We met up with the soldiers where they had seemed to set up a small camp. The helicopter was nowhere in sight. They shied away from me, which I couldn't exactly hold against them, being a live carrier still. "The herd's calmed down for the most part." I clapped the pony-human on the shoulder. "Meet the new leader, who you should talk to if there are any needs or concerns."
Samantha smiled nervously as she looked around at the soldiers. "My name's Samantha, nice to meet you all. I'll do my best to keep them all happy and out of everyone's way. Is there any food ready? We're starving."
Food was available, though it was rations. Tasted terrible, but was better than an empty stomach by a small margin. "We're not exactly equipped to serve proper meals out here. Command said you'd want this." They offered a bag. Inside, seeds.
I accepted the bag gratefully. "What is it, corn? Potatoes?"
"Alfalfa."
Sandra snorted out a half-giggle. "You're messing with us. Feeding the horses alfalfa, of course."
Dusk shook his head. "No, wait. I... remember alfalfa being a nitrogen fixer. It'll help enrich the ground, and we probably can eat it just fine."
I passed the bag to Samantha. "You know what to do. Get this in the hooves of your earth ponies and set them to planting. Pegasi should make sure the field is lightly watered."
Samantha gestured at herself with a hoof. "Aren't I an earth pony? I don't have wings or a horn."
Sandra nodded. "Welcome to the club. We're very important ponies right now."
Dusk shuffled a little, looking uncomfortable. I reached for him and pet over his head. "Unicorns are useful too. You're the only type that can burn out the infection."
"About that." One of the soldiers looked between us. "We'd like to get that crowd cleaned out and safe for contact. Command also wants some farmers ready to move."
I held up my hands. "Bad idea. At least, don't recruit from this herd yet. They're still recovering and learning. Go to Crystal's herd and ask her, she'll have some already prepped and eager to get to work. Speaking of which, we have sick and injured. Any chance of a doctor?"
He shrugged. "We barely have doctors for humans, let alone veterinarians for horses, or supplies for either, and no one would want to come out here and swim into a sea of infectious horses to see a sick one. Clear them out and we can talk from there."
And so it went. Samantha took her new role as leader seriously, listening to the needs and complaints of her fellow ponies while leading from the front. She toiled in the farm alongside other earth ponies. Sometimes she sat with the weak and injured and comforted them with her presence and milk.
I had little time to be idle either. Earth ponies were converted to farmer class and pegasi were blessed with wings matching their remaining gift power. It seemed wing-based posturing was mildly instinctive, as they quickly began comparing sizes, and the mare and stallion with the biggest seemed to get significantly more attention from their peers. Amusingly, they paid little attention to each other, and the male became quite the stud. I never saw the guy with the same mare twice. The alpha mare wasn't any better.
Sandra smiled with pride. "You'll notice the earth ponies don't get into these silly habits."
I perked ears at Sandra. "You identify with them a lot lately."
Sandra blinked and shrank a little. "Shouldn't I? I am one too."
Dusk moved in against Sandra and nuzzled into her neck. "You're the best one."
Sandra laughed at his affection and playfully tackled him to the ground, hugging him tightly. "And you're the best unicorn we have."
The unicorns were the roughest bit. Each had to be trained how to do as I did. The herd was too large for me to do them all myself in any reasonable amount of time, so it was important work, but most of the unicorns were fairly traumatized and their magic was stunted and hesitant. Dusk came through for us there, showing them patiently how to be at-home with their horns.
Unicorns seemed to be a true minority after a headcount of the herd entire. About thirty percent were pegasi, sixty were earth ponies, and the last ten percent were unicorns. Of course, being such a large grouping, even ten percent was a nice collection, and their help sped up the conversion of the herd quite a bit, but I wondered... "Dusk?"
"Yeah?"
"This is going to sound odd, but how's your libido?"
Dusk looked confused. "Doing fine, I think? I... admit a few of the mares took an interest in me and I didn't say no. Doing it like a horse is odd, but..." He shook his head. "Why?"
Cindy spoke suddenly, "Will, they'll be fine. Look at Dusk, he's fine. The numbers will even out over time. We shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Right now we need those earth ponies and pegasi most."
Sandra smirked. "I think Will wants you to help breed more unicorns."
Dusk blushed through his fur instantly. "I... could try?" He looked to Sandra, and got a light hoof across the snout for it.
"Not me! I'm quite happily married, thank you."
I didn't remember formally marrying her, but it was likely as close as we'd get in the circumstances, and didn't fight the claim.
The alfalfa came in quickly under the care of the ponies, much to the collective pride of the entire herd. The true challenge came in not allowing ponies to nibble the plants before they finished growing in. I and the other milkers became quite busy as the smell of the plants drove the rest of the herd to hunger all the more. Thankfully it was only a day of discomfort before some of them grew tall enough to be browsed, and the diet started to transition away from milk and back to solids.
Some ponies were quite content with their milk diet, though I had a suspicion they liked the intimacy of it. The feeding rituals with some of the milkers became quite affectionate, turning into several-pony snuggling times combined with meal time.
Overall, the herd seemed to be headed in the right direction, and Kansas City was safe as a result.