Mayor Mare grunts, closing her eyes in exasperation as she raises a hoof to rub at her head. “I thought we went over this last night.”

“And your answer then was just as unsatisfactory as it is now.” Fluffy Clouds hovers, raising a hoof like the end of a salute. “This is Pony land! This is Equestria! We will not see it torn asunder like Griffonstone!”

“Yes, and it is a very griffon tactic to demagogue like such,” Mayor Mare retorts.

Fluffy Clouds glares at her, dropping back down to the ground.

“Do you ever have that feeling,” Doug remarks to Rarity, “that something bad is going to happen?” Her head shifts the tiniest amount, an eyebrow slightly raising. Doug continues, “Where, you don’t know why, exactly, but things are going to spiral around and somehow be pointed at you?”

Rarity shakes her head, shrugging slightly.

“Still,” Mayor Mare continues, “it is Princess Celestia’s fervent desire that we successfully integrate with our neighbors to the east. And while we may all know what a griffon looks like, many of us are less familiar with the Abyssinians to the south. An influx of immigrants and refugees, hard working creatures like yourselves, have graciously been allowed to stay in Equestria, at least for the time being.”

The rumblings in the audience grow much louder, many of the ponies clearly disappointed with the news. One pony yells out, “Make those slavers settle next to the Everfree!”

Her reaction is met by muted cheers and stomps of hooves.

“Hey!” Applejack shouts. “That’s Sweet Apple Acres you’re talkin’ about! And Ah ain’t lettin’ one square hoof of prime farmland we’ve worked for years turn into some shanty eyesore!”

"Aren't those all wheat fields?" Doug remarks dryly, drawing a 'shush, you' from Applejack.

Mayor Mare can’t quite hide her own frown at the reactions. “While Ponyville has not been selected yet, there is a possibility that they and many more races may someday come to grace our dear town.” She glances up at the audience, her frown deepening. “As such, we must strive to be more accepting to those among us who might be… different.”

More than a few heads glance backwards at Doug, that sinking feeling in his gut worsening.

“Look,” Fluffy Clouds says, raising his voice as he hovers up again. “If somepony, or somecreature, wants to come and live in Ponyville, then they’re going to have to live like a pony. That means respecting Princess Celestia, abiding by the tenets of Harmony, and doing their fair share and not living off the hard work of everypony else!”

Stomps of approval ring through the town square.

“Have a hard time arguin’ against that,” Applejack comments.

“And no eating or enslaving ponies!” Fluffy Clouds raises a hoof, garnering more cheers, before dropping back down. He quietly converses with Spoiled Rich, the earth pony smiling and nodding.

Doug’s stomach tightens at the reminder of the misunderstanding that got him in trouble initially.

“Those all sound like perfectly reasonable conditions,” Mayor Mare says, her voice quieting down the stomps. “But should we require those who wish to stay and live with us to give up everything from where they came? Or should we treat them like we have the unknowns from near the Everfree?”

“Well,” Fluffy Clouds says, rising back up, “I think the answer to that is pretty obvious: they left, and never came back! If they think life in Ponyville would be so awful for them, then why would they keep trying? It’s not like anypony is forcing them to stay. The only ones that have tried a second or third time are the monsters from the Everfree, who try to steal away our hard work, the fruits of our labor, and even our very selves!”

Mayor Mare nods, considering. “Well, we do have one creature who came back, and who seems to share none of those inclinations.” She looks to the far edge of the crowd.

The feeling of dread takes a sickening turn as every head swivels to stare at Doug.

Doug stares back, wide eyed, his hands creeping away from his mares and resting in his lap. He forces a smile to his face, showing a bit of teeth at the end.

“Doug?” Mayor Mare calls out from across the town square. “How do you feel you have been treated in your time here?”

“Um,” Doug says back, nervously scratching the back of his neck. He feels isolated, even with the three mares close by, acutely aware of how easily everything could go disastrously wrong. Pins and needles doesn’t quite cover the horns and pitchforks he’d expect to be impaled upon from misspeaking just slightly, and his back pushes against the wall as he unconsciously tries to scoot away.

Applejack’s gentle hoof on his leg, and staring into her emerald eyes, works wonders in helping Doug calm down. “If ya don’t want to,” the farmpony reassures, “then ya don’t have to. Ya can talk with Mayor Mare in private.”

Doug glances over at Fluffy Clouds. The head weather pony doesn’t feel like he got a fair shake from their closed door meeting. What chance would I have to influence her, or the town’s, decision by doing the same thing? “No,” he says, reaching forward to lightly stroke Applejack’s muzzle, eliciting a soft smile from the orange mare, “I’ll do this.” He gets to his feet, hesitating as he towers over anypony, and decides to stand tall regardless. At the very least, it’ll be easier for him to project.

He briefly steels himself. “When I first got to Ponyville,” Doug starts, his loud voice carrying, “I was quite worried about how my interactions would go. I was in a new, unfamiliar place. I thought about survival, and how to get home. I didn’t know what would happen if I spoke out, told the truth about what I was.” He takes a deep breath, a glance at Rainbow Dash getting him to soften his next words. “But the result was exactly what I feared. Merely the possibility of something going wrong with the ‘unknown’ was enough to trigger a harsh backlash. It was only thanks to Applejack’s generosity that I’m still here.”

“So, the problems started when you were interacting with ponies.” Mayor Mare nods resolutely. “We should encourage ponies to curtail their interactions with anything unknown, hiding in their homes until the threat leaves or a suitable authority figure arrives to deal with the situation.”

“That’s not at all what I’m saying,” Doug shouts over the din of the ponies grumbling to each other. “I mean, you live near this hot spot of danger. I get that. But it’s like what Applejack said to me about hunting: don’t hunt anything that talks back. Well, I talked back, and I didn’t appreciate being hunted despite that. I think a similar policy would be good: if there’s no need to escalate, start with talking, and go from there.”

“And what of the unknowns?” Mayor Mare asks, cocking her head to the side slightly. “If talking doesn’t work, or we don’t share the same language?”

“I’m not sure,” Doug says, “but I’m sure ‘aggressive intervention’ against creatures displaying no such violent actions isn’t the right method. I haven’t thought about it enough to give you a good answer.”

“Ah!” Amethyst Star exclaims. Her horn lights, a small image of a crescent moon appearing above her. “When a new creature arrives, we should set up a scenario where a group of foals are being hunted by, say, a timber wolf. Should the creature rescue the foals, then we welcome them with open hearts and minds!”

Doug stares at her in disbelief. “What?! NO!!” He waves his arm, as if by doing so he could dismiss her entire argument. “That’s horrible! There’s so many things wrong with such a scenario, I don’t even know where to begin!” He tries anyway, listing them off on his fingers. “Not only is it horribly contrived, like you’re trying to win sympathy through the easiest possible method, you’re assuming that this creature from another culture shares your ideals. What if they side with the timber wolf? Should they have just known that the pony was the innocent in need of protection? Or if they fail, or decide not to intervene, then what? These are foals you’re talking about!”

Murmurs erupt among the ponies, even Amethyst Star looking a tad green.

“And if that’s how frequently you do expect foals to be attacked around here, maybe you should do something about that instead of relying on random strangers to protect you.” Doug waves a hand at the overgrown forest to the south. “Build a wall or something, if not to keep the monsters out then as a clear line to the foals as where they are allowed to go. I don’t know, you can fly, whatever.” He huffs, settling down a little, folding his arms across his chest.

“Thank you, Doug,” Mayor Mare says neutrally. “Even though Amethyst Star’s… proposal was meant in jest, thank you for answering. Perhaps a more clearly defined border of where the younger of us are allowed to play should be considered.”

Doug nods, then sits down with a relieved thump, finally noticing how his heart is hammering in his chest. Rainbow Dash and Rarity crowd against him, grinning, while Applejack scoots backwards into his lap.

“Ya did great!” Applejack says with a smile, twisting around to kiss Doug on the lips.

He hooks his arms under her forelegs, shuddering as he squeezes her tightly around the barrel. “Thanks,” he whispers as he kisses back, barely feeling the mare’s ribcage compress.

“Now, I know there are a lot of opinions about this controversial topic,” Mayor Mare says, the ponies’ attention turning back to her. “But for now we will table this for further discussion, with one change. We will be creating a space in the town hall that will let everypony know when new faces may be showing up. If you don’t like surprises, be sure to check it out and see who the newcomers will be.”

Mayor Mare glances to her assistants; not seeing anything, she nods to the crowd and steps off the back end of the stage.

“So,” Doug remarks to Rainbow Dash as she lands next to him; she scooches next to him so her barrel rubs against his arm, “what exactly is a griffon? We have legends back home about them, but they were just mythical creatures.”

“Half lion, half eagle,” Rainbow Dash says quietly. “We occasionally hosted one, Gilda, when I was in the Junior Speedsters. She was an exchange student from Griffonstone? I think? She didn’t talk about home much, but I don’t think it’s a great place to live.”

“And they... aren’t carnivores?” Doug asks with a frown. “Because they can eat that bean curd stuff? Because where I came from, lions and eagles only eat meat.”

“Oh, they’re totally carnivores,” Rainbow Dash says, though she keeps her voice low. Even the mention of the word gets a number of the nearby ponies to glance their way squeamishly, before their attention goes back to Mayor Mare and pointedly stays there. “Gilda got in a lot of trouble when she’d leave and come back with her claws and beak all bloody. Turns out it was just contractless rabbits, so nothing ever came of it except she learned to wash off before she came home.”

Doug frowns to himself. “And I’m guessing she kept to a pony diet when she stayed with you?” Rainbow Dash nods. “Because back home that would make you an omnivore.”

“She never ate gemstones like a dragon,” Rainbow Dash muses, “and she avoided hay whenever she could get away with it.” She glances at Doug. “You like gemstones?”

“I…” Doug frowns. The gemstones he found with Rarity were extremely hard. He never even thought of tasting one. I guess omnivore takes on a new meaning. “I’ve never tried. I don’t think I could eat them, even if humans need trace amounts of metals and minerals like iron and calcium, among others.”

Rainbow Dash shrugs. “Sounds like you’re closer to a griffon than a pony, at least in what you eat. Ponies can eat gems, though most wouldn’t call us, um…”

“Lithovores,” Rarity supplies as Rainbow Dash waves a hoof in the air.

Rainbow Dash points at Rarity. “That.”

“They’re more of a delicacy, like flavoring.” Rarity smiles at the thought of eating one of Pinkie Pie’s gem topped cupcakes. “But just because we are able to eat them doesn’t mean we’d base a diet around them.”

“I guess.” Doug looks around, the marketplace mostly clear. “Well, back to work, I guess.” He gets up, waving to Rarity and Rainbow Dash as he leaves with Applejack.

Next Chapter: Ch. 53 - Winds of Change Estimated time remaining: 8 Hours, 54 Minutes