The sun had set hours ago. According to the clock on the computation machine it was approaching dawn. There was ample light for most purposes, plenty to aid a march. Every touch of wind across my body forced me to reminisce. When I first arrived, the only atmosphere I felt was decidedly artificial. Beyond that, my first breath of fresh air on this world had been arid and lung searing. That had been three days after my arrival. I had yet to feel the desert night. Somehow, it felt like home. If I closed my eyes and cleared my mind, I could pretend I was back in Maidenpool. Just enjoying a solitary moment. Better days, I thought to myself. Less complicated days, without gravity, days where all that mattered was understanding a maths problem, or memorizing the facts from a long ago battle. Where I could revel in the warmth of the hearth-
“If you don’t have any objections, I think I’ve found a good spot for us to stop,” the mare ahead yelled to me. She pointed with an off-white leg at a dip between several large dunes. We would be out of the line of sight for anyone not looking from directly above us.
“Good thinking!” I yelled back at her. My voice must have been surprising to her. Perhaps the slight lilt to it caught Icepick off guard.
“Thanks,” she said after staring at me though her inequine helmet. My eyes remained locked forward. We walked into the divot. At the bottom she cocked her head at me. “You did grab a tarp and a bed roll in all of that looting, right?” she asked me suddenly.
“Along with many other things I appropriated,” I answered before looking at her metallic form, a lovely silhouette cast by the moonlight. Surprisingly, their moon was identical to ours. “So, how would you suggest we make camp?”
“Well, usually when I’ve done this in the past we’d take two sets of armour, clamshell them, and drape tarps over top with a gap between the bottom of the tarp and the sand.” she explained to me as she shifted her stance. Her shoulders seemed to hunch as she straightened her neck out. With a hoof, she took hold of her helmet and turned it about 45˚degrees before pulling it off of her head.
It was her. That blonde mare from the dreams. Her name and demeanour were already telling, but this – This was the image I remembered. Stuck the following morning in a way that just doesn’t typically happen with dreams. Every time I would wake up from them, all but detailed aspects would wash away. Unless this mare appeared in them. Every time she would look upon a mirror with levity written across her face, or the weight of the world showing in her eyes. Seeing her in the flesh was queer, even in the greys of a waning moon before dawn.
“Is there something in my teeth or what?” she asked me after a moment had passed. Out of her passed a single chuckle, with one pulse of air exiting her nose as it happened.
“Not that I can tell,” I chuckled, “But, we have only your set of armour.”
She then stood stock still and said, “We’ve got rope, and at least two things we can stick in the ground.” I heard the machinery in her armour activate. After a few seconds the armour opened up and she had backed out of it.

She was still large. When she turned to face me our eyes were level. I could make out she was wearing a sort of undersuit as well.

“Good idea,” I said to her simply. I was still wrapping my head around the idea of being around this mare.

“I have those on occasion,” she said as she turned around to rifle through the bags she had attached to the exo-skeleton.

“So drew you to the big desert?” she asked with her rear pointed at me. I needed to sell my cover story to this mare.

“Personal advancement and general curiosity,” I answered as I pulled a large spoon and a bayonet from my bags. They made good tent stakes in a pinch.

“I can kinda understand the curiosity part, but how would you advance personally? Would you get promoted or something?” She was putting an end of the tarp over top the shell of armour, securing it and bending herself over the piece. I let my eyes roam over her body covered in the skin-tight suit that made her rump pop out. This mare was not only extremely attractive but seemed to be host to innumerable strange ideas.
“My dear, the society I come from has a military. However, the fundamental structure isn’t a martial one. My personal advancement would come from knowing things others would not. And from being able to capitalize on that knowledge. And even then, the notoriety wouldn’t be valuable on its own.” I said before chuckling lightly. Her expressions had gone from confused to very confused while I had been talking.
“If I may ask: is everypony in your society a part of a military organisation?” I asked. You were always a charmer Permittivity, of stallions and mares. Though this one could triumph in a contest of hooficuffs with all the stallions I knew, excluding-
“Everypony who’s an equestrian is a Ranger,” Icepick answered, “Even if they’re a janitor, or a teacher.” a bemused expression crossing her lips once more. “So, you’re like Arabians then, you have a chief or something?” she asked me suddenly. I had just attached the corners of the tarp to the stakes.

“Not exactly, we’re lead by a monarch, somepony who can look at the nation as a whole and make honourable long term decisions. However, every pony elects representatives to parliament to draft legislation and take on various functions of governance.” I explained to her the basis of governance in the Empire, hoping that the honesty in my voice would win her over. Though, now that I thought about it, was Sombra going to leave parliament and the rights of a subject intact?

“So, you have a princess like Celestia and Luna?” she asked incredulously. Upon hearing those names I had to steel myself. The Arabians had told me that these warriors were from Equestria, originally. So, they were Celestians. Of a sort.
“Not quite. They’re normal unicorns like me.” This was half true. Sombra had declared that only unicorns of pure blood could hold what had been his throne.
“So, how do you ‘advance’ then?” she asked me as I finished with the stakes.
“I might sell a book about my adventures, which I’m sure to have with you around,” I responded quickly, trying to avoid this topic of conversation. With a start I pointed my eyes at the sky. Some of the constellations were shifted ever so slightly. Was that strange or comforting? What was this world to me? “So, what do you want. How do you wish to advance?”
When I asked her this her eyes shifted downward.

“I’ll do what the Rangers need me to do. I’ll probably get my implant removed for about a year, and have a foal for them,” she paused, “And then, I’ll try to make paladin. Providing a foal for the Rangers will bump up my rank.” Her voice seemed choked, yet at the same time it welled with deliberation.

“What do you mean, a foal for the Rangers? Are you hoping to find a stallion to marry?” I asked, confounded yet again.

“The fuck you talking about? Rangers don’t marry. Only those backwards fucking natives marry.” she hissed at me before lifting a side of the makeshift dwelling. She pulled a bedroll from her back and threw it haphazardly inside.

I gave her a moment as I unbuckled both my bedroll and my saddlebags. I took my bedroll, stooping over as I went inside. It was dark in there, and there was a definite lack of volume. I saw that she had laid hers out parallel to her armour, giving me just enough room to lay mine down in the leftover space. The rest of my clothing fell to the floor, my bags held off in the corner just beyond my tail and hind legs. With a sigh, I set myself down on my makeshift bed. Her bedroll was perhaps ten centimeters from mine. I lit my horn for a moment while I fiddled with the blanket layers.

“I guess it doesn’t matter now, with us being under the tarp.” she said before turning herself over. She eyed my bedroll and the nominal distance between us. At this point I had found the blanket that I wanted, and was about to shimmy under it, when she said, “That gap is a fucking joke. You’re gonna have your ass pressed against the tent when you settle in,” before pulling herself up until she was almost standing. I gave her an odd look before she bit my bedding and dragged it towards her. When it slightly overlapped hers she spat it out. Then she looked at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

Her eyes locked on mine, and after a second she began to laugh too.
“Life is absurd, Icepick. Though that was probably the most absurd thing to happen today,” I said to her when my laughing died down.

“No, the absurd thing was that hangfire. Seriously, what were the odds of that?”
“We would have to look the rate of that ammunitions failure. Did you see the speed at which he galloped out? His testicles must have been pulled into his barrel.”

“Tartarus yeah I did. Still would have been better to see that rifle shot go through his barrel,” she said with regret written across her muzzle. Her eyes were beautiful, with a glacial aspect showing through when the light from my horn danced across them. I drew my eyes away before she noticed.

“Thirsty?” I asked before pulling a water skin from my saddlebags. I had several, but I knew that this journey would be taxing even with ample hydration.

“And now you’re offering a mare a drink? I should have gotten us into bed earlier, then,” she said with a chuckle before grasping the offered skin with a hoof.

“Is this that surprising? I admit, maybe we didn’t get off on the right hoof initially, but have I been unpleasant?” I asked as she took a deep draw from the skin. As I spoke she nearly choked on the water. Icepick let the hoof with the skin fall down.

“It was a joke, to cut tension. And if that was a legitimate question… I mean, I’ve dealt with worse ponies in better circumstances. I’m usually a pretty laid back mare, but being out here away from the Rangers, I-I don’t think I’m at my best. Shit, is anyone themselves when they’re away from the people they spend the most time with?”

“That’s comforting. I suppose you would be less brash and be more forbearing if you had others to keep in mind?” I said, before taking a swig from the skin myself.

“No, fuck no. That’s like asking if you’d be less of a know-it-all stallion that loves the sound of his own voice if you had someone from your barracks with you.” she said before laughing impetuously. She was uncivil where I had been nothing but– Then again, she had helped me get here and not shown any animus when it came to personal proximity…

“I’ll take that as an example and not a personal affront,” I chuckled before letting my horn die. The blankets under my body would hopefully insulate me from the cold sand underneath. The last few hours are quite cold, I reminded myself. “Perhaps you’re striking upon some greater truth. Sometimes we can only rise above ourselves when tasked with a greater purpose.”

“Yeah, an example,” she said before letting out an errant yawn. Magical exoskeleton or not, she was still a mare. Her yawns were just like her voice, lower than most mares but distinctly feminine. “That’s the thing, I’d do anything for the Rangers. Wade into bullets, fight giant scorpions, even tolerate egg heads. But, I don’t think that improves me, it just pushes me. It’s something else, I swear,” she finished wistfully. I turned my head towards the pseudo ceiling above our heads.

“You never knew your father or mother did you?” I asked softly.
“Every male Ranger is my father, and every female Ranger is my mother, my brothers and my sisters” she whispered.

“That’s a blessing and a curse, Icepick. Like everything else,” I murmured. At this time, I was becoming extremely conscious of the fact that we were perhaps just half a leg away from one another.

“Just go to sleep, egg head. And if don’t use my full name every time, aight? It’s Ice to most everypony,” she huffed before rolling over to face me in the near pitch black. Her forelegs were tucked up near her chest like mine were, a bag lying under her head.
“Have a good rest, Icey.” To which she merely snorted once. Soon after I heard a faint snoring emanating throughout our makeshift tent..

We made good time, rousing ourselves early in the morn, evenings spent travelling in the cloak of night. All the while, we made idle chit chat, and I revealed nothing that I couldn’t deflect later. She seemed to steer me away from anything personal or organisational. We truly told each other nothing.
On the third night…

“Hey, come look at this!” Icepick yelled to me from the top of dune. It was easier for her, getting up there; that magic armour was a definite advantage. She kept her eyes on me, that damnable visor giving nothing away, as I trotted up the hill. I hadn’t been working so hard to move since I had been in the service of the Empire! Although, now I was in the service of the greatest leader the Empire had ever known. So, as with everything else, everything was the same, and yet different… Strange. When I crested the dune, I looked ahead.

Light and structures caught my eyes, terribly novel to eyes that had seen only sand for so long. I spotted vague outlines of various buildings, including some terribly thin towers, all adorned with lights. One of them stood out from the rest, looking approximately a hundred metres in height. We had found our radio transmitter, and with a spark and flick of my horn, the female voice that I had heard nights ago came crackling through the sand filled speakers.

Icepick glanced at me through her tinted helmet, before turning back to the settlement on the horizon.

“That is a beautiful sight,” I said to her.

“Uh, yeah, yeah, I love me some lightbulbs,” she said. She may have replied but her mind was elsewhere.

“Are you feeling alright?” I let my question hang for a moment, before taking a pull from a bottle.

“I wasn’t really sure if this was real,” she told me blankly. “I mean, they must’ve been here for as long as us, as long as your people, and we never found them.”

“Did you ever really look?” I replied simply, pawing at the ever present sand underneath me.

“No, everything equestrian on this continent except for us was supposed to have been wiped out or starved by the skydark.” Her head shook and I saw her start to remove her helmet before simply dropping it in her bag. “But, there they are.”

“Assumptions can blind anypony,” I let my words hang in the open air. I was only here because I assumed a great many things-

“Got any ideas bout’ how to approach a bunch of ponies that know nothin’ about you?” She gave me a half-hearted smile, I could see that much in the moonlight.

“Approach slowly ,of course. If you have weapons, keep them pointing away from anypony. At the very least, we can speak to them naturally, and they seem friendly enough.” My words seemed to whisk her smile away.

“Yeah, my weapons are kinda bolted to the side of my armour,” she snorted before shooting a glance at her side. The exposed machine gun was rather threatening.
Check that, very much so.

“Then just don’t wear it. You do, after all, have the ability to simply throw a tarp up over and disable it, correct?”

“I- … fuck, that’s not the way us Rangers do things, numbskull. We keep our guns on us in potential hostile territory” She huffed again as she kicked up dust in frustration

“I’m no expert in socialization my dear , but I think the machine gun is better left at the proverbial door.” I said, shooting her an understanding smile.
“These ponies probably have guns you idiot, and I really don’t wanna be shot full of holes. I mean, fuck, I don’t want to be armed with just a shitty-ass piddly pistol,” Icepick told me with exasperation, before giving me a pleading look.
“So, let me be clear. You don’t want to enter the settlement filled with ponies that have food and water, unless you get to carry your fort leveling weapon?”
“Shut up, I just don’t like going without my weapons, Rangers only go without if there are other Rangers around.”
“You told me that not that long ago, you went into a dangerous city multiple times without anything more than that undersuit, and your service pistol.” She snorted at me before moving closer to me. I did the same. Our chests were nearly pressing together as we looked each other in the eyes. Icepick cleared her throat before speaking.
“I don’t know how you know that,” she pressed a forehoof against my chest with some force. “I-I’ve done a lot of stupid shit recently, but now, I want to be prepared, I need to get your useless ass down south, and-” I grasped her hoof with my magic and lightly guided it to the ground. “I know that you’ve done just as much stupid shit as me, I can see it in your eyes. So, don’t fucking test me.”
“Pssh, you talk in your damnable sleep, all manner of lamentations, some curses about wanting a stallion more than he wants you, and desires for revenge for things done to those around you. I don’t want a fight, plainly. You’re a means to end, as I am to you. In this instance the only way to achieve our goal of resupply and hospitality is going to involve you leaving that part of you behind. That superiority you have to feel. These people could be allies, you recognize this! Yet, you clearly can’t accept meeting them on even terms!”
“Fuck you!” she said before stamping her hoof on my chest harder than last time.
“Come on, your death wish will thank me,” I said with a laugh before pushing closer to her. I could hear the servos in her armour click as it was pushed back by me.
“How did you ever get someone to fuck you?” she spat at me our faces only a few centimeters apart. Her breath was warm in the windy desert night.
“My sense of humour helps. I mean, not all of us have an eye candy ass.” I said to her.
“It’s fuckin’ nicer than your nasty face. Looks like you couldn’t snark yourself out of a butcher's’ knife,” Icepick spat out. I kept my face as close to granite as I could.
“You’re a fucking coward, soft from hiding in all that steel. You couldn’t face a fair fight without pissing yourself. That’s where I obtained these scars. I fought someone and they wounded me. I won though; I pushed and found a way to win. If you want some manner of respect from me, then face your fears. There aren’t Rangers here. I’m the closest thing to an ally that you have,” I finished with an edge to my voice. My face was red. There was spittle at the edge of my mouth.
For a moment all I could hear was the wind whistling. She sat on her armoured rump before opening her bag, she pulled an all too familiar paper tube out of a package.
“Celestia fuck, fine, just light this up with your horn,” I took a moment to glare a victory at her. The light from the moon only showed pain. My expression faltered. I had lashed out at her. She had lashed out at me. Somehow, she had decided to bury the matter. As I mulled the matter over Icepick tapped me on the shoulder with a foreleg.
“C’mon, I already know I’m the bigger pony, but this is pushing it.” Icepick said before letting out a sigh. “I’ll say sorry after you say sorry.” Then she snorted before looking away, towards the blinking lights of the settlement, so brazenly broadcasting music and information.
I sat down beside her. Our shoulders pressed into each other, at least, the armour we wore did. With a thought, I ignited the tip of her cigarette.
“Those are bad for your respiration,” I said simply. Icepick turned her head towards me.
“If I didn’t have a death wish, I wouldn’t smoke, would I?” Icepick said before laughing. “You know I’m not going to forget that you said I had a nice ass.”
“It’s merely an objective fact,” I retorted. This mare was insufferable.

“I don’t think word means what you think it means, but I appreciate a compliment.” Her voice was muted, she sounded exhausted. Then again, I was tired as well.

“Well, from a purely functional point of view your large hips would give you an advantage in successfully giving birth.” I let out quietly. She looked me in the eyes, before laughing harder than she had any right to, nearly ending up with her face in the sand. “I’m rolling my eyes at you, just for your information.”
“Celestia, you’re such an egghead. I’m gonna start pitching the tent, do you wanna help, horny?”
I swallowed a bit of anger at that. Being the only unicorn in your class will lead to ample taunting. You won the argument remember? She’s going to help you. And you know now that she’ll respond to reason.

We had decided to go into the settlement at noon the next day. Broad daylight is a peaceful way to announce your presence, correct?

The outskirts of the settlement wasn’t very far from the center. The radio towers and other heavier machinery, including railroad tracks were located about a kilometer from the center. The two us spotted the heady exhaust being emitted by heavy diesel generators… But, the majority of the town appeared to be concentrated within a few blocks running alongside a main avenue. There was no pavement, and the wood and brick buildings seemed almost mint. This place had not been here for very long.

Icepick didn’t seem to notice this or care. In her world there was very little that had any age to it. Nothing that she considered a part of her society.

We both walked with our weapons tucked away, my pistol was in one of my saddlebags, and my rifle was strapped to her armour. She was wearing one of the bags her armour normally beared. It was strange to see her walking about in the daylight with only that skin tight suit. My helmet and flak armour was also sitting beside her armour. Icepick had insisted on fairness. Fine. At least I wasn’t sweating through skin tight black fabric…

As we approached, perhaps half a kilometer from the first buildings a sentry spotted us. I threw a glance at Icepick, who glared at me. My shoulders seemed to shrug of their own accord. We slowed and waited for the pony to get to us. As they got close we had a chance to examine them, light clothing, breathable with a loose cap fit to keep the sun out of their eyes. The mare wielded a rifle in her magic. At about ten meters away she stopped, her fur was a light orange and her mane was a bronze hue.

“Who the hell are you folks? There ain’t supposed to be prospectors or surveyors around here!” she yelled at us while pointing the high caliber rifle at us.

“Travelers, looking for rest and succor!” I yelled back at her. The sun was behind us, and the ever present wind was picking up yet again.

“That’s a mighty nice, but you gotta give me more than that,” her voice betrayed vexation at our presence.

“We’re Equestrians just like you, just from farther south,” Icepick spoke up from beside me. “The zebras didn’t drop as many bombs on this continent as we thought they would!”

“I don’t know what you’re smoking out there, but they hit Paradise hard. We only made it because of the stables,” she yelled back. “There weren’t many ponies out here, how’d you survive the big freeze?”

“We had bunkers too, and stores. I’m a Steel Ranger, we were stationed next to the Gilache and the oil deposits!” She yelled back.

“I don’t understand, if yer a Ranger, where’s your big metal suit? And why are there only two of ya?” the mare asked, before watching Icepick glare at me again. I lowered my head for a moment. I had missed critical context, and a potential avenue for first contact.

“I mean, you’d be pretty freaked out if some random pony came waltzing into town wearing powered armour right?” she asked the orange mare. After a few seconds the rifle was, once again, slung over her back. The mare snorted and laughed for a moment.
“Alright, you two are pretty weird, but as long as you don’t do anything crazy, I’m gonna send you to the doc to get yourselves checked out. After that, you can go talk to the sheriff. She’s the one to ask about things, if you’re who you’re saying you are. I don’t get paid enough to deal with crazies wandering the desert, other than shooting at ‘em if they do anything funny.”
“I promise we come with peaceful intentions,” I said to her quickly.
“And you’d tell me anything different?” she said before snorting again. “Just, follow me and don’t wander off. When I hoof you off to the doc, you become his problem.” We both nodded at the mare. “Alright, both of you get in front of me, I don’t mean to get magiced from behind.”
“We can do that, what do you prefer to be called?” I asked the mare behind us.
“You need to learn how to talk right, I can barely understand you.” the mare said quickly, before pausing for a moment, like she was trying to parse my words. It was a simple question. What kind of simpleton can’t name themselves on the spot-
“I tell him that all the time, he just won’t listen.” Icepick spoke up while looking over her shoulder at the mare, a sigh left her lips a second later. “Stallions,” she finished.
“Yep, always so stubborn. Anyway, I think he was asking for my name: Copper Sunrise. And your’s, Miss Ranger?” the mare asked Icepick. It really shouldn’t have surprised me, Icepick had that aura of easy amiability. When she wasn’t wearing that suit she could connect on an interpersonal basis, quickly. Perhaps it was the lack of the armour, the friendliness as a defense mechanism? Or maybe she was always like this, barring some exceptions. In all of our interactions she had always kept a distance, a distrust. Most ponies I had come across held a general distrust of everypony. But, she seemed irritated by my every word, nearly…

“Icepick, and I, uh, left my armour outside of town. You think the sheriff will let me fetch it?”
“That’s gonna be up to the sheriff, so does your buck-friend have heat stroke or something?” the deputy asked Icepick, as I forged ahead, but remained within hearing distance as the two of them drifted closer. Mares. Celestians. I shook my head and kept my eyes on the settlement proper. We were only a few minutes trot from a building that had a large red cross emblazoned on it.
Icepick was silent for a moment, but I didn’t want to reveal my eavesdropping, so I could only wait for either of them to speak.
“No, he’s been like that for as long as I’ve known him. Still, that’s kinda up to the doctor,” Icepick said. I ground my lower lip between my teeth. I could make the both of them writhe in pain, the obsidian hanging from my neck would empower me to do that. Earth pony or not, you need a functioning nervous system to fight! No, I couldn’t do that. That would jeopardize everything.
My mind was so whirring away in thought that the building seemed to materialize out of nowhere. The stained wood planks of the entrance ramp echoing with my own hoofsteps brought me out of that reverie. In the streets some ponies stopped to stare at me like some kind of unwashed tramp. As I knocked on the wood with a hoof I realized that was what I had become. Battered duster with soiled white cloth wrapped around my head and barrel… At least to them. Soldiers at war are unwashed ponies wrapped in rags. These ponies just didn’t know they were at war yet. Or what war was.
The door swung open in a light pink haze of magic. In front of me was a pink coated unicorn stallion wearing a white lab coat. It showed signs of age. Our eyes met for a moment as we took one another in. His mane was red, his irises were nearly indigo, and under his eyes, bags hung visibly.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” I said before extending a hoof towards him. His eyes betrayed surprise. “I’m Permittivity.”
“That’s what we in the business call an understatement,” he said before meeting my hoof and giving a firm shake. “Now, are you bleeding anywhere, or feeling sick?”
I shook my head at him, just before I heard the vexing mare escorting us clear her throat.
“It’s just a check up for the both of ‘em; you know, ponies saying crazy things wandering the desert. Have fun,” she said before giving me a withering look.
“May I enter?” I asked quickly. I felt the gaze of Icepick behind me, she most likely wanted this over as quickly as possible.
“Yeah, that’s fine,” he answered with a bemused expression on his face.
I slipped into the foyer, the smell of astringent and rubber in the air unsettled me. Behind me I could hear Icepick walking up the stairs to this place. For a short moment I felt as though I had been here before. I nearly jumped as I felt Icepick brush past me as she followed the doctor. She looked back at me as I stood there.
“C’mon horny, I don’t want you losing your head now,” she said.

“Right, I was merely taking in the moment, the first time I’ve been inside this society’s buildings,” I answered before moving my hooves, and following this mare into a larger room.

“It’s a building, not an art museum,” she said before starting towards the room once more. I shook my head. Hospitals.

The room he entered was filled with metal framed beds, with white sheets that radiated the bleaching they endured. Our examiner took a chair in front of the closest pair of beds.

“Please take a seat, you both look like you need it,” he said.

“As you wish,” I said before sitting on the firm mattress.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Icepick said before dropping her form onto the bed.

“So, you’re both probably happy to be in a place with food and water, but I have to answer some questions. Are either of you hurt?”

“I don’t know about him, but I’m feelin’ fine,” Icepick told the doctor casually. The stallion turned to look at me.

“I’ve had worse,” I said to him.

“You’ve both been sweating? No pounding headaches? No cramps?” the stallion asked, his head looking between the two of us. I was probably more pungent than her, seeping in my own juices.

“I know what heatstroke is. I live in a desert too,” Icepick told him.

“A-alright, well, you both seem sane? I’m just having a hard time believing that other equestrians survived… This is big,” the stallion said to us, a bemused expression across his face. “I’m sorry, my name is Rosetta, I’m the only doctor for about fifty miles.”

“My name is Icepick, and I’m the only Ranger for about four hundred.”
He gave her a strange look, once again. She had the ability baffle even the most astute individuals.

“Ranger?” he asked. Her voice was brusque, it had carried command and contempt; his voice was contemplative, it had carried kindness and sympathy.
“She’s referring to the Steel Rangers, if you were inquiring,” I told him simply.
“Right,” he said before drawing a deep breath. “So, if you didn’t know we existed, how did you find us?”
“We happened to receive some radio transmissions from here. It was chance.” I told the stallion quickly, hoping that I wouldn’t have to elaborate further. I had covered my ‘computer’ with my duster.
“Why were so far into the desert even before you heard the transmissions? Radio transmissions are limited by the curvature of Equis.”
“There was a mining site out there that could pass for a strip mine half it’s age. It just happened to be the location of an ambush-” Icepick said before I cut her off.
“It wasn’t an ambush,” I cut her off.

“Waiting in holes and waiting for us to split off doesn’t count as an ambush for you?!” She was glaring daggers at me.

“No, the Arabians weren’t expecting a Ranger convoy appearing off of the horizon. You have to remember that they use messengers on hoof to convey messages, the news of your expeditionary force wouldn’t have gotten to their until well after your arrival. When I was ushered deep into the tunnels, I didn’t know what was happening for some time. The gunfire alerted me. They were hiding.” I had only heard rumours about the way these Rangers conducted war. They were walking machine guns clad in steel, artillery and the more familiar tools of war utilized on these Natives. There is no honour in war, but we always took as good as we got. For the most part-

“And every time they sneak a bomb into a road, or carry a bomb on their body to kill Rangers? Are we supposed to give them a reprieve?” Icepick asked me, her eyes burning.

“So how long have you been married?” Rosetta asked suddenly.

Icepick cast a sidelong glance at him. I couldn’t help but laugh, as I realized that she didn’t understand.

“She doesn’t quite know what a marriage is, or what married couples are wont to do!” I barked out, as Rosetta gave her a questioning look.

“That isn’t an explanation, asshole,” she said to me. Rosetta just continued to watch Icepick grow ever more vexed as I chuckled.

“Old couples tend to fight a lot, so seeing as you both were fighting in front of a stranger who is also here to evaluate your mental health, it reminded me of some the -less than planned- marriage counseling I’ve done,” Rosetta said, only for her to mouth an aha, and smile at the pink stallion.

At that moment the front door swung open. Rosetta hopped to his hooves.
“Stay here, just make yourselves at home. There’s a faucet in the back corner,” he said to us before walking into the foyer. The door shut. We were alone once again.

“Why do you have to correct me on everything?” she askedas she sat on the bed across from mine.

“Because you are wrong so, so often,” I spoke quietly, compared to her normal volume. If we stayed quiet there was a chance that we could eavesdrop. But she would never think of that, she had the tact of a flaming cinder block thrown through a glass storefront. She stood up and walked towards me, when she got to within a third of meter she thrust her hoof forward and into my chest. I glared at her. She did the same.

“Do you wanna fight? I’m not in my cheater armour right now. Is that fucking fair enough for you?” Her nostrils were flared and her muscles were growing tense. Parts of her mane were plastered to her head, she was sweating like a pig under that tight fabric.
“That wouldn’t further our ends, now would it?” I said just before she pulled her foreleg back and kicked me in the jaw. I reeled backward as the pain hit me like aforementioned cinder block. She had pushed me onto my back, the bed under us squeaking loudly, she pushed a hoof against my muzzle as if daring me to respond. Her muzzle was just above mine. All I could think of was dreams where I had seen through those eyes. “You remind me of someone I once knew.”
Her muzzle betrayed confusion at my words. “He was also an Earth pony that never thought about the ramifications of his act-” And then she struck me again. A solid stomp to my chest…

“Celestia fuck, you don’t know how to shut up,” she said while watching me attempt to regain my breath. I looked at her before knocking her sideways with a bout of telekinesis. There was a clatter as she struck the wooden floor. I worked my body and sat up just as she pulled herself back to her hooves. “Fucking horn head, who’s the cheater now, can’t beat a mare-” she started before I dropped to all fours and swung at her. She deftly dodged me before taking a look at me.

“You may say whatever you like about my person, but don’t begin to belittle me for my race,” I said to her, my lips curling into a sneer. The nodule of bone and mana atop my head lit up. A minute arc of electricity travelled from the tip of my horn to the air inches from her muzzle.

“You know, one time I snapped a unicorn’s horn off? It sounded exactly like breaking a bone, except the screams were louder,” she said quietly, with a smile written across her muzzle.

And with that, the door swung open and Rosetta took a moment to comprehend what had gone on.

“Seriously? Fucking seriously?” he asked us, and seemingly some higher power before pointing to Icepick. “You’re first, go talk to the Sheriff,” he finished before letting out a sigh.

Icepick gave him a look of malice, before turning to me once again as she spun around. Her tail oscillated side to side as she exited the room. “We’ll settle this later. Just telling you in advance, try to be less of an asshole, as hard as that is for you.” She punctuated that with one last look at me. Her eyes gleamed hard in the moment, she was questioning me. Icepick knew something.

Then the door opened, she exited, and shut once again.

“Why?” Rosetta asked me as he closed the distance. I sat myself back onto the mattress, trying to not to wince as I moved. That mare was strong.

“We had a disagreement over manners,” I said as I drug my last water skin out.

“That was some kind of disagreement, most ponies I know don’t punch their friends over manners,” Rosetta said as I stood in front of me.

“We’re allies of convenience,” I told him as he peered at my face, likely-

“First off, how long have you known this mare?” Rosetta asked, quiet concern written across his muzzle. In other days that had been me. I gave a thought to the obsidian pressed against my coat. My goals were larger now.

“Five days,” I answered. That of course was a half truth. Everything I said was a half truth now.

“Why are you fighting with a mare that you barely know? What is there to fight about?” he asked before shaking his head and sighing once again.

“As I understand it, she, she has a blithe disregard of what she’s done, the acts she’s committed. There is no penitence. When I try to correct her, to improve her understanding of events she becomes irate,” I said to him. I was the picture of consternation, I couldn’t tell him how I knew these things.

“Alright, and you know how a person who’s done terrible things should act?” the doctor asked me again.

“Doctor, I apologize for bringing conflict into your town. I’ll be sure not to provoke her-”

“No, there are underlying issues there, Permittivity. But tell me what she’s done. And if you’re worried about the information being used to throw you back in the desert… It won’t happen, I won’t let it happen.” He had cut me off, but he was apologetic about it.
The best way to get someone to believe you in some other regard is to be candid in a trivial matter.

“She’s from an order of warriors. They use their might to enslave the Arabians, and with the smallest hint of rebellion, her order will demolish buildings and kill innocents that happen to be near the rebels. ‘Collateral damage’, these rangers call it. Icepick has the blood of may on her hooves. I could never endure warriors who wouldn’t acknowledge their own acts.” My words fell from my mouth, a torrent that wouldn’t abate. When it was said and done, I merely watched as his mind tried for an angle that would open my ears to his peaceable way of thinking.

“I see. Have you ever thought that she just displays her remorse differently than you? I myself try to make up for every hurt I’ve caused. Anyway, I don’t have that much time to talk right now, but you can find me here later tonight if you want someone who can listen. I can also cook. Just one question. Did you get those wounds recently?”

Did he just offer a dinner to me? Evaluate later.

“Around two months ago. Unlike her, I’ve fought fairly,” I paused. “Thank you Doctor, my life has been trying in that time.” Under my clothing the talisman grew colder. Dramatically colder. Without a thought I removed it from my clothing, letting it freely hang while Rosetta nodded at me.

“Obsidian, I’ve seen it once in person. Did someone give that to you?” the doctor asked.

“Yes, it was a gift.” I let it fall back under my clothing. “Doctor, I imagine you are going to broach the subject of our conflict to Icepick as well. When you do, just bear in mind, she can be a joy. As merry as any choir. Don’t let it fool you, she’s as empty inside as I am. She’s just better at hiding it, to others and herself. I’ve known her long enough to understand that.” My words curled my lips, his wisp of a smile died. His cross glance told me that he was one of those ponies that are convinced the world can be made better without blood and pain. “In any case, even if you have nothing to drink, I would like to talk to another honed mind.”

His eyes flashed in confusion. If he was going to offer a meal, then I would be damned not to accept. Flawed or not, he seemed genuine, and at that point, I would take any kind of genuine. Honesty by association. Sure.

“I-Uh, I’ve got a bottle of rum. Does drinking make you less gloomy?”

“Stranger things have happened.” Our eyes caught. I chuckled heartily.

The door opened and a burly stallion wearing a sun bleached hat glanced around the room before stopping on Rosetta. “Copper’s done with the mare, you can send him in.”

“Alright, thank you,” Rosetta said.

“Well, I take it that’s my queue,” I said as I pulled myself from the bed.

Icepick strode through the door, her head was lower than usual. Interrogation for her must have been tiresome.

For me, it was another opportunity to polish my cover story.

“She told us she was a soldier. Her getting separated from her unit, and making her way here makes a kind of sense. So, what are you?” Copper Jacket asked, he was standing beside the door, sitting in a dirty holster, the mouth grip of an automatic barely in view.

“I’ve served as a soldier, but I left as an explorer. It was random chance, and your radio transmissions that led us here.” I told him earnestly enough.

“Your friend told me that you’re from the western coast of Sall’han? What do plan on doing while you’re here?” The stallion asked with a straight face.

“She’s correct, we’re a modest place of about fifty thousand souls. Personally, I plan on writing notes, and getting to know your people. A book about your society and a viable trade corridor would be worth a great deal, so I intend to capitalize upon that.” I finished with a smile, the stallion was mulling over my words.

“I-I, I’m not really paid enough to deal with this kind of thing. Just, stay out of trouble, I’ll try to get a hold of somepony from the assembly. You don’t have money, do you?” The stallion said with exasperation.

“I have some precious metals, coins that the Arabians use as currency.” Or, at the very least, the higher ranking guards carried some.

“That, that’ll spend good.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “I just never really expected ponies to come ambling from down south. I gotta say though, you seem more…” His lips pursed as he searched for a word that was more diplomatic. This stallion was diplomatic, and had a mind to be friendly.

“Adjusted,” I said with a smile. “Our societies are cut from similar cloth. You marry, you have individual enterprise, and ultimately, a way of life very different than the Rangers.”

“That’s a lot of hearsay, but, I’ll pass it along.” Copper told me with a pursed expression. He was chewing on his lip. “Anyway, you’re welcome to stay for a few days, seeing as the next train to Paradise isn’t due to arrive for another three. Just, if anything changes talk to me. I’m not hard to find.” The stallion stood up, as did I.

“Would there happen to be boarding, an inn or a tavern?” I asked as one of his deputy at the door opened it and spoke to Icepick and Rosetta.

“Just head down the street, it’s the Leaky Spittoon,” Copper said before motioning to his deputy. “About that set of equipment, if you want to keep it closer to the town we have some empty storage containers out near the railroad tracks. Ask one of the ponies out there, they’ll get you some chains and locks worth something.” He was at the door by now, and his deputy had already gone back into the unmitigated heat.

“You wouldn’t approve of Icepick stomping around town in her exoskeleton?” I asked him with certainty.

“That’s a way of putting it,” Copper said as he stepped out. Half a second later and the door was shut once again. I turned around, and Icepick came from the bed filled room. Her eyes were half shut, she was tired. Then again, I was too. Rosetta came in and shut the door behind him.

“You both need to talk,” he said before pointing to a door to the right of the entrance. “I’ve got some chairs in the kitchen, if you two want to sit with me.”

“We were given free enough rein,” I said before walking to the door. Rosetta beamed.

“Tell me you have something stronger than water back there,” Icepick said before coming towards me.

Rosetta laughed at that. “He asked the same thing, Icepick.”

I grasped the door with a tendril of magic before walking into a much cooler room, with a small table sitting a few feet from some rough hewn cupboards and a stove. My legs seemed to move of their own volition. The greatest quality of the chairs were that they had four legs, and a backing. But, I sat in one all the same. And so did Icepick, I saw from the corner of my eye. Rosetta trotted in and closed the door, a single pane of glass in the ceiling lit the room.

“This room is insulated pretty well. I spent some money getting fiberglass put in the walls,” he said, before walking to the front of the table, before leaning over it and giving me a critical look. “In my professional opinion, you’re gonna have a nice bruise.”

“He deserves a broken jaw,” Icepick said.

I turned to face her. “You need-” I started and was cut off by Rosetta.

“You two are so similar it hurts.” My eyes narrowed as I searched his face for answers. “You’re both soldiers, I could see it from the moment I saw you come through the door. I’ve never seen a soldier like a hospital.”

“So what, he’s shot ponies, I’ve shot ponies. That’s a ‘bond’ half of Sall’han shares,” Icepick said.

“You’re both alone,” Rosetta said simply.
“I left my home by choice, she did not, and she airs the grievance every other moment.” My voice rang true, I was here to find the Destroyer, to build a legacy. And she only cared about doing the right thing for her people. But he couldn’t know that, I ought to not know that. This damnable mare, if I didn’t know what she was I could be amicable.
“You’re both fighting because you’re afraid: afraid of the unknown, afraid of fucking up, and most of all, afraid of getting attached. I’ve helped enough ponies to see it in you both, you’ve lost people, so you’ve decided that pushing them away will keep you from dealing with their loss.” He broke his speech and sighed. “The last thing that I could tell right away, you’re both courageous. It takes a certain kind of pony to cross a desert, foes or not. If you can’t see the common ground, then you’re both fucked. That’s my professional opinion, not telling you to tie the knot or sing songs together. I mean, it couldn’t hurt.” He gave us a smile, before pulling two ceramic cups out and filling them from a jug sitting on the table.
Icepick and I, sat in silence for a moment. He just sat the cups before us. The water was down my throat very fast. “I just really don’t want the first Equestrian visitors to Copper Springs, or Paradise to kill each other.”
“I shouldn’t have kicked you,” she said softly, between more conservative sips of her water.
“I shouldn’t have provoked you,” I said as I poured more of the water into my cup.

“I mean, shit, you’re not the worst stallion, even if you’re a shit, at least you can use your brain,” she said before placing her cup on the table. I took that as a hint and poured her some more. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I never could accuse you of cowardice.” As I stopped, Rosetta pulled walked out from behind the table.

“I’m going to grab something, try not to get any fluids on my chairs,” he said with a straight face, and an accusatory tone.

“Fuck you, Doc,” Icepick told him with levity. The only response she got was a wry laugh. He had disappeared into what looked like a bedroom. I let my eyes fall on hers.
She was a pretty mare, I had known her before I had known her. Why though? I was a believer in reason, in causality. All the magic I had ever studied could be understood through those lenses. Here though, I knew just enough to colour my perceptions, to poison my view.

“New beginnings?” I asked softly. Her mouth shifted, her eyes widened.

“I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt,” Icepick said. “Just, if I’m wrong about something, don’t be a dick about it, I’ll try not to push you.”

“You know, he forgot something similar about us-” I told her rhetorically, and was just about to finish my piece.

“They’re nice ponies, and we aren’t,” she finished for me. I laughed, but it wasn’t in anger or to provoke. It was honest laughter. Binding laughter. “I’m still gonna remember that you like my ass.” I just looked away, damn this mare.

“You probably get wet from hearing my accent,” I retorted. She couldn’t meet my eyes for a second. When she looked back: there was denial in her eyes, but her muzzle was caught in that half smile a person makes when an embarrassing truth has been revealed. “It’s alright, it’s only a genetic imperative.”

“I’m gonna hit you again, just telling you in advance,” she said before giving my shoulder the lightest of taps with a foreleg. “Besides, it’d be equally true for you.”

“I never said it wasn’t,” I responded. Now I was smiling too. What are we doing now, flirting?

The door swung open, and Rosetta came back out, sans the doctor’s coat. He trotted up to us, taking in the expressions on our faces. I saw the object floating in front of him. Rosetta came to rest in front of us.

“There we go, two attractive ponies realizing the other has feelings,” he said to us. I let my blank expression come to the fore. “Anyway, here’s a little gift from my people, to both of yours. Good luck with your mission, Paladin. And here’s hoping your notes survive the journey back, Permittivity.” Rosetta dropped the bottle on the table in front of us. It wasn’t rum, it was two dark for that.

“So, if anyone asks why I’m annihilated, I can say it was doctor’s orders?” Icepick asked, missing not a single beat.

“Just try, try, not to cause an international incident? Promise?” He pleaded with her, letting the bottle back into his grip and lifting it up over the table.

“I’m going to operate under the assumption that whatever room I board in, is outside of your jurisdiction.” I said to him.

“I don’t think a place can be an embassy without a flag,” Icepick spit out. The both of us tried our best not to seem surprised. “I’m starting to think that you both think I’m ignorant.”

“No, I’ve just been under the impression you had no exposure to ideas that were anathema to your leaders’ guiding ideology,” I said in response.

Icepick gave both of us a wide eyed look before issuing a shaky chuckle. “I mean, both of you have monogamous relationships as your normal. And I know that they exist, it’s just that they aren’t really a thing where I come from.”

“Our way of organising society has it’s ups and downs too, fuck if I don’t know ponies that wouldn’t be happier living your way,” Rosetta said before letting the bottle rest. “Please, just relax and recuperate you two. Celestia knows you need it.”

My mouth twitched involuntarily. This stallion was kind, he means you no harm, other than possibly wanting to be intimate.

“Thank you Doctor, now I believe we need to find lodging.” I said neutrally, intended or not. He was a Celestian.

“It’s been good, feel free to stop by. If I’m not busy, then I’m good for a conversation.” His words fell on my numbed ears, as I slid the bottle into my saddlebags.

“Will do,” Icepick said.

And within minutes we were out in the dusty streets, but I had coin, and I knew where to go. Things were easy, even as Icepick and I fell into a silence more companionable than usual. We had a lot to mull over, a fair part of it stemming from the pony walking beside us… Still, it was better than sand without end… Or a room slowly filling with poison…