The moment in time seemed to stretch on for eternity. Every eye was glued on the solar diarch as she held the flint tipped dart in her magic, frozen in the air, hoovering half an inch from her eyeball. Artex' mind began filling with horrifying scenarios caused by the attempt on the white Alicorn's life. He envisioned people being burned to death or levitated into the air only to be crushed into specks by miniature black holes embedded within their own bodies. His fears seemed much more justified as Celestia's eyes narrowed and the dart, flint tip, feathers, and all burned to ash and blew away on a light breeze.

Her vision shifted toward the trees and her eyes narrowed further,
"Princess," Artex began quietly, "I'm sure you're very upset right now and you have every right to be..."

Artex was cut off as an ear piercing scream echoed out from the trees. Looking before he could arrest the impulse, Artex turned his head toward the source of the scream. A single, thin older man wearing a fur loincloth and sporting an atlatl and darts floated in the air out of the cover of the trees and toward Celestia. The Guards backed away with a great many dark looks thrown the man's way as he passed among their number, pulled by a golden aura. As he passed Artex it was obvious to the Emissary that the man was holding back terrified tears.

Celestia set the man down on his backside in front of her and extinguished her horn, just staring at the shaking figure. The man sat there, looking up at the tall Alicorn, frozen for a brief half a second before screaming at the top of his lungs. His hands immediately went for the darts. The Guards tensed to react, but Celestia held up her right wing and stopped them. The man took the darts and broke them over his knee, then broke the atlatl over the same knee. He then threw the broken tools away, off to the side, before he covered his face, sobbing and babbling frantically while cowering away from Celestia. His tone alone easily communicated that he was apologizing and pleading for his life.

Artex watched Celestia through cautious eyes, 'This guy's just scared and he did something stupid. So help me, if she goes to hurt him...' his right fist tightened as he opened his screfula. Razor's nose quickly wedged into Artex' hand, opening his clenched fist. He subconsciously started scratching her behind the ears, his focus was on the white Alicorn and the man on the ground in front of her.

Celestia looked down at the huddling figure and her eyes softened,
"Eduardo?" she addressed, "Would you please ask this man why he saw fit to attempt to do me in?"

Eduardo nodded and spoke to the man.

Artex relaxed and closed his screfula,
"It was a close thing, but you have to admit Princess," he looked back to the trees then back to Celestia, "That was one HELL of a throw."

Celestia pursed her lips but said nothing as Eduardo tried for a second time to get an answer out of the distraught man.

He babbled something in Spanish and Eduardo looked back up to Celestia,
"He says he is very sorry, but other than that I can't get a straight answer out of him right now."

Celestia sighed,
"Very well, it seems I've inadvertently traumatized this man." she looked to her Guards, "We cannot afford to delay. Take this man carefully and have him examined by the medical staff. Get him something to eat and drink, show him we mean no harm. I will see if I can calm him down later. For the moment though, I need advice." she turned to the Human Emissary, "Artex, why do you think he tried to skewer me?"

Artex crossed his arms,
"Fear, plain and simple. He saw all of us and freaked out. He probably thought that if he took out the one in charge everypony else would fall into confusion and hopefully leave. He's scared and I'll guarantee every one of the others would probably react the same way. We need to send a small group so the people think they have the advantage of numbers. Remember what I said about Human curiosity being at its strongest when we feel we have a position of strength? If we just have you, me, Eduardo, and Veronica, then the Humans will feel safer because they outnumber us. I think it's our best chance for success."

Celestia pondered the idea,
"I'm inclined to agree with you. I have felt that perhaps the problems between Humans and Ponies might have been mitigated had I intervened directly right from the start." she straightened up her head, "Very well, let me give the Guard some standing orders before we go."

Celestia turned and addressed her assembled Guards,
"You are to wait here and provide assistance to any and all Humans who come out of the forest. They are to be treated as guests. They will be examined medically then fed from our supplies. You will make them as comfortable as possible and for goodness sake, smile. You all look far to serious and intimidating to make anybody feel welcome. They are going to be afraid of you as it is, no need to be intimidating as well. If they don't want to give up their weapons, then let them keep them so long as they do not use them. Having a means of self defense helps Humans feel safe and we want them to feel safe. Above all remember that they are in a new world and they're frightened. Treat them like foals, many of you are parents so it should be easy. Also keep in mind they cannot understand anything you're saying so use motions and illustrations as much as possible. Give them room and be welcoming and polite. Am I understood?"

A small ocean of salutes was her only answer,
"Good, you can start by helping to comfort this poor man." she gestured to the man still huddled by her hooves with her wing, "Dote on him, be kind and compassionate and he'll spread the word as the other Humans come out. Treat him as best as you can and he'll end up helping you."

Celestia looked back down to the man by her hooves. She reached out her left forehoof and gently prodded his chin upward until he was looking at her. His face was filthy and stained with tear streaks. His lower lip trembled as he looked at the tall Alicorn. Celestia leaned her head down and the man closed his eyes, likely thinking he was about to die. Instead he felt a soft pair of Kavim lips press against his forehead with a quiet smooching sound.

The man slowly opened his eyes and fearfully looked up. Celestia's face was less than an inch from his own. Artex was him tense up and remembered the first time he had looked Celestia dead in the eye. The man's tension seemed to melt away and his posture went slack. Artex watched very closely for any sign that Celestia might have been using any magic on him, bit her horn stayed unlit. Celestia stepped back and motioned for the man to stand as well. He stumbled initially, but soon found his feet.

"Eduardo," Celestia spoke quietly, "Will you please ask this man's name?"

Eduardo spoke to the man and the man seemed to notice Eduardo for the first time,
"Julio Ortiz." the man answered back.

Celestia then turned to her Guards,
"Assist Julio with being examined by the medical staff and see to it he is fed. We brought more than enough food. Oh and give him a thick blanket and be mindful that he isn't familiar with magic so introduce him slowly."

With that, Celestia looked back to Artex, Eduardo, and Veronica,
"Shall we? Those people would probably appreciate a good hot meal, even if it is purely vegetarian."

* * *

Veronica led the way through the thick forest. It was obvious that people had been living there for a time already as there were plenty of trails to follow. They trekked onward for more than an hour before they began seeing signs of habitation. Trees that had their branches cut, and bits of cast off tools occasionally dotted the ground.

Veronica stopped and spoke to Eduardo, Eduardo translated for everybody else,
"She says their camp is just ahead. It should be easy to hear them by now, but it is quiet, so they're probably hiding, waiting to ambush us. She's scared. She says their leader is a good man, but there are a few who might give us trouble. The types who think that might makes right. She says to be careful and she's also asking for protection."

Celestia nodded solemnly,
"I think can manage the safety of our group. Ask her to lead on. We will walk into this trap knowing they cannot hurt us."

Eduardo translated Celestia's words for Veronica. Veronica looked doubtful, but she continued on regardless. Signs of people became more and more prevalent the farther they went. Occasional mounds of fresh dirt, probably to cover feces, and even some vine ladders which ascended into the thick canopy overhead the disappeared from sight. Veronica suddenly stopped and pointed to the ground. Artex followed her finger, but at first couldn't see anything. After a moment, bis eyes picked out a cluster of tiny, thin sharpened sticks sticking up from the leaves.

Artex whistled quietly,
"Damn, punji sticks."

Celestia's eyes were locked onto the sight,
"What are they for?"

Artex grimaced,
"They are supposed to pierce the bottom of the foot and tend to be rubbed down with venoms or even feces to cause infection. My uncle who served in Vietnam told me about these. We have to make sure these are gone."

Celestia nodded and her horn lit up. The sharpened sticks vanished from sight but Celestia's horn stayed lit. She swiveled her head from left to right several times before she extinguished her magical focus.

"What was that about?" Artex asked.

Celestia smiled,
"After I incinerated the ones here, I felt around with my magic in a fifty League radius and destroyed the others too. All the traps have been neutralized. Shall we move on?"

Within a minute or two we began seeing small, circular huts covered with leaves huddled all together in one huge circle. Artex noticed that not a single tree had been cut down, none even showed signs of being struck with an axe. The huts were stacked so close together there was no way to squeeze between them. Veronica led the small procession around to one side and down a small corridor lined with huts. Artex realized the layout was for defense, 'With this one corridor that leads right to the middle of all the huts it's a bottleneck effect. This place would be fairly defensible.'

The procession exited the corridor and emerged into something akin to a town square. The huts made up the perimeter and the empty space in the center served as a work area. Animal hides were stretched out to dry, cooking fires were spread out in even intervals, and there was even a place where it looked like somebody had begun to use woodworking tools for bows. The most unusual thing was the complete absence of people. The entrances to the huts were completely covered so nobody could see if there was anybody within. The entire area was deathly quiet save for the crackle of flames from the cooking fires.

After standing silently in place for a few seconds the group heard a shrill cry as filthy, mostly naked people began pouring out from the huts. Each and every single one was armed with a flint tipped spear. They wasted no time in surrounding the group and they were all yelling in Spanish. Eduardo and Veronica began talking as quickly and loudly as they could, trying to calm the people down. Artex sighed and held up his hands in a surrendering gesture. Celestia simply stood in place with a patronizing and long-suffering expression plastered all over her face as spears were thrust close to her face.

Celestia's expression changed to one of piqued interest as particular one man welding a staff instead of a spear and covered with tribal markings made with ash yelled loudly. The chattering ceased almost instantly as all eyes turned to the man.

He spoke a few words gesturing to Veronica, Eduardo translated,
"He's asking her why she brought the 'enemy'."

Artex sighed as Eduardo continued,
"She's telling him that she brought help. She's trying to explain the situation and he's actually listening to her."

'So, this leader can stay calm and logical when confronted with the unknown. Not bad.' Artex' musings were cut short as one very well muscled man stepped back from pointing his spear at Celestia and entered one particularly large hut. The other people seemed disinterested or perhaps just too focused on what was in front of them to pay the man any mind. The feminine scream of terror that emanated from within the hut however did catch everybody's attention.

The muscular man emerged from the hut dragging behind him a weakly struggling earthy brown Earth Pony mare by her cerulean mane. All talk stopped and all eyes turned to the man as he hauled the mare onto her flank and pressed a flint knife against her throat. The apparent leader, the man with the staff instantly began yelling angrily at the muscled man. Artex saw Celestia's body tense as the muscular man bellowed loudly and pressed the tip of the knife hard against the mare's throat.

Artex could clearly see the wound on the mare's side had been tended to, but the person who tended the wound simply didn't have the means to stitch and the wound had reopened, likely due to the mare's rough handling at the hands of the man. The mare's wildly rolling eyes caught sight of Celestia and she instinctively tried to reach out for her Princess. The muscular man slapped the mare's hoof down harshly and jabbed the knife right up against her throat.

Veronica and the leader were both very angry with the muscular man and other people seemed to be as well. The muscled man was obviously doing something the people did not want. He ignored them and pointed his knife at Celestia, yelled a few words then placed the knife back at the mare's throat.

Eduardo translated,
"He says that Veronica abandoned them then brought the 'White Demon', you Princess, to kill them. He says that unless you leave right now, he'll cut the mare's throat."

Celestia stayed calm as she replied,
"Please tell him I wish to help, not hurt, and he needs to let the mare go. Tell him that none of us have offered any threat of violence and that we came to talk."

"Princess!" the mare cried in Velensovth, "Help me!"

Eduardo began translating for the muscular man as Celestia replied to the mare,
"I need you to stay calm and quiet," she said calmly to the mare, "The man who has the knife is scared and he might hurt you if you strug..."

Celestia trailed off as the man pressed the knife into the mare's throat and slashed it wide open just as Eduardo finished translating. The mare's eyes widened as her blood seeped down her chest.

Everything went dead silent for a brief moment before Veronica screamed,
"NO!"

A flash of light, brighter than bright, lit up the entire forest.

Capture those typos and cut their throats!