"Razor," Oriana addressed quietly, "Are you alright?"

Razor Wit continued trotting down the cobblestone street, not yet answering her future sister/wife. They had left Artex to go find get a room at the hotel and they were almost to the family home according to Razor. She bit her lower lip, pensive, "I'll be alright once I've introduced you all to my family. I just... I can't get rid of the feeling that something is going to go wrong, terribly wrong."

She looked around and sighed, pointing with her right forehoof, "There it is." The other mares all followed where she was pointing.

The house was off white with light blue window shutters and yellow trim. The front door was impossible to miss seeing as it was dark purple. The house was two stories tall with what looked to be at least two or three windows per room. There were a lot of windows. The front lawn was small, but had a white wooden fence surrounding it. All in all it was a very charming little house.

Razor shuddered starting from her muzzle tip it traveled down her entire body until it reached her tail, "I t's good to see the old place again." She turned to the other mares, "I feel good now just seeing it. Let's go see who is home." She led the way up to the door and knocked boldly.

A few moments passed before the door swung open revealing a muscular, dark blue Earth Pony mare whose short cropped mane and tail were ox blood red. She smiled when she saw the tan Unicorn on the doorstep, "RAZOR!" She squealed throwing her forehooves around her.

Razor returned the hug with equal gusto, "Duey!"

"Oh we've missed you so much!" The Earth Pony mare let go of Razor and landed back on all four hooves and looked beyond the Unicorn in front of her, "Oh where are my manners! Please come on in!" She held the door open and Razor led the way inside.

The first room was the foyer where there was a line of coat hooks up against the left wall and a trio of cushioned wooden benches set against the right wall. The space was roomy, two Fathoms wide from left to right and three Fathoms in length. The Earth Pony mare closed the door behind Vaiawa then turned to the four mares in confusion, "You said there was a stallion-where's the stallion?"

"He's renting a room at Cloudy's hotel." Razor answered quietly, "I'm concerned that Lamine won't like him."

The Earth Pony mare's face grew concerned, "Oh, I'm sorry Razor. Even if she doesn't, I'm sure the rest of us will love him. We can tackle that problem later though," she said looking at the other mares, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your sister/wives?"

Razor chuckled and motioned to the mare, "Girls, this is Due Process, my youngest sister, or Duey for short."

"I had to take some time off from Canterlot to be here. I just made Corporal in the E.U.P. Guard." Due Process said as she bowed her head.

"Duey, this is Oriana, Rose Thorn, and Vaiawa." She said, pointing to each in turn.

Duey smiled warmly at them, "It's so good to meet you all. Let's go into the living room and you can sit down for a little while." She trotted past them and led the way through the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the living room. The living room was filled with plush cushions, reclining couches, and padded mats. There were four cushions elevated close to the ceiling as was customary in some places for Pegasi to roost while they took their ease.

"Take a spot wherever you want. Is anypony thirsty?" Due Process asked.

Oriana settled down on a white cushion in the middle of the floor while Vaiawa perched on one of the elevated cushions and Razor and Rose both claimed a reclining couch each. They all spoke their polite decline and Due Process trotted over and took one of the padded mats on the floor, "Ooh this is so exciting!" Her eyes alighted on Oriana, "I'm not surprised that Razor has a Zebra in her herd. You're Oriana right?" At the Zebra mare's nod she continued, "I'd love to hear about your homeland..."

"Is anypony else home, Duey?" Razor asked.

Due Process blinked, "Huh? Oh, of course. Nopony else is here yet, but Lamine should be home soon. She said she was going to leave one of her employees to run the tea shop. Clean Cut and Second Chance are working at the hospital. They should be home around two fifteen. Greasy Gears and Dusty Document always get off work here soon. They both start work early. Lamane might have to work a little later tonight. Apparently there was some problem a couple days ago with the new kiln he and his crew were installing. Something about an imperfection with the mortar one of the new girls mixed. Cloudy Skies dashed off to check on her hotel about a minute before you arrived. She should be back soon. And of course Numbers has the morning shift with the Civil Guard so she should be home around three this afternoon. They're all so excited and they want to spend as much time with all of you as possible."

Razor smiled, "I didn't know you had joined the E.U.P. Guard, Duey. I know you always wanted to do something like that."

Due Process smiled hugely and nodded, "I love it! I don't know whose idea it was to allow mares to join, but they have my eternal gratitude! I was one of the first ten mares accepted! As soon as I heard that mares could join, I bought a ticket to Canterlot that same day. I didn't know if it might have been a trial idea that was only for a limited time, so I knew I couldn't afford to wait. Ooh and let me tell you, the stallions had a MAJOR hard time once they saw how strong I was."

"Strong huh?" Rose asked, "How about a wrestling match?"

"We don't need to demolish the house, Rose." Vaiawa said tittering, "With the two of you, I'd be worried about the city."

Due Process arched her eyebrows and peered at Rose, "Well you're big, sure, but can you hold your own in a scuffle?" She playfully taunted.

Rose giggled behind her forehoof, "I... know a thing or two about fighting."

Oriana rolled her eyes, "You're being modest, Rose." She turned to Due Process, "Rose is a Sargent in the Civil Guard and she fought with the task force that raided a Bloodmage stronghold."

Rose looked down at the floor, "I don't like thinking about that... there were so many bodies..."

Due Process' eyes bulged, "You've seen actual combat?"

Rose nodded, "Yeah and I hope to never have to see it again." She shuddered, "It was horrible."

"I'm sorry you had to go through it. It IS part of the job though. It's always a possibility in our line of work. My Commander, Steady Plod, said not to focus on the lives you take, but on the lives you save." Due Process consoled.

"Duey, we're home!" A mare's voice called from the direction of the front door, "Are Razor and her herd here yet?"

"We're in the living room!" Due Process yelled.

In trotted two mares, a Pegasus and an Earth Pony. The Pegasus mare was dark red and her mane and tail were ice white. The Earth Pony mare was autumn orange and her mane and tail were light brown with auburn highlights. Razor Wit rose to her hooves as they trotted into the living room. She reared back and grabbed them both in a big hug, "I missed you, Petamines."

The two mares hugged her back. The Earth Pony mare spoke first, "We missed you too, Razor."

The Pegasus mare stepped back out of the hug quickly and looked down at the floor as if she were ashamed of something, "Oh Razor I'm so sorry. One of my employees turned your stallion away."

Razor dropped back down to all fours, "What? Why?" She could not see the concerned looks shared between Oriana, Rose, and Vaiawa.

Cloudy Skies scuffed her right forehoof on the floor, "Because he wasn't a Pony."

Due Process and the other Earth Pony mare both looked at Razor in surprise. Due Process spoke first, "Aaaaaand that would be why you were worried about Numbers liking him, isn't it." It was not a question.

The older Earth Pony mare looked between Cloudy and Razor, "Well then why are we waiting around looking mopey!? We need to find him! He can stay here!" She turned to Razor and placed a comforting hoof on her shoulder, "Razor, no matter whether or not Numbers likes him, this house belongs to all of us. It doesn't matter what your stallion is, if you love him then he's welcome to stay here. If Numbers has a problem with him, let's see her face down the rest of us. This is important to you and it's important to us."

"Uh," Due Process began, "What... species is he?"

Vaiawa decided not to beat around the proverbial bush, "He's a Human."

The silence was thick enough one could likely hear a pin drop.

"Does that matter?" Oriana asked, "I'm a Zebra and nopony seems to have a problem with me."

The older Earth Pony mare looked past Razor, "Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners. I'm Fresh Brew. I own the tea shop in town." She looked to Oriana, "It IS concerning that your stallion is a Human though." She looked back to Razor, "Are you sure this is what you want? We've seen the exhibit at the museum. The things that Humans do are... well some of them are just gross."

Razor's brow creased in concern, "Huh? What do you mean?"

Fresh Brew scratched her right forehoof with her left and averted her eyes, "Well... I'm not trying to be mean Razor, but... bathing in the entrails of their enemies? Sacrificing rocks to the mountain that formed them? And urinating on their mates to mark them by scent? It's just that... it all seems so... barbaric." She quickly continued, "I'm not saying that YOUR Human stallion is a barbarian. I mean, I haven't met him or anything so I can't judge... but are you REALLY sure you want a Human?"

The look on Razor's face was priceless, "WHAT!?" She shrieked, "They're NOTHING like that!" She stepped back, eyes narrowed, "They don't bathe in entrails! That's disgusting! They do worship unseen gods, but I haven't seen any of them performing sacrifices! And urinating on..." she shuddered, "Eew! No, j-just... no. Where did you get such.... such STUPID ideas!?"

Rose Thorn rose to her hooves, "She's right. I'm a member of the Community Welfare Guardians, the Civil Guard in New Humansville, and all of those thing you just listed are lies! Humans are civilized. What you described is... is... I don't even know what to say. Humans are strange, but nowhere NEAR that strange."

Oriana spoke up next, "You know the telegram? Our stallion brought the idea from his home." She turned to Due Process, "It was HIS idea that mares should be able to serve in the Civil and Royal Guard." Due Process laid her ears back.

Vaiawa glided down from her perch, "He made peace with the Changelings. He wrote most of the pact that allowed any species to live in New Humansville. Humans are kind and gentle most of the time. They only rise to violence when threatened and they CERTAINLY do not bathe in entrails, sacrifice rocks, or urinate on their mates."

"Wait," Razor said suddenly, "You should know this. You should ALL know this. Lamine trained in New Humansville, surely she told you..." Razor's eyes widened as her forehoof slowly came up to her muzzle, "She didn't." The two words were a whisper.

"We went to see the exhibit while she was away training. By the time she arrived home, we figured she already knew all that so we didn't want to talk about. You know how she is about other species... we just figured that she didn't want to talk about it so it never came up."

Rose cleared her throat, "Well knowing Artex he just found another hotel and took a room there. We're already here now, so let's clear a few things up. First of all..."

* * *

They spend the next several hours explaining what the museum exhibit had wrong about Humans, which as it turned out, was everything. Just as four in the afternoon rolled around, the gathered mares all heard the front door close loudly.

"We're in the living room." Razor yelled.

A sniffling, forest green Unicorn mare with a pinkish gold mane and tail was led into the living room by a younger, soft pink Unicorn mare with a custard yellow mane and tail, "Lamine, it will be alright..." she looked at the gathering of mares in the living room, "She's upset because of what happened at the hospital..."

Fresh Brew and Cloudy Skies rose to their hooves and immediately trotted over to the older, green Unicorn mare. Once they were close, they saw that her eyes were red and puffy from crying. Cloudy Skies embraced her in a hug, "What happened, Clean Cut? Why were you sent home?"

Clean Cut sniffled, wiping her eyes with her left forehoof, "I-I had to perform an emergency surgery t-to repair the peritoneum of a victim of a violent attack." She raised her head and sniffled, "He'll... he'll be alright. There was no damage to any of the internal organs."

Fresh Brew pulled Clean Cut into a hug, "Take your time and tell us what happened."

Clean Cut nodded, sniffling some more, "He was unresponsive when they first brought him in. They-they had to restrain him because he kept trying to curl up. I managed to stitch up his abdominal muscles, by the way, their skin is NOT as hard as diamond, but we left the restraints on because, well, he's a Human and all and I was not about to take any ch..."

"Wait-WHAT!?" Razor surged to her hooves, "He... you said he was attacked?" Razor rushed over to Clean Cut, "His face! Did he have a disfigured face? It would have been lumpy on the right side, like a bunch of bones under the skin never healed right."

Clean Cut nodded slowly, "Y-yes but... how did you know?"

Razor's hind legs gave out, "Oh no..." tears welled in her eyes, "Who? Who could have done that? Why would anypony do that?" Her future sister/wives gathered around her for support.

Clean Cut looked even more upset after hearing Razor's question. She whimpered and turned her head toward Cloudy Skies, "I'm so sorry Cloudy... it was Cutter." she looked down sadly, "He said he was only trying to scare the Human away..."

"Artex!" Rose yelled suddenly, "His name is Artex and he's our stallion!"

Clean Cut snorted, "Of course he is, this day just keeps getting better." she laid down on the floor, "That-that wasn't the worst of it. He woke up and he tore the restraints off himself and walked out of his recovery room right when Numbers showed up and arrested Cloud Cutter. Your stallion was mad, really mad. He identified Cutter as his attacker and said that he was being treated like a criminal or something and Numbers filed malpractice charges after he stormed out of the hospital."

Cloudy Skies clenched her jaw, "He left?" she asked then turned to Razor Wit, "You said his face was disfigured?"

Razor nodded sniffling, "Yes."

Cloudy Skies turned and trotted for the door, "I'll find him. You all stay here and calm down." Without another word she left to search for the Human.

"I was sent home early..." she looked up, "I'm sorry Razor, I didn't know. The museum exhibit said that..."

"It's all lies!" Razor spat. She looked up slowly, "You said it was Cutter who eviscerated my fiance?" she asked calmly, far too calmly.

Clean Cut nodded, "Yes, your Lamine made the arrest herself."

Razor began to shake with rage, her horn crackling with charging magic. Vaiawa saw what was happening, "Hold her!" The other mares all latched onto the irate tan Unicorn as she suddenly tried to surge toward the door, "Let me get my hooves on that psychopathic, degenerate, little cretin! I'm gonna turn his face into mush!"

* * *

It took no small amount of time and effort to calm the irate Unicorn down. Her anger still simmered, but she was calm enough to hold a conversation. Cloudy Skies had returned only minutes before and informed the rest of the mares that she had found Artex. When Razor heard that he was so upset he had planned to leave, she bristled. They whole family save for Mason, the stallion of the household, Visceral Slaughter, and Cutter were there. Everypony was worried about the situation but none of them knew what to do until somepony was ready to handle Razor. Her Lamane, Mason was one of the few who could contend with her will. The poor tan Unicorn was an emotional mess.

"As soon as he shows up, we need to go check up on Artex." Vaiawa said to the group.

"I want to go too." Razor pouted.

Oriana embraced her in a firm hug, "You're still too upset Razor."

"Yeah," Rose agreed, "Seeing him like that isn't going to do you any good until you're calmer."

The sound of the front door closing echoed through the quiet house. Nopony moved or said a word. Razor's family was surrounding the herd of younger mares. Every Pony was speaking calming words to the distraught mares and especially to Razor. Slow steps approached through the foyer, then the hallway, and finally through the kitchen. The eggshell colored older Unicorn mare had her fuchsia mane and tail up half way out of their usual tight buns. She looked bedraggled and haggard, her head already hung low. She did not even look up when she came through the kitchen.

She stepped into the living room and it was like an invisible force suddenly let up its grip on Razor Wit. She shot up onto her hooves and in the blink of an eye she was a hair's breadth from her Mother's face, "YOU!" She bellowed, "This is all your fault! It's all your fault!" She took a step back and began shifting her weight left and right as if she were about to charge, "You spent time around Humans! You KNEW what they were like! Why didn't you say something! You HAD to have known that the rumors about Humans were lies!" She lowered her head, "You WANTED this to happen!" She said in a dangerously low voice, "You just hate everything that makes you a little uncomfortable! Do you even know why I'm upset!?"

Visceral Slaughter stepped away from her daughter, her right forehoof raised defensively, "B-because you think I could have prevented Cloud Cutter from injuring that Human?"

Razor saw red, "ARTEX! THAT HUMAN'S NAME IS ARTEX!" Razor shrieked, her whole body shaking with rage, "HE'S MY FIANCE!"

Visceral Slaughter took a step back, "W-w-what?"

The other mares in the room all stood up and began trying to calm the irate Unicorn down:
"Razor take it easy."
"Calm down Razor Wit."
"It wasn't only her fault."
"Don't hurt anypony."

Razor Wit did not hear any of them. For every step Visceral took back, Razor took one forward, "You could have prevented him from being hurt! You could have told Cutter! You could have stopped this, but nooooooo, you have to hate everything that isn't a Pony! It doesn't matter whether or not they ever did anything to you, you hate because you can and you don't care who ends up being hurt because of it!"

Razor sniffled and wiped her muzzle tip with her foreleg as tears streamed down her face, "I was willing to give you a chance to meet the man I love! You didn't even have to be here to ruin everything!" She coughed a sob and shook out her mane in frustration, "I hate you!" She took a deep breath, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN! I HATE YOU!" Her Mother's tearful, pleading apologies were lost under the onslaught of rage being directed her way by her Daughter.

The older Unicorn collapsed onto the floor sobbing pitifully, "Razor I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't know wh..."

"I DON'T CARE! YOU CAN GO AND DIE FOR ALL I CARE! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

"What's all this yelling?" A powerful male voice asked from the foyer. In trotted powerfully built, tan Earth Pony stallion. His light yellow mane and tail had streaks of white running through them and were cut very short. He stepped in between the two crying mares, "What has gotten into you Razor Wit?"

Cloudy Skies leaned over and whispered into Vaiawa's ear, "Mason's got this. Go see your stallion."

The Zebra, the Earth Pony, and the disguised Changeling all quickly took their leave. While Mason tried to make sense of what was going on. Visceral Slaughter was bawling on the floor while their daughter stood over her like she was about to become violent, "Razor stop it!"

Razor turned her ire to her Father, "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT SHE DID! IT'S ALL HER FAULT!" she lunged at her Mother, flailing violently as Mason intercepted her, "I HATE HER" she snarled at the broken mare on the floor, "I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!"

Before she could continue, Mason reached over and bit onto the back of his Daughter's mane. He firmly but gently pulled her out of the kitchen and sat her down on one of the cushions, "Young mare, you are going to stop this right now." He stated firmly, "Angry or not, that is no way to speak to your Lamine." Razor lit up her horn, but Mason swatted the tip of her horn with his forehoof, "Don't you use your magic on anypony in this family. You are never too old for me to sit you in the corner." The frantic scramble of hooves on floor caused Mason to turn toward the kitchen as the rest of his family followed after the bawling form of Visceral Slaughter as she dashed tearfully up the stairs.

Mason turned his attention back to his eldest Daughter, "You are going to sit here until you are calm enough to have a civilized conversation with the rest of us." Razor opened her mouth but Mason cut her off, "Do I make myself clear?" Razor nodded, feeling very petulant. Mason sat there with his Daughter until she was calm. He was patient. He did not rush her. He let her calm herself and he was determined to wait for as long as it might take.

Eventually Razor's breathing returned to normal. Mason lowered his head to her and nuzzled her cheek, "Now," he said patiently, "Do you want to tell me why you were about to attack your Lamine? This was supposed to be a happy day. What happened?"

Author's Notes:

The next chapter will be back with Artex in his hospital room. Let me know if you spot any typos please.

P.S. Mason seems like a Human name until taken in the context of his job. He's a brick mason.