Arch Magister Catalyst swallowed hard as she slowly approached the Human named Eduardo. Since New Humansville had its first arrest a member of the C.W.G. needed to be stationed on watch to guard the inmate. Eduardo volunteered to take the lead on guarding the cell. He had a four person team, including himself, all of them were Humans. Eduardo said he wanted them to be Humans because he felt that having Ponies guard Tamika would be cruel and unusual punishment given her disturbed state of mind.

He was standing guard just outside the one single jail cell in New Humansville. Backlash had taken the time to not only create a sturdy jail cell inside one of the buildings which sat on the perimeter of Town Square, but she had also taken the time to teach the C.W.G. the most flexible magic nullification ward she knew and even showed them how to use it. The C.W.G. Humans weren't particularly happy that the dour Unicorn mare had drilled them on how to cast the ward at maximum power and, after five grueling, uninterrupted hours of repetitive practice, had declared them proficient with the ward and had even prepared the licenses to back it up.

Obviously not all the C.W.G. Humans were able to even cast the spell, but Eduardo in particular had caught her attention. The Human man was beyond a natural with anything that had to do with Magic. With a Destroy of 7 and a Magic of 8, his Noun and Verb total for Destroy and Magic was 15, which was actually beyond what Backlash could boast even after a full lifetime of practicing with the very same type of magic. Wards of all kinds were a point of personal pride for Backlash and it grated on her nerves that anybody besides the Arch Magister and the Princesses were more powerful than she was.

Eduardo had taken to wards like a duck to water and could throw up a ward that could stop even the Arch Magister dead in her magical tracks and the area of effect for Eduardo's wards tended to be measured not in fathoms, but leagues. In all their years, not a single member of the Unicorn volunteers had ever seen any being so naturally gifted with anti magic wards. Which Noun and Verb a spell used didn't matter when Eduardo threw up one of his wards, their power was all that mattered and the Human had the capability of stopping even Princess Twilight cold.

Catalyst still had somewhat mixed feelings about the Humans in general, but she was beginning to really like quite a number of them. There was FINALLY another species in the world who could match and perhaps surpass Ponies in magic specialization, and Catalyst felt actually honored and humbled that they came during her lifetime. Their magic might be drastically different from Ponies, but their specializations to each different category of magic was equal to the Ponies' own.

Every intelligent species in the world, the ones who had nations, all had natural magic. Catalyst thought back to her studies as a much younger mare and the wonder she felt as she learned about each species. The raw land bound speed and agility of the Saddle Arabians with their finely chiseled bone structure, concave profile, arched neck, amazingly level croup, and high-carried tail was legendary. Tales claimed their speed, agility, and endurance could nearly match a Pegasus on the wing.

The sheer mind blowing strength and wisdom of the Minotaurs, the only race capable of claiming they were more wise then even the Alicorns was the stuff of legend. The Minotaurs were nowhere near as tough as Earth Ponies, nor did they have such flexibility with magic, but they could match even a Dragon in strength.

The Gryphons had their magically enhanced reflexes, heightened senses, and their Pegasus like ability to manipulate clouds had ensured they and the Ponies shared a mutually developed skill with weather manipulation.

Catalyst even remembered her more recent studies of the Buffalo of the West, toward the Dragon Mountains. Their connection to the ground which so closely mirrored that of Earth Ponies. She never did figure out why the Buffalo couldn't grow plants like the Earth Ponies, but the Buffalo magically enhanced strength, hardiness, and natural weapons made them fearsome foes for any creature. Their strength was surpassed only by the Minotaurs and Dragons.

The Zebras of the South-East jungles had their own potent magical capabilities. Their bodies acted as conduits for Natural Magic and their potions were several orders of magnitude above and beyond those of Unicorns and their savant-like subconscious knowledge of plants was incredibly powerful in its own right.

Catalyst also thanked her lucky stars that the Crystal Kingdom had finally come back. Equestrian technology had stagnated when the Crystal Ponies disappeared. The Crystal Ponies might lack the natural magical abilities of their Southern cousins, but they more than made up for it with their ingenuity in developing magical crystals for every purpose under the sun. Equestrian Ponies remembered just enough about Crystal Tech to continue producing usable crystals, but only the Crystal Ponies seemed capable of making the kinds of scientific strides which birthed literally every piece of Crystal Tech medical device in existence. Catalyst had read that in ancient times, King Sombra had forced the Crystal Ponies to create weapons of incredible destructive power. The legends behind names like the fabled Shock Lances still made her shudder. Such terrible weapons had been lost to the sands of time, but their legacy lived on in the darkest corners of the minds of historians.

Then there were the enigmatic Dragons. Catalyst had been greatly saddened when the Dragons refused to allow her to study their natural magic. By all accounts it was the stuff of legend. Magical fire which could summon or send objects, a literal immunity to heat, scales so tough they could turn away the sharpest blade, the list went on, and yet they hid themselves away in their mountains shunning the rest of the world.

The recent trade agreement with the Diamond Dog City-States bode well for further trade of information about Equestria's subterranean neighbors. The Diamond Dog City-States rested below the very ground of Equestrian soil, but conflict with the burrowing canines was all but a tradition. Long ago they had allowed Unicorns to study their magic and what they learned was amazing. The magically enhanced density of a Diamond Dog's claws and teeth was so great as to be able to slice cleanly through even diamond. Only magic held their natural weapons at bay. The tight chords of their muscles and near perfect vision in the dark had encouraged them to try preying on Ponies and led to a great many small conflicts in the past.

There was one last species to name, but Catalyst held out no hope of any chance to learn even the most rudimentary facts about their magic. The Changelings were secretive beyond comprehension and even the most studious of scholars only knew the most basic facts about them. They could shape-shift, fly, use some form of Unicorn-like magic, and they sustained themselves on emotions. Beyond those basic facts, nearly all so-called knowledge of them was purely speculative. Most scholars had all but dismissed Changelings as myth until the reclusive insectoids successfully invaded Canterlot less than two years ago. The event had created a sudden surge of curiosity from scholars from all over Equestria, but any attempts to contact the Changelings and their vile queen resulted in unanswered letters and missives. As a scholar, Catalyst was deeply saddened by the heinous attitude displayed by the Changelings. Their utter distrust and disregard for any other species coupled with their crimes made them all but sworn enemies of Equestria.

Catalyst shook her head and decided to focus on the reason she was walking toward the only jail cell in New Humansville.

Eduardo had seen the black Unicorn mare coming and he smiled pleasantly to the Arch Magister,
"Greetings... Catalyst." he addressed her in somewhat broken Velensovth, "What can I... do for you?"

Catalyst came to a halt a full five fathoms from Eduardo. She knew he was on duty and she was determined to show him the respect he was due, especially after the embarrassing situation with the Humans assuming she had mandated the volunteer Unicorns to hide an entire Noun from the Humans. To the Arch Magister, it may as well have been a slap in the face, a direct insult to the volunteers who chose to give their time and efforts to a new species, a species who decided to assume they had intentionally withheld information from them, even after Catalyst herself had risked circumventing the authority of Princess Luna to keep her monarch from making a bad situation worse.

Thoughts of Luna nearly made Catalyst chuckle. She had taken the time to talk with Chris privately about the issue with Luna and the Human's wisdom astounded her, especially when coupled with his constant irrepressible insincerity and goofy personality. He had surprised Catalyst by quickly maintaining his comic bearing while he explained in serious tones. The collar Chris had designed for Luna was beyond ridiculous. It spanned almost the entire length of her neck, mesh chain mail links made of pure silver with tiny clarion bells attached to every single link. You could hear Luna coming from over a block away and Chris had also had it enchanted so that every time Luna used her magic the bells chimed loudly.

When asked about it, Chris said it was to serve as a reminder that magic was a right, not merely a privilege and nobody had the right to take it from you except to keep you from intentionally harming others, not doing so in ignorance. Ignorance was not a crime and he wanted that embarrassing collar to make the lesson stick. He claimed he didn't really want to punish Luna but instead wanted to teach her a lesson and to ensure she never made the same mistake again. He said he harbored her no ill will, but her transgression against him had to be addressed and he couldn't bring himself to do her any harm, so the collar was simply the most effective and elegant solution. He said he had contemplated having her put in stocks for two days in the center of Canterlot, but that would be entirely too humiliating and he didn't want any enmity between them. He said he understood that Luna was 'old school' and that matters of pride would hit close to home, but he had also specified that if he wounded her pride too much she would be bitter about it and would learn nothing because of it. He had also taken into account that Luna may have deceived him, but even he had to admit he was freakishly powerful, so he could sort of understand.

Catalyst's personal interview with Luna had changed her opinion about the Humans. Luna had explained that they came from a different world and that while she had made notice of the fact, it had not sunk in until the event with Chris. The Princess' words still rang clearly in her memory, "While I do regret my actions with the a'dam, the resolution was something I needed. A Pony would have tried to take advantage of the situation to curry favors or boons or maybe even position or power. Chris wanted none of those things. It... it was a humbling experience."

Luna had looked down at her collar and grimaced,
"And will continue as such for a while yet, but Celestia and I both needed for it to happen, myself especially. I... I had been treating the Humans like Ponies, both of us had in a way and it was wrong. It took the event with Chris to make me realize that. These Humans are not Ponies and to make any but the most rudimentary comparison would be doing them a disservice. We are not ponies as they know ponies, they understand the difference and yet it took THIS for us to realize the same. We've become too comfortable, too familiar with what we know and we expected the Humans to fit into a mold similar to an already established and existing one, but a Human cannot fit into a mold shaped like a Minotaur or a Diamond Dog. We knew this on a superficial level, but Chris made it really sink in."

Luna had continued by saying,
"There is absolutely no precedent to make any sort of acceptable comparison. When I began sitting in on the Humans' meetings, it reminded me of the wisdom of the Minotaurs and I fear I formed an erroneous connection between the two. Every single time we made a comparison between Humans any any other species we were inadvertently demeaning and in a way devaluing them. Humans should not be compared to other species so we can understand them more easily. Our understanding of Humans should be its own developing entity, something which grows and expands with every interaction. Humans, as a species, are simply too widely different from each other for us to try to group them all together in a general sense.

She smiled and finished her thought,
"If my time with Humans has taught me anything, it is that Humans take any sort of boundary not as and end to a path, but as a locked gate which needs to be opened. Celestia and I had a lengthy discussion about this and we are embarrassed to admit we have not given the Humans enough credit. They do not learn from others as the Minotaurs do, nor do they have the Natural Magic of the world to guide them and that was our biggest mistake. Humans learn differently from any of the other species in this world. Natively they have no magic and so all of their learning comes from their own errors and experimentation. Do not pity them for what they never had, instead admire them for the difficulties they had struggled against." Catalyst had to admit she never expected Luna to have so much to say about her own mistake, but once the Arch Magister had time to ruminate on it, she decided that Luna was right.

Catalyst's expression shifted into a silent scowl, 'I've swallowed my pride at nearly every turn for these Humans. I left the comfort of my University office to help our newest neighbors learn about their powers and even after all that, they're all too happy to assume that the Unicorn tasked with promoting arcane knowledge distribution, would intentionally hide an entire Noun from them. I've searched for that Noun my entire adult life and somebody finally validated my theory, but instead of a celebration of the discovery of an whole new Noun, they turn on us at the drop of a shoe and accuse us of hiding it!' Catalyst closed her eyes and took a calming breath, 'Calm down Catty,' she scolded herself, 'Remember they come from a different world with different ways. You already made a public apology to the Humans for something you didn't even do, don't embarrass yourself even further by acting vindictive, no matter how much you may feel entitled to do so. You're here to talk to the mind who managed to do what you failed at your whole life. Keep calm and Pony on.'

Catalyst cleared her throat and addressed Eduardo,
"Would I be allowed to speak with the prisoner?"

Eduardo planted his fists on his hips,
"She is not prisoner. She is... suspect. She has not been... convicted. She is... innocent until proven... guilty by... judge."

Catalyst inclined her head respectfully,
"My mistake. May I speak with the suspect?"

Eduardo shrugged,
"That is her... decision. I'll ask her."

He turned his head and spoke through the magically augmented steel bars set into the window of the five fathom cubic cell,
"Tamika? You interested in having any company? You have the right to refuse of course."

Inside the cell, Tamika sat wrapped in the thick blanket that had been left for her on the cot when she had arrived. Tamika had undergone emergency surgery to reattach the snapped tendons in her left elbow and had Bobby, now C.W.G. Medical Commander Jewel, use his magic, under supervision of course, to relocate her right shoulder. Tamika had been under anesthesia for the operations and had awoken sullenly silent, having spoken less than five whole sentences since she awoke.

She had spent her time thinking about what had happened and her conclusion disgusted her, 'I've become a monster.' That same thought echoed through her mind many times per second, she could think about little else, 'I'm too damaged. There's no hope.' She had spiraled down into a deep depression and the solitude did nothing to calm her. In her mind, she had become the monster she claimed the Ponies were. She had cried silently for hours, but her tears changed nothing. After her eyes had dried she began thinking, as much as one CAN think with self-loathing running laps inside one's psyche. She hated what she had become, what she had allowed herself to become, 'All those racist bastards: the K.K.K., the Nazis, the Skinheads; I'm just like them now. And just like them, I'm a useless sack of shit.' She had wallowed in those thoughts for hours. She had been served food and water, but she touched neither, feeling beyond unworthy of any sympathy.

Her mental self-mutilation came to a halt as a voice broke through her internal monologue,
"Tamika? You interested in having company? You have the right to refuse of course."

Tamika was confused and nearly delirious from dehydration,
"Why," she croaked, "Why would anybody want to talk to me?"

Catalyst swallowed hard and rose her voice so as to be heard through the cell walls,
"Because somepony wants to meet the mind that succeeded where I failed for more than a hundred years. In a matter of months you managed to do what even a learned mind like mine could never do and maybe this learned mind... wants to learn... from you."

Tamika heard a voice she recognized easily and she felt her anger suddenly spike, 'Stop it!' she scolded herself, 'Stop it! Why can't I control myself? Just hearing one, just thinking about one makes me mad! What is wrong with me?'

Tamika's voice echoed out from the cell, she sounded exhausted,
"Go away." she whined, "Last Pony I saw I nearly killed."

Catalyst bit her lower lip,
"So... you really don't want to talk?"

"No." Tamika answered, "Just leave me alone before I end up hurting you too."

Despite her own feelings, Catalyst decided to respect Tamika's wishes,
"Very well then." She turned and walked away.

* * *

"Sister you are insufferable!" Luna moaned, "We already know what they want. Just make the changes already! I have a pupil to tutor!"

Celestia shook her head,
"No Luna, if we're making any changes he is going to be here and that is that. I'm through making assumptions, this was your doing. If we're going to do this he HAS to be here and so do we."

Luna hung her head in exasperation, even if Celestia was right,
"Chris is going to be upset about this delay." she mumbled quietly.

Celestia rolled her eyes,
"Then bring him in here until Artex arrives. I still haven't see the two of you interact since he decided on your collar, which looks very nice if I do say so."

Luna grimaced,
"Yes, I jingle like a Hearth's Warming sleigh every time I take a step."

Celestia smirked,
"Oh come on, don't be like that. You have to take your lumps the same way you made me take mine. Besides haven't you noticed?"

Luna tilted her head to the side,
"Noticed?"

Celestia's troll grin made a brief appearance,
"Of course, many of the Canterlot nobles have begun wearing bells on necklaces these past few weeks." Celestia snickered behind her hoof, "They sound like cows and sheep walking around. I do believe you've started a fashion trend."

Luna frowned deeply,
"Unfortunately you would still be mistaken. The collar and bells weren't my idea." her dour expression lightened, "Imagine Chris' reaction when he finds out his design is being mistaken as a fashion statement."

Next Chapter: Chapter 17: Uninvited Complications Estimated time remaining: 19 Hours, 33 Minutes