Author's Notes:

Artex' knowledge of history is accurate as far as HE knows and is not to be compared to my own knowledge, nor of actual historic fact. When curious about history, please research the topics yourself.

Thinking ahead, Artex took the time to make a reservation at The Melting Pot that afternoon when Razor Wit sent the telegram to her family. While Oriana took a trip to Town Hall to see where she could set up a shop for her apothecary, Rose Thorn reported back to the Community Welfare Guardians with the understanding that she would have to leave within a week to meet Razor Wit's family. Vaiawa stayed with Artex and Suey as they continued looking around the festival. Vaiawa decided against taking another form while in public and she was catching quite a lot of attention from the visiting Ponies. She was mostly interested in the festival and thankfully had Artex with her. He was more than happy to try to answer any questions she had about Human history.

Her first question was a logical one, "How long have Humans been recording their history?"

Artex bit the corner of his lip, "That's kind of a tricky question. We have relics and artifacts that archaeologists believe are as old as one hundred thousand years old, however it was only about six thousand and five hundred years ago, roughly, that Humans developed written language. Once we began writing, it was more or less the beginning of recorded history. Now my knowledge may not be perfect about the time, but as I said it was an estimation. Humans have intentionally been recording history for about the last six thousand years. The earliest accounts date back to two ancient civilizations: Sumer and Egypt. They recorded things like: who was leading their people, their system of law and so forth. It wasn't until... about six hundred years ago, roughly, that Humans really took a significant interest in learning from those ancient records. Now there may have been some significant records that have been discovered since we came to Equestria, but as far as I know, my information is current."

Vaiawa hummed thoughtfully, "What about Human civilization? How far back does that go?"

Artex shrugged, "I have no solid idea. I would like to think that it dates back about twelve thousand years, but I could be a bit off about that number. Then again, what really constitutes true civilization? Is it codified laws? Is it two or more Humans working together toward the same goal? Was it the invention of tools?" Artex sighed and rubbed his cheeks with his hands, "I'm sure that archaeologists have specific criteria for determining what constitutes civilization, but I don't know the details."

Vaiawa turned her head left and right, examining the different booths and demonstrations, "So... which ancient culture did your ancestors come from?"

Artex smiled and laid his right hand across her back, "Several actually. The countries my ancestors came from are: Scotland, Germany, Norway, and North America. The country I hail from personally is called America. Was there anything specific you wanted to know about my ancestors' countries? I know a fair bit about Scotland and a bit less about North America, and Germany, but not much about Norway."

"I've heard you talk about your Scottish heritage the most. Why don't you tell me about it." Vaiawa said.

Artex took a deep breath and spoke in his best Scottish accent, "Whel nu lassy, wut du ye want te knu abut th' Scotts? Ah kin tell ye abut mah clan an' thear histry, if'n ye won'."

Vaiawa arched her eyebrow ridge and looked toward Artex trying not to laugh, "What in the world are you doing, speaking like that?"

Artex chuckled, "That's actually pretty close to how they speak English. See, Scotland shares the same large island with two other countries, England and Wales. The island as a whole is known as Great Britain. Scotland, Wales, and England all joined together about three hundred years ago but before then there was a lot of division about who was allowed to govern themselves. For a very long time, Scotland fought England because the English kings kept trying to take over Scotland. England itself has a very sour history of invading other countries and treating the native peoples very badly. English nobles would claim a territory and basically acted like they owned all the native people who lived there already. The nobles were able to strengthen their hold on an area by keeping soldiers with them. I'm going to have to shorten and paraphrase all this otherwise I could be here all day."

"England was corrupt but smart about how they maintained their image as 'civilized people'. Because they had money, and influence they thought they were better than anybody who did not. They would have their nobles go out and 'civilize' people they labeled as barbarians. These 'barbarians' were supposedly being helped by the nobles. If any 'barbarian' had a complaint about how the noble was ruling the area, they could bring it to the noble's attention and in theory, the noble would fix the problem. More often than not, what actually happened was that the noble would do whatever they wanted and if anybody complained, they were executed by the noble's soldiers. Once local people could take no more and took up arms in rebellion, the nobles would play the victim and have England send more soldiers for them. On occasion, England itself would either request or hire soldiers from other countries to come in and 'put down' a rebellion."

Artex stopped and turned to Vaiawa, "Now, knowing me as you do, am I the kind of person to be easily cowed? Or am I the kind to oppose oppression?"

Vaiawa did not even need a moment to answer, "You would oppose it. As far as I have seen, all Humans would."

Artex nodded and continued walking, "That's right. England sent nobles into Scotland to try to control the people. The first thing they did was teach the Gaelic speaking Scots, English. Now Gaelic is not very similar to English, so the Scots spoke English with an accent, the same way that I speak Velensovth with an accent. Over time, Gaelic became less commonly spoken as Scottish parents taught their children English instead. So the accent was passed down generationally. I was imitating that accent. Gaelic is still spoken in Scotland, though nowhere near as commonly as it was before."

Artex held up his hands, "Anyway I got off topic. I am descended from one of the groups who controlled a very large area in the southwestern part of Scotland an area known as Argyll. Over the course of Scottish history the Campbells were very powerful, though I'm sorry to say that my Campbell ancestors were not always the 'good guys' as it were. The Campbells allied themselves with Clan Bruce and the King of Scotland, Robert Bruce. They were granted a great deal of power and ended up opposing Clan MacDonald and MacDougall among others. There was, and still is, a LOT of bad blood between the Campbells and MacDonalds. The Campbells see the MacDonalds as traitors and infidels and took action against them. The MacDonalds see the Campbells as murderers and thieves. There were many Scottish clans historically and though there are fewer now, they still exist. About two hundred years ago, people decided that it would be nice to associate certain symbols and crests with the different Scottish clans. Each clan had its own Symbols, Crests, and Tartans. The tartans are patterns of colors which overlap one another and are associated with each clan according to the colors involved. The tartan of the Campbell Clan eventually became the pattern for a military group known as the 'Black Watch' which formed about a hundred years before tartan patterns became associated with specific clans. Interestingly enough, the Campbell Clan crest features a boar," he gestured to Suey, "And the phrase 'Ne obliviscaris' which translates literally into 'Forget Not' or roughly into 'Never Forget'."

Artex shook his head, "I'm getting off track again. Anyway, the Campbells were a military power for the first Kings of Scotland. We fought against other clans who opposed the King and enforced the King's laws, for good or ill. The traditional clothes for a Highland Scotsman consists of a kilt, a sporran, a sgian dubh, stockings and/or ghillie brogues. I'll have to see if I can get Rarity to make a full outfit so I can wear it at the weddings."

Artex smiled hugely, "I most closely associate with my Scottish heritage. Now for my Native American heritage, which is Cherokee..."

He was interrupted by a yell, "Ah sure didn't think Ah'd see you here little brother!" Artex stopped and followed the voice as Applejack trotted up to him, "When did yall get back?"

Artex smiled and knelt down. He and Applejack shared a brief, warm hug before he stood back up, "We got back to New Humansville only about two hours ago. I wasn't expecting to see you here though. Are there any other Apples around?"

Applejack shook her head, "Not yet. Granny, Applebloom, Big Mac and his herd will be gettin' here this evening by Air Chariot. They had t' make some final arrangements before they left. Mayor De La... whatever her name is, was nice enough t' send our whole family an invite seein' as how we're your adopted family and all. One o' your friends even offered to let me stay at his place fer the week. I doubt he'd want a whole gaggle o' Apples runnin' around his home though, so we were preparin' t' pay fer rooms at the hotel."

Artex did not even hesitate, "I'll have to ask the rest of the herd if it's alright, but I know we have enough room at our house."

"I can't speak for the others, but I don't mind. I'd love a chance to spend some time with the Ponies who adopted Artex."

Applejack slowly looked around her adopted brother and her eyes widened when she spotted Vaiawa. She used her right forehoof to push her hat further back on her head and quirked her left eyebrow, "Aaaaaan' you are..."

The tall Changeling grinned at Applejack, "I'm Vaiawa." She offered her right forehoof to shake. Applejack did not shake the offered hoof.

Instead she looked Vaiawa up and down slowly, "An' who are you t' be givin' yer opinion 'bout this?"

Artex slapped his hand on Applejack's back, in a seemingly friendly way, as he turned toward Vaiawa. He hoped that the extra strength he put into the slap was not lost on his adopted sister, "Vaiawa is the most recent member of my herd. She was also one of the first two Changelings to come to New Humansville AND she was one of the ones who defied Queen Chrysalis and refused to attack Canterlot. She took three crossbow bolts while helping the Community Welfare Guardians defend the town from Bloodmages and she managed to come back to life after the three crossbow bolts killed her." He spoke the next sentence through gritted teeth, "Isn't she just WONDERFUL?"

Applejack coughed and shook Vaiawa's offered hoof, "Pleasure t' meetcha. Excuse me fer a moment while Ah have a little chat with mah adopted brother here."

Applejack turned and bit onto Artex' right sleeve and dragged him several Fathoms away while Vaiawa watched with interest. Suey was not concerned with small quarrels between her family members. They were family and to her, that was the only thing that mattered.

Applejack stopped and spit out Artex' sleeve, "What in the blue blazes are yall doin' with a Changeling in your herd!?"

Artex knelt down, looking Applejack in the eye very seriously, "I am planning to marry her."

Applejack had only one thing to say in response, "Why!?" She hissed the word so as not to be overheard.

Artex kept his answer simple, "Because she is a wonderful Changeling woman and I love her."

Applejack scuffed the cobblestones with her left foreleg, "Dagnabit Artex!" she whispered, "Ah can take Unicorns, Ah can take Pegasi,Ah can take Crystal Ponies, Ah can take Zebras, Ah can take Saddle Arabians, why Ah could even take an Alicorn, but this? THIS?" She snorted aggressively then closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath. Opening her eyes again, she spoke calmly, "Look, Ah'm willin' t' accept that th' Changelings did wut they did 'cause they were starvin'. If'n you're hungry 'nough, Ah reckon there's plenty o' things somepony'd do t' eat. Ah can't begrudge nopony a meal, an' Ah wouldn't stand for somepony's foal t' go hungry neither. However... Ah want th' Apple family t' always be Ponies. Not Changelings." Artex held up his right hand and opened his mouth, but Applejack cut him off, "Ah know we accepted yall when you weren't a Pony, but we ADOPTED you when you became a Pony in all but looks."

Artex grunted in annoyance, "That's not the only thing I was going to say. I was also going to point out that if Vaiawa and I have foals, they would be Ponies."

Applejack's eyebrows rose, "Come again?"

Artex sighed and rubbed his eyes, "I can only sire foals with Ponies remember? Changelings are true shape-shifters. If she turns into a Pony, we can have Pony foals. Besides, what if Applebloom falls in love with a Changeling? Her foals from him would be Ponies too. And just so you know, even if you can accept that, it's really 'fucked' up that you're willing to accept somebody into the family based solely on what kinds of offspring they can have." He paused and clenched and unclenched his fists to ease off his ire, "What if one of your friends turned out to have been a Changeling this whole time? Would you nullify their status as honorary members of the Apple family?" Applejack opened her mouth, but this time it was Artex who cut her off, "Yes I realize you would have known at the wedding, but the question still stands. Would you get rid of a friend who was different, after you got to know them?"

Applejack closed her mouth and looked to her right, away from Vaiawa's direction. She bit her lower lip and ground her teeth against said lip, while she descended into deep thought. Her eyes roamed back and forth as she considered the situation, but her head never moved. She let go of her lip and blew out an irritated, exasperated breath then looked back up and met Artex' eyes, "There's some things that Ah can't rightly argue too much. Ah'll make ya a deal. Ah'll give 'er a fair chance, no pesterin', no arguin', just flat honesty. You're a grown stallion an' it's your herd. Before Ah can really get to know 'er Ah got t' see 'er as a Pony." She held up her right forehoof to forestall any argument from Artex, "It ain't jes 'bout 'er looks. Ah can't get mah head 'round the fact that she's a Changeling, an' one that looks a lot like Chrysalis did to boot. Ah got t' get t' know 'er without thinkin' 'bout what she is. Ah gotta focus on WHO she is first."

Applejack broke eye contact with Artex and lowered her gaze to the road, "A while back ya' told me that a wise Human once said 'know yourself'. Well Ah know mahself Artex an' this is th' way is HAS to be fer now. Once Ah get t' know 'er, Ah'm sure Ah'll be fine with 'er, but Ah need this. Come on, meet me half way here, as you would say."

Artex rolled his eyes, "A good compromise is one where nobody is happy, but is something that everybody can live with." he recited to himself, "Alright, but YOU have to be the one to ask her. I'm not going to ask her to be somebody she's not."

Applejack hung her head, "That's fair Ah suppose."

The two walked back to where Vaiawa and Suey were waiting. Vaiawa grinned, being careful not to show off her fangs, "I hope everything is alright."

Artex grumbled under his breath while Applejack slowly removed her hat, "Ah'm right sorry for th' way Ah was actin' t' ya before. Ah... dagnabit, Ah got a problem with Changelings." she admitted. Vaiawa's grin vanished but she stayed silent while Applejack spoke, "Ah'm willin' t' try t' see ya for who ya are an' not what ya are, but seein' ya as a Changeling an' tryin' t' get t' know ya at th' same time ain't gonna be possible for me. Can ya please change into a Pony for a while so Ah can get t' know ya? Ah think that after Ah know ya a little better, Ah'll be able t' see past..." she gestured to Vaiawa's whole body, "Past all o' this..." she lowered her hoof and hung her head, "Oh that jes makes it sound worse." She scuffed her forehoof and looked back up to Vaiawa's face, "Ah don't hate ya Vaiawa. Ah really don't... Ah jes..." she sighed sadly, "Ah dunno how t' say it. Ah'm sorry."

Applejack felt a hoof on her left shoulder and looked up. In front of her was a wheat colored Pegasus mare who had a long, dark grey mane and tail, "At least you're willing to try. That's more than many Ponies can say. I can stay like this for a while if you want and I think I have a way to help you get past your problem."

Applejack scrunched her eyebrows together, "How so?"

"Well, since we can change into any creature, and we really become that creature..." she spoke softly, "In a way, we aren't really Changelings at all. We're all species mixed into one, we just have the option to chose which one we want to show off at any given moment."

Applejack gave her a small smile, "Ah reckon th'll help a bit. Th-thanks Vaiawa."