clear in her tone, "I said what is that thing doing here?"

"I . . . I had a dream about him." Ashley said quietly.

"Him?" Kayla asked in dis belief, "How do you even know it's male?"

Kayla's volume was gathering quite a lot of attention. There were seven hundred people sleeping on the floor of City Hall and all of them were suddenly awakened by yelling. More than one grumpy, half-awake face took in the scene and more than one person commented on it.

"Shut up!"
"Jesus man, fuck off!"
"Stop yelling you stupid bitch!"
"Is that a Unicorn?"
"It's too early for yelling!"

Beacon cast his vision left and right, front and back, there was yelling coming from every direction and he didn't understand any of it, 'Are they all yelling at me?' he wondered. He laid his ears back, lowered his head and legs and took a small sideways step to his right, toward Ashley.

Ashley for her part was very confused, 'Why is he here? Luna didn't say why, heck she didn't even say he would be here. What am I supposed to do with him?' She felt Beacon's right shoulder press against her left thigh and she absentmindedly began scratching him behind the ears.

"Is he your pet or something?" Kayla asked.

Ashley blinked in confusion,
"N . . . No, why?"

"You're scratching him like a dog!" Kayla said pointing, "Besides you never answered me, what is he doing here?"

Ashley didn't like Kayla's attitude,
"Who gives a shit, Kayla? He isn't hurting anyone, so leave him alone." she looked around and decided to deflect the attention off herself, "Besides, YOU'RE the one who woke everybody else up."

Ashley bent down and grabbed up the blanket she had slept on,
"It's morning and it's time to get some breakfast and get going."

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Joyner said loudly from the stairs, "The sun's rising and the sky is clear. We've been up for over an hour." he gestured outside, "Breakfast is on, fried fish and diced oranges. Do what you need to, everything should be ready in a few minutes." he stepped around dozens of people but stopped at the door, "Just to clarify," he pointed at Beacon, "He arrived late last night accompanied by an Alicorn, I think it was Queen Celestia's sister. I'd leave him alone. Like Ashley said, he isn't hurting anyone. Ashley, I'd like to talk to you, please."

Ashley swallowed hard, 'Last time he talked to me was when he was telling us we had to clean up all those tons of old, hard crap underneath City Hall.' She folded the blanket and handed off to one of Morris' Inventory Collectors at the doorway. She stepped outside and smelled the frying fish clearly. It smelled like fish. It tasted like fish. Ashley hated fish.

"Hey," Mike called from beside the cook fires, "Over here." he raised his hand and made a 'come hither' motion with his fingers.

The sudden nudge of an unexpected, cold, wet nose against her left palm made her jump in surprise. She looked down and met Beacon's eyes. A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed her, 'It's just like in the dream.' She broke eye contact with Beacon and headed toward Joyner.

"What did I do this time?" she asked pessimistically.

"Nothing that I'm aware of. I just wanted to ask about your new friend. Why, did you do something?" Joyner asked crossing his arms.

Ashley shrugged,
"I don't know why he's here, but I think he's the one I stabbed when Jason led us to that town."

Joyner looked down at Beacon,
"And you have absolutely no idea why he's following you like a lost puppy?"

"Well," Ashley scratched her head, "I had a dream about him last night."

"Go on." Joyner urged.

"It started the same way they do every night with me remembering the night of the attack. Last night was different though. There was this Pony. She was dark blue, almost black. She had wings and a horn and her tail and mane looked like the night sky. She was wearing some sort of shoes, a breastplate, and a crown." Ashley stopped for a breath, "She said her name was Luna." she pointed down to Beacon, "He was there too. Luna said he survived after I stabbed him and that he was SUPPOSEDLY connected to me somehow."

Joyner rubbed his chin with his left hand,
"Huh. Did she say you had to do anything different?"

Ashley shook her head,
"No, she never said anything about that. How was she in my dreams?"

Joyner threw up his arms then let them flop down to his sides,
"My guess would be 'magic'. It seems to be the de facto reason for half this world. I don't have an explanation for you, I'm sorry. I guess, until you hear or learn anything different just keep doing what you've been doing. If anything comes up, or if there are any problems let one of the Fellowship know."

Ashley's face fell,
"You mean I still have to haul old crap all day?"

"Well, you never mentioned that 'Luna' gave you a free pass on it, so yes." Mike said.

Ashley blew air out from between her lips and sighed,
"Fine, but he better not watch when I'm using the bathroom."

* * *

Bobby Jewel groused quietly to himself as administered a dose of sedative to his mentally broken patient. It was the second dose he had administered that day. Darryl Hord lay on a spread blanket on the floor in one of the pie shaped sections of the medical station on the second floor of City Hall.

Leo had been the first one to see the stout Marine come stumbling up the stairs. He had been covered in a cold sweat, mumbling about bugs and collapsed at the top of the stairs, screaming about 'seeing everything'. He had been almost completely incoherent for the past four hours. Bobby, Cessily, and Leo had to truss him up and tie him down to keep him from hurting himself.

Bobby pulled the syringe out of Darryl's arm and shook his head as he capped it,
"How is he?" Cessily asked from the doorway.

Bobby stood up and made his way back to the door as Cessily stepped back,
"Still out of it." he shook his head and looked back at Darryl, "I just don't understand it. If something bad had happened, I would chalk it up to Post Traumatic Stress, but this . . . " he shook his head again, "I'm out of my league for this one."

"What the hell do you want!" Leo shouted suddenly from the central triage observation area, "Get out o' here before I kick yo asses!"

Cessily and Bobby exchanged glances and rolled their eyes then went to see what had Leo's pants in a wad. They rounded the corner of the central triage area and both stopped cold.

Eighteen Ponies, all different breeds, colors, and sexes stood gathered in the triage area. Leo looked to be fuming. He stood in front of them with his balled up fists planted on his hip bones. Bobby was about to step in when the one Pegasus who was standing closest to Leo reached into her saddle bag and began pulling out medicine bottles then setting them on the floor.

"Those are the meds we're missing." Cessily hissed in Bobby's ear.

"Yeah, but why are they bringing them back?" Bobby asked.

Leo, for his part was obviously shocked. He bent over and picked up one of the bottles and looked at it. Sure enough, it was one of the ones they had been missing. He looked back down at the Pegasus as she continued placing more and more bottles on the floor.

Leo was fairly sure she had actually brought back more medicines than they had been missing. The Pegasus reached into her saddle bags and brought out a beautiful rose wood case. She set it on the ground then casually walked over to one of the strange devices that even Bobby couldn't figure out.

The device was made of metal, box shaped, covered in buttons with strange symbols, and had what appeared to be a display screen, except it was made of glass backed with metal. One side of it seemed to be completely blank but was concave, rounded like a thick thigh or chest, while the other side had all the buttons and the display screen. Bobby had pressed each of the buttons but the only thing the device did was pop open a spring held side panel, the inside of which was a slot for what looked like it might fit a three inch long, rectangular battery. The device had a handle which had been thickly coated with fabric for extended carrying, but Bobby couldn't even begin to guess at its purpose.

The Pegasus mare bit down on the handle of the device then carried it back to the rose wood case and set it down. She flipped open the case and every Human's jaw dropped as they beheld a series of fifteen rectangular, multicolored crystals held within. The Pegasus mare selected one bright blue crystal and tapped a button on the side of the device. A side panel popped open and she inserted the crystal then closed the panel. She tapped a button on the top of the device. The screen lit up blue and displayed several foreign symbols then beeped loudly.

The three Humans were awestruck. The Pegasus mare looked back at Leo and plopped her backside down on the floor, turned her head, and nodded at the other Ponies. Each one came forward and began emptying their saddle bags. In just a few minutes there was a literal pile of medical equipment lying on the, thankfully clean, floor of the triage center.

The entire gathering of Ponies all joined the Pegasus mare and sat themselves down in front of Leo. Bobby and Cessily walked over, knelt down, and began examining the medical equipment. There were bandages, splints, and medicines galore. The medical paraphernalia was all wrapped in hard covered, waxed fabrics and bore instructions that were written in the Ponies' native language. The three Human stared at the gathered Ponies. The message was clear enough, 'You need us and we're not going anywhere.'

* * *

"Timbeeeeeeeeeer!"

The call had been yelled out loud roughly once every half hour as someone felled another tree. Mike Spearman and R.J. Brinsin had divided their teams up into groups of six people per team. Each team selected a single tree at least fifty steps away from any other team and set to work. Two people would chop at the tree with the new axes.

The axes had been a huge boon to the production rate of the Lumberjack teams. The new axes had a ten inch long, thin, crescent moon shaped blade on one side and a heavy hammer head on the other. The haft of each axe was obviously not ergonomically shaped but they made up for it by being made out of oak. The axes had each been accompanied by splitting wedges, two hundred foot long ropes and colored flags. The adopted method was simple to determine for the well-studied R.J. The flags were tied to the trees and the ropes were set out to mark the safe areas. Four people would constantly circulate the outer area of the ropes and keep others away from a possible falling tree. The people would switch off whenever someone who was chopping needed a break. Once the tree was on the ground the crew would stretch the rope out on the ground and lay the branches on it so they could be tied. The crew of six would take the branches off with hatchets, saws, and machetes then saw each log into sections that were ten feet long each. The smaller branches would be hauled back to the town for firewood or 'garden garbage' (for the leaves). The logs were to be taken to one of the empty foundations in the town where they would be shaped into usable form for houses and so forth.

That day, their plans came to a screeching halt as dozens and dozens of Ponies decided to join them. Not only join them but get in their way. The Ponies had, for the past nine days been content to chop on their own trees with the older, smaller axes. Their production was abysmal, but at least they were out of the way.

The Pony method for felling trees made very little sense to R.J. The Ponies didn't even use the axes except for small trees. For anything over a hand width in diameter, they started with a horizontal band saw. The sawed sideways and used splitting wedges to keep the tree from pinching the blade. The wedges did have a good point in that they helped determine which direction the tree would fall but the Ponies themselves were obviously not used to using saws at a horizontal angle and they had to frequently stop and stretch their necks. Not a single Human had ever stopped their own work long enough to see the final stages of the felling, what was there to see?

Today on the other hand the Ponies had abandoned their own trees and decided to get under foot for the Humans.

R.J. was ready to spit,
"Get the fuck out o' my way!" he yelled, "Shit man, I almost took your fuckin' head off! Get out o' here!"

The blue Earth Pony mare laid her ears underneath her rust colored mane and stalked away, head held low. R.J. had ended up doing the same thing to five other Ponies already. He almost felt bad for it but whether he liked them or not, he was not about to behead one of them by accident. He had finally come to the conclusion that they were people too, just extremely different people.

The frustrated man swung his axe into the tree and left it embedded there,
"Someone else take over. I need me a break."

He watched a young Caucasian woman stopped her continuous walking and took his spot. He took her place and began walking as she started chopping on the tree. The blue mare had stopped outside the line of rope and just watched. R.J. kept an specific eye on her to make sure she never entered the danger zone.

He looked at the mare's tattoo, 'She got the symbol of a rotary saw blade on her butt. That probably means she works with wood and lumber so what was she doin' gettin' all up in my swing zone?'

"Timbeeeeeeeeeer!"

He turned his head toward the cry. The voice was distant and the flowing crash was like the punctuation on the end of the sentence. R.J. saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The blue mare seemed to be mouthing a word, almost as if she were trying to learn it by muscle memory.

"Timbeeeeeeeeeer!"

The yell came from the blue mare, as she charged for the tree,
"Shit! Stop chopping! STOP CHOPPING!" R.J. yelled.

The mare sped forward in a blur of speed just as the two people chopping on the tree stopped and looked up at her. The blue Earth Pony leapt more than six feet into the air and lowered her head like a battering ram. Her forehead impacted the trunk of the tree with an almighty crack of splintering wood.

The Humans jumped back and watched in awe as the tree fell over. They had only chopped half way through it. The mare landed on her hooves and cracked her neck then pulled a small axe out of a loop in her saddle bags and went to work on trimming the limbs from it. R.J. and the rest of the Humans stared in awe at the incredible feat of strength. Never in their wildest dreams had they ever imagined seeing such a thing. By all rights the mare should have pushed her spine into her own skull, yet she seemed fine.

R.J. was the first to recover,
"Let's get to trimmin'." he said loudly, "Looks like we got us a new shortcut. I'ma go spread the word."

* * *

Mike Spearman was heading the construction of the Lumber Mill. He had requisitioned a couple of rakes and spades from Morris and cleared off a square area that was one hundred feet across and deep. He and his crew had spent the first part of the morning raking up leaves and other debris into large piles then they tackled the tree stumps from the previous days.

Chris Vacca had sketched out a number of buildings on a sheet of paper that was the rough draft of a temporary Lumber Mill. There was a twenty foot by twenty foot area covered by a tarp that was supposed to function as a field first aid center. The tarp was held up by a series of eight foot tall poles that had been taken from the branches of the trees the Humans had already felled. A second and third area were covered by identically large tarps and were meant as a place for the Lumberjacks and Mill workers to rest. Some of the Lumberjacks, in their spare time, had taken to carving crude seats out of short logs and had begun to bring them out with them every day. The largest area by far was for lumber processing.

Chris and Morris had drawn up plans for sturdy carts which could haul the lumber around to where it needed to go, but the construction of them was on hold until the Mill was up and running.

Mike had seen the Ponies first thing in the morning and expected what he ended up with. The Ponies had emulated the Human's actions of digging up the stumps with shovels then pulling them out of the ground with ropes. The Ponies were all but useless with their short shovels. The angle they had to hold the shovels in order to dig was ineffective and their progress was pathetically slow. Mike took notice however once they attached a rope to the stump and pulled. Those suckers all but jumped out of the ground, taproot and all. The scene had given him an idea, and he had just about worked up the nerve to try it.

His careful observation had given him two distinct observations. One: the Ponies were extremely slow in the digging of the roots but very quick on pulling the actual stump. Two: the Humans were much faster at the digging but very slow on pulling the stump. The two groups had strengths and weaknesses and Mike was keen on monopolizing those strengths.

Both groups were getting ready to start on new stumps when he stepped in,
"Hey guys, get going on the digging and I'll be right back." the group shrugged and began digging and chopping.

Mike approached the Ponies cautiously. They were already starting on the digging themselves. There were six of them, all Earth Ponies. Their small shovels were in their mouths and the amounts of dirt they pulled up were sad.

"Hey!" Mike yelled at one of them.

The entire group stopped and turned toward him. Mike swallowed hard and began making hand motions. He walked up to one soil brown stallion and pointed at the shovel he was biting on then spread his hands and shook his head. He beckoned for the Ponies to follow him. They all looked at each other oddly but decided to indulge him. He led them to the stump his crew was working on and tied a rope around the top of the stump. He trailed the rope over to the Ponies and pointed to the rope then pointed to them. He picked up a shovel and pointed to himself and the other Humans, then pointed to the rope and the Ponies. He did this several more times before their faces lit up in comprehension. The stallion smiled and nodded. He led his group over to a small pile and they all set down their shovels then came back over to Mike and picked up the rope in their teeth.

Mike smiled and nodded then went to help his crew with digging. The Humans didn't take very long to dig around the entire base of the tree and after about twenty minutes of digging and chopping roots they stopped. Mike didn't even have to yell. The Ponies all picked up the rope and pulled. Their quadrupedal balance meant they could exert more than twice the pressure a Human could and the stump practically flew out of the ground.

Mike leapt into the air with a vigorous fist pump,
"Yes!" he turned to his crew, "Devon, Christie, and Hector, you three take three Ponies with you and get going on the next stump. We don't need six people on any single one. Take the Ponies with you and have them pull the stump once you have the base dug. We can double our speed like this. We'll have this Mill up and running in no time."

* * *

Eduardo and his crew marched wearily back to town for lunch. The crews of Lumberjacks and Fishermen were far enough away from town that they took food with them every morning. Eduardo and his crew however, were only assigned to clear and maintain the cobblestone roads so they came back to town for lunch. They each carried a wrapped and tied bundle of 'garden garbage' ingredients they had pulled from in between the stones.

Alex and his crew of forty cooks were already stoking their cook fires in preparation for lunch. Alex had settled into a good routine of twenty people to prep and serve the 'garden garbage special' while the other twenty prepped and served the food that had become quite the staple in town, soup. Alex already knew a great deal about various edible soups from his time as a vagrant and his set rotation of nineteen soups said that today was Potato And Fish Soup. Tomorrow would be Celery, Radish, Turnip, And Fish Soup and the day after would be Four Bean Soup with a side of Skillet Fried Fish. He reminded himself to tell Joyner to have someone build a chicken coup so he could have fresh eggs to supplement the fish.

Eduardo hailed Alex as he approached the communal kitchen,
"Hola amigo. Got some plant basura for you." he slung the bundle of weeds and flowers over his shoulder and plopped them down on the cobblestones then began untying them, "Found a bunch of dandelions in one section today. Should be a nice change of flavor for the Ponies."

He grabbed a handful of weeds and dipped them into the cauldron of fresh water that Alex set up every day for that exact purpose. Eduardo cleaned off each weed and handed it to Alex as four more of his ten person team settled around the cauldron and began doing the same thing. It had become a routine over the past ten days. Lunch was brought in by Eduardo and his crew and dinner was brought in by the people working in the fields.

"Hey Alex," Eduardo began, "Is that one Unicorn still following Ashley around?"

"Yep." Alex said setting a series of fresh weeds on his wide grill, "I've seen them a couple of times today. He's just following her around when they come topside, although I did see his horn lit up earlier when Ashley was dumping the crusty crap. I think he was helping her dump it out on the fertilizer pile."

"That's just plain weird man. One day she just gets an hombre for no apparent reason." Eduardo said.

Alex shrugged,
"Don't ask me," he chuckled, "I'm just a cook."

* * *

Rachel and David were out in the fields. They pulled weeds out from between the plants, dusted the dirt off the roots, then placed them into the burlap bags everyone wore on fabric shoulder straps. They had been at it since just after breakfast, they took their break for lunch, then went right back to it.

David had been humming some tune to himself quietly all day and Rachel was dying to know what it was,
"O.K. David, what in the world are you singing? It's catchy but I feel like I've heard it before."

David looked up from the tall stalk he was dusting off,
"Take a look at our equine friends." he said mysteriously, "They're the inspiration for it."

Rachel righted herself on her knees and looked at the Ponies. They were chomping down on weeds. Some went into their saddle bags while others went into their stomachs. They were quick at it too. Each weed took Rachel or David a good fifteen seconds while the Ponies could take care of one in about four seconds.

Rachel smiled at the memory of what had happened that morning. Chris Vacca had tried to explain that he wanted the Ponies to defecate in the fields but urinate in the latrines using hand motions. Their reactions were as if their was openly and obviously offended. The Ponies declined obviously and many looked at Chris very oddly. The Ponies had been pleasant enough though. They didn't fight or make tons of noise, and they were anything but intrusive, honestly it was quite peaceful.

Rachel couldn't figure it out and went back to weeding,
"O.K. I give. What's the connection?"

David smiled and began to sing,
"From the day we arrive on the planet," he paused for a breath, then continued, "And blinking step into the sun . . . "

Rachel instantly started laughing while David kept singing,
"REALLY!? The theme from Lion King?"

David nodded,
"There's more to see, than can ever be seen, more to do than can ever be done . . . "

"SHUT UP!" a chorus of voices yelled from all around David.

"What?" David asked innocently, "It's a good song."

* * *

Chris Vacca scratched his head in bewilderment,
"Who would have ever guessed that freaking Ponies were such profoundly good carpenters?"

He held in his hands an actual two by four, made by hoof, except it was closer to a plank of wood that was two and a quarter inches by four and a half inches. It was perfectly straight and Chris had boggled at their means of measuring. They used measuring tapes, 'They have tape measures made of rolled fabric . . . Why? Wouldn't the fabric stretch over time and with use? I mean, yeah, it's light weight and flexible, but damn, talk about fluffed up measurements.'

The Ponies had arrived first thing in the morning and had almost literally jumped into filing, stripping, cutting, and sanding the logs that R.J. and Mike's crews crews cut down. Chris had been more than a bit miffed at the initial intrusion but when he yelled at them, the Ponies looked so sad he just threw up his arms and decided to let them have a go at it.

It had worked out far, better than he could have hoped. Tina had met him in the morning to finalize his plans for the forge and gave them the 'go ahead'. Chris had shown the plans to the Ponies and they seemed to recognize it right away. One Earth Pony had made a bunch of strange hoof motions that the Humans didn't understand, so eventually he grew frustrated and pointed to one of the small holes in the cleared off foundations. Chris got the idea quickly enough and had his crew clean rotten wood out of the holes. Once that was done, the Ponies had looked like they could use some help, so everyone else went to assist.

In all seriousness, Chris was glad of it. It gave him and Tina a chance to work on the next plan: the mobile log-splitter. Ponies were obviously masters of working with wood the old-fashioned way, 'Get ready to see Human ingenuity at its finest.' he thought.

They stared at the massive device they had sketched out and began writing down new measurements in the Pony units of measure,
"Each wheel needs to be at least two feet wide and have a diameter of three feet for weight distribution. We need to make a steel wrap for the wheels so they don't warp out of shape . . . "

"We should also include metal cleats for traction." Tina added, "How do you plan to calculate out the size of the axle? It's going to be massively heavy."

Chris smiled,
"Oh yes it is, BUT," he pulled the pencil out from behind his ear, "Take a look at this." he pulled out a piece of paper in the back of the sheaf, "Recognize this?"

"A treadmill?" Tina asked, "Why would you want a random . . . " she trailed off as Chris pointed to the drawing next to it, "TWO treadmills? Why in the world . . . No." she turned slowly and looked at Chris in utter disbelief, "SERIOUSLY!?" she shouted, "You want this thing to be powered by PONIES on a freaking TREADMILL?"

Chris smiled and pointed,
"Correction, TWO Ponies on treadmills. Not only could they supply the mobility with their strength, they can also rotate the saw blade. More to the point, they rotate the saw blade and we guide the logs. Their strength matched up with our dexterity."

Tina turned her head and regarded Chris,
"Have you even asked any of them if they'd do it?"

Chris scratched his head,
"Well not ASKED specifically, but they seemed to like the idea on paper."

* * *

Steady Hoof pulled back Darryl's left eyelid and shined her penlight into his eye, then she did the same thing to his right. The tiny crystal that powered the light cut off as she clicked the on/off button with one the prehensile primary feathers on her right wing. She set down the penlight and pried open his mouth then closed it after a moment.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Clean Bill.

Clean Bill was an Earth Pony doctor. She was a auburn coated young mare with a mane and tail that were a very light shade of brown. Her mane was short and spiky but had a shock of vibrant cobalt blue running through it while her tail was elegantly long and the blue was far more pronounced. She was standing on the right side of Darryl while Steady Hoof stood on the left.

The older Pegasus mare shook her head. She used her wing to slip the penlight back into her white coat, "If he were a Pony, I would have a Unicorn specialist check the Magerium levels of his Screfula for fluctuations, but he's a Human. He doesn't even have a Screfula. There's magic flowing through his blood, we already know that, but it has nowhere to go. It looks like the magic in his blood is poisoning him."

Clean Bill cocked her head to the right,
"Thamaturgic Septicemia then? If that's what he has then why aren't any of the other Humans showing signs of it?"

Steady Hoof shrugged her shoulders,
"I have no idea, but it's not serious. I'll put him on a light, steady dose of Thamaturgic Neutralizer, Thamauocillen should do the trick quite nicely. It should clear up in a few weeks."

"Alright, but how should we tell the Humans?" Clean Bill asked.

Steady Hoof turned toward the door of the room, where Bobby, Cessily, and Leo were waiting nervously,
"The same way we deliver any positive diagnosis to a family: with a smile, and a prescription."

Clean Bill frowned,
"That sounds awfully patronizing, Dr. Hoof."

"And it is. Thamaturgic Septicemia is a very simple diagnosis." Steady Hoof began.

"Not in a world without magic." Clean Bill said pointedly.

"True enough, I suppose, but take a look at them. They're dirty and easy to anger, honestly they don't look all that smart either." she chuckled into her left wing, "They probably still use maggots to clean out dead flesh from an injury. Granted it works and works quite well, but there's more hygienic ways of going about it."

The two Ponies smiled and nodded to the three pensive Humans at the door. The Humans smiled back and followed the Ponies into the central triage area. Steady Hoof rummaged around the medicines until she found a glass bottle with tiny white pills inside. She lipped the bottle into her mouth and motioned for Cessily to come forward. Cessily Richardson walked up to Steady Hoof and the Pegasus mare deposited the bottle into her hands.

Steady Hoof gently bit the edge of Cessily's blanket/dress and pulled her to the room where Darryl was laying. She pulled her over to Darryl and pointed at the glass bottle then to Darryl. Cessily got the idea very quickly. She popped open the bottle and selected one pill. She held up the one pill between her fingers, out toward Steady Hoof. The Pegasus mare nodded so Cessily pried open Darryl's mouth and shoved the pill down the unconscious Marine's throat, then capped the bottle.

Steady Hoof smiled and nodded then turned to Clean Bill,
"Smart enough to be taught a few things apparently."

A scream of pain echoed up from the first floor, a voice followed it,
"Stay back! Give us some space!"

* * *

Mike Joyner had decided to join the Fishermen for the day. It was good work and it was hard work. He stood perfectly still, Proud Hoof's trident held firmly in his hands, waiting for a fish to swim by. He had only been waiting for the past four minutes when a nice, big, fat fish swam right in front of the trident. It looked like a two-foot long Grayling. Mike stabbed the trident out like a striking snake and speared the fish right through the side then lifted it out of the water.

Mike was quite happy with his catch. He waded through the water back toward the bank,
"Lieutenant Joyner!" someone yelled.

Mike looked up and saw R.J. Brinsin standing on the shoreline waving his arms about wildly,
"What's up?" he asked.

"One o' my crew, Willard, he wasn't payin' attention and got his leg cut really bad!" R.J. said.

Mike pulled out all the stops and bounded toward the shoreline as quickly as he could,
"Everyone keep working. I'm going to go see to our guy. Stay here and keep fishing." he reached the shoreline and handed the trident off to one of the fish cleaners, "Where is he?"

"We took 'im to the med station. Hauled 'im up the stairs an' erething." R.J. broke into a quick jog heading back to town, "I used one o' the colored flags and tied it right around the cut, but it bled right through. I think it hit an artery or somethin'."

"Bobby's got him now, right?" Mike asked.

R.J. nodded,
"Yeah man." he answered in his playful tone then turned serious, "He'll be O.K. though, right?"

"Bobby was an Army Medic and a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman, of course he'll be alright." Joyner said with more sincerity than he felt, "If he had his full load out, that is." he whispered.

* * *

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Willard screamed as the four people carrying him set him down in the triage area.

Willard was held by his feet, right arm, and left shoulder. His left hand was clutching a blood-soaked cloth against his left thigh, roughly two inches below his crotch. His teeth were gritted in agony and his body was covered with splinters of chopped wood, dirt, and sweat.

"What happened?" Bobby asked sliding on his knees next to Willard.

He pulled Willard's blanket/clothing up and out of the wide wound in his thigh and gritted his teeth. The wound was five inches long and looked to be an inch and a half deep. Bobby was about to ask for iodine when a head appeared on his left and partially shoved him over. The head was followed by a four-legged body with wings.

"Hold him down, so we can work." Steady Hoof ordered.

Five more Ponies moved into position and held down Willard's right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, and head. The one holding bis left leg held it just below the knee.

"Oh hell no!" Bobby spat, "Leo, get me the iodine and alcohol. Cessily get me a suture kit prepped and sterilized." he stood up to his full height and clenched his jaw.

Clean Bill and the other doctors backed away when Bobby tapped Steady Hoof on the top of her head, none too gently. Steady Hoof raised her head and stared at Jewel pensively, scowling. Bobby motioned Steady Hoof out of the way abruptly with his hands then pointed to what Leo and Cessily were doing. Steady Hoof saw the iodine and suture kit being prepped, 'Hmm, those are the same things I was about to ask for. Alright Human, you can give it a shot, but I'll be watching your every move. Just don't put the patient in jeopardy.' she stepped back stiffly and Bobby knelt down next to Willard again.

Steady Hoof took wing and hovered above Bobby Jewel's shoulder as she watched him work,
"Clamp that artery shut so I can wash out the cavity." he ordered Leo.

Leo clamped the indicated artery and clicked the base together to hold it closed,
"Thank god it didn't withdraw into his body. Done."

"Got a second one, quarter inch out from the bone, lot bigger, clamp it quick, it's liable to withdraw or collapse." he never took his eyes off his patient, "Cessily, I need that full suture kit on a tray, sterilized and prepped, and I need it yesterday."

"Still working on it." Richardson said evenly.

Leo spotted the second artery but he could see it already withdrawing,
"Damnit, I can't get to it!"

A veridian glow surrounded the severed end of the artery and pulled it outward and into range of Leo's clamp, 'I'll have to thank one o' the Unicorns for that after we get finished with this poor bastard.' He didn't care who helped, he was just glad they did. He clamped the artery shut and clicked the end to hold it.

"We gonna need to put him under you think?" Leo asked.

Bobby nodded,
"Without a doubt. Quick test, if the patient is awake and requires surgery, but the patient's medical records aren't available, what's the first step?"

"Ask the patient if they have any allergies." Cessily and Leo answered in unison.

"Correct. Cessily, I'm busy over here and Leo's tied up, you ask him." Bobby ordered.

The Pony holding Willard's head had stuffed a fabric-wrapped stick in between his teeth so he wouldn't accidentally bite off his own tongue. Cessily had the suture kit ready on a metal tray. She set it down on Bobby's right and knelt down next to the Earth Pony holding his head.

Cessily gripped Willard's jaw and pried open his mouth then removed the stick,
"Willard." she called.

Willard didn't seem to hear her, as his eyes flew back and forth and he struggled against the Ponies holding him down.

Cessily hauled back and slapped his roughly across the cheek,
"Willard!"

The injured young man's eyes turned toward her,
"Aaaaahhhhh! It hurts! Aaarrrggg!" he clenched his eyes shut, "Make it stop! I don't wanna die!"

"We're trying to Willard, but we need to know if you're allergic to anythin'." Richardson asked.

Willard tried to shake his head but the Pony held him tightly,
"No allergies!" his whole body tensed and he struggled against the Ponies holding him, "Ah GOD! It hurts!" he panted for breath as Cessily pried his jaw open and replaced the stick.

"No allergies Bobby." she said then stood up, "Suture kit is prepped, what do you need?"

"Give me twenty C.C.s of . . . " Bobby began.

Steady Hoof watched with keen interest, 'Smooth, practiced motions, calm yet urgent demeanor, steady movements, obvious knowledge of the circulatory system. Not bad, not bad at all.'

"They're really using those maggots for all they're worth aren't they?" Clean Bill said teasingly.

"Oh shush you." Steady Hoof sniped.

Even if she wasn't inclined to admit it, she was impressed. Steady Hoof was NOT a mare who was impressed easily or often and even she couldn't help the very slight upturned corners of her mouth.

* * *

"Ugh, what the hell happened?" Darryl asked as he tried to rub his head, only to discover his arms wouldn't move, "And why the hell am I tied up?"

He looked around trying to figure out where he was. The room was dark, pitch black save for a beam of moonlight streaming in from the window behind where he lay.

Cessily Richardson stepped into the moonlight that illuminated Darryl's prone form,
"You were pretty out of it." she said kneeling down next to him, "How do you feel?"

Darryl pursed his lips, deep in thought,
"Well, I'm laying down in a dark room, I'm tied up and helpless, and there's an attractive woman standing over me. Honestly I'm kind of turned on." he said with a cheesy grin.

Cessily rolled her eyes,
"You're coherent now, but you were royally fucked up earlier. One of the Ponies gave you some kind of pill and you're fine now, but you were screaming about bugs this morning." she said as she began to untie him, "You've been here all day."

Darryl flopped his head back on the blanket he was lying on,
"Fucking great." he muttered sarcastically, "Here I am lazing around while everyone else is working." he bit his lower lip for a brief moment then spat, "Well shit."

"Don't worry about it," Cessily soothed him, "We got everything covered for ya. Nobody's upset with you." she finished untying him and stood up, "Now," she began with a smirk, "Git yo lazy ass up Marine! What, you think we runnin' some kinda fuckin' daycare!? Get yo ass downstairs an' get you some food and rest up, on the double! HUT, HUT, HUT, HUT, HUT, HUT!"

Darryl sprung up from the floor and threw a smart salute while grinning like a maniac,
"SIR, YES SIR!"

He stopped and hugged Cessily,
"Thanks for taking care of me Cess. I owe you one."

"You don't owe me nothin' Darryl, just rest up for tomorrow. Come get your pill in the morning, every day." she patted him on the back, "We got a lot o' work to do."

Darryl trotted off looking invigorated,
"An' now we got some friends to help." she whispered.

She walked out of Darryl's recovery room and into Willard's. Clean Bill was monitoring the young man, lying on the ground next to him. His leg had been stitched back together tightly and he had stopped bleeding but Bobby had asked that someone stay and monitor him for any signs of infection, since the surgery had taken place in an non-sterile environment. Bobby had managed to relay his concern to the Ponies through hand signs and drawings. The shifts were supposed to last for four runs of the hourglass next to Willard's bed and Cessily was a few minutes early for her shift.

Clean Bill was lying next to Willard humming a quiet lullaby. Cessily couldn't identify the tune but she simply stood behind the mare and listened for several minutes.

"Emooli apo notie vocae liaponat,
emooli apo notie vocae liaponat,
se-riun raa tirum ocee vinto aotat."

"Des seilia raa teena amop ventu rahue,
omae soca unuu softha atu notu nyun.
Delfeethee aut no soca," Cessily scuffed her foot against the floor by accident and it brushed the mare's tail.

Clean Bill's head snapped toward Cessily. The young woman was all but invisible in the dark to Human eyes, to a Pony she actually WAS invisible. That fact was not lost on Cessily Richardson. She knelt down and placed her hand on Clean Bill's back. The mare startled but didn't move anything except her eyes. She could just barely make out Cessily's silhouette in the darkness.

The Earth Pony mare smiled, remembering who was supposed to relieve her. She patted her left fore hoof on a folded blanked next to her. Cessily sat down and folded her knees up to her chest then wrapped her arms around them.

The two of them sat there in the darkness, singing soft lullabies until morning.