So long as we kept our hands and hooves where they could see them and didn't make sudden moves, they were polite enough. Most of us were redirected to get a snack and settle in for a moment, while they wanted to talk to Sandra and I. Hope refused to leave our side 'while we were still suspect', and came with us rather than relax.

As we pressed through the hallways, we ran into a human. I thought they were all ponies by that point and reared back a little in surprise. The scientist-looking man raised a brow. "I never saw a specimen that looked like that. Where are you taking it?"

Birch pointed at me and Sandra with a hoof. "They're going to have a chat with Leo. Meet and greet, you know. Watch out, they're infectious."

The information that we were infectious got him to back away. "Do be careful with them. They look remarkably docile for such large ferals."

Sandra frowned at the accusation. "I'm not feral. If we were feral, we'd get that cleaned out."

The scientist rubbed at his chin. "Huh, fascinating. Well, I really should be going, but if Leo gives the word, I'd love a moment with them."

Birch nodded and began prodding us along. "We'll see what Leo says. Keep it frosty."

We arrived at a heavy-looking door made of metal with a round opening valve. Birch clopped a hoof against it three times. "Leo, we have guests. High-minded ferals, infectious, one female, one, ambiguous. Friend came with them, male unicorn, not feral."

A muffled voice called from the other side of the door, "Leave them, and when did we get on first name basis, Captain? Report back to duty."

"Yes, ma'am." Captain Birch saluted the closed door and left hastily, leaving me, Sandra, and Hope behind in the hallway. I couldn't help but feel a little trusted. If we were feral, we could wander off and get into trouble, but we weren't, and we waited as the wheel on the door began to spin around.

The door popped open with a hiss of escaping air and a new scent hit me. Cindy's thoughts echoed, turning the impression into knowledge even as I became instantly stiff. ~Pony, female, in heat.~ I glanced at Dusk Hope and saw he was affected the same way.

Sandra wasn't, and flushed at our reactions. "Is this how we're going to say hello, with four dicks waving around?"

A pony emerged from the interior of the room. She was a unicorn, though quite large for one, and she carried herself with dignity despite her heated condition. "I am Major Leo, come in." She looked between the three of us, then grimaced. "Not much I can do about that. There's a reason I'm in self-isolation." She turned away and trotted back into her room. She probably didn't mean it, but her tail was just high enough to keep giving the smallest glimpses of her dewy petals.

Hope trembled and moved in closer to me. "I don't want to break any promises. She's so pretty!"

I gently scratched him behind an ear and we advanced into the room. Her horn glowed softly and pulled the door shut. The wheel span under her power and we were locked into the fair-sized office with her. "They said you were feral and infectious, but you're acting like any reasonable person I ever saw. What are your names?"

"William."

"Cindy."

"D-Dusk Hope, ma'am."

Sandra glanced over at us, then nodded. "Sandra, and I think you've got their full attention. Does it bother you that, you know?"

Leo raised a furry brow. "That I have two strangers casually waving their junk at me and probably imagining what they could do with it?" She snarled. "Welcomed to the damn future. That part? Annoying, the fact that I want to present like a damn dog and get it over with, that part's the unacceptable bit. Remembering I used to be a man that took pride in that fact?" He chuckled softly. "But we're not here to cry about me." She pointed at me. "There's something odd about you, explain it."

I perked my ears high. "You're going to have to be more specific. I'm what the military where we came from call an 'S Class', as is Sandra." I pointed at her as I mentioned her. "You could call me a hybrid. I have earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn tricks. Sandra has earth pony and parasite tricks."

Leo pointed at my face. "I can see your odd tongues from here. Why didn't you mention those, if that's practically half of what she does?"

I let a tongue wave in the air. "Would you believe I forgot all about that? I do have them, but it's not really a big part of me. We weren't trying to hide them or anything." The heady pheromone soup that she was producing was keeping my focus on her. The longer I was around her, the more I took appreciation of every little clue of fertility she gave, She had wide hips. She was plump enough to be fed well, but she wasn't fat. She had lean muscle on display from an active lifestyle.

Leo snorted softly and trembled. I wondered if Hope and I were putting out our own version of scent, the male countersong that said we were ready to fulfill that need of hers. Sandra was pressing close to us, perhaps affected by that. Leo licked over her lips. "And what is your purpose here?"

Hope suddenly raised a hoof. "Ma'am? Sorry to interrupt, but... You're very large."

Leo blinked at Hope. "Yes... Yes I am. Was that a question?"

Hope shrank a little. "I... thought you might be royalty."

Leo looked confused. "This is the United States of America. We don't do royalty, son."

Cindy smiled widely. "No, he's right. You were lucky, and intersected with a higher order pattern, and the extra energy made you larger and likely talented besides that."

Leo started to look curious and approached me and Cindy. "Higher order pattern? Is that why I can... feel everyone on base? I knew when you were coming. You feel way different than anyone else here."

I nodded quickly. "Yes! Cindy, is he a princess or duchess?"

"Duchess."

Leo raised a hoof. "Wait wait wait. First, thanks for saying he, that's actually rather nice of you. Second, duchess?"

Cindy nodded at Leo. "Minor royalty. They're not as rare, but still special. Have you noticed other ponies rushing to do what you say?"

Leo raised her head high. "I'm a major, people do what I say to begin with."

Sandra circled around Leo and gave a soft sniffing. "Now I can smell it."

Leo hopped away from Sandra with a scowl. "Don't just walk up to people and start sniffing at them, god, we're not that familiar. I don't care if you do have disturbingly phallic tongues of..." She silenced herself and frowned, seemingly directed at her own behavior.

Hope glanced at us before stepping timidly before Leo. "Do you need us to come back later, or help? We'll... um... I think we can do either?" He turned to look at me. "Will Dust Kicker be angry? Is this OK?"

Loyalty was so much simpler as a human. I looked to Sandra and pulled her against my side. "Let's try to keep it in our pants, metaphorically."

Leo exposed her teeth in a grit. "Yes, let's." She reached out suddenly and bonked Hope right on the nose. "You're too small for me anyway." That sent Hope scurrying away to hide behind me. Leo's eyes followed him and trailed forward to rest on my undercarriage. I was about the right size for her, and she seemed to notice that clearly. "What is your mission?"

Sandra sat on her haunches and nodded at Leo. "We're here to open channels between our military and New York State. We're putting America back together. There's been some illegal slavery going on though, and we want that cleaned up along the way."

Leo blinked at Sandra. "What? Where? Are humans corralling ponies up like they can't talk or something? Bunch of idiots." Her tail gave an angry lash. "As if we stopped being people."

I shook my head. "Other way around, actually. Ponies enslaving humans and making them do menial labor or whatever else they have to do."

Leo raised a brow. "What? That doesn't make a damn bit of sense. We've been monitoring the busier channels, and the ones claiming to be in charge have laid our laws protecting humans, not enslaving them." She waved a hoof. "Regardless, slavery is illegal. If you found some dirtbags practicing it, I'm all for bringing a boot down on their necks."

I rolled a hand at Leo. "Alright, what did they say, exactly?"

Leo looked like she was thinking back. "The remaining human population was to be on guard for un-cleared ponies. All ponies were asked to do their part to keep the remaining humans safe from harm and infection."

Hope cringed, peeking out from behind me. "What if they decided the best way to protect them was to own them and keep them close by?"

Leo frowned at Hope. "I'd say they're fucking morons is what I'd say, but people are morons, so I would put it past them." She pointed at Sandra. "What'd you see?"

Sandra sighed softly. "At least in the first town we visited, people were assumed slaves and treated as property. They weren't outright abused, that I saw, but..." She looked to Hope.

Hope took a few steps forward. "I was at a quarry, and they had humans working there. A lot of them had pretty serious injuries, the kind that don't heal, like missing fingers and even worse!"

Whatever Lust Leo had been feeling was driven out in fury and shock. "What a crock of utter shit! Like we don't have enough problems as it is! I swear to god, communications breaks down a little bit and people just go crazy! What's next, cannibalism?" She struck the floor with a heavy clop. "I'll have someone hop on the radio ASAP and get to questioning people, but we're a small force here. We don't have that much sway."

I shook my head. "But you could. We've united most of what's left of the armed forces, and work for them. They'd love to have you back. They were leery of approaching with the situation they saw from the outside. That's why they selected us, since we're ponies and not humans, to investigate."

She cocked a brow. "You mean they're mostly human? Shit, now I feel even worse for letting such a large percentage of my force get infected before we got it under control." She slumped to the ground. "Right, well, I haven't forgotten my duty. You have the frequency they're chatting on?" I gave it quickly. "We'll reach out and touch bases." She waved a hoof at us. "You're the politest damn ferals I ever had the pleasure of meeting. Just don't infect any of our humans and you're cleared to stay." She turned away and grabbed a radio mic in her magic and began talking to it.

My eyes wandered between her legs without thought before I forced them away and moved for the door.

Author's Notes:

Leo, why are you so sexy? Contact is made, and maybe it isn't as bad as it appeared? Typos, typos everywhere! They're even in character as miscommunications cause terrible things.