An acorn brown Unicorn stallion drug his messy, disheveled tail across blistering hot hard packed and cracked soil. His mane and tail, once fierce, fiery red now draped about his head and haunches heavily soiled, more brown than red. Oil from months of not washing had collected dirt, dust, and sand like magnets as his tail drug the ground. His mane hung loosely about his head, clinging to his face, leaving behind streaks of greasy mud which were all but invisible against his soiled countenance. His eyes were bloodshot from the blowing sand and dirt. Lack of sleep and dehydration had swollen his tongue and his labored breaths rasped against the misshapen tasting muscle in his mouth.

His body was emaciated from lack of food. His forelegs and hind legs more resembled sticks than appendages. His spindly, frail hind legs dragged the ground behind him, useless after a powerful blow from a hammer. His hind legs were calloused from the constant dragging and the hairs had been either scraped off by the ground or burnt by the uncaring sun. His sheath and scrotum rubbed against the ground, burnt and sore beyond sensation. The underside of his tail was smeared with fecal matter that he was unable to clean on his own, causing his rectum to chafe and swell bright red, which in turn caused him pain beyond words. Fortunately his addled mind had ceased registering the pain and had faded it into the background as a constant, buzzing discomfort.

He had set out on his involuntary journey nearly a year past and had yet to find a place to rest or die. He wanted to die. He had finally realized exactly how much he deserved it earlier that month. It had taken time and a great deal more agony, both physical and mental, than he had ever imagined he could live through, but the stark reality of his situation had finally dawned on him and he accepted the title of murderer.

His sluggish thoughts danced a slow waltz between his ears as he continued dragging himself onward, 'A trident...' he thought bitterly, 'Ninety dead for a... trident, for my pride.' his eyes stung harshly, wanting to pull water up for tears but it was no use. He was too dehydrated and his tears had run out days before. The only thing left within him was the emptiness of being alone and the continuous weight of his crime. It seemed to get heavier every day. He hoped that before the next sunrise he would be no more than a stringy corpse for vultures to feed on, 'At least my body will help something.' it was not much as far as consolation went, but he was happy for anything he could get.

The world around him was flat for as far as the eye could see. There were no grasses, no trees, no mountains or even hills, only flat, cracked, baking dirt. Not a single cloud decorated the sky and the sun bore down on him mercilessly. His back was sun burnt and pockmarked with blisters both developing and already popped. The world around him was so dry and lifeless there were not even any flies buzzing around him.

His strength waned and his legs shook from the effort of pulling himself along, 'I'll keep going until I cannot go on. When my strength fails I'll finally find my rest.' He continued pulling his body along the ground, wishing for death and an end to his suffering. His muscles burned from the effort and before long his strength abandoned him. He flopped onto the ground, ignorant of the pain of his flesh burning against the unyielding soil, but he remained incapable of lifting his body away from the scorching, cracked dirt. His breathing slowed as the world spun in insane directions. He was beyond feeling sick, there was nothing in his stomach to purge. The world spun and spun and spun. It was like a top and he slowly closed his eyes unable to keep them open and unable to care, 'Let me... feed... whatever... comes... upon my... remains.' he hoped silently, 'Let... my death... serve... others... in... some... way.' he was almost pleading, 'Let... me... die... as... I... once... lived... in service...' he wanted to cry, he wanted it so badly, 'Please... Magic... Of... The... World... ac-accept... me... b-back... let... me... join... with... you...' his mind slipped and he knew no more as his eyes closed.

* * *

Fleur-de-lis and Fancy Pants waited eagerly by the sky carriage that would take them to New Humansville. With them was a small procession of medical Ponies all with saddlebags filled with parchment, quills, ink, medical texts, and a few necessary personal effects. Fancy Pants and his wife both bore not only their saddlebags, but a single suitcase each. The suitcases were mostly empty. Fancy and Fleur were prepared to take a great many notes about the culture of their future child and were likewise hoping to bring back several items unique to Humans. They wanted to be prepared for when their child eventually asked about his or her heritage.

The collection of Ponies were waiting patiently for the Emissarial staff to emerge from the Palace. Fortunately they did not need to wait for long. Artex, Oriana, and Razor Wit emerged out onto the launching platform walking quickly. A team of six Pegasi Guards were already hitched up to the sky carriage. The weather had taken a turn toward the cooler side as per the policies of the weather Pegasi during the late autumn months. That being the case, the sky chariot was one of the enclosed variety. It had full height walls and a ceiling and a single conditioning crystal was set into the roof of the carriage to stabilize the temperature within and keep the occupants warm.

Artex waved to the Ponies as they watched his approach, "Everypony hop aboard the sky carriage. We're leaving as soon as we're all loaded."

The Ponies quickly began boarding the sky carriage and it was not long before Artex closed the door behind them. He turned around and watched as the Ponies each sat down on one of the seats and he decided to take an empty seat between Razor and Oriana. It seemed quite obvious they had left it open for him. It wasn't long before the sky chariot lurched and they were off.

* * *

The sky chariot landed on the roof of Town Hall a few hours later. The roof of Town Hall had undergome a distinct change. There was a protective barrier wall erected around the perimeter of the roof as well as a white painted symbol of a sky chariot on the landing platform. The Pegasi Guards came to a swift halt but did not unhitch themselves. The group they carried were due to stay in New Humansville and the Guards knew their return trip would only be slowed if they removed their harnesses.

Artex stepped out of the air carriage first and held the door, "Come on everypony. It looks like the clouds are about to break. The weather Ponies have a storm planned and I don't want to hold them up."

"Ain't just Ponies man." said a voice from above, "They got me now too."

Artex looked up into the dark gray clouds and a genuine smile split his face, "R.J.!" he called excitedly, "How've you been?"

R.J. Brinsin landed next to Artex and wrapped him in a one armed hug, "Been great! I can fly and control electricity! Just found out last week that if I hold my hands and feet the right way I can walk on and move clouds too." he lapsed into American English briefly, "Hell, I might as well be motha fuckin' Jefferson Pierce!" Artex shot him a confused look, R.J. sighed and said, "Black Lightning! First appeared in DC Comics in 1970s man!"

Artex still looked completely puzzled. R.J. just patted him on the shoulder and shook his head while all the Ponies trotted past, "You need to read some serious classic comics bro."

Artex shrugged, "Never was too much into DC I always preferred Marvel, specifically the X-Men."

R.J. facepalmed sadly, "Jeeze brother, you really need to broaden your horizons." he quickly looked up and motioned to the passing Ponies, "What's with the live cargo? New residents?"

Artex shook his head mildly, "Naw, this is the family that's going to adopt the baby. Most of the Ponies are medical staff they brought to be trained on how to deal with Humans."

R.J. stepped away from Artex, nearly tripping over a passing Unicorn mare, "Woah, woah, woah!" he held up his hands in a 'time out' gesture, "Hold up! Are you telling me that WE don't have the option to adopt the baby?" he crossed his arms and scowled, "That's messed up bro, really messed up."

Artex blinked, "Well if anybody was interested they should have shown up at the interviews..."

"What interviews?" R.J. asked raising both his eyebrows, "We never heard of any interviews or, I PROMISE you, there would have been a TON of people there."

"You... you never received the fliers?" Artex asked aghast at the possibility that formed in his mind.

"Bro we aren't on any maps yet, how could we get fliers?" R.J. asked.

It was Artex' turn to facepalm, "Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, SHIT!" he ran his hands through his hair as he looked to the sky, "Aw hell!"

Razor and Oriana stepped out of the air carriage and looked up at Artex worriedly, "What's wrong Artex?" Razor asked.

"Gah! FUCK!" he swore loudly, "Aw this is not good!" he turned and locked eyes with Razor, "The adoption fliers never made it out here! New Humansville isn't on any maps outside the private ones Celestia and Luna have! The fliers weren't handled by Palace staff, they were handled by Herd And Family Services and they don't have a current map!"

Oriana's eyes widened, "Oh... oh dear... will the people here be upset about that?"

Artex flopped down onto his backside and held his face in his hands, "Oriana, we'll count ourselves divinely favored if there's not a riot once word gets around." he thought quickly then turned back to R.J., "We never meant for this to happen. Gather all the Humans into the Town Square as soon as you can. I'll address them all." he sighed and hung his head, "This is my problem and I'll fix it."

Artex groaned as he stood up and yelled to the flight team, "Tell the Princesses I need them here as soon as possible."

The flight team looked at each other then took off into the air at the same time R.J. lifted off.

Artex turned his attention back to Razor and Oriana, "I need you two to go find Fancy Pants and Fleur-de-lis and their medical Ponies and tell them to stay where they are, in the hotel and stay out of sight until this blows over."

Oriana furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "What do you mean 'blows over'?"

Razor closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "It's a Human figure of speech. It means until the issues is resolved enough not to be dangerous." she opened her eyes and glued Artex in place as their eyes locked, "Do you really believe your people may become violent over this?"

Artex nodded emphatically, "Oh yeah."

* * *

It took more than an hour for the people to assemble. Fortunately the people from Argentina had begun learning Velensovth more than a month before and most were at least more or less conversant in it. The people spoke loudly among themselves and waited while Artex met with the C.W.G. inside Town Hall.

Within Town Hall Captain Joyner was reclining against the front doors, keeping them closed while Artex paced back and forth. The Emissary had explained the situation openly and the revelation had silenced the entirety of the Community Welfare Guardians, Kavim and Human alike.

Finally Kolo decided to break the silence, "Yep." he said loudly, "That's a real pickle."

"And one that could spiral out of control really quick if we don't solve it." Cessily added coolly, "The people are going to be enraged when they hear about this... fluff." she turned to Captain Joyner, "We got any riot gear stashed away?"

The Captain shook his head, "Nope. We just have us." he locked his eyes onto Artex, "You'd better be really careful with everything you say. Once you tell them, the tiniest thing could set them off and while I know we could handle a riot, we couldn't do so without injuries." he said seriously, "I'll have the Sorcerers alert too."

Artex looked up and cocked his head, "Sorcerers?"

"They've helped out with a couple of things ever since Catalyst and her volunteers asked to make them Human magic specialists." Joyner explained.

Artex stopped pacing and straightened his clothes, "Right. Well I guess it's time to bite the bullet. Anybody who prays regularly, please say a few for me."

Joyner nodded and pushed off the door, "Come on, we need to surround the crowd. Space yourselves out evenly and try not to look too threatening." He lead the mixed species of the C.W.G. outside in single file.

Artex waited until the door had closed before he took several deep breaths to calm his nerves, 'Razor and Oriana should be safe at least.' He turned toward the stairs and trudged up to the second floor. He stepped into one of the rooms then made his way onto the balcony that overlooked the crowd. Eyes began locking onto him and he felt the weight of their stares, 'These are my people. I'm supposed to present their best interest, but I couldn't because I wasn't here. I didn't know. I've allowed myself to be too far away from where I need to be. THIS is where I need to be. This is where I belong. I chose to serve them and I've been neglecting them.' he solidified the decision in his mind, 'I'm sorry if you cannot accept it Razor, but this is where I'm needed. My people's needs come before my own and I'm not going to neglect them anymore.'

Artex raised both his hands and yelled loudly, "Quiet down." he spoke evenly but with volume, "I've asked you all here to make something known. As many of you are undoubtedly aware, a woman has chosen to give her baby up for adoption. The matter was quickly brought to the attention of the Princesses by the medical staff at the hospital and they, in turn, brought it to my attention. This baby needs a home and it needs to be cared for by a loving family. Fliers were sent out to Equestrian cities, towns, and villages, however there has been a clerical mistake. None of those fliers ever reached New Humansville. Under the erroneous belief that only Kavim families were interested, we have already selected a family to adopt the baby who will live with them in Canterlot..." Artex stopped speaking as the gathering of Humanity erupted into angry shouts.

"Are they going to decide what to do with our children now?"

"How dare they!"

"How did that happen!?"

"I thought we were citizens!"

"Why didn't they tell us!?"

Artex held up his hands again and yelled even louder, "I'm trying to tell you how we're going to fix this." his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as more and more angry shouts echoed up to him. From somewhere within the crowd a small cobblestone came flying upward like an arrow. Artex reacted on instinct and opened his screfula to stop it with magic.

He needn't have bothered. A rainbow aura surrounded the cobblestone and halted it before Artex could do so with his own magic. The stone stopped in midair and the crowd went silent. Artex took a breath and scanned the crowd with his eyes, looking for both the perpetrator and the one who stopped the stone. His eyes alighted on a spread out group of young people with their arms held out, a different color of aura surrounding each of them. Every one of the people had a colorful pinwheel patch on their shirts directly over their chests opposite side of their hearts.

He nodded to his saviors and turned back to the crowd, "As I was trying to explain, we have already alerted the Princesses and we will work this out so that everybody has the same opportunity. If any of you have suggestions as to how to solve this dilemma, please form a line in front of the Town Hall and we will hear each of you in turn." With nothing more to say, he turned and headed back inside.

Artex walked down the stairs into the main floor of Town Hall. He cast his eyes all around looking for items he could use. The front half of the lowest level was vacant of anything more than an old runic circle drawn onto the floor, now badly scuffed by the passing of many feet and hooves. The side of the floor opposite from the front doors was filled with old oak crates arranged into a platform which rose four feet off the floor and a series of small folding tables and sitting pillows were stacked underneath the stairway. Taking the initiative, Artex pulled out five of the small folding tables and enough cushions for twenty to rest upon. After he arranged the tables in a semicircle, he then looked in the old boxes for paper and quills. Finding all the old crates empty, he then proceeded up to the second floor and began looking around in the various rooms for something to help. Most of the rooms contained the personal belongings of the volunteers from the University so he left those alone. After searching the entire second floor, he made his way up to the third. After a few minutes he located a full sized wooden desk with drawers and paper and pencils on top. The small, pie-slice shaped room had no door nor curtains but the desk looked rather official. Artex strode over to the desk and pulled open the top drawers. Papers filled the entire drawer, all of them containing notes on tools and which resident had which ones. Deciding the notes were of no concern, Artex closed the drawer and grabbed up five pencils and a hefty handful of paper.

He made his way back down the stairs and set the papers and pencils out on the tables. He took a step back to admire his work and was satisfied with the result. He clapped his hands together, ready to begin. He turned an approached the front doors. Placing his right hand on the lever, he pulled up and opened the door. Nearly a dozen faces waited on the other side, all sporting upset expressions.

Artex peered past the people waiting at the door, to the thirteen young people behind the the petitioners. They were the same ones that had stopped the rock from hitting him. They stood around a single young, blond, Caucasian man who was sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back. Artex pushed past the people waiting at the door with many an apology of 'excuse me' and 'pardon me'. He strode up to the thirteen people wearing pinwheels and stopped and planted his fists on his hips.

"I appreciate you guys stopping that rock from hitting me, but what's going on here?" he asked loudly. The people all looked at the curious Emissary with sly smiles. A single familiar face from those standing around the young man sitting on the ground brought his attention to focus, "Hey, you're the one who hates Kavim." Atrex searched his memory for her name, "Tammy no... Ta... Tamika! Tamika Edison!"

The young woman inclined her head toward him with a neutral expression, "Yes, this is me trying to make up for what I did. My psychologist says it's a good way to start. And by the way, that's not my name anymore. I've had it changed to Full Spectrum now. All of us here have Kavim names."

Artex scratched his chin, "Why?"

The group chuckled and a young man who's pinwheel patch was bright blue spoke up next, "I would think it's obvious. This world gave us magic and the Kavim taught us how to use it. We changed our names as a show of respect. The Arch Magister named us Sorcerers and we study and use Human magic for the betterment of society. We have limitations obviously, and we have licenses for every Noun and Verb we use, but other than that so long as we don't break any laws or cause any problems, we can do what we want." He gestured down to the bound man, "In this case, we identified your assailant and we have detained him. The C.W.G. are retrieving the proper restraints as they had none with them at first. We are also deputies charged with keeping the laws of magic from being violated."

Artex pursed his lips and looked back to Full Spectrum, "And your psychologist has given you permission to use magic?"

She smiled sadly, "Not for casual use, only for protection or if I'm being monitored for research. The full freedom to practice will come in time. Catalyst has been tutoring me and working with me to see what the Noun Energy can be used for, so far, a lot."

Artex nodded, "Alright, would any of you be willing to stand watch while I talk to these people," he gestured to the people waiting in front of the Town Hall, "Just to make sure they don't get out of hand? Are you permitted to do that?"

"We are." Full Spectrum said, "We'll need at least two of us to stay here with this... person." she finished with an open sneer.

Artex chose to ignore the statement and the man, "Alright then, I'll be in Town Hall. Please come join me when you can." He turned and walked back to the front doors of Town Hall. Stepping up to the front, he turned and addressed the people in front of him, "I'm ready to hear your thoughts but since there is only one of me I'll need to take you one at a time so that everybody can be heard. If you want, I have several pieces of paper inside so you may write down your ideas then present them, O.K.?" his question was met with a smattering of affirmative responses. He opened the doors and motioned for the people to follow him, "I'll take the first person in line." he said pointing to the blonde Caucasian woman at the front of the line.

Artex walked around to the back side of the first table and gestured for the blond woman to do the same while the others busied themselves with writing down their ideas, "Now then," he began as he sat down, "What do you think would be a good way to fix this situation?"

The blond woman set her jaw and peered at the Emissary, "Well I think it's really fucked up that it happened in the first place," she started in American English, "We're supposed to be equal citizens and then they just go and forget about us when one of our own children needs a home? It's like they're trying to..."

Artex cut her off, "Ma'am, we've already determined that it shouldn't have happened, so what do you think we should do about it? To solve the problem?"

The woman crossed her arms, "You don't need to get an attitude with ME!" she snapped, "I'M not the one who screwed up."

Artex rolled his eyes and sighed, "I never said you were, but how about we talk about finding a solution?"

"I don't know how to fix this!" the woman said throwing her hands up into the air, "That's YOUR problem!"

Artex sighed and rubbed his hands against his temples, "This is for people who have possible solutions to the problem, NOT for folks to just vent and keep saying the same thing." he sighed again and adopted an official tone, "Thank you for your time ma'am. Next please."

The blond woman's mouth twitched in irritation, but she did rise to her feet and storm off silently, much to Artex' relief. The next person to sit down in front of him was a young African-American woman who looked just as peeved as the previous woman, "You wanted ideas to solve the problem? I've got one. Just perform the interviews again." she shrugged, "That's all I have. Good luck." She rose to her feet and left without another word. Artex was pleasantly surprised, but could not complain.

"Next please." he said loudly. The creak of the front doors made him look up as four of the Sorcerers entered the building. Artex smiled and nodded at them, then pointed to either side of the door. The Sorcerers took up positions around the Town Hall and on either side of the door as the next person sat down. She was another African-American woman, "And what is your idea ma'am?" Artex asked.

"How about you just find some Humans who are willing to take the baby? Why should the Ponies even have the option? I mean, they won't know anything about how to raise a Human baby. It would be like somebody asking Humans to take care of a foal. It's ridiculous. Why were they even considered?" she asked.

Artex nodded, "Believe it or not I had the same initial concerns as you do. The simple fact is that we need to keep every possibility open for potential parents. It would be a big step in the direction of accepted integration and the family has already been conscientious enough to have a full medical team come with them to learn about how to care for the baby. The family, if no other suitable family is found, will remain here to learn about Human society and history so they will be able to adopt the societal norms of Humans. Again, that is IF they remain the chosen family." He laced his fingers on the table in front of him, "So, what is your idea ma'am?"

The woman shrugged, "I don't know, just as long as it's a Human family that gets chosen."

Artex had to force himself not to bang his head against the table, "So basically, you're saying that anybody can adopt the baby just so long as they're Human? But you don't want the baby yourself."

The woman nodded, "That's right."

"And what if the interviews show that the Kavim family is still the best candidates?" Artex asked.

The woman crossed her arms and huffed loudly, "Then find somebody else. That baby can't go to anyone but Humans."

Artex decided to finish the conversation quickly and wrote down the woman's concerns, "Very well, I will give your concerns all the thought they are due." The words left a foul taste in his mouth, but he had a strong suspicion that trying to persuade the woman would be an exercise in futility. The woman rose to her feet and headed out the door. Artex shook his head as his eyes followed her retreating form, "Next please."

The rest of the people who had waited to talk to Artex actually had the same thing to say, just in different words: they didn't care who ended up with the baby as long as they were Human. To say that Artex was irritated would have been an understatement, so it was with elegant timing that Celestia and Luna trotted down the stairs from the roof just as the last person left. Artex waved off the Sorcerers, "Thanks guys, I really appreciate it." The Sorcerers smiled and left without a word while Artex turned to the two Alicorns, "We have a bit of a situation here. Apparently since New Humansville isn't on any maps, nobody in town knew about the open adoption because no fliers ever made it out here." He steepled his fingers in front of his face, "To say the people were upset would be like saying the sun is warm. I almost took a stone to the face when I made the announcement."

The two Alicorns faces pulled tight with concern, "That is indeed a problem." Luna admitted.

Next Chapter: Chapter 49: Logic And Hard Decisions Estimated time remaining: 11 Hours, 21 Minutes