"All I'm saying is, yours is a very special case. What's more, it might just be an Equestrian situation."

"Oh that's rich. How about I just order a sweater that says 'Got soul? It's an Equestrian thang'." She was always melodramatic, even as a human. Guess some things hadn't changed.

"Cute," Civil quipped. He waved his hoof to mark off the following adjectives, "Also ingenious, comedic, and completely uncalled for." He finished by wrinkling his nose in irritation.

She threw up her hooves falling back into the booth seat, "...but you brought it up!"

"Because of the whole predisposition thing! And since when have I ever wanted to talk about THIS other subject anyway? It was only a comparison."

"Well you should talk about 'this subject,' it's been long enough." She pointed a hoof at him while sitting up in the booth, the other hoof braced against the table, her voice tinged with anger, "You didn't have to listen to mom on the phone every week while you went missing for two years straight!"

"Now I'm listening to mom." Yes, a cheap shot. He felt cheap at the moment.

Gritting her teeth, she growled, "Sometimes I can't talk to you..." It was an insanely cute growl though, so totally worth the cheap shot.

An earth mare walked up to their table, smiling. "Menus?" She had a pizza in the shape of a pacman on her flanks gobbling up pepperoni dots.

Both pegasi replied, "Yes," in somewhat muted tones. Their server smiled weakly, sensing their moods. She hooved over two folded menus. "Just call me when you are ready," and skipped over to the next table, probably feeling much better to be away from two brooding pegasi.

With something else to occupy their attention, he was glad to get off that delightful subject. The menu featured several themed pizza specials, from classic Hawaiian ham and pineapple to taco style, and a few with some herbivore additives like daffodils and tulips, marked by a little pony head next to each one. Thankfully, Liberty also found the selections interesting enough to keep her from badgering him, if her salivating response was any indication. Their server came back two more times, but Civil told her they were waiting for another pony, so she left them alone to study pictures of food.

Gradually a wave of weariness overcame him, a result of the morning flight and that noon emotional rollercoaster giving him a one-two punch for his energy levels. His head started to lower itself to the table and his eyes got droopy. Similarly, Liberty was starting to do the same thing, resting her chin on the wet menu, which were laminated.

The place they had decided to eat was at the end of a row of businesses on the main road of the town. The décor was straight out of the wild west, to include hinged swinging doors and an antique looking bar. Pony Pies aPlenty, or P-PaP, as referred to by the locals, was patronized by both humans and ponies, and seemed to be flourishing in this one pony town. He snorted to himself at the colloquial notion. Still, the saloon feel to the place fit right in, what with it being scrub land outside the town housing limits. The diner also seemed to be popular this time of day, so it couldn't have been too bad a place. Since he had left Equestria, he had not seen such a concentration of his own people until now. It was odd, but he felt some comfort just being near other four legged beings. His herd instincts pinging, he mused to himself. Eyes wandering, the ponies that were present seemed...generic. Not in a belittling way. Just, nopony famous. Or even ones he could recognize. Until now.

The old style jukebox in the corner clicked and started moving the next record into position. A few pops of static emitted from the speakers as the needle hit the 45 vinyl record grooves and a languid guitar and soft snare began the song Wicked Game.

Thus it was a very worn out pair of pegasi that lifted their heads off the table when Hot Pink arrived and stepped through the door flaps, mane flowing back in slow motion. Her head turned slowly until she spotted them. A wing swung around and took a lollipop out of her mouth, and she licked her lips lightly in utter calm, but he could see how he affected her when their eyes met.

Hot paused and listened to some of the lyrics, nodding in approval. She stepped purposefully over to their booth, Strato Sphere in tow behind her. Civil had texted her where they would be at, not trusting his mouth or brain to work correctly after their ordeal at Abstract's house. Liberty was of the same opinion. Once Hot was standing next to them, she opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by Strato following close behind her. "Hay Civil, long time no call!"

Civil's gaze lingered on the mare, then he glanced at Strato. He smirked, pleased to see the upbeat pony, however he took exception to being the one responsible for initiating social communication all the time. In retrospect, he supposed he was just irritable because his impending nap got rudely interrupted. Eyeing Strato, Civil said, "You have a phone, too. What, can't fly and call at the same time?"

Strato paled slightly and shook out his wings. "Yeah, you try that and see what office building you end up flying into." Then he noticed the young filly sitting in the booster seat next to Civil. "Pinks, is that...'mom'?"

She grinned. "Yes, it is." Both her eyes and Civil's met, and they simply stared at each other. The background music wasn't helping. She whispered softly, "Hay Civ...hows it hangin."

There was a pause as Chris Isaac and the accompanied voices intoned '♪No, I......don't want to fall in love (this girl is only gonna break your heart)♪' in the background.

Civil felt a slight tap on his flank from Liberty, further flustering him. Right on the cutie mark zone, too. Clearing his throat, "Uh, yeah, it's hangin. How...how are you? Hangin...?"

Hot chuckled in a low husky sort of way.

Liberty groaned, pulling her hooves over her face. She muttered, "You are pathetic."

To save him, Hot turned slightly and lifted a foreleg, "Strat hasn't seen your mother before, so I invited him along, I hope you don't mind. He wanted to see both of you, too. Hopefully he'll avoid putting his hoof in his mouth, but you know how stallions are." Her eyes twinkled.

Strato shook his head, grinning. He was used to her friendly jabs. Civil smiled and nodded, getting back some of his confidence. "I know." He turned to Liberty, "Mom, this is Strato Sphere. Strat, this is Civil Liberty." He noted the other stallion peering at her curiously, but not so surprised at her size. Hot must have explained things. Civil said, "Just pretend she's not a foal right now."

Liberty's eyes went to pinpricks as Strato reached across the table to offer his hoof. She stammered, "Uh...STRATO Sphere...? Heh, um, hi!" She gently tapped his hoof with hers and buried her nose back into the menu, really studying those pizza toppings.

The two stallions looked askance at her. "Odd," Civil said. "Normally she's more talkative than that."

Strato nodded and slid into the opposite seat so Hot could be opposite Civil.

When Liberty was sure Strato was no longer interested in her, she quipped, "Pinks, yer a lot more chill than that other pink pony. I thought you would be more, um, bouncy."

Civil squeezed his eyes shut, but Hot Pink took it as part of the foal's charm.

"I should hope I'm more chill. She IS an earth pony. They tend to have peculiar ideas on how to live."

Civil peeked at Liberty with one eye incredulously, "You know about Pinkie Pie?"

"Duh, it's called TV? I'm all caught up on the episodes." She held up a hoof and looked away. "Still not remembering shit, though."

"I didn't say anything," he muttered back.

"That's right, you said you had a lead on your memory situation." Hot leaned forward. "How'd it go?"

"AttenSHUN!" Cried out a mare's voice. Civil sat up ramrod straight, a nice shot of adrenaline coursing through his chest to make the motion extra snappy. He felt the burning sensation spreading from his heart, the chemical so acute in its effect. An older unicorn strolled over to their booth. She had a strawberry red mane and tail, along with a pale white fur coat.

"Hah. You do know you're not under my command anymore, Mister Patrol." Her horn was glowing a rose color, its
energy directed at a rolled up newspaper floating alongside her.

"Yes, LT, ma'am!" He didn't break attention, sitting in a booth in a saloon style pizza parlor.

She rolled her eyes. "Tartarus, soldier, give over already. At ease, and I order you to never follow my orders again." He relaxed.

"Military buddy of yours?" Strato asked as he eye the stallion settle down.

Civil nodded, "Striding Thunder, Lieutenant, Royal Guard. Lightning specialist if I recall accurately, and my CO in Canterlot."

"You do recall accurately, and not anymore. CO, that is." She sat on her haunches and leaned against the table. "Haya Stat, Hots."

They both replied, "Hay Stride." Strato added in a mutter, "Would it kill her to say my name correctly..."

She grinned, her right eye giving Strat the barest wink. He shook his head and pointedly looked out the window. Some mares just never got the hint, something stallions were accused of more often than not. Striding regarded Civil with a warm smile. "I sent my letter of resignation in with the other correspondences this past portal opening. I have more things tying me down here."

That made him raise his brow. "Really? I thought you were a lifer, you know, glass is always half military doctrine kinda mare."

She snorted. "New lifetimes, new perspectives. Now I do security gigs here and there, help out with my human folks. Occasionally jump start a tourist's car. Military puts your life on hold, unless you make it your life. Before the curse, meh, I might have stayed in. Now, I've gotten a taste of too much on the outside. But you, sir, are the talk of the town, Civil."

"Huh?" He looked at her, bewildered. "Which town, this one?! I just got here, how could I be that infamous already?"

She shook her head and replied, "You give yourself too little credit." Tilting her head to the side, "Looking good, by the way. Yeah, definitely too little credit." Noting the black fetlocks and wingtips, "I see you got initiationed, initianated...-"

"Initiated," all three adult fliers stated. Liberty whipped her head around at them all, hoping to find out more about initiation. When none was forthcoming, Liberty piped up, "Oi, what do you mean initiated?" Hot's ears swiveled more in Striding's direction. Now the unicorn had the pegasus' focus.

"That." She ducked her head at his wings. "Also, love the saddle. Ohhh.....Tartarus, if you had been sporting this style a few years ago, I'd have had a go at you."

"What!?!" He squawked. Hot pursed her lips, quirking a brow. The saddle was her idea, her twist on fashion. She silently thrashed her tail under the table. Poaching was poaching.

The unicorn noticed Hot's change in demeanor and took a small measured step back and sat back down, as was proper pony etiquette. "But, I see you have your hooves full, for now. Anywho, I wanted to see who was applying for Dallas." Civil had a slightly bewildered look on his muzzle, but his attention was immediately drawn to the floating newspaper unfolding and flattening out onto the table in front of him. There on the front page was a picture of the Dallas Police headquarters and a giant green silhouette of a pony superimposed behind it as if it were impending doom. Or Godzilla. Pwnzilla. The face of the pony was expertly done with a vague set of eyes, nose, and mouth. Formed from a question mark.

Civil stared at it. "Is...is that some kind of a joke? How did you even find out it was me? Or that I was even here!?!"

Striding smiled. "There was media coverage yesterday and the Dallas chief wanted to quell speculation. She mentioned a pegasus, white with black mane and tail, lived in Dallas." She paused for a moment, then added, "And someone figured out you filed a flight plan to the new pony town from Dallas to here and posted that on Twitter, so they assumed it was their new cop applicant visiting his own kind. You made the noon rounds on CNN, all of three minutes, but I kept my eyes peeled for any new fliers incoming. And it turned out to be you! Fancy that."

He continued glowering at the paper. They didn't exactly state his name, but the article had a surprising amount of information. Strato tilted his head at the paper. The article was also questioning whether or not humans were ready to be policed by ponies. "Media might be poking fun at the concept...but we have military ponies already." He looked up at the other ponies. "Military policing abroad. Why not law enforcement on a more domestic scale?" He was trying to put a nice pony spin on it.

"Domestication," Striding replied sardonically. "That might be part of it. The public prefers humor to horror. War is horror, so they embrace this, while poking fun at it at the same time, in case it doesn't work out." That got his attention.

Civil frowned. "With respect, ma'am, I don't plan on failing."

She shook her head. "I have no doubt YOU will succeed at whatever you do. Despite your rocky career in the Guard, there was always something about you." She watched him speculatively. He raised his brows at her. Surreptitiously, Hot nodded slightly as well. Liberty caught her gesture and gave Hot a questioning look. Hot widened her eyes and nudged her head at Civil. Liberty rolled her eyes and silently mouthed 'duh' back at the mare.

Striding shrugged. "I could have hammered you harder when you chose less...orthodox methods to follow your orders, but I didn't. Some of your results were quite spectacular."

He felt another tap on his cutie zone, and another shiver. He turned to Liberty. "Would you knock that off! And no, I am not telling you what she's talking about!"

Striding chuckled. Hot rubbed the bottoms of her front hooves together. "Oh I am definitely finding out." She glanced at Liberty, "Then I will tell you."

Liberty hoof bumped the air as Civil shook his head in futility.

Strato said, "Don't worry, Civil, it's just a newspaper, not fit to line a bird cage. Best we can do for small town fare."

"Maybe," he replied sullenly. Eyes narrowing, he moved to stab the picture of the green pony with his hoof but Striding snatched the paper away with her magic.

"Woh Nelly. My paper. Go get your own cage liner."

Liberty glowered. "The 'woh nelly' again?"

Civil smirked down at her, "See? It's a thing."

Striding stood up. "Didn't mean to interrupt your lunch. Good to see you again, Civil. Stay sharp. A lot of people are watching you now, not like when it was just me, Captain Shining Armor and the princesses back in the old days." He sunk back into the booth seat.

"Great," he muttered.

Nodding to him, she glanced at Hot, "By the way, house is looking good. Not that I would choose to live in the sky, but you pegasi cornered the market on comfortable cloud homes and beds."

Hot grinned and nodded. "Thankyou. There are still some adjustments I need to make before I can call it done. The mayor wants to use it as the model home for prospective residents of the winged variety. Guess good real estate sense is something that has stayed in my family bloodline, and cloud houses are a burgeoning market now." She got a nostalgic expression.

Liberty perked up. "Cloud houses? And a cloud bed? I want to try them out!"

Striding laughed softly. "Don't worry, kid. Plenty of those around town, and word is Hots has the best one yet."

Hot Pink smirked while blushing at the same time and murmured, "Still working on it."

Liberty puffed out her little bird chest and piped up, "I'm not a kid, ya know."

Striding raised her brow at her, then glanced at Civil. "My bad. I thought she was yours."

He grimaced slightly. "Oh nono, not ready for that yet." Hot tilted her head but remained silent. "Yeah this is a weird thing, even by pony standards. See, this is actually my human sister that turned BACK into my mom, Civil Liberty. So now she acts like...both a kid...and adult.....?" He slowed to a stop at the unicorn's reaction.

Striding was staring at him, then at Liberty in utter shock. Slowly she pointed her hoof at her. "This...is your mother?"

He nodded. "Yes. Is that a big deal?"

Blinking, she shook out her mane and smoothed her fur. "By the sisters, had I known she was here, in town...alive...." Peering closely at Liberty, her eyes widened and she pulled back. "You're the one...you're the heroine of Manehattan!" Hearing Hot Pink and Strato Sphere gasp, Striding's ears laid flat and she glared to the side. "Buck a unicorn head on...I wasn't supposed to blurt that out." She clenched her jaw. "You'd have thought I was fresh out of horseshoe camp ogling the big city sights. With respect," nodding her head and lowering her voice, "Thankyou for what you did. You raised a good colt, ma'am...even if he did accidentally set fire to a joke flatulence factory and smelled up the countryside for eight months."

Civil squeezed his eyes shut. "I had reason to believe Flam and Flam were canning something else."

Striding merely nodded and attempted to step away as quickly as possible. Liberty hopped up on the back of the booth, "Wait! Come back! Tell me about-" A glow appeared around her snout, muzzling her.

Hissing, the older mare trotted back and glared at them all. "Keep your voice down! You may be the heroine but you don't want to be famous!" When she was sure Liberty could control herself, she let up and sighed. Obviously aware that several others in the diner were now listening in, she called up a sound bubble around them. "You cannot tell anypony, or anyone about this, got it?" She made sure they each nodded before she continued.

"All I know is what the princess informed me when she put you under my command." She glanced at Civil. "This information was to be known only to her, Shining Armor, and a VERY few others."

He asked quietly, "Others, of a 'special' nature?"

Eyes narrowing, Striding responded, "If you know what's best, you will not ask about them. Leave my name out of it, if you do. I don't want to lose my horn." Both Liberty and Civil's brows went up. "In any event, Celestia said your mother was the one depicted as the statue in the harbor up in Manehattan and your herd had taken a devastating loss when Miss Liberty passed away. You were also from a good and loyal bloodline of Guards. She advised me to not give preferential treatment so much as simply look at things from your perspective."

Liberty raised her hoof slightly. "I don't suppose there is anything else about me?" She tapped her noggin. "I'm a complete blank when it comes to my past."

Striding shook her head, "Sadly, I wish I could. Even what I just told you was supposed to be secret, on account of possible retaliation from known and unknown enemies. And the princess did not elaborate on the matter. But by all accounts, you were not supposed to be alive and the worry was for Civil here. Even after all this curse business, I would keep a wrap on this, at least until you speak to the princess directly."

Civil nodded. "If only...." He could see Liberty tensing up to give her two cents on the matter of his banishment, so he wrapped her up in his wing. While she gave several muffled complaints, he grimaced, "Sorry, she gets talkative about my return to Earth."

The unicorn nodded, letting the bubble dissipate. "I can imagine. Just remember what I said, and I didn't say anything." She picked up the paper she had dropped and briskly trotted out the diner. All four pegasi watched her leave.

Strato mouthed the words 'Heroine of Manehattan' at Civil. He nodded back. Hot Pink, on the other hoof, was watching the foal with a newfound respect. Then she did a double take at Liberty. "Hold up. Your memory. Civil, didn't you track down that lead you were talking about? They HAD to have told you something, on account that she was-" The mare caught herself and worked her jaw a little. "Well, you know."

Civil looked down at Liberty belatedly, now released from his special power move Wings of Silence. She glared up at him, but then merely shrugged and said, "Other than me being a delivery pony, most of it was about my sickness, which I am supposedly cured of." Hot sat up, glancing at Strato. He shrugged back.

Civil watched them and nodded. "My thoughts exactly. I feel like we dredged up more questions than answers, and my CO just now confirmed why. Or at least, some of the why." He patted Liberty on the head with his hoof. "She used to fly for a group we can't mention, and in so doing, made some enemies. On top of which, at one point she was dying and in trying to save her life, several unicorns used forbidden magic. And from that, she possibly ended up like this." When she batted away his hoof, he ruffled his mother's ears and head fur with his wing, making her fuss more at him with her hooves.

His friends shuddered. Hot Pink leaned forward, steeling her nerves. "What can you tell us, Civil?"

He thought about it for a few seconds, then said quietly, "There is the possibility that my mother's soul went into my sister's newborn body when she was cursed, not just the 'everypony got teleported' theory that is the current think. Through the attempted healing those unicorns did, the result is a foal."

Strato scoffed, "Her soul? Then...wait, how does that even work?" Hot and Strato glanced at each other, confused.

Civil shrugged. "It's soul magic, so nopony knows, or nopony willing to talk about it. As for her, this is how she has always been, apparently. Or, the way she acted before I was born in Equestria, anyway." Liberty sniffed at that but remained quiet.

Hot exclaimed, "That is so cool! Holy Alicorn Sisters, you get to see what she was like as a filly!"

"I feel like an adult, thankyou very much," Liberty retorted.

"Totally," Strato grinned and flicked a cracker at her. She crunched it out of midair with her teeth, making a mess of crumbs all over Civil's side.

He cleared his throat. "Ahem...yes, we already went over that. I'm still on the fence about how one's soul can determine the way they act. I'm more used to experiences determining your personality. Sooo.......yeah." He brushed some crumbs off his flank.

Liberty wiped crumbs off her muzzle and asked, "You don't think one is simply predisposed to be a certain way, that...ahem...'proper upbringing perfects the perfect pony'...or whatever a snooty pony mom would sound like?"

Civil furrowed his brow at her, "AHEM...'Proper upbringing creates the perfect opportunities for the prepared.' And OUR mom taught us that.....taught some of us, I should say. Thank you for mangling it." He went back to his menu. "And I don't want to talk about it. Again."

Liberty rolled her eyes, "Wait, you bite MY head off when I bring it up, but then you get to use it to prove a point-"

"DROP IT!...mom...."

Snort, "Oh, I'm your mom, now. THAT he remembers."

Strato said out of the corner of his mouth, "You sure they are both not getting to see each other as fillies?"

"Sppfft," Hot raspberried back, "Speak for yourself, Mister Wrecking Ball."

"Oh for fuck's....it was ONE building! And no I do not need remedial lessons."

"See what I mean? And we are still ironing out new building codes because of you." She turned to address the bickering duo. "Civ, Lib? What are you two talking about?"

He raised his eyebrows but remained silent. Liberty spread her hooves at him. "Well she's going to find out sooner or later." His lack of objection was a yes in her book, so she turned to the other ponies at the table. "Um, it's like this. We used to have another sibling."

"When you were in Germany as human babies, right?" Hot asked, to Liberty's surprise. The mare clarified, "A few weeks ago we had a late night chat on the phone...he mentioned how your mother miscarried before she adopted you, but I didn't want to press the issue." She finished off softly, ears laying down.

Liberty gave Civil a quirky look. He crossed his forelegs and grumbled, "It was a long evening and I was vulnerable."

The two lady pegs giggle. Strato leaned over to Civil and said, "Don't pay them any attention. Us stallions are allowed to express ourselves, too." Despite his human ego wanting to grouse over the merits of being macho, he nodded his thanks to him.

"Don't have to tell me twice. In any case, it's only a sensitive issue because of the way our parents finally told us."

Liberty waited until Civil nodded to her. She continued, "And so, yeah, you have the one sibling that died in the womb. The other one, well, our parents successfully had that one and Civil and I were kids grew up with him when we were Jason and Renee. Then, around the time I was in college and Civ here was just starting the military...our brother, he was in high school, see. Anyway, on one weekend-"

"...september..." Civil said quietly.

"IN september," she looked sidelong at him, then to Hot and Strato, "One weekend, he passed out at a senior blowout party. While he was intoxicated...he uh...drowned, um, on his own vomit. They brought his body back, but there was no brain activity." Liberty placed her hooves on the table, not quite sure what else to say.

Their friends gasped, saying different forms of 'I'm so sorry' and 'I didn't know.' There really was no other civilized reaction to a story like that, and yet their sentiments were still heart felt. Liberty nodded her thanks.

Civil straigtened up, taking a deep breath. "It's not something we advertise, or bring up during meals, for obvious reasons."

His tiny mother spread her hooves out as though the explanation should be obvious now. "Anywho, the whole conversation about if a soul determines how you act or if it's due to upbringing or experiences...yeah, you can see why the big guy is a bit jaded about it."

"I'm not jaded. I just don't know what to believe anymore. He wasn't bad. He had a kind heart, was emotional, and...and..."

She replied plaintively, "He didn't know when to quit, Civ. He worked hard and played harder. That was his way of blowing off steam."

He turned to her, "But if that's how his soul works, then what about me? Am I predisposed to screw up all my life? If the problems I've had as a human are any indication, then my past as a pony that makes mistakes...not to mention no cutie mark...I'm really trying not to be selfish here, but all this just doesn't sit well with me, and I refuse to think all of this is by design. That robs us of any choice in the matter! It's all well and good if somepony else believes in me or I declare I won't fail, but I do, and I remember all my failures a hell of a lot more than my successes. I mean, you are a hard charger across TWO lifetimes, diving into situations, saving countries. Where are the warning signs to tell you Turn Back or Danger Ahead?"

She blinked at the focus now placed on her. "Warning signs? What warning signs?"

He clenched his jaw. "Exactly."

"Oh whatever. I just do what feels right, same as you-" She saw him shaking his head and poked him in the flank again. This time he jumped.

"Argh! Do you even know what you are jabbing!?!"

"Duh, your thigh. You'd think I'd know at least a little bit of horse anatomy. Vet clinic. Why? You needed it, what with you downing yourself and self doubt and-"

"THAT is where my cutie mark would be!"

Both pegasi sitting opposite them turned bright red and looked away in different directions. Hot mumbled, "Oh.....my. They haven't had 'that' discussion yet."

Strato shook his head in dismay. "Some conversations are best kept in the herd." He thought back on his first discussion about where cutie-marks come from, which inevitably led to the 'Look, Don't Touch' discussion. He grimaced and whispered, "Ima good pony." Hot quickly glanced at him as if she'd had a similar flashback and they both hoof bumped underneath the table. They were both GOOD ponies.

Liberty saw all of this, given her short stature. Raising her head from under the table, she took on a weird expression, her lack of clue showing. And she wanted answers. "What discussion?" The mortified look on Civil's face told her what was up. "Wait. Did...did I touch something...." Her voice lowered to a whisper, "....naughty!?!" She flapped her wings uncontrollable and whined, "How am I supposed to know the naughty bits from the public bits!"

"It's not a naughty bit!" He yelled back. Ponies and humans turned there heads to look at their table. The ponies spent all of one second before going back to their conversations, but a few of the humans lingered. These kinds of topics were mostly new to the two legs, even to the humans that had pony family and friends. Civil dipped his head as he felt all those gazes and lowered his voice, "It's not naughty...unless...you want it...to be, for Celestia sakes why am I even talking about this?"

Strato said lightly, "...because she was poking you in your naughty-"

"It was rhetorical, Strat!" Civil griped back.

Hot sighed to herself. Guess she was the one to mare up on this one. "Lib, dear," she started tentatively. "How should I put this? The mark doesn't define us. It merely underscores what we already know inside, like a testament, if you will. It shows us and all others a glimpse of what is inside."

Liberty muttered, "I kinda already knew that."

"Well, in some ways it's also like breaking the ice between strangers. It's not just a glimpse of what they are about, it's an insight into who they are. Clouds are for weather, stars for magic, earthy things for..." Their server went by and everypony at the table eyed the earth pony's pizza on her flank. "...earthy things. It doesn't determine our future or define us, it's just a representation of our special talent. So when another pony, hopefully one who is romantic, who is close to you...." She noticed Liberty had taken on a bored expression from the lecture, but she was still watching the mare.

Hot's eyes slid over to Civil and they lingered. Perhaps a while too long. She paused and then addressed Liberty again. "You know, while we are on the subject of souls, you could say it's like a window to our soul. The importance of it, of who we are, is on display for the world to see. Not to say that it is ALL we are, yet it is a glimpse of our inner self. That makes it a sacred thing to each of us. So the gesture of touching our mark, is like caressing...our soul." Liberty sat up. Now she was interested. Hot started getting a little flustered as she spoke, her cheeks glowing. No wonder her dam had a hard time discussing this that first time. While she was not afraid of intimacy with certain stallions she found interest in, discussing this among several ponies in public tested her nerve. She forged ahead.

Tapping her hooves together, Hot said slowly, "Some, uh, ponies, put so much thought into it, that it...'could'....be an erogenous zone." She held up one hoof and added quickly, "And I only say that part because I know you are an adult mentally. I wouldn't discuss this subject until my colt or filly was quite a bit older. It is enough to know about how sacred it is to us individually." She took a breath and tilted her head. "Not too much, Civ?"

He smiled gratefully. "Sounded fine to me. I am all frogs when it comes to talking about this stuff. To mares anyway."

She nodded, smiling as her natural color returned to her face. Holding a hoof to her mouth as if that would keep Strato and Liberty from hearing her, she whispered, "We'll work on that." Now it was his turn to warm up in the face. Strato tapping his own chest to salute Civil didn't help much.

Liberty sat there, processing. The pupils of her eyes did a brief constriction and she finally said, "Oh." Thinking on it some more, she glanced at the blank area on his side. At length she murmured, "Civil...I don't know what to say. I had no idea...and when I always told you it shouldn't be a big deal to dwell on...it was a big deal. Is. I feel like shit. I'm so sorry. I-"

He interrupted her with a gentle wingtip pressed against her muzzle. "No, don't. You were right. Dwelling on it keeps me from enjoying these moments." He glanced apologetically at the mare and stallion across from him. "Sorry...it's just, is it so bad not to know your special talent, what makes you, you? Mistakes and all?"

Hot reached across the table and touched her hoof to his. "Civil, all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on. Mark or no mark, you follow your heart." She paused and her eyes flitted to the side, thinking. Then she gave him a solid look and said softly, "There was something I heard shortly after my transformation, when I was trying to come to terms with things. I spent countless nights trying to figure out my mark, scouring the net on anything and everything transformational and transcendental. And I found something to listen to. I won't peddle anything on you since it was for me to discover, as this is for you, but there was one line that struck me to my core. The narrator said 'the deepest secret to life is not a process of discovery, but a process of creation. Seek therefore not to find out who you are, but seek to determine who you want to be'."

She smiled wanly, let go of Civil and looked out the window. "I had flashes of my days as a filly, after the change. Only the barest fragments I could remember, when we'd be allowed to go discover our talents outside of school, explore what we could be. I would try so hard at different tasks." She giggled softly, smiling, and glanced back at Civil. "Those CMC episodes are not too far off the mark. My adventures seem so silly now. Our teachers allowed us to go forth and simply be, not randomly happen upon a talent. They knew this, but us young fillies and colts did not, obviously. Yet THAT is what we did, and all those adventures were just examples of how not to make a lightbulb, to reference Edison's attempts. We had to discover we wanted to be us. I wanted to be me, and I remember now that when I wanted to truly do something, not just go through the motions, THAT is when I became me...who I wanted to be. I think back and I finally understand why our teachers could not teach this fundamental thing. They could not teach us what we wanted to be. Nopony, no ONE can. But you can teach yourself, Civil." Her eyes were moist and alight with passion. "You can choose who you want to be, more so than any of us ever could now!" She smiled, "You consider yourself a blank flank? You have yet to have one of the greatest adventures in our lives." She calmed down and murmured, "Like I said, mark or no mark, you follow your heart. That has always been the pony way. You do understand this, don't you?"

Strato was dabbing his own eyes with a napkin. "Yeah bud, truer words have never been spoken. So you screw up a patrol duty, big deal. Drop a bundle of foal...-" He felt a jab from Hot in the ribs, NOT his mark, cuz she was a good pony, "...FoaLOWERS," he glared at her and continued, "and you pick her-THEM up. Or fly through a building. You get back in the air and venture on. While we are all playing catch up simply to discover what we had chosen to be in our past lives, you still get to be!" Hot's eyes flicked to a building down the street where a window on the third floor had a new window slightly shinier looking than the rest. Liberty followed her gaze and went wide eyed, then concentrated on her menu again. Strato rolled his eyes and shrugged, saying "Learn and move on." He turned to Civil, "That motivational enough for ya?"

"Yeah, I hear ya." He smiled and nodded. He looked down at his forehooves and put them on the table. "I'm sorry we brought this up, we should be enjoying each other's company. I promise not to bring up my mark business again." Liberty snorted softly to herself while Hot gave him a look that said he didn't seem to be getting the full message, but he'd chosen to be done with wallowing in self pity for the time being, so that was enough for her. "Can we change the subject?"

"Certainly," Hot nodded. She imagined this would not be the last time they discussed this, but she had planted a huge seed in his psyche, something that should have been done a long time ago, but probably his herd never got the chance, what with their troubled history. She brightened and asked, "What would you like to talk about now?"

Liberty exclaimed, "How about what's going on in this town? And what are we ordering!?"

Hot laughed. "I think we can knock out both of those in one day. Second one first!"

***

Strato wanted to join their tour of main street Frontier but he said he had some things he had to do. Apparently he was part of the local weather team and there were a lot of incoming farmers in the area wanting to take advantage of their services for the agricultural community. Before he left, he made sure Civil had his number.

"Yeah I got it," Civil confirmed by showing his buddy the cell phone, "It's in there, I'll call. Just be careful when YOU call, right?" Strato's ear twitched.

Liberty waved, "And happy flying, Strato Sphere!" She said in a cockney accent. The stallion's other ear twitched and he got a weird look, but nodded all the same and trotted off. A took few steps before gracefully flapping once to launch straight up into the air. Liberty simply stared. After a few seconds she said quietly, "Wow...he looked kind of cool doing that."

Civil frowned slightly, "Um, all he did was a low power take off."

"Yeah, but from this angle he looked really-"

"HOT! Time to start that tour." Civil turned around, keeping his MOM/sister from watching the departing stallion.

Hot grinned ruefully at the two, "Sure thing, Mister Flustered."

"Hey, you do know I used to be an adult, Civ?" Liberty demanded.

"Yeah, USED to be, and we're not having that discussion right now."

She crossed her forelegs. "But you two will be having it later tonight." He paused.

During their lunch, Hot had asked them where they would be lodging for the night...and that went over like a lead balloon, so she volunteered her home to keep their costs down. With all the things she wanted to show them, she knew they would be too tired to look for a place anyway. And they hadn't discussed sleeping arrangements yet.

"I'm well aware of what we haven't discussed yet!" But the audience isn't aware. Civil twitched.

He felt a wing wrap around his neck. "Civil, calm down. You're here to have fun. Shall we?" Hot's voice soothed the savage beast.

"For the record I'm not a savage beast."

Hot grinned, tugging on him slightly. Liberty leaned forward to rest her head on Hot's wing. "I know that. But she's right, you need to learn how to relax. From what I've heard, police work can be intense if you don't know when to switch it off between shifts."

He allowed himself to be pulled along. Shrugging, he replied, "If it's anything like guard duty, I'm not sure you CAN switch it off."

Before they got to the first store, he could see a large structure several streets over, peeking over the buildings. It was a water park, the main attraction a massive heart shaped slide with flaming wings.

Civil's eyes slid over to Hot Pink's cutie mark for comparison, then slid back to the slide. "That water slide over there looks...awfully familiar."

"Yes," she murmured with a sheepish expression. "I might have given some professional advice to a prospective business stallion regarding theme parks I used to live near. He has a flair for the dramatic when it comes to entertainment." As a laughing foal zipped around the inside of the large heart, looping at the apex, waterspray hit the flames of the construct's large flaming wings and steam hissed in billowing clouds, like smoke. "I thought it was flattering."

"Ostentatious...and awesome! I wanna try that!" Liberty announced, pointing her hoof toward it like a general commanding her troops from Civil's saddle.

"Not this time, squirt." Civil wasn't having it.

Hot grinned and tapped Liberty's head with her wingtip, "Perhaps next time, sweety." Civil shook his head but remained quiet.

He lingered on the large thing. "Free advertisement is good advertisement, I suppose."

".....plus thirty percent."

His head snapped around to stare at her. "What!?!"

She shrugged, placing a lollipop into her mouth. "I begged for ten, Civil." She glanced at him and raised an eyebrow at his expression. "Cupcake in the eye, swear. He was beyond a gentlecolt about it and insisted more. And I help him with new ideas and designs. You two should definitely try Discord's Discord. I took inspiration from that hurricane/tornado thing you mentioned."

He shook his head and continued with her down the sidewalk, "I honestly don't wanna know."

"I do!" Piped Liberty. He merely nodded in defeat. Of course she does.

They were stopped by an earth pony mare that came trotting up, a tan coat and blonde mane giving her a homely look. "Hello, Hot Pink! By the way, the new fertilizer shipment was delayed and you know us earth ponies, or the stallions at any rate. They are insisting on planting the seeds later this week before the ground is even ready-"

Hot shook her head and patted the mare's shoulder. "That's why we were stockpiling the synthetic blends this past winter. Tell them to use that but be easy on it until the organics come in, don't want to saturate the soil. Synthetics will also give that initial boost." The mare nodded and trotted away. She held up a hoof to Civil, "The synths are pony made, so no harsh chemicals. Naturally."

He looked visibly impressed, causing her to blush when he said, "Dare I say it, are you Mayor Pink?"

She snorted. "Perish the thought. Can you imagine trying to sustain resources for a community stacked in three different regions at the same time? That was Las Pegasus. I had to listen in on countless discussions with my sire and the city council. Hearth's Warming might be well and good for historical value, but they never talk about the realities of real work when building a future. My father taught me that. In Las Pegasus we did have some farms on the ground level, but they were not near enough to support the mountain side or the upper cloud levels. We had to improvise. This scrubland is waiting for a good set of hooves to work it. Just needs a pony's touch...and my experience in management helps them out."

"Thirty percent, too?" Quipped Liberty.

"Heavens, no, I wouldn't possibly ask. Suffice to say, they offer me food and I thank them and they thank me for my recommendations on logistics and I thank them...the thanking gets tedious after several minutes."

"My apologies," Civil said. She tilted her head at him, curious. He said, "To think I was worried about your financial situation...."

"Hmm..." She nodded solemnly. "Then you don't need to ask about the bakery, the ice cream parlor, the arcade, the candy store and the strip bar."

Civil stumbled slightly.

"It's good business to be involved in a little of everything. I learned that back in Equestria, among other things. And I'm not ashamed in the least...although if I were to be completely candid, the fighting games in the arcade are my particular fetish."

The stallion was gobsmacked for a good minute. When he finally found his voice, he croaked out, "There's so much wrong in that, Hots."

Liberty slapped the saddle side several times with her hoof. "Not for me!" She pointed at the mare, "You, me, Street Fighter Alpha, TWO!"

Hot grinned and tilted her head. "Against each other, or both of us against Vega?"

"Vega? That Spanish bull fighting guy?"

She chuckled. "Please. I have imported arcades, with the original names."

Civil tilted his head. "I know that game. But...how can both players fight the end boss at the same time?"

She grinned. "There is a code you put in using both joysticks and buttons. You each share the same health and power meter and you fight the final boss, together. One fight only for both player credits, but it's a rush."

"...that's righteous," Liberty breathed. She raised her hoof, "To the arcade! Then to the bakery! Then to the icecream parlor! And the candystore! And then we are going to take over the strip-!"

"That's enough to do for one day, thankyou Liberty! Don't need to overdo it." Civil eyed the foal on his back.

"Awwww," She whined, "You didn't let me get to do my Howard Dean scream. And I'm an adult last I checked, by the way. I can drink if I want to, and I want to see the night life!"

Civil snorted, shaking his head, "Not on my watch."

Hot patted the foal's head, "I would agree with Civ on the drinking. Your mind may be of age, but your body could be harmed by alcohol and salt while it is still growing. Do you wish to have stunted growth, stay that size forever."

Liberty couldn't have gotten any paler if a can of white paint had been dumped on her head. She groused darkly and stared straight ahead, "Then let's do all the other stuff......heeeeyaaaaaw...." It was the worst Dean scream ever to limp its way out of a mouth.

Civil nodded, "Good girl." The growl that answered him from behind his head certainly had more emotion behind it.

The arcade was very popular, showing a good mix of teenagers and adults, of both pony and human variety. They were able to locate the Street Fighter Alpha 2 game. Saving the 2 on 1 session for their last credits, Liberty played both Hot and Civil several times before she worked up an appetite. Nopony really cared who won or lost, though Civil held his own against the girls well enough. Announcing it was time for a snack run, Liberty happily accepted the dollar bills Civil hooved to her and she hopped down, trotting away. Civil and Hot began another round against each other. It was a classic Ken versus Ryu fight. Hot was Ken, naturally.

She watched Liberty make her way to the line where others were waiting to get their orders at the counter. Certain that the foal would be there for a while, she went back to concentrating on the screen, performing a few uppercuts and spinning kicks. "Mind if I ask you questions about your mother?" Civil raised an eyebrow and glanced to see if Liberty was still in line.

He snorted softly, "I'm pretty sure even she doesn't mind a few questions, and would blab about herself all day long if you wanted. Give her ten minutes, if that line is anything to go on."

"I'm thinking before the curse. After...after the last time you saw her."

Oh, that. "Ah," was all he said. When it came to the dark days of his youth, it made him feel dark. He chuckled and shook his head, focusing on his fighting patterns. "Psychological warfare to win? That's pretty cutthroat."

"I'm serious." She hauled back on the joystick, turtling up in defense as he threw move after move at her. While it whittled down her life meter one tap at a time, she could have easily responded with a counter move that would have stopped his string of attacks and knocked him down with a single twist of the stick back and down, along with a punch or kick to enact an 'alpha counter', yet she continued blocking. He saw that she wasn't fighting anymore, so he stopped his attacks. His character stood there, vulnerable, its prescribed animation making the character rise and fall slightly in its fighting stance. She turned her head to him, "Striding was surprised to see your mom alive. Did you ever talk to her about it?"

He met her gaze. "Striding? She asked me about my herd when I first arrived to her unit, standard background stuff. I told her I'd recently discovered my mother had passed away."

"How did she act when you told her?"

"Well, like any pony, she gave me her condolences and said if I needed to talk, she would have an open door. Unless it was closed for verbal reprimands. I think it was always closed when I was in her office."

"She didn't seem surprised to hear your mother was dead that first time you told her?"

"No....now that you mention it...." He glanced back at the screen. The timer was flashing, counting down the final seconds. His life meter was far lower than hers, but that round no longer mattered and he paid it no attention, turning back to Hot. There was a new game in front of him.

Hot nodded her head. "Her reaction was genuine when you introduced her to Libs, seeing her alive. Contrary to what she was briefed."

"And not a word of the stasis." His eyes flicked back and forth, trying to remember those talks years ago, to be in the moment and see in his mind's eye how Striding acted. He looked back up. "So...that means Celestia lied to her, too...lied to us all...."

The mare wrinkled her brow, "But why?"

"I don't agree with it, but it makes sense. To protect me and the rest of our herd." He shrugged as Hot slowly shook her head.

"No, Civ, it doesn't make sense."

He nodded emphatically, thinking he already had the answer. "Yes. To keep Lib's enemies from looking for her, or me later on, her only foal. Striding said so."

She held up her hoof. "You said early on your sire claimed she had left your herd. Your human mom and dad confirmed that was what you thought for a long time. Hearth's Warming Eve, while we waited for you, they confided in me. They were concerned I might say the wrong thing about that subject." He rolled his eyes over the 'waiting' part.

"Yes...but, I was young when we got the letter from Celestia. Maybe my herd wanted to protect me from the concept of death...to keep hope up about her still being alive-"

"Did you ever get to read that letter?"

He opened his mouth to say...something that had bothered him for a while. "No, I didn't. Grandsire threw it in the fire the night we got it. He was angry, crying too. I never saw him do either, or both at the same time until that night, and never again. Then when he was able to speak, he told me she had left. Later I asked my sire if it was true. Other colts at school would tease me when the rumor had gotten out. A lead mare leaving like that? You know how shameful something like that was back then. When I asked him, Sire repeated word for word what Grandsire had said, and that's when I knew he was lying. Not just the words, but the exact same words? Even ignoring that, it was when he would grit his teeth that he was telling a falsehood. But I never could figure out about what. Or why."

"To hide a truth." She murmured slowly, staring at him.

He chewed on the inside cheek of his mouth, working her words over in his mind. Celestia did a lot of things to protect her little ponies, all her little ponies. Could it have been a bigger cover up than just hiding the fact they used soul magic? Or the very least protecting his herd from retaliation. The more he thought, the more he began to come to terms with all the odd looks he would get from the princess during those few moments they passed each other in the castle hallways, or when she was in attendance in an area he was guarding, or those thankfully rare occasions he had to actually answer to her for something he knowingly did. If the letter told them one thing, and his family told him something else that made him endure shame to protect something bigger....

His eyes narrowed and he noted the corners of Hot's mouth tilt upwards. She had been waiting for him to arrive at the same thought. He smirked and muttered, "You know, I'm supposed to be the investigator, here. Police, hello?"

She snorted and shoulder bumped him. "Please, you are too close to this. Doesn't hurt to have a guide to help you through this emotional miasma."

"What emotional miasma?" Asked a nachos-chicken-chili-cheese tray loaded foal trotting up to them.

Civil saw the massive tray of food balanced on her back and merely shook his head. "We...uh, hm." He paused. Not wanting to have food fly everywhere, but also not wanting to deceive her, he tried to answer her question as delicately as possible. "Well, we were talking about you, back when you were an adult...and we may have figured out that we were all lied to in order to cover up a huge secret that goes beyond enemies, soul magic, or whatever else anypony comes along and is willing to tell us. Celestia is up to her cute little horn in something massive by lying and shaming our herd. Not to mention sticking you in a freezer for who would have known how long. That kind of coverup."

"Okay."

Civil coughed out, "That's it? Just okay?!"

Liberty carefully edged the tray onto a nearby booth seat and began sticking her nose into the mess. In between chomps she said, food spray and all, "Well obviously we have to go back one day and ask Celestia all about it."

Hot and Civil exchanged looks. The mare grinned and shrugged, "Kid 'takes a lickin and keeps on tickin'."

Civil frowned and addressed the foal, "Just pop into Equestria, ask the princess that raises the sun and moon about forbidden information, just like that?"

"Eeyup!" She even had a dollop of nacho cheese on her nose before she dove back in.

He shook his head and reached over to grab some napkins off the table, then proceeded to spread them under her chin. Every once in a while when she came up for air, he'd wipe her nose. Not that it was any good since she would get it smudged again with cheese and chili sauce, but he just couldn't sit there and watch her cutely defile all rules of eating etiquette in public. He said, "For one, the eeyup only works on ponies with deep voices. Two, what if she says no?"

She licked her lips and nose, showing that she didn't need a napkin. Then she stared up at him. "I kick her ass."

Hot leaned in, tapping her cute lil head with a wing, "Liberty dear, you can't just go around kicking asses to get what you want. Trust me, I know."

"Hay, I saved Equestria. That is a get out of jail free card for ass kicking in my book, even if she is the ruler. If anything, I'd say SHE owes ME."

Hot quirked her mouth, then looked up at Civil, "Huh, she has a point."

"Of course she does, why the Tartarus not...." He reached over and grabbed a few chips for himself before Liberty could polish them off.

Since they weren't going to glean too much more from speculation and choppy memories, they went back to playing arcades, from fighting games to skee ball, and a plethora of other games. They spent a couple hours there until Liberty was all gamed out. Then the real sight seeing began, though the foal mostly sat on the saddle, eating cotton candy they had bought for her at the arcade.

There were several businesses catering to ponies, like clothing, hardware tools, dietary choices. Yet they all tried to incorporate human aspects as well. The diners' menus would clearly mark pony-tolerant choices with a small equine shaped head. A disclaimer was meant to keep humans from having an upset stomach, though one would think eating hay or flowers would be obvious enough. Advertisements blended both pony and human attributes to their products, playing the multirole function for blended families, catering to hooves and hands alike.

Still other stores blatantly used pony fashions to entice non-ponies, which in some cases could have been absurd, but the wholesome nature of inclusion was just heartwarming enough to at least entice one to go window shopping or step in to get a closer look. Hoof socks displayed on human arms. Hot grinned seductively as she moved on, Civil and Liberty staring with mouths open at the mannequins on display.

They stopped at the local bakery and perused the goods. Cookies, breads, pastries all added their flavors to the air and Civil couldn't help but order several things for them. He ruefully smirked at Hot when he spotted the winged heart cookies with the red sprinkles. She looked away, "I have no idea what you are talking about," despite him not saying a word. Her mouth quirked into a half-smile.

So the day went, stopping at every store, business, and location even remotely interesting. Dinner wasn't even a sit down affair, given the number of food stands and vendors lining the street. Ponies sure loved their stands. And ponies loved visiting those stands too, including Civil and crew. Liberty was nonstop in pointing out the different items she wanted to try.

Despite her ravenous stomach, Civil did admit all of it looked good. Some items were being catered to humans here and there, yet most of the items were hay based, flowered or mostly vegetable. Some vendors sold grilled pieces of chicken, which Civil opted for. Yakitori, grilled Japanese style chicken on a stick. He hadn't had decent Asian food in a long time. Hot Pink went for a bowl of noodles and tempura vegetables. Liberty went for a little of everything.

By the end of their walking dinner, they felt they really had seen it all. All but 'that' place.

"Pleeeease!!! I promise I'll be good!" In answer to her wailing, he looked up at the sign she was pointing at, and saw the place they were standing in front of. His look of horror as he stared at 'that' place known as the Wings of Fiery Desirey was priceless. Hot silently raised up her phone and took a snap shot of both of them, opposite ends of the emotional spectrum.

"Totally scrapbooking that one."

He swallowed and gave her a withering stare. "I can't believe you are even part of this."

She glanced up at the neon sign of glowing wings on a heart surrounded by fire, the flames piped in by natural gas lines. One of the wingtips was holding a large round cherry lollipop which swirled with different shades of glowing red. A particularly inventive unicorn had lit that one up using ionized gasses to create the effect. The mare pulled out her blueberry lollipop only to say, "I have no idea what you are talking about. They wanted to know what showmares were like in our hotel back when I was a filly, so I gave them a few ideas. Some Chippendales in there, too." She popped the candy back in her mouth.

He grumbled, "Yeah, I can imagine."

"So can I, if you'd let me in there-" Liberty continued.

"No. N. O. Besides, it's nearly bedtime for both of us and I have a lot of stuff to do in the morning." With a look of help towards Hot, she nodded back in agreement.

"Don't worry, girl, when you are physically old enough, by Equestrian standards, we'll come back here. I'll even get them to serve you a Flaming Foal. Guaranteed to set you up for making more." They both cackled as Civil's cheeks turned bright red.

"Yeah yeah, lewd innuendo. Stop contributing to the delinquency of this minor." He trotted out into the middle of the street and looked around as if he would be able to spot where her home was.

Hot rolled her eyes, murmuring the word 'stallions' to herself. She gently poked a pouting Liberty whose eyes were still lingering on the risque establishment. When she got Liberty's attention, she said, "It's not that long of a wait. We age faster." That seemed to placate the bundle of grump.

The older mare lightly touched Civil's shoulder with her wing and pointed it up into the sky. He squinted, using his flight vision and spotted the home floating up high, a nicely built cloud that was stationary despite other clouds lazily moving by it in the night sky. The town lights helped illuminate the bottoms of the clouds for his daytime oriented vision, else he would have been flying blind going up now. Liberty, for her part, stayed grumpy even as they lifted off into the air. Normally she was in awe of flying. It might have been that she was finally starting to get cranky from all the excitement of the day...until the cloud house got closer.

While Civil had an idea of what to expect, he was still just as moved as they approached it. Scratch that, it was not just a cloud house, or some ground pony's home adapted to the skies. This, ladymares and gentlecolts, was a cloudominium. And it was huge. Technically it was three stories, if one were counting floors. That third floor, though, reached up almost another fourth floor. The structure was taller than it was wide, using multiple smaller clouds in addition to the large foundation cloud to branch off smaller rooms for support. Marble pillars ringed all three floors on the outside and provided support to the smaller clouds.

There were no rainbows sprouting off or making rainbow waterfalls, zoning laws still pending, Hot filled in. The landscape lighting more than made up for it, innumerable colors providing beautiful contrasting and complimentary hues up the trunks of the pillars, their bases, the windows, and the undersides of the support clouds. Water fountains and mist sprayers whipped up enough moisture in the air to provide constant material strengthening for the clouds as well as a haze to make it all appear surreal, like a page out of a children's fairy tale book. Calling it a cloudominium was nearly an insult to what was before them as they alighted on the outer edge of the cloud foundation. Civil didn't even know his jaw was hanging down until he felt a pink wing gently push it back up. He glanced over to Hot and noticed she was blushing fiercely.

"It's just a pegasus home, Civil, nothing to gawk at," she said candidly.

"It's incredible. I never got to live in one back home, but I used to know what they looked like. Until now." This only caused her to blush harder and she turned away. Usually she was on her A-game in the confidence department. He must have really been affecting her today. He looked behind him. "So, what do you think? Does it measure up to your standards in luxury living arrangements?"

She was in utter awe of Hot Pink's home. "I want to live here, die here, then come back and live here again!"

He chuckled and reached back to loosen her saddle straps. "I think you've had enough dying for several lifetimes, if you ask me."

Hot walked up and pressed a hoof against the doors to open them. "If you think all this is something, come on in and look inside."

They followed her into the foyer, and it didn't disappoint. Civil was immediately struck by how similar it was to the television show. It was vast, a circular chamber dominated by a gilded staircase that split into two opposite directions curving away to lead to the second and third floors. Several doorways around the outer perimeter of the foyer led off to different rooms and hallways. Most of the foyer was made of marble, from the floor to the steps of the staircase to pillars around the walls. As their eyes followed the staircase up and up, they could see the center of the building was hollow all the way up to an open sky.

As he stared up at the open ceiling, he said, "Now that does take your breath away. Are you worried that it rains inside?"

She smiled, looking up as well. "No. I'm using a transparent cirrus dome at the top. It's thin enough to let any flyer and light through, but non-permeable to rainwater which rolls off to the sides. It's certified against hail too. I tried to make it open and airy so you can feel safe and be able to fly around at the same time."

Liberty had hopped down and was tapping her hooves on the marble. She scampered over to a hallway branching off of the main chamber and tapped the wood flooring. "We're on a cloud, right? How is this stuff not falling through?"

Civil chuckled, choosing not to poke fun at her. Without a lifetime to recall, she really was a spring foal learning about a whole new world. He answered, "The cloud firmament is packed hard enough using pegasus magic to hold earthbound materials. I wouldn't try flying through it at any speed, so you need to pay attention when flying, especially when you are in a residential area like this." On that note, he pulled out his flight pad and pulled up his Kittyhawk program that displayed local special use airspace. The entire town was covered by a mechanical no-fly zone. A note stated that only biologicals and flight approved chariots/carriages were allowed, those later vehicles needing Center approval for SUAS entry. He nodded and looked to their host.

"Would you like to see the rest of it?"

He made to answer but paused, watching Liberty scramble up the steps. Poor thing had totally forgotten she had wings and could simply fly up to the next level if she wanted. The older ponies grinned at each other, the mare holding her wing up. He nodded again and took to the air, Hot following close by his side.

The rooms were pretty standard, if a bit opulent in decor. You had your main bedroom, spare bedrooms, bathrooms with accompanying teleport potties (EPA compliant to deliver waste to the nearby treatment plant), gym, swimming pool (for the love of Celestia a swimming pool!?!). Kitchen was downstairs. Then there was-

"I call this the hangout room." In human terms, it was a man-cave. In pony terms, it was paradise. The room was huge, floored in white smooth marble tiles and alabaster walls with countless 80's and 90's memorabilia hanging up here and there. There was a pool table clothed with burgandy felt, a foosball table, a smattering of arcade games, a vintage jukebox filled with vinyl 45 records, a bar-

"A BAR!" Liberty exclaimed and she was off to the races, this time using her little wings to propel her through the air.

"No alcohol! Or salt!" Civil yelled after her.

Liberty stopped flapping mid air and dropped like a tiny lead balloon, skidding to a halt. She squirmed around and asked in confusion, "No salt...?"

Hot lifted an eyebrow, "She doesn't know about salt?"

"No," said Civil in a huff, "And she isn't going to."

"I am going to! What's wrong with salt?"

"Nothing, and you are not."

"She has the knowledge of an adult," Hot said, trying to arbitrate the situation. "She's going to, whether you like it or not."

"Not tonight. And no sugar, it's late as it is."

"WHAT?!? You drink cokes at midnight!"

"You are a foal, no sugar."

"Sugar is good for us, remember? Magic conversion?"

Hot gave up and sat there, watching them with a mildly disinterested expression.

"You don't need to convert shit right now! It's late, and still past your bedtime!"

"Oh you are not pulling this shit on me! I'll have you know I'm your mother!"

"You wouldn't have known that shit if I hadn't told you!"

"Exclusivity of information, AND shit, does not give you the right to be an asshole!"

"This asshole is making THAT <with a hoof pointing at her> asshole not drink hyperactive drinks THIS late at-"

A shoulder bump made him pause. Hot leaned in and said softly, "I'll handle the drinks. Why don't you pick out a song, something to mellow the mood." She pointed her nose toward the juke box and smiled at him. He had reservations about leaving Liberty at the bar, yet Hot Pink hadn't given him reason to worry in the past. He sighed and wandered over to see what he was working with, and was impressed when he began examining it. It was a Rock-ola vintage bubbler 45 record edition with silver accents and satin black finish, the silver and black making the rainbow colors of the LED curved panels and bubbler tubes pop with vibrancy. He whistled softly to himself. Feeling his hairs twitch, he snuck a glance toward the two lady pwns and saw Hot mixing up a few drinks, grinning to herself when her eyes nonchalantly swept by Civil and his gawking of her equipment.

Focusing back on the music selection, he hit the button that turned the plastich menu pages, soft clacking sounds issuing forth with every page turn. There were definitely some classics here. Bob Seger, Eagles, Floyd...but he wanted something else. A few more button presses, and...bingo. That got his attention. Pushing the selection in, the rack of records twirled in its vertical configuration until it stopped and the loading arm pulled out the right black record and flipped it down. The needle floated over and settled onto it. There were no pops of static, no scratches as his eyes scanned the surface before the turntable spun up. She took care of her stuff. A piano and stringed bass started issuing forth from the speakers and a soft male voice started singing Eric Clapton's Autumn Leaves.

Hot was bobbing her head to the selection when he walked over to the girls. He saw Liberty with her hooves wrapped around a tumbler filled with ice and a dark bubbly liquid. He raised his brow, "Soda?"

"Diet soda, thanks for nothing," Liberty pouted. Then she raised her glass, eyed him over the rim of the SALTED glass and licked it. His eyes went wide and he glared at Hot, only to see her holding a container of Morton's salt substitute before she snuck it back into a cabinet down by her legs. He swallowed his unspoken rebuke with chagrin and accepted the glass she nudged toward him.

"um...thanks" he muttered.

She grinned back at him. "Don't mention it, tiger. Besides, she's happy, I'm happy, you should be happy."

He sighed and nodded. "I know. I'm just tired. Was a very long and eventful day and I enjoyed all of it." Watching him sip his drink, she snorted and quaffed half of hers. He shook his head and pointedly sipped at his again. Reaching under the bar, her hoof bumped a few buttons, turning down all the main lights until just the light strips under the eaves of the bar, the cabinets, and the jukebox lights were glowing, casting the room into a 'bar is closed' kind of appeal. Last ponies standing, he mused to himself.

Liberty's eyes drifted from her supposedly taboo drink over to a floating object near the couch. Her face lit up, as well as her wings flapping in excitement. "Hots! Is that...can I...would it be okay if-!!!"

The older mare laughed and answered, "Yes, sweety." She barely got the word yes out before only a rocking glass was left on the bar. Hot reached over and steadied it with her hoof, calling after the zooming foal, "Yes, that is a cloud bed, yes you can use it, and it would definitely be okay. I was able to get one pressed together, a short notice order by our lead weather pegasi just for you, kiddo." Liberty was already using it, rolling around on the floating mass of cloud and thoroughly acting her age. Hot finished off her drink and set it down next to the foal's tumbler. She tilted her head to the couch. "Shall we?"

Civil nodded, finishing up with his drink and pushing the glass against the other two, forming a tight triangle. He slid off the barstool and trotted over to the couch, more to make sure Liberty didn't fall out of her bed than anything else. He settled down on the couch. A few moments later, Hot came over and settled down next to him. She looked up at the frolicking filly. "We can move the bed to one of the spare bedrooms. I wanted to show it to you in here first, to relax in. More to the point, so she could fall asleep in it while we chatted." Her eyes slid over to him, and he was captivated. "IF you want to just chat."

He stared, not knowing what to chat about, or what else to do, for that matter. She smiled and nodded, sitting back to get comfortable, rolling her shoulders a little. Then she tilted her head.

"Mmm...hello Civil."

"Hello Hots."

She giggled. Granted it was a cheap way to get things rolling, roleplaying an initial meeting of happenstance, yet she found it fun to see how he reacted. Playfully, she looked around at the couch and quirked her brow, saying demurely, "Dejavu. We've been here before."

He nodded. "Yes we have." His breath caught in his throat as he studied her face, her ears, her eyes. He could hear his heart thumping loudly and prayed that she didn't, and yet, by her expression, he was sure she already knew what she was doing to him. Ear twitching, he swallowed and said, "I find you very attractive. I really do-" He paused when she opened her mouth, thinking she wanted to say something, only it was a blessing when she didn't, for he could only stare at it, watching the tongue move, the teeth glisten, all parts of a beautiful and captivating mouth. Her tongue lightly moistened her lips. She didn't have to say a word. And they both knew it.

Breaths held, noses approaching, inch by excruciating inch, their faces warmed at the impending touch. He hadn't really kissed a girl or pony since...well since high school, and technically that didn't count because she ended up liking girls anyway, but this was serious and he really wished he had trained on how to do this and this was not the time to be overthinking something that should be so simple and sensual and quiet.......why was it so damn quiet all of a sudden?

He pulled back slightly. Hot did similar, a look of concern crossing her equine features, the ears swiveling in slight alarm, irises adjusting to let in more light out of instinct. Then her scalp shifted with both ears moving forward as understanding overtook concern. Both adults turned their heads.

Liberty laid there with bated breath watching them, hooves pressed against her lips. When it finally occurred to her that they were staring back at her, she lowered her hooves and whispered, "I'm not here. Go back to what you were about to do."

The stallion's eyes narrowed and he whispered, "Why are we whispering?"

"She doesn't want to spoil the moment," whispered Hot Pink.

He looked deadpan at her and muttered, "Well she kinda did...but it's not her fault. Not entirely." Civil sat back on the couch. "I'm sorry. I want to. My body definitely wants to." A groan from Liberty lambasting him on his super cringe made him grit his teeth. "I can't help it, I have feelings and I feel she needs to know them."

Liberty sat up and made to retort but stopped when Hot held up a hoof. "It's alright, Libs. He's correct. Letting others know his feelings is the best thing he can do when he is unsure. Besides, it's adorable." Liberty ugh'd in exasperation and fell back in her fluffy bed. Hot smiled and looked at Civil. "You want to be secure in your job before you take a leap of faith on your emotions."

He nodded and replied, "Even if I pass the initial application process, completion of the academy is an eight month ordeal." At her look of slight frustration, he shook his head, "Don't worry, I'll visit and go on more dates with you. I'm not doing the cold turkey Rocky thing." She raised a brow at him and he answered back in a gravel accent, "Women weaken legs."

She laughed and shook her head, "Hate to break it to you, Italian Stallion, but we do." When his eyes widened, she grinned and swooped in to kiss him for a single second before pulling back. "...'more dates' you said?"

He stuttered back, "Y..yeah, cuz I figured this...today, was like a date...minus the mom chaperone thing...uh..." She saved him further embarrassment by placing a wingtip on his lips.

"I had a more glorious date today than I can possibly remember in my past. Both pasts. Thankyou Civil." She turned her head back to the staring foal, who was back in the same exact position they caught her in before. "And thankyou as well, Liberty. While I know part of your visit was to help you, I'm glad it put you both in my neck of the woods."

Liberty grinned back unabashedly. "You bet, Hots. You two look too cute together not to hit it off." She sat up and held up her hoof, "I promise to make him come back here and have a proper dinner date in the future, or shove a cupcake in my mouth and hope to fly somewhere."

Before Civil could address the filly on how atrociously she screwed up that quote, Hot pulled his head back to her with a gentle hoof and nuzzled his cheek. She said quietly, "You do need to sleep. I would invite you upstairs, but that is not your way." She pulled back and grinned slightly. "Not yet, anyway."

He nodded, entranced. She slipped off the couch and headed to the hall, sashaying the entire way. Both Liberty and Civil watched her go, never blinking. She paused and turned her head to them. "There are blankets inside the end table, if you don't want to use any of the bedrooms." And then she melded into the shadows of the hallway to go upstairs.

"How did you manage to let her do that and still have her go upstairs all alone? TWICE!?"

Civil glared at his mother. "Because she understands me and what I need to do."

"Oh don't give me that," she retorted indignantly. "I understand you. I just can't believe you. She totally wanted to surrender-"

"Stop!" He sighed and said in a quieter voice, "She totally understands that I promised to date her more and take this slowly." Pressing a hoof to his chest, he added, "If I rush this, I will screw it up. I can feel that deep down. Just...let me take this at my own pace."

Instead of responding, Liberty grumbled and paced around a few times in the bed, pushing down a some wispy lumps. Satisfied, she thrashed her tail once and curled up into a ball. Poking her head over the edge of the bed, she stated, "Well don't string her along. THAT I will not allow. She's good for you, and you need her, dammit." With that, she stuck her head under her wing.

Looking to the side, he thought about Liberty's words, her demeanor and body language. He frowned. "Liberty...what's going on?" She didn't respond. "Liberty? Are...are you afraid I'm going to leave you?"

She growled and lifted her wing, staring daggers at him. "This is not about me, okay? Argh!" She shook her head in disgust and twisted around, putting her back to him. "I can't believe you would think I'm that selfish. I know perfectly well if you have to move away, then that's what needs to happen."

He wasn't buying it. "Then why the anger, the theatrics?"

An exasperated sigh came from her and she lifted her head, still facing away from him, "You sure you really want to know this?"

"Yes."

Her head slumped down. True she could have kept her mouth shut, but that would have been contrary to her whole argument for pushing the issue. This was at the core of who she was, or so she felt. The odd thing though, she had always felt this way, even prior to becoming a pony. While Liberty still didn't totally believe in the destiny thing and cutie-marks, she did know what was in her own heart and this felt right.

After a minute, she replied slowly, "It's nothing definite. Just a feeling. You have your feelings, I have mine. Mine says this relationship is going to open you up and free your personality in such a way, you have no idea." Liberty twisted her head back over her shoulder to regard him. "I can't even tell you why I am wording it that way, that's just what I'm feeling inside. I know you two need to be together. She already brightens you up, lights up your demeanor...she will set you free. I dunno, maybe it has to do with cutie marks after all. Damned if I know what any of it means at this point." She put her head back down, staring away from him. "I have a symbol for freedom and guiding light on my ass. Take it or leave it."

He regarded her with mild awe. Did she have that kind of insight into things? Or was it simply that obvious and he was too scared or hung up on himself to see the way forward. It was well known that most cutie-marks came forth through some event significant to the individual pony, as well as helping them to fine tune their strengths later in life. Sometimes, there was a deeper meaning that a few got to discover. He had always hoped when he was a colt that he would get to see his mother in action, saving Equestria again and again as an example of her special talent. Maybe he had misinterpreted what her mark meant all these years, seeing nothing but glory and strength. He shrugged to himself. At least she had something to go by. He glanced at his own flank, fur unblemished by anything significant.

"You are brooding again. I can practically hear it over here."

"Fine. I'll take it, like you said." He blinked and quickly said, "Your advice. Not...your ass. Fuck, you know what I mean."

She giggled and yawned, "Yeah, I know. If you're feeling frisky though, I won't follow you upstairs." She grinned when she heard him huff and slump himself into the couch, grabbing at one of the nearby blankets to cover up. A second later, she got hit by a similar blanket as he tossed one up to her. "Thanks," she muffled under it...and didn't move. Now she was in sleep heaven.

He shook his head and laid it down, stilling his thoughts so he could get some sleep.

***

It was a lake. Nice, serene, placid. The surface was a mirror of the sky, just a darker surface of glass. The only indication that time wasn't standing still was the occasional insect flitting across it and the clouds lazily drifting by up above. It was as tranquil as anypony could ask if one wished for a quiet getaway from everything.

Civil chucked a rock as far out into the center as he could, shattering the moment. Not so unexpected, he heard chuckling behind him.

"Oooooh, somepony wants to play with chaos, disrupt the boringly boring. May I join in?"

Civil glanced behind him and shrugged at the draconequus who happened to be tossing a small meteor up and down in his claws. Without much fanfare, the creature spun around and lobbed the space rock high into the sky. It came down to impact a shimmering image of a castle floating just above the center of the lake. Civil could barely make out a familiar group of mane 6 ponies running around in front of the castle skittering across the water before the whole scene vaporized. Lake, castle and all were turned into a smoking crater. The pegasus raised an eyebrow at Discord.

"What? You have your roles to play, I have mine."

Civil rolled his eyes, not in the mood for the god's antics. He hefted another stone in his hoof, but sighed when he realized all that was before him was a pit of smoking ragnarok. Discord snapped his digits and the lake returned, sans castle and miniature pony targets. The pegasus smiled and tossed the stone again, though this time seeing the resultant splash wasn't as...thought provoking as watching a meteor strike.

"Mmmm," hummed Discord as he floated by, wearing a pair of glasses and holding a notepad with a pen. "Something on your miiiiiind?"

"You would know, since you are one of the somethings IN my mind," he replied.

Discord rolled around and put a paw on his own chest, "Moi? Whatever do you mean?"

Civil glanced to the side at him, rolling another stone around in his hoof. "We visited a unicorn and got a bit more information about what happened to my mother. Interesting things."

Grinning, the draconequus pricked his own tongue with the ballpoint pen and set to writing in his notepad, "Ah, we are making progress, do continue."

"How did she bounce back?"

Discord snorted softly to himself, eyes never leaving his pad. "I presume there were some lingering effects that did not agree with the original child, so she merged with its soul and came back. It happens."

"It HAPPENS!?! Woh, hold up, souls can merge? I thought..."

Looking up placidly, Discord asked, "What, that souls are finite, quantifiable? Spbpt, you mortals are so...mortal..." He leaned closer to the pad, tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated on a particular detail. "...souls are infinite."

"I was told that."

"Well in this case..." He squinted, holding the pad away from him, "in this case, you are still too thin. Ahem, in THIS case, for brevity, let's just say she returned as a newborn, and the other newborn no longer had a soul to survive."

Civil stared at the creature in shock and whispered, "...it died." He continued sullenly, "The mother would have miscarried if it had no soul...no, it's just coincidence." Civil shook his head, refusing to believe, "There's no way-"

"No way that...what? That you just happen to know which mother it was? What are the odds, mmmmm?" Discord then scribbled out the detail, breaking his pencil. He tossed it away and grabbed another one, continuing to scribble. "There are no coincidences."

"You killed my human sibling." Now Civil's wings were out, armed with blades.

Snort, "Hardly. Unicorns did that."

"And your curse shit played no part?"

Discord's pen punched a hole in the pad and a single blazing eye stared at Civil through it. "I gave her the promise of twenty five more years of life. Otherwise, she was better off dead, at least her current body, and thus her brain." The eye began to smolder. "Memory is mostly an aspect of the corporeal realm. As a result of her brain's destruction, she lost the physical engrams housing her life's experiences, the physicality aspect of her experiences." He became more angry as he spoke, "Not only did they ruin her body, what they did to her left lingering markers on her s-" He stopped and pulled his head back from the pad, eyes narrowing. "You are not ready to know the secrets of the multiverse. Not consciously, at any rate. Get more experience first."

"What am I 'allowed' to know?"

"Sigh, and yes I said sigh out loud. You already know all there is to know but you have not experienced it yet, so naturally you fools think RNG is actually RNG, for starters. Hah. The devil’s greatest trick was in convincing you beings that he did not exist. His next greatest trick was lying to you that he did. And you believe in RNG. If you were not cursed, would you be related to said sibling?....or found your mother again? How about saving bestest pony?"

Civil squinted at him. "Bestest...what are you talking about? My mother?!"

"Hmm. T.M.I."

"Look, as for finding my mother...it was..."

"Mmm?"

"It was destiny-"

"Hahahahhaahah!" Discord brayed, spewing food into Civil's face. Reeling back, the pegasus wiped the debris out of his eyes. The draconequus had an entire banquet next to him which was only now disappearing. Did he conjure up all of that so he could spit-laugh into his face!?! "You mean if a butterfly beats its wings in 35,000 BC you won't turn into a whiny bitch? Hahahahahhahaaaa." The scene briefly flickered to a very familiar bar during a very familiar conversation before returning to the current landscape.

Civil sputtered, "...I'm not a whiny bitch. I am just...emotional sometimes." He should have known that any conversation would be known to this creature.

"Well now, that I can appreciate. Emotion is the stuff of pure energy, which leads to thought, which leads to action, which leads to reality. Soooo want me to help you save bestest pony?"

"I still don't know who or what you are talking about."

"You will....heheheh....you will. Still too early, like I said. Anyway, are we done boring me? I have people to do, things to see." He made no move from his lounging position, still playing with his pad.

"I'm curious. Other humans that reverted back to foals, they had to relearn how to speak as they reached the appropriate age. I noticed a few of them when I was in Equestria. A doctor mentioned it as well. How come my mother could speak as a newborn? From the moment she changed, she could."

"Eh?" Discord peered over his glasses, pausing his scribbling of a fat version of Civil on the pad, "Does it matter?"

"Yes. Or I won't talk to YOU anymore. In this place. Ever."

That got the god's attention. His eyes narrowed and he tossed the pad away. "It was a terrible picture anyway. Couldn't quite catch the attitude you were projecting." He hummed to himself, talon poking his own chin. "You do drive a hard bargain, though." He floated away, almost as if to leave, then paused, and slowly lowered to the ground. Civil's ears flicked as he picked up a sound in the background. It was music.

And it was starting to build. Discord's body shifted, became more compact. He began to look like a human, dressed in a long purple overcoat. The head sprouted green hair. When he spoke, it sounded like his voice was coming from the back of his throat, nasally. It sent shivers through Civil as he recognized exactly who he was impersonating. "....whatever doesn't kill you, simply makes you....stranger." He turned around and Civil saw he was wearing the same clown mask from the bank robbery scene. It sat just far enough forward on the face to make the eye holes shadowed, as though nothing were behind them. "I put a little neuron net around her brain so when she reverted back to a pony, she would retain a link to her human vocal memory. Such a trivial thing anyway, silly that you would burn your only leverage on that question." He giggled in a high pitched voice. "Almost a joke of a question, if you weren't...so serious."

Despite the music and this creepy turn of the conversation, Civil eyed him suspiciously, "So she has no memory of being Equestrian, of her former life, just her human memory. She doesn't get to experience the whole 'leave your minds confused' part like the rest of us. In exchange for her memory."

"Bodies confused, bodies-" He growled to himself and turned away, making a choking move with his hands. The music stopped. He spun around and faced Civil, tilting his face while flicking his hands in front of him. "You can't even remember a curse correctly." Discord shook himself and groused, "Let's just say I gave her a bit of...justice...to offset what was done to her. Blame your unicorn pals for the memory wipe. What they did was a violation of creation, forcing the body's will onto the soul." He pointed accusingly at Civil. "Their playing at godhood primed her to turn into that newborn. I was the beneficial one, like I said in our previous session. Thought you'd have figured that out by now. Manipulating genetic code, tweaking memory, anchoring the soul-" Discord stopped short, then stared at Civil ominously, that mask a dour frown. His voice lowered as he continued, "-more things you should not know or ask about. That's my business, and mine alone." He paused, looking to the side. "Maybe not alone. But NOT YOURS! They played with fire and everybody got burned. 'Cooked' her a little too long in the oven, so to speak. Bun in the oven. Baby foal, get it?"

"Yes," Civil groaned, glaring back at the aggravating creature.

"Good," retorted Discord as he began pacing. His voice got high pitched, "You can't imagine how LONG I've been waiting to get that one out. The joke, out. Not the bun in the oven out of the oven-" as he gestured with both arms in some perverse pantomime.

"I get it! So all she ever was, memories, all of it, are unrecoverable, gone. Is that what you are saying?"

"All she ever was?" In what could have been a look of horror, Discord grimaced as he raised his arms up, almost pleading to the heavens. Then he dropped them, literally, on the ground and leaned over Civil menacingly and disarmingly, "Don't be so fourth dimensional. All she ALWAYS is...is ever was, and will be." Discord shook his head, mumbling about insufferable lower lifeforms.

"I can still hear you."

"Of course you can. Look, if not for me she'd still be a temporal popsicle in the dark somewhere, hidden away." Discord popped out of existence and reappeared as a red, white, and blue bomb popsicle with a giant wristwatch about his middle.

Civil simply asked "Why?"

Discord popped into his normal self again and checked his arms. "Mm?"

"Why would you go out of your way to do that for her? After all the other bad things...." He wanted to recite the litany of harm Discord had done, and yet, something deep down made Civil start to contemplate bigger things, things outside his knowledge but on the edge of his awareness. The very least, he had been developing an understanding of sorts. Things in the universe happened for a reason. Could this have been one of those things?

The god watched him closely, as if he wanted to say something but didn't want to spoil the surprise.

"What reason did she give you to help her, besides a friendly deathbed chat?"

Discord wilted slightly as if disappointed. He ignored him, looking away. And not saying a thing.

That's a first, Civil thought to himself. He got Discord to shut up. What's more, he had the god off balance, on the defensive...and Civil felt like some ungrateful child having a tantrum over a gift he did not ask for. In retrospect, it was the most precious of gifts. He had his mother back, perfectly healthy and at the beginning of a new longer life than any pony could ask for. This was not a gift. It was a miracle, from a mad god. "You don't want anypony to know the real you, do you?"

This time Discord did respond by spinning around at Civil, snarling, "AND THEY BETTER NOT! I have a reputation to maintain. Yours is to know the real YOU, not like you'll get it this time versus the countless other times you were told. Besides, you couldn't possibly imagine why I do things. Not at this stage of your evolution. Just a hint would drive you insane, or worse, cause me to actually like you." He flipped a paw contritely.

"...thankyou." The wing blades disappeared.

Discord was taken aback. "What? No more eviscerations or gut stabbing? And here I was working on my abs for just the occasion." He thrust out his belly and each ab was lifting a dumbell. The display was both impressive and horrifying to behold.

Civil looked away, then glanced at the lake again. "Perhaps a lonely soul prefers peace every now and then." The stone fell from his hoof to the ground. The lake was once again a dark mirror of the sky. To be honest, he didn't know who he was referring to.

"Perhaps," the god mused under his breath. He deformed back into the masked villain. The background of everything began to pull away as the creature seemed to be getting closer, like a professional camera shot. Only...Civil was not using a camera. He glanced down to see he was standing perfectly still and looked up as the being began pulling closer and closer. "Take heed your ingenuity does not land you in any water too hot to jacuzzi in. Not that it wouldn't benefit you, but I doubt you would fine it pleasant. Still...if you should need some, shall we say, guidance, you have my number." The lake began to bubble as though there were ocean floor vents underneath, which the pegasus immediately ignored as a joker playing card was flicked toward him and landed at his hooves. When he looked up again, Discord was mere inches from him, the mask's eye holes still in darkness. After seeing the entity in action all these years, Civil felt he could hold his ground. He didn't flinch.

Speaking evenly, Civil said, "To tempt danger is a fool's path. To tempt you is twice so."

The god giggled softly and reached up with a purple gloved hand to his chin. "And yet, you will, not-my-little-pony, you will." He tore his mask off-

***

Civil jumped up from the couch, swearing, and fell out of the couch. Dammit, this shit again? He got up, kicking off the blanket that was wrapped around his legs. Glancing around, he got his bearings, checked his internal altimeter and noted they were still in Hot Pink's cloud home in the sky. He began breathing deeply to slow his heart. Stretching and hearing the kinks pop out of his shoulders, he sat up on the floor and grumbled, "Lonely or not, he's an asshole any way you look at him."

Liberty stuck her head over the edge of her floating bed. "Who's an asshole, and lonely? Are you dreaming of assholes?"

"Just one."

She curled up again out of sight and murmured, "It better not be me...i'll kick yer ass....soon as i get in another hour or two of sleep....zzz......zzZZ.zzz....nnmm....then....i want a cloud bed just like this one when we....mmm, home.......zzz, zzZZZzzzzz....."

He shook his head and got up. He'd had enough sleep. Afterall, in a couple hours they had to fly back, drop off Liberty, turn around and head into downtown Dallas to report to the headquarters building at 1400 S. Lamar St. He was expected to perform a physical fitness test, a written test, and be subjected to a slew of questions and polygraphs that would determine definitively what he would be doing for the rest of his life...or not be doing...

...if he fucked it up and pulled a Civil.

I might have gone a little heavy on the music links but I felt the story needed them and music is such a good emotional vehicle. I am also liking embedded links better, that way it doesn't pull the reader out of the story and they can choose to click or not.