Our march along dusty roads was long but largely peaceful. People saw us as we went by in smaller towns, asking curious questions and occasionally joining up, though most just wanted to be left alone, and we didn't pressure anyone to joining this... I wasn't sure what to call it exactly. I hoped it wouldn't be a mob, though I wasn't sure I could do much to control it, with much of its members not speaking native English.
Dust Kicker pointed ahead. "We should arrive by nightfall. I suggest we get some rest and move in fresh, rather than arriving tired and worn."
That sounded reasonable, and we settled for some sleep. That didn't last as long as I planned. We were awoken by alarmed chatter to find the camp had been surrounded by new ponies. They weren't wearing hoof-claws, at least. They watched silently for a moment. When I rose up to stand, one immediately advanced towards me with a note in her mouth.
Hello Princess of the States,
I see you've made it this far, but it would be a shame and a crime for you to be hurt or killed at this point. My children will follow you and protect you, but only from attack. They are not there to cause trouble. Treat them kindly. They desire peace as much as you do, even if they don't voice it. I pray that you can resolve this without further violence, but practicality says it is unlikely.
Hoping for the Best, Preparing for the Worst,
Princess of the Jungles
I tried making placating motions to the crowd, and made a show of petting the pony that still sat in front of me. The mood relaxed quickly. When we settled to rest again, that same pony remained, and curled up with us, never saying a word. Most of the others vanished back into hiding. They were eerily quiet for normally loud clip-clopping equines.
What woke us next was no friendly visit, but the jarring rattle of gunfire, followed swiftly by alarmed cries of shock and pain. I scrambled to my hooves just to catch one of the angry hornets right in my large pony torso. I'd thought changing was painful, but bullets had it beat. Several ponies dived at me, but I was too busy reeling from pain to see who it was. I just knew I was pressed down under their bulk protectively.
~I don't like this! Our pattern's been damaged. I don't want to be energy again yet.~ Cindy's voice was alarmed and almost panicked, and the glow from her horn was bright enough for me to see through clenched eyes. The pain began to fade as she ejected the bullet and got to work fixing the damage.
"Cargar!" someone shouted over the gunfire, and hooves thundered against the ground. As best I could figure, our side was trying to close with the attackers.
Sandra shouted in an ear, "There's just a few of them, but how many machineguns do you need?" She glanced around before wrapping a tongue around us and refueling some of the energy that Cindy had spent so quickly. "I'm going to check on other wounded, be right back." She crawled off hastily before vanishing into the ground, leaving little but a mound of dirt behind.
A pony draped over me suddenly went stiff, and fell off. She was bleeding from a fresh bullet wound and having trouble breathing. Enough was enough. I sent out my thoughts, and quickly found the hostile ponies, and could see those with me trying to close in. Too many bright dots of life and thought were going dark. I felt sick and furious. I grabbed for the first hostile speck I found and ignited the gift within them with the fury I felt. The dot suddenly went dark. I was beyond thinking about it, and went for the next, snuffing the life of each attacker in turn. It only took a few precious moments, and quiet returned to the field, outside the confused sound of chargers finding their targets had already collapsed, and the wounded weakly trying to get help.
Dust Kicker approached about ten minutes later, her left foreleg bandaged, but otherwise she looked alright. "I didn't even know they had those. I hope you make that mad daughter of a cow pay for every life she ended today." She clopped her healthy foreleg. "A liar and a hypocrite! She always said guns were the human tool for oppression and violence. I don't even know how we got them. I think it was unicorn magic. They look charred from the inside out."
I winced at the report. "That was me. Sorry."
Dust Kicker raised an ear. "What are you sorry for? They were gunning people down left and right. Most of these people are civilians." She waved a hoof out over the crowd. "They didn't even shout a warning or ask us to go, just opened fire. They deserve whatever they get."
Cindy shook her head. "Eye for an eye, leaves us all blind?"
Dust softly snorted as she sat. "Maybe you won't be as much of a damn whore as she is then. Once the wounded are seen to, we should get moving. We have a date with a mad mare."
Sandra's ability to move energy from the healthy to the injured proved vital to keeping the injured alive and well, and soon everyone who wasn't dead was at least stable. The quiet ferals from the jungle princess moved to guard those too injured to move without prompting, and soon we moved ahead. We had a meeting to make, and nothing else would keep us from settling accounts.
Dusk perked an ear at us as we walked. "What kind of defenses do you think she has on her base?"
I didn't really want to consider that too heavily.