//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32: Laid To Rest: Part 2 
// Story: The Unity Pact 
// by Truthseeker 
//------------------------------//



Chris, Razor, and I untangled ourselves from each other and returned to New Humansville. We walked slowly, saying little. There wasn't much to be said. With pent up feelings and frustrations finally spent, we perked up a good deal on the way back. I felt normal enough once we arrived that I headed to the lunch buffet tables.

When the Princesses cater something, they CATER it. There were literally hundreds of tables set all around the Town Square each with a single dish set out and loads more waiting to be used. Steaming trays sported all kinds various foods, some familiar, many not. Some of the more familiar ones were deviled eggs, ice cold potato salad, and crisp cucumber sandwiches. One of the dishes that absolutely threw me for a loop was something very much like tuna salad except the slightly disturbed looking Unicorn serving the food at the table claimed it was salmon salad. The other dish that really surprised me was steamed shrimp. The Unicorn working that particular table looked positively green, probably because the shrimp had not been gutted or prepped, only boiled and their little eyes were clearly visible.

Of the more unusual foods, I saw the standard Equestrian salad, which was as hearty as ever, a type of fried hay or straw, sandwiches made of flowers, a type of bark laid out in strips with this gray paste dolloped on top that I had never even seen a Pony eat before and finally, the most odd of all, were huge mounds of what looked suspiciously like flame broiled weeds.

Alex Ludwig was manning the table that had the fried weeds on it. He had a fire pit behind the table and seemed to be making plates of the stuff by the order. A small banner hanging on the front of the table claimed it was a recipe that had was a New Humansville specialty called 'Garden Garbage Medley'. I was surprised to see a long line of Ponies waiting for their turn to try some.

After making a plate heaping with food, I took the time to catch up with all my friends and find out what I had missed. There was a lot to hear about. I managed to gather up Razor and Twilight as well as all the other girls and introduced them to all my friends. Razor apparently had already met Chris and Alex at some point and I was thankful she had a solid command of American so I didn't have to translate everything for her.

I made it a point to talk to as many of the family members of the deceased Civil Guard as I could. The conversations were awkward but they were very polite so that made the entire ordeal much easier to handle. I told them how much it meant to me that their loved ones had dedicated themselves to safeguarding my friends and that they would be welcome, if they decided to move to New Humansville. To my slight surprise three of the families said they were already planning on it. They claimed it was so they could watch the town and beings their family had died for, grow and develop. I didn't fully understand their reasoning, but then again, I hardly knew anything about their culture.

After I spoke with the families, I wondered around for a while until I spotted Bobby sitting down next to a fantastically gorgeous red headed woman I had never seen before. That fact struck me as singularly odd, since I knew almost everyone who was with us when we arrived and I was absolutely certain I had never seen this woman before.

The two of them were sitting alone on one of the vacant foundations behind one of the two story stone buildings when I approached them. Both had plates of food sitting on their laps. Bobby was chowing down on his food but the woman's plate looked completely untouched. I examined her as I drew closer to the pair. She was thin, but in a healthy way, her skin was fair, her figure was full, she was clean looking and her hands were delicate and slender. She was wearing a long, sleeveless baby blue dress that went down to her feet.

"Hey Bobby, long time no see." I said jovially.

He looked up from his plate,
"Oh hey man." he set his plate aside and rose to his feet and shook my hand, "Glad to have you back with us." he looked at the side of my head and my thin build, "You know, I have to be honest with you, if Chris hadn't told me who you were, I would never have recognized you."

I smiled at the playful jab,
"And who is this." I asked gesturing to the woman, "I don't believe we've met."

Bobby turned around and motioned to the woman,
"None of us had until she appeared out of the forest and just wandered into town. We can't figure out the story behind her but she's friendly as all get-out. She doesn't talk though. I've taken to calling her Becky." he lowered his voice, "Luna claimed she's a creature called a Changeling, but so far I haven't seen anything but a woman."

I held my tongue, knowing a little about Changelings from hearing Twilight talking about them. They were parasitic creatures that Twilight had described as hideous, cruel, greedy, and morally destitute, willing to do anything because they didn't care about anyone or anything other than themselves. I had never heard her speak with such virulence as when I heard her talk about Changelings. Apparently their leader duked it out with Celestia and came out on top, a very sobering notion. 'Becky' set aside her plate and rose to her feet. She smiled at me then opened her arms as if for a hug. 'She's in disguise so she probably won't hurt me and shying away might make her suspicious.'

Completely forgetting what Twilight had told me about my magic earlier that very morning, I hugged her. The moment my hands touched her, her form shimmered then vanished. She went stiff as a board and didn't move, I wasn't sure she was breathing. I saw her body change color and I kicked myself mentally, 'You . . . IDIOT.' Bobby took a step back but other than that held his reaction. I realized her disguise was gone and nearly panicked, 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What do I do?' I screwed up my courage and decided to take a gamble, a very stupid gamble. Twilight had told me that Changelings could speak so I went with a quiet tone.

I cleared my throat and spoke in a near whisper in Velevsovth,
"Do not be afraid." as soon as the words left my mouth, she tensed, it was so slight I almost missed it, and would have had I not been prepared, "You're in no danger. I know what you are, but as long as you don't bring any harm to anyone, I see no reason to call you out. Nod if you understand me."

She nodded very subtly into my shoulder, so I continued,
"We already knew. Princess Luna identified you days ago but she didn't do anything to you. Think very carefully about your next move. There are two ways this could end for you and the choice is yours. I'm going to let you go now and if you want, you can attack Bobby and I the way Changelings did in Canterlot, but be warned, if you do we will win and you will not walk away. You have a chance here. We are not of your world and we may well help you. Tragedy or triumph, live or die, make your choice."

I slowly unwrapped my arms from around her,
"Bobby, I've given her a choice. If she attacks, try to take her alive, if she doesn't, let me try talking to her."

Bobby nodded and I saw him slip his right hand behind his back as I let go of 'Becky' completely. I stepped back, ready but refusing to make the first move. I was shocked at her, I assumed 'her', appearance. Her skin looked like chitin but I had felt something more akin to smooth leather under my fingers. Her eyes were the same huge size as a Pony but she had no pupil or iris, the entirety of each eye was baby blue, just like her dress. Small fangs protruded from her short muzzle and a jagged hole-filled horn rose up from her forehead. Her four limbs were Pony-like but filled with circular holes that seemed to go clear through her limbs. She stood on her hind legs for a moment, unmoving. She had a surprisingly expressive face for something that looked almost bug-like. My comprehension of Kavim expressions was far from perfect but the look of fear and trepidation spread across her features was unmistakable. I noticed something else, she was thin, more so than I was. The blue dress hung off her shoulders loosely, attesting to the thinness of her frame. Her build was slight and I guessed she didn't even weigh a hundred pounds. She was a demure, tiny little thing and for the life of me, I couldn't fathom why Twilight had seemed so angry, so bitter, it bordered on hateful. The creature in front of us looked almost like a terrified, malnourished, adolescent.

Bobby didn't move, 'Becky' didn't move, and I didn't move. We all just stood in a triangle, staring at each other for almost a full minute.

Being the impatient one, I broke the silence,
"If you're going not going to attack or flee, you might want to put your disguise back on." I said in Velensovth.

She blinked, I had never seen anything insect-like blink before, before her horn lit up and her disguise as 'Becky' came back up. She didn't make a single move, even after her disguise was in place. Her fearful expression translate over, almost perfectly onto her Human face.

She was not what I would consider 'cute' or 'adorable' by any stretch of the imagination, but her expression was just too pitiful for even me to ignore,
"It's alright," I said softly in Velensovth, "If you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you."

"What are you saying over there?" Bobby asked.

"I'm trying to keep her calm. Bear with me man." I replied in American.

"I have to leave." she said, speaking for the first time, "The Princesses, they'll kill me."

Her voice gave me the impression of a young woman, I turned to Bobby,
"Does she sound almost like a kid to you?"

Bobby nodded,
"In tone and pitch, yeah."

I turned back to her,
"If Princess Luna didn't do anything to you before, what makes you think she'll do anything now?" I asked, "If she left you alone maybe you should take it as an opportunity." I decided to switch tactics, "Why are you here?"

Her large eyes narrowed,
"To steal love of course! That's all Changelings ever do!" she said angrily, it was obviously a sore subject, "We kidnap and kill Ponies so we can take their form and steal love and cause pain and suffering!"

I crossed my arms and pursed my lips,
"Uh-huh. You want to calm down and tell me why you're REALLY here?"

"I was starving alright!" she spat, "We're dying because of the Queen! She promised us food! She promised us no more nights spent staring up at the night sky, waiting to die of starvation! We believed her and we fought and we lost and now we have even less than we did before!" she looked torn between wanting to cry and wanting to fight.

I thought I didn't have control of my emotions, this poor thing was a train-wreck, 
"We all fought, every one of us who could fly!" I saw Celestia poke her head around the corner of the building behind 'Becky', "We fought and died! The shield of love that pushed us out, it supersaturated any who touched it! There was too much love! The ones who touched it swelled up and split open like overripe melons! Thousands of us, dead in the badlands! My Mother and Father, my sisters, they're all DEAD!" she looked ready to fight, "The Ponies knew! The Queen told us! She went to the Ponies and pleaded our case!" she took a breath and seemed to swell with anger, "They didn't care! The Ponies knew we were starving and they didn't care! We were too ugly!" she yelled, "They didn't care that we watched our young starve to death! They didn't care because we aren't born as pretty as they are! I don't know why they didn't kill you off!" she pointed toward me, she was nearly hyperventilating, "You're as ugly as I am! Maybe if I kill you, they'll let me live!"

I couldn't tell if Bobby saw Celestia, he was too far in my peripherals. I nearly flinched when I saw Twilight poke her head around the opposite corner from her former mentor, while 'Becky' was still talking. She looked puzzled that this seemingly normal Human woman was so fluent in Velensovth for a moment, then her horn lit up and her face darkened.

As soon as 'Becky' paused for a breath, I held up my hands, speaking to her but also speaking to the two watching Alicorns,
"Let's just calm down and talk about this. Nobody's going to do anything rash. I'm not going to hurt you, and you haven't made a single threatening motion to us either. You're obviously upset, but you need to try to calm down." I said, "I don't know about you," I said to all three females, "But I like to at least TRY to judge on a case by case basis. Making broad assumptions about anybody because of their species doesn't seem right to me." I took a step toward 'Becky', "Just calm down and we can help you."

Bobby stepped in front of me, he did not look very happy,
"I have no idea what you said to piss her off so bad, but you need to back off, right now. She may not be pretty, but she hasn't done anything wrong, that I've seen, so just leave her alone."

Behind him, 'Becky's face registered shock, but she quickly smoothed it over,
"I'm leaving before one of the Alicorns gets me. If one of them knows, it's just a matter of time before they capture me, and I won't endanger the remains of the Hive anymore than necessary. You two are the first to actually give me a chance, but I can't stay, and if you're smart, you'll get away from the Ponies before they turn on you." she halfway turned before looking back, "I can't understand him, but he's defending me isn't he."

I nodded and she continued,
"Tell him," she said gesturing to Bobby, "Thank you for me. I've never had anyone stand up for me before, after they saw the real me. I promise, as much as I am able, I'll try to make sure none of the Hive ever hurts one of you."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Alana." she turned around and froze.

Standing at the mouth of the alleyway between the two buildings was Celestia,
"That's a very pretty name." she said softly.

Alana took a step back from Celestia only to fin herself grabbed from behind by Bobby,
"Leave her alone!" he shouted, pushing her behind himself.

Celestia smiled,
"Did you know," she began, "That Changelings can weave compulsory spells around their victims, often making them turn on their friends, even family?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed as she spoke, but Celestia continued,
"How interesting then, that you chose to defend her when she is threatened, yet she has not used one on you." she said in American.

Alana shifted and Celestia's smile vanished, she spoke to the Changeling in Velensovth,
"We have not been idle since the Changeling attack, we have developed spells to detect that sort of thing, thanks to Twilight. Our counter-spells for Mind magic were extremely limited since we did not use them with great frequency," she added the next part under her breath, "Until recently, thanks to you crazy Humans." she cleared her throat, "I have already seen that you have yet to do anything untoward against the citizens of this town. That being the case, should you wish to leave at any time," she seemed almost reluctant to say the next part, "Neither I, nor anypony else has the right to force you to stay against your will." she let out a sigh that spoke volumes of her difficulty with the statement, "Furthermore, I will halt any who decide to impede your departure. I will ask that if you decide to leave, please do so quietly. We have many emotionally distraught families here and a scene would not be good for them."

Alana didn't move, Bobby spoke up,
"Jesus Princess, she's shaking like a leaf! What the fuck did you say to her!?"

"I told her she was free to leave if she wished. I suspect she believes I plan to fall back on my word as she is terrified of me."

"She's telling the truth Bobby." I said in American.

Alana slowly and gently pushed Bobby away, Bobby looked back to her, realizing what was coming next,
"Tell him I'm sorry." she turned and ran.

Bobby chased after her, but Celestia never made a move, surprisingly, neither did Twilight. I watched the two of them slowly vanish in to distance.

I turned back to Celestia,
"Was there any truth to her accusations?" I asked, "Did you know they were starving?"

Celestia closed her eyes and nodded,
"I did." I opened my mouth to lambast her, but she continued speaking, "Queen Chrysalis sent a messenger to Canterlot with a letter. In that letter she described a food shortage the Changelings had been suffering. Now, mind you, they had been infiltrating Equestria for thousands of years and we knew what they were. Nevertheless Luna and I responded to her letter, saying we would do anything, within reason, to help."

Celestia opened her eyes and looked straight at me,
"She is a proud one, that Queen. She waited until the situation was desperate. She demanded that one Pony per Changeling be sent to the Badlands to serve as food for her subjects. They were to live out the rest of their lives as literal meal factories, cocooned in sacks. Now Chrysalis assured me their dream worlds while in the sacks would be paradise, but we could never send thousands of our subjects to such a fate."

Celestia paused for a breath before continuing,
"I offered Chrysalis an alternative plan in my response letter. I offered to ask Ponies to volunteer to feed the Hive if the Changelings came to Equestria. Chrysalis refused, adamant that her plan was the only way and that there were enough Ponies to repopulate. She accused me of lying to her and said Equestria did not have the right to withhold food that could sustain her own subjects. Luna came up with a second offer to send Ponies to the Badlands to settle a colony nearby to establish a type of trade agreement. She refused yet again and swore revenge against Luna and I and all the Ponies within Canterlot."

Celestia shook her head,
"Shining Armor erected a shield around all of Canterlot for protection. What none of us had anticipated was that Chrysalis herself was already in Canterlot, posing as Cadence, Shining Armor's bride." Celestia huffed moodily and continued, "The rest of the story you already know. I believe that Chrysalis' first letter was genuine, but that her second and third letters were a ruse. She apparently altered events substantially and convinced the Changelings that Equestria was an enemy." she hung her head sadly, "I had no idea that so many of them perished. I was so angry I neglected to send out anypony to investigate. If Cadence knew, it would tear her apart."

I closed my mouth, unable to find it in my heart to condemn her. Chrysalis owed her subjects a great deal it seemed. Twilight came out from her corner and nuzzled Celestia affectionately. I could only shake my head and look at the ground, what a mess.

After a moment I raised my head and sighed dejectedly,
"Alright then, when are we going to get on with this meeting and where is it supposed to be held?" I asked Celestia.

"It will be held in the empty area around the lake." Celestia said, "I need to go check on the preparations."

"You wouldn't be hoping to spot a certain Changeling from the air would you?" I asked.

Celestia looked at me with an expression I had never seen before,
"I do NOT fall back on my word." with that she spread her wings and took to the sky.

*          *          *

Once I returned to the reception, I was approached by a certain impressively well-built white stallion,
"I've heard a lot about you from Twilight." he said extending his right fore hoof, "Shining Armor."

We were in the Town Square among the Humans and Ponies. Most had finished eating and were simply chatting among themselves. The two groups seemed to stay away from intermingling, the language barrier was still a problem for everyone except Razor and I.

I grasped his hoof, the millions of tiny hairs on the bottom of his hoof tightening around my fingers,
"Dan Pering, but my friends call me Artex Rias."

Shining smirked and lowered his hoof,
"Crash Course huh? Good name according to what Twilight told me. She says you're one tough nut."

"Yeah, you shouldn't believe everything you hear." I replied, "I'm a wimp and my pain tolerance threshold is really low." I gestured to my arms, "Do I look like any sort of tough person?"

Shining Armor smiled up at me,
"Asks the one who ventured off alone to help his people, got his face rearranged, took on a pack of Timber Wolves solo, and is the only Human present who can speak Velensovth."

I rolled my eyes,
"Smart ass."

Shining Armor cocked his head in confusion,
"I'm not a Donkey."

I face-palmed and shook my head,
"It's a Human expression, never mind."

"Twilight said you were powerful." Shining ventured, "You can stop magic with a touch?"

I nodded my head,
"Yeah, that's true. I try not to use it though because it's apparently painful for the Unicorn when I break their spell."

"I'll be sure to remember that. What are your Noun and Verb levels?" he asked.

"Well for my hands, I think Twilight said my Destruction was a four and my Magic was a . . . five I think." I said.

Shining Armor's eyes widened,
"Woah, a four and a five? I'm a three in Destruction and a five in Magic. My strongest combination is Creation and Magic, together any spell I cast with those two is an eleven, which is actually higher than Twilight but the rest of my Nouns and Verbs are threes. I focused on Creation and I was born with a knack for Magic so it's extra potent. I'm impressed."

"Don't be," I deadpanned, " I'm 'blind' in most Nouns and Verbs."

Shining cringed,
"Eesh," he patted my hand, "I'm sorry."

I shrugged,
"I lived my entire life without any magic at all before I came here so I'm happy to have any at all."

Cadence trotted up behind Shining Armor and nipped at his left flank playfully,
"YIPE!"

He turned around quickly and Cadence gave him a peck on the cheek,
"Come on, we need to be going."

He turned back to me and smiled,
"Well looks like it's time for me to go." he offered his hoof to me once more, "Good to meet you Artex."

I shook his hoof,
"You as well." I turned to Cadence, "Maybe next time we can talk too ma'am."

Cadence smiled warmly,
"I hope so. Twilight has such interesting things to say about you."

The two of them departed and I was left standing in place wondering what to do next. A tap on my right shoulder answered that question quickly enough. I turned and saw Bobby standing right behind me. He looked forlorn and winded.

"You couldn't catch her huh?" I asked sadly.

Bobby shook his head, he looked crestfallen and very sad,
"I tried man, but she was too fast. Once she was out of town she shifted into her natural form and took to the air." he hung his head, "She never did anything wrong, Crash." he clenched his hands into fists, "Why did the Princess have to chase her away."

I rested my right hand on his shoulder,
"It wasn't her fault. She never threatened Alana."

Bobby's head snapped up suddenly,
"That was her name?" he shook his head, "She may not have been pretty in her true form but . . . " he stomped his left foot angrily, "She was a nice person."

"I'm sorry, it's my fault. Twilight told me just this morning about my magic and I completely forgot." I said.

Bobby looked puzzled,
"What do you mean? Humans don't have magic."

"Yeah we do. That's why her disguise failed when my hands touched her. I have constant effect magic on my hands that disrupts spells. I'm sorry Bobby, if I had remembered what Twilight told me this would never have happened." I said.

He looked at me, face unreadable. I couldn't help but wonder what was going on behind those eyes. What was he thinking, feeling. His right fist connecting with the left side of my jaw spun me half way around. It hurt like hell and I almost fell over. He had one hell of a right hook. I gripped my jaw and turned back toward him but he was already walking away into the crowd. I just stood there, watching him silently as he disappeared from view.

"I'm sorry Bobby." I said quietly.

Princess Celestia landed on the cobblestones amidst the crowd of Humans and Ponies and raised her head,
"Will all residents of New Humansville please go down to the prepared area around the lake for the discussion of rules, regulations, and laws. Those of you who do not live here are welcome to attend if you wish but are under absolutely no obligation to do so. There will be a catered dinner for all attendees during a recess in the meeting and desert will be catered at the conclusion of the meeting. We will see you there."

I sighed and began walking in the direction everyone else was,
"Time to go to work."