Early the next morning Captain Joyner was awakened by feverish knocking on his bedroom door. He groaned and looked out of the window next to his bed. It was only just barely light outside. The sun had not yet even crested the horizon. He grunted unhappily and rolled over staring balefully at the door. The previous day and night had been somewhat tense. The Diamond Dogs and their Human friends had been the very picture of polite and friendly. Some of the Humans of the city had been decidedly less so. During the night he had been called in to take statements because of a scuffle between one of the Dogs and a young man who had been enjoying a full night at The Melting Pot. Apparently calling a Diamond Dog a 'son of a bitch' was in fact not an insult however 'ass licker' was very looked down on. The young man had seen the error of his ways when the Diamond Dog had, with a single head-butt, knocked him completely unconscious. The Diamond Dog had also carried the young man outside and set him down on the ground, then sat next to him and waited for the C.W.G. officers to show up. There were no charges filed and the two involved parties had shaken hands at the end. With the night having gone so well Mike was uncertain why somebody would be knocking down his door so early.

"Yes." He said sleepily, "Come in!"

The door burst open and in strode Andrew Masonete, "We've got some weird stuff happening Captain. A dozen Rectifiers just walked into Headquarters, we received word that ten or so Air Coaches are on their way from Canterlot, and fifty new Ponies were just dropped off by Air Coach. They were talking about being 'employees' for New Humansville Shipping Services."

Mike groaned again and sat up, "We really need somebody else to take care of things around here. I'm not the Mayor."

* * *

Chris was jolted into wakefulness when Bobby Jewel walked through the doorway to he and Luna's room, "Get up Chris. There's a bunch of Ponies here saying that they're here reporting for duty and YOU are their supervisor."

Chris roused himself and threw off his covers, "Shh! You'll wake up Luna!" he hissed.

Bobby looked to the other bed in the room, not seeing Chris subtly rubbing a pinhole set into the inside of his left elbow. Bobby shook his head, "Come on, she's out like a light. You need to sort this out."

* * *

Alana, Vaiawa, and the other Changelings, Rifin included, were all waiting just outside Town Hall when the Air Coaches landed. They had been awakened by C.W.G. officers and told that they were needed at Town Hall. They were also told that the C.W.G. would be there to provide them with help. The Community Welfare Guardians were already running all over the place setting up tables and parchment and ink. Rectifiers were also running around, taking orders from the C.W.G. and working with them in a swarming mass of activity. The poor Changelings still had no idea why they would be needed so urgently, but they were willing to do their part... whatever that might be.

The first Air Coach circled twice before coming in for a landing in the Town Square. It touched down and E.U.P. Guards in golden colored armor hopped out and began dispersing. One Unicorn jumped out and began shouting commands to the other Guards, "You, find the Captain of the local Civil Guard and inform him of our cargo! You twelve, line up the coaches in single file! Do not let them disembark before I say so! We need the 'all clear' from the locals before we do anything and I do not want any of our constituents passing out from hunger or asphyxiation!" He looked around and spotted the Changelings standing by the doors of Town Hall, "You there, Changeli..." he stopped and trailed off as his eyes took in the colossal mass that was Rifin, his head slowly tilting back, "... what in the name of Discord's scaly balls is THAT!?"

Rifin stepped forward, huffed, and lowered his head toward the stallion, "I'm a Changeling and I haven't had my breakfast yet. Do not insult me... tiny."

Blueblood swallowed audibly, "Well then go eat you... you... heh... you nice... tall... huge... monstrous... thing you." He cleared his throat, "Yes, well I need to speak with the resident Changelings of New Humansville. I assume you are they?"

Alana nodded and stepped forward, "We are. I am Alana. What do you need to speak with us about?"

Captain Joyner came running up to Blueblood with one of the E.U.P. Guards trailing behind him, "I'm here." He said coming to a stop, "I assume you're the commander in charge of these Guards?"

Blueblood nodded and turned his whole body to face the Captain. His mind came to a screeching halt as he espied the familiar weapon slung over the Captain's shoulder, 'My trident! My family heirloom!' He caught himself and clenched his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, 'No. Proudhoof valued it too much. It may be mine by right... but I will not value it more than these beings.' Blueblood looked into Mike's eyes, 'Just let it go. It's being used for its intended purpose.' He subtly bit his lower lip, 'Keep it.' schooling his face into neutrality, Blueblood addressed the Captain, "I am and who might you be?"

"Captain Michael Joyner of the Community Welfare Guardians." Mike said extending his hand.

Blueblood quirked his left eyebrow at the Captain then slowly took the offered hand, "Prince Blueblood of the E.U.P. Guard. You will forgive me, I was expecting to see a Pony as Captain. I suppose it does make sense to have one of you..." he trailed off as if trying to remember, "Ah Humans, that's the proper word. One of you Humans as the commanding officer. This burg is named after your kind after all." He cleared his throat and stood to attention, "We have some two hundred plus Changelings in the backs of these Air Coaches. We need to have the area secured immediately so as to limit the potential interaction with the populace until such a time as they have sworn and agreed to reside in this town peacefully. Have your Civil Guard form a perimeter and stand ready to subdue any dissenters if they attempt to escape or attack."

Mike's eyebrows rose significantly, "Have the Changelings been informed of what is happening?"

Blueblood relaxed his stance and looked at Mike in confusion, "Certainly not. They have no say in what happens to them until they have sworn to abide here peacefully. I assure you they have not been mistreated in any way which violates the law." He pursed his lips then added, "Though I do have a minor concern about their health in the Air Coaches if they are not let out soon. I do not wish to have my record tainted with the words 'mistreatment of prisoners'."

Mike shook his head, "Your alignment is obviously Lawful anal, terrific. Look, just open the doors and let them out." He turned to Alana and the other Changelings while Blueblood sputtered indignantly, "Can you guys please direct them into Town Hall? Just be careful. The Diamond Dogs are still up on the third floor. They haven't come down yet so they might still be sleeping."

Rifin snorted, "Just let them see me and they'll listen to what I say." He took to the air and landed behind the closest Air Coach, "Let them out you shiny, white nuisances." He ordered the Guards.

Blueblood gaped at the sight, "He..."

Mike cut him off, "Is here to help." Blueblood turned his head back to the Captain as Mike continued his thought, "He just helped us raid a Bloodmage safe house. He's proven his worth and loyalties. Let him do his thing." Mike crossed his arms, "Trust me. By himself, he'll do what would take an entire squad of your 'boys' to equal. Stand back, leave him alone, and be amazed."

* * *

Chris led the Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies out of the Northern perimeter of New Humansville while he rummaged around in a shoulder bag he had retrieved from his own personal chambers in Canterlot. The trip had only taken him a few seconds. Teleportation was handy.

He said nothing until the procession reached a series of four stone buildings set in a clearing which was a full square League in size. The clearing was in the edge of the forest to the north. Each building resembled a massive building block. Each one was twenty Fathoms cubed and had a single door in each of the four walls, plus a pair of tall double doors on the side of each building which faced toward New Humansville. The double doors were loading bays sized for wagons. All the doors were solid oak and brand new, each with a heavy handle and lock set into them.

Chris walked up to the closest building and fished around in his bag and retrieved a heavy brass key. He stuck the key into the lock of the door and turned it. The lock clicked loudly and he pushed the door open, motioning for the Ponies to enter the building first. The Ponies had already experienced a significant shock when they arrived, having never seen a Human in real life before. They entered the building and looked around curiously. The interior of the building was completely bare save for a square in the very middle of the floor and a covered podium off to the far side of the square. The square was cordoned off by a thick, shoulder height stone wall which opened next to the podium via a single heavy oak gate. Peering over the short wall, Chris saw the runes he had been hoping to see. Each rune was nearly the size of a Pony and were carved into the stone floor. Every one of the runes was inlaid with solid, well polished steel. The Ponies murmured among themselves, obviously confused.

Chris strode up to the podium and whipped off the fabric cover. The podium itself was littered with labeled holes on the left side and an additional pair of small empty holes next to each of the labels. The podium had a single lever on the right side and a series of two small but long wires attached to hoof sized metal cuffs.

Chris smiled at the device, "They replicated the blueprints exactly." He nodded in satisfaction then turned to the Ponies. Smiling warmly he began his presentation, "Good morning and welcome to the New Humansville Shipping Services Center. My name is Chris and I'm the designer and owner of both this center and the devices we will be using. I am also your boss. Now I'm sure you're all kind of confused as to why you applied to a shipping center job and yet there are no trains to be seen. The answer to that question is very simple: we do not use trains to ship goods here. Walk with me please."

Chris turned and began gesturing to the stone runes and podium, "You are part of an innovative and cutting edge system of shipping. From these buildings we will transport goods all over Equestria and hopefully soon, the entire world. The process by which we will accomplish this is a simple one: we teleport things. I have devised a system of simple on and off enchantments that have been set into a large number of simple carved crystals. Each of these crystals is matched to ten others and more can be added in time. The crystals we have here are linked to other crystals in other locations all across Equestria. With the proper crystal combinations and the flip of a switch, you can teleoprt an entire shipment of cargo from Canterlot to here and from here to Trottingham in less than a minute if you are quick enough."

Chris paused to let the information sink in before he continued, "Now... I have already interviewed, hired, and trained employees for several other locations. We will begin shipping at noon today so let us not waste any time. I need solid, dependable, and most importantly honest employees. These four buildings will be the hub, the central nexus of the shipping center and it will all be powered by ordinary Ponies."

Chris gestured to the group of Ponies, "You all get to decide what you want to do here and do not be fooled, there is no 'Unicorn Job' or any 'Earth Pony' job, there are just jobs. You provide the magical power for teleportation, will be my safety monitors, you will be in charge of keeping the others hydrated and ensure that there are no injuries and that nobody is pushing themselves too hard, you are going to be checking clipboards to ensure that all shipments are accounted for and keeping everybody else away from the teleportation pads. Remember that safety is everybody's responsibility. If you see an issue or a danger I expect you to tell everybody about it. If there are any accidents or injuries somebody is going to be held responsible. There will be no heckling about who does which job. You pick a job and you do it. I'm going to pass around four clipboards with sheets of paper on them. On these sheets of paper are a listing of positions and the number of Ponies needed for each one. The listings are divided into sections and shifts. This is 'first come first served' so if there is a specific job that you want, get to the clip boards quickly. There is one clipboard per building and before you ask, Unicorns are NOT the only ones who can power the teleporters. I originally thought that it would only work with Unicorns, well I am glad to say that I am wrong." Chris began passing around the clipboards and their attached pencils.

The Ponies took turns writing down their names while Chris double checked that he had the proper numbers of crystals in his bag. Satisfied with the numbers and qualities of the crystals, Chris let his bag hang off his shoulder and looked back to the Ponies. They had finished writing their names and not a single argument was in evidence, 'Good. This looks good so far.'

Chris stepped over to the podium, "Now every one of these holes is meant to house a crystal. Each one is labeled according to the locations of the others. There is a red crystal and a green crystal for every city or town in Equestria that also has a shipping center. Those tell you whether or not a location is ready to send a shipment. If the red crystal is illuminated, which will be most of the time, it means that the associated location is not ready to ship. If the green crystal is illuminated, it means that the associated location is ready to teleport a shipment. The red and green crystals are on the left side. There is another crystal for every city and town on the right side of the labels. That crystal is one half of a linked pair. When the crystal here is in place with a city or town and the other crystal is also in place at the other location the two of them complete the Noun and Verb of the teleportation spell. They also mark the different locations of where the spell teleports the cargo to."

Chris reached into his bag and removed a handful of red crystals and inserted them into the appropriate holes on the podium. He then reached into his bag again and did the same for the green crystals. Once they were all in place, Chris motioned for two of the Ponies to step forward, "The ones who signed up for 'Teleport Power Duty' stand here and here please." He said motioning to the left side of the podium.

He picked up the two metallic rings and held them in front of the two mares who stepped up, "I'm going to place these on your legs. This will allow your magic to power the crystals. Once they are on, the system will start working."

The two mares raised their legs and Chris slipped the rings onto their ankles, "Each of you will work in eight hour shifts. When you are not on duty, you are free to do whatever you want, but when you are on duty I expect every one of you to be mindful and focused on your jobs. If you need a break, tell somebody. Everybody keep track of exactly how long breaks are and how many hours are worked. There are extra employees as I'm sure you've noticed. This is so that if somebody becomes ill or injured the shipping center will still be able to function. The shifts will rotate at first but once everything gets going smoothly I may be letting some of you go or moving you to different locations as needed. I am not against firing somebody because of particularly poor service. Now there will be chances for advancement and I will make this clear from the start: everybody has the same chances to advance. I know that many companies would only advance mares due to their performance. Well that is not how it works here. Everybody will have the same chances to advance and those advances will be based on performance. I also take accusations of harassment very seriously. If I hear about any stallions being unprofessional, I will take action. If I hear about any mares acting unprofessional, I will take the same action. I WILL have a smooth operation and everybody will conduct themselves in a friendly, professional manner."

As he slipped the second ring onto the ankle of the second mare the red crystals lit up. Chris smiled and stood up all the way. He reached into his bag and removed a long, clear crystal then placed it into the empty slot next to the label for Canterlot, "By placing the Spell Matrix Crystal into this slot I have just 'pinged' the Canterlot Center. When they are ready to begin the teleport test runs the red crystal will dim and the green crystal will light up. When that happens you will hear a loud siren sound. Any time you hear that siren make sure you are away from the Teleportation Area and well away from the safety walls. If you are partially caught within the area you may not be taken to the receiving end. A portion of you might get teleported and the rest of you might stay here and we do not want that."

The Ponies gulped as Chris clapped his hands together, "So now we wait for..." Chris was cut off as a loud siren began wailing. He turned to the podium and smiled, "Waiting is over. Let's get to work."

* * *

The Rectifiers and the C.W.G. were having a time with the new arrivals. They were confused and most of them were frightened. They had never seen a Human before. They had been herded onto the Air Coaches by quiet E.U.P. Guards and flown to an unfamiliar location where strange beings were asking them serious questions about their loyalty to Chrysalis. There had been some positive points though. There were already other Changelings in the new place and one of them had made the change into one of the Juggernauts and had SURVIVED for more than a day. The normal Changelings had been very kind to them and had directed them on where to go and what to do.

The tall creatures in armor had also been kind to them. They could feel the care coming off them and some of them even cared enough for the mostly starved Changelings to siphon some love off of. One of the smaller creatures had set up some sort of medical station in the big building and was checking out each of the Changelings for injuries or diseases. One of the Changelings who had already been there, Alana, was helping the creature with the examinations. The love radiating off of the apparent doctor strengthened their bodies and magic and a local restaurant called The Melting Pot had set out food for them.

Many Ponies worked alongside the tall creatures and even the Ponies were friendly even though the Changelings were in their natural forms. It was as confusing as it was wondrous. The Changelings might have been frightened, but in this new place they felt a tiny bit of hope.

* * *

Far away on another world:

"We now go live to the President of The United States. Ladies and gentlemen, Henry Seviston." the television picture changed to one of a middle aged Hispanic man wearing a black suit and tie, "My fellow Americans, today the world may rest easy for the first time in nearly a year. As you know the nations of the world have recently banded together in the name of preservation. National debts have been forgiven, generational animosities have been abandoned, and borders have been opened. Scientists the world over came together in a generously donated research facility in China and began attempting to halt or contain The Event. Well I am proud to say that as of 8:19 last night... they succeeded. Using high-tech equipment and experimental technology developed specifically for this purpose, they have contained The Event. They hope that soon they will be able to break it down and disperse it." The President paused before continuing, "Let us now observe a moment of silence for those Nations and thousands of families who have lost loved ones to this unprecedented killer storm." He bowed his head and began the moment of silence.

This chapter is supposed to feel rushed and disjointed to emphasize the confusion of the progress. Confuse all typos.