Discord looked distinctly betrayed and truly hurt,
"I told you that in confidence, Fluttershy!" he looked honestly upset, "I never told Celestia or Luna and I'm certainly not talking to this Human! Why would you talk about that? I thought you were my friend!"

Fluttershy looked stricken, she reached her left fore hoof toward Discord, he took to the air and backed away from her,
"I'm done here! I'm done with Equestria! I'm done with Ponyville!" he looked Fluttershy in the eye, "And I'm done with you!"

"STOP!" Fluttershy commanded stoutly.

To Artex' surprise, Discord stayed put, but he refused to even look in Fluttershy's direction, seemingly ignoring her,
"I'm sorry if you didn't want me to tell anypony, but you need to tell me these things. I'm not perfect, so when I do make mistakes you need to give me a chance to fix it before you storm off." she seemed to calm down slightly, "You don't know much about friendship so you need to trust me. Friends make mistakes, and friends also forgive." she played a gamble and looked to Artex questioningly.

Artex took the hint, for once, and continued her thought as best he could,
"T . . . That's right." he said with as much conviction as he could pull together on the spot, "I can't tell you how many times I've screwed up and had to apologize for it. She's right, friends give each other lots of chances. Everyone messes up sometimes, it's up to everyone to remember that while friendships are perfect, the friends who make up the relationships aren't." he decided to pull on his and Discord's own interactions, "When we first met, you levitated me and I intentionally messed up your name, but we gave each other a second chance."

Discord didn't look convinced,
"But that was something small." he argued.

Artex nodded,
"True, but unless there was an intention to actually harm someone, we should generally give them the benefit of the doubt." he cringed at what he was about to suggest, "Would it help if I got Celestia to wipe it from my memory?"

Discord's expression oozed disbelief,
"She never plays with minds casually, she sticks to her laws like the anally-retentive wet blanket that she is. I could do it, but it would be, 'breaking the law'," he used air quotes, then shrugged, "But since when do I care about the law?" he snapped the fingers on the lion's paw.

Something was erased from Artex' memory, but he couldn't place it,
"I know I said you could do it, but man, I wish I could remember what it was."

Fluttershy glared at Discord,
"He never said you could do it, he only suggested that Princess Celestia could!"

Discord blew a raspberry and crossed his arms and legs, floating in the air,
"Potato-pototo, the end result is the same and Tia isn't all butt-hurt because of it. Besides, he almost said it, so I made him believe he did."

"Um," Artex said quietly, "I'm confused, what happened?"

Fluttershy and Discord ignored Artex, the little yellow mare was not to be denied,
"But you changed his memory to say that he did give you permission to do it, and he didn't. You can't take away his free will like that, that's not what friends do." Fluttershy stomped her right forehoof, with the sound of a pebble hitting the floor, "Fix his memory!"

Discord pursed his lips and quirked his eyebrows,
"And have him get upset about it?"

"If that's what he chooses to do, then that's his choice and we'll respect it won't we?" Fluttershy said almost threateningly.

Discord looked away and sighed heavily,
"Fine." he snapped his fingers again.

Artex memory jogged suddenly, he remembered everything except Discord's secret, despite his feelings to the contrary, he forced a smile in Discord's direction,
"Thank you." he said in an obviously clipped tone.

Discord threw up his arms and shook his head,
"There's no pleasing some people! I swear I don't know why I even try sometimes!"

Artex gritted his teeth and took a deep breath,
"I'm not angry." he said quietly.

Discord froze and turned his head toward Artex,
"I beg your pardon?"

"I said I'm not angry, and don't beg it doesn't suite you." Artex said taking a deep breath and flexing his hands, "I am upset that you took a liberty with my mind, but that's not the same thing as angry, and I appreciate that you were willing to change my memory back to normal."

Discord looked downright surprised,
"Um . . . "

Fluttershy leaned toward Discord and whispered,
"The proper thing to say when somepony forgives you is, 'thank you'."

"Thank you, I guess." Discord said, obviously unsure, "I've never had anybody appreciate me for anything before, except Fluttershy." he looked thoughtful for a moment before continuing, "Does this mean we're friends?"

Artex shook his head,
"Not yet, but perhaps in the future." he said, "Anyway, I believe we were going to sit down for some tea?"

* * *

And so a Human, a Pony, and a Draconequus all sat down together and enjoyed a slightly long tea together. All three sat on small stools around the small oval table in Fluttershy's front room. Fluttershy asked Artex to relate what had happened involving his coming to Equestria and Artex had willingly obliged, monopolizing the conversation while Discord and Fluttershy listened. Discord seemed particularly interested in the storm that Artex presumed was responsible for the transport of himself and his friends from their home world. Suey spent the whole time sleeping under their table.

As the three of them finished off the last small pieces of the almond cake Fluttershy had bought from Sugar Cube Corner, Discord stroked his goatee thoughtfully,
"I've heard of storms like the one you described." he shot Fluttershy a meaningful look, "As far as I've heard, the ones taken from their homes like that never return." Discord seemed very subdued as compared to his previous, almost excited randomness.

Artex nodded his head and scratched at his scalp,
"Yeah, I miss everything about my home." he leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head, "I had always thought it would be a great adventure to do something like this, but the reality is that it's terrifying and painful." he furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully, "I suppose it's true what they say, 'you don't know what you've got till it's gone'."

Fluttershy smiled sadly and laid a gentle hoof on Artex' arm,
"It's alright, you have friends who are here for you."

Artex smiled a strained smile at Fluttershy,
"Thanks." he looked at Discord, "So, do you feel like sharing what you know?"

Discord looked up at Artex sharply, Artex smiled and patted Discord firmly on his side, since he couldn't reach any higher,
"The way your demeanor changed while I was talking, you know something about it." Artex' eyes sharpened slightly, "I assume it wasn't you who brought us here was it?"

Discord's demeanor suddenly shifted back to normal, he threw his head back and laughed,
"For once, I actually am innocent." he laughed long and hard, "How ironic! An alien creature is the first being to accuse me of something I DIDN'T DO!" he laughed so hard he fell off his stool and rolled around on the floor.

Artex smirked at Discord,
"Sorry about that, I just had to be sure."

Discord waved his eagle talon in a dismissive manner, unable to form a coherent sentence. Artex snuck a look at Fluttershy's clock and rolled his eyes. It was past four in the afternoon, 'I'll need to get back to the Library soon.' he thought, 'I want to get in some time learning about animals here in Equestria from Fluttershy before I have to leave.'

Artex tapped Fluttershy's left fore hoof,
"Um, is it too late for a lesson about your animals?"

Fluttershy shook her head,
"No, we have time. I wanted to ask you something too. Do you think your friends would like to come here and see if they would want to take any of my animal friends as pets?"

"I'm sure some of them would love to. I know one person already has one. My friend Darryl has a fox." Artex said.

Fluttershy's face lit up,
"A fox!? They're very smart. They can't learn to talk like Great Pigs but they can completely understand words. If a fox chose your friend, that probably means he's a very clever Human."

Artex snickered,
"I wouldn't call Darryl clever per se but he's tenacious."

Fluttershy shook her head,
"He may not be clever in the way you think, but animals can sense these things. I wasn't sure Suey would like you when I first brought her to you. All animals that become pets chose the Ponies they want. I have some that will go with anypony, but there are some who won't go unless they like you. Foxes are some of the most picky ones. It's easy to guess which animals are going to be choosy, if an animal is a natural predator in other countries, they are probably the choosy ones."

"I guess I could ask, but I don't think most of the Humans would feel comfortable leaving New Humansville." he held up his right hand to forestall any comments from Fluttershy, "I know Ponyville is a great place and the Ponies are friendly, but most of the Humans would be skittish in an unfamiliar place. We need to give them plenty of time to adjust, they don't even know how to speak Velensovth yet." he rapped his knuckles on the table top, "I'll help you clean up."

Discord's laughter slowly tapered off and he picked himself off the floor, wiping his tears of mirth,
"I should be going before Tia finds me and asks for a favor."

Fluttershy opened her wings and lifted off the ground, hugging Discord fondly,
"Next week, same time?"

Discord smiled,
"I wouldn't miss it." he turned to Artex and offered his eagle talon, "Next time I might ask before I rewrite your memory." he said with a smirk.

"Next time I'll bring a weed eater, a rubber chicken, and and a road map." Artex said, shaking the offered talon.

Discord chuckled and snapped his fingers. In a flash of light he was gone.

Artex stood up and grabbed the tea tray off the table then headed toward Fluttershy's kitchen, Fluttershy trotted along behind him,
"The reason I offered to let some of my animal friends see if they liked the other Humans was to maybe see if having little friends might help the other Humans adjust better." Fluttershy said.

Artex set the tea tray on Fluttershy's counter and picked up the pot then removed the top and began washing it out,
"Most of the Humans won't be in any position to take care of a pet. They don't even have any proper houses yet, much less any furniture or appliances, hell I don't think any of them even have a bed. They've been sleeping on blankets on the floors of these buildings while I get to sleep on a nice comfy couch every night." he hung his head and sighed, "What did I do to have it so good?"

Fluttershy lightly smacked Artex on the back of his knee,
"You need to learn to just accept what others give you. Gifts are supposed to make you feel happy, not guilty. By feeling guilty, you're insulting the Pony who gave it to you. It's like saying what they did wasn't enough to make you happy."

Artex raised his head and grimaced, staring out the window set into the wall beyond the sink,
"That's not how I meant to act. I just feel bad because everyone else has so little when I have so much. Is that wrong of me?"

"No, but you still shouldn't grumble about what you have. If you feel that strongly about it, why don't you do something about it?" Fluttershy suggested.

Artex finished washing the tea pot and set it on the counter to dry,
"I would if I could think of something."

Fluttershy sighed, smiling in a friendly way and leaned her head against Artex' leg,
"You will eventually." she pulled her head away from Artex' leg and turned to leave the kitchen as he placed clean tea cups on the counter, "Let's get going on the animals."

* * *

Artex returned from Fluttershy's later on in the evening. He had to carry Suey the entire way. The energetic piglet had run herself to sleep all around the fields surrounding Fluttershy's cottage. The first floor windows of the library were still lit, casting friendly shadows all across the road. The streets of Ponyville were quite deserted and most windows had dimmed, bringing their occupants into a blissful and peaceful slumber.

Artex stopped a good twenty Fathoms from the library and looked to the sky. Stars by the thousands and tens of thousands twinkled away in the night, casting faint light down on the land. The waxing moon shone her light down on the slumbering world, a great, silent sentinel watching over all below her. Artex enjoyed the sight for several long minutes before he lowered his head and headed to the door of the library.

He opened the door quietly,
"I'm back." he said softly.

Razor was still in the same spot she had been occupying when he had seen her earlier, she looked up from her book and smiled,
"I was hoping you would be back soon. I'm right here, whenever you're ready."

"I was supposed to have magic lessons with Twilight when I got back. Is she not here?" Artex asked.

Razor smiled,
"Nope, she sent word that she should be back tomorrow evening. Apparently there was an issue with the Unicorn's who are going to New Humansville to test the other Humans. They're supposed to leave tomorrow morning, but Princess Luna wanted Twilight to talk to them about interacting with Humans first."

Artex smiled and gave her a slight nod of his head then turned toward the direction of the kitchen and within, Suey's bed. He gently laid the little piglet down in her bed and stroked her head a few times then headed back to the front room of the library to where Razor was on the couch.

He sat down next to the tan Unicorn mare and leaned back then hiked one leg over the other,
"So, ready to engage in our little cultural exchange?"

Razor's horn lit up and she levitated over an ink vial, a quill and a sand pot, she set them down on the floor by the couch and turned toward Artex with the quill hovering over the paper expectantly,
"Ready when you are."

Remember to Like if you like this and please let me know of any spelling errors, down in the comments section.