The volunteers held their tongues on the obtuse and uncomfortable nature of the A'dam and Princess Luna placed them back into their chest,
"Come, it is time for lunch." Luna said heading toward the doorway of the room, "Let us introduce you to the Humans."

As the volunteers followed her down the stairs, Catalyst voiced a concern,
"Shouldn't we leave somepony behind to watch our belongings?"

Luna responded over her shoulder as she carefully trotted down the stairs,
"Not at all. Our things will likely be left alone. The Humans will probably be far too excited to meet you to even think about going through our things." she reached the bottom of the stairs and turned as the volunteers continued descending, "I couldn't help but notice you all seemed frightened of the Humans. Might I ask why?"

Catalyst answered as she stepped off the last stair,
"They look so unnatural, and they're so tall and muscular. They're imposing and intimidating."

Luna giggled,
"Tis humorous that you feel threatened by them. For quite a while they were terrified of Unicorns. Allow me to explain," she said heading toward the doorway of City Hall, "The Humans come from a world where lethal violence is frequently resorted to for solving a problem and as such they were under the impression that we might be the same way. The arrived with no clothing, which they value greatly, no tools, no shelter, and no food or water. The main body of this group focused their attention on survival while one individual ventured off trying to find us and beg for help. That individual succeeded however, my sister's initial response was to send the Guard out en masse with nets, so the Humans could catch fish for food. Humans need the proteins and vitamins from flesh to stay healthy. The Humans only saw a large number of armed Ponies with nets. Thinking themselves about to be captured, the Humans snuck into the Guard camp and stole a large amount of food, equipment, and weapons. They kept the food and equipment and some of the weapons for themselves but also left a large number of the weapons piled up in a field as a statement that they had the capability of killing the Guards but chose not to. It was a message of peace. Some of the Unicorns decided to attack the Humans at night and massacred sixty-three of them, seven of which were pregnant females." Luna briefly paused as many of the volunteers gasped in outraged shock, "The Humans ran and a single linguist managed to lead them here so they could receive the land and supplies we had arranged for them. That is why they are even now, still leery of Unicorns."

Luna finished speaking as the group of volunteers stepped out of City Hall,
"I have heard some very good things about the Human chef. He has already invented a uniquely Human dish for Ponies. I suggest you try it with me."

The volunteers sniffed the air appreciatively as Luna led the way. Catalyst looked around the Town Center, previously devoid of inhabitants, suddenly crowded with them. The strange bipeds seemed to have crawled out from between the cracks in the walls. Humans were everywhere she looked.

She saw Humans interacting with Ponies, even the occasional Human holding a foal. The context was distinctly different from the one she had previously experienced. The Humans no longer seemed openly hostile, threatening, and dangerous; seeing them interacting with the Ponies so openly they seemed oddly . . . normal, almost as if the distinctive differences between the two species were suddenly invisible. The difference was impressively startling. Catalyst was at a complete loss. Everything seemed to change so quickly and drastically, yet everypony simply accepted it as if it were the norm, 'Is it possible the presence of these beings is a catalyst for acceptance of differences? This same result would take months if not years to be realized in Canterlot.'

The Arch Magister's attention was suddenly ripped right off the majority of the Humans and focused onto an unusual pair.

A Unicorn stallion trotted intimately close, yet comfortably beside a Human, but the stallion wore a sword. The Human, Catalyst judged the Human to be a female, carried a short spear, right out in the open. Catalyst was flabbergasted, 'Weapons? The Humans and Ponies are allowed to carry weapons!?' the notion was utterly alien to the powerful Unicorn mare. The Human female and Unicorn stallion both took their places in the rear of the lunch line.

The lunch line was long but moving quickly. A series of large cauldrons had been set up in the Town Center and Human cooks doled out food for every being in line. There were no tables to eat at, only a few blankets, which the adults, both Pony and Human left for foals. Humans and Ponies sat around on the ground eating and trying to talk. There were snippets of laughter and more than a few confused looks, but both sides seemed to be willing to give the other some, not insignificant, measure of leeway.

Catalyst suddenly realized that every Human appeared to be armed with a weapon of some sort, or a tool which could be used as a weapon. They wore then so casually that the Unicorn mare's gaze simply slipped over them like grease. From what Princess Luna had said about Humans coming from such a violent world, Catalyst expected to see many of them fighting and spilling blood all over the streets, however the opposite seemed to be in evidence. The Humans seemed to get along rather well with each other.

The sound of raised voices drew her attention to two pinkish Human males who were shouting strange words at one another, 'Now we'll see their barbaric side.' Catalyst thought grimly, 'Time for them to do some of that fighting. Her expectations were dashed to pieces when the two Humans began hitting each other with their paws, neither went to grab for their weapons, which were well within view and easy reach. Catalyst also noticed that the other Humans seemingly paid almost no attention to the two quarreling males. A loud, commanding voice barked out from the crowd and a third Human approached the first two. He was lean and well muscled and spoke with authority. He gestured to both the other males and pointed off to one side, toward Princess Luna. The expressions of the other two males were very difficult to read, but Catalyst thought they looked somewhat embarrassed. The two argumentative males approached Princess Luna and spoke with her briefly in their strange language. Luna looked thoughtful then spoke a few words to the two males. One appeared, Catalyst guessed, pleased while the other looked uncomfortable. The two departed and went on about their business and Catalyst couldn't help but let her curiosity get the better of her.

The Arch Magister trotted up to the lunar Princess and motioned to the two Humans with her head,
"What was that about Princess?"

Luna smiled dimly as her eyes flowed the two Humans,
"It was a dispute over names for a foal." she answered simply.

Catalyst was more puzzled than ever, 'Were those Humans females instead?',
"Why would they argue about a name? Shouldn't that be left up to the family?"

Luna shook her head,
"No. Human society is very different than our own. Humans do not have families as we know them. I am not completely clear on the specifics of how their families work, but my understanding is that most Humans are monogamous, but with polygamist tendencies. The male to female ration for Humans is roughly equal, so a family of one individual of either sex is the social norm. In the case of these two males," she indicated with a tilt of her horn, "One had impregnated a female but decided he didn't wish to be around the foal as a father figure. The other wants to act as the father of the foal and cares for the pregnant female, yet both felt they had the right to have a say in what the foal's name should be. They disagreed and could not come to any sort of conclusion, tempers flared and they fought. That other Human you probably saw is the Captain of the Community Welfare Guardians, the local version of the E.P.U. GUARD. He asked me to make a decision on the dispute and I judged that the one who was going to act as the father should have a say, for a family is more than blood."

Catalyst looked disgusted,
"They're so violent and why wouldn't a male want to be a father? He opened himself to the magic so he wanted the foal."

Luna shook her head again,
"I'm afraid you couldn't be more wrong in this regard. Normally for Humans, there is no magic involved at all. The gametes are already active at all times."

Catalyst's jaw hung open,
"I cannot imagine how many of them there are on their world. Then again, if they are killing each other constantly, it would make sense. How many are there, do you know?"

Luna hid a smile as she replied,
"Several billion last I heard."

"BILLION!?" Catalyst exclaimed, "I can't imagine it! It would be as if somepony went to the beach and selected every grain of sand to be a Human! Or if every star in the sky suddenly became flesh and walked among us!"

Luna nodded sagely,
"That is why their entire species hasn't gone extinct. They are different, but similar to us in many important ways. Many of them are still sad because of a battle they were forced to fight some months ago. An entire City/State of Diamond Dogs was afflicted with a disease which made them go violently insane. The Humans stood up and fought them. Two hundred or so Humans and a small contingent of Civil Guard against nearly three thousand Diamond Dogs and the Humans and Ponies won. The Humans lost some of their number, but they won. They defended their own kind and the Ponies living here. They may seem barbaric, and in some regards they are when compared to us, however they have a strength of character I've yet to see in such quantity among Ponies. These Humans may be savages in some ways, but in others, it is we who are the savage. They are frightening, but their dedication and tenacity are unequaled. They are a species with whom we may find our greatest ally, even beyond the Gryphons." Luna looked at the Human who was waiting for her to make her selection of food, "Try the fried weeds, it is a marvelous dish, which translates into, 'Garden Garbage Medley'."

Catalyst decided to follow suite and asked for it in Velensovth. The Human female who served her apparently knew the phrase and used a pair of tongs to lift some of the spiced fried weeds onto a plate for Catalyst. The Arch Magister looked at the fried weeds dubiously. They certainly smelled good enough, but they looked absolutely disgusting. Catalyst levitated the plate out of the Human's hands and walked away, following Luna.

The Princess trotted a ways away and sat alone in an unoccupied spot atop an empty foundation. She set down her plate and lowered her head, nibbling the fried weeds daintily. Catalyst followed Luna's example and sat down then nibbled on the weeds. To her surprise, the food was delicious and beyond delicious. It had bits of corn stalks, tomato stems, wheat stalks and chaff, carrot tops, leek onions, and so, so much more. The flavor was exquisite. She found herself trying not to wolf the food down and savor it instead, it was all but addictive. Being the Arch Magister and Dean of the School For Gifted Unicorns, Catalyst had been to many social functions and had sampled a huge variety of foods both native and foreign, but the so-called, 'Garden Garbage Medley' left them all behind in uniqueness.

She was so engrossed in eating, that she failed to notice the Human who sat down on the far side of Princess Luna until he spoke. Catalyst's head whipped upright, alert and cautious as the Human began what sounded like a casual verbal discourse with Princess Luna. The Human seemed to ignore Catalyst completely and focused solely on the Princess, as if he knew her. The Human was a dark colored male, fortunately not too tall, and his plate had some vegetables on it as well as something that smelled absolutely awful. Catalyst leaned her head over toward the Human's plate and nearly wretched. The Human had a cooked fish on his plate. The fish's eyeballs were charred black and its scales were completely peeled away, exposing the muscle and flesh underneath. Catalyst had to turn her head, she couldn't look at the poor fish. Instead she focused on her own food and finished her food as quickly as she could.

The Human and Luna chatted on and on about nothing Catalyst could make out. After a while and once finished with her lunch, the Arch Magister decided to perform a Magerium Scan on the Human. She closed her eyes and angled her horn toward him.

She didn't so much 'see' as she perceived the world through the senses of her Magerium. She opened her 'mind's eye' and looked around, seeing the world as her Magerium filtered Internal Biological Thamaturgic Threads into a visible spectrum. Catalyst looked around at the world, she was always amazed at the spectacular nature of the world when seen through her Third Eye spell, as it was known. She turned her mind's eye toward Luna and the Human. They looked the same as they had before, with the exception of Princess Luna since her magic was slowly evaporating away through her mane and tail. The multicolored vapors, visible only through the Third Eye spell, looked like waves of prismatic steam wafting off the Alicorn Princess. Ignoring Luna, Catalyst focused on the Human. Her mind's eye closed the distance between them and she peered beneath the outer layer of his skin. Once she looked beyond his skin, the only things that would be visible to her mind's eye would be any part of his body that was saturated with Thamaturgic Energy. She would be able to see the threads of his Magerium which indicated which Nouns and Verbs he could use, based on color, texture, and thickness. It was an easy process to determine Noun and Verb levels. The basis for the scale of potency was set and universal with Ponies and the Arch Magister could only hope the same held true for Humans.

Catalyst saw past the Human's skin and looked at the threads which represented the different Nouns and Verbs. Even though the different threads were said to be visible, Catalyst had discovered an inconsistency with the formula of of the spell. The Third Eye spell was extremely complex but easy to use, once memorized. The problem was that it used every Noun and Verb in the formula in order to make every Noun and Verb visible. If the spell was cast while neglecting a Noun or Verb, the neglected Noun or Verb was invisible. The initial developments of labeling Nouns and Verbs had been lost to the sands of time, but Catalyst was certain there was a thirteenth Noun, it was just invisible because nopony ever used it.

The threads spread out from the Human's Screfula and to his hands, feet, and head. Catalyst closely examined each thread. She began reading his Nouns and Verbs very carefully and was surprised right away. For his Verbs he had no Create, no Repair, and no Change, 'Good grief! Blind to Create, Repair, and Change! It's unthinkable.' His Destroy was a two, his Sustain was a one, his Comprehend was a one, and his Control was a three. The strangest thing was that he seemed to be constantly using his Control. Catalyst was puzzled but decided to move on to his Nouns, hoping that Princess Luna might be able to shed some light on the situation. He had nothing at all in Fire, Time, Space, Mind, Plants, Magic, Spirit, or Flesh. His Illusion was a two, his Earth was a two, his Water was a three and his Air was a five. His Air and Control were linked and always active. Catalyst opened her eyes to find Princess Luna and the Human both staring at her.

"What did you see?" Luna asked evenly.

"He is blind to most Nouns and a few Verbs but he does have a Noun and Verb combination that seems to be constantly active. He has Control and Air always active, like he's constantly casting a spell. There are hundreds of spells that could work from that combination and I'm afraid I don't know what the effect is, even though the effect is surrounding his whole body. I could perform an Active Magerium Scan, but I would prefer to have his permission to do so." Catalyst said.

Luna nodded and turned to the Human.

The two spoke for a few minutes before Luna turned back to Catalyst,
"The permission is given."

Catalyst lowered her head a focused her magic again. She saw the multicolored threads flowing within his body, gauging his strength in each Noun and Verb by the thickness of every thread. She then looked deeper at the wispy orange thread which represented Air then at the veridian thread which represented Control. She followed both threads and peered very closely at their strands. There were three strands of Air that were fluffy and jagged at the same time, they also seemed to waver in a slight breeze which obviously wasn't present in his body. Control linked through all three threads, twisting and dancing like serpentine lovers.

Catalyst pulled herself back into the physical world, eyes wide,
"He . . . he can fly, he can control clouds, and he can . . . channel lightning."

Luna turned to the Human male and translated what Catalyst had discovered,
"Say what!?" R.J. Brinsin asked.

Princess Luna repeated herself and R.J. blinked slowly four times, trying to wrap his head around what he had just been told before he broke out in a slow, bur excited grin,
"Yeah man!"

Next Chapter: Chapter 5: Introduction To Magic Estimated time remaining: 22 Hours, 55 Minutes