After a long loud clipclop trip down the hall, Civil entered the class for Day Two of refresher training. Naturally, the other pegasi were seated early and waiting, chipper than ever. Civil never liked mornings, or morning people. They sat there watching him, having been alerted long ago as he made his way noisily through the building. Some of the humans were still filtering in now and then.

"Yeah, I know," he muttered at them. "Just give me some directions where you got those." He made his way to his seat, deciding to sit next to Strato Sphere again.

"It's not on base. A farrier just outside of town makes 'em," Strato replied, pulling out the seat for Civil, who in turn thanked him quietly. "The welcome packet they sent us has a flier in it. He started up a line of pony accessories when he found out we were being funneled through here for training. We'll swing by after today and get you set up."

Civil's first inclination was to decline a group thing again. That's when Hot Pink leaned forward, another lollipop stick poking out of her muzzle today. She eyeballed him in a most peculiar way. "Um...sure," Civil muttered. Pink raised her eyebrow, waiting. "I'm game for some group shopping, I suppose." Pink rolled her eyes and sat back.

"Finally, the social butterfly flits his wings," she quipped.

It was Civil's turn to act indignant. "Gee, I'm sorry, I didn't get to acclimate to hanging out with ponies like everypony else in Equestria. I was a tad busy guarding crap and fighting dangerous crap. And dealing with some crap nobles selling crap to foals." This got their attention.

Strato asked, "I've got so many questions about all that...dare I say, crap, but that reminds me, you just got here from Equestria, right?" Civil nodded. Strato hitched his jaw in thought. "Eh, I don't get it. Why would you return here...for that matter, HOW did you return as a pegasus? I thought the portal turned us into humans coming back over."

Civil shrugged, "I came back under special circumstances. And as for why...um." He sighed and lowered his voice, "I used to be a Royal Guard, but was suspended indefinitely to pursue another career here." He closed his eyes, trying to remember Celestia's 'goodbye' speech. "I think. I'm still trying to work that one out, I guess." He opened them again and shrugged.

"Hon, suspended?" Pink had an incredulous look, not unexpected from hearing that kind of story.

"He means banned. Holy Hellspawn, you got Banned From Equestria!!!" Strato practically yelled this out loud, causing the rest of the class to turn around and stare at him, with some wearing vaguely knowing smiles.

A smooth baritone voice spoke up, "We've collectively vowed never to speak of that computer game, on account of its depravity and very poor artwork style." That was Barro Metric, the silvery gray stallion on the other end of the row of four ponies.

Hot Pink leaned over to him and murmured, "It wasn't made for the artwork, big boy." She took out her lollipop with a wingtip and licked it. Barro grunted dismissively and went back to watching the instructor prep for class. The human was distributing tablets.

Strato clearly wanted to ask more questions, Civil was sure, but he felt he wasn't in the mood for pony soap operas. His strategy to become incredibly interested in the tablet and gear placed before him was a good enough smoke screen. Strato, for his part, was no dummy. If the mopey ex-guardspony wanted to put on a stony face to the situation, he'd let it slide. Besides, they had Hot Pink on their side. That was almost like declaring victory right after a coin toss.

The class went about as Civil would expect it. In addition to the tablet, they also received a surprisingly small transponder, battery supply, and different odds and ends, like a detachable GPS antenna, and a harness rig. According to the instructor, there was a built-in altimeter in the transponder. Once all the parts were stuffed in the harness and fully connected, the rig would act like a Mode S transponder unit. Civil frowned when the instructor mentioned Mode S. Typically Mode S was needed for aircraft systems that also incorporated TCAS, or Traffic Collision Avoidance System, and those systems were so expensive they were reserved for larger planes only. As Civil brushed off the cobwebs from his human memories he remembered that the equipment actively interrogates the transponders of other aircraft and negotiates collision-avoidance tactics, which the instructor started to mention. A midflight suggestion to get out of the way made from an overly inflated smartphone, Civil thought to himself as he raised his hoof.

"I have a couple of questions about that. Isn't this gear reserved for bigger stuff than us because it's expensive as hell? And how were they able to stuff all that in this?" He lifted the harness. His pony neighbors grinned at him. They didn't have half a clue what the instructor was talking about, but to see Civil finally getting animated over something was amusing to them.

The instructor paused for a second, slight irritation on his face as he distinctly remembered not calling on Civil in the first place. "Uh, yes, normally you'd be correct. However, the FAA is screaming bloody murder at us because they don't want Butterballs shelling their engines. So aside from communicating with other transponders, your equipment will also transmit callsign information, altitude by 25 foot increments, and can even send messages to ATC." He was quick to give the chuckling pegasi a staredown. "NO obscene messages! They can clip your wings physically just as quick as they can any human pilot's. Trust me, getting an inflight message from ATC to call them once you land is about as much fun as wandering into a certain restricted airspace in Nevada. Those pilots still haven't mentioned what happened to them and it's been a few decades." Their mirth was subsequently quashed by the threat.

The lesson continued with operating instructions which were in depth enough to hold their attention for the rest of the day. Its conclusion saw the four ponies walking out of the building. They must have finished a tad early because the sun was still pretty high. Barro turned his head and gave Civil a somewhat questioning look. "Shoes?"

"Huh?"

Hot Pink all but hopped up and down, "Oh yeah! Shopping time! We know JUST the place to get you set up. And it's not some dingy barn out on some farmland manned by a couple of crusty cowboy humans either."

A cough from Strato interrupted her train of thought. "Actually, Pinks, it IS a barn out on farmland, manned by several cowboy humans...only one of which is crusty. The other one, you were kind of attracted to-" A soft boop to his snout by her hoof cut him off.

"He was cute for a human, I said. And you know what I mean. It wasn't dingy, was it?" A withering staredown from an otherwise chipper pink pony was a rare thing, with no defense against it.

"Um...no."

One grin later and Pink was back to normal, "Good! And we can try out our new toys!"

"Sorry guys," Civil interjected, "I'm going to pass today. I never liked going shopping with my family when I was younger, and group friend shopping is just more awkward." He started to turn away and met a pink pony, snout to snout.

"You need this, Civil." He hauled back slightly, trying to gain personal space. She stepped up again and he bumped into Barro who was silently standing behind him. Yay, inter-pony-vention. What was surprising was where the rest of the speech came from.

"We get it, Civil Patrol, you've been through a lot." Barro's deep voice intoned behind him. Some of Hollywood's greatest actors were great because of a voice you could listen to for days, that reverberating bass sound just sublime. Barro's was such a voice. Now wait, no gay stuff here, it was just pure heaven to listen to. Civil turned sideways to regard Barro. "Each of us have had our own crisis in changing, coping, finding others who can relate. Some of us are still just now starting to get our memories back."

Strato walked up next to Barro and sat back on his haunches. "Yah, bud. It's only been a few months since my change, but these two have helped me out tremendously. I've heard it takes a long time by yourself. Just hanging out with other ponies, everything is coming back to me quicker. Also helps when new guys show up and pass on information. Like, whole new areas of the brain open up, explosions of memories!"

Hot Pink takes a turn to speak, "But it's not just about memories. We help each other relearn things we knew, or learn new things we should know. I understand the Guard had a certain way of doing things, prickly personality a requirement." She shook her head and softened her voice. "You aren't with them anymore. It's time to stretch your wings." The other two nodded in approval.

Looking around him, Civil's first thought was he somehow found himself surrounded. His current flight equipment wasn't going to differentiate friend or foe signatures, he mused. They were honestly trying to help him, not unlike the last group of ponies he met. Jetstream and her bossy sister didn't count. He had already seen some humans' reactions to pony existence, as if they were still coping with the possibility that they might turn just by being near ponies! He doubted he'd get much help from humans to fit in. Spurning fellow ponies wasn't very smart. He was stuck here, a permanent guest in this world. He really hoped it wasn't like a certain Tom Hanks living in an airport.

"Okay."

All three ponies cheered while hopping up and down, embarrassing him. They went about readying their gear, sending VFR requests through their smartpads attached to their forelegs. He sighed. It wasn't like he hated groups. Strike that, he did. Individuals he actually liked. He just didn't buy into the group think. The very thought of a bunch of people, or ponies, so blindly attracted to one genre or band or way of thinking simply put him off to the point that it took him years later to come around and appreciate what they had already discovered. Of course by then, they had all moved on to something else. His anime experience was a mess, i.e. Fushigi Yugi. He still couldn't watch it to this day, it had received so much fanatical attention. He was almost proud he hadn't watched it.

A shoulder bump from Pink snapped him out of his mental vacation. "Oi, stop that. We're about to fly. Ready?" He nodded.

As one they jumped into the air, and as one they wheeled over in a perfect diamond formation, Hot Pink as the flight lead with Barro and Strato in wingman positions, Civil at the tail. Several airmen stopped what they were doing to admire the outbound flight of pegasi. While they have occasionally seen groups of them fly formation in the past, it was always a wonder to behold. Winged horses, in this day and age. Ponies, the more mindful of the airmen would address their friends. Don't let a pony hear you call them a horse.

Why?

Just don't, okay? Airman Peterson is still sporting his own cutie-mark of horseshoe bruises on his ass. We laugh at him everytime he takes a shower in the barracks. And that was from a mare.

***

They alight in front of, yes, a barn. Several of the feral horses are observed being put through their paces by their handlers. The arrival of the pegasi failed to draw more than a single glance from the humans. Civil was impressed. Pink motioned them over to the entrance of one of the stalls. They saw an older man with leather chaps on the front of his jeans, a horse's hoof braced between his knees on a pedestal. He checked the shape of the horseshoe he held against the bottom of the hoof, tapped it on a nearby anvil with a hammer to reshape it and checked it again. Satisfied, he worked several nails into it and bent the points out, stepped back to check his work. Once he was sure the hoof laid straight on the ground, he grasped the leg again, safely, and took a clipper to nip the nails, then rasped them flush. "I'll be with yas in a sec. Been working this one's hooves for a while now. She's just gettin over her thrush."

Civil blinked. The older man never once looked their way, but he knew they were there all the same. The nails through the hoof didn't sit well with the pegasus, though. "Pink, I'm not having him hammer those things onto my hooves, I don't care how trendy you think it is." A wrinkled brow and smirk was all he got from her.

Strato quipped, "Wuss, it only hurt a little." He broke up into a fit of laughter. Civil was not in the mood and was about to say as much when the farrier stole his thunder, and his ego.

"Don't you worry none, lil filly," he groused, still eyeing the feral horse's stance. "We use special adhesives for you guys. Your dainty hooves will be as cute as they ever were, just not as prone to splittin." He finally glanced at them, frowning. "Though you birdies could suffer a bit to trot more rather than fly. I dare say your frogs are up for it."

It was Civil's turn to glare, "I'm not a filly. And my frogs are just fine." He made it a point to stiffen his legs. The farrier walked over and knelt in front of him. Civil's ears flicked back a smidge.

"Are they on the slightly smaller side? How long can you stand like that, or how far can you run before your heels start to throb? In wet weather are you running more to promote growth, or pussy footin it til next winter?"

The onslaught of questions had Civil's mind reeling. Hoof care was a basic requirement back in the Royal Guard, but usually it was under perfect conditions, and perfect weather once the local weather teams had finally gotten a handle on things. Some of the farrier's questions hit too close to home. "Um, I run. Some." He bit his lip.

The old man snorted, not unlike an equine. "Yeah, stubborn stallions." He looked over to Hot Pink. "You lot doin ok, Foxfire?"

Hot Pink grinned in reply and stepped up to him, touching his shoulder with her wingtip, "Yes we are, Tim. And it's Hot Pink. Like the thousandth time even."

Tim stood up and squinted his eyes, "You are foxy and your mane looks like its on fire. Well, I'm done with her," while motioning to the horse he was working on. Hot Pink blushed a little pinker, if that was possible. Civil couldn't believe he hadn't noticed earlier, but her mane did appear to be fire. It was red, with blonde yellow frosted tips. He supposed her neon fur had something to do with him never noticing the other aspects of her. Other than that lollipop she always had in her mouth.

"This way gents, and lady." Tim gathered up his tools and headed over to another small building, the quartet of ponies following along. "I have the smaller stuff over here, since it's a completely different process." He put his tools down and opened several cabinets located on the outside of the building. An array of small horseshoes on hooks glinted in the setting sunlight. Several of them appeared matte black. Tim turned to Civil, glancing down, "I assume you guys dragged Mister Personality out here to get with the program, eh?" Several nods from his fellow pegasi confirmed it, despite Civil's scowl.

"I don't need anything fancy," Civil stated. He chewed the inside of his cheek, looking over the different shoes on display. "Something to limit the shock on hard surfaces, dampen the sound."

Tim grunted. He knelt down again and wiggled his fingers toward himself. "I know better than to grab one of yas. A kick is one thing. A flat out suggestion on what to go do with my heritage is something else." Civil could appreciate that and grinned. He lifted his foreleg and twisted it around. Tim never got used to the pliability ponies had over their limbs versus the more limited movement of normal horses, his eyes sparkling in amusement. It took only a few seconds for him to gauge the size and shape before he had a small selection laid out on a cloth at the bottom of the cabinet, Civil up on his hindlegs to look them over.

"We have traditional rubber coated shoes. Generic, and they hold up for the most part, though the rubber wears down after a time. Your better stuff are these," He points to a couple that seem to have been coated by something tougher. "Truekote. Excellent protection against UV, saltwater, abrasion. Great non-slip attribute on concrete, wood, polymer surfaces. Purecast is similar, but with higher physical properties, and good for encapsulation." He flipped the Purecast shoe over, showing the metal shoe was completely covered by the material. "You can get that from the Truekote too, to a lesser degree. We have aluminum shoes if you want to get fancy. Heard aluminum was a big deal where you're kind are from. And I ain't callin it aluminnie whatever. I don't care what the scientific communal said." He sniffed and bent over his tools, readying his hammer and portable anvil.

The poor pegasus stared at the shoes, then back at his friends. The stallions showed off their rubberized shoes while Pink twisted one hoof, silvery aluminum shining from it. Civil looked back at the displayed shoes. "Isn't aluminium too soft to use?"

The farrier stood up from his bent position and popped a few kinks out of his back, grumbling, "Youngins. I had a unicorn come through here, had learned how to imbue metals. Mighty Maus was her name. Peculiar accent, reminded me of some relatives I have in Europe." He reached over and held up a shiny shoe. "Worked out a deal with her. I rotate a supply of these down by that farm near Odessa, and she rotates them back magicked up for strength, along with a steady demand request, large quantities in bulk with occasional specifications for individual tastes. I have a feeling she turns around and resells them, but as long as there is a market for this stuff, we're both happy."

He smiled to himself. "Not bad for interspecies capitalism. We're about to open up a line of boots too, iffin ya aren't interested in the glue aspect of the shoes. It's not that bad, by the way." He reached over and pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Some of this breaks up the special adhesive we sell, and the coatings resist the alcohol, so no bothers there."

It was then Tim noticed a very interested pegasus mare almost hopping up and down in front of him. No, she WAS hopping up and down in front of him. He eyed her like any other patient adult would a child. "They're not out yet."

"Yeah, but you said you were opening up a line! That means you have prototypes, parts, and-"

"They're not OUT yet, missy." He rubbed the bridge of his nose. The cute was killing him. "Tell you what, soon as they're ready, I'll have Maus come knock on your door. Or cloud. You ever figure out what you were going to live in?"

Pink knew when she was being sidetracked, but she gave in, knowing he was trying to appease her as best he could. "The ground, for now. We're still working on the infrastructure, not like what New Beginnings has so far, but we're getting there."

It was Civil's turn to get sidetracked. "There's another pony town? Where?"

Strato answered, "Out by Odessa, what he's talking about. In fact, once we are done with the training here, we're headed back there. You're free to come with us, now or later." The others nodding didn't help as Civil was already shaking his head.

"I can't. I promised myself I would visit my parents before I did anything else. I..." He paused and glanced up at Tim. The man stood there, watching him with gray eyes. No judgement behind those eyes. Just a long life that must have seen many things, good and bad. Civil continued as he looked down, "I haven't told them I changed. You know, one of those big loose ends one has to tie up before striking out into the world." He paused, then chuckled softly, "Maybe it will 'only hurt a little.'"

The silence stretched a bit longer than he wanted it to. He looked up and saw shared expressions of pain in his fellow pegasi. They knew, in a way no unchanged human could know, what it was like to confront loved ones. That moment of truth between one reality where the world was right, and the next reality where nothing would ever be the same again. He hesitantly looked up at the only human in their midst and saw sadness in those gray eyes.

"Listen son, far be it for me to tell you ponies how to handle your affairs, but I know a thing or two about family. Take my son Roy, for instance." Hot Pink twitched a little, sneaking a glance around to see if he was nearby. "He had gotten into a bad way some years back, tried his hand at college. After several thousand dollars spent on schooling, court fees and a bail bond somewhere in there, he came back thinking he was a failure." Tim twisted his neck and stared out to the field, catching a glimpse of a young man riding a horse, teaching it how to move correctly. Pink followed his gaze and began her staring.

Tim looked back at Civil and regarded him solemnly. "Good family don't fail. They pick each other up and start over, gettin back to basics. And family don't need to be blood, neither." He flicked his eyes at some of the other farmhands. "Any one of these I'd consider my kin, cause I got to know them, and know them well. When it don't work out, they go. When it works great, they stay, and we all support each other." He chuckled at Pink watching his son in the distance. Then he saw the other two winged stallions watching him. "We ALL support each other." They listened to the sounds of the horses and men going through their routines.

The moment was broken by Barro. "We know, Tim. We'll steer him right." The large pegasus never moved much this whole time, just sat their, exuding confidence. Civil got the impression he was part earth pony.

Tim spoke up a bit, "If ya want, I could call Roy over, get him to check on yer shoes." Pink didn't budge. "Maybe pick out some of his sister's socks for ya-"

She literally hopped up and turned around, choking on her lollipop, "Oh nonono, <coughcough> that's quite alright. Civil, quit being a filly and make your selection already, I need a drink." Tim laughed while Civil once again protested he was not a filly.

***

"They look fine, quit fidgeting." Strato bumped Civil shoulder to shoulder. For the thousandth time, Civil had been caught looking over his new shoes. He had gone for the Purecast line, a few sets of those along with one set of traditional steel. His steel set had also been imbued to be less abrasive to the surfaces he walked on while still maintaining their shape and edge. He was NOT going to wear aluminiums anytime soon, if ever. A knowing smile from Hot Pink while she nonchalantly showed off a shiny shoe to him made Civil look away, shaking his head. The tender bottoms of his hooves didn't help much. A human actually knew more about hooves than a certain pony named Civil did, and he still recalled the lecture about how to 'properly' maintain his frogs from now on. How embarrassing.

Now they stood outside of a dance club/bar thingy in the heart of San Antonio, along it's semi-famous River Walk. The night life was in full swing, patrons moving from pastry stores to diners to bars, and a group of ponies were going to have fun tonight, come Tartarus or high water. And mostly against Civil's will.

See, they had come back from their ponyshoe shopping spree, gotten some shuteye, and gone back for training day 3. The day's training ended, and they were informed by the instructor that, much to Civil's dismay, the ponies were now completely certified to 'walk about the country'. Corny air humor aside, he had been pranked. Hard. Strato did indeed tell Civil early on that the training was an entire week, except that training continued for the human cadets since they had to log simulator time to familiarize themselves with the transponder part of their flying courses. Flying ponies kinda already know how to fly.

Soooo...nobody, and nopony, bothered to correct Strato or inform Civil about that part. While the cyan pony thought it quite hillarious, Civil was under the impression there was an ulterior motive. That later part was in fact, true, except the other ponies didn't act on it until they saw Civil hightail it, literally, out of the training building and to his quarters to pack and get the hay out of there. Naturally, he was summarily thwarted when he tried to walk out of his room by three determined pegasi standing in his doorway, Hot Pink in the middle with a VERY hostile lollipop stick sticking out of her muzzle.

That's when inter-pony-vention 2.0 took place.

After incessant puppy dog eye making and earth-ending prophecies, the trio had finally convinced Civil to go out with them to a bar that night. They wanted to go to a real dive. Civil thought they were still messing with him, until they asked the cabby if he knew where a real dive was located. He actually said yes! Civil slumped deeper into the suv's back seat, already expecting the worse. Much elbowing from his seat neighbors and a professed desire deliver fun to those that need it didn't budge his mood at all. Pink shrugged. She was going to make sure he knew what fun was.

He had been down to the River Walk on a previous visit several years ago as a human. It was a stretch of canal that looped out toward the Alamo and back to the main San Antonio River. He'd been to Germany and seen the Rhine, so this wasn't going to widen his eyes. No. It was the friggin BAR!

They piled out of the suv and looked up at the multi-storied building, a neon sign blazing blue letters 'A Real Dive'. Civil snorted. Cute. Not yet were his eyes widened. A bouncer opened the doors for them, only a hint of surprise at seeing they were ponies. Electro House music spilled out to meet them. Civil recognized the song playing as Poison Lips. He smiled in remembering the music video, the group of dancing nuts in that video probably about to resemble his group. They went inside.

A giant transparent cylindrical water tank, complete with a ski lift and diving board way at the top, is what widened his eyes. There were at least three levels in the building, a bar lining the outer wall on each level. There were flashing lights, UV lights, disco balls, strobes, stage smoke. Deep water divers were down at the bottom of the tank, complete with skimpy neon colored wetsuits and water tanks, playing underwater sports. (wtf). Waitresses walked around in skimpy UV reactive suits, much like the divers. Some rode the ski lift that curved its way up to the top. Once in a while one of them would dive off the diving board down into the water, a streak of neon zipping through the water downward, completing the stunt with a few somersaults in the water before coming back up for air. Several clear tubes with masks on the end of them dangled down through the levels of water so other swimmers who didn't have diving gear could stay underwater longer, entertaining guests at the lower levels. Granted no sexually explicit things were done or shown...but some came damn close.

They had walked in on the second level as the tank went down and up in both directions from their perspective. A giant dartboard had been painted on the tank at their level, with suction-cup darts instead of metal ones sticking on the tank at various places.

"It's....it's a real dive...!?!" Civil exclaimed. His fellow ponies laughed and pushed him along to the bar nearby.

"No shit," Pink replied. She was nudged by Barro.

"Ah, give the poor fish outa water a break." He chastised.

Strato just chuckled and hopped up onto an empty bar stool. Barro got one on the left side of him. Civil sat on Strato's right with Pink next to Civil on the end. Strato laughed again, "Who knows, this is probably the first time he's been in a bar, much less a 'real dive'."

Civil found it very difficult to play it off as though he had been to bars before. Not with the look of utter shock still on his face as he stared back at the giant water tank behind them. "I've been to dives before...I mean bars. Just....well..." He blinked to get some moisture back onto his eyes from all the non-blinking he was doing.

"Just not a real dive like this one?" Pink asked. Civil whipped his head around to look at her and noted her mirth.

He groaned, "Okay, you got me. Real dive. Real funny. I said, it's been a while since I was back this way. This....alright, this is impressive." The bartender nearby heard him and moved over to their group.

"I'm glad you like the place." He had a pleasant Matthew McConaughey look about him, complete with the southern accent touching his voice. He nodded at Pink and smiled, then looked at the others curiously. "Trainees outa Randolph?" They nodded cordially. He grinned. "Great! I love seeing new faces."

"Hi Acey!" Pink exclaimed and reached over the bar with her wing, which the bartender high-fived. Her friends were surprised.

"You know him?" Strato asked.

She nodded back, tilting her head to Ace, "Yeah. I stake out the best places first day I get to a new city. I was here at least a full week before training started. You two flew in before Day One," she nodded at the stallions to her left, then took in the whole place with her gaze, "This was a MUST DO on the Repeat List."

The bartender scoffed and began mixing a drink, a strawberry daiquiri. "Must do, indeed. Last time you were here, I had to UN-do a few things you did. Let's have a pleasant evening tonight, Pinks?" He extended the drink out to her.

Hot Pink flicked a wingtip at him, "Yeah Acey, whatever. I was testing my limits. Now I know them." She stared at the drink he just holding up, then glanced up at him with an unamused look. "Ahem?"

He glowered back at her, then broke it with a grin, "Fine, but the sky is NOT the limit tonight." She started to turn around, "NOR is the ski the limit either," he amended. She stopped and rolled her eyes, turning back to the bar. "Still picking cocktail umbrellas out of the ceiling. Thanks by the way."

The other ponies looked up and squinted but couldn't see the ceiling with the current lighting and smoke.

With his official warning out of the way, he took an ice cube, breathed on it and slid the melty cube around the rim of the glass. Pink continued to stare at him. Ace picked up an airbrush sander, swapped out the sugar reservoir for the salt one and proceeded to detail the top of her glass like it was a car with very low pressure blown salt. It coated the rim alright, along with much of the drink IN the glass. Suppressing a sigh of regret, he pushed the drink toward her. "I regret everything."

"Here's to no regerts!" Pink expertly grabs the drink with her wing and started chugging it. The bartender cracked his neck and looked to Civil and the others, "Pick your poison." Just then the Poison Lips song ended. During the pause, the other stallions made their selection with muted voices now that they could hear themselves speak.

Ace looked to Civil, but the pony shrugged, "I don't want to touch the salted stuff." The two stallions on his left booed at him.

"Oh come on, a little salt lick isn't going to kill you," Strato ribbed him. Barro pulled a long swallow from his Grey Hound drink, paused, nodded once, and continued drinking.

Civil replied, crossing his forelegs, "It starts as a little. Then I get a headache and forget how much I've had. Then I am dying while my stomach convulses. College was fun enough, thankyou." Strato made to argue with him further, but Ace stepped in.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a Fog Cutter. Heavy alcohol, but I've heard from the Pink vine that you guys can take it. It's the salt you have to ease into, or out of." A tongue stuck out at him from Pink was met with him giving her a hand-sign in the shape of a V. Her dramatic and positively fake look of offense made him laugh. He glanced back at Civil. "Just try it. Use the straw first, and later when the ice melts, the sherry on top will be diluted enough to finish it off just fine. Savvy?"

The pony rolled his eyes. "A southern pirate. Okay, Captain, we have our heading." The bartender grinned and began working on his drink. The rest of the ponies congratulated Civil for being a good sport and sat back, listening to the next couple of songs. At length, Barro and Strato wanted to try their hooves at the suction darts, so they grabbed their drinks with deft wings and stepped away, leaving Pink and Civil at the bar.

He watched them leave, then looked back at Pink who was engrossed with watching other patrons dance to the electro music on their level. There were a few large squares cleared of tables and chairs as though people were meant to dance there. As far as they could tell, they were the only ponies there that night. On that note, another song started up, this time Goodbye Horses by Q Lazzarus.

As one, all four ponies stopped and slowly looked up at the speakers. They all knew that song as humans, but now...they then stared at each other. Pink spun around and gave Ace an indignant stare until he finally came over. "Oh, hey, what's with the long face?" he asked. Pink's less than amused grimace caused him to pause. He raised his hands, "Woh, I thought that was kosher."

"It is, normally," responded Pink, who then pointed a hoof up at the speakers, "But not when THAT is playing. Really?" He looked up and listened to it for a few seconds. There was just music playing. Then he caught the 'goodbye horses' line.

"Oh shit." He paused, listening some more. Then he continued, "Yah, that's pretty low. I am so sorry." He looked around for a waitress, then stopped, wrinkling his brow in thought. "Wait, that's not even part of the normal rotation for tonight. Let me go make a phone call to the upstairs DJ. Trust me, no offense was meant by that selection." He finally spotted a young lady and quickly called her over to hold the bar while he went into the back room. The whole time the music was playing, they could see it was putting a damper on everyone's dancing. Some started mimicking the Buffalo Bill dance, but the music was a tad mournful. Barro and Strato went back to playing darts, not quite as energetic as before. Civil watched them as he listened to the music. Pink stared off into nothing, lost in thought.

This was depressing music, Civil thought to himself. He saw it in Hot Pink, too. "What's the story behind Barro and Blueboy?" Civil asked, out of the blue, pun intended.

Pink snapped out of her reverie and gave Civil a quizzical look. "Huh? How do you mean?"

It was Civil's turn to look confused. "Um, well, where did they come from, how long have they been ponies, why don't you hit on them..." He stopped, then regarded his drink. It was severely loaded with alcohol, which was starting to cause his head to swim. True, ponies could deal with alcohol better than humans, but Civil had never built up a tolerance. And he just inadvertently insulted a very nice mare right next to him. "Oh shit, I didn't mean that. I don't know why I said it."

A pleasant laugh from her saved him some of his mortification, "Bullshit. You meant it, and you said it because you were curious why I've been pouring all the attention on you." She twisted around on her bar stool and grabbed the armrests with her hooves, hopping it closer to him. Leaning real close so she could lower her voice but still be heard over the music, she said, "I pay attention to you because I can feel something." Civil gulped at the closeness. She noticed his reaction and pulled back a little. "As for them, I can rat them out later. You're the damn enigma here. I've laid it on so thick, only a snow yeti would resist my hotness." She turned her head to watch the two stallions play bro darts. "Is it a dude on dude thing for ya?"

She turned her head back to him to find a very deep red faced pegasus, sputtering, "What?!? No! No, I like girls! Mares...the female stuff. I like all of that!"

She tilted her head, grinning in a playful way. "Alright. Well, to get from point A to point B, there has to be attraction, and dating. I don't do it for you?" It didn't help that she was blatantly moving her flanks around in the bar stool, as though she were in a picture shoot for some magazine spread. He kept his eyes glued to her face, the word 'spread' spreading through his mind worse than the alcohol.

"That's not it at all. You do, uh, do it for me. For anyone...anypony! I mean, you don't do it for anyone, you're not a whorse." His eyes flicked up as though he could see the DJ upstairs. "Stupid song. I just mean you aren't doing lots of people...dammit!" He growled to himself. "I can't talk right now-" A gentle touch to his snout from an aluminium bedecked hoof stopped his rambling.

"Then don't," she murmured. Pink stared at him, the flashing lights casting odd sequencing shadows back and forth on their faces as they watched each other. "I thought the alcohol and ambiance would loosen you up. You are so honest, you make me feel sullied." She grinned and leaned closer again. "But to be honest, I'm not THAT sullied. I sense a good warm heart in you. That's why I pay you attention." She flicked her eyes at the other two stallions, "They are great friends to be with, and if I wanted to, I'm sure they would be up for a date or two. But Barro already told me he has someone to go back to out by Odessa. And Strato, he's still testing the waters." They both spied the cyan pegasus draping a wing over Barro, who in turn pushed him away with a hoof and said two words, which must have been Def Comedy Jam material because he had Strato rolling around laughing. "Testing, but not succeeding."

"Rolling on the floor, laughing," muttered Civil, trying to look away, and failing. "I never thought I'd see it acted out."

Pink shook her head and smiled, "They're a hoot, that's for sure." She went back to Civil. As the song got close to its ending, Pink bent her neck a little to look down at herself. "You never looked or asked about any of our cutie-marks." She touched his shoulder with her hoof when she saw his discomfort, "I know, yours hasn't come in yet. I sorta figured that part out when you first walked into the training room. Looking at our marks, or any ponies, reminds you of yours." He was about to correct her when she frowned, his mouth open. "You have one, Civil," she said adamantly. "It just...hasn't shown its true colors. And with a heart like yours, it will be a beautiful thing to behold when it does."

Civil sat back a little. The song had faded away, thankfully...and it left a deafening silence between them. Sure, there was the din of patrons talking a little louder now. An occasional splash of water one level above and some cheering from inebriated audience members broke up the din. Yet there she was, laying out all the cards. And she wasn't playing a game he knew at all, now. Her eyes were steady, never wavering. He finally broke his gaze with her and looked down at her flank. There he saw what he had been avoiding these last three days. He could just make out a large pink heart, a shade darker from her normal fur. It had two wings on either side, one black, the other white. The whole image had a corona of orange, yellow and blue flames wafting around it, as though doused with gasoline and on fire. He looked up.

She was still watching him. He took another drink from his glass and cleared his throat. "You keep mentioning sensing my heart. You're not talking metaphorical, are you?"

She grinned and shook her head, stretching a little to tap her cutie-mark with her wingtip. "It wasn't too long after I changed, I discovered I could sense people's hearts." She waved away the question Civil was about to ask, "Nono, not like the princess of love, Cadance. This is more like a subtle feeling of worth. I can sense goodness, potential, in people and ponies. With ponies its easier, I think because of the magical connections we have with each other. Maybe..." She took on an introspective gaze. "Or more their essence I sense? For instance, Acey here actually gives a shit about what you say, unlike most bartenders."

"I heard that." Ace came back around and relieved the waitress manning the bar. "And I do."

Pink grinned at him, "I know."

Just then a simple beat started up from the speakers, with electronic music phasing in, complicating, innovating. A slow rising background sound could be heard with a heartbeat-like sounding bass. Barro came back over to the bar.

"Is that what I think it is?" The essence of electrohouse music began.

Ace nodded at him, "And just to make amends, another round on the Swedish House." Barro snorted as the bartender started to make the iconic drink to this song. Greyhound. He slide the drink to Barro, who thanked him.

Strato returned to see what the fuss was about, found another drink in front of him, FREE, and fussed no more. For a time each pony was bobbing their heads through the duration of the song, feeling the vibes and letting the up and down notes take them where the song wanted to go. There was even a flatscreen TV mounted above them showing the robotic dog race attached to the song. While they all stared at it, Strato leaned over to Barro, "Still going to be a photo finish." Barro elbowed him back and muttered an apology to nobody in particular, only glancing at you once.

"Yeah, sorry about that, my little ponies," Ace apologized, receiving groans for his obvious need to squeeze in that line at least once tonight. "Hey! How often can a guy like me say that and still sound manly?" They pelted him with wadded up cocktail napkins. He shielded himself with his arms, "Okay okay! Anyway, I checked on that song earlier. Sounds like some drunkard on the upper level paid our DJ to slip that one in. DJ Jedi usually is good about not pranking guests. He didn't think anything of it, didn't even know you guys were here. He is very sorry it happened and is willing to make it up to you. One song, free of charge, anything you want."

Pink laughed and twerked her ears, splaying them haphazardly, "Jedi? What, he feels the force when he DJ's?"

Ace blinked at her, then leaned forward, half serious, "Not to make this whole episode trippy, but that's exactly what he says when anybody asks him."

She gave him a shrewd look. "Yah, he told me that the first night I was here."

The bartender lost his stunned look and laughed at himself, "Ah, figures. Anyway, whenever you're up for it, I'll make the call for you." She nodded her thanks and sat back, losing herself to the song. The other ponies took her lead and did the same.

Once the Greyhound song started to finish, she glanced up at the TV to check, then got Ace's attention and mouthed a few words only he could see. He smiled and headed to the back again.

Strato turned away from the TV and asked, "Whatcha got in mind, Hots?"

Barro sat back and enjoyed his drink. Normally He liked to listen and wasn't much into dancing......buuuut....he had a feeling this was going to get interesting and didn't want to come back to a drink diluted by melted ice, a free one at that. He set his empty glass down and calmly waited.

Pink kept her own counsel and stepped off the bar stool, walked halfway to the tank while eyeing the divers and swimmers. She turned around and faced Civil, planting her hooves while partially lifting a foreleg, front of the hoof tip pointed down, poised.

Garage ratcheting sounds and static pops from welding torches start flowing from the speakers, sensitive pony ears all around twitching from the noise.

-Surreal Moment Ensues-

Muted electrics guitars start playing Shut Up and Drive primary chords from the speakers. Pink's head begins dipping to the beat. Drums blend their way in, her body sways in time neck pulsing left and right as her limbs seem to limber up. At the thirtysecondth beat all the accompaniment backs off except for a tiny percussion beat and Hot Pink begins strutting forward singing along with Rihanna....

"♪I've been looking for a driver who is qualified♪" Nose to nose with a stunned Civil, she slides over to his side.

"♪So if you think that you're the one, step into my ride♪" Wedging herself behind him, she headbutts his rump toward the swim tank. Trotting sideways singing in his ear,

"♪I'm a fine-tuned supersonic speed machine♪" before flipping over him slow motion,

"♪Got a sunroof top♪" lands leaning against his other side, "♪and a gangsta lean♪"

"♪So if you feel it♪" slaps his face with her mane, "♪let me know♪" again, "♪know♪" and again, "♪know♪" and trots ahead.

"♪Come on now, what you waiting♪" slaps his face with her tail now, "♪for♪" again, "♪for♪" and again, "♪for♪"

"♪My engine's ready to explode♪" twirls her tail in circles, "♪explode♪"and around, "♪explode♪" and around.

At this point she's near the tank and stands sideways. The divers coalesce into the shape of a sleek car, their bodies forming the frame. Barro and Strato skid to a stop where the seats would be, Barrow lowering his left wing at Pink's hooves.

"♪So start me up and watch me♪" as she steps up his wing with every word, "♪go, go, go, go!♪"

"♪Get you where you wanna go, if you know what I mean♪" She slides over onto Strato to sit on his back, patting Barro's back for Civil.

"♪Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine♪" He steps up onto Barro and sits on his back.

"♪Can you handle the curves♪" Pink slides a hoof down Civil's withers, "♪can you run all the lights♪" She boops his nose and Civil's ears go up.

"♪If you can, baby boy, then we can go all night♪" She hits the tank twice with her hoof, the divers readying themselves.

"♪'Cause it's 0 to 60 in 3.5♪" She looks straight ahead, lollipop stick pointed straight. Civil blinks and looks around. Really?...???

"♪Baby, you got the keys♪" She pulls her lollipop out as he turns his head to her to speak, shoves the lollipop into his mouth.

"♪Now shut up and drive♪" She slaps Strato's rump and as one, the whole ensemble moves forward, "♪drive, drive, drive♪"

"♪Shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive, drive♪" By this time everybody on their whole level is standing up, cheering, AND dancing while watching this mix of both dry AND wet choreographed 'dancers' start to move around along the tank wall, simulating Pink and Civil riding in a car. Pink continues singing,

"♪I got class like a '57 Cadillac, and overdrive with a whole lot of boom in the back♪" Civil leans back to look at Pink's rump, but she grabs his chin and pulls him back to lock eyes with her.

"♪You look like you can handle what's under my hood♪" She yanks the lollipop out of his mouth and stares at it, eyebrow raised.

"♪You keep saying that you will, boy, I wish you would♪" She sticks it back into her mouth.

"♪So if you feel it, let me know, know, know♪" She leans back looking at his rump, her wing hovering short of touching where his cutie-mark would be.

"♪Come on now, what you waiting for, for, for♪" Pink pulls her wing away so quickly the moving air across the area shudders Civil.

"♪My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode♪" She rapidly taps the tank again.
"♪So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go♪" With that she hits both Barro and Strato's rumps hard and they shoot off at a gallop, the divers keeping the 'car' around them as they race the tank wall.

"♪Get you where you wanna go, if you know what I mean♪" Pink's wings start to extend.
"♪Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine♪" Civil grabs onto Barro's neck, trying not to slide off.
"♪Can you handle the curves, can you run all the lights♪" Civil starts to sit up now.
"♪If you can, baby boy, then we can go all night♪" He lets go of Barro's neck, more confident in his sitting.

"♪'Cause it's 0 to 60 in 3.5♪" Civil grins and is about to sing, feeling the pony magic.
"♪Baby, you got the keys♪" At the pause of the song, she claps her wings together forward. The screech of the song coincides with everyone stopping......except Civil.
"♪Now shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive, drive♪" He slides face/muzzle several feet, tumbling forward at the end in a pile of white and black pegasi.
"♪Shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive, drive♪" The divers break up in all directions, Barro and Strato either side of Hot Pink.

"♪'Cause your Maybach♪" Ace has nineteen glasses lined up, twirling and knocking cocktail shakers to mirror the music, "♪ain't got what I got♪"

"♪Get it, get it, don't stop, it's a sure shot♪" He runs down the line, filling each glass.

"♪Ain't a Ferrari, huh, boy, I'm sorry♪" She walks over to the bar, Barro and Strato waiting by her side.

"♪I ain't even worried♪" She has them lift her up to the bar, "♪so step inside♪" And proceeds to kick the filled glasses to waiting patrons with every echoing word.

"♪And ride, ride, ride♪" Catch after catch is greeted with a swallow and a cheer. All nineteen 'rides'.

"♪So if you feel me, let me know, know, know"♪ While coaxing poor Civil up to the bar with a beckoning hoof.

"♪Come on now, what you waiting for, for, for?♪" He waves belatedly as he picks himself up, shakily walking over.

"♪My engine's ready to explode, explode, explode♪" Her tail twirling around in circles finally galvanizes Civil. He takes flight...

"♪So start me up and watch me go, go, go, go♪" ...and lands next to her up on the bar on the last 'go', and stands, as does she, both pressing on each other's forehooves, nose to nose, the accompaniment cutting out for the vocal.

"♪Get you where you wanna go, if you know what I mean♪" She sings to him, both stock still and staring at each other.
"♪Got a ride that's smoother than a limousine♪" As one they push away and start dancing in concert, drums kicking back in.
"♪Can you handle the curves, can you run all the lights♪" They bump, cutie-mark to non cutie-mark.
"♪If you can, baby boy, then we can go all night"♪ Pink shoves Civil off the bar, who somersaults in the air.

"♪'Cause it's 0 to 60 in 3.5♪" He lands, four on the floor facing her, offering up his foreleg.
"♪Baby, you got the keys♪" She takes it, steps down, Civil catching her and she slides in his grip slowly to the floor.
"♪Now shut up and drive, drive, drive♪" He stares down at her as she continues singing, looking up at him.
"♪Shut up and drive, drive, drive♪" They stare. She sings.
"♪Shut up and drive, drive, drive♪" They stare. She sings.
"♪Shut up and drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive, drive....♪"

They stare.

-Sureal Moment Over-

Everyone eventually settled down, still glowing from something they (the humans, at any rate) couldn't even explain to each other, much less themselves. The ponies returned to their seats, Civil and Hot Pink breathing heavily. And not just from the dancing.

"That was..." Civil started, "was..." He gulped for more air.

Pink, flushed and trying to slow down her breathing, finally gave up and slumped in her seat. Tongue lolling out of her mouth, she grinned when her eyes slid over at Civil, "Pony magic." She melodramatically stretched a wing out to the bar to grab one of the drinks she kicked and gulped it, then slammed the glass down. Luckily it was a thick glass and didn't break.

"That, was pony magic," she exclaimed. After a few seconds of deep breaths, she sat up and regarded Civil. "THAT is why ponies stick together." Civil couldn't find fault in that logic and nodded. Any normal pony would know this stuff by now. He hadn't had much chance to do group dancing or singing in the Guard. And as for his sporadic solo assignments...yeah, no singing then either.

Ace wandered over, shaking his head and laughing, "Wish I could have filmed that. The car, the dance." He glanced at the tank as the swimmers were settling back into their routines, "the taps. The slaps!" He grinned right at the other two stallions on the other side of Pink.

Barro sat lower in his bar seat, covering up his blushing muzzle with his glass. Strato had no scruples. He nodded with a pervy look and merely sat back, regarding the other three ponies on either side of him with shameless pride.

Of course, any good moment was never left unchecked by a pinch of deliberate foulness.

Civil noticed two humans who had taken up spots near them further down the bar. Hot Pink was closest to them. Of the two, one man seemed unusually red in the face, but not from shame. It was the color of intoxication. With the way he talked loudly to his friend, clearly he'd had enough.

Part of his boisterous conversation stemmed from Ace having cut him off, which he eventually directed at Ace himself.

"Look pal," Ace responded, "I didn't make the law, I just abide by it. Aside from my opinion, this establishment has a limit and you've already snuck two past that. You're lucky we're letting you stay for the snacks." He started wiping down the bar and picking up empty glasses.

The man drawled out, "I been watching how much you poured into them glasses for all those other customers, and especially for those animals, whichzes way more n mine. I'm a person, dammit! Equal is is...equal. Damn straight!"

Ace stopped wiping the bar and stared at the man, "I said no. I suggest you eat some food, dance some more, or leave."

"I'll have some beer nuts. At leastsh is beer!" He laughed raucously. While Ace moved away to find a bowl and snacks, he regarded the mare nearby. "Hey, is true what they say, they do get gooder looking the more you drink."

His friend tugged on his shoulder from behind him, "Frank, let's just go," but he wasn't having any of it, shrugging off the other man's hand.

"So, little horse. Did you like my song. I kinda figured it'd fit. Ya know, cuz yer horses."

Civil slowly pushed his stool back from the bar with his forelegs, but a pink hoof touched his closest foreleg, keeping his handhold on the countertop.

Hot Pink smiled and turned her head to Frank. Then the smile slid off her face like oil on water to reveal a cold stare.

"Yes, let us examine your contribution to society. Your attempt was puerile and your choice under-dramatized. Furthermore, it lacked any sense of structure, character, and the Aristotelian Unities." Hot Pink delivered the lines with a deadpan expression and in monotone, as though in a very boring lecture hall.

The drunkard stood there, trying to figure out what she just said.

Civil, who was contemplating pulling away from Pink's hoof, paused. He leaned close behind her and asked, "Did you just rip off a movie with that, or do you actually know what you said?"

For her part, Pink regarded the intoxicated human with half-lidded eyes. "Both. When we're sober, I'll explain each concept as they apply. But for this poor slob, the abridged version." She stepped away from the bar and fanned her wings, an impressive sight even while sober. She got several patrons' attention, including Frank.

"Behold, the catastrophe!" She pointed both her wings at the human. He stumbled back a step. "To be interpreted by you, or your choice of action. Either applies. Next, the resolution." Both wings pulled back and she used her primaries to give him a version of a double middle finger, pony style. "And last..." She looked around, then peered at the human. "Do you have the time, poor drunk human?" Dumbly he stared down at his watch.

"Uh, eleven thirty...somethinseven," he slurred out.

She grunted and walked back to the bar, hopping up on her seat, "Within a single day, I doubt you'll remember your own name, let alone the burn I have delivered to you. Cheers." She went to drink from her glass, only to find it empty. After a dramatic sigh, she fixed the bartender with a serious look, "Ace, I think I'll have that special, now." Instead of a congenial smile to show full service to his patron, he looked irritated, but got to work. This time he pulled another glass from underneath the bar, a heavy looking clear tall tumbler. He grabbed several bottles of liquor and started mixing them in a metal cocktail shaker. He also called a waitress over and asked her to get more towels.

The drunkard recovered and huffed to himself, "Yah, whatever, you horses talk funny anyway. But I was watching you dance, and I never was all into the animal thing." He licked his lips and caught a glimpse of Pink's cutie-mark, then made his way closer to her. "I reckon yer as hot as that tat on yer backside. Let's find out." He started to reach out to it with his hand. All three stallions stepped off their bar stools.

Hot Pink raised her foreleg to her fellow ponies, holding them back. She winked at them with her left eye while keeping her right one on the man. "Dear, you touch THAT part of my body and I will separate you from whatever appendage you used to touch me."

"Bullshit, you're just a tiny horse. What can you do?"

Ace just then dumped the contents into the tumbler. The waitress returned with an armful of towels, which he took and just stood there, waiting.

Civil didn't try to get into fights, but call any mare in his presence a whorse, much less touch them on their mark, and it wouldn't matter if it was a cultural misunderstanding. That would be hashed out with police that finally came to pick up the mess.

Pink still kept them back.

She replied with a heavy sigh, "Here, lemme teach you something, hon." She stood back from the bar again and flexed her wings. "In case you haven't been edumucated yet, we have magic, especially in these." The guy stiffened a little but stayed in place. "If I really wanted to, I could do severe damage with these. Our Royal Guards," She used this moment to refer to Civil with a foreleg, causing the man to eye Civil with renewed concern, "use special attachments called wingblades that can surgically cut our enemies down to size." Civil nodded at the man, enjoying the human's discomfort.

Pink looked the human up and down and added, "So to speak." Then she raised her right wing and lowered her left, "But for a typical bar fight? Eh, I prefer the natural touch." She spun to her left, sweeping her raised wing down across her drink glass on the bar. The barkeep hopped back as the top half of the glass slid off at an angle, spilling the upper half of its contents all over the bar, the diagonally cut piece rolling away. Ace swore and used several hand towels to contain the spreading spill. Several patrons stared at the remains of Pink's drink, a fair few spilling their own on themselves while they sat petrified at what they just witnessed.

The would-be bully stood there, stark white from witnessing such a deadly move. He stammered a poor excuse for an apology and stumbled out of the bar, his friend who had been tugging on him trying to catch up.

Ace continued to swear about extra work made by ponies.

"Oh come one, Acey," Hot Pink groused, walking back to the bar and dumping the lower part of the glass contents down her throat. "You had plenty of warning that time."

A final quick sweep of the alcohol puddle from the bartop into a nearby sink took care of the mess. Ace squeezed out his rags. "The drink spills, I don't mind. I actually love seeing that trick. It's the puddle HE left," he stuck a thumb behind him at the direction the man went, "I have to deal with." The ponies looked down at where he was previously standing and saw a nice yellow puddle.

"Oh," Pink replied. She raised a brow at Ace, "That reminds me, where's the ladies room again? I was too out of it last time to remember where you moved it."

She received a thumb pointing off in another direction, along with a surly, "It never moved, and neither did you, for six hours if I recall."

Pink flicked a wingtip at him as she walked by, "Details, details, blah blah."

All three male stallions stared after her, then looked at Ace who shrugged at them. They looked at each other, each one trying to encapsulate what just happened in some coherent statement. Or a question maybe? A word??

Barro said in his deep voice, "That boy peed his pants. Ain't that a bitch."

***

They took two separate cabs back to their rooms since they didn't feel safe flying. The others stayed off base while Civil's arrangement was in the officer's billeting. He stared out of the window during the drive, head swimming from the drinks, and probably from other things as well. He must have really been out of it not to notice anything else when his cab pulled up in front of the building and he stumbled out of the back seat to stand by the curb.

"Nice accomodations, Civ. Maybe I should go military sometime. Watcha think?" He turned around to stare at Hot Pink, staring right back at him. "Right back at cha."

He knew there was a fourth wall break in there somewhere, but he just couldn't think straight. "What are you doing here?"

"Um, took the cab with you?" Like, as if I flew in my condition, am i right? Definitely fourth wall break.

Civil sat back and squeezed his eyes shut. "Hot Pink, I know you really like me, and I'll admit I really like you, just...I don't want to do this, like this." He looks up, almost pleading, "It's not right."

She snorted and brushed past him, quipping, "Yah whatev. Not like we were going to have sex. I just want to talk before you shove off. sheesh."

Mental pause.

"What?!" He made to follow and stubbed his front hoof on the curb, falling down forward. He got up, splayed out all four legs to get his balance again, then erratically stepped into the building. She had already asked the receptionist what room Civil was in since he was a bit too out of it to go there himself. Upon seeing him right behind her, the receptionist gladly gave Pink the number and the mare guided him to his room, much to a lot of incoherent words from said stallion.

"Look, you're still an enigma and we didn't exactly finish our conversation." They were in his room and she was slowly moving around it, checking things out.

He had made his way over to the bed and gazed it at. He wanted to sleep this all off. And leave. Before things got weird.

He was about to protest, but she said, quite happily, "Oh, see? You do have a clue." She brushed right past him and climbed onto the bed. His addled mind watched her pull back the blanket and sheet, tuck herself underneath, and pat the pillow next to her.

His head started to throb a little. "I suppose no doesn't mean no where you come from?"

Pink glowered at him. Come to think of it, she might have actually looked a bit hurt. "No means whatever you want it to mean. This isn't sex if you are that worried. Just get over here."

He thought about his options. All of them involved some form of sobriety which he did not possess at the moment. He climbed up on the bed, muttering, "Alright, but no groping."

"Good!" She smiled like a cat.

As soon as he got under the covers and rolled away from her, she laid right up against him in spoon fashion, drapping a wing over him, and added two right legs as well, "Mmm...now THIS is what being a pony is all about."

He stared at the ceiling in frustration.

"This is what making me horny is all about."

He felt her lift the covers a little as she looked. "You don't say..." He pulled the covers down on him again and twisted his head around, now lying on his back but looking at her...her very close muzzle in his muzzle.

"What are you doing!?!"

She smiled sweetly, "Trying to figure out your needs."

"Well.. you can tell-" He stopped as he stared down over the blanket, a large lump making a nice tent. "There, happy? My physical need." His head slumped back...the upper one. pervs.

She regarded him curiously, "I can tell you aren't doing anything about it. Why?"

He was here. She was here. Just the two of them, intimately close. He thought about the bar, all that had happened there. The different songs and their meanings. He thought of the shopping they did at the farm, for his benefit. He thought a lot before he finally answered, "It sounds stupid..."

She moved her foreleg across his chest and kept her hind leg low, purposely avoiding his private area. "I won't laugh. Go on." He turned his head and saw only concern in her gaze.

Sighing, he complied and looked at the ceiling, "I have slept with a few girls. Human, mind you. I...don't honestly remember any mares. I mean there were a few I liked. Just..." He flicked his eyes at her, then back at the ceiling. His ears were laid back in obvious discomfort. "In any case, yeah, I had past experiences. First time, I felt really dirty, like I had done something wrong."

His bed friend made to protest, "Now Civil you know it's perfectly natural-" but got stopped by a hoof to her muzzle, for a change.

"I know, Pink. Natural to everyone...pony, but not me. I thought maybe it was a fluke, ya know? It's supposed to be fun, enjoyable. Healthy. Sometime later I met another girl, we slept together after a few dates...never dated again. It wasn't about the sex. I felt wrong. IT felt wrong. Like, it was worthless." He paused, waiting for her to respond. She didn't.

He looked at her and saw tears in her eyes. He got alarmed, "Pink, I didn't mean to upset you."

She shook her head. "You didn't. Go on. I need to hear this, even though I know where this is going." He watched her warily, but continued.

"Then after some years, still as a human, a college friend contacted me through the internet. Back in school we hung out but never actually dated, we were both in the marching band. I had a feeling she wanted me to date her, but I didn't know what I wanted back then. She even flew up to Oklahoma City where I was stationed to visit." He paused again. Then he said, "We slept together."

Pink's ears perked up, but listened without comment.

"It was, better? Like, they say 'friends with benefits' but this wasn't that. This was someone I didn't just happen to meet the previous week. I knew her, we had fun together, we had history. And when we were intimate...not just sex intimate, it was REAL intimacy...." He trailed off, thinking back to those times they had enjoyed with each other.

Pink listened avidly, knowing exactly what he'd say next. This is what drew her to him, and this is why she just didn't dominate him right here and now, no matter the hormones flowing, the time of year. Technically she wasn't in heat, per se, but a conversation like this could very well put a decent mare in one. Or at any rate, a mare who knew what kind of pony Civil really was. Only a few mares could sense things in others. Yes, Cadance was the poster pony in such things. Pink had her own strengths, too.

And she was powerless in her knowledge of Civil Patrol's being.

"I visited her in North Carolina. Stayed there over the weekend." He turned to Pink, asking her, "You know, I didn't sleep with here the entire time there? It was weird. This girl, she was okay looking, outgoing personality, smitten with me...and I just wasn't feeling a connection. I felt bad for not giving into her desires and didn't want her to feel rejected, yet that was what I did. It was like the trip there was verification that she wasn't the one for me. True, how does one know what they want unless they try things. I wasn't feeling it. Sexually attracted, sure. Here?" He tapped his chest, but looked down when he noticed the spot he tapped was actually Pink's hoof, directly over his heart. "Oh, sorry." He smiled sheepishly.

She smiles, eyes glistening, "You have nothing to apologize for." She rubbed her hoof slowly over his heart. And nodded. "I had to know. Rather, I had to hear it from you. I already knew." His look of confusion caused her to giggle softly. "I think you sort of know, but are still working it out."

This got him to sit up a little. "Know what?"

She raised her brow at him. "There are selfish beings in this world. Delusional beings too." She regarded his chest, as though she could see to his core. "And then there are those that are so pure, the rest of us question whether or not it's a charade. Rare are the ones that would take your path. Rarer still are those that remain pure despite that path."

He smiled at her softly and gently pushed her hoof off. "I'm not pure. Not like that. I've done things when I was a kid. And back before..." He closed his eyes, seeing yellow eyes with red pupils floating in front of him. He blinked the image away. "I don't know what path I'm walking."

He was met with a very strong hug, and Pink whispered in his ear, "I envy the mare you walk that path with. I will respect your wishes if you are not interested in me, and if you ever need help in the dating department...I can put my feelers out and see if there are any WORTHY mares for you. Maybe some humans too, if you are still up for that."

Turning to look at her, he made to say something. That was, until he lost himself in her eyes.

After an indeterminable amount of time, she smiled and said, "I will also respect that you are not ready for me." He broke the gaze, stared at her chest fluff. Another few minutes passed.

He held her tighter to him. She obliged.

***

Light was in the room. The sun was on the rise and made an effort to push its was past the curtains to wake those inside.

Those. Plural.

Civil sat up and looked down in the bed. Some small pink feathers mixed with a few of his white ones were in the bed, but not their owner. The sounds from the kitchenette in the next room...not to mention smells of really good breakfast drew him out.

"Morning sleepyhead. Eggs, pancakes, orange juice?"

The moan of 'yeeeeeesssss' was enough to make Hot Pink giggle as she worked over the stovetop. "Sleep well?"

Another long yes ensued, though that was from him stretching, flexing his wings, lowering one wing while raising another...wait up!

"By the way, how did you slice that glass last night? I was so out of it I forgot to ask."

He was met with a husky laugh. "Oh please, that was an old college trick I learned back west." She was working the eggs into two separate plates. She checked on the pancakes in the other pans.

Civil waited. And waited. And- "Oh fess up already!"

Pink put the pancakes in the dishes and turned off the stovetop. She turned around and leaned against the sink, "Weeeell, you see, when lovely ladies are beset by disturbing men in bars, one must learn a trick or two to push them away. A subtle hint, a kick in the crotch...some weak adhesive on a precut tumbler that dissolves from alcohol, i.e. liquor, and a well placed bartender to help out." She pushed away from the sink and spun around, grabbing both plates with her wings and presenting them in front of her, as though she had magicked them in front of her, "and voilà, wings of death!"

While she walked the plates over to the table, Civil chewed on his lip. "You made that man pee his pants."

With a raised eyebrow, she responded, "You three were going to make that man dead. Which was the better result?"

He raised his hoof in defeat and sat down, "No arguments here."

She smiled and set the plates down on the small table near the kitchenette. "Here you go, Golden Child."

Breathing in the aromas, he looked up at her, trying to keep his drooling from...forget it, there was no stopping the drooling. He grabbed the nearby napkin and cleaned his muzzle. "Golden Child?"

"Well, after a conversation like the one we had last night, there is nothing black and white about you!" She giggled at herself and brought her own plate over after having set the pan down on the stovetop. "You are a gem in the rough, and the sad part is aside from me, only a used and abused female would appreciate what you have to offer."

Dubiously, he answered, "I dunno about that." He broke the egg yolks and swabbed them up with pieces of pancake. He stopped and looked up at her sharply, "Actually, they-"

Pink staring intently at him, not eating her food caused him to stop.

"Why do you think they gravitated to you?"

He looked off to the side, then back at her, "I never said anything about their history. Yeah, it's true the college friend was previously married and her husband had died from an illness, and the first one was previously married...the second one, she wasn't married before, though she was a bit odd, personality-wise. I suppose if she had bad boyfriend experiences, she would be a bit jaded like she was...." He trailed off, thinking.

It was true. They had locked on him in such a way he originally thought there was something to it. What weirded him out was that after he had slept with them, he felt worse, not better. When he glanced back at Hot Pink, she had a knowing look.

"And that is what is special about you, Civil." She sat up and started eating. He watched her for a while, then remembered he had food right under him and went back to eating it.

The pause was palpable at the table. So palpable that something had to, "Go ahead, ask."

He blinked, then felt guilty for thinking it. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. Seeing as how you have showed so much interest, and with what you were saying. Um." He sat up in his chair. Human chairs sucked.

She grinned at him, "Don't worry, I won't be offended."

He smiled gratefully at her. "Okay then. Well, uh...were you used and abused?"

He got a piece of pancake thrown at his face. "No, you twit!"

"Oh come on, you promised not to be offended!" He wiped his face of the syrup. Yeah, she chose a syrupy piece on purpose.

Pink wiped her muzzle with a napkin and pointedly stared at Civil, "You don't just up and ask a mare if they were 'used and abused'!" She hissed softly to herself, then smiled a little, "Still rough around those edges. Look, you want to ask if I've had a bad history, you say 'Hey Pink, were you ever married or did you have bad dating experiences.' Like that. Dummy."

Civil scoffed at her, "Oh, so those other girls we were talking about, they don't count as far as the 'used and abused' label goes?"

"Nope."

....

"I don't understand you," he replied.

"You don't understand mares. Or girls. Or females, for that matter." She tapped out each instance of female words. "The biggest female we know has seen fit to put you on a path you seem uniquely qualified for, and you still don't even know why she did that!"

That gave him a cold chill. "What biggest female?" She couldn't mean....

"Celestia."

He stood up, pushing back the chair, "How do you know about that!?!"

The pink pegasus lost her serious look and smiled apologetically, "I uh, might have, peeked...at some stuff. maybethismorning," she practically squeaked out.

Civil glanced over at his saddlebags where the scroll was stashed away. They had looked messed with, their haphazard configuration in which he had dropped them was new this morning. It was the little things he noticed. Returning his eyes to the mare, he saw her truly sorry for snooping through his stuff. He couldn't stay mad at her, and it wasn't like she didn't already know he was banned. He had told her, earlier.

He sat back down, "Hm, nevermind." He stared at his plate. Picking up another piece of pancake and chewing on it, he realized it was the piece she had thrown at him. He chuckled softly and looked up while he chewed. "You are right, you female-folk are just beyond me."

She sighed with relief, making him feel worse that he had made her feel that way in the first place. She spoke quietly, "Perhaps after you visit your family in Dallas and get settled down, wherever that is, you can swing by Odessa sometime." She played with her napkin a little bit, staring at the stains on it. "I could teach you about us female-folk." As though a switch were flipped, she looked up at him fiercely. "Proper female-folk. Worthy of a heart like yours."

He swallowed the piece that he had stopped chewing as she made the suggestion. He smiled, "Sure? I mean, I would love to visit that pony town near there anyway. Seeing you again and hanging out, doing things. That would be icing on the cake, right?"

He saw nothing but pink as he was wrapped in a pegasus-style bearhug. She whispered in his twitching ear, "You have no idea how you make a mare feel, do you?" He could only shake his head.

"Like I said," he muffled out.

"Yeah, like you said." She released him and he slumped in his chair like a blobfish brought up from the high pressure depths to jelly out all over the place. When he got himself situated in his chair again, she had returned with a large piece of paper and her name and phone number written up in the corner, a pen hanging out of her mouth. "There, call me whenever you feel like it. If you keep thinking about me, act on it. I promise even if it doesn't work out, we'll have fun." She danced around the table back to her seat and paused, looking at him sidelong, "I dare say you'll at least find out what you DO like, THUS narrowing down what you truly want in a mare. Mmm?"

He looked at the writing. It was very well done, considering it was mouth-writing. She was all over the place in personality. Which brought out his snarkyness. "Used the whole paper, didn't you?" The writing was wedged way up in the corner, leaving a mostly blank page.

With a rueful smirk, she leaned over the table with her wing and traced a tight heart shape around her writing on the paper with a wingtip. A wisp of ozone was left behind and Civil lifted the page, a nice cutout of Hot Pink's writing in a heart staying on the table. The small bit of paper had a cute jagged border around its edge.

".........how......?" Civil. Stunned.

She grinned at him and wiggled her wingtips. "Not everything is a cheap trick. I can actually shear things. Clothing, ropes, clouds. Working in wires, though. Ahem, pinking shears, to be exact. Apparently 'Hot Pink' just doesn't mean color." Silence from Civil ensued. She rolled her eyes and frowned, "Okay, you polygraph, I had to look it up, so yeah," she said, brightening up after a thought occurred to her. Pink stretched her wings forward, and moved them opposite each other as if to form a giant pair of scissors with them, saying, "more than meets the eye!"

Civil rubbed his eyes with his hoof. "It's too early to pantomime corny cartoon phrases."

"It was from a movie."

He stared at her. "You poor child...there is so much...." He groaned, "Nevermind, just, we WILL be discussing that line when I visit you later."

She all but beamed at him, "You really want to visit? Visit me?"

He glanced away in thought, then back at her. "Yeah, I really do. I need to square away some things first."

She nodded, "Of course. Oh, the others wanted to say goodbye to you before we went back. You will hang out a bit?"

He nodded, "I think I can do that."

She sat back down and finished up, humming cheerfully to herself.

***

The two stallions were waiting outside billeting when Hot Pink and Civil Patrol stepped out. They had brought Pink's bags with them, so Civil figured they had been staying in the same room off base. Ponies really did have a need to stick together here, moreso than in Equestria, he supposed.

As Pink gathered her things and checked everything was there, Strato sidled up next to Civil and whispered, "So did you two...."

Civil looked alarmingly at Pink, whose ears were perfectly pointed in his direction, because all ponies had good hearing and whispering was just stupid and useless at this point, but polite anyway. He said in a normal voice, "No. Just cuddled all night. And talked."

Strato gave him a curious expression, looking him over, "See, that I can actually believe. Well there's hope for you yet...juuust.." His eyes lingered on Civil.

"Ugh...what?"

"Um. Not into girls?" Strato's face was bereft of any deceit.

Civil frowned, "Oh come on! I..." The corner of Strato's mouth twitched. Civil shook his head, "You're messing with me."

"Hah. See, you're starting to get it," Strato laughed. Barro chuckled a short distance away while Pink looked on with an odd sense of pride in Civil. Strato asked, "You at least got her number, right?"

Civil clutched his bags to him with his wings and stated defensively, "Yeah. She offered."

"You made her offer first?" Strato asked, surprised. "Really string em along?" Hot Pink's eyebrows shot up and she made a cutting motion under her chin with her hoof.

Civil wasn't too concerned. He felt better about himself for some reason. "Whatever. It's not like that. I promised to visit her, and you guys, too. Anyway, I meant what I said couple of days ago, I'm not searching right now."

"We're all searching, most times not knowing for what." This was from an otherwise quiet Barro.

"Sbpbtbt," was Strato's response.

Barro intoned, "Hey, don't hate the player-"

"Hate the play," Civil cut in.

All three ponies stared at him. Least surprised though, was Hot Pink. She felt she knew Civil best, of the ponies there. That kind of response was right up his alley.

"Celestia damn," Strato said, "....that's some next level shit, Civil. I gotta remember that one." He looked the black and white pegasus up and down again, this time as though he were really seeing him for the first time. "I have a feeling most underestimate you. Am I right?"

Civil felt good about others noticing he wasn't awkward, or a geek, or a dork, or just plain odd. He didn't feel like he was superior, only that...well, yeah, "Story of my life," he replied after some thought.

Hot Pink walked up to him and nuzzled him lightly, whispering, "Just don't underestimate yourself, kay?"

Civil blushed, but nuzzled back, "I'd say you were the next level. I'll keep that in mind." She walked away, blushing furiously as she swished her tail, keeping him from seeing her front. Civil thought she was just Hot Pink being Hot Pink, but her friends knew otherwise. They waved their goodbyes and followed her to a designated launch point for all outbound pegasi. Civil was the first to leave, having picked up the lessons quicker than the others. He had no idea...

"Not a clue," Barro Metric said, readying his equipment for the flight back.

Hot Pink didn't say a word. She checked her gear as well. She feared what could come out of her mouth if she opened it. Opened her thoughts to a voice.

Strato Sphere watched her quietly. This coming from the normally chatty pegasus.

"He said he would visit," he said to Pink. She didn't respond, just kept tapping into her smart pad with route information. He continued, "Who knows, maybe he'll have a bad reception at home and he'll have no choice to come to Odessa."

Her head whipping up to stare at him made him take a step back. "Don't ever say that!" The alarm on Strato's face caused her to reach over and place a reassuring hoof on his shoulder, which settled him a little. "I'm sorry, Strat. Just, that would be a bad thing for him. He needs his family, and the kind of pony he is, it would break him if they rejected him."

There was silence as the three looked at each other. Strato looking guilty, Barro introspectively nodding. Strato turned his gaze up in the direction Civil had left. He could just barely make out the speck in the clear sky. "Yeah, you know me, I was just kidding." He received another pat from Pink. After seeing her nod, he stretched his wings.

"What do I know," he said, hearing his joints pop. "Military guy, loving parents, coming home after being gone for almost three years, won a war twenty-five years in the making! We could be so lucky, coming home to a welcome party like that. The kid will be alright." He sounded jovial and absolute about it.

Barro glanced at Pink. She stayed silent and sent in her flight plan electronically for approval.

***
"Hi mom! It's me, your son. From another world...but I was here earlier. And there before that."

He blinked at the red painted door. Then he muttered, "Stupid...stupid."

Civil grumbled to himself while he stood in front his parents' front door. His human parents. He had been reviewing what he should say to whoever opened the door. Most likely his mother would answer it. It was still very early and she was usually up by then. He could see movement near the kitchen through the stained glass windows on either side of the door, so he knew she was up. Probably making espresso to wake up and get on with the day. He should have called to warn her he would be here today. She disliked surprises.

He closed his eyes and groaned. This was a very horrible surprise. Too much had happened to their family. Not as bad as some families, he knew, but it got up there. Still, all was not completely lost. A son had indeed come back, this time. Chickens come home to roost. He wrinkled his nose. Okay, that was just stupid. Stop it, brain!

The one true fear was fearing the unknown. The only way he ever found to combat that was imagining the worst. So...what was the worst thing that could happen? He remembered she had a cane sword in the coat closet near the front door, though she was never one for direct conflict. She knew how to fence, so he wasn't writing that off completely. She would hate him? That didn't fit either. She was a christian. More importantly, a Catholic. Not a severe go-every-Sunday-plant-statues-in-your-front-yard Catholic, but enough to look to God when she needed help. That meant she wouldn't hate. Maybe dislike. Disgust?

God. Okay, so what would Jesus do? Civil snorted. He'd knock on the door and accept what the world threw at him, without hate. With forgiveness. Fine, Civil thought to himself. Looking to God occasionally worked, he grudgingly admitted.

Three knocks rang on the wooden door, his new shoes adding a little oomph to it. Not too hard to alarm the occupants inside, yet loud and confident enough to not sound strange. There was so much one could communicate in knocking on another's door. The force used, the rate and number of knocks. A minute passed and he started to worry he had not done it loud enough, but then he saw her walking quickly from the kitchen, a small cup in her hand. Ah, she was in the middle of working the espresso machine, which would make her rush to the door. Like he needed more tension in this.

The sound of the door unlocking led to it opening up, his mother at five foot nine towering above his head. For a second her greeting stuck in her mouth as she looked past him, her eyes flitting left and right in confusion. Civil's slight tail movement caused her to look down, eyes widening in surprise.

"Uh, hi mom! I'm back. Home...today. How are you?"

If you ask any person, most will respond they have never had this experience. Not the whole greeting your mother as another species, but the aspect of slow motion itself. There were two instances in Civil's memory where he experienced what he liked to call time dilation, where thought either sped up or slowed down with respect to actual events, both times witnessing things in slow motion.

From his unique perspective, he watched the cup in his mother's hand fall slowly from a frozen hand, the liquid slipping up past the rim as freefall physics took over. Drops, perfect spheres and oblong forms made their way following the off-white porcelain Italian espresso cup until all of it, cup and coffee, exploded on the doorstep, the liquid splashing onto Civil's foreleg hooves and fur.

While the hot liquid was startling, the pain was not unexpected. It only hurt a little.

Happy Mother's Day