“Manehattan! Last call for Manehattan!”

‘Ugh...fuck off...five more minutes…’ I thought to myself as reality barged its way into the peaceful silence of sleep.

“Ma’am?”

Somepony was poking me in the leg, shaking more sleep from my body and shoving the waking world into my tired brain. Who the fuck was this guy and did he know the power coiled up in this little spring of a mare?

“Ma’am! Are you getting off here?”

I pulled the cap off my face and stared into the concerned if irritated face of the train conductor. The sound outside the train was loud and making the windows rattle. Or was that just the sound of the engine? Where the fuck was I?

“Where are we…?” I asked, rubbing more sleep from my eyes.

“Manehattan, Four Star Station.” He said with a sigh, picking up my ticket from off the bench. “Yep, this is your stop soldier. Best get a move on before we take off. Unless of course you wanna pay the 275 bits needed for a ticket to Fillydelphia which is where we’re going next.”

Man this guy was an asshole…

“Alright, alright! I’m getting up!” I grumbled as I stuffed the blanket back into my duffle bag and slung it over my back. “Have some respect for a soldier will ya? I didn’t earn these ribbons from being an asshole to people who’ve been through a lot more than you could ever swallow. Go and bother somepony who gives a fuck would ya?”

He took a step back and didn’t say another word as I pushed past him and off the train into the crowded station. The noise of civilian life was surprisingly just as crazy and chaotic as an active fire zone only the stakes were much lower. At least here all I had to risk was some lost time from missing a train or getting short-changed by one of the carrot-dog stands. Ponies went about their daily business with little regard for the world beyond their own. Nowhere was there a uniform to be seen save for the armed guards in the corners and by the doors. Nor were there any carts of ordinance, wide-eyed Privates or shell-shocked veterans anywhere in the crowd. It was...it was like stepping out into an entirely different world that I wasn’t sure how to interact with. It was a feeling I had forgotten about in not even a year's time.

“Thank you for your service, Ma’am!” A mare trying to corral three bickering colts said brightly as she passed.

“You show those Zebra bastards what for!” Said a stallion, pushing a cart of luggage past me on my left.

“Equestria rules! Zebras drool!” Yelled a teenaged colt as he saluted me proudly from a bench nearby.

The memory of what had happened at the checkpoint was still fresh in my mind as were the bruises deep in my shoulders from dislocating them so suddenly without prep. Humph...Equestria rules. I had thought that too when I was his age all the way up till...I wasn't even quite sure. There had been a growing sense of doubt in my heart for years but now...I wasn’t so sure what I believed anymore. M.O.M was nosy and invasive, everypony knew that. But M.O.M was always watching you. Every word you spoke, wrote or even thought it felt like. And they had the ultimate jurisdiction over your life if you became a pony of interest to them. Somehow one-sixth of the Hexagon had become the ultimate civil authority with a hoof in all the courtrooms and police offices. What the fuck was going on…?

Weaving through the crowd I found the line of payphones along the wall leading to the bathrooms; each had their own 'private' cubicle despite my gut telling me it was just as bugged as any of my tech down South. Most were already being used by ponies who had just arrived and were calling for taxis or hotels or were just saying goodbye to someone on the other line before they caught their train out of town. Finding an empty booth, I stepped inside and deposited a five-bit coin into the slot then dialed mom’s home phone guessing she had already planned ahead and gotten the time off she needed. With how short notice this little trip was, it was either that or something incredibly major had happened. Her message had been way too vague to even hazard a guess one way or the other but I hoped everything was all fine and dandy. I desperately needed some of that stability in my life right now.

The line rang a few times, the bedlam of Four Star Station nearly drowning out the sound before there was a soft click and the most beautiful voice in my life answered.

“You’re here!” Mom said excitedly, a hint of age present in her melodic tones. “Wonderful! Guess who’s got us a reservation at Le Chez-Perez?!”

“No way!” I replied, stunned she had managed to get a table at one of the finest restaurants in Manehattan so soon. “How the hell did you manage that? Last time we looked they had like a six-month waiting list!”

“And that was two years ago little lady.” She chided with a laugh. “You think I haven’t been planning ahead for this little get-together for a year now? Ever since your last leave was canceled I’ve been making plans for what we’re going to be doing. Never a dull moment!”

“Well sweet! Where should I wait for you? Unless you want me to snag a taxi and just meet you at the apartment?”

“Oh shut it, it would be rude for me to not come and pick you up myself! I’ve already got Dr. Plaque’s son on call for a ride. I’ll be there in a half-hour alright? Just wait for me over by the fountain, okay darling? You know, the one you fell in after you tossed the wrong coin in and tried to go after it?”

Even with two years having passed since that incident, the memory was just as fresh and just as awkward as if it had just happened yesterday making sure that damn water feature was forever burned into my memory. We had spent the day at her place eating good home cooking and reminiscing about the past before she dropped me off to catch my train to head back South. Naturally, the large fountain in the center of the large station was a place to make wishes with the proceeds going towards one of the M.O.P's many charities. Just as naturally, I was feeling good on that occasion and wanted to toss a coin into the water with the wish that the memory of the day's events would never leave my mind so I could think back on it on hard days in the South. My wish came true the moment I realized I had thrown a five-hundred bit coin and not the fiver I thought I had grabbed from my purse.

“Thanks for reminding me about that…” I sighed, grateful the booth hid my embarrassment from everypony else in the station. The only ponies who knew about my shame right now was the two of us, whoever was in the crowd that day, the person on the security cameras, and now whatever employee of M.O.M that was assigned to listen in on our call.

“Hey! It’s my job to do that kind of thing.” She giggled. “Oh, speaking of jobs, are you still keeping up with your brushing and flossing? You know I’m going to know if you haven’t.”

I licked my mostly clean teeth and grimaced as I said, “Not as good as I should be…”

“Did I teach you nothing about proper oral care?” She lamented in an overly dramatic tone that reminded me of the one fancy ass Ministry Mare who was famous for being a drama queen. “You keep brushing, Athena. I’m serious. You’ll keep those pretty little teeth of yours while everypony else loses them from all this sugary shit everypony keeps shoving in their fat mouths. I swear…”

“Heh, you just did, mom.” I laughed, pointing out that she didn’t swear all that often.

“Deposit another five bits please.” Chimed the operator as the time I had paid for was already up.

“I’m not wasting another five bits when I can just talk to you in person.” I said as I picked up my duffle bag and set it on my back. “See you at the fountain?”

“See you at the fou-” She said cheerfully before the line cut off and the operator chided me for not paying quick enough.

“If you weren’t just a fucking robot, I’d shoot you in the face…” I mumbled as I hung up the headset and exited the booth, wondering what our government eavesdropper would've thought about that response.

The station was just as packed as ever with ponies coming and going as their simple lives dictated and I managed to make my way through the various terminals to the fountain we had talked about. It was a large, multi-level fountain that commemorated the heroic death of Big Macintosh when he had dove in front of a bullet meant for Princess Celestia some years ago during a public speech in Manehatten. The Royal Princess, carved in exquisite white marble with gold leaf, stood in regal glory over the well-built, muscular body of Big Macintosh who was carved out of red jasper with large emeralds for his cutie mark. Water poured from the tip of her horn and gently dribbled down of her eyes like tears while a small fountain of water splashed out of the bullet hole in his chest and into the ringed pools of water below it. In the bottom most pool, the water sparkled with gold bits of various value from those come to make wishes and to commemorate the fallen hero. The higher the pool your bit landed in, the more likely your wish or blessing of good luck was to come true or so the ‘legend’ said. A perfect grenade throw ensured mine had reached the uppermost tier which made my scramble for it completely futile without causing even more of a scene than I had. Goddamn did I cringe every time I was forced to remember that moment...

I sat on a bench nearby the fountain in full view of the row of doors leading out to the loading area for luggage and passengers. Outside, the line of taxis waited impatiently to take people where they needed to go. To my right was a support pillar for the lofty marble ceiling whereon was a large television displayed the daily news. Though the crowd drowned out any chance the news had of reaching the ears of those interested in hearing it, below the television was a large sign. If you were lucky enough to own a PipBuck (objects I saw on more and more ponies’ legs as the years went on) all you had to do was put in your EarBloom and tune your PipBuck to the frequency displayed on the sign; something which I chose to do to pass the half-hour ETA she had given me to wait. After all, it was smart to learn about what was going on in the civilian world since things there tended to affect those of us in the military. Like international politics and economics.

“Hello, and welcome to Equestrian Daily News!” The chipper voice of the mare on the screen said in my ear as I tuned-in to 101.1. “I’m your anchor, Daily Post. In today’s news, there is trouble at the border as the representatives from the Republic of Mareseilles meet with Princess Luna at the Royal Palace in Canterlot to discuss a possible military alliance. For those in our audience not aware of this closed-off country, the Republic of Mareseilles is located to the far Southeastern edge of Equestria behind the Ponyrenees Mountains. Up until now, they have openly refused to join in the National Equestrian Alliance Treaty Organization, or NEATO. This Organization includes the Kingdom of Equestria, her sister-kingdoms of Saddle Arabia, Espania, Griffinstone and the Duchy of Crystal as well as our allies in the Greifenländer. They are all who stand against the Zebra threat from the Far East and the use of Mareseilles’ formidable naval strength would be a powerful asset in our War against the Empire. However, it seems thing did not go as planned once more at the formal discussions between both our nations. My co-anchor Newsworthy Times reports to us live from the Palace where the meeting has just ended. Times?”

Big surprise there. Mareseilles had been hooves-off on every single conflict the rest of the world were involved and kept to themselves. Nopony had been allowed into the country since before I was even born and it looked like they and their reportedly massive naval fleet were going to remain hooves-off for the time being. I returned my attention back to the screen as the scenery changed from the news channel set to the interior of the Royal Palace. Here, a mare dressed in a simple blouse and skirt stood levitating a microphone to her mouth while ponies in business suits and skirts milled about in the background. It was hard to think the guards posted by the doors used to be clad in plate armor wielding spears and swords not even fifty years ago.

“Thank you Daily. As she said I am standing here outside the room where this historic meeting has just been finished. It has been nearly forty-years to the day since Mareseilles closed its borders to foreign immigration in response to the Food Riots of the late 2030s. Since then nopony has seen head nor tail of them save for the brief telephone communications they have had with Equestria in the years since having no official embassy in any country. Unfortunately, yet again it seems they have refused to join NEATO stating their continued policy on not meddling in the affairs of other nations. This has been the status quo between our nations for many years now so this comes as no big surprise for many in the political and military field. But, the fact we have met with physical Mareseillian delegates for the first time in forty-years is a step in the right direction as far as international tensions are concerned. There was talk after the meeting that there is a possibility for a Mareseillian Embassy to be opened here in the capital city in the coming months. I’m Newsworthy Times reporting to you live from the Royal Palace, Canterlot.”

"Thank you, Times. We will have an interview with some of the attendees tonight at six where we will have many questions to ask about our mysterious neighbors and the state of the War effort." The feed cut back to the mare in the newsroom.

As the news turned to the latest stock prices and the cost of coal per kilogram, the one depressingly low and the other dangerously high, I pulled out my EarBloom and fit it back into the slot on the side of my PipBuck with a heavy sigh. The world was falling apart piece by piece with every passing day with no end but destruction in sight. Was sad to see that the civilian world was just as fucked and chaotic as the one I was used to living in, just with different things at stake.

“Hello there! May I sit here please?”

A white colored stallion with a short auburn mane was standing nearby wearing a simple business suit though lacking a tie. Hardbacked saddlebags were strapped around his waist, the same used by business ponies to protect their precious clothing, and a pair of brown eyes flashed kindly behind a pair of simple glasses. On the floor lay a metal briefcase which he had set down in order to speak to me properly. All in all, he looked like every other businesspony I had ever seen in person or on one of the covers of Equestrian Entrepreneur magazine. A right better sight to look at than a gore-soaked Private's uniform or an Engineer's oil and mud covered one.

“Sure. Not like I’m going to be using it.” I replied, scooting me and my shit over enough for him to have the space he needed for his precious saddlebags and suit.

“Thank you.” He said politely, unstrapping the bags from around his waist and sliding over his thick metal attaché case on the floor before sitting down beside me. “Lovely day isn’t it?”

“Aye. The air up here is a lot cooler than in the Badlands.” I said, looking out of the high windows of the terminal at the sunshine peeking between the surrounding skyscrapers. "It's nice to feel the breeze and actually feel a bit of a shiver from spring still in the air. Beats the hell out of a sandstorm down South."

“Oh? You just arrive from there?” He asked, his interest in me probably a result of extroversion and the need to just talk to people. Not a trait I shared but one I was willing enough to humor I guess.

“Mhm.” I nodded, gesturing to the ribbons and their award devices on my uniform showing how many tours I had completed there already. “Just on leave for a few days to see my mom. Been ages since I've seen her so I'm glad to be here, heh.”

“Fascinating.” He replied with a wide smile of interest on his face. “What’s it like down there?”

“Hell.” I said immediately, looking him right in his brown eyes. “If there were a stronger or more descriptive word I’d be using it right now. Sadly, I ain't got any that don't involve a lot of cussing.”

“I’m sorry.” He said quickly. “It’s not fair that you have to give up your life to fight a War you didn’t start, isn’t it?”

“Heh...yeah, you could say that.” I laughed shortly hoping he would buzz off and leave me alone already.

“That’s the honest truth though.” He said almost to himself, looking at his briefcase. “We’re all paying the price for other people’s stupid mistakes. We didn’t need the Ministries twenty-four years ago. Everypony got to be left alone and the world was a better place for it. We used to worry about petty things like Winter Wrap Up and the like for crying out loud! Look at us now...fighting to the absolute death over resources, politics and culture.”

Finally somepony new who shared my secretive sentiments. He didn’t know the real cost of the War but it seemed he knew enough to be able to say that out loud. I wondered what sort of business he was in that would give him such an open-eye perspective on current events? Maybe a military contractor of some sort...or maybe like an economist?

“Yeah...I wanted to be a Ranger when I grew up, so I guess I was just born for the military. But...honestly I wish that so many ponies didn’t have to die. You have to be careful who you make friends with down there...anyone can die in an instant and you’re left with their mangled corpse as reward for your emotional attachment to them. Hell of a fucking thing to try and forget every night.”

He blanched at my dark yet true statement and looked at me rather kindly for a stranger. Normally, I'd have wondered if he had some ulterior motive behind his empathetic motions being a business-type and all. However...I didn't feel any sense of alarm around him like I would have expected from my well-trained gut instinct. He was being genuine.

“Tell me Colonel, do you feel safe?” He asked, my gut suddenly twinging slightly in concern.

I eyed him with a slightly perplexed stare, my thoughts immediately turning to the Sequoia I had hidden in my duffle bag as that was a weird and creepy question to ask somepony even on a good day. But then again, he was a businesspony. Goddamnit, was this some sort of weird, mid-day sales pitch?

“Absolutely not.” I said flatly. “Eyes and ears are all around you and you can’t take a shit without feeling like somepony in Canterlot is watching and making note of it somewhere. Thought everypony knew that.”

He laughed though there was a subtle tone of bitterness in his tone that seemed as if he were intimate with that kind of situation. My gut was increasingly just as concerned yet confused on what to think as my brain. The odds of economist being the answer were diminishing quickly, this guy had to be some sort of military something or rather. Government maybe...?

“Well yes, Pinkie Pie is Watching You Forever as the posters say.” He said checking a simple watch on his right leg. “Even now of course. There is no escaping her watchful eyes.”

I cocked my head at him slightly and casually slipped a hoof into my bag while he looked towards the ceiling. While my gut was convinced this guy was genuine in his words, my brain wasn't so convinced that he was safe to be around. After all, I had been accosted not even eight hours ago by agents of the government. But if he was here to apprehend me...then what the fuck was up with this whole...act?

“There are currently seven-hundred-and-thirty-six individual cameras, listening devices and M.O.M informants in this building and this bench, this exact spot I am sitting in now is one of the only three blind-spots.” He said, gesturing towards the P.A speakers, the billboard adverts lining the terminal and other innocuous objects. "Rather excessive don't you think?"

“Um...ok?” I said feeling very uncomfortable with this guy’s ramblings.

“Nothing is ok.” He said, thankfully standing up and retrieving his bags. “Not while Pinkie Pie is watching and ponies go blind to where she’s put her eyes. But that can certainly change if everypony is forced to open theirs and see the world for the complicated mess of things that it is.”

Finally finished strapping his bags on, he checked his watch as a train screeched to a steady halt on the platform behind us before saying, “Stay safe, Miss. Constant vigilance is the only way any of us are going to make it out of this alive.”

“Um...ok…?” I whispered as he trotted briskly to catch his train. “Ok...that was fucking weird as all hell…”

Now that he had pointed out the three-hundred-and-thirty-six different surveillance devices and informants surrounding me, I felt suddenly claustrophobic. I knew M.O.M was everywhere but I suppose I never considered the real scope of the eyes watching me and everyone else at all times. As far as I knew, M.O.M knew about Huckleberry and everything else any of us ever did. There could be bugs in my helmet, my armor, in my brain. Anything was possible in this day and age of rapidly evolving technology and arcane science.

I glanced at my PipBuck with a feeling similar to disgust and reached to tear it off and throw it as far away from me as I could but not before relief cascaded over me as the familiar blue and white of mom walked into the terminal, her sparkling white teeth almost whiter than the hair in her mane. The sun had finally peeked its head over my gloomy horizon and it only took most of the day to fucking happen.

“Hello!” She exclaimed, hugging me tightly and nuzzling my cheek with hers, the comforting, nostalgic smell of spearmint putting my mind and heart at ease. “I’m so glad to see you again, Athena. It’s been too long.”

“Amen.” I purred as I nuzzled her back and took a few more deep breaths of her minty musk to further calm my senses.

“My, you’re quite cuddly today.” She laughed, reaching up a bit to pat my head as she was a tad shorter than I. “Haven’t seen you this snuggly since you were what? Sixteen?”

“Just shut up and hug me mom…” I mumbled allowing myself to let the stress of the last few weeks wash away in the warmth of her embrace.

“Heh, alright. Can do.” She laughed pleasantly. “The taxi is waiting though.”

After another minute of solid hugging I finally felt relaxed enough to let go and follow her gratefully out of Four Star and onto the street outside. Manehattan was as large and towering as I remembered it (if maybe even more so) and the warming spring air blew between the skyscrapers with a hint of sea salt in the air from Friendship Bay. Waiting for us, pulling a Sky Taxi, was who I assumed was Dr. Plaque’s son, a yellow Pegasus who waved at mom with a bright smile as we approached. In a way, mom had set up her own private transport which was kinda cool to think about. She may have resigned as CEO from her company but there were still plenty of benefits to be had in connections and shareholder stocks.

“Hey there, Dr. Minuette!” He hollered over the noise of the other taxis and passengers loading and unloading around us. “Looks like you found your daughter! Nice! Ready to go? I can only stand here for another minute before those dudes over there kick me out they said.”

He nodded towards the slightly obese parking police comprised mainly of Pegusi and a few Unicorns, all of them wearing much more armor than the last time I visited mom. I could have sworn the last time I was here they were just wearing your run-of-the-mill police body armor; short-fiber Kevyarn vests and utility belts with tasers and a basic sidearm. Now, all of them were wearing a version of police body armor that looked two steps shy of being classified as riot armor. It was most certainly from the M-CAT line but was some sort of bizarre 60/40 hybrid of Kevyarn and ballistic plates while each officer carried a pistol as well as Spaz-10 shotguns configured with drum magazines and no stocks. These boys were ready to fight a small urban campaign and very few of the shells I spied on their persons were rubber pellets.

We quickly took our seats in the cushy Sky Taxi, the luxury a far cry above the Sky Chariots of the military, and shot off into the sky. It was the first time I had ever been able to fly in civilian transport over the city and I was amazed at the view spread out before me each way I looked. Skyscrapers towered around us like glass obelisks commemorating the might of Equestrian industry while the smaller buildings boasted numerous rooftop gardens and skywalks connecting most things together. Below those was the spaghetti pile of streets, avenues and one-ways connecting everything else to everything else and beyond, the late afternoon sun glinting off of the mixed traffic below. Mechanized vehicles were on the road more and more every time I visited mom and it was amusing to see the clandestine side of the Greifenländer engineering that made some of the most difference for us. In the distance, flitting by in passing views between buildings, was the Pony of Friendship and Friendship Bay. The statue, now green as the copper used to construct the colossal torch wielding robed mare had oxidized, was a gift from Mareseilles centuries ago when they had actually talked to us and not treated us like two high school mares who had a falling out. I had to wonder though as I saw the sweeping robes adorning her body if she was wearing anything else underneath it. I mean, she was Mareseillan after all and if a babe like Fleur Di Lis had come from there then...maybe all Mareseillian mares were just as smokin’ hot. Not like I would know with Fleur being the only well-known Mareseillian to do photo shoots outside of her home country. The world would never know though...but still, I liked to imagine a fine ass hidden under those aquamarine robes of hers.

“So, tell me everything!” She exclaimed excitedly, rolling up the windbreaker so we could hear each other and not get drowned out in the rush of air that rustled our fur and sent our manes billowing in the gale like flags.

“Where to begin?” I asked, thinking back over everything that had happened in the three-weeks since we had last spoken on the phone for the brief two hours we were allotted once a month.

“Wherever you like darling.” She replied with a smile, hugging me again and seeming to smell the perfume I had borrowed from Penny for the occasion. “Damn, is that Penny’s stuff?”

“You remember well!” I laughed.

“How can I forget a baby blue face like hers?” She said, rummaging through her purse and pulling out a bottle of perfume of her own. “I’ll tell you again what I told you and her then, she’s got good taste in perfume. I'm surprised she can even keep any in stock with how horrid you guys can reek after a day's work down there.”

I stopped her hoof as she floated the bottle to her chest in her golden magic and shook my head. I liked the way she smelled now. It was just the nostalgic aromatherapy I needed right now to detox from all the crazy of the last week.

“I smell like the office.” She complained, putting the bottle back into her purse but not complaining any further.

“Exactly.” I said, laying my head against her chest and breathing in her minty freshness again and again. “Smells like home.”

She seemed to catch the hint that I just wanted to be with her for awhile and contented herself with petting my head and holding me against her. And for that moment while we flew towards her apartment...I was six years old again. Or twelve or sixteen or even eighteen. All of the years of my life that I had spent with her growing up in PonyVille. For a moment I could forget I was a twenty-eight year old Veteran Ranger in the largest war in our planet's history. For a moment...I could forget about everything but her.

The trip came to a stop faster than I wanted and the Taxi thudded slightly as its wheels made contact with the asphalt of the street outside her apartment. We climbed out quickly and thanked our ride for his service before entering the lobby of mom’s more upscale middle-class apartment building. While the walls were not made of marble nor the light fixtures of gold or crystal, it was still a fine establishment with a dedicated receptionist who wore a tight fitting red and gold uniform and on-site laundry and mail services for all its patrons. It was modest compared to her income behind the scenes but I admired that about her.

“Hello Minuette!” The receptionist beamed as we approached. “Oh! This must be Athena! I’m so happy to meet you finally!”

“You’re a new face.” I laughed, looking around for the receptionist I knew. “What happened to Red Vine?”

“Retired is what I was told.” She replied, looking at the mailmare whom I did recognize. “Hey Windy! Red retired right?”

“Drafted.” She called back, sorting through the pile of mail in front of her and putting them into the appropriate mail slots for each apartment number. “I thought you knew that!”

“No, wait, then who retired? Was it Bell Bottom?”

“It was one of the janitors, Bell Bottom still works in Laundry.”

While they bickered over who was gone and who wasn’t, mom retrieved her mail from the cubby with her magic before taking my by the hoof to the elevator. The apartment wasn’t fancy enough to have a bellhop so we were forced to make the great exertion of selecting the thirteenth floor ourselves. As the floors dinged away as we rose, mom decided to rummage through my duffle bag without even asking permission. Wasn't a surprise given I had the tendency to hide chocolate in there for her on previous occasions, the whole thing with the attempted kidnapping from earlier kind of blowing it from memory.

“God these military shirts are drab.” She sighed before pulling out my Sequoia. “Helloooo, who is this?!”

“Oh shit, I didn’t tell you!” I exclaimed excitedly as she looked over my baby. “It came in from Ironshod literally the same day as we were sent on tour. Isn’t she pretty??”

“I’ll say!” She hummed as she peered down the sights in the lights of the elevator. “And they said it couldn’t be done. Told ya AJ would come through for you! Loyalty is her defining trait and it carries in the family it seems.”

Back in the day everypony in PonyVille, even the Ministry Mares back before they were that, saw my mom for their bi-annual cleanings meaning she got to know everypony pretty well on at least a semi-personal basis. Apple Jack, the head of the Ministry of Wartime Technology, was a regular face in the office. When she or her siblings didn’t have a chipped tooth from farm work, they were in for a cavity filling from all the apples and apple related shit they ate every single day. As the years went on, it seemed friendships like that weren’t easily forgotten and the two of them kept in touch as best they could with mom even making special visits to Canterlot to make doubly sure her dentist was doing a good job at maintaining those teeth she had spent so many years repairing, cleaning and getting to know. It just so happened that Apple Jack had a cousin by the name of Braeburn who was the CEO of Ironshod Firearms, the same manufacturer who produced the BFR (the Big Fucking Revolver as it was lovingly called) that had been chosen years before by the Desert Rangers to serve as the basis for our Sequoias. With a bit of begging on my part and a bit of clever negotiation from mom, we convinced her to personally request a very custom gun on my behalf from her cousin. It took weeks of arguing with his top design specialists to even convince them to give it a go but it had been well worth it. A small fortune and two years later, they finally came through and delivered exactly what I wanted; perfection was achieved and she was chambered in .45-70 Celestia.

“Tell her I owe her big time.” I said, gazing at the glossy black finish surrounded by her magical aura. “This thing has saved my life already in the little time I’ve had with her.”

She lowered the gun slightly and sighed softly. I had slipped up too early with the sordid topics of the South.

“How close this time?” She asked simply, opening the action of the gun slowly as to not fling out the rounds with the auto-ejector.

“Too close.” I replied somberly. “But...there’s some crazy shit I have to tell you about and it involves someone you and I both thought was dead. Sit down and lemme tell you a fuckin' tale and a half.”

She shook her head and put a hoof to her lips as the elevator dinged and opened up on the thirteenth floor. I followed her in silence as we traversed the warmly lit white hallway to her apartment. In honor of my obtaining Veteran status, she had moved to apartment room 1369, the closest she could get to my batch number of 69 without having to move down thirteen floors and sacrifice her view. It was a rather large apartment complete with a reasonably sized kitchen that fed into a dining room, a majestically quaint master bedroom, a guest bedroom and a covered balcony where she maintained the small flower garden she had brought over with her from PonyVille. In addition, she also had a wonderful view overlooking Center Park, the two-and-a-half mile long public park that sat on the upper East side of Manehattan. It was always an eye-catching sight with the green nature walk contrasting so starkly against the urban sprawl around it but it was a pleasant break in the skyscrapers. Had she a telescope and the nosy mentality to use it, she had the perfect vantage point to crowd watch those meandering about the park.

Once the door was shut and the bolt locked she set her purse and my gun onto the kitchen counter and sighed, “I hate having to live with the idea that you could die at any moment out there...it’s the worst feeling a mother could possibly have to endure in this world with giving birth itself in close second.”

“I’m sorry mom…” I said timidly, feeling now, more than ever, the weight of her concern over me and my wellbeing.

“I know you are…” She sighed, looking at me with a face lightly wrinkled with age. “And I know it was your choice to join the Army and it was your choice to put your life on the line for your country. The day you got your cutie mark when you were up there with grandpa Sonnet...I knew you weren’t going to settle for the simple life of a dentist. And you know I've always had your back in this mess.”

She motioned for me to sit down at the counter and I took a seat without even thinking of arguing. My shoulders still ached from my fight earlier and standing only made it worse by putting weight on the abused area. While I sat she dug into her fridge and pulled out a bottle of white wine, her personal favorite and the thing I knew got her through my high school years. Not that I was enough of a problem to push her to alcoholism like some other foals my age but certainly more than enough to make the occasional stiff drink a worthy reward for particularly shitty days of teen angst.

“I loved it though mom.” I said as she poured herself a modest glass as well as one for me which was surprising to say the least. “I don’t regret the life I lived growing up with you.”

“I know that too, dork.” She said with a small smile, leaning against the granite countertop and taking a sip from her glass. “But...that didn’t stop you from getting into every fight you could possibly find, could it?”

I blushed slightly and she took another sip with a smirking smile.

“You encouraged me though so don’t put all that on me.” I said, gripping my glass and bringing it to my nose, the sickly sweet aroma of fermented grapes tickling my nose in a slightly unpleasant way.

"Oh shut up, you know full well you were a little stinker of a young mare to raise. With or without my prodding to stand up for yourself more, you made plenty of dumb decisions when you were younger."

“You’re the one who decked what’s-her-bucket’s dad remember? Not me. You aren't without fault either here.”

She laughed heartily and nodded her head knowing full well what she did.

“True...he went down like a total pansy after one punch. You’d think the guy was made of glass by the way he crumbled. I’ve met molars with late-stage caries with more spine than him.”

Just like sex slipped its way into my analogies, dentistry terms slipped into hers. It was a family trait that everyone seemed to have and a great way to figure out what was the most on ponies’ minds if you paid attention to us during reunions. Whenever we got around to having another one that is...

She finished her glass after a few more sips and poured herself another while the seconds turned to minutes between us. There was still a tension in the air, punctuated by the gleaming hunk of metal sitting beside me.

“How’s Huckleberry?” She asked, glancing towards me with her royal blue eyes.

“You know, same old Hucks as she’s ever been.” I laughed softly, finally swallowing my distaste and swallowing a sip of the wine in my glass trying not to gag on the less than pleasant taste. Obviously my poker face failed me on this ocassion.

“Oh right, I forgot!” She laughed reaching for my glass after noticing my grimace. “You don’t do wine.”

“Yeah...I just can’t get over the flavor to be honest.” I replied letting the glass go. “I love white grape juice to death but that...just tastes rotten. Can't ever understand what makes anyone wanna go on extended tours just to drink the stuff. The charcuterie boards are great and all but how in the fuck do you people like the taste of that shit? ”

“Well it’s fermented grapes, what did you expect?” She laughed, downing my glass in one gulp with surprising ease. “Maybe something stronger then? That way you don’t need as much eh?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk or something?” I asked her as she turned and started digging through a high cabinet for something, my face flushing red as I caught sight of her pleasantly plump flanks and the thoughts of several nights ago flooding into my head.

“Mayyybe.” She giggled evilly, pulling down several bottles of various hard liquors that I didn’t know she own. "I mean, for Celestia's sake its been two years since I've seen my little girl! Why not? We’ve only got this one life and what’s better than a little family fun and togetherness to kick the weekend off right?”

“Most consider family fun to not include alcohol…” I said as she pulled a pair of shot glasses out from her glassware cabinet and set them on the counter between us, my earlier blush gone in light of these new events. "Unless you're talking parties for just the adults which can get all sorts of crazy."

“Well thankfully we don't have your Uncle Fletcher here to down a bottle of vodka and then start some drunk karaoke..." She mused, putting a hoof to her chin as she looked between the various bottles as if deciding which would fuck us up collectively the fastest. “Hmmm...I always thought of you as a rum kind of mare. You always loved molasses things as a filly.”

“Really…?” I asked, wondering how the yo ho ho and a bottle of rum ideology fit in with my more aggressive lifestyle. “You think of me as the beach bum type? Just because I'm in the Badlands doesn't make me a fan of the sand and sun.”

“What, you think you’re a vodka kind of girl?” She asked, raising a bottle of the clear fluid out from the group and looking it over. “Or maybe tequila...that will get you drunk faster than you can say ‘another round’. If you've got the stomach for it straight, doesn't work for everypony that's for sure.”

This was a side of mom I had never really seen before. I knew she drank wine and didn’t mind it at all since she never got really drunk nor let it affect her daily life. It was like she had lost thirty years and was back in college before she matured enough to make it into dental school. After another moment of thought she pulled out a box from the pantry and put six more shot glasses on the counter, one for each bottle.

“Well we've got all night! Let’s find your big girl drink.” She giggled, pouring all seven bottles at once with a professionalism that surprised me. Someone hadn't forgotten her past, that's for sure.

“What’s gotten into you, mom?” I asked as she put the first glass in my hoof, this one a dark brown liquid I could only assume was some kind of whiskey judging by the color. Either that or a very orange-ish brown stout that somehow snuck into her booze cabinet with the big boys.

“The real question is, what’s gonna get into you?” She laughed, whipping her head back and downing her shot in one go. “Damn, that one burns every time.”

I smelled it and was immediately slapped, punched and mauled in the face with the smell of cinnamon while she stuck her tongue out and wiggled it in the air as if trying to air it out. I liked cinnamon in small quantities when it came to deserts or those cutsie little wax burners they sold at mom stores but this was a full on face-fuck of all the senses but touch and sound. A 3/5 was still more than enough here though.

“What in the fucking sweet ass hell is this?” I asked, trying not to cough as my eyes watered from the cinnamon assault I was sorely losing against.

“Firestorm!” She laughed, poking my glass closer to my mouth. “Classic college-girl shot! Common, it goes down best if you just get it down in one go. And try not to spit it out, that’s a noobie move, freshmare.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about mom’s glorious return to her college days but...nopony I knew was around and I trusted her with my life. For the first time in my life I felt myself shoving my anti-alcohol label in the closet to join labels like 'heterosexual' and 'normal' and tipped the glass into my mouth. The shit was like RadAway but with an extra hefty punch of cinnamon thrown in for good measure and I struggled to get it down my throat worse than my first time swallowing cum that didn't come from a mare. Least jizz had something close to flavor but this...this was something not fit for Equine consumption at all. Why the fuck did I agree to this shit?

And yet, as I sat there wiping the tears from my eyes and gasping for air while mom cheered me on and poured us each another shot, I felt proud of myself and it sat better in my stomach than it had in my mouth. After a minute it felt like Hearth’s Warming Eve in my mouth and I found myself more eagerly taking the second shot offered me. Slapping back shots was Penny and Buck's territory but it was strangely comfortable shooting them back-to-back with her and seeing how inexperienced I was compared to her. I was connecting with my mom at a level only adults could and it was kinda weird...but I liked it a lot more than I expected. She was relaxed, talkative, expressive and just exuded a youthful air that was just as intoxicating to be around as the liquor in our guts.

After the sixth or seventh shot, things kind of became a blur. Or was it after I nearly spit out the vodka? Either way all I knew was that I was fucking hammered. The world glowed softly with a warming light and my body seemed to glow in much the same way with it like I were one with the universe. Words left my mouth that I didn’t remember saying and mom was like a beacon of light as we laughed over incoherent jokes, the ones I could remember being really raunchy. One moment I was drunk, taking shots with my mom and then next thing I knew I was laying in bed with her holding her head as she yammered away about the first or sixth time she had sex. The night was a radical departure from the day's earlier events.

“He was well hung…” She giggled softly, patting me on the leg with her hoof while her tail flicked all over the place like a possessed marionette. “Guy was like eighteen inches or something and I was tellin’ Rose Luck like, ‘Yeah I can totally fit all that in me!’ and she was all, ‘Bitch, what?’ and then boom, next minute he was all up in me balls deep. The look on her face when I sent her those pictures! Ha! I thought she was gonna die or something.”

I patted her head and nodded in warm contentment thinking about Huckleberry and her wonderful ass. I was comfy...so goddamn comfy and warm and fuzzy... We could say anything it felt like.

“I wasn’t in heat thank Celestia...could you imagine?” She asked with a laugh, looking up at me drooling slightly. “Your daddy could have been old Creamy Canary! Fuck...maybe things would’ve gone better…”

She went quiet for what could have been an hour before she slowly sat up and looked me in the eyes.

“I’m proud of you…” She mumbled though her voice was light and slightly passionate. “I’m so fucking proud of you...my little girl...all grown up and being a big old soldier mare…”

I smiled lazily and put my hooves on her cheeks feeling how soft and squishy they were, my daydreams about Huckleberry fading away to the beautiful mare in front of me. The one that had given me the life I had...the one who had given up so much so I could be happy. She was just magnificent...

“I love you too mom…” I said softly, not even realizing I had been leaning forward until our lips connected.

She started softly as our lips pressed together but didn’t pull away and after a brief moment she pressed back into me, moaning softly before pulling away and pushing my head back against the pillows. She climbed onto me, her hooves gentle whenever they touched me, and stared down at me with eyes brimming with tears and a large, tender smile on her aging face.

“I love you...and I always will Athena…” She sniffed softly, putting a gentle hoof to my lips that I promptly kissed and put against my heart.

Her legs gave out and she fell onto me, her thigh pressing right up against the hot arousal of my snatch that I had not even realized was there but probably had been from the moment she had started talking about sex. She gasped softly as she felt it and her eyes widened slightly as she realized what it was...but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she laughed a little and rolled her thigh against me, smirking as I couldn’t hold in the needy moans coming from my mouth.

“How long has it been since you’ve gotten laid, darling?” She asked, laying on me entirely and nibbling on my neck, tracing circles in my chest fluff with a hoof. "And I mean properly made-love to, not one of those quickies you've told me about."

“I-I don’t know…” I squeaked, hoping this wasn’t a dream and I wasn’t just imagining this as I was passed out on the floor blackout drunk.

“Too long then.” She giggled, putting another longer kiss on my mouth, the taste of mint still discernible from all the liquor on her lips. “Let mommy take care of you huh? Just this once.”

I nodded timidly, craning my neck to kiss her back and eeped in surprise as she pinned my legs down and started nipping at my neck and chest with her teeth and lips. I could smell myself in the air, the musky scent of peaches hung heavy in the air but there was something else too. A heavy scent of peppermint like a stick of gum or...like a tube of toothpaste.

She blushed softly when I pointed this out and flicked her tail towards me, the smell of mint strong in the rush of air. It didn’t need to be said where it was coming from. I had never smelled her arousal before but I always knew it couldn’t be anything else. Mares tended to taste like their respective coloring save for some exceptions like myself.

“Is it bad…?” She asked with a small, cute hiccup.

“Never.” I smiled, pulling her into a deep, passionate kiss.

I wasn’t sure whose tongue entered whose mouth first but quickly enough we were licking and slurping on each others mouths like a pair of sluts and we had instinctually begun to grind our cunts on each other’s thigh. Minutes could have been hours but all I knew was the immense pleasure coming from my pussy as she bumped and ground on me, every bit of fur seemingly covered in our mingled juices. Before I knew it she was panting like a dog in heat and had thrown my leg up in the air, hugging it against herself as she squashed our lips together and started grinding again. Her thigh had felt amazing but the hot, wet sensation of her lips and clit against mine was enough to send me over the edge almost immediately. Within a few thrusts I was biting down on my leg screaming as hot, thick cum squirted out of my snatch and against hers.

“Fuck!” She exclaimed as the blast of hot juices splashed against her and up her stomach. “When you told me you were a squirter I didn’t think you was this much of one!”

I couldn’t remember telling her that. All I knew was the glorious sensual pleasure erupting from my loins like the message of an angel. I regretted not being entirely conscious for this moment but I was too far gone to be able to care.

“Damn...Huckleberry is lucky…” She mumbled as she wiped her chest and licked her hoof. “You doing ok sweetie?”

I could only pant for air and nod, my body shaking as it basked in the afterglow of one of the best orgasms I had ever had in my life. I couldn’t remember the last time mom had had sex with someone but I was almost positive she had never been with a mare. How the hell was she this good at getting me off? Or was that just the booze loosening me up…?

“You let me know if these are too tight ok?” She asked somewhere near my head, my hooves raising up and then sagging, supported by something soft yet firm.

“Huh…?” I asked, opening my eyes to find I was tied to the bedpost with silk scarves. “Holy shit, mom!”

“What?” She asked, poking her head out of her walk-in closet, her mane now up in a cute ponytail with a blue silk bow. “Thought Hucks said you liked a little light bondage. Least that's what she told me.”

“Well...yeah but...” I said, tugging my legs against the binds but feeling strangely safe. “Um…”

“Yes?” She asked in a purring tone, walking out of her closet wearing fishnet stockings, garters and her tail in a similar bow, a thick purple dildo in her hoof. “How do I look…?”

In all my life I had never expected my mom to dress up for me like a Las Pegasus hooker but the look was...tantalizing. My vagina drooled as heavily as my mouth and she walked over to me shaking those hips of hers with no shame. I really did inherit some of her good looks...

“Take it by the look on your face I’m good enough to eat.” She giggled, climbing onto the bed with a smirk as she pulled out a black leather collar and a leash and strapped it around my neck. “Now...who’s mommy’s little kitty?”

“M-me…?” I squeaked, amazed yet insanely turned on by how much of a kinky bitch she was.

“Excuse me?” She asked, tugging on my leash and flicking her tail against my snatch the elicited a small yip of pleasure from me. “What was that?”

“M-mew?” I meowed sheepishly.

“Good kitty.” She giggled, standing up and turning around giving me an unobscured view of her dark blue pussy that was swollen and puffy with angry red flesh. Holy shit she was in heat! “Now, be a good kitty and eat that pussy like a good little girl.”

Without further ado she sat her ass down on my face and wiggled her hips until my muzzle sat between her hips and my mouth was deep in her red hot snatch. Like Silk her ribbed walls tugged and clamped down on my muzzle trying to pull me deeper into her while my mouth was flooded with hot, sticky mouthwash. I knew it was far better than mouthwash but that’s what popped into my mind as I slurped, sucked and lapped away at her pussy with reckless abandon, the buzz in my brain only adding to my abandon. Meanwhile she cooed and moaned above me, humping my face like her life depended on it until I couldn’t take it anymore and started nipping at her insides as well, a motion that turned her moans to soft screams laiden with more profanity than I had ever heard her say in my life.

“A-Athena! I’m g-gonnaaaaahhh!!!” She screamed, her folds spasming and clamping down hard in a most familiar way before a heavy squirt of minty cum exploded in my face, drenching my face and mane and splattering the pillow and headboard behind me.

She bucked and ground as she continued to cum, the flow of juices slowing to a dribble before she went almost limp and flopped off my face, her body gleaming with sweat and cum. I swallowed what I could, my tongue and mouth sore from eating her out so furiously but it was more than worth it for the meal I had been so privileged to enjoy. I tugged weakly against my binds wishing I could rub her juices all over the rest of my body, to feel this new kind of motherly love all over me. All I could taste was her sweetness and all I could breathe was her musk. Everything was mint. Everything was lovely. Just like the mare who nuzzled her way into my chest with all the tender love and affection that only a mother could exude.

“H-have fun…?” She asked sweetly, licking my sodden fur with heavy licks like a momma cat grooming her kitten.

I nodded and started to untie my bonds so I could hug her close to me but she tugged on my collar and flicked my horn shaking her hoof like I was a naughty filly.

“Ah ah ah!” She chided as if she had caught me sneaking into the cookie jar. “Kitty still has some work to do for mommy. Consider it back payment for all those years I wiped your little filly ass.”

I looked at her with hazy eyes only to notice she was rubbing the dildo from earlier in her juices before lowering it past my needy fuckhole to my asshole. I looked at her with wide eyes and opened my mouth to protest, to ask her to at least loosen me up before shoving that thing up my ass but she took the chance and stuck a third scarf into my mouth, wrapping it around my head and tying it with a little bow.

“Ah ah… it's time for your check up.” She giggled, wiggling the slick head against me. “This won’t hurt a bit darling.”

The biggest lie she and every other dentist told their patient just before the drilling began. I was quite literally and figuratively fucked.

Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty-Nine: A Cypher to Find a Merchant Estimated time remaining: 16 Hours, 4 Minutes