Author's Notes:

Hey, it's a been a while. This chapter is a good one, I think and it delves into the pasts and futures of our main characters. It also contains some really explicit sex at the end, so if you wanna skip that, just pretend the chapter ends after the last chapter break!

Anyway, thank you for sticking with this meandering story this far.

Commissions are open by the way!

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The sun started its descent down the sky, warming us even as it warned us of the coming darkness. I smiled slightly at it. Permittivity was beside me, and he had a mug of something alcoholic in it. He deserved it. The crowd of ponies below us, they were waiting with bated breath…

And all at once, the lights above the streets came on. They weren’t that bright compared to the setting sun, but they were on-

“Citizens of Safe Harbour, tomorrow we head back to our homes,” I started to say. The microphone hummed like an electric itch at the back of my throat. “It’s with a heavy heart that I say those words. We’ve left a lot of the project behind for you all, you need to electrify your homes, and build the devices to run off of them. But, you were the ones who did most of the heavy lifting, so I’m sure you’ll do a better job wiring your own homes than we could-” I stopped and tapped on the microphone stand. It rang with a single note as the vibrations travelled through it.

The applause began, it was fluid, and it writhed and stretched through the crowd. Eventually, though, the ponies below us stopped stomping and cheering. The lights at the edge of the Plaza grew brighter, as the sun grew dimmer.

“What I want to leave you with is this, we’re stronger together than alone, and a group of ponies set to a task can do anything. They might have the guns, the heavy weapons, and all the soldiers they can get to fight for them. What they don’t have is the spirit to build something better for all of us. When they come, we need to meet them, and try our hardest to break their chains too!”

The cheers crescendoed upwards and spilt over the plaza like a wave at high tide. I smiled at them all, before turning around and walking towards the docks. Blackwood walked over to the vacant podium and started speaking about the continuation of the project. What he didn’t want to add was, the power grid was contingent upon the rest of Sall’han wanting to trade-

“Thank you Icepick, thank you, everyone, for making this dream a reality,” Blackwood began with a nod towards me. I bowed at the attention, before starting towards my rack. Well, my cabin aboard the Privateer.

“I’m so ready to leave,” I said from the bed. Permittivity was standing beside the desk, a glass of amber liquid levitating beside his mouth. I was stretched out and splayed like I was making a sand angel. Everything ached, everything was tired.

“I feel you there,” Permittivity said before taking a sip of his drink. “It’s been a long time since arriving on this island.” He stopped when we heard a knock at the door.

“Come on in,” I said as I watched the door unlock under the effects of Perm’s magic. It slid open a moment later. Two ponies stood abreast beneath the doorway. Ironsight and Frostbite. Perm took the opportunity to limp over to the bed, I could see the exhaustion in every step he took.

“Hey Icepick, Perm,” Ironsight said as she stepped into the room and sat down on the desk chair. Permittivity had sprawled out just like I had, and with a huff of exertion, he had grasped me in his magic and pulled me closer to him. I rewarded him with a nuzzle against his neck and a foreleg draped over his midsection.

“What is it? I’ve been waiting for a quiet moment for like, weeks,” I said with a little too much annoyance showing through.

“I understand that trust me, I want to snuggle up to a nice stallion too,” Ironsight said as Frostbite choked up a little at her words.

“I mean, this bed is pretty big, who says you can’t do both?” I said with a smile just barely concealed.

“Uh sure,” Ironsight said before throwing herself towards the mattress. Landing in a pile of exhausted equine. I looked down at her, and the tentative movements of the stallion she had brought with her. “So, what are we going to do when we reach Paradise?”

“Honestly, we’re going to try to hold the city,” I replied as I pulled the bottle Perm had gotten his drink from closer to me with a hoof.

“What if we can’t?” Ironsight said as Frostbite finally climbed onto the bed. He was sitting on his haunches and Ironsight had hooked her forelegs around his neck, her own body lying on top of his. They looked comfy, but not as comfy as Perm and I. I did catch Frostbite looking down at my nethers, and I flicked my tail subtly to show that I knew he was. His quiet chastened look was enough reward for me.

“Then we sail over to the Rangers, and fight alongside them,” I replied as Perm rolled over my body and lay atop me. That was one way to stop the other stallion from getting an eye full.

“What about the weapon?” Permittivity spoke up as he laid over me.

“When it’s ready, we’ll use it,” I replied in a quiet voice. The megaspell, rechambered for a different spell. I shuddered at the thought of that weapon.

“How long is that supposed to take?” Ironsight asked as she too cuddled a stallion close to her. They were a cute couple-

“We don’t know,” Permittivity said as he bit his lip. The pain must have refocused him. “It’s a forgotten technology, something that only the likes of Sombra and the great empires of the past achieved.”

“So, we’re gonna try to bleed them out? Try to take them to the bargaining table with what we have?” Ironsight said before seeing the expression on Frostbite’s muzzle change.

“Even after our war, with its millions of casualties, we still have millions more trained and seasoned ponies than you,” Frostbite said with a note of fatalism in his voice. “And no, you can’t just get them to switch sides.”

“That’s true, there are lot more ponies in the Empire than there are in Sall’han, but you’re forgetting something important in the war to come,” I met each of my lieutenant's eyes in turn, the cuddly context notwithstanding. “Logistics.”

“You had to drag all of your supplies through a barren desert, all of it coming from a portal at the top of a tall ancient tower. Even if they can subsist and conquer the food producing regions of Sall’han, they still need all their ammunition, arms, fuel and everything else to come through that portal,” Icepick continued.

“Indeed,” Frostbite said after a moment’s thought. “So there’s hope.”

“Exactly,” Icepick said before snorting derisively. “So does that answer your question Ironsight?” The other mare just nodded a little, before nuzzling her stallion’s neck. “So, get the fuck out.”

“Aye, aye,” Frostbite said with a sloppy salute. He grasped the smaller mare and let her climb onto his back, her legs hanging limply off of his sides.

“Bye Icepick, bye Perm,” Ironsight said as she nuzzled into her buckfriend’s neck.

“Toodles,” Permittivity said before shutting the door behind them. He looked back at me, our eyes meeting. “Well, we managed to get two other ponies into our bed.”

“It is kind of impressive, our raw animal magnetism-” I started to say before the stallion on top of me brought his lips to mine.

“You know me better than that,” Permittivity said when we paused to breathe. “I’m electric.”

“Same thing,” I replied with a shit eating grin that didn’t reach my eyes, those orbs were too busy giving away my feelings-

“Nope, they’re equal and separate, perpendicular to one another, actually,” I heard him say before adding- “Besides, Permeability doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

“I mean, it’d be perfect for a long lost brother slash evil twin,” I added after a few seconds consideration.

“I can bend magnetic fields too so it would stand to reason that any battle between us would be well, pointless,” Permittivity said with a laugh. “Not that I have a secret evil twin with mysteriously similar, but also easy to differentiate features-”

“Like a moustache? Maybe a goatee?” He nodded at my words. I rolled my eyes at him.

“Well, we have a busy day tomorrow, we should try to sleep,” He said after a moment or three of silence. I nodded at that and threw a foreleg over his form and snuggled up to him.

Soon enough, the two exhausted ponies were asleep, though only one of them snored. It wasn’t me.

My eyes opened, and I leaned up in my bed. Above me was a chocolate coated mare with a subtle smile on her muzzle, on the bridge of her muzzle was a small pair of wire-rimmed glasses.

“Wake up little one,” she said softly as I yawned, the sound coming out in high register. I smiled back, and a moment later I threw my covers off of my body and dropped to the wooden floor. It was cold against my hooves, and when I looked up at her, I had to tilt my head back a bunch to meet her eyes.

“Is it really morning?” My voice was male but coltish, and there was a curiosity in it that made me sure of who I was living as.

“Yes, and your first day of school is today,” The mare said softly before turning around and looking over her shoulder at me. Her tail was a dark black, almost obsidian. “You need to eat breakfast, your brother is already sitting at the table.”

“Okay Mom,” I heard Permittivity say with a sleepy chirp. “What is school like?”

“Well, you learn about the world, about math and reading, and about the empire-” His mom heard something, her ears spinning towards a door further down the hall. “I’ll be there soon, and I’ll walk the two of you to school.”

“Was I like that when I was a foal?” Little Permittivity asked as his mother opened the door and the sounds of a crying foal assaulted his ears, and by extension mine.

“You’re still a foal,” the mare said with a tired look over her shoulder. “But, yes, you were like that too.”

“I’m not a foal! I’m a colt!” Permittivity said with an exaggerated huff. But then, his- his mother drifted into the room with the crying foal. Young Permittivity started up for the dining room. The smell of freshly cooked food made him move a bit faster. I just laid back in the weird space, imagining myself back in my bed beside the aged up Permittivity and readied myself to enjoy the memories.

When I stepped around the corner I spotted two other ponies in the room, an older colt, but still a colt, with a similar coat to myself- And a much taller stallion, with a cream coloured coat. He looked over at me and smiled, even as he drank from a steaming cup of coffee.

“First day of school, huh?” The older stallion said with a little laugh at the end.

“I still don’t see why it’s such a big deal,” I said in my coltish voice, “I learn stuff all the time, and I can already read-” The older stallion started towards me, his long curly mane hanging down the sides of his head. I could see where Perm got his build from. That stallion was nice looking, tough and built, but kind. There was no cruelty in that stallion’s eyes. He came up to me as I climbed into a chair that was still a little too big for someone my size.

“Well, you’ll get to make new friends, and eventually, you’ll learn new things,” The stallion said as he ambled up to Permittivity, his coffee forgotten. “Besides, every pony needs an education-”

“Especially the ponies living in the big city!” The other colt in the room said. He was a boisterous kid, and he was an earth pony, just like his father, his mother, and sister. I had forgotten that Perm was the only unicorn in the home.

“There are a lot of very smart ponies living in the Imperial City,” the stallion said with a lightness in his voice. “But there are a lot of smart ponies in Maidenpool.”

“There’s a magic school in the big city, it’s been around for longer than you have, right?” The older brother said in an excited tone.

“I’m not that old, and the imperial academy has been around since Sombra, so yes-” The older stallion said as I bit into the butter covered pancake.

“There are unicorns there, doing magic and doing unicorn things! My friend told me,” the brother said and I looked over at the two of them. I lifted up a foreleg and touched the base of my small horn.

“Unicorns are just like us, they don’t do anything Earth ponies don’t do,” the stallion said before glancing over at me and smiling. “Right Permittivity?”

“I think so?” I said with a shrug before looking back towards my older brother.

“But he’s gonna do magic, maybe you’ll even be able to throw fireballs or go back in time!” His father shook his head and looked over at Perm. Perm was looking his father in the eyes, eyes so similar to his own-

“Maybe he will, maybe you’ll be a great mage someday,” the older stallion said as he walked over and ruffled his younger son’s mane. “But I’ll love you if you do, or don’t.”

“But he totally is, he has a magic sounding name!” Perm’s brother said before standing up from the table and starting towards the barding rack.

“No, Permittivity is the property of a material or the immaterial to store electricity,” his father said before looking at a clock on the wall. “Well, enough lessons for you both, you’ve got school to attend-”

I awoke with a start, and soaked in sweat. I turned over in bed and saw Permittivity staring up at the ceiling, eyes open, and breathing heavily.

“You have a weird dream too?” I asked him as I threw off the sheets and met his eyes with my own. The pensive expression on his muzzle could be made out despite the darkness. He turned to look at me, before swallowing heavily.

“What did yours contain?” Permittivity asked as he flipped onto his side before letting out a deeply held breath.

“I saw a memory of yours, back when you were a cute little shit,” I replied softly, forcing my breaths to be consistent.

“You were young too, perhaps too young to truly remember,” he said quietly before opening his mouth again. “You never knew your parents, correct?”

“I’m a ranger, we don’t do that family stuff-” I said with a note of pain in my voice.

“I saw your mother,” Permittivity said.

“W-what?” I said instantly, the words falling out of my mouth like I was on autopilot.

“She unlocked the door to your room, and ambled in, drink on her breath,” he said breathlessly. “She thought you were asleep, but you were just pretending to be asleep, probably out of fear.”

“What did she say!” I nearly yelled as my mind tried to reconcile the story he was telling me with my own story about myself. It was painful like my body was trying to shield me from an even greater wound.

“Not much, she just told you that she loved you, told you that she was your mother, and kissed you on the cheek,” Permittivity spilled out before adding something else. “As she walked away, you looked at her in the dim light. She looked back, and smiled at you.”

“Did she say her name?”

“No.”

For a moment I just laid there, my heart’s pounding finally starting to abate. I blinked and rolled myself closer to Permittivity, before resting my head on his fluffy chest. He looked at me and rested a hoof on my mane, gently rolling the strands of hair with his hoof. His breathing, his heartbeats, they were solid and steady. They grounded me even as I felt my entire being shake, the aftershocks being nearly as bad as the event itself.

“What was your dream?” He asked softly, never stopping his gentle caresses.

“I saw your family,” I said before adding, “Your father seemed nice, and your mother too.”

“They’re great ponies,” Permittivity said with a far off look in his eyes.

“You know, your brother was right about something,” I said wistfully, waiting for him to beg the question.

“Right about the stock market, right about the war’s end?” Perm said with a burst of not quite anger, bitterness perhaps?

“Nothing like that, he was probably eight in your dream,” I said with a little bit of a laugh. “No, he said that you’d be a powerful unicorn, something about you shooting fireballs and travelling back in time-”

“I haven’t done either of those things,” Perm interceded before I pressed a hoof to his lips.

“Well, I’d say shooting lightning is probably better than fireballs,” I said before adding something else. “Travelling to another world is pretty baller too. But that’s not the point, the point is: your dad loved you, and told you as much-”

“I know,” Permittivity said. I just hugged him.

“They’d be proud of you,” I said in a voice barely above the sounds of our breathing. “Not because you’re strong, or powerful, but because your heart is in the right place.” I could see his smile despite the darkness.

“You’re the reason it beats, the reason why I do all of this-” I cut him off.

“You saved me, I saved you, and we’re all tied up in knots because our souls are duct-taped together,” I said before laughing a bit. He joined me.

“Not exactly the words I would’ve used, but yes,” Permittivity said a few moments later.

“I’m just gonna warn you in advance if you die: I’m gonna burn them all, drench them all in steel rain, and stomp their bones into dust,” there was a coldness in my voice as I said those words. It wasn’t a threat per se, but a promise.

“I won’t die then,” he said with a sad smile on his muzzle. “And if they take you from me-”

“They won’t, you’ve always been the squishier of us,” I said with a lilting voice, before letting my hoof drift over to his shoulder. The bullet that had nearly killed him was nearby. But in the darkness, I couldn’t see the scar tissue that would forever mark him. Maybe he preferred it that way.

“Fair point,” he said with a tired-sounding laugh. It was still dark outside, and we were going to have an exhausting homecoming. We needed to sleep.

“Anyway, we should probably pass out again,” I said with a yawn as the adrenaline of the dreams, and the gravity of our conversation wore off.

“Agreed,” Permittivity said before leaning over and kissing me on the lips gently, barely making contact with mine, before laying back and closing his eyes. A few quiet moments later and his breathing had the soft rhythm of sleep. I joined him soon after.

“There’s the welcoming committee,” Marigold said from the deck of the ship, yelling loudly enough for us inside the cabin to hear her. I could see the ships coming out to meet us. Our little flotilla was matched by the ships of Paradise. Eratz gunboats meeting their opposites. There were five of them, training cannons on us, one even had a howitzer attached to the deck.

I nodded at the pony near the radio and had them turn it on, the soft humming of arcanotech only matched by our breathing.

“-Unidentified ships, identify yourselves,” The sound of a tense stallion came from the radio. They had five ships, we had four. We had an actual gunboat though, and they didn’t. Not that it would come to that- I trotted over to the radio before setting the ancient headset over my ears, leaving the exposed microphone beside my mouth.

“This is commander Icepick of the Equine Liberation Army, this flotilla is here to reinforce your position,” I said before letting off the transmit key.

“Uh- Alright, just stay where you are, I’m consulting with my superiors,” the stallion said before cutting off.

I turned and looked at the assembled ponies around me. Rosetta was staring at the ships of Paradise, Permittivity was watching the reactor output decking, Ironsight was outside, giving hints to the gunner aiming the cannon at the opposing flagship. Beside me was a slightly sea-sick Zenji, she paused and smiled at me, a comforting smile in dire times. Maybe she thought these were dire times-

“Commander Icepick, please proceed in an orderly manner to the nearest free docks, do not attempt to leave, do not initiate any hostile actions,” the stallion said breathlessly as I nodded at the navigator of the Privateer. How the flagship of the flotilla had ended up being a hastily repaired yacht, instead of the more heavily armed and armoured Tempest. Well, this boat had bigger captain’s quarters. And I was shacking up with the captain-

“Acknowledged, now you might wanna get the council on the horn, the situation has changed,” I added with a note of humour. If they didn’t understand the understatement, they would soon.

“Welcome back Icepick,” A new voice cut in. It was familiar-

“High Frequency, you are not permitted to use the military channels,” the stallion in the opposing ship said.

“Hey Frequency, it’s been a while,” I replied with a shrug that could be heard through my voice.

“Do you have a quick, easy explanation for how you left with a steel ranger ship in the dead of night, were gone for a month, and then came back with three more ships?” Frequency asked before adding. “Your answer is being sent out to all the fine ponies of Paradise.”

“To put it simply, we set out to do what we meant to, made some friends and allies along the way, and now we’re back here, ready to fight for Paradise!” I answered with a crescendoing volume to my voice.

“We already kicked the rangers to the curb,” Frequency said with confusion in his voice.

“I know, and I wish that was the end of our problems,” I replied, feeling the tension in my voice climb, but trying not to add to it-

“What are you saying?” Frequency asked, his own tones edging into fraught territory.

“Well, there’s an army of extra-dimensional invaders currently setting up to conquer all of Sall’han, and well, Paradise is the crown jewel of Sall’han,” I replied even as Crescent Moon shook her head. I rolled my eyes at her as I waited for a reply.

“I’m glad you’re here then, but could you give us a little more detail about well, all of that?” The stallion sounded like someone who had been given a bad diagnosis by a doctor-

“You’re cleared to enter the port,” the stallion leading the other ships said rapidly. “And please Frequency, wait till we’ve debriefed these ponies before asking questions over the radio.”

“Fine, but you’re going to come to the studio again, and bring your friends, I think there’s a whole show worth of stuff to talk about,” Frequency said before adding, “Alright, I’m done, debrief and park away.”

“Thank you,” the stallion commanding the Paradise flotilla said.

“Alright, we’re heading in,” I said loudly as I nodded at the pilot to gun it. The reactor picked up in output, and the ship lurched ahead.

“Well, I guess we have an interview,” Permittivity said before letting out a long sigh. “At the cost of a high-frequency transmitter giving away our presence here.”

“We’ll never win this struggle being quiet,” I replied before pulling out the last cigarette in my possession. I took my leave of the deck, with Permittivity following me slowly. The sun was still high in the sky, the light reflecting off of the deep blue of the water. It was a beautiful day, in a beautiful place-

“You want the ponies of Paradise behind you,” Permittivity said before lifting the cigarette out from my raised hoof. “Do you have a plan for if they don’t believe you?”

I watched as his arcing current shot out from the tip of his horn towards the tip of the cigarette, a moment later the sickly sweet smell of rich tobacco floated over to my nose. I snatched the lit cigarette from him and took a deep draw, our ships were flowing through and between the defensive formation offered by the Paradise flotilla. It was a great dance, and in the back of my mind, I realized how effective this fleet would be compared to a pre-war monster like the Ember.

“I mean, if they don’t then they’ll fall,” I said simply, before releasing the pent up smoke in my lungs. It scattered and dissolved into the air, just a few molecules in a sea of air that reached up into the void beyond.

“And if that happens, we retreat and continue the fight till the end,” Permittivity said with weariness in his voice. I stepped closer to him and rested a hoof on his shoulder. There was a resounding hoof step behind us, the empty stern of the ship was normally a quiet place. We turned as one to see a solitary stallion walking over to the edge of the deck. He looked exhausted but relieved all at once. There was a brightness in his eyes though-

“Almost home,” Rosetta said. “I had my doubts about ever seeing it again.”

“Well, I know Page and Dalliance are going to be happy to see you!” I said with a joyousness that I didn’t really feel.

“I wonder how Wellbore Axis is doing?” Permittivity asked a moment later, bemusement written across his face.

“She’ll probably be mad she didn’t come when we tell her about everything,” I said before remembering that we had originally left without telling her goodbye. I shivered a bit, remembering how much things had changed.

“Uh-” Permittivity started to say something, probably that thing I realized moments before, but Rosetta beat him to the punch.

“I don’t think I can face them,” Rosetta said in a resounding voice, but not overly loud.

“Why?” I asked him a moment later, worry written across my face. Permittivity wasn’t far behind.

“I did everything they said I shouldn’t, I almost didn’t come back,” he stopped for a moment as his face angled towards the decking. The sounds of waves lapping against the ship were the loudest sound for a long moment.

“But you did,” I said before trotting over to him, and offering him the quarter burned cigarette. He accepted with a touch of his magic, before taking a petite pull from it.

“You’re a strong pony Rosetta,” Permittivity said before watching me take the cigarette back from him. The pony before me was wrought with tension, and I felt a stab of guilt as I realized how little I had spoken to him in the last couple of weeks.

“Thank you,” Rosetta said before leaning over the edge of the railing. His eyes were locked on ships we were passing through. “I might stay on the ship.”

“No. You’re going to see your mother and Dally,” I said instantly. He looked at me, and our eyes met.
“Why? Why do you even care?” Rosetta belted out, not angry, just cooly curious. It wasn’t something I expected from my emotional friend.

“I-” My words fell away as I stood there. Permittivity was looking at me kindly, understanding flowing from him in a way that made me reach out to him with my eyes.

“Not all of us are lucky enough to have families, nevermind have them close enough to reach,” Permittivity said softly, there wasn’t a bite in his words, but his face drew close like something was driving him towards anger.

“I don’t owe them anything,” Rosetta said in a low voice like his own temper was rising underneath the surface.

“It’s not like that at all,” I said before pressing a hoof to his shoulder.

“I’m exactly the kind of stallion they love to hate now,” Rosetta said before shrugging off my hoof and starting towards the interior of the ship. He looked over his shoulder at us, before straightening out and tensing up his body.

“Something is off about him,” Permittivity said as soon as he left earshot.

“Yeah,” I said before turning to face Permittivity. “He’s been hitting the bottle hard, apparently.”

“I don’t think this is a simple case of Alcoholism,” Perm replied before shaking his head and looking out over the ocean we were pulling away from.

“What do you think it is then?” I asked curiosity and weariness in my voice. I had an alternate thought pop into my mind- Jealousy. I didn’t think that was it, I hoped that wasn’t it, but Rosetta’s actions aside, Perm did have a pretty good reason to distrust the pink stallion.

“He’s got a gaping wound in his heart,” Permittivity said in a quiet tone. The quiet understanding he had cultivated in himself, that better nature he had grown and nurtured shining at that moment-
“Bajada,” I said. He had gotten his revenge, and he had lost someone close. Some ponies would be affirmed by revenge, by slowly killing someone who had killed their love. I was one of those ponies. Maybe, maybe he wasn’t.

“He’s been throwing himself into his work, barely sleeping, and well, his impulse control has deteriorated,” Permittivity said with a scowl. There was the anger that had been bubbling up inside him. I understood then why Permittivity was angry, why he was so understanding at the same time. He could throw all the blame for my cheating on the other stallion, the damaged stallion, and also the stallion who had saved him from death…

“I think he’ll come around,” I said after a few moments of silence passed between us. “I can’t imagine he’ll turn his back on his family.”

I heard a single sound, a deep inhalation of air. And then nothing, I looked over at Permittivity, his eyes were icy, staring across the surface of the seemingly endless sea. But, in my heart, I knew the distances between Perm and his remaining family were such that they needed to be described in coordinates with more than four points-

I embraced him and held him tightly to my chest. It wasn’t enough.

“She’s out there, a stone’s throw away, relatively speaking,” Permittivity said a long time later. We were pulling into the bay now, and soon we would be moored to the dock. Back in Paradise, back to save Paradise.

“I know,” I let my words fall where they lay. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what I could say, what I might’ve said if I felt like there was any point. “Let’s go out tonight.”

“Good plan,” he said quietly before lightly pecking my lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” I said before releasing his body and dropping back to the decking. Our cabin wasn’t far. Paradise was right here. At least, it would be for a while.

As we walked down the streets, we drew a lot of gazes, a lot of gaping mouths and quite a few people waving their hooves in the air at us. The six of us were just walking towards the nearest tavern. Zenji drew the greatest amount of attention, her stripes seemingly to glow in the yellow of the streetlights. I could tell that a lot of the attention was drawn to her flanks, at least, a lot of the stallions had their eyes aimed there-

“So this is Paradise,” Zenji half stated, half asked, as we walked down the street. Far up in the sky, the stars twinkled and the moon shone down on us like the great reflector that it was, dragging whole oceans along with it.

“Paradise Lost, technically,” Permittivity said with an apologetic laugh.

“No-one actually calls it that though,” I added a moment later, with a bump against Perm’s withers to boot.

“It’s still odd seeing this many Equestrians just out and about, not drilling or working on a big project,” Ironsight admitted with a shrug. Beside her stood Frostbite, just taking in the lights, sounds and the smells wafting in from hundreds of kitchens and dozens of restaurants.

“You get used to it,” I said, before pausing and looking at Ironsight. “Let me rephrase that, you learn to love it.”

There was an awkward cough from behind me, I turned and looked at Crescent Moon, trailing behind the group and nearly being lost in the crowds. “What do you think about this place, given you’ve spent nearly as much time in it as we have?”

“I think their security sucks,” Crescent Moon said before shrugging heavily.

“That can’t be your only thought,” I replied hastily, not sure why she was avoiding the question.

“It isn't,” she said before stopping in the street and looking at all of us in turn. “This place is a sad reminder of the path not taken. We could’ve built a civilisation as prosperous and equal as this one, but instead the occupation continued, the evil of the steel rangers only became worse over time.”

“I see-” I started to say, understanding her words.

“So, that’s what I think about this Paradise in the middle of the desert, populated by Equestrians lacking the taint of slavery and oppression- But maybe I’m being harsh. These ponies seem to be more like the ones in the stories, the old ones.”

“The old stories?” I asked suddenly, before starting a little as I felt a hoof on my shoulder.

“Remember what we talked about?” Zenji asked in her musical tones. Crescent Moon looked at her strangely.

“The times before the war,” I said quietly. “The millennia of peace.”

“I don’t know about that, but there are stories of great ships crossing the ocean bringing fabrics, alcohol and lots of other things,” Crescent Moon said with a smile. “There were ponies on those ships, and Zebras too.”

“What?” I asked the assembled ponies loudly. I spun around and located the nearest pub. It was a quarter block away, I pointed at it with a hoof and everyone acknowledged my decision. As we started towards it, a chuckle ran through my body. I was leading my group to the nearest source of Ethanol, because fuck, these deep historical discussions were only tolerable with a decent blood alcohol level.

“It’s simple Icepick,” Zenji said, “We were never enemies until we were.”

They had a booth that would fit six equines, and it was currently filled to the brim. I had my back to the cushioned seat, and Permittivity was pressed into my side, with Zenji and Crescent Moon sitting opposite to us, with Ironsight and Frostbite staring into each other's eyes at the end of the booth. I was crammed into the corner, between Perm and the wall. The thing was, I liked the support. I needed it as the two mares told me more about the past I was lied to about. Zenji only drank water and after some prodding a soda-

“So, like, that’s why I like you,” Crescent Moon said from across the small table top. There were quite a few empty drinks in front of her. And her breath smelled like the inside of a whiskey barrel.

“Because I want to be better, and to make the world better?” I asked suddenly, my brain a bit fuzzy from my own drinks.

“Yes, I mean, kinda,” Crescent said before looking pleadingly at the only sober person at the table. Permittivity had that far off look in his eyes, he was contemplating something deep- Probably.

“You’re a compass, someone that others follow because your sense of justice is sound,” Zenji said before a strange look happened upon her face. A moment later she burped loudly, before giving all of us a look of mild betrayal.

“Yeah!” Crescent Moon nearly yelled before looking me in the eyes. “You helped build Safe Harbour’s power grid, you dismantled the bomb, and you’re going to fix the world or die trying!” Everyone at the table looked at the intoxicated Arab and shrugged. It was pretty obvious that the mare was as toasted as she ever had been.

“It hurts, knowing that I was lied to, knowing that for most of history, Ponies were peaceful, that they had families and goals of their own,” I said before feeling Permittivity’s warm embrace. He pulled me closer to him with a foreleg.

“If it makes you feel any better, I was lied to- too!” Crescent Moon said before meeting my eyes. Her hooves pushed forward along the table top before lightly tapping mine. Maybe it was the drink, maybe it was a moment where I wanted as much comfort as I could get, but I held her outstretched hooves in my own. “My teachers told me that the whole of Sall’han was peaceful, and nearly perfect before the Equestrians invaded.”

“That’s ridiculous, you had a dictatorial monarch, with a Harem of hundreds, and squabbling nobles and lords, all unwilling to spend the money to bring your people into the modern age!” I said loudly, angry at the stream of bullshit spewing out of her mouth.

“All true,” Crescent Moon said before taking another long drink of ale. “And the worst part is, those same nobles were the ponies who had access to the research complex. The descendants of those same nobles make the orders for the foot soldiers, sending them into the guns of the Steel Rangers.”

“Who do you think was calling the shots for us? The fucking rich bastards who owned Equestria, they were the ponies that sent us over here. Ironshod firearms, Consolidated Freight, Mercurial Energy, and the list goes on. Half of those companies were owned by nobles or families that bought their way into the nobility!” A surprisingly angry Ironsight said.

“Where did you find that out?” I asked, surprise evident in my voice.

“Icepick, my mom is a high up, she’s seen all the old orders, the intelligence reports and the surveys done back then. We’ve been working on broad orders issued back before Equestria was a radioactive shithole, by those same fuckers that got the homeland bombed,” Ironsight replied, spittle nearly flying from her mouth. I had forgotten about all of that, all of the internal intrigue and political games played from within the Ranger hierarchy.

“The powerful have always played a game all their own, sometimes egregiously, sometimes less so,” Zenji said a moment later.

“The war,” Frostbite said in a low voice.

“Sombra didn’t do it alone,” Permittivity said while looking towards the other stallion. “We were lied to about the war, they told us it would be over in a year and afterwards our honour would be secured.”

“The celebrations, the parades as we left our towns,” Frostbite added a moment later.

“How many of us came back home in coffins,” Permittivity said a moment later.

“We lost our home, and in our heartache, we tried to recreate it using the things we had,” I said quietly. “That’s why my ancestors allowed the Sall’han Rangers to become what they became, a monstrosity.” I took a deep breath and looked at all the assembled ponies. “No more! This is a time of change, and in the new world this war creates, we’ll have no nobles, everyone will be equal under the law, and everyone will be free to pursue their own lives!”

A pony at a table beside ours looked my way as I yelled and smashed my hoof on the table. My blood was up, and the stallion’s gaze made me feel alive. He tapped his friend on the shoulder as I raised myself up on the table.

“You’re a shining example of what a free world can be, how beautiful, how innocent!” I yelled at the stallions looking at me. I looked down as I felt the table shift a little underneath me. Crescent Moon was shakily climbing onto the table, and without thinking about it, I pulled her up with my foreleg. She cradled like it was the only thing holding her up. It probably was.

“What?” The stallion said in confusion.

“See, you’re Equestrians, but you aren’t like, taught to be racist and imperialist at birth,” Crescent Moon yelled out while looking at the stallions. More ponies were looking our way, at the two crazy mares on the table. One of which was an exotic looking Arab mare, the other an amazonian blonde ranger. She looked down at the leg she was holding onto before turning her head up to look at me. “Then, again, this one was racist as fuck, but… She got better.”

“Thanks,” I said blushing slightly at the compliment from someone I respected and who I had treated terribly in the past.

“Her buckfriend helped,” the drunken mare said before looking down at Permittivity and Ironsight. “You know, those invading ponies from the other universe, they do have a hot accent. And they’re not racist, just misguided.”

The stallions at the adjacent tables looked confused, marginally aroused and curious what the rambling intoxicated mare was getting on about. And then, she looked at me, and in the deep brown of her eyes, I could see exactly where her mind was going- I guess it was the right moment to figure out exactly how egalitarian I had become.

I let go of her leg and she started to fall towards the table. Without breaking a stride I grabbed her barrel in my legs and tossed her back to her hooves. In her new position, her head was facing mine, her ass pointed at the opposite table. Her eyes bored into mine, a clear question on her lips. I answered with my own lips. There wasn’t really a difference in kissing between her and Perm, or any other pair of lips. There was a difference in the feelings I had in the moment, I was worried about how everyone would take it, how I would feel about it later, and how it might make things more complicated between her, Perm, and I…

But those were washed aside as her tongue poked at my lips, and as she explored my mouth and met my tongue, I pulled our chests together, hooves drifting over her back and withers. She could play at that game, a realization that struck me when she started touching my body with her hooves. My tongue had let hers explore for a few seconds, but now it was inside her mouth, fighting for control and pleasure. There was a loud gasp from the table behind her, the stallions watching two mares make out heavily in front of them. The restaurant was watching too- A moment later I felt magic pull us apart and push the both of us back into our chairs. It was a blue aura that surrounded us. Even in my drunk state, I knew what that meant-

“You’re both insane,” Ironsight said as she looked at the two of us, now sharing a nervous smile as Crescent Moon pushed her long mane out of the way of her flushed face.
“Indeed,” Permittivity said before looking between us with a look of disagreement, and barely concealed interest.

“I’ve seen worse,” Frostbite said with a hearty laugh. I smiled at the snow white stallion. Ironsight saw my look and protectively clutched her newfound stallion with a hoof.

“H-hey, I’m just happy to be here, with my friends,” I managed to say with an admittedly dopey smile on my face.

“Ah, it’s nice to see such feelings in the air, new sensations, new experiences, and the synthesis of new ideas from our different pasts,” Zenji said with an unreadable smile on her muzzle. There was always something slightly aloof about that mare, some enigmatic element that never left but rarely outshined the rest of her.

“I’ll drink to that,” Crescent Moon said before raising her glass in the air, half consumed drink sloshing around from the slight shaking of her leg.

“No you won’t, you’ve had enough, we’ve all had enough,” Permittivity said with a sober tone that stung like Ice on bare skin. He was acting like an adult, like someone who had responsibilities to the people around him. I wasn’t, I wasn’t cut out for a serious role-

No, one kiss does not a bad leader make. My eyes were drawn to the gentle telekinesis around her glass. She relinquished it with a huff, before sticking her tongue out at Permittivity. He shrugged at her before pulling the glass away.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Permittivity added after his more pressing duty was completed.

“I was getting tired anyway,” Crescent Moon shot back.

“I wholeheartedly believe you,” Permittivity said in a tone that made it clear that was thoroughly not the case.

“I am a little tired,” I admitted. The day had been long, and tomorrow was probably going to be longer.

“Dancing on a table probably didn’t help,” Ironsight quipped. The mare had an odd look in her eyes, even as she held hooves with Ironsight, it was like she was seeing something no-one else could-

“But it was fun!” Crescent Moon shot back and I jumped a little as I felt her hind hooves trail up my own hinds. I looked at her, she turned away just enough that I couldn’t see her eyes. I let one of my forelegs drift underneath the table, before grasping her hind hoof and dragging it up a few centimetres, closer and closer to my nethers.

“Fun to watch,” Frostbite said with a laugh. He was a little toasted himself, but well, that guy needed it more than anyone here.

My moan was barely stifled as her hind leg touched the edge of my cunt. Permittivity’s eyes opened wider, which I wasn’t sure what to make of until I felt a second leg descend down to my spread hinds. He looked away, towards Iron and Frost, but I knew where his attention really was…

“You know, you should get a room,” Ironsight said a moment later. She and Frostbite shared a laugh as Permittivity and Crescent suddenly shifted, pulling their legs away from my surprisingly wet pussy.

“G-good idea,” Permittivity admitted sheepishly. I just smiled at Ironsight, sparing half glances at the two ponies who had been pleasing me moments before. She just rolled her eyes.

“This is your room,” the hotel pony said, his funny hat looked extra funny to my intoxicated brain.

“Thank you,” I said to him. Permittivity was already in the room, and Crescent was walking into it. The moment the two of them were inside, he grasped her with his magic and his hooves, before pulling her into a deep kiss.

“Uh, you’re welcome,” the stallion said while giving the room and its occupants a side glance.

“Good night,” I said in a lilting voice, before leaning forward and giving the stallion a peck on the cheek. He flushed and started towards the relative safety of the front desk.

The door shut loudly, as I kicked it with my hinds. I locked eyes with both of the other ponies, Permittivity and Crescent, the two of them laying on the bed, with Crescent underneath him, her eyes widened as I trotted over to the bed.

“So, it’s been a while since I’ve fucked a mare,” I said loudly, before laying down on the bed beside them. Perm leaned up as Crescent Moon spread her hinds out needily.

“How long has it been since you fucked a mare and a stallion at once?” Permittivity asked with an intoxicated and horny expression on his muzzle. He threw himself backwards with his magic, landing on his back and spreading his legs, cock hard and sticking up in the air.

“Since never,” I admitted. “I’ve only been with girls a couple of times, and it was out of mutual desperation.”

“So nothing’s changed?” Crescent said as she climbed up to me, before leaning down, her legs on mine, her chest pressed against mine-

“Well, I’ve never been with an Arab before,” I said before pressing my lips to hers hungrily. Her gleaming dark mane fell onto my face, and my forelegs grasped at her body again. Her hips bucked against mine, her wetness starting to drip onto mine.

“I’ve never kissed a girl before,” Crescent said as we broke the kiss. Permittivity snorted and his cock twitched at the sight before him, his magic was wrapped around it, the gentle blue contrasting with the tan flesh.

“Have you ever kissed one of those before?” I asked her as Permittivity rolled his eyes, his hips shuddered a bit as he saw into the future. She smiled broadly, reminding me a bit of just how drunk we all were. I shook my head half a degree, it was enough to clear it of that particular wet blanket of a thought-

“No, but if you want to show me how,” Crescent said before giggling a bit. I rolled my eyes about five times, before pushing the lanky mare off of me, and getting to my hooves, before starting towards Permittivity, the lucky bastard of the evening.

“Well, you start by leaning down,” I said to her, looking over my shoulder to see her stumble back to her hooves. Permittivity grinned at me as I bent down, rubbing the base of his shaft with my forehoof. It pulsed in my hoof, and without waiting for her to catch up, I let my head drift down to the head of his cock. I placed a single, wet kiss on the end of if, before dropping my body back down onto the comfy bed. A moment later, I felt the mattress shift beneath me. A hoof joined my own on Perm’s cock. It had a light brown colouration, and before I could think another thought, her wet lips pressed against mine-

“Would you care to do that a few centimetres further forward?” Permittivity asked as the two of us traded touches and caresses with our tongues, even as our hooves jointly stroked his cock, rubbing his pre-cum all over the mottled length.

“Should we?” Crescent Moon asked as we broke our kiss, her face was flushed red, and her tail was flicking back and forth behind her excitedly.

“He did just build a whole electrical grid,” I said with a shrug. And then I leaned forward, letting my tongue trace a straight line up his cock. I felt everything: his balls, churning with seed and aching for release; the dark salty skin of his sheath; his medial ring, which I ran my tongue along from side to side, feeling his cock pulse at the attention and warmth, and finally, his head, with a thick dollop of pre-cum on the top…

Permittivity moaned heavily, before opening his eyes widely, as a second tongue wrapped around his shaft, before doing the same dance mine had-

“Aaaah,” Crescent moaned just as I felt a tendril of magic push into my wet marehood. My moan joined hers as his horn lit up a degree, spreading the two of us out further.

“You’re playing dirty!” I said as I pulled my mouth off of his cock, glaring at him lovingly. I picked myself up off of the mattress, before climbing up and over him. I stood above him, looking down at my mate’s piercing eyes. They met mine, a question hidden in them. Then, a moment later the question was gone, replaced with something different. The magic spreading my pussy out was gone in a flash, but as soon as my mind registered that, I felt a wet tongue press against my folds, searching out my clit…

“I have an even more debauched idea,” Permittivity asked as I felt my legs shake and my tail draw away from my nethers. The sounds of amateur cunnilingus and heavy breathing filled the room, mostly because I was trying to hide how hot being eaten out by a mare was to me-

“W-what’s that?” I managed to ask, even as I placed my forelegs on the bed beside Perm’s chest. My forelegs dropped down, and a moment later, his cock was pressed against my pussy, and a moan from Permittivity told me he felt it too. He was warm and hard against me, the girthy instrument that I knew very well… And that tongue, the tongue that had found out the magic of tongue fucking!

“You should ride me, and she should sit on my face,” Permittivity said breathlessly, as I picked that moment to shake my back end, grinding my wetness against his cock. He looked up into my eyes with a stunned and pleased expression.
“Are you up for that?” I asked Crescent even as she lifted my tail up further with a hoof, before jamming her muzzle into my pussy, spreading it out and pushing her tongue into me deeper than before. My body tingled from the overload of pleasure. Somehow, Perm sensed that and decided this was the moment to pull me down into a deep kiss. My mouth was gaping open from the pleasure and his tongue dipped into my mouth to find my tongue, to touch it with his own, to watch my eyes open a degree wider as my brain struggled to make sense of the sensations assaulting me-

And then, she pulled her tongue from my nethers and got to her hooves, suddenly a bit more coordinated. Permittivity pushed his hips up against mine, sending lightning up my body, or maybe he was electrocuting me pleasingly…

My ass got the hint, even if my brain was being slow, and it raised up into the air, Permittivity’s magic spreading my lips out while pointing his cock up at it. I dropped down and felt myself spread out by his thickness. My tongue might have been lolling out, but the moment that I had a mare’s ass put in front of it, I rammed my head forward. Perm’s face was directly beneath her dripping honey pot, and my tongue was pushing deeper into her tunnel.

“Don’t stop, by the stars,” I heard Crescent say as we both attacked her pussy with our tongues. Not that we had forgotten about our own coupling, I was just about to raise myself up and off of him when he pushed me upwards with his hips and his magic. I felt myself clench in surprise and felt him pulse in response, my body getting past his medial ring before running out of upwards momentum, gravity pulled me back down, and my brain short-circuited as his medial ring stretched out my cunt.

“I won’t,” I said with a moan as I took a second to breathe, before diving back into her pussy, my tongue soaking in the juices she was making. Whatever heterosexual inhibitions I had kept until then, they were gone now. Then again, there was a cock inside me at the moment, and it was throbbing inside me. I moaned deeply as something inside me sung. Permittivity had kept pushing himself into me, and all I could do was enjoy the ride, his magic keeping a perfect tempo, and judging by her moans, he was playing with her clit like it was a metronome-
I decided I wanted to take charge, I arrested my bouncing motion on his cock by spreading my hinds out and disrupting his magic. I took a moment to just enjoy the delicious feeling of fullness as he hilted in me, his fat cock stretching me out just perfectly. And then my clit decided to wink out against him, and I practically screamed into Crescent’s pussy. She moaned at the added vibrations and I took that moment to push my body up, practically to the top of his length, before dropping back down and revelling in the friction of his twitching cock and my shuddering walls.

I felt his cock begin to flare, and Crescent’s moans were crescendoing ever upwards-

For a moment my mind went elsewhere. Would diplomatic immunity apply to noise complaints?

As my hips pushed back down on his cock, I decided I didn’t care. Come what may, I would cum!

My clit agreed with me, as it shot out against his base, dripping nectar all over him and the poor sheets. The electricity was arcing up and down my spine, almost in time with my hips. The feeling was amazing even as I heard and felt the coup de grace of Perm’s dirty mind- A tendril of electrical magic drifted up past my spread folds, before burying itself into my ass and spreading out. My mouth gaped open as I tried to breath, the sensation being joined by the feeling of fullness as I fell the last couple of centimetres down his shaft-

“Perm!” Crescent moaned out as she too got an electric tendril in her ass. The gush of girl juice that followed after the moan was enough to set me off, the sheer sexy femininity setting me off. Though, the cock and the magic inside me helped too-

“You asshole!” I said as I felt my pussy and ass clench up around the things inside me, my whole body shaking and shuddering as I came. A moment later I felt the warmth and flaring that told me Perm was about to paint my insides white. Crescent fell onto her side, leaving Perm’s wet muzzle and pussy eating grin staring into my eyes- I clenched up as an aftershock of my orgasm hit me, and that was the moment that he clenched up beneath me, his hooves grabbing at my ass and squeezing hard as his cock pulsed and shot seed deep inside of me.

I leaned down and kissed him as his cum shot into me and over the bed, our friend having pulled herself closer to Perm, one of her hooves rubbing his chest, the other holding her head up to watch his cum begin to drip out of me…

“Warn me next time!” I said as I broke the kiss. He nodded at me, and his eyes warmed up a bit, his smile connecting with the rest of his visage for once. He was happy, I was happy, and it wasn’t just because of the afterglow.

“Next time,” Crescent Murmured as she laid her head down on the pillow to the right of Perm’s. I felt his cock deflating inside me and pulled myself off of it. A small pool of cum dripped out of me as the plug was pulled.

“Sure,” I said in a husky voice, my own muzzle covered in wetness and the smell of horny mare. “I mean if this isn’t just a one-time thing.”

“I’d say it was a successful experiment,” Permittivity murmured before throwing his forelegs out behind his head and pulling the two of us close to him. I laid a foreleg across his stomach and rested my head against his. Behind my eyes, the endorphins were swimming around in my head, and as I felt his seed drip out of me, I felt contentment that I had missed.

“You just want to put a foal in two mares,” Crescent said with a laugh and a kiss on the pleased stallion’s cheek.

“I could think of worse things,” Permittivity said before pulling me a bit closer to him. I could tell we would need a shower tomorrow, and probably a re-evaluation of our relationship. I wasn’t sure what my sober feelings would be towards Crescent Moon, but I knew things would be different…

Now, I knew she liked me. That was odd because I liked her too. And we both liked Permittivity.

“You know, that accent really has helped you get laid,” I said in a low voice. There was a happiness in it, and the cold realizations that came from getting satisfied sexually.

“It worked on me,” Crescent said quietly. There was humour in her voice.

“To be fair, I’m delighted by both of your beautiful voices,” Permittivity said in a voice that told me he was getting close to sleep. I rolled myself onto my side and looked at the two other ponies. I felt a warmth in my chest as I pulled them both closer to me. My own body was ready for sleep. Not that it would be much of a rest. I knew Permittivity had an alarm on his terminal. Still, as I listened to their soft breathing, I felt like it would be enough…

“We’re gonna win,” I said softly.

“We have the just cause,” Crescent said.

“That’s just about all we have,” Permittivity said in a neutral voice.

“It’s enough,” I replied before closing my eyes and focusing on the warmth of the other ponies.