Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were both obviously puzzled when Razor and Artex were followed in to breakfast by Oriana,
"Good morning everybody." Celestia said cheerfully, "I see we have a new guest this morning."

The kitchen staff had already brought out a spread of fresh fruit, baked muffins and breads, and a platter of eggs along with a pot of tea, a carafe of milk, and one of juice.

Razor said nothing at all, instead taking her seat and doling out portions for herself silently while Artex explained before he and Oriana had even sat down,
"This is Oriana. Yesterday when I was meeting the dignitaries from other nations, the Zebras offered for me to name any gift I wanted..."

Luna looked disappointed, bordering on outraged as she rose halfway out of her seat,
"And you chose their DAUGHTER?"

Artex waved his hands wildly,
"NO! No, no, no, no, no! I asked for us to share knowledge and wisdom!" Luna lowered her head back down and listened intently, "Well apparently Anduria and Evitte felt that Oriana here would be the best way to fulfill the request. I am considering two options right now. The first is to send Oriana to New Humansville to work and learn and so forth. The second option is to take her on as one of the members of my Emissary staff..."

The loud clang of a fork falling onto a plate drew every eye in the room to a certain tan colored mare. Razor stared at Artex with a look of pure venom for half a second before she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it for a few seconds, then let it out slowly. She opened her eyes again and went back to eating, perhaps stabbing the fruit on her plate a little more firmly than strictly necessary, as evidenced by the ceramic clack that echoed around the dining room every time she used her fork.

Celestia and Luna exchanged a knowing glance before turning their attention back to Artex and Oriana,
"And which of those two possibilities are you favoring thus far?" Luna asked.

Artex' attention was solely on Razor Wit though,
"... Razor," he asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

Razor Wit calmly set down her fork with her magic and turned her head toward the tall Human,
"I will be fine. My magic slipped away from me momentarily. That happens once in a while."

Artex was decidedly not convinced, he crossed his arms and met her eyes evenly,
"I've never seen it happen before, not once. Razor I'm dense, Human males tend to often be very dense, if you say that nothing is wrong I'm going to believe you. If I find out later that you actually are upset about something and you didn't tell me, I'm going to be rather angry." he softened his tone and continued, "Look, you're my first friend in Equestria and I care about you. If you're upset, I want to know why and whether or not I can fix it."

Razor bit her lower lip indecisively and looked away, 'Should I tell him? If I do will he feel pressured to act differently around me?' her muzzle wrinkled and she shook her head and sighed,
"There is something bothering me, but it can wait until later."

Artex' eyebrows knitted together,
"Alright I can accept that, but I do want to talk to you about it as quickly as possible..."

He was interrupted by a loud knock on the dinning room door,
"You may enter." Luna commanded loudly.

The door slowly opened with the accompanying sound of grunting as a Unicorn member of the E.P.U. Guard pushed on the massive portal,
"Princesses, Emissary, a Human female has just been apprehended outside of Canterlot. She was wearing animal skins and carrying squirrel carcasses and weapons. She is being brought to one of the guest rooms as per the orders of Commander Peach Pit."

Celestia rose to their hooves,
"It seems we must skip breakfast for now."

Artex was already headed toward the Guard,
"Take me to her immediately." he ordered bluntly as Celestia, Razor, and Oriana trotted up behind him.

The Guard nodded and turned, leading them down the hallway while the Princess and Emissary spoke quietly,
"She can't be a part of the group at New Humansville, where did she come from?" Artex asked.

"I have no idea." Celestia answered, "Luna and I never felt it when you arrived in Equestria and we had no idea there was another Human."

"Guard," Artex addressed, "Please describe the situation surrounding the arrest and the weapons the woman has."

The Unicorn spoke without turning his head,
"Had sir. She approached one of the smaller side gates. We saw her while she was still a ways out so we got a message to Commander Peach Pit. He teleported to the gate and when she approached things got weird. She drew her knife but she wasn't holding it like she wanted to fight, at least it didn't seem that way. She tried talking to us, but she obviously didn't know Velensovth and we didn't speak her language either. She gestured out toward the Emerald Forest but neither side could figure out what the other wanted. We relieved her of her weapons, the dead squirrels, and the skins when we took her into custody in accordance with the law regarding defilement of the dead. Commander Peach Pit ordered us to render her unconscious with nonlethal spells before making the arrest in order to minimize potential trauma. Commander Peach Pit also ordered us to provide her with a bed sheet so she would not be exposed."

Artex groaned,
"Terrific. You arrest a confused woman then strip her of everything she owns and stuff her into a room, I am assuming with a locked door?"

The Guard spoke, still without turning his head,
"The door is not locked and none of the male Guards were involved when we took the skins. We called upon five of the female cadets who signed up yesterday after the new law went into effect. Her Human dignity is as intact as we could manage. Commander Peach Pit was also concerned that her fear might drive her to act out so he asked for five Pegasi to watch the window of the room in case she tries to jump. No offense Mr. Emissary, but most of us do not wish to have any other unnecessary deaths, especially in regard to Humans. The Commander also ordered that she should be treated politely and if physical involvement became necessary, to deal with her as carefully as possible."

Artex had to admire this Peach Pit,
"Your commander did well enough I suppose. Has she woken up yet?"

"She should have by now. We used very low power spells just to be safe." the Guard swept around corners fluidly and the procession followed him.

"Back to my initial question, describe her weapons if you would." Artex said.

"She had a sharp knife which one of our members identified the blade as flint. She also had slender, very flexible spears but with bird feathers and indentations on one end and sharpened flint tips on the other. She had another tool, but we are not familiar with its design or purpose. It is a stick, about six hooves long with a half circle groove cut into it, but one end has a protrusion which matches the indentations in the end of the spears near the feathers. We believe it goes with the spears, but its purpose eludes us."

Artex recognized the description,
"The six hoof long piece is called an atlatl. It allows the wielder to achieve significantly longer range when throwing javelins. Sounds to me like you mistook her hunting tools for weapons. She isn't a combatant, she's a hunter. Hunting is a common practice among Humans on Earth. That begs the question of what was she doing at the city gates? It sounds to me like she was doing well for herself. She had food, tools, and clothing. She seems to have at least had an idea of what she was doing so why risk venturing out into the unknown?"

"Perhaps the same reason you did." Razor ventured.

"That's possible I admit, but we were far worse off than she seems to be. We hadn't done much yet and the ONLY reason I risked seeking out native civilization was because the two mares I met on the back side of Canterlot Mountain were nice enough to leave me a blanket, so we assumed that others of their kind might be helpful as well. Left to our own devices Humans are fairly cautious by nature and we avoid the unknown unless we do so from a position of strength. Yet this woman came here actively seeking out the unfamiliar and had some objective in mind when doing so. She saw she was outnumbered and yet she kept going. She's on a mission of some kind and she's also pretty brave." Artex said.

"You seem to have a keen mind Mr. Emissary. That was very logical." Oriana said.

Artex shrugged,
"I know Human nature. Back home I was a guard for hire. We had to know quite a bit about how people work. You can just call me Artex by the way. I'm not much for fancy titles."

"What do you plan to do?" Celestia asked.

"Talk to her first off. She obviously has no idea what's going on so she'll be scared and confused. We'll need to calm her down. Guard, did you remove anything that could be used as a weapon from the room before you put her in there?" Artex asked.

The Guard suddenly stopped,
"Drat." he continued without delay and trotted a bit faster as well, "Good thing we're nearly there. It's the door on the left with the two Unicorns standing on either side."

Artex jogged ahead of the group and turned his head back once he reached it,
"Let me go in first. If she's scared, which is a good bet, it'll be less traumatic to see another Human alone than a bunch of unusual creatures."

Without waiting for an answer, he opened the door, slipped into the room, and closed the door behind him. He quickly looked around the room but there was no sign of any woman at all. The bed was ruffled so obviously the Guards had put her there, but it was presently empty. Artex began scanning around the room with his eyes while staying close to the door. He was looking for anything out of place or anywhere the woman might have hidden. The bathroom door was open and he could clearly see everything within, 'So unless she's hiding inside the bathtub, she's somewhere out in the main room.'

Artex slowly stepped away from the door, 'There are only two places that are large enough for an adult to hide: inside the armoire or under the bed.' He crept up to the bed and laid down on the floor at arms distance. He reached out his right arm and slowly lifted the bed skirt. The underside of the bed was vacant, 'That leaves only the armoire.'

Artex stood back up as silently as he could, with a good idea of where the woman was, he decided to try to coax her out with words,
"Hello?" he called loudly, "Ma'am, if you're in the armoire you can come on out. I'm unarmed and I'm here to help you."

A quiet, timid voice answered back from the armoire,
"Hola?"

Artex' eyes bulged, he wracked his brain trying to remember what tiny bit of Spanish he knew,
"Hola. Tu habla Español?"

The timid voice answered back,
"Si. Quién es usted?"

Artex knew his Spanish was terrible, but he was willing to try,
"Yo habla un poquito Español. Tu habla Inglés?"

"No." she answered.

Artex thought furiously and had an idea,
"Tu Escriba Inglés?"

"Si." the voice replied.

Artex slowly approached the armoire,
"I venir a abrir la puerta. Yo no te lastimé." he was certain he had butchered it but she didn't scream or freak out, so he crept closer and slowly opened the door.

Within was a young Hispanic woman wearing a bed sheet and holding a fireplace poker like a club. Her face was very thin, but she was obviously not starving. She was filthy and she smelled like body odor, but her eyes told of a calculating mind. Her demeanor was frightened but she had yet to make any violent movements. Artex stepped back, showing himself to her. He slowly turned a full circle to show he was Human.

"Tu es seguro. Salga." he encouraged her with quiet, calm words, "Tengo un amigo habla español. Yo lo entiendo. Sentarse en la cama. Tengo amigos."

Artex stepped back even farther back as the young woman slowly, and cautiously stepped out of the armoire. He gestured to the bed while he motioned toward the door. The young woman nodded reluctantly and sat down on the bed, the fire poker still tightly gripped in her hands. Artex knew she was watching him like a hawk, but he was amazed at how calm and cooperative she was being. He moved slowly and approached the door not making any sudden moves.

Slowly opening the door he poked his head out,
"She doesn't speak American English, or any English. She only speaks Spanish, but she says she can write in English. Princess, I need you to go to New Humansville and get... Eduardo Ortega. He's fluent in Spanish. My Spanish is only good enough for me to ask for a pencil, pen, shoes, or a bathroom. Beyond that, I'm all but useless. Razor, you and Oriana can come in, just stay back from this poor lady and don't make any sudden moves. If she approaches you, try to look as nonthreatening as possible and don't make any sudden moves. She's as nervous as a cat in a room full or rocking chairs. Princess, as soon as you get back we need to have Eduardo come here and help us out."

Celestia scowled but nodded and teleported away.

Artex looked back into the room and saw the young woman was still sitting on the bed. He slowly opened the door and motioned for Razor and Oriana to enter. The two mares slowly entered the room and stayed close to the door. As soon as the young woman spotted the two mares she visibly tensed and Artex could see her grip on the poker whitening her knuckles.

"Stay here and only come closer if I say. That poker would work quite well as a club and she needs some sort of security blanket right now. I'm going to see what I can learn from her." Artex instructed.

Razor Wit and Oriana both nodded silently. Artex walked away from the two mares and headed over to the desk in the room. He opened up the desk and withdrew a pencil and a piece of parchment. He wrote down a few words then turned toward the young woman. Her focus was completely on Razor and Oriana. Artex quietly snapped his fingers to get the woman's attention. Her head whipped toward him and he gestured down at the piece of paper then made writing motions and waved her over.

The young woman slowly slid off the bed, keeping her eyes glued on the Unicorn and Zebra mares. She reached the desk, still facing Razor and Oriana. She looked down at the piece of paper. Artex had written, 'You said you can write in English?'

The young woman looked up at Artex, then back at the two mares. Artex waved absently at the two quadrupeds in a dismissive manner and pointed back to the paper. The young woman gripped the poker in her left hand and reached out and grabbed the pencil with her right. She wrote, 'Yes. Who are you?' Artex read the words then held out his right hand for the pencil. He wrote, 'I am the Emissary for Humans in this world. The Kavim, the locals, call me Artex Rias. I was born Daniel Pering. What is your name?' He handed the pencil back to the young woman who wrote, 'Veronica DeLaCruz. You said world? Where are we?' Artex received the pencil and answered her question, 'On a different world. How did you get here?' Veronica took the pencil back and wrote, 'Storm. Are you one of the people from America who disappeared?' Artex then wrote, 'Yes. We have a settlement not too far from here. Are there others with you?' Veronica wrote, 'Yes, we were more than 800 when we first arrived. Many died from starvation and other things. We are only 523 when I left.' Artex grimaced and continued writing, 'Why did you come here? The Guards took your tools just to be safe, but you are not a prisoner. We can help you, but I need to know why you came here.' Veronica quickly wrote, 'We were hunting and saw one of the brightly colored horses. We didn't know it was smart. We hit it with an arrow and we heard it talking. It is still alive. Everyone is scared. It needs help. I came to get help.'

Artex ran his hands through his hair and chewed his cheek, 'FUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuckety fuck! This is going to be a disaster!' A sudden bright flash of light signaled the arrival of Celestia and, Artex hoped, Eduardo too. Veronica twitched violently and shrank back holding the poker ready to nail anything that came close.

"Great job Princess, go and scare the living hell out of the poor woman who's already nervous." Artex snarked.

"I brought your friend." Celestia replied simply.

Eduardo stepped out from the far side of Celestia blinking wildly,
"Oi, that's rough." he looked around and spotted Artex and Veronica, "This the lady I take it?"

Artex nodded,
"Eduardo Ortega, meet Veronica DeLaCrus. She no habla un palabra de Inglés. We need you to act as a translator for her."

Eduardo nodded and introduced himself to Veronica.

As the two of them became better acquainted, Artex walked up to Celestia,
"We have a problem."

* * *

The Royal Air Chariot flew through the air at a breakneck pace, pulled along by twenty Pegasi. Artex, Razor Wit, Oriana, Eduardo, and Veronica rode with Princess Celestia as they hurried toward the Emerald Forest. Luna had declined to join them, stating that she had to tutor Chris and playfully expressed her confidence that with Artex and Razor along, hopefully Celestia wouldn't blunder too badly. Celestia had not been amused by the statement, but she let it slide.

The Air Chariot was followed through the air by a series of massive transport wagons meant to haul any sick or injured among Veronica's group. Celestia had ordered that the sick, malnourished, and injured were the top priority and that none of the E.P.U. Guard were to bring any sort of weapon or conduct themselves in a manner that might even slightly imply anything other than a friendly and helpful demeanor. They were there to help the Humans and Celestia had made it abundantly clear that any Guard who caused any injury to the Humans had better be prepared to defend their actions on pain of dismissal and extended prison sentence.

It had taken two hours to arrange the number of Guards and medical staff for the operation, but when the Princess wanted to move mountains, she could. Veronica had initially been terrified of Celestia but once Eduardo explained who the white Alicorn was and what she planned, she was willing to guide them, albeit reluctantly. Veronica and Eduardo sat up front with Celestia, guiding the Air Chariot toward their destination.

Artex decided to use the time to confront Razor while they sat in the back. Artex sat in the middle of the row with a Unicorn on one side and a Zebra on the other.

"So what's wrong? Why were you so upset this morning?" Artex asked.

Razor ground her teeth, bit decided to go with it,
"I'm upset that you spent the night with anoth... a mare in your bed."

The statement was like a one-ton weight dropped on Artex, 'She was going to say 'another mare'.' his mind began working as little pieces seemed to fall into place, 'She wouldn't have any reason to be upset unless she's feeling possessive and there's no reason for her to feel possessive unless she felt like she had some sort of claim on... me' he could feel his palms instantly start sweating at the implication, 'Razor... she has... a... she's... I can't believe it!' His mouth felt dry, 'Why? Why is she... infatuated... with me of all people?'

His attention was snapped away from his internal monologue by a shout from the front of the Sky Chariot. He looked up and saw Veronica pointing down toward the ground. Celestia barked a command to the team pulling the chariot and they began to bank around descending to land. Artex peered over the side and beheld a line of trees which were glaringly green, bark and all.

As the chariot descended further and further it became apparent that the reason the trees looked so green was because they were absolutely covered with moss. The moss was so brilliant it bordered on being iridescent. The leaves of the trees were wide, shaped like dock leaves. The branches sprouted out close to the ground and continued on upward to the very top of every tree making each one look like a pillar of almost solid green. The trees grew thickly together in a wild tangle and for the first time in months Artex was reminded just how much of an alien world they were on.

The Sky Chariot landed smoothly on the lush grass less than half a League from the edge of the forest. Veronica began chattering back and forth with Eduardo as Celestia quickly disembarked. The teamsters strapped to the Sky Chariot disengaged themselves from the harnesses and came to attention facing Celestia even before the other transport hulks hand finished landing. Artex let Oriana off first since she was closest to the side door. He stepped off next followed by Razor while Eduardo and Veronica brought up the rear.

Veronica was speaking far too quickly for Artex to have any hope of deciphering what she was saying, thankfully Eduardo was more than up to the task,
"She says she knows the way. Their camp isn't too far in, only about two kilometers by her guess. She also says to be careful. They know about Ponies but a lot of them are afraid that they're demons or bruja, evil magic users who enslave minds and everything."

Celestia listened intently and nodded while Eduardo explained. The Emissary team formed a semicircle around her once Eduardo finished.

"Alright," Artex began, "This is going to be a tense situation at first. These people are scared and seeing all of us here is going to make them jittery. We need to try to..."

Artex trailed off as a whistling sound echoed out from the treeline. Celestia's horn lit up and stopped a feathered dart the size of a short, thin javelin, half an inch from her own eye.

Artex summed up what everyone was thinking in just two simple words,
"Aw shit."

Cliffhanger is cliffhanger(y?). Cut the chord and drop the typos.