Artex, Razor Wit, Oriana, Rose Thorn, Vaiawa, and Suey filled down the stairs to the bottom floor. They were tired of traveling, but the agreement had been unanimous, they needed to meet Razor's family at some not too far off time. Artex pushed open the double doors and led his herd out onto the street of New Humansville for the first time in nearly a year. They all stopped and looked around in puzzlement. Artex was the first to speak, "Uhh... did we miss something?" None of them had bothered to peek out of the windows as they flew over the town, so the blockades and the multitudes of Ponies trotting around the festive atmosphere were a shock.

"Nope," a masculine voice said from their right, "You got back on the very first day."

The herd all turned their heads, following the voice and Artex smiled warmly at his old friend. Suey had smelled Andrew before he spoke. She was nonplussed by his appearance. Artex stepped forward and embraced his friend in a bear hug, "Hot damn! It's good to see you man!" He spoke in American English, "How the hell have you been?"

The two men broke off the hug and Andrew slapped Artex heartily on his right shoulder, "Man, this year was been amazing! Kaneesha and I got married and we're expecting our first come spring. More than half the people are married and most of the ones who are, are expecting little ones." he chuckled, "Oh, Darryl is starting his own herd. Backlash actually smiled the other day. Remember Heidi, the Gryphon who came here to help ensure that Gryphon interests were maintained? Yeah, she asked Darryl out... well she was surprised to see him bring Backlash. The three of them are an item now and they're looking to expand." He tapped his chin, "Let's see... Alana has full control over the Changeling Hive in the Badlands and there's a bunch of Changeling... foals here in town. Apparently they took in a group of people from Japan. The people from Japan found a Pony in the Badlands and nursed him back to health. He taught them about magic and Velensovth. He's been acting as an advisor for them, but for some reason Alana won't tell us his name. Every time somebody asks about him, all she says is 'everybody deserves a chance to redeem themselves'. Personally, I don't know about that," he shrugged, "But then again, I would have done in a few of the Ponies who've done us wrong if I had the chance." He suddenly snapped his fingers, "Speaking of which, you remember Beacon? The Unicorn who was always hanging out with Ashley? I don't know if you heard, but he tried to commit suicide. He broke off his horn and almost bled to death."

Artex nodded, "Yeah I remember hearing about that. Did anybody ever figure out why he did it? Was Bobby able to reattach his horn?"

Andrew shook his head, "Nah, he woke up about a month after you left and just walked out of the Hospital... and town. Nobody ever saw where he went, but Ashley went looking for him. Nobody has heard from them since, Mario neither."

Artex shook his head, "That's sad. What about R.J. Brinsin?"

Andrew pursed his lips and looked down, "He sends letters once in a while. He's one of the Peacemakers now. They've been hitting Bloodmage Safe Houses all over the place. He says they're getting close to the Bloodmage Stronghold. He can't say much about locations, but apparently they've been doing their best to save as many Bloodmages as possible. He couldn't disclose the location of their base, but he did say that they have thousands of Bloodmages going through some kind of integration courses to help prepare them for joining the rest of the world. Since Equestria legalized Blood Magic under Blood Magister Starburst, other countries have begun legalizing it as well. There have been LOTS of problems though. The Gryphons have still not legalized it, nor have the Diamond Dogs, but the Minotaurs, the Zebras, the Saddle Arabians have. I haven't heard anything about the Buffalo or the Dragons."

Andrew suddenly clapped his hands and his eyes lit up, "Ooh really good news! You remember Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis? Well they ended up adopting one of the Bloodmage foals. They also paid out money to have willing families move out here so they could adopt the Bloodmage foals. That's part of the reason there are so many new houses. The other part is that New Humansville has opened its doors to any Changelings who wish to live here. A few of them have even joined the Community Welfare Guardians. Oh yeah, the Sorcerers' Grey Tower is finished now. They completed the construction themselves. It houses dozens of students and Sorcerers as well as many certified Bloodmages and their families. Some of the Bloodmages have been allowed to join the C.W.G. as well provided they adhere to the strict rules about the use of Blood Magic."

He shook his head with a beaming smile, "Ah, that transport system Chris put in place has taken off like a shot. There is one in every single city, town, and village in Equestria and over a dozen in other countries. We've cleared space for a railroad station once the Ponies laying the tracks get here around Christmas time. Oh, and if you think Chris' idea for the transport centers was good," he slapped his thigh, "The Telegraph system you began now reaches every settled location in Equestria and somebody is making improvements to it too. I've heard rumors of somebody in Canterlot working on a communication system using wires similar to the telegraph wires."

"Research into crystals has taken off like a rocket recently thanks to the Ponies in the Crystal Empire. There is Pegasus mare in the Canterlot School who has figured out a way to use crystals to allow multiple magic users to combine their Nouns and Verbs. Say you have one Unicorn who has really good Nouns, but their Verbs are not so hot. Then take another Unicorn who has really good Verbs, but their Nouns are not so powerful. If they both focus on this one crystal, a third Pony, doesn't even have to be a Unicorn, can direct their power to perform spells. The applications are still being tested though because of who she is. Not only that, but this same Pegasus has also created home power crystals that can be recharged by any Pony, not just Unicorns anymore. Those are good, but the biggest breakthrough is the wand she made." Andrew chuckled and clapped his hands, "She made a wand with crystals embedded into it that allows non-Unicorns to use Nouns and Verbs to cast spells! Now anybody can cast spells if they have one of those wands! She only has a couple so far, but she's been talking about making other suits that will allow anybody, no matter what species, to use the magic of other species. She's been watched very carefully while she's been studying, but so far she hasn't done anything illegal or immoral. You'll understand why that's a concern here in a moment."

Artex was floored and his disbelief was mirrored in the faces of his herd. Andrew wasn't done yet, "The real shocker is her identity." He raised his hands, palms open in front of him, "Get this, this Pegasus mare: her name is Morning Mist, formerly known as the Bloodmage, MIDNIGHT HAZE! Starburst's sister!"

Artex and his herd were speechless, but Andrew was still not finished, "And if you think THAT'S exciting, New Humansville is now training mares from all over Equestria to be Civil Guards so they can go back to their own cities and train the mares in their home towns. Some of them have been REALLY picking up on their training too! I mean, super good! Heck we had one come here from Trottingham who had already been made a Sargent, and just guess what her name was? Visceral Slaughter! She was Sargent Slaughter!"

"Wait, WHAT!?" Razor Wit yelled suddenly. She blitzed up to Andrew and rose up onto her hind legs, planting her fore hooves against his chest, "What were her colors!?"

Andrew was taken aback by the mare's intensity, "Erm, she was eggshell white and..." he trailed off she he noticed Razor's mane, "Come to think of it, her mane and tail were almost exactly the same shade as yours."

Razor Wit dropped back down onto four legs and stared off into the distance. Artex raised his eyebrows, "Huh," he turned back to Andrew, "How did she act when she was here?"

Andrew shrugged, "She was dedicated. Didn't seem to like the Human officers though and we never saw her go anywhere NEAR a Changeling. I don't think she liked us much, but boy her grasp of tactics was flawless. She may not have been a very powerful Unicorn, but DAMN man! What she lacked in raw power she more than made up for in finesse. Her weapon was a ribbon. Might not sound like much, but she even owned Eduardo when she was forced to practice with him." Andrew crossed his arms and addressed Artex with a confused expression, "So... care to explain why your lady here freaked out when I said that mare's name?"

"Visceral Slaughter is Razor Wit's Mother."

Author's Notes:

Bit of an info dump, but I hope this clears up the air a little. Any additional questions can be sent to me via P.M. Let me know if you spot any typos.