The response came quicker than I'd thought. I was certain the military would spend days, at least, arguing about it, but they came back the very next day. To their credit, they didn't blast their way to me this time, instead waiting at the entrance and sending the ponies to find me. As I came towards the entrance, I considered what it meant.

They couldn't be in a good situation if they're reacting this quickly to such a game changer, or maybe communications were just that bad that only one person had to make the call? I decided to wait and ask rather than wildly theorize.

"Probably for the best," agreed Cindy out loud to my internal thoughts.

Sandra perked an ear. "What's for the best?"

I reached to stroke her behind an ear gently. "That we're working with them. Now's not the time to be territorial."

Dusk nodded lightly. "We're working with each other."

We arrived at the entrance to see three soldiers standing at the ready. The leader wasn't wearing a hazmat suit. That felt like a very bold way to show trust, and I found myself appreciating it. "Good day. What's going on?"

The leader hiked a thumb behind him. "Brass' made up their minds. We have some high value targets, cities, that we don't have the manpower to keep on lockdown from all directions. You can change that. You were an American once, right? Ready to serve your country to the best of your ability?"

I softly snorted. "I never stopped being an American. I might have gotten a few extra... parts?"

Sandra nodded. "I'll have a hard time proving I match my ID, but I'm still American as any human, god."

He glanced down at Sandra and Dusk. "Are these your personal assistants?"

Dusk smiled lightly. "That's as good a title as any other. Where she goes, we go."

He turned away, "Let's go then. If you can settle the mess in Kansas City, that'll free up a lot of personnel, and keep about half a million people safe. Consider it a test run before we hit the real big ones. I understand you're still a biohazard, so we'll have to ask you to stick to a no-contact rule with anyone but your assistants there. Any attempt at contact will be seen as an attack. We're not trying to be assholes, but you know how it is."

I shrugged softly. It made sense enough. "If you have a bio suit that fit me, I'd wear that. I don't have to actually touch things to do what I do."

He barked out a laugh as he led his soldiers and us up to the surface. "For some reason we don't stock centaur models. I'll ask about that, it'll get a real laugh out of the quartermaster. What do you require to get this done?"

I considered that a moment. "Well, get us to the area. The first thing I'll do is recall the ferals. A helicopter trip around the city should be enough if you have one of those. Once we have them in one place, we bring them somewhere that's safe for them and the people. If there aren't too many, we can bring them back here, if there are, things get more complicated, but we can handle it. We'll have to set up a new community for them. Get them stabilized and self-reliant and they'll leave the humans alone. Some of them might even come out of their feral state, but don't expect any great numbers there, so far we've seen."

We approached a fat looking helicopter. It was large enough for even my large form to step into easily, and I grabbed one of the hanging straps. Sandra and Dusk grabbed onto me, pressing close in and around my legs.

The leader shouted out a few quick orders, getting everyone else ready for take off, and soon we were in the air. That leader approached while the helicopter made its approach on the city. "You've been giving the other towns their own ponies. Why not convert the feral population here instead of moving them?"

Sandra gave a little snort, thick tail swaying across the metal floor. "They're lost and afraid. Being a farmer or weather pony isn't something they can do well without any training. They need to be made to feel safe and comfortable, then educated, just like people. The ponies you see working so well come from a community of ponies, not just randomly recruited ferals."

"Huh..." He moved off, apparently having heard enough.

A shout came from the front of the copter, announcing we were circling the city. I glanced out a small porthole beside me and saw the ghostly remains of Kansas City. There was no traffic, making it hard to believe that it once was a metropolis, but the buildings still stood, tall and proud, and occasionally burnt out with out of control fires that no one was able to fight in the circumstances. It wasn't time to think about that. I closed my eyes and felt out for ponies. Most were lingering around the city, but some were inside. "Hey, can you get word down to the ground to let any ponies leaving the city do so without getting shot? Looks like some got past your guards."

"Shit son," came the exasperated voice of someone I couldn't see. There was some quick radio chatter before the all clear came.

I could only imagine the expressions on people's faces, watching as the ponies began to gather together in great roving herds. The ones in the city rushed out to join them, sprinting down roads and past roadblocks. A few precious spots of light vanished from my view and I growled. Some soldier had probably gotten spooked, maybe even a civilian, but most of them made it free of the city and joined the rest as they formed an unruly mob of confused ponies about a mile away from the city.

"We should just bomb the area, boom, no more problem," said one soldier to another.

That snapped me out of my trance, and I could see Cindy's horn was glowing with angry magic.

"Belay that talk," said the leader as he returned. "You did what we asked, and faster than we could have hoped for. We're going to set you down in sight of the, uh, ponies, and let you finish doing what you're doing. Keep them away from the city until you're given clearance. Any pony coming in range will be shot."

Author's Notes:

Their biggest city. Surely everything is smooth sailing from here, right?

Ugh, you didn't see that CO's report, so many typos. If we weren't at war, I'd demote him on the spot!