The C.W.G. officers led the Sorcerers, Artex, Oriana, and Razor Wit into their Headquarters. The building was located on the East side of New Humansville, not far from Town Hall. It was a three story tall building almost half as wide as Town Hall was on the ground floor. Outside the building, right next to the door, was a sign which read: Community Welfare Guardians Headquarters and Temporary Holding Cells.

They were led inside and through several corridors until they arrived at a single door. Rose Thorn opened the door and flipped a switch next to the doorway, illuminating the room within with white light from crystals in the ceiling. The room was spacious, roughly seven Fathoms wide and just as long. There was a quartet of rectangular tables arranged into a square formation dominating the middle of the room with cushioned chairs set around the perimeter of the table. The chairs looked to have been designed to be comfortable for either the Kavim or Human frame. Other than that the room was plain. There were no pictures or posters on the walls, no whiteboard, nothing except the tables and chairs.

Rose Thorn motioned everybody inside then closed the door behind them, "We apologize for the sudden escort away from your destinations, but there is a serious matter to be addressed here. I am not of high enough rank to say any more right now. We'll have to wait for Captain Joyner to arrive. While we wait, is there anything we can get any of you to help make you more comfortable?"

Night Flare spoke up, "May we sit down while we wait?"

Rose Thorn nodded, "Of course you may. I believe Captain Joyner will have enough to say that it would be better if you did."

Artex crossed his arms, "Are we under arrest?"

Rose Thorn shook her head, "No. None of you are being charged with any crimes. We do need to ask you not to leave though, this is very important. We cannot stop you if you are determined to leave, but we would appreciate it if you stayed. We cannot force anybody to stay anywhere without arresting their ability to leave, which would require us to place you under arrest."

"So if I decided that I wanted to just walk out, nobody would stop me?" Artex asked.

Rose Thorn nodded, "That's correct sir. We would very much prefer it if you stayed though." She said hopefully.

Artex shook his head, "Nope. I'm out of here." He casually walked to the door, opened it, and left. Razor and Oriana were struck with disbelief until he walked back in and closed the door behind himself, "Good." He said simply, "I just wanted to make sure you knew what right civilians had and that you would actually do what you say." He walked back over to Razor and Oriana, who were both frowning at his antics. He stopped and turned around only to receive a hard punch from each mare against his thighs. Artex' legs wobbled from the two sudden 'Charlie horses' so he decided to find a seat. Seeing his example, the two mares took chairs on either side of him and the Sorcerers likewise took seats to wait.

And wait they did. The C.W.G. officers all stood at attention silently as the time passed. None of the officers moved a muscle. There were two at the door and the other four positioned themselves at the four corners of the room. Artex guessed that it had to have been close to half an hour before anything happened. Mike Joyner strode into the room smoothly and closed the door behind him. Every officer popped a sharp salute, but Mike all but ignored it, "At ease." he said offhandedly, "Corporal Thorn, come sit with me please. The rest of you stay where you are and make sure we are not interrupted."

Rose Thorn trotted up to the seat next to her Captain and plopped herself down stiffly. Mike had taken a seat where he was facing the door and folded his hands over the table, "Let's get started. Henderson," he addressed, "You reported a Priority One occurrence. Explain yourself please." Mike was all business.

Henderson snapped to attention, "Sorcerer Night Flare stated that one of the other Sorcerers was approached by a Pegasus mare and told that if they used a drop of blood on their silver based circle ward that it would make it more powerful. I firmly believe that the Pegasus mare was a Bloodmage and was perhaps trying to recruit from the Sorcerers due to the misunderstandings they have had in the past. Also that the Bloodmages may have a mole here, a way to get information. Otherwise there is little chance of her knowing about Full Spectrum's past."

Joyner nodded his head slightly, "Very good, thank you Henderson." He turned to the confused Humans and Ponies at the table, "Sorcerer Night Flare, is Henderson correct? Are you SURE that you heard correctly?"

Night Flare's face solidified into a neutral expression, "That is correct Captain. Do you need to know which one of us had the experience?"

Joyner nodded again, "That would help."

Night Flare sighed sadly, "It was Full Spectrum. All of us know about what happened, but it was her who was approached."

Mike slid his jaw back and forth several times before responding, "Sorcerer Night Flare, is there any way we could convince Full Spectrum to come in here and tell us what happened?"

"I'm surprised she hasn't done so already. She said she was curious about what the mare meant, but she wanted to ask the Arch Magister about it after her shift was over this afternoon..."

Three hard knocks sounded against the door to the room and Henderson opened it to see who was outside. After a second, he looked over his shoulder, "It's the Arch Magister, Vaiawa, and Full Spectrum. Shall I let them in?"

Mike smirked and chuckled, "Wow, talk about timing. Yes, let them in please."

Henderson opened the door and ushered the three into the room. They stopped and stared in surprise at the gathering, "Are we interrupting anything Captain?" Catalyst asked.

Joyner shook his head, "Not at all, we were just talking about you and Full Spectrum. Please take a seat. I'm pretty sure I already know what this is about."

The three took seats next to Oriana and Catalyst frowned, "I hope not Captain Joyner. The matter we have been discussing these past few hours is not a topic I wanted to ever delve into."

Mike smiled sadly, "Then, I'm afraid, we are talking about EXACTLY the same thing, Bloodmages."

Catalyst shifted uncomfortably in her seat and met Joyner's eyes evenly, "That is unfortunate, but at least we are already on the same topic. Full Spectrum has told me that some weeks ago a Pegasus mare attempted to persuade her to use a drop of blood on the silver warding circle at the location of their future tower. She described the mare as being a rusty red or auburn color in her coat, and her mane and tail were light gray. She never saw a cutie mark though. We have already checked the census for New Humansville and there is no Pegasus mare registered here in New Humansville who has that coloring. Since New Humansville is not yet on any maps and that we have not been swarmed with journalists, she must have found us and kept it to herself. Her actions point to somepony who has an interest in our town and yet has kept quiet about it, likely a Bloodmage. Sorcerer Full Spectrum also stated that the mare appeared to be wearing saddlebags, though she is uncertain because the mare was wearing a cloak which covered her flank, including any saddlebags or cutie mark. We agreed that you would be the person to inform so we came as soon as we decided."

Catalyst gestured to the undisguised Changeling next to her, "While we spoke, Vaiawa here informed us that the Changelings have had trouble with Bloodmages in the past. Apparently they are completely immune to any type of Blood Magic and because of that the Bloodmages attempted to kill them all. Changelings are a threat to Bloodmages and I believe they would be a great benefit if we request their help."

Captain Joyner shook his head, "I'm afraid we can't. Right now Alana and Vaiawa are our only two Changeling allies and I cannot, in good conscience, ask them to participate in the kind of endeavor we seem likely to face. They wanted to live here in peace and far be it for me to ask them to give that up for the sake of our convenience. They are our link to other Changelings who might wish to come live with us. What kind of an example would that set? 'You're with us, now do what we say.'" He shook his head, "Perhaps if there were more and we were on better terms with them, I might ask it of them." He turned his head and spoke directly to Vaiawa, "I'm not going to ask you to give up your hope of peace. You were the one who defied orders to attack Canterlot. If this situation goes in the direction I fear that it will, you could have no hope of leading a peaceful life."

Vaiawa stared at the Captain steadily for some seconds before she spoke, "Captain, what right would I have to be a leech here? This the only place outside of a hive where we have a chance at being accepted. What the hive represented was not something I considered fighting for." She stepped away from Catalyst and continued trotting and talking, bringing the focus on herself and speaking with intensity and passion, "This place has been more of a home than the hive ever was. Here, I have enough food to put on weight. Here, I am given love by those around me. Here, I may be seen as an outsider, but never once have any of your officers treated me differently, neither Human or Kavim. Here, I may go about in my natural form and not be scorned or hated for what I was born as. Here, is where I call home."

She swept her eyes around the room, "If there is one thing you Humans have taught me, it is that 'home' is something worth fighting for. I have no right to call New Humansville my home if I am not willing to fight for it. What kind of an example would I be to allow others to take all the risks while I sit and enjoy the home that has come to mean so much to me? Clearly not any sort of example worth following." She looked Joyner square in the eye, "I stood for what I believe when Chrysalis ordered us to attack and I will stand for it now. You are willing to fight for a world that is not even your own, how much more can I do? How much more should I do? This is my world and this foe is one that has long tormented and slaughtered my own people. I will fight. You need not ask it of me Captain. I happily volunteer. I am no warrior, but any way I can help, I will."

The Captain held himself motionless while he thought, "If you really want to do this then we won't stop you." He folded his hands in front of him on the table, "What do you know about Bloodmages?"

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