"Dammit," she swore, looking down at the shattered cup.

Okay, not one of the worst responses he could have imagined, but then again, his mother NEVER used to swear.. Mostly never. Civil made to step back. His mother waved a hand quickly, "No, don't move. I'll clean it up." She stared at the mess for a few seconds, eyes lingering on his stained legs a second longer before rushing back inside the house to the kitchen.

For his part, Civil had figured he would either be let in quickly, or door slammed just as quickly. This was, well, awkward.

She came back, several dish towels in hand, and knelt down to pick up the broken pieces and deposit them on one of the spread towels while using the rest to sop up the liquid. It was mostly a wasted effort, Civil noted. The bricks were already saturated. The entire time she kept her eyes on her work, as though looking up might cause another shock, or so he figured.

"Look, I'll just come back another time. This is upsetting you and I-"

"NO!" She threw down a larger piece on the pile. It shattered, shards scattering everywhere. Both of them winced, for different reasons. She hardly ever lost control. He hardly ever saw it. His mother took a deep breath and said quietly, all the while looking down at the mess, "Stay. Please." She clenched her jaw and shook her head, stating in a lowered voice, "I already lost one son. I'll be damned if I turn the other one away." Closing her eyes briefly, she opened them and regarded him fiercely, then went back to work.

The pegasus wasn't sure if that last part was meant for him, yet he knew not to argue the matter. So he waited while she picked up the pieces in tense silence, her attention firmly on her work. When the mess was mostly cleaned up, she stood and finally looked at him again. And almost dropped the mess she was holding. Civil smiled weakly at her.

"Sorry."

His mother shook her head and frowned slightly. "No, no it's not...it's not you. I'm sorry. You tried to tell me, on the phone. I looked up a lot of things online, saw a lot of things." She paused, eyes glancing off into the neighborhood. After living in Brooklyn, she had a habit of seeing who else was taking an interest in her family's goings on. Her glistening eyes gave away the fact that it was just a front. "I had a bad feeling something wasn't right." She cleared her throat as the last couple of words came out rough.

"Like I said," Civil murmured, taking one step back. "I can come back later. You don't have to feel guilty about it-"

She huffed a small laugh, cutting off his reply as she regarded him. A glint in her eyes showed she was starting to calm down. "You leave that stuff to me. You're home, and that's all that matters. The rest of this..." She paused, then waved her free hand to encompass all of the pegasus in front of her, "...we can talk about later. Your father's in the back, doing his gardening thing." She stood aside in the doorway and tilted her head toward the rear of the house.

Tentatively he took a few steps inside. After his human mother gave him a strained smile, he was at least comfortable that she wouldn't be pulling out her cane sword. One of her hobbies was fencing, something she and Jason used to do while he was in high school. She had continued with it once he went off to college, going to the local fencing club to certify as an instructor. Jason used to be good, very good. Now...he stepped quickly past the coat closet where it was stored, not wanting to test how rusty he might be.

The house smelled the same as he remembered it, an aroma hanging in the air. Last night's meal. He turned his head back while steering into the kitchen.

"Shrimp creole?"

He heard a slight inhale behind him. She replied in a surprised tone, "That...was two nights ago. You can smell that?"

He turned around, now fully in the kitchen, "Oh yeah. I love that smell! Any leftovers?"

She smiled weakly and shook her head. "We finished it off last night. Your father and I thought we could go out tonight, to celebrate your re...turn." The last word was somewhat clipped, as though she hadn't meant to say it. She added quickly, "I can go to the store if you want to eat home." She avoided conflict when possible, and cooking was something she never got complaints about. As for conflicts she could not avoid...Italian women were famous warriors.

"No, ma, we can go out. I'm fine with that...just, can't beat your shrimp creole, you know?"

He eyed her response, smiling when he saw her face beaming with pride, "No, you can't." One blink later and she remembered there was a winged pony in her kitchen, her face becoming stoic again. Stepping past him, she moved to the back door and opened it.

"Daniel, Jason is home." Then she went about her normal morning routine, taking out food items from the fridge for breakfast. Observing she was still in a struggle between welcoming him and reconciling his transformation, he felt it best to skirt around her as he made his way to the door. She didn't necessarily avoid him or brush past him, but there was some amount of tension, with neither one knowing what to say or do.

That made things potentially troublesome if he were to stay in that house. Karen, a name only his human father could call her, used to be Jason's confidant, as was any mother for a respectful boy growing up. His father had been the disciplinarian of the family, doling out heated lectures and even more heated paddlings like they were candy to him and his brother and sister when he was growing up.

He didn't recall his pegasus father being quite as heavy-handed, or heavy-hooved as it were. Then again, he had butted heads with Justice as often as with his human father. Civil Justice was stern, authoritative, and claimed it was all out of love. Civil Patrol figured all fathers and sons clashed. To be respectful AND independent, that was the goal for a son to achieve, according to all fathers. Too late those sons discovered father's intent, and much too late to thank them for their efforts. As far as Civil was concerned, he still had a father left, and he'd deliver his thanks to him.

IF he didn't grab his gun as soon as he saw a mythical creature approaching him.

Why was he thinking this stuff?? Granted, they were in Texas, but his mother was from New York, the official mixing pot since the United States had been founded. His father was from North Carolina, where southern hospitality rivaled the Apple clan back in Equestria. Although, the Carolinians could be a bit stuck in their ways when it came to race, but his human relatives had always been accomodating when his sister visited them during college break and brought friends from all walks of life.

Just relax, he mused to himself as he nosed open the screen door and walked out onto the patio in the backyard. He tended to think the worst of those he was closest to. A product of a troubled past, he supposed.

Daniel had grown up poor on a small piece of land out in the farm pastures of North Carolina. Daniel's father had purchased a few acres after he had returned home from World War Two. Just enough to grow some crops, mostly. So a lot of what he ate was food they grew themselves, and their whole family worked their relative's lands or dairy farm soon as the littlest ones knew not to throw rocks at that big horned cow, i.e. the bull. Daniel in particular had done well in school and eventually went to West Point up in New York, where his classmate had introduced him to Karen. Before that, though, he had become a bit of a genius when it came to gardening and crop raising. If he hadn't already been older than 25, Civil would have bet he was earth pony through and through. He could make anything grow in any condition.

He was on his knees in between a row of tomato plants, inspecting them for snails. Hearing the screen door bang as it closed, he took his gloves off, wiped his face and stood up. In contrast to his wife's thin shoulder length brown hair, his was black, salt and peppered now in color, and very curly. The man groaned, most likely exaggerating the pain more than what he actually felt in his knees, but tended to make needless noises like it was a joke not worth attaching words to. He was very smart. And very emotional. That was the part that worried Civil as he stepped closer.

Daniel squinted his eyes. Normally he didn't wear glasses while gardening, never having a need to since he wasn't reading anything. Now he wasn't so sure what he was seeing. He fished his case out of his back pocket and fumbled to put his glasses on. Did his wife just buy a big dog? Or did Jason bring one home? Putting them on, he finally got a better look at what this thing was.

"....my God..." He could only stand there. Of course this was no dog. He knew what dogs looked like. Daniel also knew what this creature in front of him looked like, but...even after he did an internet search on what his wife was going on about the other night, she couldn't have possibly expected him to believe...?

Civil could see the stunned look, a near mirror to his mother. Except, where his mother was sheer emotion in a battle to control that emotion, his father waged war against logic itself. The eyes studied every detail, from the muzzle to the tail, withers to the fetlocks. It was then Civil remembered his human father had a pet horse a long time ago when he was young. A slight tilt of his father's head meant he was studying the flanks now. Maybe trying to remember what a real horse should look like? As if to reassure him this was real, or maybe to show off, Civil slowly spread his wings out to either side.

A calloused hand quickly went up to cover a mouth in shock, a foot hitched back a half-step as though not sure which way to go. Civil sighed slightly, realizing that was probably not the best action. To the human mind, things made sense as a person got older. While this might seem redundant in pointing out, the phenomenon behind why that is was quite remarkable. As babies, humans were surprised by every new thing they saw. Over the years, the mind would continue to see new things, but start to categorize them based on past memories. For instance, if one saw a four legged animal, the mind would sift through all forms of past sightings until a suitable match was made. It is almost a defense mechanism for the mind to immediately relate some past vision or shape with whatever is currently being looked at. Later in life, on the rare occasion that the mind encounters something that either it knows cannot exist, or it simply has never seen before, a very peculiar thing happens. It locks up. In a panic to try and make sense of what a thing is, the baser instincts take over, like fight or flight. It can happen to even the most intelligent of humans. Which meant Civil had to crack on.

"Dad, it's me,..uh, Jason. I know this looks really weird. I am a pegasus." He waited to see if his father would respond. He didn't. "Um, they're kind of like horses, with wings? Except we call ourselves ponies, what with the word 'horse' being impolite."

His father blinked and lowered his hand. "I know what a pegasus is." He almost sounded indignant, if not for the shock still present on his now flushed face. After a few seconds of silence, he continued, somewhat unsteadily, "I was just, shaken, with your eyes. They're very large for a horse."

Civil raised his brow. He knew bullshit when he heard it. "Uh huh, so all that just now was a version of 'Oh my, what big eyes you have?'"

His father made to open his mouth, then closed it and worked his jaw a little. Snarkiness tended to cut through awkwardness well. Some movement by the windows caught Daniel's eye and he noticed Karen letting go of the curtains to step away from the window inside. She must have been watching how he would react. He knew he'd be getting teased later.

"Yah, I suppose you got me." He slowly grinned down at the pegasus. Daniel was taken with how cute the pony looked, once you got past that whole talking/intelligent bit. Certainly not stallion-like in the Clash of the Titan movies, though if truth be told, he was fond of the original one. The new ones were just too...hip? He chuckled and eyed the pony. "Jason? Is that really you in there, son?"

Civil stepped closer to his human father and looked up, keeping all emotion off his face. "Dad, I took quarters from your dresser when I was young. You tried to teach me tennis but that was a complete failure. The one thing I took to heart was you said you would be proud of me no matter what I did or who I became." He took a deep breath and raised a hoof, looking down at it. "I'm not in the Air Force anymore, and I used to be in the Royal Guard on another world, but uh, that didn't work out either. I can try to explain to you how all this came about, but in short, I'm a pony that can fly and talk, and I have all the memories Jason would have, in addition to new ones coming in now and again from my previous life. I know you are familiar with farm animals, but I'm still a person. Just...well, furry, and hoovey, with a different diet now." His eyes drifted back up as he added, "If you aren't proud of me, I'll understand. I just need some time to figure out what to do next and then I'm gone."

Logic was not the winner that day. Daniel nearly fell as he moved forward to kneel down and grab the pegasus, pulling him in while he squeezed his wet eyes shut. "I AM proud of you, son! Never think I'm not! I don't care if you are in the military or what world you came from, I know my boy when I hear him." He hugged tight, a bear crushing Civil, yet the pegasus didn't know how to respond. Daniel said again in a lower voice, "I know my boy..."

He had managed to get his right wing out to wrap around his father as much as he could. The other was pinned to his side most uncomfortably. It was an effort to push away a little before his father got control of himself.

"Dad...eh, easy on the wing. They can get damaged pretty easily." As if stung, Daniel pulled his arms back.

"Oh, ah, sorry. I've never hugged anything with wings before." His eyes twinkled and he raised his voice. "Except my angel of a wife, isn't that right dear?"

Civil turned his head around to see his mother standing by the back door. "Yah yah, and flattery will get you everywhere. Isn't that what my mother used to tell you?"

"Hah! It certainly got her to invite me back a few more times even when you weren't up to it!"

Her face took on an indignant look. "That was my mother interfering. She just wanted us to get married so she could have grandkids." She blinked and her eyes went wide when she realized what she just said.

To cover her embarrassment, Civil piped up, "And she certainly got them, apparently." He grinned lopsidedly between his mother and father, hoping they could get past the awkward moment.

While his mother smiled ruefully, his father stood up and scratched the top of Civil's head. "Damn straight she did. If she were alive today, I wonder what she'd say now."

His mother shook her head, nonchalantly waving a hand, "She'd probably try some Italian anti-curse on him, with some Holy water and spit to shoo away the demons." His father looked shocked again, some of the mirth leaving him. She continued, "You know how my mother was." She walked inside. "Breakfast is ready."

Daniel grunted and started walking to the house, leaving Civil behind. He turned his head back to the pegasus and muttered, "Yeah, let's hope your mother doesn't go the same way."

An "I heard that!" came from inside. His father only groaned, knowing he would be hearing about that later, too. He noticed Civil wasn't following him and stopped. "Hey, son, you hungry?"

Despite that very heart-felt and painfully felt hug, he still wasn't sure if he was allowed inside. "You sure? I don't want to impose."

It was his father's third time to look shocked, then a stern look came over him. "Jason, you know you can always stay here for as long as you like. You kids are always welcome here. Just don't burn the place down. I spent way too much money and time getting it the way I like it."

Civil grinned and stood from his sitting position and trotted after him. "Mom still wanting to paint the walls?"

His father snorted. "You see them walls painted yet, boy? Like I said, the way I like it." His bravado was unmatched, as was his confidence, until he saw his wife with a look that she could still hear everything he said. "Well, maybe not the way WE like it, right hun?"

"Hmm, don't hun me. 'We' still have a few projects left, like getting the squirrels out of the attic. Taking down that dead tree in the back. It could fall over any day now! And when are we getting a new dishwasher? This thing leaks all the time!" Every project she named took away his father's grin to the point where he was frowning.

"I suppose I could get to those today." The smell of food got both him and his son's attention. "But first, we eat!"

Civil merely replied, "YES!" They both sat down to a plate of waffles, eggs and bacon. The bacon strips, Civil pushed away from him. While steak was definitely out for him, pork was something he was still experimenting with. And salted pork was something he had to really watch, else it could cause him to act funny.

"Not into bacon anymore? Your father can eat them if you don't want them," his mother said while seating herself at the table.

"Mm, yeah, sorry. I think a few things changed with what I can eat now. I'll have to make a list, if that's alright." She nodded in response.

They ate in silence. All of one minute.

"Soooo," his father began. "You can fly?"

Continuing to eat with his special velcro strapped utensils he had pulled out of his saddlebags, he nodded. His mother sat there, her face unreadable as she stared at him eating. He wasn't sure if she was simply studying him or trying to come up with the right questions to ask. She seemed at ease when she spoke to Daniel, but when she focused on Civil, she became very reserved.

"Good," his mother finally said. She looked down at her plate and started eating, keeping her eyes lowered. "He can help you with quite a few of your projects then." Civil grinned in response to his father's disgruntlement about 'projects'.

"Yeah, I suppose having a flying horse around the house beats getting on ladders."

"And falling off of them," his mother replied, still looking down as she cut up her food.

Civil took a napkin with his wingtip and wiped his mouth before interjecting, "I don't mind helping out. Just, uh, using the term 'horse' is rude, where I come from." This caused both his parents to stare at him. He placed the napkin down delicately, staring back. "What?"

"Where you come from?" his mother asked. She said it delicately. No anger.

He pursed his lips. "Sorry. Before I was human. Equestria. Like the cartoon...in fact, Equestria was the inspiration for the cartoon. The main character, one of our princesses, told her childhood friend when she was a young girl. Later pitched the idea to Hasbro. Shows, toys...profit?"

This of course got the expected responses from those still trying to grasp the monumental changes of the world lately. His father choked on food he forgot was in his mouth while his mother set her fork down. "Okay, Jason. I assume there is a lot of story to tell. Feel free to fill us in on why you had to stay away for almost three years, why you look like something out of a Greek epic." She glanced at Daniel still pounding his chest, then back at Civil, "Why your father can't...use the word 'horse,' why...do I need to perform CPR on you?" Turning back to her husband, she handed another napkin over to Daniel.

Wiping his mouth and watery eyes, he shook his head emphatically. When he could finally speak, he heaved in some air, drank water, and finally sighed. Smiling daintily to his wife, "No, dear, that's not CPR, that's the Heimlich. CPR would be bad for coughing."

"Oh, you know what I mean." She waved her hand.

Civil blinked, waiting for his parents to turn their heads back to him. When they did, he sat back and stretched his neck to work some kinks out, sighing heavily. "Okay. A long time ago...uh, depending on who you talk to, both this world and Equestria were dimensionally close enough so several monsters got through. Those are your manticores, minotaurs (they are sentient, somewhat), chimeras, Cerberus (oh yeah, he's not on Earth anymore, but in ANOTHER world called Tartarus), and a few other things. The talkative ones, like dragons, unicorns, pegasi, and funnily enough, some deer (don't ask), plus a few other entities passed back and forth between our worlds over the centuries." He held up a hoof when he paused, his father already naming off some other creatures like werewolves and vampires, "I don't know about those. All I know is a long time ago, our two worlds were linked. I'm just answering the whole Greek thing." He glanced at Karen, who nodded, still listening. Both his parents were well versed in the classics. "Also a long time ago, there was a being named Discord, the embodiment of Chaos. I could spend hours talking about things having nothing to do with me and everything to do with Equestria, but you want to know what happened to me, right?"

They both nodded and remained quiet. Remarkable.

"Alright..." He paused, racking his brain for a version that wouldn't be overly detailed. Unfortunately, there was none, which meant he would have to gloss over some parts for brevity. He took another deep breath, and spoke.

"Twenty eight years ago, Discord cursed most of the population in Equestria to be reborn as humans here. At the human age of twenty-five, we all reverted back to our original selves, with our human memories and bits of our old pony memory as well. While I was up in Oklahoma stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, I turned into a pony on my twenty-fifth birthday. They tried to hand me over to a government contracted science organization for experimentation, but I escaped. I made it back to the portal to Equestria, fought against a host of monstrosities that Discord had created, and we won. Since then, I've been serving in the Royal Guard...until uh, they made me come back to Earth. So here I am."

In retrospect, he supposed he could have added more details. He got the major points in, though.

"Now wait just a damn minute! What is this about being experimented on!?" Was his father's response.

"...twenty five...?" Was his mother's response.

Civil looked between the two. Not understanding what his mother was asking, he addressed his father. "Yes, dad. At the time they thought it was some kind of retro disease or virus, like a foreign weapon turning us into dumb animals...that could talk, ironically enough." He shrugged. "From what I've heard, the President has been pushing legislature through to give us equal rights. Apparently having one's family members change makes you think twice about torturing talking ponies."

Karen closed her eyes, murmuring, "so many sick people."

He turned to look at her, "Mom, we aren't sick. We really were ponies before we were born here. And I still remember my life here and how I feel about you guys." He looked back at his father. "That hasn't changed."

She shook her head at him, "No, that's not what I meant. I...read some things online. Horrible things. I wasn't sure if it was made up or just rumors, or just perverted filth. Some news articles here and there. What I read, no matter how old or young you were, at the human age of twenty five, you reverted back to that time you were cursed, changed, right?"

He nodded.

Sitting back, she clasped both hands together in thought. "What are the chances...." Her eyes flicked up at Daniel, "We need to call her."

This time it was Civil who began asking questions, "Her? Her who?" Then it dawned on him. "Oh shit, Renee! She's going to be...wait, her birthday isn't for several weeks, right? I mean, we've got time, yes?" His parents slowly nodded. He relaxed, smiling. "Then there's no real rush. Chances are, she might not even change."

"Dear, what are the chances that ANY person can change?" His mother asked. "There are billions of people on Earth, and it's not like everyone who is younger than twenty five is destined to change, are they? I mean, you might be right...this could, uh," She hesitated, eyeing Civil. He waved a hoof for her to continue, understanding this was new to her and she was unsure what could be considered offensive. She frowned, "I suppose this could...pass her by?"

All he could do was shrug. "I don't know. That entire time, Discord could have cursed everypony, yet there wasn't a whole lot of us anyway, not like here on Earth. One million, two million tops? He'd have to be cursing the entire time. Figure 25 times 365 times...wait, the Equestrian calendar is different. Ugh! I hate math." He rubbed his temples with his hooves.

His father, on the other hand, had his smart phone out and was tapping away. "Forget about Equestria calendars. He'd still be sticking to our calendar, regardless. The age is twenty five, plus three years, right? Let's see, that times 24 times 60. Divide that by that. Mmmm..." He stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth in thought. Definitely some Twilight in him, Civil mused. "6.57 minutes per curse, if he was dealing with just 2 million." He looked up, peering over his glasses. "That about right?"

Civil frowned. "Hence why I cut my story short. Wait, why were we calculating his curse rate anyway?"

His mother spoke up, "To figure out what the chances were that Renee might change when she is that age." She tapped her teeth with a finger. "Although, you could have just done a ratio of 2 million to 7 billion. Worst case, he cursed all of them." She had a very old digital calculator out, the kind that had little solar panels on it. "So, divide one by the other, and you get .00028, or .028% of the population on Earth. 1 out of every 3500." She sat back, a small smile on her face. "I can live with that."

A split second later, she realized what she just said and glanced at you quickly, "Oh, I didn't mean that, I'm so sorry!"

He was already shaking his head, "It's ok mom. I AM living with it, and I don't wish that on anypony, especially Renee. It was a horrible experience, waking up from nightmares, then waking up one day and living the nightmare, only to find out it's real." He gave both his parents a wistful look. "It's not all bad. I mean, I can fly! How long have I wanted to do that?"

"All your life, dear." Tentatively, she reached out and hesitated, hand hovering over his foreleg that was on the table. Slowly she placed her hand down on his hoof. "All your life. Maybe I'm looking at this all wrong. Maybe this is what you were meant to be, and we were just around to protect you until you got there." There was a moment where mother and son stared at each other, eyes tearing up, memories of a childhood's worth of dreams about flight and freedom.

And, the moment was shattered when a throat cleared. "So what's this about not using the word 'horse'? Why is it rude? You know I had a horse growing up, and we called it a horse. Well, we gave it a name, too." He stated this matter-of-factly as though it were...well, a matter of fact.

Hoping to skip past the story about a horse and his boy, Karen tilted her head as well, "Yes, why is that word rude?"

Civil scratched his chin with a hoof in thought, once again having to explain something that otherwise came naturally to ponies. "Well, let's say you take the word 'horse'. H, O, R, S, E. Now, put a W in front of it."

A few seconds passed.

"Oh!" was the embarrassed response from his mother. After a bit of contemplation, she cleared her throat. "Yes, uh, that is quite rude. I hadn't thought of that." She looked to Daniel to see if he understood as well.

He sat there, thinking. "Horse. W in front of it. Worse. Worst. Worcester sauce?"

Karen shook her head and lowered her voice, "Daniel, he's saying it the same way, but spelled W H O R S E. As in 'whore'. Whorse, right?" She glanced at Civil, who nodded.

Daniel still spent a good minute thinking about it. Civil could see the corners of his mouth twitching, so he obviously knew. He was just trolling his wife. Finally he came up for air and replied, "I don't see anything wrong with it. Tomato, tomawto. Horse, whorez." He emphasized the 'z' sound on purpose, starting to get a grin on his face. Karen merely rolled her eyes and turned to Civil.

"Actually, it's rather clever, horse vs whorse. I wonder who came up with that?" His mother pondered.

"A horse, of course," snorted his father. That earned a groan from Karen and a hoofpalm from Civil. Daniel started humming the tune to Mister Ed.

"ANYWAY....I suppose we could still warn my sister. As it is, this can be very traumatic if you aren't expecting it, and she is as dramatic as they come," mumbled Civil.

Nodding her head, Karen got up from the table. "I agree. I'll call today, but not right now. She has night shifts as a nurse and we'd be waking her up right in the middle of sleep." His mother peered at his plate and noticed it was gleaming clean. "I know you are accustomed to a different culture, but is 'licking the plate clean' that necessary?" He nodded, which received a sigh from her. "I don't mind making more, just ask." One grateful smile later and he had a second plate in front of him, which he dug into. Daniel stared as the food disappeared, his own forgotten.

She looked over at Daniel when she noticed he wasn't eating. "Don't you dare-"

"He eats like a whore-" A quick glare from Karen. "Ssssssss." Followed by several minutes of volatile glowering and muttering.

Civil didn't care. He had food in front of him, a roof over him, and two loving parents supporting him. He felt accepted here.

"So, why were you forced to return?" His mother asked, the glower all but gone and replaced by curiosity. She always had a good memory.

Stopping halfway through his second plate of food, Civil found he no longer had the appetite of a whorse. Horse. Dammit, thanks, dad.

==============

They stared at the tall dead tree in the backyard. Tall enough to fall onto the house or the fence in any direction. Dead enough to be sparsely limbed but still rooted firmly in the ground.

Once Civil had given them the rest of his story, including the fates of all known pony relatives he was aware of, the two 'men' had come back outside, quietly.

"I'm sorry about your folks." Daniel was eyeing the trunk, gauging how high he could safely cut it. His eyes never left the tree as he spoke. "Your pony folks, Justice, and...help me again?"

"Court, my grandfather." Sigh. "Court was the tough one."

"Was I too tough, son?"

"No!" He looked at the man incredulously, "No dad, it was just right. You know, different worlds, cultures. I guess different parenting. It took me a little while to figure things out after the battle. Especially after....hm, at least I got to see them again for a few minutes, whatever our past was. But yeah, all of you were fine. I have no grudges." Civil picked up the rope and started working with it.

Daniel looked down at the winged pony. He was using his hooves and mouth to tie a loop on the end of a rope. The plan was to anchor the end high enough on the tree to direct its fall, but not too high that it snapped the treetop and caused the rest of the trunk to fall in the wrong direction.

"They're family, son. Just glossing over the last moments you had with them won't make up for whatever happened between you before that, and something DID happen. That I can figure out."

Civil looked up quietly at his human dad. With the pony's jaw clenched like that, it didn't appear to Daniel that he was ready to talk yet. As stubborn as his human father ever was, the man mused to himself.

"Alright, you don't have to talk about it now. That whole 'mom left when I was young' bit, that has to do with your split from the family, I know that much. Long before this curse business."

This time the pegasus looked away. He contemplated telling what he really knew. That was more painful. So he told his living father what he had told everyone else all these years, "All I know is she left when I was a colt, and before I left home one day, my father and grandfather were talking about it when they thought I wasn't around. I just happened to overhear stuff." A hoof started digging in the dirt.

"Uh huh. You left because of what you heard. You didn't just up and leave one day later on."

Silence.

After a heavy sigh, Daniel wiped sweat off his face, bent down and gathered another roll of rope. "Okay, so you didn't like what they said. I'm sorry they're gone, if it's all the same with you. Maybe your mother is here on Earth-"

"Doubt it." With that, Civil hopped into the air and hovered, slowly rising so as not to tangle the rope as it unfurled from its pile. Daniel knew he should let the issue go...yet...he was Daniel. And he felt obligated to make up for parenting that should have happened a long time ago, portals and twenty five four score be damned.

"Well until you find her, Jason, you have family here. Whatever you need. You have relatives up and down the east coast, if you think about it."

His son looked back down, the rope dangling from his mouth. Civil did want to talk. Just not yet. Today had been tough enough. He simply wanted to do some honest labor and work off the stress that had been slowly building. Years building, it would seem. There was so much left to do, and not just chores with his father.

His father. Daniel stared up at him, hand shielding the sun from his eyes.

Civil dropped the rope and swooped down, surprising Daniel with a firm hug. He whispered, "I know, dad. And I appreciate it all. You can't possibly know how much. Be patient, that's all I need right now."

"I can do that," he replied as he hugged back. A small snort from Civil made him roll his eyes and ammend, "I can TRY to do that."

==========

The phone hung there over Civil, who had come in for the day and was now relaxing on the couch, AFTER having taken a short shower. Smelly ponies and all that, at least according to his human mother.

It was later in the day. A certain said mother had opted to make dinner instead of going out. Motherly pride, Civil figured. And the call had been made. But the topic of curses had not been broached yet.

"She really wants to talk to you."

One eye opened up, "Did you tell her about me?"

"No, I figured you could do that."

Said eye squinted shut, "Arg, no, mom! I can't...I don't want to talk to her right now. She has several weeks to go before we even know anything."

She put her hands on her hips and took on the classic annoyed parent persona. "You are laying around on the couch. What is it you are doing that is so important not to talk to your sister, who you HAVEN'T spoken to in over three years?" Guilt trip, the mother's weapon of choice.

"Oh, I dunno, how about being a pony?" Sarcasm, Civil's weapon of choice.

"She won't care about that. Remember, we're supposed to warn her, right?" For the greater good. Desperation's weapon of choice. Civil sat up with a groan, musing there were too many weapons in this conversation with zero choices.

"....mom...this is my sister we are talking about," he tried to reason. "She'll take it the wrong way. Wait, WARN her? Like it's a bad thing?" He knew he was awfully prickly about his change. Though he probably shouldn't be so short with her. It was a significant change for her, too.

"You know I didn't mean it that way. Just that she might...you know, have to make some major changes in her lifestyle." She held the phone out to him again. He eyed it like a poisonous snake.

"Yeah, like no more shopping for clothes."

"Oh! I hadn't thought of that." His mother actually looked happy. Were all those grueling shopping trips in the past with her daughter that painful? He always opted to stay home back then. "Still, I doubt she will stress about it. She always did love unicorns and horses. In fact, she'll probably want to come see you in person."

"....."

"In pony."

Groan. "I'm not talking to her." Civil rolled over, away from her.

"Well she's on hold and she won't wait forever-" The phone buzzed in Karen's hand. "Hold on....wait. Oh, she's switching to Face Time." Caught in alarm, Civil looked back at his mother, only to find the phone right in front of him with a camera view of his sister grinning.

"No! Absolutely not! Don't you dare-...hey Renee, how are you?" Sitting up, all he could do was smile. A big ol pony smile.

"HAHAHAHAahahahah that mask is AWESOME! Where did you get that, did you make that!?!"

She had absolutely no clue.

Guiltily, he shook his head, "No...actually, my mom made it." This earned a frown from his mother, knowing full well he meant biologically made, but now was not the time to be playing word games, Karen's obvious look messaged. He ignored it completely.

"OUR mom??? no way!"

He shrugged at the phone, "Well you are half right. MY mom, actually." His sister only looked confused for a second, then shrugged back. Karen bit her lip in disapproval.

"Yah whatever. So anyway, take it off, I want to see my bro, bitch!

Blinking, he responded, "You're the female, bitchzilla."

"Fucker." Karen stood there, shocked at the use of language, but not entirely surprised. These two went at it constantly like this.

Readjusting his sitting position, he flexed his shoulders. "Oh, not pulling any punches today, are we?"

"NEVER!!! hahahahaha!" She dropped the smile all of a sudden. "No seriously, take it off."

Ear twitched. Muzzle wrinkled.

"That. Is. Fucking. COOOOL! Ok alright already, you have a wicked mask, now take it off! Come on, take it off take it off take it off!" She was getting playful again, and a bit hyper.

He held the phone away from his face. "Mom, she's not listening."

"Ok dear, let me hold the phone and show the rest of you." She tried to get his body in view. Civil winced and involuntarily pulled his limbs close to himself, embarrassed.

Renee was tilting her head back and forth in time to her words, eyes closed, "take it off take it off take it off-"

"Renee!" Civil yelled, "Dammit you deaf ho, shut up already!"

"Whaaat!? Sheesh you're no fun. Oh, someone else is holding the phone. Hahahah get it? Hold the phone.....fuuuuck.....hold.....The......PHONE!!!! OMYGOD YER A PONY OMYGOD OMYGOD OMYGOD!!!" This continued for a good half minute, the image on the other end jostling all over the place, probably as Renee jostled all over wherever she was.

Somewhere during a pause for breath, Civil got in, "I'm going upstairs to my old room. Mom, you can tell her whatever. bye." He slid off the couch and shambled up the staircase, not bothering to listen to the rest of the exchange.

Karen held the phone to her ear after she clicked on its surface, "Renee, Renee.....I've switched off Face Time....because he's not here, he's upstairs......because I don't want you looking at me either!...he's very touchy about his, um, situation.....yes i know......yes, just like his thumb sucking.......uh huh......mmmmm that's not a good idea....hrm...I really don't think that it would...<sigh> okay....yes, I'll tell him.....I love you too. goodbye." She hung up and paused for a few seconds, eyes looking off to the side. She called out, "Dear?.......Jason?"

A distant, "what."

"....Renee is flying in this weekend."

"@!#$%@#%^#" A thud resonated through the house.

Looking miffed, she started with, "If that's a hole in the wall-"

"Yeah yeah....where's the goddamn putty and spackling knife?"

***

The front door opened into a silent house. The matron of the residence, Karen, stepped in lightly and glanced around, listening more than looking. No television. Daniel must be organizing the wood left over from the downed tree.

It had been a couple of days since Jason's return. She frowned to herself. This was supposed to be a happy time, the family finally getting together after so many years apart. True, it was just a couple for Jason...Civil, she corrected herself. Quite a few more for Renee. And as for her-

"Soooooooo! where is he?!" The younger lady burst into the house, dragging a much-too-stuffed suitcase.

Karen frowned with disapproval as her daughter made her presence known to the world. Renee had long curly brown hair, much like her mother before she started losing it after Renee's birth. It was a family joke that Renee stole her mother's hair, or at least the vibrancy. Renee was also moderately tall, about even with her brother. Karen tsked to herself. About even with Civil BEFORE the change. Which reminded her.

"He might be hiding upstairs." Her daughter's rolling eyes made her raise a hand, "He's really sensitive about it, especially with family members knowing. We still haven't told anybody yet. Well, other than you." The slight stiffening before it was covered up was all a mother needed to know everything. Her frown depeened, hand lowering, "Please tell me you didn't spread the word."

Renee pursed her lips and continued into the living room, avoiding her gaze. "Oh mom, I can keep a secret when I have to."

"..."

"I swear I didn't tell anybody."

"..." A very slow closing of the front door was all it took. Renee all but sang like a canary from mother's guilt.

She came back into the hallway, waving her hands, "Fine, I told my friend at school, but nobody from our family knows him, so it's not like he can tell anybody important."

"That guy you are dating." She clicked the front door locked. It had taken years for Karen to perfect the language of sounds without ever using a single word. So much for a Master's degree in linguistics.

Renee stared at the ceiling petulantly as she moaned, "Yeeees mom, the 'guy I'm dating'. Man, you act like that's a bad thing. Oh, nevermind this stuff, I want to see him! Where is he? In his room?" And just like that, all that careful attention to non-verbal cues went out the window. Karen shook her head ruefully.

"I'm not going up there. If anything happens, that's on you." Walking into the kitchen, she asided to her daughter, "Supper will be ready soon. BE NICE to him, okay?"

A blown raspberry was all she got for her warning, "Spbpt. Oh, you're no fun. Hay munch! I'm coming upstairs!"

***

He had heard the whole conversation. How could he not? Sound carried through the house, even without his sensitive hearing. And tucked away like this, it was almost a cacophony of noise for him to endure, but endure it he did. He was not moving a muscle. His sister's tromping up the stairs softened to almost noiseless thuds, yet the tremors in the floorboards gave her away when she slowly moved down the hallway. She paused at each doorway, checking to see if he was just sitting somewhere, or actually hiding. The closer she got to her bedroom, the more her smile widened. Obviously he was hiding. But where could he be?

He heard her breathing quicken when she entered her room.

Something was a bit off, she thought to herself. Most everything was in its place, the posters, the stationary, the books on the bookcase, her plethora of stuffed animals, the scent...

Renee straightened, sniffing the air. There it was, a hint of something, like the last time she was at a rodeo, or the Texas State Fair. A pony was here, or had been very recently. Moving quietly, she kneeled down and looked under the bed. Nothing but a spare mattress pushed under there. She made to get up when she spotted it. A single feather next to the bed, at the foot of her bookcase. Picking up the feather, she noted it was a large feather, one of the big ones on a wing of a bird, or say, a pegasus. White, with a blackened tip. She nearly giggled. Her tongue touched her teeth as she brushed her cheek with the feather. Very soft, and smelled like magic marker. Chuckling to herself, she turned around slowly, glancing at her many plush animals lying around the room. "Thankyou for the gift. A nice big white feather, to match a white winged pony, yes?"

Renee stepped to the center of the room and halted suddenly. Twisting around, she looked up at the top of the bookcase. She had forgotten to look up there until now, the feather causing her to notice the bookcase as more than just a backdrop. She had put plushies on top of it back in the day. Several large stuffed animals were there, such as a white tiger, several Easter bunnies she had collected, her favorite Minnie from Disney World purchased long ago by her father...and something else wedged behind them all, white fur and feathers peeking through here and there, along with one big eye watching her in deathly silence.

The feather twirling in her hand near a very toothy grin, she quipped, "Gotcha!"

The pile of animals exploded off the bookcase in every direction.

Karen downstairs heard a loud scream, several thumps along the upper floor, a flutter of wings whipping up the air. She stuck her head out of the kitchen doorway just in time to catch Civil landing in the foyer next to the staircase, from which part of the upper floor looked over.

"No Flying In The House! How many times do I...oh, I've never had to say that. Huh." She pulled back a little, her son staring at her, stunned. She shrugged, "New rule, NO FLYING!" A curt nod from him was all she needed and she went back into the kitchen. Civil trotted by his father, who had come in from the backyard and sat down in his LazyBoy chair after Renee had gone upstairs.

"Heard you two saying hi to each other. How was it?"

"Quick."

"Sounded like it. Guess when she's ready, she'll come back down and say hello to her old man."

Climbing up onto the couch, Civil glanced at his father, "You don't look THAT old. Just grayer."

"Thanks," his father snorted.

"Sure thing," the winged son replied.

They had a few seconds of peace before Renee came running down the stairs, one hand on the back of her head and an angry glare on the front. Before she could get close to Civil and make good on the intent she was all but broadcasting, her farher raised an index finger, never looking away from the TV, "No fighting in this house."

"He kicked me! Here!" She tapped the spot for emphasis, wincing after, but still glaring daggers at Civil.

"And you did absolutely nothing to him?"

"...I may have....mmm'd his mmm."

Daniel looked at her, "Say that again, dear."

Seeing the focus was on her, she dropped her glare for a more refined sullen expression. Her hand came down and she crossed her arms. "I may have pulled.....his tail. When he tried to fly over me."

Daniel glanced at the other party and received a single nod. Then he regarded his daughter again, before going back to watching his show. "Bleeding?"

Renee sniffed and gave up trying to play the victim. She knew she'd lost this round. "No dad. I don't need to go to the hospital." A rather sharp clatter of a pot came from the kitchen and Renee leaned back to glare into the kitchen, "AGAIN."

"I didn't say anything," Karen replied quickly. When Renee looked back at her brother, Civil was insanely focused on the TV, which had settled on some court show. Renee made to say something, but was interrupted by her father.

"That's good. Would have had to repaint in there if he had did you like that tree out back." A shocked and silent Renee caused her father to look up. "Oh yeah. Go take a look." He nudged his head to the yard. Renee chose to go through the kitchen, which had two openings to the living room, more to not go near Civil, at least for the moment.

She passed her mother on the way, holding up a hand while muttering, "I can FEEL the look, please." Karen shrugged and went back to cooking, only breathing 'told you so' when she was sure Renee couldn't hear her.

Looking out into the yard, she saw several tree limbs piled up, along with a sizable trunk and stump laying on its side near a big crater. Roots were sticking up from the ground. She glanced around the grass, but didn't see any of it torn up by heavy vehicles.

"That was Civil's work," Daniel explained, having been able to see her by the window from his chair. "He might look cute now, but those legs of his are no joke. Once the trunk was down, he started kicking that stump out. 'Bucked it up good.' That the saying?"

"Yessir. An earth pony saying."

Daniel grinned and nodded, "Earth pony. Yep."

Civil couldn't help himself. He glanced at his father, "Eyup."

"Eyup?"

Nod, "Eyup."

His father nodded to himself. "Eyup. I like that."

Renee rolled her eyes at them both and went back to staring out at the stump, noting several places where something small and round had shattered parts of it. At length, she wandered into the living room, stopping near the pegasus. He looked up warily.

"Thankyou for not taking my head off."

He watched her for any sign of duplicity. She could be devious when she wanted. But no, she seemed sincere. "Sorry for messing up your room."

She tsked. "Don't be. You are cleaning it up, anyway."

And there it was. "Forget that, you started it!" He sat up.

"You went in there first!"

"Because you were going to...." He paused.

"Do what!?!" She was leaning down in his face now.

"I don't know! Something!"

Karen stepped out and interjected, "Dinner is ready. Wash up. Hands AND hooves. All of you." Daniel chose to get up and head to the master bedroom where he shared sinks with his wife.

Civil tried to reply and found himself wondering what he was yelling about in the first place. The announcement of dinner had him already salivating, the smells drifting in now forming images of food in his brain. So naturally it was difficult to even argue about some mess somewhere.

Renee was less driven by her stomach and chose that moment to grab a surprised pegasus around the neck in a tight embrace. Some would label it a 'glomp.' "Sibling Hug!" She yelled.

He tried to get out of it, though there wasn't much fight in him. He had missed her. He even said as much, human hair muffling his voice.

"Blah!" She responded. "I missed you more!" The rivalry never ended, he mused to himself and just sat there, letting her hug him.

After a time she stiffened slightly.

"Is that warm stuff on the back of my neck drool?!"

He muffled, "Maybe."

...i got nothin.