Artex entered The Melting Pot and looked around hoping to spot Razor and Oriana. He noticed them sitting at one of the tables close to a window on the right and, to his surprise, he also saw Rose Thorn sitting and talking with them. He smirked, 'I'll bet I know what she's here for.' He couldn't help a small chuckle from escaping his lips, 'She sure did flirt with me enough when we did the interviews.'

He headed toward the table, weaving his way through the crowd and excusing himself whenever he bumped into somebody. A yellow Pegasus mare stepped backward and tripped Artex. He stumbled and threw out his hands to catch himself. His hands came to rest on the yellow mare's rump and he applied pressure as he attempted to correct his balance.

The mare broke away from her conversation and turned her head around toward him. Their eyes met and her eyes drifted down to his hands on her backside. Artex' eyes followed hers and upon realizing where his hands were, be quickly pushed himself back to to a standing position blushing furiously, "Very sorry ma'am. Excuse me." He attempted to excuse himself, but the mare flicked her tail. The motion caught his attention and drew his eyes back down before he could stop them.

"Very forward Mr. Emissary. Are you trying to tell me something?" She asked with a playful giggle.

Artex blinked and cleared his throat, "Not at all ma'am. Now if you'll excuse me."

He pushed his was past her while the mare responded with a scoff. Finally managing to make his way to the table, Artex pulled out a chair and sat down, "Whew, it's crowded in here today."

Rose giggled softly, "It's always crowded in here Mr. Emissary. This IS the only restaurant in town."

Artex shrugged, "Makes sense I suppose." He leaned back in the chair and nodded politely at Rose, "Good to see you Officer Thorn."

Rose raised her mug of beer, "I'm off duty. Right now I'm just Rose, or Rosy is what my family calls me."

Artex quirked an eyebrow, "And what do your friends call you?"

The mint colored mare shrugged, "Most just call me Rose. Whichever works for you."

Neither Razor nor Oriana had said a single word yet. Artex was almost completely certain of what was going on, "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything..."

Rose angled her head toward him, "We were talking about you actually."

Artex clearly heard the stifled gasp of surprise from the other two mares at the table. They had tried to hide the gasps, so he figured he probably shouldn't say anything about it and decided to plow on ahead, "Oh really?" he asked, feigning surprise, "Discussing my mangled and misshapen mountainous melon?" he asked pointing to his head with a grin. He wanted to see if she had a good mind to match her well-toned muscles.

Rose's mouth twitched into a tiny smile as she replied, "Perhaps... though I think that pretentious posturing probably propagates potential problems."

Artex laughed openly at her response. After a moment to gain control over his laughter, he settled back down, "Well-spoken Rose. Let us do so then," he laced his fingers and set both hands on the table top, "As you said. Let's be open about this." He gestured to Rose, "Ladies first."

Rose lifted her mug and took a long swig of the beer before she began, "I'm interested in courting you to see if our personalities blend well. If we do get along well, we can see where a relationship goes from there. I'll be honest. I may have the looks to attract stallions, but I don't have the personality or the build for it. I could wrestle most stallions into submission without breaking a sweat and that intimidates them. Stallions feel threatened by any mare who can do that."

Artex nodded along, "Especially considering that the best job any stallion could get, until recently anyway, was as a Guard. If all they were known to be good for was strength and aggression, of course they would feel threatened by you. It'll probably take a couple of generations before there is a common mindset of equality. If you had been told by society that you were inferior because you were born a certain gender, you would be bitter too."

"I won't treat you like that. I've always thought that kind of treatment was draconian." She looked Artex up and down, "Besides, you handled yourself well when we were ambushed and I think you might be one of the few stallions that could stand up to me physically... besides, I like the thought of being with somebody taller than me. That's not something I find very often."

Artex unlaced his fingers and scratched his chin, "Hmm... what about if we do find that you're a good fit with the rest of us? What do you see for the long term?"

Rose held up her right hoof, "Just a moment please." She turned and flagged down a waitress, "Bring me three more of these beers please." She then turned back to Artex, "Hopefully a healthy, functional herd. I do want to be married some day and I want foals too, at least two of my own."

"And what about your job here?" Artex asked, "Razor, Oriana, and I plan to move here to be closer to my people, but we will probably have to travel occasionally. What about when you're pregnant? What will you do about your job then?"

Rose shrugged, "I'll deal with it. Like I already told Razor Wit and Oriana, when I want something I work for it. Life won't give me what I want, I have to make it happen and the best way to do that is good, hard work and honest effort. If I do my best and something doesn't work," she shrugged, "Then it wasn't meant to be. At least I can trot away knowing that I did my best. I can be satisfied with that, even if the result isn't exactly what I wanted."

Artex was starting to get a good feeling about Rose, "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

The waitress returned and set down Rose's fresh mugs of beer. Rose finished off her first one and started in on her second, "I see myself coming home from work to a house filled with the ones I love. This home will be a place where I can contribute, a place where I feel safe and where I can make others feel safe. A place where my Sister/Wives and I live happily with our stallion and raise healthy, happy foals. Our home will be a place filled with laughter and love, a place of warmth and happiness and comforting fellowship. In this home, I will play my part as a member of the herd and together we will enjoy long and happy lives."

Artex rubbed his chin for a moment as a Human waitress came by with a note pad, "Are you ready to order?"

Artex smiled and nodded, "I think we are." He motioned to Rose, "She's paying today."

* * *

Cessily Richardson slowly walked up the stairs to the second floor of the house and stopped in front of the Pegasus C.W.G. Officer, "I'm here to see Steady Hoof."

Following her arrest, Steady Hoof had been interviewed by a Rectifier. Once Arch Magister Catalyst had recovered enough to help, she had also interviewed Steady Hoof as well. The Rectifier had determined that Steady Hoof had been under compulsory control and had no choice in what she did. Furthermore, after more invasive investigation, the Rectifier stated that Steady Hoof had done everything subconsciously and was not even aware of any wrongdoing on her part. She had been quickly cleared of all charges and after the Arch Magister had dispelled the compulsion, Steady Hoof had been placed into protective custody. She was free to go about her business and nobody was to restrict her movements in any way, the guard was simply to ensure that no harm befell her. Steady Hoof had asked the Arch Magister how long she had been a thrall to the Bloodmages. When Catalyst had told her she had been a thrall for more than ten years, Steady Hoof had shut herself away completely.

She no longer went outside, she quit her job at the hospital, she did nothing except lie in her bedroom with the curtains closed. She had not been seen in days. Once Catalyst explained to Bobby what had happened to Steady Hoof, he wanted her back, but Steady Hoof never showed herself and Bobby was far, far too busy to go and visit her. He often slept in the hospital so he could be close to his I.C.U. patients. Cessily had already given Bobby a verbal kick in the ass about it. She had told him that he was to go home and spend some time with Alana, 'or else'. Cessily had decided that it was time to deal with Steady Hoof.

The Officer standing guard outside her door nodded, "She is under protective custody but has refused to come out for the past six days. I have brought her food, but she has eaten very little. I am unable to do more for her without acting beyond my capacity."

Cessily nodded and waved him aside, "I'll take it from here. Be ready to go for a walk with her when I'm done."

The Officer nodded and stepped aside.

Cessily grasped the door handle, pushed down on the lever, and opened the door. Within the room it was so dark Cessily almost couldn't see. The closed curtains let in only thin beams of light and the room was cast into deep shadows and darkness. She could make out the silhouette of the bed set against the right wall, the dresser and wash basin across the room from the bed. She could make out the closet and the mirror off to one side of the bed, which while only coming up to Cessily's chest, would have been more than a full length mirror to a Pony.

The bed was empty though. The sheets and blanket were made up and straightened and ready for occupancy. Cessily's eyebrows knit together in concern. Fearing the worst she looked up at the ceiling, fervently hoping not to see a limp body on a rope. Thankfully the rafters held no macabre surprises for her. Breathing a sigh of relief, Cessily peered more closely into the surrounding shadows. She spotted a barely visible lump curled up in the corner of the room.

Quietly stepping over to the lump, she knelt down and placed her hand on top of it. She felt a pelt and slight warmth and very slow and shallow breathing told her that Steady Hoof was alive. Cessily exhaled a breath she didn't even realized she'd been holding, "Steady Hoof?" she asked quietly, thinking she was only asleep.

There was no response. Cessily shook the Pegasus mare gently, "Steady Hoof wake up."

The mare groaned and whimpered. She sounded like she had been crying, "Leave me alone Cess." From the sound of her voice she could begin crying again at any second.

Cessily patted Steady Hoof on her back, "No can do sister. You need to be up and about right now. Bobby is going crazy without you..."

"At least HE won't end up stealing supplies and..." Steady Hoof sniffled, "... and kil... killing somebody!" she quickly dissolved into babbling tears.

Cessily huffed, "Come on Steady, nobody blames you for what happened."

"I DO!" the distraught mare screeched, "I *sniff* I hate *sniff* I hate what I did! I hate the way I feel!" She coughed roughly, "I feel so... so used! So violated! They made me... they made me do things! When Catalyst dispelled the magic *sniff* I remembered EVERYTHI-HI-HI-HING!" She stretched her body out on the floor, "The journal I had been keeping for more than ten years was just me cataloging everything I learned! I gave them everything I kne-hew-hew-hew-hew-hew!"

She rubbed her face against the floor, "I..." she choked back another sob, "I'm no good to anybody now. I tried to learn how Bobby operates the hospital because I wanted to help! I didn't care that he was male, he knew how everything worked! And then I go and make a big deal over the mother giving up her baby because I didn't understand it! And... and... and I CAN'T DO ANYTHING RIGHT ANYMO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HORE!" She clenched her eyes shut as she spoke out loud what had been tormenting her mind for the previous six days, "All *sniff* all those people who died in the ambush... and all those orphans... *cough* those foals who had to watch their families die... they're all my fault!" Steady Hoof took a deep, shuddering breath, "I KILLED THEM!" she began striking her head with her forehooves, her voice rising to a fever pitch as she frantically flailed on her face and muzzle, "I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM! I KILLED THEM!"

Cessily reached out, trying to keep the distraught mare from injuring herself, "Steady Hoof stop! STOP IT!"

It was no use. The Pegasus mare was stronger than she was, "OFFICER GET IN HERE!" Cessily yelled, "She's hitting herself!"

The door burst open and the stallion entered the room looking around. Cessily's arms were busy trying to keep Steady Hoof from hurting herself further so she stomped her right heel against the floor. The stallion's ears twitched toward the sound a quarter of a second before the rest of him followed. He leaped onto the two females and after a few seconds he managed to restrain the mare's forehooves.

Cessily disengaged herself from the Pony pile and rolled away on the floor, "You were supposed to keep her safe!" she yelled at the stallion.

"I only ever heard her crying!" he yelled back, "I thought the thumping sound was her pacing!"

Steady Hoof merely continued crying as she lay on the floor restrained and pressed against cold armor.

* * *

Captain Joyner opened the door to the hallway containing the holding cells. The cells were stuffed to capacity with Bloodmage civilians and the place smelled of Pony sweat and body odor. He expected the Ponies in the cells to begin yelling the same way they had been on the first day. There was no yelling now.

Hundreds of pairs of fearful eyes peeked out at him through the bars. He could hear whispers from the cells:

"Are they going to kill us now Mommy?"

"What do they want now?"

"Dad I'm scared."

"Why did they kill uncle Maverick?"

"What's going to happen to us?"

Mike forced his face into neutrality as he slowly unclasped his helmet. He had ordered that none of the C.W.G. Officers show their faces to the captives until everybody had agreed on what to do with them. He lifted his visor and removed his helmet then set it on the ground next to the door.

"We want to ask you a few things." he said to the open air, "We need to hear your side of the story, however it has come to our attention that you all are afraid of Unicorn magic." He clasped his hands behind his back and began a slow walk down the corridor of cells, "This being the case we have decided that it would be a good idea not to include any Unicorns during these periods of questioning." He held up his right hand with his index finger extended into the air above, "Furthermore we will have them right here in the middle of this area so that you don't think we are manipulating any of you. We will begin these talks tomorrow. For today though, we wish for all of you to have the chance to lay to rest those who fell during the raid. No matter whether they were right or we were is of no consequence. They and you deserve what measure of closure we can provide. We will be escorting you by cell and if you would be willing to provide us with the names of the ones you recognize, we can carve those names into grave stones as appropriate. You will also have a say in what manner they will be laid to rest."

Mike stopped and cast his eyes around the cells, "If any of you have questions, please place a hoof through the bars of the cells and I will personally answer every one of your questions in turn."

The Bloodmage civilians murmured quietly among themselves before a single dark green hoof pushed through the bars of a cell to Mike's left. Mike saw it and followed the hoof up to an older stallion. Mike gestured to the stallion, "Yes?"

The stallion lowered his hoof but refused to meet Mike's eyes, "What happened to the foals we didn't have time to get?"

Mike turned his whole body toward the stallion, "Those who were left behind are in the care of the hospital staff we have here in town. They are receiving the best care any of us can provide."

A light brown hoof pushed through the bars of a cell to Mike's other side, "Why did you attack us!?" The mare asked not waiting to be acknowledged.

Mike slowly turned around and nodded his head, "I expected that question to arise. Several nights ago, several of our people were taken from their homes by force, one of which was one of our young. We confronted the attackers and many of my officers were frozen in place and murdered in cold blood. We followed the trail back to your safe house and found them already being bled in tiny cells. We attacked your safe house to rescue our people."

"Liar!" the mare yelled, "None of us would ever do that!"

Mike regarded the mare evenly, "Tell that to the twenty-two freshly filled graves outside of our town. This is not the time to discuss that though. Are there any other questions?"

"Why haven't you killed us yet?" A very young colt asked from within the same cell as the mare.

The colt's statement was met with the mare turning and trying to silence the colt by covering his muzzle. Mike heard the question though and stared at the young colt evenly, "We have no reason to do so. None of you were trying to hurt us so we had no reason to hurt you either." He turned back to the other cells, "Remember to put a hoof through the bars before speaking so there is no confusion please. I will ignore all questions that I do not call upon after this."

No other hooves poked through the bars. Mike waited for several minutes just to be sure that there were no other questions. After several minutes and no more hooves presented themselves, Mike nodded curtly, "Very well. We will begin taking you to see the ones who fell in the safe house soon. There will be no foals allowed to go because of the intensity of the scene. They will be able to attend the funerals though. When it is your cell's turn to go, dictate which cell the foals go to. We will not leave any foals unattended." Mike turned on his heel and walked back toward the door he had entered through. He stopped briefly and picked up his helmet. He spoke one last sentence while he clasped it on, "We do not seek out confrontation, but we do not tolerate bullies or murderers."

Typos shall not survive.