(For this first part assume the Humans are speaking Spanish.)

Eduardo and Veronica led the procession of nervous Humans slowly toward the Ponies waiting just beyond the edge of the forest,
"Are..." Veronica began unsteadily, "Are you sure about this?"

Eduardo stepped around a fallen branch,
"Of course, the Ponies' magic may seem scary and they look different, but on the inside they'e just like us. Trust me, we have nothing to fear from them. The group I came with had to... make our own roads. But now we have our own town and our own homes and everything. Just wait until you see it."

"The group you came with?" Veronica asked in confusion, "... You were one of the people who vanished from America!" she suddenly exclaimed.

Eduardo smiled,
"You got it beautiful. We all landed in the middle of a field, naked as the day we were born. Our Emissary back there, Artex, he did like you did and searched out the Ponies for help. I'll tell you more about it later though. For now, we have to get everybody fed and warmed up." Eduardo looked around, "Are we almost there?"

Veronica nodded,
"Yes, it's just up ahead."

Eduardo's stomach growled,
"Heheh, sorry. I forgot to eat this morning. Everything has just been so crazy. Never thought I would be helping Artex with his Emissary work. Back in New Humansville, I'm a weapons trainer for our peace keeping force, The Community Welfare Guardians. I'm one of the Sargeants." Eduardo explained with a smile.

Veronica rolled her eyes, he was obviously trying to impress her,
"What was all that back there? What's with this world? Everything is so... unnatural."

Eduardo chuckled,
"Only unnatural for Earth. Here it's normal. What the Princess did back there, that was some serious magic... well, we call it magic. The Ponies, their actual name for their species is 'Kavim', they've made a science out of it. On this world it IS a science. It's just like physics or zoology... did you ever see Star Wars?"

Veronica blinked at the seemingly random question,
"Yeah, my brother is really into that kind of stuff. Why?"

"Magic here is like the Force. It's all around you, all the time. It's in the water, the air, the dirt, the food, everything. Once you understand it you can do anything with it if you're powerful enough." Eduardo explained.

"Like what?" Veronica asked.

"You see the Princess back there? She raises and lowers the sun every day." Eduardo said bluntly.

"You have been here way too long." Veronica muttered.

Eduardo heard her though,
"Have any of you guys thrown up glowing golden goop yet?"

Veronica turned to him curiously,
"How did you know about that? We did a couple of times, but we stopped after the third time."

Eduardo's brow creased,
"How long have you been here?"

"Roughly four months." Veronica answered.

Eduardo grinned,
"Any idea why you stopped?"

Veronica shrugged,
"No idea. We did find out that the golden stuff helped plants to grow, so we used it." her eyes darted ahead, "We're here."

She stopped just inside the line of trees and looked out at the carriages and Ponies milling about,
"Are you sure about this? I don't want any of them knocking anybody out like what happened to me."

Eduardo shot Veronica a sideways look,
"I'll go out first if it'll make you feel any better." he raised his right arm and pointed, "Look, Julio is sitting down happy as a clam."

Eduardo heard cautious muttering behind him and turned around,
"Alright everybody, the Pony doctors need to check you out first then you'll all be given a blanket and some food. After that we'll be heading to New Humansville and you can meet the rest of us." he finished with a smile.

What Eduardo received back from the group were averted eyes and shuffling feet, he decided to change tactics,
"I know they look weird and scary, but if it will make you feel better, I'll go with each and every one of you while you get checked out and I'll translate for you."

The man with the staff and the tribal markings who had addressed Veronica earlier stepped forward,
"I'll go with you."

Veronica looked relieved,
"Thank you Juan."

Eduardo cocked an eyebrow and extended his hand,
"Eduardo Ortega. Sorry that I didn't introduce myself earlier, everything was kind of crazy."

Juan shook Eduardo's hand firmly,
"Juan Barrera." he looked over Eduardo's shoulder, "Are you really sure about this? The ones in armor make me nervous."

Eduardo stepped aside and pointed to Julio,
"Julio is already sitting down with a bowl of soup." he turned back to Juan with a kindly expression, "Look friend, I promise on my grandmother's grave, they are only here to help. They don't want you guys to suffer any more than you already have. This is a chance for a better life than out here. Even if you don't trust them, trust me."

Juan furrowed his eyebrows,
"Alright, lead on."

Eduardo nodded and stepped out of the trees. As soon as he was visible, one of the Guards whistled loudly and pointed toward Eduardo with his hoof. All eyes turned toward the treeline as Juan stepped out as well. Juan was really unsure about the situation and kept his staff tightly in his hands as Eduardo led the way toward the carriages. The Ponies kept their distance and waited patiently until the two men walked up to them.

Eduardo smiled at the Unicorn he spotted who was wearing a white nurse's hat,
"They're all scared right now so you all need to be extra careful at first. This man agreed to come out as an example for the others. I want you to tell me what you want to do and I'll tell him in turn. Don't do anything without giving me time to explain it to him first."

The nurse smiled,
"That sounds fair. I can perform a magical scan on him all at once, or I can perform a regular physical exam and I'll need him to remove those *shudder* skins so I can...," she suddenly stopped and looked back and forth between the two Humans, "Wait a second, I almost forgot, you Humans get fussy about things like that. Would one of the stallion doctors be better for him?"

Eduardo nodded emphatically,
"That would be a very good idea I think."

Juan was looking at Eduardo curiously,
"What is... she? It IS a she... right? What is she going to do?"

Eduardo chuckled,
"She's going to get a male doctor to give you a quick physical. She offered to do it magically, just a quick scan, but I figured you might not be too keen on the idea."

Juan looked confused,
"Why would she need a male doct..." his expression changed from confused to blank, "... I don't know if I want to do this..."

Eduardo placed a reassuring hand on Juan's shoulder,
"It's fine friend, if it'll make you feel any better I'll have them do the whole rundown on me first. Would that help?"

Juan nodded his head vigorously,
"Y... yes it... it would."

Eduardo nodded and began undoing his New Humansville Citizen shirt,
"Hey doctors!" he yelled in Velensovth, "I'm going to go first so my friend here can see that it's safe alright? Just check me out first."

As Eduardo removed his shirt Juan got a loom at the tattoo of an 'Ace Of Spades' on the upper left side of his back, right over his shoulder blade,
"You're a 'Card'?" he asked.

Eduardo finished pulling off his shirt and sighed sadly,
"Was." he said quietly, hanging his head, "I'm not perfect alright. Got more than a few dents in my halo but..." he raised his head back up, "It's this world... it... I don't know how to describe it... it... changed me, brought out the best in me... like it saw everything I COULD be and it just... brought it to the surface. I'm a cop now... or as close to one as we have here." Eduardo held out his calloused hands, "I've stood side-by-side with these Ponies fighting what looked like rabid werewolves. I've worked alongside them, all of us working together to get our home up and running. I've earned the right to train our officers on how to defend themselves with swords and spears. I've cried at a funeral for Humans and Ponies who fought and died as allies. After all that do you know what I've learned?" he asked quietly, "That it doesn't matter who you were, keep an open mind and focus your energies on something constructive, this place will bring out the best in you. It's magic, plain and simple as science..." Eduardo frowned, "That's a bad comparison, science is complicated..."

Eduardo took a breath to compose his thoughts,
"Look, this world doesn't exactly make you better, but it gives you the chance to be your best. You saw how the Princess handled a murder. The whole world is like that. Like, instead of the deck being stacked against you like on earth, it's stacked in your favor. All these ponies want is for everyone to succeed, and they'll do anything to help you do it. Not like the politicians who say they'll do these things, these guys, these Ponies actually do it. And they don't want nothing back. If that ain't enough to make you wanna try, I dunno what to tell you. But I'm gonna do everything I can to live it and I want to help all of you do the same."

Fortunately Eduardo noticed the approach of two Ponies and a Zebra and his face lit up as he saw them,
"Ah, you need to meet these two." he said gesturing to Razor Wit and Oriana, "This is Razor Wit." he gestured to the tan mare, "She's the one who worked with Artex, our Emissary, and helped him and all of us to learn their language. She is a part of his staff and she's real friendly. The Zebra is Oriana. She just joined up as another member of the Emissary staff. Artex only introduced her to me today." he then pointed to the orange Unicorn stallion wearing a stethoscope, "And this should be our doctor. Give me a second to talk to him."

Eduardo turned his attention to the stallion,
"Alright, tell me what you're going to do then give me enough time to translate for my friend here before you do it. He's all jumpy right now."

The stallion smiled warmly,
"Of course. First I'm going to ask you to kneel down so I can listen to your heart."

Eduardo then spoke to Juan,
"He needs me to kneel down so he can listen to my heart." he said taking a knee.

Juan had a question,
"How do these... Ponies know anything about our bodies?"

Eduardo flinched as the cold stethoscope was pressed against his skin,
"A bunch of us volunteered to let them study us so they can get an understanding of how we work. It's actually pretty close to the way they work so it wasn't a big jump for them."

Juan watched with laser like focus as the Unicorn stallion conducted his examination of Eduardo.

Once the stallion got to the part where things became personal, he turned to Razor and Oriana,
"I need to take these two onto one of the carriages so they can have some privacy."

Eduardo turned to Juan,
"He needs us to step onto one of the carriages for privacy."

Juan shook his head,
"No good. If everyone back in the trees sees me disappear they might not be convinced that something bad is happening to me. Let me stand outside and watch so they can see me and I can see you."

Eduardo thought about it and sighed then turned and spoke to the Unicorn stallion,
"The Humans waiting in the trees are scared right now. They need to be able to see this guy." be gestured to Juan with the thumb of his right hand, "So would it be alright if he watched from a distance? Like just outside the carriage?"

The stallion nodded,
"We'll do whatever we need, to allay their fears. I'll stand on my head if I need to."

Eduardo smiled back at the stallion,
"To help my people, I would too."

* * *

Celestia stepped out of the forest and smiled as she breathed in a huge lungful of air,
"This day has gone from tragedy to triumph."

The Humans were all gathered fairly close to the carriages, wrapped up in thick blankets and seated on the soft grass sipping from steaming mugs. All was not sunshine and rainbows though, as nearly all the Humans were seated together and looking somewhat warily at the Ponies. Razor Wit pranced eagerly on the tips of her hooves looking for Artex. She had been going insane waiting for him. Oriana had decided to make herself useful and had assisted the medical Ponies with natural herbs, needless to say they were very grateful for her aid, Zebra alchemists were a highly prized commodity. Razor had tried her best to help, but her worry over Artex and constant glancing at the treeline had made her more of a hindrance than any sort of help.

Her ears stood up straight as she spotted Artex emerging from the trees. He seemed solemn, but the look of utter peace on his face made Razor let out a sigh of relief. She had never before seen him so at peace. His eyes had lost some of the darkness they always held and it showed through the rest of him and the tan mare would have almost sworn he was glowing. He still looked as serious as ever, but the radiance around him made her knees weak and her heart flutter.

After Artex came a sight which made Razor quirk an eyebrow in confusion. A man, who was even more muscled than her favorite Human, calmly walked out of the forest. That wasn't the strange part. The strange part was the fact that he was carrying a full-grown bark brown Earth Pony mare like a baby in his well-defined arms. The mare looked comfortable and seemed to almost be sleeping, practically snugged up in the man's hefty grip.

Razor was prepared to dismiss the spectacle when numerous raised voices of alarm echoed out from the Humans wrapped in blankets. Razor turned her head away from the man and mare and saw nearly every single Human standing up and glaring death at the man. Before anybody could say another word, Princess Celestia interposed herself between the man holding the mare and the crowd.

"Eduardo," the Alicorn barked, looking around for the man, "Translate please."

Eduardo stepped out from an air carriage and Celestia began,
"Leave them be. There is absolutely nothing to be afraid of. Leave them alone." she then smiled, "Besides, wouldn't you all like to see your new home?"

Next Chapter: Chapter 31: New Arrivals Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 3 Minutes