Civil stared into the mirror. He knew there wasn't much morning prep to be done, short of brushing his teeth and putting on his business attire. He did have that acne he needed to treat. And there was a tooth he felt wiggling around. A sliver of paranoia crept into him. Some of his teeth felt like they were falling apart. Now his face was starting to peel off. The light turned red. The whole scene was an exact copy of the original Poltergeist movie. He squeezed his eyes shut and growled, "Stop it!"

A slightly annoyed sigh sounded from behind him. "Oh fine." >snap<

Civil opened his eyes and was back by the lake again. He spun around and stared at Discord. "I need to get actual sleep, you know!"

The god shrugged and said, "Oh sure, go get that all important interview and polygraph done as another one has fallen. But what do you care, it's not affecting you. Yet."

The pegasus furrowed his brow. "Another what has fallen?"

Naturally, Discord ignored him and countered with, "Are you alive or dead?"

Resigned to playing yet another word game with this entity, Civil responded with, "That's hardly an imaginative question, here. I could be both, or neither." For good measure, he stuck out his tongue. His patience was wearing thin and he needed to try new things to get rid of this nuisance.

Smirking, Discord replied, "I heard that, fyi." Rather than acting offended, Discord waved multiple college team flags in the air while cheering resounded in the background. "Now, see who's using their noodle? You are! You are!" While the creature danced around like a tit on smack, Civil remembered something that had been bothering him.

"If you're in such a helping mood, perhaps you can answer a question for me?" The only response he got was a paw motioning as if to say 'bring it'. "When we recited the words, why did she die?" The cheering ceased and there was an eerie quiet that settled upon the realm of dreams. Gone were the flags, the joviality, the carefree mood of an ancient lord of chaos. Present, was an angry god.

Eyes blazing, Discord growled, "That was not supposed to happen."

"Well it did. Not that I'm not appreciative of the whole protecting her mind thing, it was still your curse that did kill her just by mentioning-"

"I had to curse her twice because she rebounded back! I told you, they-"

"You are angry because your curse failed the first time!?!"

"No you simpleton, I am angry because of what those stupid unicorns did to her!" The entire scene changed. They were now floating above an immense chamber underground somewhere. Below them were rings upon rings of unicorns, their horns glowing so brightly he could not discern where one's color ended and the other began. While he had only heard about such operations in the past, he could only assume this is what linked unicorns looked like while channeling magic.

To the side he noticed the princess Celestia was watching with barely contained agitation, rare for those to see. He looked back to the center of the circles where her eyes were focused. There, floating a short distance off the paved floor, was his mother. His pegasus eyes could make out in stark clarity what his memory had washed away over the years. Pain. Emaciation. Deep wrinkles and tattered wings. Her legs and wings were so atrophied he could barely bring himself to look. She was suspended inside an oblong ever growing three-dimensional web of multi-colored lines of magic, layers within layers spinning in random directions.

"Five-dimensional," Discord murmured. Civil glance at him. The god's mouth wrinkled with disdain and nodded down at the ponies. "They thought employing soul magic would do the job." Civil looked back down and noted a few unicorns were cloaked in black robes. "They were destroying her one cell at a time and her soul was being torn apart, for all the effort to keep it in place. Arrogant. And I know arrogance!" In a flash, the anger was gone, replaced by immense sorrow, the kind that formed black holes in the universe. It nearly overwhelmed Civil as the feeling saturated everything. The scene imploded into nothingness as they floated in the dark. Discord lamented, "I was angry because of what they did to her...one of the few souls willing to listen. In her last moments of existence, she understood everything. And they destroyed everything. They destroyed your mother." He straightened up and took on a prim posture. "As I said, evidenced by her rebirth. You know the rest, of course."

"Her memory..."

"Destroyed. By them. Had I not been as skilled as only I could be, she would have turned into a pony from her human state in all of a split second, then dissolved into nothingness. It was either to be frozen for all eternity, or live just a little bit longer. Which would you choose?"

Civil was shocked. Yes, the doctor back in Frontier told him about the procedure to save Liberty, yet to have such a horrible outcome...he couldn't even process which would have been worse. His mother forever frozen somewhere in Equestria, or a puff of dust in the wind.

Another pegasus somewhere sneezed. Discord's ear twitched and he snorted. "That joke is so bad even I wouldn't touch it to curse it." Civil's confused look garnered the god's attention. "Suffice to say I do not make mistakes. I merely underestimate the willpower of others, on occasion. I overlooked the experiments those ponies did in their mountain and the death of your mother was the result of it. And despite what that glorified doctor told you, there was no cure. Some things are simply meant to be."

He paused, then smiled ever so slightly and added, "Had your mother never contracted her disease by being her true liberating self, you would not be here now, she might actually be dead for reals, butterfly effect blah blah save bestest ponies, exponentially dividing possible futures cloned Twilight, CMC elements yawn. There are a couple of drunk ponies in there somewhere, I think. Get the picture?"

Civil opened his mouth to say something, but Discord beat him to it and emitted a sound that was very digital in nature. The pegasus tilted his head, trying to make out what this new garbage was that Discord was doing. The draconequus shook his head while still squawking and coldcocked Civil in the head with a furry paw.

***

The light finally spilling over the horizon pried his eyes open in the real world. He was back in his bedroom, a single beam of light coming through the curtains. He was also lying on the floor, having flew out of bed due to fright...or.......

He picked up his head and groaned, the side of it throbbing in pain from where he hit the floor. It was the same spot on the head that Discord punched him, yet clearly the floor was what caused the hit.

Right...?

Picking himself up he glanced at his phone he saw the alarm had been emitting that same digital squawk for three minutes. He wasn't sure which he preferred, the jarring sound of digital noise or the jarring punch from an elder god. Neither, if he could only figure out how to avoid both. After fumbling with his phone to deactivate the alarm, he laid back down on the bed for a while longer before pushing himself up again. There was no point in getting any more sleep, the day was upon him regardless of his feelings about it. Stretching his wings, and hearing a few pops up and down his back, he muttered, "Guess it's time for action. Again"

***

Civil entered the large office area. It was your standard corporate cubicle setup, small offices lining one side of the walkway while the other side was partitioned out. A small space was cleared and a line of chairs were in place, all but one occupied.

The walk to his chair was made in deafening silence. The nervous banter of the applicants had ceased almost in unison with his entry through the door. Like a wave effect, heads would pop up to see who it was, followed by short whisper and more heads popping up. It would have been hilarious if it hadn't been solely his presence causing it.

Thank Celestia there was carpeting in place to muffle my steps, he thought to himself. With his folder still tucked under his wing, he approached his chair. One brief hop and he was perched on his seat, waiting to be called into the interview room.

The rest of the office slowly got back to their conversations, though they were somewhat hushed. The line of sitting candidates were dead silent. One or two snuck glances at the pegasus just sitting their in a suit.

Before long, the candidate nearest Civil kept getting elbowed by his neighbor. Civil could make out the jostling in his periphery while staring ahead, so he was ready for the inevitable.

A voice finally cracks, "Are...are you-"

"Yes I am a pegasus. Yes we are real. No I don't know the main six, mane six, whatever you bronies call them."

His terse response produced another long pause. Then in a moment of bravery, the candidate blurted out, "Why?"

That was a new one. Civil raised his brow and turned to face the gentleman. "What?"

"Why here, Dallas? An entire world of magic and you come here? I'd love to go some place happy and perfect."

That was a sore spot. He could feel his chest fur bristling up, but he did his best to remain calm. Relying on the military bearing he picked up in both worlds, he replied calmly, "It was deemed necessary by my superiors that I relocate to a place more suitable for growth and peace of mind."

Another candidate snorted and muttered, "They got rid of him."

While that might not have been exactly true, that did hit a little closer to the mark than he liked. Not wanting to wallow in that quagmire, he addressed the easier point. "I wouldn't call Equestria perfect, or all that happy. It was more of a gentle principality ruled by two sisters."

A young lady leaned forward, exclaiming, "What about the magic, the mythical creatures, the talking animals-"

"I am not an animal," he muttered.

One of the detectives sitting in a cubicle poked his head out and said in an altered accent, "I am not an animal...I am a human being." All the applicants, including Civil, stared at him. He raised his eyebrow, "The Elephant Man? 1980 biographical drama. Anyone?" Some of them shook their heads while Civil flexed his jaw. The young woman grimaced and sat back.

"Sorry," she whispered. The detective shook his head and went back to what he was doing on the computer, muttering something about young people.

Civil sighed. "Eh, that's okay. I suppose two decades of being taught one thing is difficult to unlearn overnight." He gave her a halfsmile.

She smiled back, some of her enthusiasm returning. The other guys there refrained from saying anything else, hoping the feminine approach would loosen the pony better than their directed attempts. A hand shot out to him. "Hi, I'm Terri Galinski." He blinked, looking at her outstretched hand and regarding her unabashed fascination on her face, he nodded and stretched out a wing to her, letting the tip of his outermost primary brush her hand.

"Civil Patrol."

In shock, she barely closed her hand, afraid she might yank on it by accident. After that, the other candidates began to introduce themselves, reaching out as well. He reached out to each one of them with a hoof and shook it up and down, much to their confusion.

"Um, why does she get just the wingtip and us the hooves?" One of the guys did a rather poor job trying keep from laughing while muttering 'just the wingtip'.

Terri rolled her eyes while Civil scratched his ear with a wing, "Because she didn't ask to touch my wings."

They all chimed in at the same time with different versions of, "Can we touch your-"

"Can I touch your dick?" he responded quickly. The one asking him kept his mouth open and stared at him.

When Civil refused to say anything else, the guy said, "Uh...no?"

Civil nodded. "Exactly. A yes would have made that awkward." When the moment had sufficiently ripened with them shifting in their seats, he finally answered, "Wings are a delicate subject for us flyers. Same with unicorns and their horns. Not sure with Earth ponies, just don't stand behind them if you piss them off, I guess. We speak, we think, we feel. For that matter, just about all living things feel." He eyed them for another minute, checking to see if they had been properly chastised. He mulled it over for a few more seconds, putting himself in their shoes. How awesome would it have been in the presence of a magical being when he was a human. He couldn't be a complete jerk, he might be working alongside these people.

Shrugging, he spread his wings to either side. "I figure if we all get this out of our systems, we will be brothers and sisters on the line. Don't pull out any of my feathers, cuz I won't thank you for that." He saw one of them nod knowingly. Nice, at least someone remembered Harry Potter.

It was at this moment a man in a suit stepped out of one of the closed doors and walked up to witness the group gently feeling the pony's wings. One by one the candidates noticed him standing there and went back to their seats. Civil looked up, turning red in the face. He retracted his wings.

"What you do in your private time is your business. That...whatever it was, will not be allowed at the academy or on the streets. Do I make myself clear?" They all nodded, avoiding his eyes as he stared them all down. He turned to Civil, "Thankfully, you are the first one on the chopping block, Mister Patrol. Let's get this over with before you end up wooing everybody on this floor."

Giving his wings a little shake to realign some of the feathers that were out of place, the embarrassed pony followed the man back into the small office. Inside there was a chair placed in front of a long table. Two other men in suits were seated on the other side of the table, watching him. He was told to take the solitary seat while the man who had led him in sat down next to the other two. Civil noted that two of the men were fair skinned while the one in the middle was Black. Other than their skin tones, they were in similar attire, business suits with normal red or blue silk ties, nothing outlandish. In his peripheral view, he could see their dress shoes were glossy black, most likely corfam.

They introduced themselves as Timothy Spencer, Kevin Erickson and Frank Cruz. The third name caught his attention. On closer inspection he noted the dark hair and ever so slightly darker complexion. If the man had Hispanic origins, then this panel was specifically broken down by racial representation. While he was used to the myriad colors in Equestria, differentiating shades of skin tones was a much tougher affair for him. Spencer spoke first.

"You are Civil Patrol, formerly Jason Berringer, separated from the Air Force shortly after a..." He paused and raised his eyebrows, "...a two year hiatus on another planet." The other men on the panel did not react at all, so it was obvious they had already reviewed his portfolio. Civil assumed that it was a fact so fantastic on paper it could ONLY be verified from a living breathing winged pony sitting in front of them. The pony nodded.

"Equus is where I am originally from, before being born as a human on Earth. Mind boggling, I know. I've had to live through it and I came out the other end in one piece." The man quirked his brow and nodded.

"Assuming your application is approved, the academy will test how true that is. Throughout this process, keep in mind that we wish to safeguard not just the citizens of our fair city, but also you as well. We have had examples where this vetting process has failed in the past, so rest assured we are continually refining it over time." Civil nodded. He could see why all this hassle was important.

The dark-skinned human, Erickson spoke up, "Why do you wish to join our department?" Civil blinked at him. The man continued, "You are a pegasus." As if that explained everything.

Civil balked at what he thought was a racial jab. He sat back. "Yes, I am a pegasus, but that shouldn't have anything to do with my application."

The other two men looked at their colleague silently. The man looked down at the papers he was thumbing through in front of him. "In many ways, it does. You have hooves. You stated here in the preliminary questionnaire that you cannot effectively drive a human vehicle without a specialized steering system to accommodate you, that holding a gun would require some kind of augmentation. I would also point out that your body mass is significantly smaller than most people you will be coming into contact with. Some of this job requires physical force to subdue your opponents should enforcement become more than verbal." He put the paperwork down and took off his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I just want to know if this is some kind of political statement. Are you willing to defend human lives out there or just the rare pony you come across? Are you committed to the law?"

Civil glared. For a moment he had thought, of all the officers in front of him, the black one would have his back in anything concerning race. He gritted his teeth and breathed a few times, thinking about how he wanted to speak. Eventually, he stated, "My 'status' as a pegasus nearly convinced me not to apply for anything, yes. But not because of my limitations. This was something I wanted to do since I was a human child, and until recently pointed out to me, I had completely forgotten about it. You wonder if I will be committed to the law. It's not about blindly following orders, it's about...doing the right thing, making things better. Growing up and participating in Boyscouts, we were taught to always leave campsites cleaner than we found them. I would say this applies to situations you would come across as a police officer. At school I would always follow the rules and tried to get the other students to do the same because I felt if everypony was on the same page, it was better for everyone. After I changed back to my true self, I started remembering my former life as a Royal Guard, the reasons why I joined them. It's not just about keeping the peace. It's about..." His eyes flicked back and forth between his hooves, trying to think.

He looked up when it finally came to him. "I's about being in the right place at the right time. If I hadn't joined the day guard, I definitely would have joined the night guard. There was a recruitment poster that spoke to me back then. 'Some of the scariest monsters come out at night. So do the bravest heroes.' I know what's right and wrong. I shouldn't be judged by my right and my left." He held up both his front hooves for emphasis.

Instead of being annoyed, the black officer sat back and smiled. "Good. You can control your emotions and turn a verbal attack into a rebuke. The subject of race is touchy for, obvious reasons. As a man of color, I don't have to mention the history this country has endured, or the issues of race and equality throughout history around the world. And this is not L.A., this is Dallas. Yet we do have our political flare-ups now and then. We try to maintain order despite the rest of the nation going to hell in a handbasket. We have our plate full as it is, we do not need to invite political activism. Despite egos and opinions, we must remain neutral to any political stance and blind to everything else except the evidence in front of us. Do you understand all of that?"

Civil shook his head and responded, "I don't do politics. If you are so concerned about what I am, then let THESE," spread his wings wide, "be a symbol of me soaring above petty garbage to look over the flock and swoop in to help the helpless. The Guard wasn't just about guarding things, or ponies, or fighting off manticores, dragons, or Discord's left over mutant hellspawn." This got their attention. "When I was off shift, I would walk at night on my way home, listening for sounds that didn't fit in the night. Or that strange movement of somepony in the shadows. A normal guard would just raise a lantern and tell them to move on. I wanted to find out what was going on. I wanted to investigate. I wanted to know...." he looked down at his hooves. "I wanted to be there when it mattered, instead of just cleaning up the mess." He looked up and stared them down. "I wanted to run to the fight, not away from it." He briefly remembered running away with two foals in tow while Canterlot burned. He squashed that memory. "I would like to do that. The Guard was very strict about investigating stuff. I am hoping I can find that here."

They sat back. After a minute of silence, Cruz tilted his head to his colleagues, "I'm on board."

Erickson glanced at Cruz, then at Civil. "I would say you will get more than your fill of investigations, if that is what drives you." He wrote some things down on a piece of paper and looked up, his features genuinely softer. He said, "I apologize if I offended you. I needed to know the real you. It sounds like you understand what we are looking for."

"Boy...did you say dragons?" This was from the man named Spencer.

"Mmhm. Two story house size in open territories, usually. The larger ones tend to stay near their nests."

"Larger ones, he says," Cruz says in a hushed voice.

Spencer replied, "Jesus. We are worried about little stuff like PETA protesting the use of ponies in some para-military capacity."

Erickson cleared his throat and started gathering up the paperwork in front of them. "We did stray from the script a bit. Interviewing a being from another world is not our usual fair." The other men chuckled. Pulling out one paper, it had some scripted questions on it. The man perused it briefly to refamiliarize himself before he began. "We have a few scenarios to run by you. These are possible situations you might run into during your career as a police officer."

Civil nodded and waited.

"You are called to the scene of a major accident. A woman is in the middle of the intersection on the ground, unconcious, her mangled car is off to the side. Another damaged car is on the other side of the intersection. This is in the middle of rush hour. What do you do?"

Civil responded, "I run over to her to see if she is ok."

"Out in the middle of traffic? This is rush hour. Don't forget, you have a car. We assume in these scenarios you have access to all your equipment, including a squad car and you are able to use them."

"Uh, I move my vehicle to block oncoming traffic."

"Good but impractical," one of the panelists responded. "This is a multi-laned intersection during rush hour. A single vehicle won't do much to block things. You have other resources available. You have a radio," the man emphasized.

The light finally came on and Civil blurted out, "Oh! I call paramedics and other officers to the scene. If we can get an engine or ladder truck to help block, do that, too." The men nodded and wrote some things down on their individual papers, expressions neutral. The pegasus sat back in his chair. While he knew there would be some things he would have to do to think on his hooves, he felt a little cheated since he wasn't aware of all the assets and services a cop would be able to call upon in a crisis. He only knew to rush in and help. Like a good pony.

The second scenario was a little rougher.

"You respond to a 911 call regarding a major disturbance in a rough part of town. The apartment complex you pull up to is known for having a few residents that have made threats to police in the past. The callsheet detailed unknown individuals screaming loudly in the parking lot and at some point someone was yelling for help, but when you pull up into the middle of the complex where the parking lot is located, you don't see anybody. Just then, a few bottles come flying at your vehicle, some shattering as they hit your hood. What do you do?"

"I stay in the vehicle and turn on the lights and sirens."

Cruz nodded and said, "Officer safety is good. Sometimes lights and sirens will discourage disorderly conduct. Not these residents. Now they are throwing rocks."

"I get on the radio and request other officers for backup." See, he learned his lesson from the intersection scenario.

"Now the rocks are bricks. One of them goes through your windshield."

"I pull out my gun."

Erickson chimes in, "Maybe back your car OUT of the complex, yes?"

"I back my car out of the complex far enough and wait for backup to arrive before going back in," Civil responded. Yeah, he was hoping they teach him how to properly respond to these things. Getting to a situation and not knowing what to do always gave him a sick feeling in his stomach. Like now.

A couple of the men shook their heads and wrote some things down. Civil waited glumly for the next fuckup he would get to participate in.

"You get a call regarding a warehouse at the edge of town. A woman was heard screaming. The caller couldn't hang around but they described she was possibly being raped. There is a door to the warehouse and you pull up to it."

"I call for cover."

"Cover is coming, several minutes out. You can hear the screams right now."

Civil sat up. He was pissed at failing and this wasn't some tactical quiz, it was straight forward. "I draw my gun and go inside."

"When you enter the warehouse, you see a man holding onto a woman who is tied up and naked. His fly is unzipped. He is holding a gun to her head and tells you to drop the gun or he will shoot her."

"I put two rounds into his head."

All three men raised their eyebrows and stopped writing. They paused for a few seconds before each one wrote something down on their own papers. Erickson smiled quietly and responded, "Good answer."

Finally, he said something right. He asked, "Were the others not good answers?"

Spencer fielded that one. "While we have heard some horrible answers in the past, we are looking for you to at least do something. Inaction, freezing in place, not properly analyzing the situation, that can cost lives. This is to assess if you can think for yourself and not react like a robot." They were starting to gather their notes up. They certainly seemed a bit more relaxed after his last answer.

Erickson stood up. "Don't worry about the small details, Mister Patrol. The academy will teach you the law, what you are allowed to do and not do, as well as what is available for you to finish the mission. I think you are going to do alright. Just relax when things get tense and do not freeze up." Civil nodded and got up.

"Alright Mister Patrol, please step outside and we will discuss your application." Once the pegasus stepped out and closed the door, Spencer turned to the other two. "What do you think? Is he ready to do police work here?"

"Is HE ready?" Erickson chuckled. "Is Dallas ready for him? I don't see anything wrong with his background. A royal guard on another planet protecting royalty and citizens? Air Force with no disciplinary history. Above Top Secret clearance at one point. College. His credentials are stellar." Something crossed his eyes.

"You are worried about his personality," Cruz pointed out. "What he has endured. Dragons, monsters? Like you said, the academy will shake that out, one way or the other."

Spencer sat back down and rifled through the portfolio. "I see no glaring discrepancies in his file or his answers. Some hesitancy in the scenarios, typical of someone not used to police work. He has conviction to do the right thing, according to the psyche questionaire. The military experience gives him a solid foundation for following orders and rules. I'm on board, too. The chief talked to you guys about this one, right?" The others nodded. He grunted to himself. "In any case, the chief wants it done, short of any glaring discrepancies. I don't see any. Pending his other background checks, this is a green light. Are we in agreement?" Without hesitation, Erickson and Cruz nodded.

Cruz nudged Erickson. "You did push him a bit on the pegasus thing."

The man shrugged. "I had a feeling if I went soft, he'd mealy-mouth a P.C. answer. He can control his reactions when pushed. He got a little heated but held it in check. Hopefully the academy will teach him how to control that and remain cool under pressure." He laughed once. "Red Man is going to be a bitch." The others chuckled while imagining that. "Other than that, he is sincere about doing the right thing. Lord knows we need more officers who understand why they are here." The other two men murmured agreements and finished gathering up the papers pertinent to Civil's application. Erickson stepped out to speak to the pony.

Civil was instructed to go down the hallway to the next office door. He passed the seated applicants that had felt his wings earlier. They looked as though they wanted to quiz him about the interview, yet couldn't due to the nondisclosure warning they were given earlier. Just as well, they would all pass or fail on their own merit. The next one of the background checks he was to endure was the dreaded polygraph. From a clinical point of view, he was curious if his pony physiology would throw off sensors normally calibrated for a human body.

This office was smaller, with a smaller table, two chairs on either side, a laptop and a single human male. The man was in a buttoned white business shirt, red tie, and wore glasses. Several wires with thin circular pads were hooked into the laptop via a USB hub. One of the sensors was a long white plastic strip with a velcro strap. Civil figured that one was like an EKG sensor. The man was typing on the laptop.

He didn't look up when Civil entered, but said, "Finishing up a few things from the last applicant. Have a seat and we will get you hooked up soon enough." Civil did as he was told and patiently waited, as much as he could be patient about this part. His wings twitched every once in a while. While he waited, the man peered up at him a few times.

After what must have been only a few minutes, the man finished up and stood. He tilted his head and asked, "The wings, is that normal, the twitching, or is it a nervous tick?"

Civil hadn't even noticed he was doing it until he looked down at himself and willed it to stop. He rolled his neck a little to relieve some of the tension in his muscles. He gave the man an awkward smile and replied, "Some ponies do it when they are nervous. Others, it's just part of their personality."

"Permanently twitchy? No wonder they eat so much sugar. Probably like hummingbirds," the man muttered to himself. He took a bottle and started greasing up the larger sensor with some kind of clear gel. "Okay. No reason to be nervous about the examination. This setup will measure how comfortable you are with the answers you have given on your questionare. Please unbutton your front." Civil's wings started twitching again.

The man chuckled as he moved closer to Civil with the sensor while the pony fiddled with his shirt and jacket. Trying to sit still was a challenge when the man (Okay seriously, what is your name? "Kevin Walker." Cool, thanks) Kevin pressed the gelled device up against Civil's chest. The cold gel mushed into his fur and went right to his skin, making him flinch. He grimaced, knowing that was going to be a pain to wash out later. Kevin pulled the straps up tight around his barrel, securing them with velcro at the ends. He placed the smaller sensors a few places around his head. Lastly he put a single sensor with its sticky pad up against the frog of his hoof. He tried not to respond to the ticklish feeling. Kevin sat back down at his side of the table and hit a few keys. "Alright, just sit still for a minute so I can get a base line."

Civil did as he was told and waited.

After a while the man nodded. "Got it. These first questions are the standard battery of interrogatives. Name?"

"Civil Patrol."

"Race?"

"Pony."

"Sub-race?"

"Pegasus."

"Colors?"

"Black and white."

"Lie about your colors."

"Red and green."

Kevin grinned and nodded, marking down the time on a piece of paper as he watched his screen. "A Christmas pony. Can't wait to see those get marketed in advertisements during the holidays." He used a mouse to drag something around and sat for a few seconds, reading. "You put on your questionnaire that you received some tickets when you were younger? How many and are they paid off?"

"Two, both paid off. Was in high school."

"Mmhmm. And you mentioned shoplifting? Are you still doing that?" Huh, right for the jugular.

Civil shook his head. "No. It was only a few times and I haven't done that since high school."

Kevin leaned in closer to the screen, marked the time down on his paper and glanced up at Civil. "Why did you quit?"

"I was terrified," the pony answered. The human didn't react and simply sat back, clicking on something.

"And then there is this thing up in Canada. What happened?"

Despite dreading this part of the process, Civil could only comfort himself that this was not the worst thing he had done in his two lives, at least to his knowledge. In a voice tinged with embarrassment, he recounted the same story he had told over dinner, except this time there were no interruptions of crashing dishware or peals of laughter. When he was done, the man noted the time. "Just to recap, it was in Canada?"

"Yes."

"Someone else paid for it?"

"Yes."

"And...you ended up doing it yourself?"

".....yes...." Civil had slumped a little in his chair. He swallowed and asked, "So, does this kick me out of the application process?"

"Hah! No." After a few more button taps, Kevin asked, "Is there anything you omitted from the questionnaire that you feel is illegal or wrong?"

Sighing, Civil shook his head. "Other than making mistakes here and there, I think I was justified in my life decisions." Defense of another's life was justified, even if it takes a life, right? He thought back on that dark alley and Luna's words...whatever happens will happen.

Kevin seemed satisfied with what he was seeing and nodded. "All done." He got up and came around the table. Civil was a little stunned as the man started to take off all the electronics from his body.

The pony blinked up at him. "Seriously? The Canada thing doesn't taint me for court testimony? I thought it was grounds for terminating my application." Kevin shook his head and chuckled.

"Hardly. We're looking for people who have committed felonies, like robbery or using heroin. Unless you are an expert at faking false positives, I wouldn't start hanging out at any dingy places. Doesn't appear to be your thing. In any case, you are far from tainted. If you were faking that, we'd give you strong references to get hired at a completely different kind of government job."

Civil tilted his head and rubbed at his chest with the tissue Kevin gave him. Yeah, that gel was going to be icky until he took a proper shower. "False positives? What are those?"

After winding up the wires and putting them on the table, Kevin sat back down, moved the mouse and clicked a few more times. The printer next to him started up and spit out a sheet. He slid it over to Civil so he could see. It was a graphical analysis with timestamps corresponding to each question and answer.

"You'll notice the first several questions had some spikes in the graph. Those are the baselines I mentioned earlier. You were nervous throughout the process, hence false positives. Not a huge issue, though it can muddy the analysis a little. I don't even think you being a pony had much of an impact. If anything, you are probably more forthcoming with how you feel about things than the average person, which is why it made it easier to read you on the topics that made you uncomfortable. See here, your answer to the wrong colors, a definite shift. I don't see that anywhere else. The topics you are uncomfortable with are more gradual in your physiological responses." He walked over to the door and opened it, smiling. "My recommendation, learn to relax. You don't want to have a heart attack before you are thirty, do you?"

Quietly buttoning up his shirt and doing a quick rundown on all the things in his life from his colthood, events preceding the curse, the attempt to hand him over to be dissected to getting tossed through an interdimensional portal by the second most powerful being he has ever known in his life and dealing with a disapproving pair of third most powerful mothers he has ever known in his life...oh, and when he had nearly lost himself mentally right after his change in his quest to get back to Equestria. Yeah, sure. Learn to relax. That was a lofty goal to pursue for the day.

Outside the office he was told the process was done at this point and he would be contacted soon regarding his application prospects.

***

The flight back home was uneventful. On his descent to the house, Civil spotted a certain diminutive filly laid out on a towel on the roof, sunbathing. Hoping to avoid her silliness after a relatively long day of physical and mental prodding, he landed at the front door while keeping his shadow from crossing Liberty's form. All to no avail. As soon as he closed the door, he could hear a clattering through the ceiling of the second floor. It would be too much of a miracle to think Santa had arrived early. He had just made it to the kitchen where his human mother was cooking a seafood gumbo when sure enough, Liberty burst through the front door.

"Hey Little Bird! Some detective came by-"

"Shut the front door, Missy!" Karen intoned without ever looking up from the pot. Liberty skidded to a stop and blanched, spun around, ran back, slammed the door, then zipped back into the kitchen before Civil could half process the word detect-

"-detective came by and asked us all about you! And guess what we told him!?!"

He closed his eyes. To think he had dreaded that polygraph and second guessed his scenario answers more than a few times on the way back, that such thinga would be the worst he had to deal with. Oh no, he had to females right here willing to tell the world about him. He turned to Liberty slowly, not wanting to think what this care-free-I-don't-give-a-damn filly could have possibly said to help his career before it even had a chance to get off the ground....

*** earlier in the day ***

Laren opened the front door to see who was knocking just before noon. A man in a semi-business casual attire with a briefcase stood outside. He looked middle-aged, had a small gray mustache and his face was weathered. His hair was curly, a dapper black peppered with silver gray.

"Hello, I am Detective Randal Blake. I am doing a background check on Civil Patrol who recently put in an application for the Dallas Police Department. I understand he lives here, yes?"

"That is correct." She paused, then turned to Liberty, "You can head upstairs, dear. This will probably be rather personal."

The man tilted his head slightly and raised a finger, "Actually I would like to interview you both, if you don't mind. With another pony in the household, I have to conclude she is related to him in some way?" Glancing to the diminutive filly, he asked, "Your relationship to Civil is...?

"His sister."
"His mother."

The slightly unsynchronized answers threw him off a tad. Just a tad. He'd heard far worse. With a practiced stiffening of his upper lip, he queried, "Which is it?"

"Both," they responded in perfect unison.

"..." Maybe he hadn't heard worse.

"It's pony shit. Same shit, different pony," the pegasus quipped.

"Liberty!"

The pony jabbed a wing at the man while saying defiantly, "Well, it is! And he's a cop, we can't lie to him. You want me to lie to him, Mooooooom?"

After a few seconds, the detective started to smile. Despite the weirdness of the situation, he was not unfamiliar with stories of ponies around the world. He had been briefed and understood there might be some cultural differences. If the worse he had to deal with here was just a misunderstanding of lifestyles with talking four-legged legends of old, this might actually be enjoyable, if a bit odd. He was game. Nodding to the pegasus, he stated, "I appreciate that, miss. That's why we do these interviews, to avoid confusion and get a better understanding of who we are going to train to protect us."

Her mother wasn't quite as forgiving with the child's nonsense. Yes, the little patoot on hooves was still a child to her. Karen regarded the man and waved a hand at her daughter, "Don't listen to her, she is jaded by life."

"I am not! I know my brother better than you do." Karen raised her brow down at the filly. Mother/Daughter time was about to get real.

The man standing at the doorway cleared his throat. "If I may. Siblings tend to spill the beans more than parents, she might have a point. Mothers by their very nature will protect the image of their children, covering up the less pretty parts, while vengeful sisters paint their brothers in the colors of stark reality."

Dan was finally up from his sitting chair in the living room and had moved closer to the group. He interjected, "And if they are both parent and sibling?"

Karen coughed down a chuckle as Liberty went red in the face.

Huh, Randal thought. This was not going to be just a simple cultural misunderstanding; the detective was starting to rethink his questions. "Oh...then we have a felony investigation instead of just an application for police service. Texas has strict laws on that, unlike some other states. On the subject of mother-sister, was there something-"

"We have ponies in our family, Mr. Blake. While it has been hectic from day One, I assure you that nobody...and no-PONY, has committed any felonies in this household." She underscored her statement by folding her arms.

"Least of all him," Liberty stated evenly. "I don't think he could commit a crime if his life depended on it."

He had yet to truly study body language of the pony variety, but with the older woman's solid stance, the younger pony's seriousness as opposed to her earlier childish behavior, and the father figure standing behind them with a calm and steady demeanor, he could not see any sign of subterfuge. All three different personalities were very resolute on the issue. He sighed with relief inside...he did not want to deal with that kind of paperwork today.

He nodded, "Okay, I believe you. Um, do you mind if I come in? That way the neighbors don't have to hear all this.

Karen looked shocked at the apparent offense of holding him at the door for so long. She stepped aside, waving him in quickly, "My apologies, come in, come in! I got so wrapped up in this, it didn't even occur to me to be civil about your visit."

"You are Mom. Your son is Civil," Liberty interjected.

Dan tapped her on the head softly, "Quiet you. You'll get your chance to shoot your mouth off." She snorted up at him but stayed quiet. Shocker.

Once the detective was led in and properly seated on a couch offered by Karen, the rest of the family situated themselves about the room. Dan sat in his easy lounge chair, Karen on the opposite couch, and Liberty on a large pillow squarely in the center of the living room, staring up at the visitor. It was almost disconcerting in a way, those big eyes studying him. Randal figured the bossy nature of the child was coming through. If there were any skeletons in this closet, they would come from her, assuming the parents didn't rush her upstairs first.

"So," he began, "how does...the mother-sister thing...how does that work?" He pulled out a notepad from his briefcase and readied a pen.

"The mother-sister shit?" The filly kept a serious look on her face. After seeing her mood swings, Randal was starting to get a read on her emotions.

"Liberty..." Dan intoned.

"He asked!"

Dan said, "It's a long story."

Randal nodded, "Please, enlighten me."

"Okay...." Dan said quietly, remembering.

Thus a retelling of family history commenced, much of it the college days of Liberty which were summarily ignored by everybody (this is not about you, Liberty, again!) (yes Moooom). Civil's supposed disappearance from a plane, the portal and appearance of mythological creatures, the events all over the nation, and the trip to Ocean City.were all laid out in the open for the detective. It was certainly far more interesting than the stories and rumors he originally thought were over the top at the time.

During a pause and after a much appreciated glass of water from Karen, the man looked over his notes.

"Backing up a bit, that thing in D.C., all of that was from this creature...I can't even believe I'm using the term 'creature', but there it is. The creature was called a D...Discord, right?" The family nodded, Liberty doing so most enthusiastically. He jotted some notes down, reread his entry and shook his head. They had moved way beyond the mother-sister situation. "Sorry. I'm just imagining what my supervisor is going to say when he reads this. Not like I have to explain anything. Those events were all over the news. Seeing it unfold was surreal. Hearing it firsthand from an actual talking-" He paused and glanced up, looking Liberty straight in the eye. "You've actually lived this, more so than other ponies I would imagine?" She nodded, then nodded again as he added, "The freezing thing, the memory stuff, the rebirth."

He tapped the pen against the pad, thinking while he regarded them all. After a minute he said, "You weren't kidding. Pony shit. Civil seems to have endured a lot, too. Much of it capable of causing psychological stress. How does he handle stressful situations, especially after such a history of physical and emotional upheaval as you describe? Have you seen him do anything morally questionable?"

Liberty laughed as she answered, "Hell no! He is a straight arrow. He will do the right thing all the time, if he can. Boring if you ask me. And you did, so there. He may screw up now and then, but his heart is in the right place. I myself will do what I feel like, as long as I don't get caught." Her mother groaned while her father just put his hand over his eyes. Dan didn't want to see this train wreck as it developed. Liberty turned around to glare at her mother, "Oh give over, I'm not confessing to any crimes." She turned back to the detective, "I did nothing, and that's that."

As a cop who once worked the streets in patrol, he knew the phrase 'hear no evil see no evil' very well. "Okay, so strictly speaking about Civil Patrol...does he drink alcohol and how often?"

This got the filly laughing again while Karen shook her head from behind and answered, "Sir, I've never known him to drink much, if any. Occasionally when we are at a restaurant, he might order a pina colada or some other mixed drink, but I've never witnessed him drinking heavily at any functions or at home."

"Drinking heavily?" The filly wheezed, "It's one or two foo-foo drinks once in a blue moon, if that! Then the only thing he might do at home is put a shot of creme de mint in a blender to make Grasshopper." She had another chuckle thinking about it. "Of course, I've been known to drink several shots-"

Dan interrupted her, "This is about Civil, dear."

Randal asked, "He makes Grasshopper drinks?"

Dan shook his head, "Not full Grasshopper. Something I came up with a while back when they were kids. Couple scoops of Blue Bell Homemade vanilla ice-cream (there is no other better tasting vanilla, I'll fight over that issue), milk, and one or two shots of any mint liquor. Creme de Menthe liqueur works well. Mostly for flavor and color. Put it all in a blender and you have mainly a minty milkshake. We call it Grasshopper. He's made some pina coladas in the summertime or up at our vacation spot in Maryland, but nothing too harsh. My wife has had some in the past and she drinks even less, except for an occasional glass of German wine, so he doesn't make them too loaded."

Nodding, Karen added, "Other than German wines, something about the alcohol gives me a headache. I've never had an issue with his drinks. And like I said, he rarely makes or drinks them."

Randal nodded, made some notes and continued, "How does he...hmm...when he was a human he was white, Caucasian, correct?"

"We all were," Karen answered.

"Are," Dan corrected.

"Speak for yourself, I'm green!" Liberty beamed. Karen rolled her eyes at them both.

"See what I have to put up with?" She muttered.

Shifting awkwardly, the man nodded. "I see. To your knowledge, has Civil ever treated any persons, or ponies, differently, based on their background, creed, skin color...?" He paused, glancing at Liberty, "I suppose fur color...too...do you know any instances where he might hold any kind of bias in his interactions with anybody?"

They all shook their heads with varying degrees of disbelief, as though Civil would ever do that. Liberty, on the other hoof, as it were, "Nope, never, but I have!" Randal merely leaned to the side so he could rest his elbow on the arm rest of the couch and prop his chin on his hand.

"Do tell, sweety."

Before her parents could jump in, she went off, "Well when Jason and I were growing up and going to school in Katy, there were these Mexicans at school who were the Mexican Mafia-" Randal's eyebrows shot up but Karen waved her hands.

"They were not REAL mafia, not as far as I knew. I was a teacher there to help students learn basic English. A small group of Hispanic students who did not have an interest in pursuing good grades tended to hang out and stir up trouble. Some of them were in my class. Most of my students were indeed Hispanic," her tone became stern as she stared at Liberty, "And most of them were good students." She glanced back at the detective. "A few would inform me on what the others were up to and I would make sure a certain school principle knew about it either right before or just after the incidents. They never found out how we were on to them, but we made sure law and order were maintained." A quick glance to Liberty had just a hint of a warning.

Liberty spread her wings in innocence, "What? All I was going to say was there were some kids who called themselves Mexican Mafia and ran around giving kids nutcrackers and doing spit wads and letting air out of teachers' tires. I had some Mexican friends too, wasn't like I disliked all of them."

"Not all of them were from Mexico, dear." Karen's voice was a little strained. Liberty flicked her wing at her mother. Randal asked what a 'nutcracker' was, though as a guy he could take a wild guess. Nut and cracker were not guy friendly words in the same sentence.

"Oh, nutcrackers? See there were these metal poles holding up the sallyport roof thing above the walkways between the buildings, and in between lunch and gym class, they would grab a random kid, each one by the limb and hold him up like he was laying on his back, then they would run at the pole-"

Randal held up his hand, "I got it...and this activity was condoned at your school?"

Karen responded, "Sadly at the time we didn't have enough staff to monitor them as they made their way out of the cafeteria. This was years ago and they've redone the buildings to make it a complete enclosure. What events we found out about, we made sure the assistant principle gave out the appropriate punishment."

Nodding, he sighed, "Just as well. Katy is outside my jurisdiction. And I think there is a statute of limitations on nutcrackers." That got the young pegasus giggling up a storm. The rest of the questioning was fairly mediocre, some minor date clarifications, locations they had previously lived, on Earth, that is. Liberty found herself mildly perturbed when she couldn't remember Equestria or where she and Civil had lived. The detective didn't mind, anything Equestrian would be nearly impossible to verify unless he got hold of another pony.

By the time he was done and had packed up his paperwork while thanking everyone for answering his questions, Liberty was already marching out the door with a towel, sunglasses, and a host of grumblings about how she was going to lambast Civil with questions of her own.

*** Later in the day ***

"Which totally reminds me, Little Bird, where did we used to live? Was it in the sky or on the ground? What was our family like? Were there other songs I sang to you? Were you a straight arrow and boring Equestrian too or were you a total fuckup?"

Civil stood there in the kitchen, wanting to ask a few of his own questions about the man who had visited the house earlier...but with all the grilling that had been done to him that day....and this shit....

"Fuckit. Big Mom, let me know when dinner is ready. I'm taking a nap." He walked out while little mom kept rattling off question after question. Karen slowly shook her head and kept cooking.

Dan was out having another walk, his luck for avoiding these things still holding true.

A few days later Civil received a call. "Hello, Mister Patrol, I am Detective Randal Blake. I was assigned to investigate your application and it looks like everything checks out. You will be joining the next class starting a week from today."

"A week? That's really quick," exclaimed Civil.

The man on the other end must have been surprised because he paused before asking, "Do you not want to go?"

"Yes! I mean, I want to go! I just didn't think it would be so soon, is all."

"Well that's how these things happen. Some candidates end up waiting six months at a time. You lucked out. Instructions have been emailed to you. If you have any questions you can call me at this number during normal business hours. Good luck and stay safe."

Wow. This was happening, he thought to himself. He only ever had two dreams, across two lifetimes. While the first was a mixed bag as a navigator, he would finally get to be police. And yet...what dreams did he really have before the curse? Helping ponies? Could he even say that was something he desired.

No. Not honestly. It was more selfish than that, he was ashamed to admit. He wanted to matter. At a time and place, following the rules and making sure all things ran smooth and clockwork-like, he wanted to matter. If he graduated, he would be in the thick of it. Dallas. He took a deep breath and nodded to himself. In for a pony in for a pounding, this was going to be rough. Police work meant more than just guard work. He was going to get into people's shit whether they liked it or not because he had to solve problems, not just guard shit.

"Moms!" He yelled downstairs. "It looks like I start the academy next week!"

***

After 8 grueling months in the academy, several frustrated instructors, weeks of aching muscles from defense instruction and sore eyes from reading about all the laws, protocols and policies there were in the police department, and many many teeny tiny errors (not all of them Civil's fault!), this was the day of graduation, where Civil was finally going to put on the uniform to be one of Dallas' finest-

Spbpt, yah right. Where's the fun in skipping over all that?

***

T minus 8 months and counting.

Civil's pegasus sire, Civil Justice, had always felt the longest days on a journey were the first, and the last. The first day because you see the finish line out on the horizon, a vast distance away promising a very long journey ahead of you. The last day...because it IS the last day and the culmination of all your efforts. Civil thought about all the things he had done and choices made to reach this point. Knowing that his military life, and Guard life he supposed, was done, corporate options and any other business type thing were out, this was it. This HAD to succeed.

In many instances in his life, Civil tended to finish things or accomplish goals by the skin of his teeth. It was that way in college, just barely graduating with the appropriate grade point average to matriculate into the Business College and get commissioned through ROTC that very last day, all at once. And it was that way in most other things before that, including his earlier time in Equestria. You'd think Civil got tired of it playing that close to the edge. He was tired of it, yet he always found himself in these instances. Despite all that, he always came out on top. He didn't know it at the time, but it was his sheer willpower, a thing most living creatures have but only a few seem to utilize.

He arrived outside the academy near the small business airport in southwest Dallas promptly before 8 am. Dressed in a pony styled business suit complete with belt and tie, and wearing his boots since he was unable to find the pony equivalent in dress shoes, he moved with the small crowd of other applicants in through the front doors. From there a red-shirted instructor directed them to a large empty room that had several tables and chairs. Once they were all seated, several people came by dropping off packets of paper. This was to be the contract signing, insurance and information dump session of the day. All in all, it was rather boring.

After all the paperwork was collected, the lady who had been instructing them on where to sign thanked all the applicants and apologized for what they were about to endure before leaving. Huh, ominous much?

Another instructor marched in and told them to stack up all the chairs, put the tables on their sides, fold the legs and carry everything to the sides of the room to be nearly stored away. As he did his best to follow the instructions, he could feel a tension start to build in the air. While they worked, several more instructors started to meander their way into the room, lining up along the walls.

As soon as the last table and chair were set aside, the main instructor yelled at them to each stand on a taped 'x' on the carpet. There were several rows of them evenly spaced and they all scrambled to grab vacant x's. He wasn't all that surprised as the events ensued. He'd had guard and military training start out like this in his past.

"All of your eyes on me!" yelled a red shirt who stood at the front of the room. "I want to make sure you are paying attention and you get our names right. I am Senior Corporal Cross. This is Senior Corporal Wood." One by one each instructor lined up along the walls stepped forward and raised his hand. There were at least thirty people. Yah. Civil was screwed. Memory games were not his strongsuit-

"EYES FORWARD CANDIDATES!!!!" They all snapped to, as if they could stand any tighter. In seconds there was someone already in his face, bending down to try and get eye level with him. Screw. Civil couldn't even remember this guy's position on the wall.

"They told us we couldn't haze you for being a pony, horse, or any other kind of farm animal. They said we couldn't make fun of your wings, your overbite, your large eyes, your fur, or your dainty hooves. And they definitely won't let us make fun of your height. So, the only thing left for us to do is pick your brain! For instance, what is my name?"

Fuck

"Um, I can't remember-"

"That's SENIOR CORPORAL to you, maggot! And yes, we CAN call you names completely unassociated with your race. A maggot is a young housefly, did you know that, cadet!?!"

"Yes senior corporal-"

"NOT to be associated with the common HORSEfly, did you know that, cadet!?!"

"Not if that's a pony joke, then no sir."

"...are you trying to get cute with me, cadet?"

Civil swallowed. "As long as it's not natural pony cuteness, then absolutely not, sir."

The instructor immediately straightened and turned away, barking out of the corner of his mouth to Civil, "EYES FRONT!" The pegasus could barely see the man holding a hand over his mouth, quivering slightly. Another instructor stepped up to the first as they both tried to keep straight faces.

The second guy leaned over to him as the first one whispered, but Civil's hearing still picked it up. "Stan, I just about lost it. We're going to have problems with this one."

His buddy nodded and glanced around to make sure nobody else was listening in. The second one murmured, "Take a minute to get your shit together. Think about your first marriage, that might help." That wiped the smile right off his friend's face, nodding. "I'll work him over a bit, then you can tag back in." The man walked away to bother another applicant.

The second instructor moved closer and stooped low to look Civil in the eye. "You think you're funny, don't you?" Civil stared straight ahead, silent. The man yelled, "I asked you a question, cadet! ANSWER IT!"

Civil responded, "I'm funny when I need to be, so yes sir, I do."

"Oh really!? You think you can go through life laughing at everything?"

Civil gave a curt nod and replied, "Spend life laughing, or spend life crying, sir."

The man snorted derisively and said, "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard. I also heard equines are dangerous at both ends and crafty around the middle. Is that true cadet!?"

He recognized the quote and replied, "I wouldn't know, sir. Depends where you stand on the matter."

The instructor was about to respond and then the joke hit him. He barked out a single laugh, then said, "On the floor! Give me twenty push-ups, now!" Civil squatted down as best he could to do said pushups. "Wingups, cadet, this ain't vacation!" Civil's eyes widened. The instructor jumped down on the floor with him, yelling, "You are damn straight I know what a wingup is! I said twenty! NOW!" The man yelled out each wingup as Civil worked them off. He hated wingups...hated them like...like gum in his fur hated them!

It was a long day and plenty of suits would need dry cleaning by the time all was said and done. Thankfully it was only a couple of hours. They were even made to run outside and around the track a few times. He was not interested in standing out in this environment and did his best as herd animals knew how, stayed close to the middle as possible.

As the sun was starting to the set, so did the day of torture draw to a close. Back in the main room, one of the instructors walked back into the room. "At ease, ladies and gentlemen. And pony." The all slumped but thankfully nobody completely fell out. "Today is officially over and I can assure you none of the other senior corporals will be harassing you for the rest of the day." They all sighed and relaxed. He spread his hands and said, "This was a taste of what the next eight months will be like. If you decide to quit and not return tomorrow, there is no shame. If you stay a few months and quit, there is no shame. This is a job not for the feint of heart. It will test your mind, body and resolve. We intend to break you down and rebuild you into men and women, and pony, that will proudly wear the uniform and shield." He glanced at Civil and nodded, smiling, "You will be tasked to work as individuals and as part of a team to accomplish things the average citizen would just as soon not want to deal with, nor will they have the proper mental faculties to make critical decisions that you will be tasked to do. You might have to separate a family member from relatives and take them to jail. You may arrive at a scene and all hell is breaking loose. You might have to shoot someone. Making mistakes can get people killed out here and this process will weed out those who can from those who cannot. For the record, we want all of you to make it. We need you. Go home, keep up with your fluid intake and get plenty of sleep tonight. You will need it."

Next Chapter: Eh, Not Bad. We Got Shot At. Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 54 Minutes