Quashed

When the stew was ready, Celestia and her two remaining guards were pulled from the carriage and set up around the fire as equals, save for the fact that they were still tied up. Seeing the sky, the guards immediately began screaming for aid. Scrimshaw, having been assigned as their steward, let them scream for the next ten minutes, hoping that they'd wear themselves out. When he was sure this would continue into the night, he gagged them, keeping them silent.

Celestia saved her voice for the discussion she was sure would begin shortly. She knew that there was nopony around for miles from their pickup point, and this encampment wasn't far enough away from that to put them close to civilization. Shouting was useless.

Scrimshaw sat next to Celestia with a bowl of stew, pulling out a spoonful and offering it to her. Celestia turned her nose up at it. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked.

"It's food, Princess," answered Steelhorn. "You eat it, and your body absorbs the nutrients. Tonight's model is called stewed greens."

"I know what food is," growled Celestia. "I want to know why I've been captured!"

Steelhorn chuckled. "You have been chosen to support our cause, princess. Hornburg Castle, our ancestral home, is soon to be destroyed in one of many ways. Having you supplement our army is the only means we have of survival."

"And if I refuse?"

Steelhorn's expression turned sour. "Without the Equestrian army standing beside us, the Hornburg will fall. In its wake, thousands, or maybe even tens of thousands, will die at the hands of our foes." He locked eyes with her. "Myself included. You could say that returning without your support isn't an option."

"Then I suppose you'll have no option, as I'm not giving you my support."

Steelhorn smirked. "No? Then let me tell you what will happen instead. I would rather see my people exiled from our lands than killed. In doing so, I will be stripped of my status as a competent leader, and will have to work my way up from the bottom in our new land. As for where this new land is, We'll have to take it from someone. And that will come from you. Either by support from you, which you refuse, or by force. I doubt you want five minotaur armies marching through your lands, killing your citizens just so we have a place to call home."

Celestia scowled. "That's monstrous! How dare you threaten the lives of innocent civilians!?"

Steelhorn shook his head. "I do not revel in the destruction of civilians, princess. I don't want to harm them. Your citizens will only be in danger if we and our allies cannot hold our ground. Which depends entirely on support from you. If you were to loan us, say... fifty thousand soldiers? No civilian deaths on your end, and minor casualties on ours."

Celestia shook her head. "I'll not send my soldiers off to die for a cause I do not support. If you had come to me in my court, then maybe I could see myself sending twenty thousand at most, on a volunteer basis. Instead, you kidnap me, tie me up, and then have the gall to ask for my help? The answer is no."

Steelhorn stood up. He was a massive brute of a minotaur, muscles rippling beneath his dark brown fur. Grabbing one of the guards by the back of the neck, he sat the guard down in front of Celestia, facing her. He gently removed the gag, dropping it to the ground. The guard took a deep breath to start yelling again, but Steelhorn's firm grip held his jaw closed. "Without yelling, tell me your name, young Equestrian."

Steelhorn could feel the guard trembling in his grip. "A-A-Arrow?"

Steelhorn smiled. "Have you been listening to the conversation, Arrow?" Arrow nodded. "I can't hear you."

"Y-yes, mister minotaur."

"You may call me Steelhorn. Or Chief Steelhorn, if you prefer. Do you have a family, Arrow?"

"N-no, Chief Steelhorn."

Steelhorn looked surprised. "No family at all? No brothers, no sisters? No children? Not even a mother and father? Does nopony care about you?"

Arrow shook his head as best he could. "I'm an orphan, Chief Steelhorn."

Steelhorn's gaze shifted to Boneshatter, who stood up and walked over to Arrow, kneeling down and placing a hand on Arrow's shoulder.

"This is Boneshatter," Steelhorn explained. "When I was very young, and very small, my father found him on the side of the road, begging for any scrap of food we could spare. He is like a brother to me. Are you telling me that not a single Equestrian citizen wants to see you come home safely?" Arrow began to cry. "In the Hornburg, all abandoned children are to be brought up as warriors. They bind together in groups, and are forced to come together to conquer their problems. Their relationship is stronger for it, and despite there being no relation between them, they're all brothers and sisters in arms."

Tears were streaming down Arrow's face. "I'm sorry, Chief Steelhorn. I'm not a minotaur of Hornburg."

Once more gripping Arrow's chin, he shifted his neck until he was looking at the other guard. "I have to worry, then, about your colleague over there. Does he care about you?"

Arrow's eyes shifted from side to side. "I... I don't know. I only met him yesterday."

"What is his name?"

Arrow shook his head. "I forgot."

Steelhorn raised his head and looked down his nose. "So, if he were to die in this very moment, how would you alert his next of kin?"

Arrow and the other guard locked eyes, and it was clear that they were both in fear, likely for their own reasons. When Steelhorn let go of his head, Arrow stared wide-eyed at the ground. He had nothing more to say. Steelhorn switched Arrow out with the other guard, not bothering to restore his gag.

"Please, don't do this," cowered the other guard. "I have a family. My wife and daughter are waiting for me to come back home."

"Where are you from, soldier?"

"T-Trottingham. I'm from Trottingham."

"Is Trottingham a nice place?"

He nodded. "Mhmm."

"So, you'd be pretty devastated if we had to leave our homes and take up forced residence in Trottingham?"

The guard curled up as best he could in his bonds. He trembled and shook beneath the powerful hand of Steelhorn.

"That is what would happen to whatever lands we'd end up in. Imagine, if you will, that one of these border cities was just like Trottingham. With lots of happy fillies and mares walking the streets, minding their own business, having a pleasant day. Then we come in and smash the place up. Is that what you want?"

The guard was in tears. He vigorously shook his head. "No. Please, no."

Steelhorn patted the guard's shoulder. "I don't want that, either. I want to stay in my home, with all my subjects living happy, mostly peaceful lives in our home territory." He stood up and looked to Celestia. "So, what say you, princess Celestia? Shall we stay in our homes, or should we trample yours?"