Celestia was holding court. It was bright and early, the open session for petitioners was due to continue until lunch, then the rest of the day was her's to enjoy for herself. Even Alicorn rulers deserved breaks after all. The number of petitioners was the same as it almost always was: full of banality and drudge complaints from rich about the most mind-numbing asinine topics imaginable. Celestia had long ago ordained that commoners were to be ushered to the very front of the line so that serious issues could be dealt with first and foremost. She also had decided that any and all commoners could step in front of a rich petitioner if they arrived late. The rich hated the rule, but they dared not risk the ire of an Alicorn.

The commoners had all been dealt with easily and quickly, so Celestia was stuck hearing about how one rich Pony said that another could borrow some rare herb for their cooks to use and the herb was later declined. Celestia was hoping, nearly begging fate to intervene when an unarmored Pegasus flew into the throne room holding a message in his mouth. Celestia nearly danced for joy. The messenger landed directly in front of the rich Pony who was whining about the herb and bowed deeply, keeping his eyes raised to watch her motions. She waved the messenger forward quickly. He ascended the dais and sat down in front of her throne silently, waiting for her to speak first.

"From where did this message come?" she asked quietly.

The messenger leaned down and set the message on the floor,
"From New Humansville, Your Majesty. It's marked 'urgent' in red ink."

Celestia's eyes narrowed and she raised her head to address the room as a whole,
"Court is adjourned for the day. Please return tomorrow. Guards close the doors once everypony has departed."

The Guards ushered the petitioners out then closed the door while Celestia waited patiently. It had been some years since she had received a message in red ink. Red ink was to be used only in emergencies where lives were at stake and she had a sinking feeling about receiving one from Equestria's newest settlement. She lit up her horn and levitated the rolled up scroll in front of her. She slipped the black ribbon off of it then unrolled it and read silently. Her eyes shifted left and right as she absorbed the information and her expression changed from concerned to saddened as she finished it. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes as her magic rolled up the scroll.

She opened her eyes again and looked to the messenger,
"You are dismissed, messenger. See the Commission Clerk for your pay and thank you for delivering this in a timely fashion."

The messenger bowed deeply then turned and trotted out of the throne room, he had been the very picture of professionalism. Celestia watched him go and offered a small smile as the doors closed behind him. Her thoughts were troubled.

* * *

A stream of green, sparkling smoke flew in through the exhaust vent in the Ponyville library, since all the windows were closed. The smoke seemed to swim through the air until it reached a lavender Alicorn working at her desk.

The smoke materialized into a scroll and fell onto Twilight's desk, startling her out of her studies,
"Hmm?" she looked up at the scroll and her eyes immediately found the black ribbon tied around the center, "Oh no." she said out loud.

Razor Wit and Oriana looked up from their own work laid out of the coffee table,
"What's the matter?" Razor asked.

Twilight turned toward the pair levitating the scroll and read it out loud,

My dearest Twilight,
I take no pleasure in writing this missive. It seems that a little one is without a home. This would normally be something which my sister and I would deal with ourselves, however the species of the little one is an issue. I wish for you to bring Artex and his staff members with you to the Royal Palace this afternoon.

Razor's ears flattened out sideways,
"Oh no, what happened?"

Twilight shook her head,
"I have no idea, but we need to go collect Artex then I can teleport us to the Palace Teleportation Beacons. Do either of you know where he is?"

"He did not specify exactly where he was going, he merely said he needed to 'practice'." Oriana said quickly.

Razor said nothing, keeping her opinion to herself as Twilight spoke again,
"He took Suey with him so we can't ask her to track him. I suppose I'll just have to ask Spike. I know he doesn't like it though so I'll have to bribe him." she turned her head and yelled up to the loft bedroom, "Spiiiiiiiike."

"Coming." his voice echoed down from the stairs a few seconds later, "What's up?"

Twilight rubbed her right leg against her left one and turned her head to the side as she spoke,
"I need a favor Spike and it's not the kind of favor you like doing."

Spike crossed his arms and tapped his foot,
"Really." he deadpanned, "What is it this time?"

"I um... I need you to sniff out Artex. There'saonestoneweightemeraldinitforyouifyoudo." she added quickly.

Spike's little claws fell to his sides,
"Really!? I'm not a dog, Twilight! I thought you meant something I would be willing to do, like volunteer to be swallowed by an Ursa Major while under an observation enchantment so you could study its BOWELS! And before you even THINK about asking me to do that, it was just an example, NOT something I am actually willing to do. Don't forget that Artex has magic now, just use something of his as a Thamaturgic Connection, figure out the direction and distance, and go find him yourself! I'm not getting into the habit of tracking with scent, Twilight!"

"I know you're afraid of your hunter instincts kicking in Spike, but you shouldn't be afraid of using a natural ability." Twilight tried to soothe him while mentally kicking herself for not considering using a Thamaturgic Connection.

"I'm not talking about that right now Twilight, besides you have to go find Artex." Spike said redirecting the conversation.

"I'm sorry Spike. I don't mean to push and I honestly didn't even consider using a Thamaturgic Connection." Twilight apologized.

Spike's expression softened,
"I forgive you Twilight, just please don't ask me to do that." he turned and headed back upstairs.

* * *

Artex' muscles bulged and his heart rate was nice and high, just like he wanted. Sweat poured off him liberally as he gripped the khopesh in his right hand. He spun and kicked and slashed at open air. His movements were jerky and undisciplined and he knew it had been far to long since he had practiced. The khopesh was a tool and a weapon but he had been using it exclusively as a tool for nearly three quarters of a year. He felt it was likely that at some point in the future he would have to use it as a weapon again, though hopefully with fewer sustained injuries than when he had faced off against the Timber wolves. He also knew that such hope was nothing more than wishful thinking unless he practiced with it as a weapon. He had already spent some time in practice with his hatchet/hammer. It was well balanced and fairly heavy and he had little trouble throwing it, though managing the proper rotations to make it stick blade first into a tree was a bit of a trick. Retrieving it had also been tricky as he attempted to pull it to him using his magic. It had taken a few tries but he managed to get the hang of it quickly. Suey was laying down behind a nearby oak tree watching her father figure swing a shiny sharp metal thing around. She silently found it rather amusing.

He was so engrossed in his movements, an altered form of the Kung Fu he had studied back on Earth, he failed to notice when three mares came strolling into the secluded section of White Tail Woods where he was practicing. The three silently watched as the tall, misshapen man stopped, slid the khopesh back into its sheath, then began performing a kata. To any studied martial artist the movements would have been sloppy, slow, and uncoordinated, but to the mares who had never seen a Human example of martial arts, he looked to be performing a smooth and fluid dance. He punched and kicked and blocked with both arms and legs, fighting imaginary opponents. After a solid four minutes he finally finished the kata and brought both hands to his sides with his fists closed and bowed.

The sound of clopping hooves snapped his attention to his small audience,
"Huh?" he asked eloquently, "Uh, how long have you three been there?"

Twilight giggled behind her left forehoof,
"Not too long. Just long enough to watch you dance."

"I never knew you knew how to dance." Razor said, "What kind of dance was that?"

Artex grumbled under his breath briefly before answering,
"It wasn't a dance per se, it's what's called a 'kata'. It's a series of movements set into a specific pattern. Katas are associated with..." he trailed off not knowing the equivalent for 'martial arts' in Velensovth, "Combat training. The kata I just finished is for fighting several enemies at the same time."

Oriana cocked her head to the right,
"You were a warrior?"

Artex looked puzzled for a second before he remembered that Oriana had no idea what he had done before coming to Equestria,
"No, I was a type of guard back on Earth. I studied a little bit on how to fight, but nowhere near as much as many others. There are Humans who spent their entire lives studying how to fight." he paused and wiped the sweat off his face, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure ladies?"

Twilight decided to take the lead,
"Princess Celestia sent a message for me to bring you all to the Royal Palace. There is a foal without a home, which is a serious matter for us, but I'm going to assume that it's a Human foal that needs a home. The Princess didn't exactly say so, but she might as well have. Are you ready to go?"

Artex shook his head,
"Nope, not unless you want me to be sticky, smelly, and dirty when I'm in front of Celestia. I need to shower first if we have the time."

Twilight nodded,
"We do have enough time for you to shower." she stepped up to him and motioned for Razor and Oriana to do so as well, "I can teleport us back to the library if you're ready."

"Suey." Razor called, "Come here girl."

The still growing Great Pig rose to her hooves and ambled over, Razor turned to Twilight,
"Now we're ready."

* * *

Artex had just stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist,
"So tell me why we need to be involved in this adoption process." he asked to nopony in particular as he descended the stairs, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but we don't get a say in who does the adopting."

"Normally I would agree with you completely Artex, but since it's a Human... child you said, since it's a Human child the normal law might not cover it. Besides there's a new species to integrate and none of us knows much about any sort of specialized care for Human young. In this case we would be the ones to decide what happens and who the adoptive family is based on their capability of providing for it." Twilight informed.

Artex slipped on one of his shirts and slid a pair of his boxer/briefs under the towel as he spoke,
"That makes sense I suppose. It would be best then if I knew what kind of care foals require so I can make an informed comparison." he pulled up a pair of his pants and removed his towel.

Razor decided to take the lead,
"Newborn foals require a great deal of care. They need to be fed and changed frequently. They have only a certain amount of time they can be awake before they need a nap and they get into everything around them. They are inquisitive and curious to a fault."

Artex twitched his lips,
"I meant in regard to developing physically, emotionally, and mentally. Like for example, how long is it before foals learn to walk?"

Razor cocked her head to the side,
"About a week and a half why?"

Artex ran his hands through his hair,
"Well for Human babies it takes about six months for them to learn how to crawl on their hands and knees and a while after even that before they learn to walk upright. I'm not certain about exact times..." he lapsed into silence and put his hand to his chin in thought, "We should get an experienced mother to help us out."

"Well that's a good idea, but where would we find an experienced Human mother? The only one I can think of is the one woman who just had her foal... baby." Twilight said.

Artex stopped and looked up with a grin,
"There is somebody. A Human woman who has a great deal of experience raising children. Cessily Richardson."

Next Chapter: Chapter 41: New Issues Abound Estimated time remaining: 13 Hours, 23 Minutes