"Eeew! What the hell!?!"

Karen set the table, ignoring the commotion in the living room. She found herself smiling, albeit slightly. Kids were home, dealing with life-changing issues, fighting. There were endless projects around the house needing to get done, not near enough money, and never EVER enough time to do any of it.

Her smile increased. All was normal, something that had not been in their household for a very long time. She paused for a second, then shrugged inwardly, sighing. If her daughter should end up like Jason, she could live with that, too.

The very same person stormed into the kitchen and proceeded to grab a wad of paper towels. Once satisfied she had enough, Renee vigorously wiped the back of her neck and hair. She even twisted her shirt around to brush it dry. Karen glanced up from the silverware drawer. "Issues?"

A very miffed sibling growled back, "Your 'son' has a drooling problem."

"Yes. We noticed that, around meal times mostly." She laid the last fork down at Jason's seat. Then she moved it to the left of the plate. Even with velcro assistance, he was still left handed. Hooved.

Renee's hair wiping stopped. "You knew and you didn't tell me?"

Her mother raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. It's not like it was something to bring up during our glorious family reunion." She flipped one hand back and forth as she took on an air of high society. "Why hello, Mother. Hello faithful daughter. How are you? I am well. You? Couldn't be better. How is Father? He is fine. How is Brother? Oh him, you know, back from the war, lost his other family. Oh by the way, he drools." Karen smiled sweetly.

Renee gave her a deadpanned looked before muttering, "Don't quit your day job." She wandered over to her seat and sat down, finishing up her cleaning.

Smiling ruefully, Karen shrugged and retrieved the pots of food from the stove, placed them on the table and sat down. Regarding Renee thoughtfully, Karen said, "Yes, you are better at melodrama than I."

"Am not!"

"Methinks she protests too much," Daniel interjected, taking his seat at the head of the table. He took in a deep breath. "Ah, good ol' shrimp creole."

Civil hopped into his seat and wiped his chin on the hand towel his mother had placed there. "My favorite!"

Everyone smiled and began filling their plates with rice and shrimp bathed in a nice orange-red sauce. Tony's Chachere's creole seasoning tickled noses and tastebuds. Except for Renee.

She asked disgustedly, "Shrimp? Mom, I'm allergic to fish."

Karen put her fork down and addressed her daughter pointedly, "Since when?"

"Since I don't like fish," was her huffy reply.

Her mother shook her head and spooned some rice and sauce onto her daughter's plate. "Lies. You used to eat baked fish and would ask for thirds."

"Because I had no say in what you cooked!" she replied in a huff. Picking up her fork, she picked at the food.

Daniel raised an eyebrow and peered at Renee's dish. "I don't see anything wrong with it."

Rolling her eyes, Renee resigned herself to the fact that unless she went out and got her own food, this was how it would be, as usual. She swallowed the first mouthful, not deigning to compliment her mother on the flavor, as it actually was quite savory. Of course, there were 'other' foods to pick at.

"Soooo, Jason. Jason right?" She stared at her brother...

...only for him to pause in glorious food consumption and reply, "Nope, Civil Patrol." He went back to eating.

"Huh. Whatev. Soooo, Jason, not that it's really good to see you again, and, I speak for all of us-" Her father snorted softly while her mother shook her head. Renee ignored them, "-why DID you come back to jolly ol' Earth? I mean, Equestria had to be one hundred times better than this dreary world."

Already the tension in the room started to rise. Karen understood mostly what was going on, because well, she was a mother. And she was nosy. Daniel was patient and figured Karen would eventually tell him everything. Renee had no scruples plowing into Civil's beeswax. Civil lowered his fork and gave Renee a level gaze. "Princess Celestia kicked me out of the Royal Guard and banned me to Earth. So I am here, to find a new job on your 'jolly old Earth.' Happy?" He went back to eating. Sort of. Now HE was the one picking at his food.

Renee sat back. She knew that something had happened, her mother's warnings on the way from the airport said that much. She also knew that he was sensitive about it, and yet, she was happy-go-lucky. All things worked out in the end. Even when people got irritated when she asked about them. Before Karen could say anything, Renee pushed ahead on her quest, "Well, don't you see? This is your big opportunity to start over, a blank slate, if you will!"

She smiled so brightly, like the morning sun, she never noticed the pale look her brother started to get. Which meant she continued right on with her thoughts. "I asked a friend who, creepily enough, is REALLY into Milp. And get this, mom, he's a HE! You should see his dorm room, plastic figures everywhere." Karen could only blink at the onslaught, her daughter oblivious to Civil's insecurities. "So anyway, he said all the ponies have this thing called a cutie-mark, like it's their destiny to do, whatever, is on their butt. The cool part, Jason, is you can choose anything you want before you get stamped! Be a dentist, or a doctor, or an anesthesiologist!"

Karen interjected, "Come now, Renee, those are all pursuits you were looking into at college. I'm sure there are plenty of things out there, for both of you to discover." She was trying to get the attention off of Civil, who by now had pulled his fork out of the velcro strap on his left foreleg and had merely sat back, hoping this torture would finally come to an end. His reaction didn't go unnoticed by his mother, so she continued. "By the way, are you sure a vacation to Ocean City is a good idea? What with your birthday in a couple of weeks, your father and I think it would be best if we all wait it out here, at our house." She paused, glancing away, then back at Renee, "And how did you get the money to purchase everyone First Class tickets?"

"We do?" Daniel asked, a surprised and disappointed look on his face.

Insert wife glare.

He mouthed the words 'first class tickets' to her. The glare deepened. He cleared his throat, "Yes, we believe it is best." Karen watched him carefully. "Us. We two." More staring. He threw up his hands, adding quickly, "Because of the better livestock laws here? What do you want me to say?! I could use a vacation."

Karen sighed, shaking her head. "Fine, don't listen to me. I just don't like this uncertainty, which is why-"

Her daughter's hand on her arm cut her off, With Renee leaning forward, "Which is why I should get my last hoorah in while I am human, right? My last time to walk on the sand, feel it squish through my toes, last time to tan before I have fur. Last time to swim in the ocean."

Sitting there and listening to her go on, he could see why she was enthusiastic to go on vacation so close to her birthday. As it was, she was always hailed as a Christmas baby, born on the 25th. At least two full weeks before they should worry about her, IF there was anything to worry about. Just that he felt there were a few errors in her assumptions.

"You can still feel the sand through your hooves, and get a tan...and for the record, I swam a lot in the ocean near my home. It was close to Mareland, a lighthouse overlooking long beaches, with plenty of SQUISHY sand." His voice was heavy with sarcasm. "Being a pony is not all that different. You make it sound like you'll be crippled." He waited for her response.

She merely shrugged and said nothing.

Wow. Civil gritted his teeth and shook his head to himself. Typical.

Renee turned to Karen. "As for how I got the tickets, my private internship has a very robust program. I won't go into the details, but bonus time at the end of the year is enough for these tickets, so chill with the costs, I got it covered. Right now we need to find Jason his calling. I mean, obviously the military didn't work out, like, in TWO worlds. You didn't seem very happy in the Air Force. Are you happier now, as a pony?"

His mouth opened and closed in response while his brain reeled. Was it that simple? Being happy was all there was to it? No, he thought to himself, that was too selfish. Sure, he'd made choices that benefited him now and again, but doing what you were destined to do, to be who you wanted to be, it took more than mere happiness to point the way. His logical side lashed out at the absurdity of the question. Of course it wasn't that simple! He had also lost the position of an aviator in the strongest military branch the world has ever known (suckit Marines), lost a steady income and retirement benefits, though he was somewhat grateful they threw him a bone by way of the consultation contract. Tartarus, he had even lost his position in the vaunted Royal Guard, the prestige and honor of which he knew his sister had no clue about. He came back to the waking world when he noticed his sister was staring at him quietly.

"Renee, being a pony isn't a job."

Daniel quipped, "It's not just a job, it's an adventure!" A look from his wife wiped the smirk off his face.

"Danny, isn't that the Navy saying?"

"It is, but the 'An Army of One' didn't quite fit the conversation, so I jumped branches."

Renee grinned, turning to her dad, "How about, 'An Army of Pwn,' " her eyes twinkling.

He grinned back, replying in a low voice, "Pwny." They both started cracking up.

Despite the antics of the two grownup children to her left, she patted Civil on his foreleg. "Oh God, save us." She noted he had already pushed his dish away. This was not going well.

"The army would have treated your change better, Jason," Daniel finally got out after his fit of chuckles. Renee was wiping her eyes, she was laughing so hard. "Did you know the Army has always maintained-"

"ACK! Ai yai yai don't you dare tell me about cavalry, dad! I get it, I look like a horse, but I'm NOT!" Civil had planted both hooves on the table. Karen was quick enough to have pulled her hand back so it wouldn't get stepped on. Daniel, for his part, had taken on a more serious look. Granted he didn't appreciate being yelled at in his own house, let alone at the table on which he provided food for his family. Still, he was just caught making fun of his son, for which there was a tinge of guilt needling its way through him. He would let this one pass.

"Look, son. All I'm saying is we know how to handle such..." At a loss, he waved his hand at Civil, "...things, per se." When Civil didn't respond, he continued with, "I mean, they have farriers, just saying." He raised his hand in defense of his statement.

Civil curled up in his seat and looked out into the yard, "Shoot me now."

A gasp from his mother made him wince, its own reprimand for saying such a thing. "Jason! Don't talk like that. After your brother...well, we love you no matter what. No matter what, do you understand me?!" He wanted to look at her, but he didn't have the mettle for it. He was still too angry with his sister, his father now, and Celestia forbid his mother soon, the one person seemingly looking out for his well being.

So he replied, "I'm not looking for love right now..."

There was a moment's pause where everyone should have been reflecting on what was said so far, if only one had enough sense to keep her mouth shut.

"♪ Wookin puh nub in aw duh wong paces...wookin puh nub... ♪" With that, it was off to the races with Miss Giggles and Mister Chuckles, galloping at a laugh.

Civil growled, "I can't have a meaningful conversation with any of you people." He pushed his seat back from the table, but a hand held up by his mother gave him pause.

"Wait dear, they're just teasing, they don't mean anything by it. DO THEY?" She eyed them warily.

Daniel was the first to recover. "I'm sorry, Jason, I'm just goofin on ya. I can't help it. You are a walking gold mine. I have to get my shots in before it dries up." He suppressed another chuckle.

"Very mature, Danny," Karen replied. It was not a compliment.

Renee however, attempted to make up for it. Attempted. "Well, mom, whatever he's tried so far hasn't worked, obviously. Otherwise he'd have a really radical tattoo stamped on his rear. Just think about it, brother, your whole life is ahead of you, unknown and ready to be discovered, a blank slate you can write the poem of your life-" She was interrupted by Civil hopping down from his chair and rapidly trotting out of the kitchen, up the stairs and down the hallway to his room. His door slammed shut, icing on the tension cake. Renee raised an eyebrow, "What did I say?"

Karen said, "God has saddled me with children." She pointed a finger at them before they could respond and muttered, "Don't you DARE." Then she looked at Renee. "You called him a blank slate. That's like calling a mentally handicapped person a retard. It's a thing among his people, he told us."

"I still have to patch that hole in the fence, last time I used the word 'blank' around him." Daniel smiled weakly, trying to help. A glower from Karen indicated he hadn't.

Renee threw her hands up, "Oh come on, NOW you tell me!?" She tapped the table, "See, this is information I need to know before I give advice and motivational speeches!"

"From the airport to the driveway, all you wanted to talk about was the trip you had planned, and the First Class tickets you had purchased for us, and all the things you two would be doing together. Did it not factor into your plans that he might have special needs too?" She had asked this a little too loud in her exasperation. A thump from upstairs made Karen squint her eyes shut. "Dammit, now you have me saying the wrong things." Hissing to herself, she got up and started clearing the table. She reached over for Civil's plate and put it in the microwave to keep it warm, not bothering to be careful. The plate clattered inside and she slammed the door shut. She rarely banged pots and dishes, and only when she was pissed.

Daniel swallowed and found something very interesting in his plate. Renee stared at her in bewilderment.

Karen then leveled a gaze at her, "For the record, and this also means no repeating it...he was not banned from that other world, and I don't think he was kicked out of the Royal Guard, either, from the way the letter read."

"What letter?" Renee and Daniel responded in unison.

Karen shushed them and pointed at the stairwell. She regarded them for a moment, then said quietly, "I was going through his things the other day, seeing if he had any dirty laundry. Yes, I know, he's a pony and doesn't wear much these days, but I've seen pictures online where some do...wear stuff. Weird stuff. Anyway, I came across a rolled up piece of paper, parchment, actually. It was really nice quality, the kind you'd find at a high end stationary store. The seal was already broken so I assumed he had read it already, so I peeked at it, and read some things. You know, it was signed by their princess, the ruler of Equestria, apparently. Her name is Celestia. She wrote that Civil was not banned. He has some things to figure out here." She paused, gauging how Renee was taking it. She added, "Do not repeat this to him."

A look of surprise and annoyance was Renee's response. "Why not? Its his letter, didn't he read it?"

Karen shook her head, "No, he didn't. I asked him about it and he said he was waiting until the right time to read it, spiritual guidance I think he mentioned. It was addressed to some other pony on his return, to help him get back on his feet, I suppose. I wouldn't mind thanking her if I ever get the chance. He's done nothing but praise this Irony person since he got home. Anyway, the note specifically talked about what he was meant to do. His destiny, as you so eloquently pointed out before he lost his appetite."

"I'll go talk to him," Renee said quickly, wiping her mouth with the napkin and making to get up.

"No, you've done enough for one day. I'll go speak to him. You can clean up the rest of the dishes." With that, her mother walked out of the kitchen.

Renee sat there for a minute, then furrowed her brow. "Um, how did this go from me giving my brother a pep talk to me getting punished with chores?"

Her father could only shrug and continue eating, "Don't take mine, I'm not done yet." That earned a rolling of the eyes which he pointedly ignored. His wife did make good food and it wasn't going to waste tonight.

***

A soft knock came from the doorway of his room. He knew who it was, the one person in his family that respected his privacy and had the unmitigated forethought to knock, in her own house no less. He still stayed facing away from her on his bed, curled up in a tight ball.

His room had kites adorning the walls, stunt kites mostly, and a few anime items like a wall scroll, an old Sailor Moon calendar, or artwork friends had made for him years ago. He even had a half-built balsa wood plane hanging up, a trophy of unfinished dreams to remind him to not sit on his laurels.

A shift on the mattress indicated she had sat down next to him. With his large eyes and his head shape, even facing away from her she could still see he'd been crying. She hated to see him cry, mostly because he rarely cried, so when it happened it was a big deal. This topic was really hurting him. "Honey, your sister, she was only trying to help. I hope you know that."

"I'm a failure, mom. All she did was point it out for me to hear. I can't deny anything she said. I'm not good for anything." His voice broke slightly. Hoarse, Karen thought to herself, and regretted thinking of humor at a time like this. He snuffled and asked, "Did you know a pegasus is supposed to manipulate clouds? Zip around in the sky, collect pockets of water vapor and push it all together. They can make buildings out of the stuff. Furniture...even some functioning machines if your specialty is weather management. It's all I can do to get lightning to come out. Forget about getting a job, I can't even do pegasus stuff well." A sob wracked him, the wing he wasn't laying on shuddered, feathers all out of alignment.

Karen took this opportunity to start smoothing them out. She was no expert at it, but he had shown her how to do it a few days ago, in case he got injured and wasn't able to take care of himself during the healing period. "Let's look at some things you CAN do well. I watched an episode and I noticed pony names reflect what they do. For instance, part of your name is Patrol, so maybe that has something to do with the military?"

"Mom, I think I'm done with the military." He wiped his nose and continued, "You heard her. I suck at the military."

"Jason..." She paused and sighed. "Civil. I need to start respecting your origins and call you by your true name now." She straightened up and folded her hands together. "Civil, listen to me. Have you ever had any official files, bad paperwork or punishments while you were in EITHER military?"

He finally turned his head to her and thought to himself. Then he replied, "...no. Just that, I didn't fit in. I remember always aggravating my superiors...heh, in BOTH militaries." He smiled weakly and continued, "When I first arrived at Pensacola, they said I wasn't an 'alpha personality' whatever that shit is supposed to mean." He looked like he had a bitter taste in his mouth, his nose scrunching up.

"Language dear."

"Sorry." He rolled over toward her, his other unkempt wing now on top. He wasn't asking her to do anything, yet she obliged anyway and started working on it, too.

"So you didn't fit in. If we were being honest, you never truly fit in to a lot of groups or organizations, the childhood I remember of you. I also recall you did very well in fencing, as did quite a few others, and they didn't fit in elsewhere."

He snorted and said, "Misfit Island?"

"Hm...probably not that bad, Civil. At least you don't have a giant yeti trying to eat you." He rolled his eyes. "Don't give me that look. You are Civil Patrol. You are my son, and your are someone else I never got to know until now, and both of you I intend to help, okay?"

"Yes, mom." He wiped his nose with a hoof. She smiled and continued with fixing up his wing, though it was mostly done by now. He never let them get too far out of whack so it took little work to fix each day. She was just trying to keep her hands busy.

"Now then, why did you join the military in the first place?"

He sighed, "I...guess I like the regimented structure. I like following the rules, and I like when others follow the rules. In the beginning it felt good defending the country against the bad guy. Now though, after a few wars, both here and Equestria, I guess I'm just tired of being used as a soldier. Told where to go, do this, do that, never allowed to ask questions. I used to know what I was fighting for. Now I'm lost." He glanced at the kites on his wall, all flown back when his family used to go vacationing at the beach up north. "Anyway, I'm done with the military."

"Alright, then you are done with the military. We can still explore other things that you like, or what makes you, you."

"Like what?" He slowly pulled his wing back to him and she put her hands in her lap.

"First off, your name. Civil Patrol. It really does sound like a military thing, but you are done with the military. Civil...civil...have you thought about civil service?" Her face lit up with the idea.

Civil furrowed his brow, "My great aunt? She passed away long ago, why would I think about her?"

His mother opened her mouth, closed it, then made her neck pop a few times, "Nevermind. I can see this is going to be a bit more involved. In any case, Renee didn't mean any harm. She was trying to help you be happy, if nothing else. She just doesn't have a filter."

"Oh she has a filter," he snorted. Civil pulled himself up into a sitting position. "She just chooses not to use it."

"Funny, that sounds like you, too." She reached out and smoothed the fur under his eyes, trying to dry his face a little bit. "In a weird way, you both are so very alike. Actually it's quite amazing."

He tilted his head. "Why would it be amazing? We are brother and sister. Even if I wasn't always a human, we were born by the same parents at some point. She is my sister." He got those last words out with a touch of pride to them.

Karen watched him for a few seconds, then nodded, "Yes, she is your sister. And you are her straight as an arrow brother." After taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, she stood. "Anyway, don't let this get you down." She walked back to the doorway and paused, turning to him.

"By the way, you should pack for a week long trip. Your generous sister is flying us all up to Ocean City, Maryland, to the condo. In two days, apparently. When we were on the phone earlier and you stormed off, she wanted to know if my week was clear, and I foolishly said yes. So these are the fruits of my gullibility. We're all First Class, too. I don't know what kind of intern job she has, but I've never heard one pay out BEFORE you graduated college."

The pegasus started laughing, a nice rolling laugh on the bed that threatened to undue all the work his mother did on his wings.

Her mouth quirked in curiousity. She asked, "What's so funny?"

He waved his wings at her while his head hung off the bed upside down. "Should we tell her now, or later when we are at the airport?" He pointed at his bags and electronic gear. "I can get there in half the time just skipping the airport fiasco. Less if I really push it!"

She smiled and laughed silently. After a few seconds she got a concerned look. "It would be nice to tell her now. Let her try and recycle the ticket, maybe?"

Civil gave an upside down nod. "Kay. You can tell her. I need some alone time, maybe a nap." His mother nodded and walked out into the hallway. He gave himself a full stretch of all his limbs and then pulled himself under the covers. He drifted off to sleep, listening to his father laughing downstairs and his sister complaining about how nobody told her, yet again, information she needed to know BEFORE purchasing First Class tickets on a plane so soon to the departure date. He smiled.

***

The next day went by pretty quickly. His parents prepared the house for their week-long absence, things like throwing out old food or drinking milk that would spoil during that time, finishing up laundry, running the dishwasher, making sure plants had their water reservoirs filled.

Civil made an effort to avoid his sister, who still seemed to have a vested interest in whatever he was doing. Currently she kept trying to talk to him while he was on the phone. It got to the point where he had to get out of the house and fly up to the roof. His ears still picked up her swearing and decries of unfairness. Anybody else might have been put out at having to do that to avoid their sister, but Civil saw it as an opportunity to fly, if only for a few seconds. He blew a raspberry at her while she yelled from the front yard, and then he completely ignored her while he listened for the phone at the other end to pick up. It went to voicemail. He frowned and rang it again. This time it picked up.

"Oi, hello? Who's this?" Brooklyn accent all the way.

Civil responded, "Hey, Uncle Joey?"

"Yeah, this is Joey. Who's uncle am I."

"That would be a monkey's uncle, sir."

The man laughed, "Hahhah. Guess I walked into that one. Now, seriously, who are you? I've got enough women in my life and I don't need anymore sold to me, even if they are cute Russian models."

That almost tripped up the pegasus, but he was able to say, "J-jason. It's Jason. My voice might be a little different but-"

"JASON!" Civil had to hold the phone away from his head as his uncle practically yelled into it, "I heard you got back! How is my number one winged nephew?!!"

Civil's eyes narrowed. Pointedly watching his sister stalk the front yard as though she were about to climb up, he said very loudly, "Who told you I had wings?" Renee hesitated...and then stepped inside rather quickly.

"What, you don't have wings?" This time it was quieter.

He held the phone closer and lowered his voice as well, "No, I do. I mean who told you? It was a secret."

There was a pause. Then, "I wasn't supposed to know? Nobody told me."

"...Uncle Joey, you are a terrible liar."

"Yah. Damn proud of it, too."

"...."

His uncle sounded slightly worried as he said, "Look, don't ask me no questions, I won't tell you no lies." An old line Civil had heard him use PLENTY of times in the past.

"Double negative. Spill it, who? Renee?"

"Damn you're good."

A series of English and old Equestrian (don't ask) swear words and phrases came out of Civil's mouth, the likes of which impressed even his uncle, and Joey knew quite a few in multiple languages since he flew around the world frequently.

When Civil calmed down, Joey said, "I never said who, so don't spread any lies about me. Hey, Jason, you there?" When Civil acknowledged he was, Joey continued, "Anyway, watcha need, Champ?"

"We are apparently heading up to the family condo tomorrow."

"Yep, Renee already blocked off the week, not like anybody was using it this month anyway. I tell you what, though, the weather has been something else. I was contemplating taking my peeps there. That's when she mentioned...you know." A split second pause, followed by, "Oh shit. Remember, I never said anything!"

Civil shook his head, even though his uncle couldn't see him. "Yeah. Mum's the word. Look, they were going to take a plane up. Flight 1776. I was wondering, since you fly for the same company, if you could find out who the pilot is, ask him for a favor."

"For you, sport, anything. Should be early enough so I won't break their crew rest. What do you have in mind?"

Civil sat down and pulled out his datapad. "I already reviewed FAA regs, so this is what I want to do...."

***

At it again. Same old revenge sequence. Or was it a futile attempt to change history? No matter, this new twist was slightly entertaining. Instead of the two unicorn foals, there was a young human woman standing behind Civil as he faced off with Dischord. The pegasus was even more decked out in gear this time, sporting full steel barding with razor edges and spike accents all across the surfaces. His wings were also edged in wingblades. Granted Civil hadn't had much training in Aerial Close/Direct Combat, or AC/DC as it was known, let alone some of the more advanced forms, but he did know a few. Against this opponent, It's A Long Way To The Top was his best option, given how tall his enemy was.

The observer watched in mild amusement while the pegasus threw himself up into the air, repeatedly bashing and cutting into the draconequus, until the creature was a pile of small body parts. The woman ran up to the pegasus and hugged him, despite all the sharp armor. Out of shock, Civil turned around and exclaimed, "Renee! Be careful, the spikes!" In the next instant, the armor was gone and he was hugging her, such was the way of the dream world. The observer snorted to itself, dismissing such emotional drivel. Then it felt a shadow, pressing closer. That dark one was approaching again. Sighing, it pulled away from whence it was summoned. Perhaps next time things would be more, amicable, it thought to itself, and mentally prepared itself for what was to come when it awoke from its nap.

***

Civil jerked awake and murmured, "Renee, mm, the spikes!"

The Berringer family were in their four-door sedan. Normally it would be a test to get all the baggage into the trunk. With Civil's vacationing needs all in his saddlebags, there was a lot more room for the other suitcases. It was only for a week, so they were at three suitcases and a couple of carryons. It was an hour to the airport, so Civil figured he'd put in a nice nap, as all wholesome pegasi do when stuck in once place. Naturally, Renee was there to pick up the conversation they were having before he had pointedly drifted off to sleep halfway in the middle of it.

"There's more than one Spike? I looked up the cast, there's only one Spike."

"What?" He opened blurry eyes, shaking the last vestiges of the dream from his brain.

"You said..." She frowned slightly, then shook her head. "Nevermind. I was asking you about Equestrians, if they were really like the cartoon, or were they more like the animals here, only intelligent? For instance, you would be listed under the family of Equidae, tribe Equini, and genus Equus. But you are also Equestrian, the planet. Is it a horse planet?"

Civil stared at his sister, rubbing his face with his hooves. He started going crosseyed at the terms she was using.

She blinked back at him and grinned, quipping, "Earth to Equestria, anybody home?" That snapped him out of it. He scowled at her.

"My 'tribe' is pegasus. Beyond that, how should I know?! I just woke up, I don't feel like having another high school biology class." He turned his head away from her and looked out the window of the moving car. He was starting to see slow moving jets in the sky. They were getting close to the airport.

Renee frowned and stared ahead. "Oh, you're no fun. When I heard you changed..." She paused, snorting to herself in thought. "Herd, hah! Anywho, when you changed, I thought you'd be, less you, you know? I swear you're more of a stick in the mud than before."

He flattened his ears, a single wing twitching. Before he could answer, his mother asked from the front passenger seat, "Don't you two ever let up?"

They answered in unison, "No!" then looked at each other, startled.

Civil recovered first and said, "Becoming a pony isn't about dancing around, singing songs and acting like I just smoked drugs and can talk to plants."

"CAN ponies talk to plants?" she interjected as soon as he said plants.

He opened his mouth to retort, then paused. There were actually some ponies that could. Most earth ponies had some connection with nature, and a few unicorns through magic could actually....

"That's not the point! Just because a person changes into a pony, doesn't mean they...they lose themselves..." Oh. A cold feeling ran through him, a memory of what happened after he had changed. He HAD almost lost himself, living on his own, surviving. Being one with nature was not the phrase he would have used. The memories made him edgy and he looked back out the window. He muttered, "It just doesn't. I wish you could see it from my perspective."

A minute went by, nobody in the car speaking. Occasionally Karen would look back to check on them. It was a large sedan, but still small enough for everyone to hear each other, which meant any awkward avenues of conversation were shared by all.

It eventually sank into him what he said. He closed his eyes, but refused to take it back.

A hand gently brushed his flank. He flinched, not from any actual sensation beyond the physical pressure of the hand. Certainly not from touching a non-existent cutie-mark. He just wasn't expecting the gesture of affection from his normally annoying sister.

"I'm sorry. Perhaps in a few weeks, I might."

His head whipped around, concern evident on his face. "No, Renee, you don't want that. It does things to your mind, makes you doubt everything you ever did, every choice you ever had as a human...maybe even as a pony. Not to mention you lose your fingers, the need for clothes (which I KNOW you adore your wardrobe!), and...there's even the possibility you could turn into a male."

Her hand withdrew quickly. She sounded surprised when she asked, "Really? Like, full on equipment? Is that like a lesbian trapped in a man's body?"

Karen covered her mouth in shock. Daniel, still driving, remained firmly fixated on the road. Dear Lord don't involve me in this discussion, he thought to himself.

Renee's brother stared at her, still processing what he had just heard. Not only was she ignoring all the negatives he listed, she even said...a joke? When she continued to hold his gaze, he nodded and poked her shoulder with a hoof. "Yeah, sis, just keep that stuff to yourself."

She broke out laughing, rubbing her shoulder. That poke was a little harder than he intended. "In all honesty, I don't care," She replied. A look of incredulity from her brother made her shrug. "I really don't. I can't imagine what it was like being one of the first ones to change. Out there, all alone, spread out across the world. I mean...just suppose." He winced, his eyes glazing over a bit. She quickly raised her hand, "IF I happen to change, you all will be there, right? Then what really changes? Other than me?"

Civil refocused on her, but didn't want to say anything.

Their parents in the front glanced at each other. Daniel went back to concentrating on the road while Karen continued to watch her husband. She said softly, "You will be loved, as much as any of our children. We will protect you, as much as any parent can. We will not abandon you or push you away. That is as much as any parent SHOULD do." Daniel reached over and squeezed her hand in response, simply nodding. Karen looked back at her children, eyes fierce with passion. "I dare any government agency to come take you from us. Either of you."

Renee and Civil smiled, eyes glistening, then looked at each other. Renee said, "See? Mom is okay with lesbians." Civil groaned. Karen shook her head and looked away, teeth clenched in annoyance.

Daniel said, "Hey, I'm okay with lesbians too!" Karen smacked his arm. Painfully.

***

Once the family found a long term parking spot in the garage deck, they pulled out their luggage and made their way into the terminal. It was your standard affair at DFW International. Drag your bags to a computer kiosk, print out luggage tags, print out boarding passes. Renee hesitated, counting the passes, until she remembered Civil was flying on his own. Her eyes slid over to see him staring at her, grinning. She smirked, "Shut it!" Tag the bags, give out the passes. Pointedly ignore Civil. At this point Renee had pretty much taken over the whole operation and everyone else was on autopilot.

While they waited in the slow line to reach the luggage scales and hand over their bags, there was a nearby couple behind them looking very agitated and tired. Their young daughter was crying and pleading not to go on the plane. "Please, don't make me get on that plane! I don't want to leave the ground! Don't take me up there!"

Civil eyed her curiously, but she hadn't noticed he was there, yet. Most of the crowd in the line had kept him hidden. She had on a nice aquamarine dress with white ribbon accents and lace, and a white bow in her long brunette hair. With the way the fabric warped and whorled, it reminded him of the sea, back in Equestria. She would look very adorable if she wasn't being so emotional, Civil thought to himself. He was about to put her out of his mind and turn away when her eyes noticed him ahead in the line. They went wide in shock, all vestiges of upsetness disappearing like dust on the wind.

They stared at each other until the people immediately behind Civil's family coughed quietly, signalling he was holding up the line. He immediately got up from his sitting position and trotted to catch up. As the line filled in behind him, he distinctly heard the girl's mother scoff to her husband with, "Are they really going to let that board a plane? I don't care what the rules are for service pets, they shouldn't be in the main cabin." The little girl was quick to defend him, though.

"But mommy, that's not a service pet. He can talk just like you and me, and they're intelligent! Oh! He's a pegasus, look at his wings." Her mother's stern look still remained, though she did raise a brow when she noticed his wings. Every woman was a little girl at one point in their lives. Perhaps she fancied flying horses back in the day.

Or...not. "They are meant to be outside, and there are bugs and diseases you can catch from animals that are outside. Don't go near it." The girl winced, knowing those were mean things to say to the average pony. The girl watched Civil to see his reaction.

His ears flattened back a little, but he wasn't as affected by the scathing remarks as others might have been, not these days. Given how he was initially treated during his change, this was some of the tamer things he's heard lately. He did manage a smile and shrugged to the girl. She wanted to say something, but her mother nearby put a hand on her shoulder protectively. At that moment, Civil's family was called up to the next ticket agent. He did extend one wing and waved the tip at her. Her face lit up, and she even giggled. Her mother's frown completely disappeared, replaced with shock . As he turned away, he thought to himself the mother must not have actually believed he was intelligent until that moment.

Civil stepped over next to the luggage and sat, waiting patiently.

"Yes, you are checked in, three adults one-way to Newark, New Jersey. Three bags checked in....and...." She paused, noticing the pegasus sitting there. She glanced up and down at Civil, mildly surprised to finally see a pony in person. True, there had been emails and memos to be on the lookout for possible pony passengers and treat them as equals, but she just hadn't expected to see one as most were supposedly trying to leave their world. "Are...you looking to get on this flight today?"

He shook his head and replied, "Nope, got my own wings. And they are a lot more comfortable than coach." He winked, grinning.

The ticket agent smiled and nodded. "Alright then. Well, according to our system, Flight 1776 is on time and will be leaving in two hours. The duration will be three hours, twenty minutes to its destination, assuming there are no delays with boarding." She glanced at his family, then back at him. "You won't be able to go past the security checkpoint since you aren't boarding, so you'll need to say goodbye to them prior to that." All part of the new airline policies to make ponies feel accepted.

Karen retrieved their boarding passes, tickets and ID's from the agent and distributed them. She smiled to the agent and nodded. "Thankyou. I think those are the kindest words he's had from a perfect stranger."

"We do what we can to make sure you arrive safely and return as a satisfied customer." Karen thanked her again and they moved over to the steadily increasing line for the security checkpoint, all the while Civil would glance back at the young girl. Each time she was staring back at him, mesmerized.

His parents went through the first point where they simply check your boarding passes and started putting the handbags onto the conveyor belt. Renee hung behind and grinned at Civil. "Oi, Romeo, see something special?"

He scowled in exasperation and slowly moved outside of the line stanchions, ducking the fabric belt. Once off to the side, he replied, "No, I don't. She's underage, and that's gross humor, even for you, Renee."

In return, she smiled daintily as she showed her pass to the TSA worker. "I have no idea what you are talking about. I thought something shiny caught your eye and I was curious. How was I supposed to know it was some young girl in a cute dress with a white bow." With that she got the green light from the worker and moved further into the check point, purposely ignoring anything Civil 'might' have said.

He waited until his family members went through the scanner and were out of sight. He even waited a few more minutes, staring at the ground as the girl and her parents went by. It was his best course of action, given his cheeks burning with embarrassment. An ear swiveled when he heard a barely whispered 'bye bye Mister Pegasus' as she passed. His head hunched down lower.

After a few more minutes, he finally looked up. Most of the people around had started to get used to him and were not outright staring at him. Especially the TSA agent, though occasionally he would get a glance from him. Probably wondering what was in his saddlebags. Civil figured now was a good time for the phone call. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. It immediately picked up.

"Hello, Civil? Joey's nephew?"

"Yes sir. I was told to contact you as soon as I was at the security checkpoint. I'm at A21. We're still leaving from Terminal A, right?"

"Yep, everything is on time. The pilot's lounge is not that far from there. I'll be there in a minute, pilot's uniform, can't miss me."

Civil chuckled and said, "Yeah, I'll be the only winged pony, white and black, definitely can't miss me."

"Right, see you soon." Click.

He didn't have to wait long. A typical airline captain, complete with black cap, black jacket with gold stripes on the sleeves and gold buttons. He had white hair and a bright smile. He looked at the TSA agent.

"Ah, you have my little pony." Civil's eye twitched.

The agent chuckled and nodded at Civil. "I take it he's a special passenger?" and waved them over to an auxiliary line, reserved for flight crews and guests of the pilot.

The pilot straightened and shook his head. "On the contrary, he will be flying with us, but not as a passenger. If you could be so kind as to screen him in. I have his FAA-approved flight plan and verified credentials here. He is a pilot...and he carries his plane around with him, as you can see."

The agent took the paperwork, sifted through it for a time, and then handed it back to the pilot, nodding. "He checks out. Okay, I've seen weird before, but this is a bit tame, I suppose. Sir, can you step over here? Please put all your bags on the belt. Any electronics, please put in a separate bin, do not stack anything."

Civil stared at the pilot as he did what he was told. He eventually smirked and said evenly, "That is just wrong and you know it."

The pilot shrugged at him, grinning even more. "I dunno. My BIG pony just doesn't have the same ring to it." He eyed Civil up and down for emphasis, noting the pony was on the slim side. He extended his hand and knelt, saying, "If you are offended, I will do my best to refrain from anymore pony jokes. Although, this day will be considerably less fun. William Parcel, your honorary wingman for today."

After eyeing the hand shrewdly, Civil put out his hoof so the man could grasp and shake it. "Civil Patrol, your actual wingpony. Eh, I guess you can squeeze in a few. Just not too blatant." He stepped through the body scanner and stood still as the system spun around him. The woman watching the monitor choked on her gum and leaned over from behind the monitor to look at him with wide eyes. Granted she knew he was going to be scanned, but it still took her by surprise to see a pony scan, wing bones and everything, after seeing nothing but human skeletons day in and day out. He looked back at her. "Everything in place?"

She nodded slowly, mumbling, "I guess....?"

He smiled, "Good enough for me." On the other side he waited for his equipment to go through. Naturally, both TSA agents had to rescan his gear three or four times, then made him carry his property to a separate area where they could inspect it. The entire time, William was standing next to him, advising the agents.

"Yes, that's a portable transponder. That's the antenna relay, hooks into the portable generator. That's also the portable..." He paused and sighed, looking down at Civil. "Let's just assume it is all portable. I already reviewed his license, he is certified to operate all of that."

Civil even held up his license for the agents to read. All the special equipment the military certified him on was spelled out on his card, and FAA legal. This nonsense was because the agents had never seen it before.

After the agents made a few lengthy phone calls to some supervisors, William and Civil were finally, achingly, allowed to gather the items and leave. With that, they were walking side by side down the terminal, passing overly expensive merchandise and food shops. His mouth watered when he smelled the food.

Maaaaaw......pretzels.......

William nodded to the pretzel stand and they bought a few for themselves, continuing on. They reached a gate far down the line from where Flight 1776 was supposed to arrive at, so they never got near Civil's family for them to notice him. As far as they knew, he was already enroute to New Jersey. Civil raised an eyebrow at his printed flight plan, stuffing the last bit of the third pretzel in his mouth. He had enough sense to swallow first before speaking.

"I'm not at the same gate as your tail?" He meant the plane tail designation.

William shook his head in response. "Nope. Ground wants you to taxi from this gang ramp ahead of my flight. Something about keeping up with little legs to maintain their schedule. And with this being a first for all of us, they are baking in some time in case there are, ah, hiccups." He smiled weakly down at the pegasus.

Civil just rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Eh, whatever. I'm the guest here, so I don't feel like having my weenie wings revoked." He eyed William's winged badge on his left suit breast.

The pilot brushed his badge off, not that the shiny thing needed it in the first place. "Ouch, revenge for the 'my little pony' comment. I see how it is." He didn't seem offended though. Glancing at the time, he moved over to a nearby empty seat and sat down. Civil walked over and hopped up to the one next to him. "We have some time to kill. Should probably review a few things before we pull chocks. Your uncle mentioned you were up to speed on all the regs and procedures." William displayed his phone and pulled up the airport diagram.

"Both flight plans are approved for formation flight," the pilot lectured. "Flight Services almost had a heart attack when I proposed what you wanted, but, they couldn't find anything on the books that ruled against it. I gave Ground and Tower a heads up." He grinned and laughed, eyeing Civil. "They can't wait to taxi a pony to the hold short line." He noticed Civil's frown and patted his shoulder softly, "Don't take it personally, you know how this profession is."

After a few seconds, Civil let the annoyance pass and tapped William back with his wing, "I get it. How bad is this jaunt ruffling feathers around here?"

William shrugged, "Not that bad. Actually, they see it as good training for all involved. If more of your people are going to be coming through here, it's best to try it out light rather than wait for a swarm....flock?" He hesitated, then continued with a nod from Civil, "Yeah, a flock of pegasi could really mess things up if everyone panics." He pointed at the diagram, "They'll likely taxi me to 35 Center runway. You'll taxi straight down here, take a left and hold short 35 Left. I trust at flight level you can keep up, otherwise you wouldn't have proposed to do so. What about your taxi speed, takeoff? Do you need a head start?"

It had been a while since he clocked himself. Granted he never was one for racing, but he figured he could fly at a decent clip. He certainly wasn't a heavy lifter like his father was, or much for endurance. Civil answered, "Um...short term I can sprint on hoof to keep up with the max 30 knots for taxi. Takeoff?" He looked back at a wing and flexed it, remembering his low level springs he would do, skipping over rolling waves and leaving a furrow in his wake. He nodded, smiling, "Yah, no problem."

The human pilot thought to himself for a bit, then shrugged. He checked the time. They spent the next several minutes going through the centers they'd be passing through, the airspaces and holding areas in case one of them was delayed, all tandem stuff since they each simply couldn't plan for just themselves. At length, William snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, almost forgot. Comms. When we are at cruising altitude and one of us does have an issue, we'll want something to go back and forth on, off ATC, naturally."

Thinking back to his Air Force days up in Oklahoma, Civil grinned and had the perfect solution. He said, "When we are up there, just say 'go Mathis' and roll to 3434." The pilot quirked an eyebrow at him. Civil appended, "It's the address to a very well-known furniture store. Most crews out of Tinker AFB know what 'go mathis' means."

William chuckled, "Cute. And you know to stay on Ground until at the hold short, go to Tower, take off, then to ATC..." He paused, seeing Civil's half-lidded nodding as he slowly started mimicking falling asleep. He chuckled at the pegasus and said, "Right, sorry. I just want to make sure this doesn't blow up in our faces."

With a snort, Civil hopped out of the seat and stretched his neck. He tilted his head at the pilot. "Roger, wilco. Whatev. Ready?"

William stood up and held out his hand to the gate, the airline agents having watched the two converse back and forth, now having to catch up on their work on the computers. The display above their heads only showed 1776P Boarding Pending. When Civil stepped up to the door leading down the ramp tunnel, the display changed to Boarding Complete. He looked wryly at one of the agents.

She blushed and shrugged. "Sorry. First time doing this. Just go down to the end and through the door to the stairwell to the tarmac. You should know what to do from there." She unlocked the door.

Civil turned back to William and asked, "That's where I'll do my systems and radio checks, then contact Ground, yah?"

The pilot gave him a two-finger salute. "Yep, see you in the skies." He turned smartly in the direction of his gate and headed there.

The pegasus turned back and stared down the tunnel of the gangway. It was like any other he'd walked down in the past, as a human. With his shorter stature, it looked bigger. He hesitated. This was a lot of work to enable a minor surprise for his family. Oh, no, he couldn't simply fly low until he was outside the airport's working area and just fly straight to his uncle's place. He had to do all....this. A tap on his shoulder made him jump. It was the agent.

"Are you alright?"

He looked up sheepishly and responded, "Yes. Just preflight jitters. I mean, I'm not afraid to fly. I...think I could have avoided a lot of hassle going the safe route. All of this was to stay with my family in a way and show them what I am capable of-" He paused when a thought came to him. He asked quietly, "Do you think that is arrogant?"

She crossed her arms and contemplated for a moment. Then she asked, "Would you do it if your family wasn't there?"

He scoffed as soon as she finished, "Hell no! I'd just go straight there my own way."

She smiled and patted his head, his ears splaying to either side from the sudden affection, "Then I wouldn't worry about it. You do it out of love, even if it's a little showboating. Every family is proud to witness their own member be successful. Just don't overdo it."

He smiled up at her and nodded. "Gotcha. And thankyou." She nodded and watched him canter down the gangway.

Her friend leaned over and whispered in her ear. "You got to cheer him up AND pet him, too. I am so jealous!" The first agent grinned and lightly elbowed her friend away.

"Oh hush, I would have given him that advice, even if he wasn't such a cute thing."

They didn't get to witness his cheeks turn deep red, seeing as how the acoustics of the tunnel and his sensitive hearing picked up every word they had said.

***

Civil ran through the normal systems checks, triple checked his batteries, dear Celestia don't let THOSE go dead early. Flight plan loaded and ready on his datapad strapped to his foreleg. Last thing was the radio check. He sighed and keyed up, "1776 Papa on Ground, how do you hear?"

"1776 Papa, Lima Charlie." Simple, professional. Civil thought that was a pleasant break and reached back to adjust a saddlebag strap, until, "Just to recap, 1776 Papa, you are 4 legged tandem gear, semi-fixed wing ponycraft scratching himself at Gate A36?" He distinctly heard raucous laughter in the background before the transmission had ended.

The pegasus slowly placed his hoof on the pavement and wrinkled his nose in annoyance. They damn well knew he was a pony, and they knew he wasn't 'scratching himself,' they have people with binoculars up there that could see he was adjusting...forget it. He sighed to himself. But now, almost every pilot on this side of the terminal was looking for him if they were on headset.

Alright, he thought to himself, let's go fishing. "Ground, 1776 Papa, that is affirmative, you are not daydreaming up in that boring tower, you are in fact witnessing a miracle of nature, a living breathing talking four legged flying pony that has wings all the time...all systems ready and waiting for taxi from A36 for a twin takeoff with Flight 1776. If there are any other concerns..............." He let up off the mic...then got back on, "Please don't hesitate to ask."

He glanced around and noticed a few pilots up in the cockpits laughing and giving him a thumbs up. He smiled to himself and simply waited. Ground never responded to him, but did respond to Flight 1776 when William called up and was ready for taxi. Ground gave them instructions to taxi, and made a small attempt to ask if Civil required lead time in case he wasn't able to keep up. He responded with a curt negative and galloped, hard, down the taxiway, astonishing most of the baggage handlers, and even the spotters up in the tower. He had to dial it back some when he noticed he was approaching the taxi speed limit, and when he was leaving his fellow wingman behind. Slowing to a trot, he waited until the other plane got into position before he finally approached the hold short and switched to Tower.

Civil radio'd, "Tower, 1776 Papa, holding short 35 Left, ready for takeoff."

Wouldn't you know it, the same guy for Ground was also on Tower freq. He responded, "We see you, 1776 Papa. You are cleared for takeoff. When you eventually get up to speed and effect your departure, keep heading until five thousand feet. Flight 1776 will hold at BOSSI until you catch up, then fly outbound formation heading 350 until ten-thousand feet."

Civil was about to say something very heated when he noticed William over on the other runway, wearing his light green headset up in his cockpit window. He was shaking his head no, as though he knew the pony was about to pop off. Civil merely keyed up and responded, "1776 Papa copies." William nodded once, then requested his clearance for takeoff and got a nicer response. Both moved onto their runways. 1776 spooled up, the high pitched sound blunted by Civil's noise canceling headset he thanked his sweet stars he shelled out money for. Then the plane started rolling forward.

Civil gave it a few seconds, gauging how long he'd have to wait. When Tower finally got on the radio and said, "Flight 1776 Papa-" Civil pressed his hooves hard on the pavement and shot forward, galloping like his life depended on it. He knew he felt some give in the pavement back there but he didn't have time to check. After several strides, he stretched out his wings and pushed even harder with his back muscles, lifting himself off the ground. He wasn't done yet. Now was the time to make Tower eat their words. He pushed harder and harder, likening back to the days he was in flight school in Equestria. In a few seconds he realized he was near 250 knots, half again as fast as the plane he was supposed to be taking off with. Doing quick math in his head and figuring for at least 13,000 more feet of runway, he had half a minute...to...pull a few very tight loops, which he did, and then flew straight down the runway, spinning laterally four times before flying level again and ascending to the holding point at BOSSI, per the approach/departure plates. He avoided doing barrel rolls, figuring it might scare Tower into thinking he was going to go outside his lane.

Once he reached BOSSI, way ahead of his 160 knot chugging wingman, he lazily rolled over on his back and drifted around slowly, radioing, "Tower, 1776 Papa, holding at BOSSI five thousand feet, per your instructions in case somebody was slow. Will continue with flight plan soon as 1776 is up here too."

There was a very long pause, then a gruff reply, "1776 Papa, copy. Switch to Departure." There was dead silence in the background, just the voice over the radio. Civil grinned, reaching over to switch his radio freq. Yah, bet your ass you copied that you rat fuck son of a-

He noticed 1776 was getting close, so he leveled out changed heading to 360. There was getting back at Tower and then there was getting violated by not following instructions. He tilted over until he was alongside 1776 and they both continued past BOSSI Missed Approach Fix.

Soon they were about to reach 10,000 feet and were instructed to switch to Fort Worth Center. Once there, they were met with far better professionalism.

"1776 and 1776 Papa, we see you. Squawk 4493 and 4494 respectively. Continue to 33,000 feet, Turn 030, follow Juliet 105 to Mike Lima Charlie, continue as planned."

Civil glanced at his jet chart, noted the jet route J105, made sure his track lined up with it and saw they had at least 60 nautical miles to go until the VORTAC of MLC, a navigational aid along their route. Civil keyed up, "Papa copies, squawking, flight level 330, heading 030 to Mike Lima Charlie, then as planned." As he passed through 10,000 and climbed further, he received a single click back from ATC telling them it was a good read back. After a few minutes, he keyed up, "1776 Papa to 1776 roll to mathis."

"Rolling to mathis," replied William.

After a few seconds, Civil keyed up again, "William, you there?"

He replied, "My god, Civil, if you didn't already lose your wings for that, holy shit. Hah! I still can't believe you did that!"

A cold shiver, despite his body normally resisting high altitude cold, ran down his spine. He asked, "Do...do you think they would? Pull my wings, that is?"

Some of the mirth had left William's voice, "Don't sweat it, kiddo. That was just with tower, they're jerkoffs sometimes anyway. If ATC had wanted your ass, both you and I would have gotten a nice little message over our computers to call FAA once we landed. Hell, I'd have wagered they'd simply tell you to turn around and land just outside tower to get your reaming over with right then and there. Naw, after the shit Ground and Tower slung at you, that display merely showed them what you guys are capable of doing. Serves them right anyway. I had a damned time just concentrating on my own takeoff and not staring at your display. Just don't do it again or it will cause someone else to crash, that's for sure."

Civil flew for a minute, then replied, "Yeah, gotcha. Sorry."

"Heh, you don't have to apologize to me. How is it out there? We're getting some buffeting."

That made Civil pay a bit more attention. Oh, there were some thermals up here. Thin ones though. Most pegasi learned to simply pass in between them. Guess not so for a big lumbering bird like the one next to him. He glanced up, feeling his way. He may not have been an overly sensitive or skilled weather pony, but he was a pegasus.

"Try requesting up to Flight Level 370. Thermals are not so bad up there."

"How the hell do you know that?!"

Snort. "Trust me, William, I was born to fly."

"I hear that. Standby." There was a pause, most likely he was switching to his other radio. Civil listened in.

"Center, 1776 request climb to Flight Level 370. Our resident weather pony says turbulence is less up there-"

"For 200 nautical miles, all directions from our position," Civil cut in on the private freq.

"-clear of turbulence, 200 nautical miles our position North 34 10, West 96 15, how copy?"

"We read North 34 10 West 95 15 200 mile radius clear turb Flight Level 370."

"Good readback for 1776."

"Copy that, Formation 1776 climb to Flight Level 370." There was about a minute of silence while they climbed. Then ATC said, "Everyone in the area is messaging us loads of thanks to your resident weather pony, nice job."

Civil climbed up slowly with his wingman, glad that the wind was quickly drying his moist eyes. Once they leveled off, he simply flew along. Eventually, Williams keyed up on 3434.

"Hey buddy, you okay out there?" He turned his head to the left to see William and his copilot watching him from the windows nearby. He was fairly up forward, out of sight of the passengers. He nodded.

"Yeah. uh...I never get that much praise for my ideas. As a pony or a human." He looked ahead, eyes glistening again.

There was silence. Then, "Don't worry about it. If you are doing right, praise is just there to give you strength to continue doing right." Civil looked over at William, who gave him another salute. Civil returned it and smiled. William looked behind to speak to a flight attendant, then out the window again, "Hey Civil, I think some of the passengers did notice you. I'm going to pipe the PA through. Mind floating back a bit."

"Sure thing. Flying with my folks was the original idea anyway."

"Cool." There was a click, and then he heard William say, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have leveled off at flight level three seven zerooo. We are expected to reach our destination of Newark New Jersey on time, so sit back and relax. On this flight we have a special treat. A certain family is flying with us, and if you haven't noticed out the right side of the plane, you can see their son flying in formation with us. I have had the pleasure of talking to him and he is the smartest creature I have ever met. That includes humans too, so the rest of you need to step up your game."

Civil could see the amazed faces peering out of the windows as he drifted back, letting the plane slowly overtake him. Some were even laughing at the pilot's comments.

"On a sidenote, you can also thank our wingpony for your current smooth flight. He suggested this altitude, which I might add, is a far smoother ride than the lower one, so let's show our appreciation for Civil Patrol making your flight a far more pleasant one than apparently I can."

Through the aluminum fuselage, Civil could just make out cheering and clapping, not to mention he saw a fair number of people clapping and waving. He smiled and waved back at them. He could also see his parents, the amazement on their faces as well. His sister, however, was grinning and twirling a finger around the side of her head indicating he was loony. He gave her an exaggerated nod. He felt good. He saw his family nearby, literally sitting twenty or thirty feet away and he was content.

"Hey Civil, would you be able to do me a favor?"

He frowned. William wasn't sounding too jovial. "Yeah. What's wrong? Am I flying wrong?"

"No no, nothing like that. One of the flight attendants just informed me there is a young girl sitting on the left side of the plane in a window seat. She is deathly afraid of flying and very upset. Probably because she doesn't want to look out the windows, even though she wants to see a flying pony. Would you be able to go over there and cheer her up?"

Civil flew for about a minute, thinking.

"If you don't want to, that's quite alright. You are not some circus act, I get it."

"Actually," Civil began rather hesitantly, "I'm...not that good with kids. They're irrational, cry, smell, and defy all laws of logic and practical thinking."

"You just described most adults, feathers."

Civil snorted. "Eh, alright, I'll go see what I can do." He paused and thought of something, then he said, "I'm going to message Center our signals might merge, but not to worry. They should still be able to see our squawks." As he typed the message into his datapad to transmit to ATC rather than clog up the airwaves, it was William that sounded hesitant.

"Civil, what are you planning on doing?"

"Don't worry, this won't endanger anybody or anypony, I promise." He got a quick affirmative reply from ATC and flew slightly higher, then slid over the top of the plane to the left side. He spotted a single window with its blind closed, centered over the wing. Probably so she couldn't see the ground move away on takeoff, as it was a good idea to keep the windows open during takeoffs and landings for safety purposes, in case someone noticed a fire or something. The girl must have closed it as soon as she was allowed.

William came back as Civil got closer and closer to the wing, "If you are about to do what I think you are going to do, do NOT damage my plane, copy?"

Civil replied, "Gotcha bossman. Just don't do any aileron rolls and we'll both stay pretty after this trip." William single-clicked him. The pegasus was very careful as he drifted the last couple of feet down, and, >tink< landed all four hooves on the left wing...of a Boeing 737. Careful not to put any dents into the aluminium(sp) he slowly walked over to the window with the blind pulled closed. Conscious of the other passengers looking on, he tapped on the window.

Nothing.

He smirked and tapped harder, thankful he went for the specially coated ponyshoes so as not to crack certain airplane windows. After several seconds of waiting, the blind slid up the barest inch and two human eyes peered out. He made sure his eyes were level with hers, which went wide in shock and the blind slid down quick. He chuckled to himself and tapped out the first part of 'Shave and a Haircut' on the window, a classic cartoon trope. He was surprised when he heard 'Two Bits' rapped out on the other side of the window. Slowly, the blind came up to reveal a less shocked set of eyes, and a darling face to accompany the eyes, albeit puffy and tear-streaked.

He sat up straight and smiled, tilted his head so one ear was straight and the other flopped to the side in the wind, and waved. She giggled and waved back to him. Then she started chatting. She talked about how she loved ponies and had a lot of the toys at home, how her favorite used to be Princess Celestia, because of COURSE she was bestest princess, how she loved the cartoon, how she wanted to hear all about his adventures, if he'd been to the Everfree Forest, what was his favorite food, had he met the other famous ponies like Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash (because she REALLY loved flying ponies), if he had pony family members, if he and his family were going to see them............

And all Civil experienced was a silent movie over the roar of the wind outside. Granted his headset cut out much of the noise, but did nothing to help him hear any of what this little girl was saying. He gave her a full two minutes before he figured she was not understanding this conversation was anything but, so he held up a hoof. She stopped talking and took on a confused look. Then he ducked down below the windowsill. Before she got alarmed, he popped up both his hooves and pointed them at each other. Next he wiggled one at the other, then the other responded by nodding and wiggling, simulating they were talking to each other. He backed is head away a little so he could just see her face and gauge her reaction.

The little girl's confused expression slowly changed to frustration, since, you know, she couldn't hear what HE was saying. She turned away for a few seconds, then came back to the window and held up her iPad which had a notepad application pulled up. On it were the words:

WHAT ARE YOU DOING???????????????????

Civil stopped wiggling his hooves at each other and put them down quickly, giving her a deadpan look. He nodded with a weak smile and pulled out his phone, careful to make sure it was firmly secure in its velcro strap so it didn't blow away in the wind. He typed out:

HOOF PUPPETS, NATURALLY.

She read it, frowned, and typed out:

WHY?

Civil rolled his eyes and replied with:

BECAUSE I HAVE NO HANDS, DUH! 😜

The girl giggled hysterically and he had to wait until she calmed down. That's when he noticed her mother was sitting in the middle seat and her father near the aisle, both watching in utter shock. Her father was the first to recover and leaned over to say something to the girl. Her cheeks colored and she quickly typed out and showed Civil:

OH MY GOSH I'M SORRY!!!! I FORGOT WE CANT HEAR EACH OTHER

She paused, glanced down at her iPad, then typed away, smiling sheepishly, she displayed:

WAIT WE CAN TALK THIS WAY RIGHT???

He smiled and clapped his hooves together to show approval. The girl laughed. All the while, Civil watched the girl's mother's reactions. Her face went from initial shock, to surprise, then to amusement, and oddly enough some discomfort laced with guilt. She had trouble meeting his eyes. Ah, this was the family he saw at the airport. The young girl with the pretty dress and the disapproving mother. And she remembered he must have overheard her scathing comments earlier. While the girl was typing out something, he typed out a word and showed it to the mother:

LATER

Her eyes widened, then glanced at her daughter for a second before she looked back at Civil and nodded. He was careful to erase the word when the girl put her iPad back up on the window. He hadn't noticed before, but she was moving her mouth when she typed and read his replies.

MY NAME IS SARAH WEISE. I AM 9 AND A HALF YEARS OLD, GOING ON 10!!!! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?

He smiled and thought about it, then replied:

HELLO SARAH. THAT IS A VERY PRETTY NAME. (she blushed) MY NAME IS CIVIL PATROL. PONY AGES ARE HARD TO TRANSLATE TO HUMAN AGES, BUT WHEN I WAS HUMAN, I WAS 25 BEFORE I CHANGED, AND THAT WAS ALMOST 3 YEARS AGO. SOOO 28?

She read it all out, and this time he did notice she was mouthing out all the words, and most likely out loud. He could see a few of the passengers across the aisle paying very close attention to the exchange, although there was no way they could read what Civil and Sarah were writing to each other. After each exchange, they reacted with smiles, which meant this was a very public conversation. He was glad the wind had a nice chill bite to it to cool his heated cheeks from the embarrassment.

She replied:

YOU LOOK YOUNG FOR 28. YOUR FAMILY IS ON BOARD, RIGHT?

He grinned and nodded. Then she wrote:

WHAT ABOUT YOUR PONY FAMILY, MOM, DAD, BROTHER SISTER?

This led into an avenue of conversation he normally didn't want to talk about, especially with a 9 year old still innocent to the world. He stared down at the phone, unsure of what to put. Glancing up, he saw she wore a worried expression, her fingers tightening on the iPad. She might be thinking she said something wrong, he thought to himself, so he quickly typed out:

SOME BAD THINGS HAPPENED, AND I DON'T HAVE THEM ANYMORE. BUT MY HUMAN FAMILY IS NEARBY, AND THAT IS ALL THE FAMILY I NEED. MY TWO PARENTS AND SISTER.

Well, you'd have thought he had written something scandalous. She furiously typed away. Her mother, listening in to her vocalize what she was typing, initially frowned. She looked up and saw the pegasus was watching her and flinched. At length she became contemplative and asked her daughter a question. Sarah nodded emphatically and then placed the iPad up on the window. It read:

NO!!! THATS NOT ALL YOU NEED!!! YOU NEED MORE FAMILY MEMBERS YOU LOOK SO SAD WHEN WE TALK ABOUT IT THAT MEANS YOU NEED MORE.

Sarah pulled away the iPad and typed some more. Her mother commented to her and Sarah responded, pointing to him and being very animated with her hands. Not entirely approving, the mother shrugged and glanced at her husband, who in turn nodded. Sarah finally showed Civil:

WHAT IF I WAS YOUR FAMILY MEMBER??? I CAN BE YOUR SECOND SISTER, WE CAN WRITE TO EACH OTHER AND YOU CAN VISIT AND I CAN SHOW YOU TO MY FRIENDS OH OH!!! MY BIRTHDAY IS COMING UP CAN YOU GO TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY?????

He stood there, his mouth open, trying to understand what it was she was writing. His eyes flitted back and forth, and then he looked up at her mother, brows raised. She smiled weakly and shrugged, then lifted her hand to him, as though it was his decision. His head slumped, a disgruntled look on his face. The one adult figure that could nip this family thing in the bud and she was actually supporting her daughter now! He stretched his shoulders and wrote on his phone, then held it up:

THAT IS A LOT TO ASK ANYPONY. I WILL THINK ABOUT IT AS FAR AS THE FAMILY MEMBERSHIP GOES. I MIGHT BE ABLE TO MAKE IT TO YOUR PARTY, BUT THAT IS UP TO YOUR PARENTS. IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ASK ME ABOUT?

That's when the floodgates opened and she repeated all her questions she had asked earlier, only this time he could see what she wanted to know, so he answered them as best he could. They were at this for quite a while, and he held himself with proper poise, almost to the point where he was sitting at parade rest. He knew her parents and several other people were listening in, so he was very neutral about his answers. His demeanor did not go unnoticed by the girl, even at her age. She finally asked him:

ARE YOU A ROYAL GUARD? YOU LOOK SERIOUS ENOUGH TO BE A GUARD.

He chuckled and loosened up a little, typing out his answer:

I USED TO BE, SOME STUFF HAPPENED AND I WAS FORCED TO LEAVE THE GUARD AND EQUESTRIA BEHIND. I'M JUST A NORMAL PONY NOW.

This made the girl frown and she replied:

DID YOU DO SOMETHING BAD OR HURT PONIES OR PRINCESS CELESTIA?

He shook his head no and the girl's brow furrowed in thought. She typed out, all the while still vocalizing her words:

THEN YOU WERE MEANT TO COME TO EARTH, MAYBE HELP OUT OTHER PONIES, OR EVEN HUMANS. DID PRINCESS CELESTIA MAKE YOU COME TO EARTH?

The mother glanced at her daughter in concern. Odd. He replied with:

I WOULD RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT IT. I'M JUST A NORMAL PONY TRYING TO FIND HIS WAY, OR SO I WAS TOLD.

She quickly replied:

YOU ARE NOT NORMAL, YOU ARE A SPECIAL PONY! YOU CAME OVER TO TALK TO ME WHEN YOU COULD BE FLYING NEAR YOUR FAMILY.

He started to shake his head and type a reply, but she deliberately tapped the window and then pointed out the phrase on her iPad while saying out loud: YOU ARE A SPECIAL PONY!

He pursed his lips and scratched the side of his head, unsure of what to say. He didn't feel special. She started yawning, which gave him an excuse to change the subject. He checked their flight path on his datapad and wrote:

YOU LOOK TIRED. WE ARE STILL ONLY HALFWAY TO OUR DESTINATION, PERHAPS YOU SHOULD TAKE A NAP.

Her mother gave him a grateful smile, but Sarah wasn't having it. She wrote back, shaking her head no:

NO!! I CANT TAKE A NAP WHILE YOU ARE OUT THERE IN THE FREEZING COLD ALL ALONE-

He didn't bother reading the rest and shook his hoof back and forth, then tapped away on his phone and held it up:

IT'S OK. WE PEGASI DO NOT FEEL THE COLD MUCH UP HERE, SO IT IS ALRIGHT.

She still shook her head and typed out:

PLEASE DONT LEAVE ME UP HERE ALONE!!!!

She was nearly in tears and her mother tried to console her. The girl must have started thinking about her fear of flying again, and he was doing so well getting her to avoid that. Civil contemplated the situation, then wrote:

DON'T WORRY, KIDDO. I'LL TAKE A NAP WITH YOU. I PROMISE TO STAY RIGHT HERE, AND WHEN YOU WAKE UP, I WILL STILL BE HERE. IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, I WILL HELP, NO MATTER WHAT. OKAY?

He lowered his phone and saw she still had a dubious look on her face. Clenching his jaw for a few seconds, he sighed and finally typed:

THAT'S WHAT ROYAL GUARDS DO. THEY PROTECT THE INNOCENT.

She positively beamed and planted a big kiss on the window. He covered his eyes with a hoof in embarrassment, this was not happening, he thought to himself. When he peeked, he saw Sarah waiting expectantly. Her parents were enthralled, so he shook his head and put his hoof to his mouth, blowing her a kiss. She grabbed it out of the air and put it in her dress pocket. The adults next to her laughed, completely delighted with the back and forth play, especially since it kept their daughter from thinking about her fears.

Sarah finally calmed down from her antics and curled up in such a way so she could see the window. Civil stepped away just far enough so when he lied down on the wing, she could still see him. Sarah's mother was the one in tears now, patting the top of Sarah's head, all the while mouthing 'thankyou' to Civil. He sat at attention and tapped twice across his chest with his right foreleg like a Roman. He then curled up, facing the window, and found it was rather nice out here, riding on the wing as it were. Civil was just about to drift to sleep when his radio chirped up.

"Are you actually going to nap on my wing out there!?! The flight attendants are filling me in and this soap opera is more entertaining than television." Almost forgot about him, Civil thought to himself.

"Just a small nap so little Sarah will calm down. I could use one anyway. I trust your flying."

"Yeah...aside from the insanity of you actually sleeping on my wing in the first place, I really don't want you sliding off and smashing into my horizontal stab."

Civil opened an eye, got up, lightly stepped around in a circle like a cat, then laid back down the exact same way he was before and curled up. "No problems here. Pegasus magic is sticky bestest magic."

"Riiiight," was the slightly exasperated response he got. Then, "Just don't do anything weird out there, the whole cabin is watching you. Might want to set an alarm on your equipment to wake you before we get to the Initial Approach Fix. You know, that whole approach and landing bit us REAL pilots have to worry about?"

Civil snorted, lazily punched in an approximate alarm, and closed his eyes again, murmuring into the mic, "Roger wilco. See you in an hour and twenty." He checked one last time on his semi-adopted sister. Sarah was out like a light, a smile of contentment on her face. Her mother was still petting the top of her head, but she was watching Civil, and it was with a look of fondness, a rare expression to be seen on strangers regarding him. This made him warm inside, a little extra fleece against the cold...and to be honest it was a tad nippy out here at 37,000 feet. He drifted off into the clouds of dreamland, as both flight 1776's drifted through actual clouds.

***

".....civil......"

The pegasus slowly woke up and murmured to himself. When he didn't get an answer he remembered to key up and ask, "Huh, what?"

"CIVIL!" He jumped up, whipping his head around. He could see Sarah tapping on the window in an alarmed manner, but she calmed down when she saw he was awake.

"For christ sake, wake up! We're past the IAP and Approach is waiting for you to switch over. I can only BS them for so long. 'Oh don't worry, my wingman is out wingwalking. No wait, wingsleeping. That's okay, right?' Yeah. I like my flight certification, thankyou very much."

He checked their track and they had indeed descended for the initial approach and were enroute to the Final Approach Fix. Then he checked his alarm and double-checked their route. Huh, they must have made some time based on favorable winds...which meant his alarm was set well past when it should have needed to wake him.

"Oh shit, sorry, my bad! You were flying so well I simply overestimated the alarm."

"Uh huh, just get up on Approach," William replied, a little calmer now.

Civil verified the proper setting on his plates and keyed the mic, "1776 Papa to Approach, past IAP on approach to Newark New Jersey."

"1776 Papa, nice of you to join us, squawk 3547." Civil complied and switched his transponder to transmit properly.

William came over the other freq, "Hey, Sleeping Booty, I don't feel like logging a four point landing today, fyi."

He frowned and replied, "Huh? What does that mean?"

"My three gear trucks and your tail hitting the pavement when you bounce off my wing from the touchdown."

He laughed, "Oh yeah, I'm no Rainbow Crash." He pointed himself forward and could see the airport from his nice spot on the left wing.

"Wow, that's really a thing?" the pilot replied.

"Yep," Civil answered. "It's a thing. Now, let's see how this-" The wind was knocked out of him as soon as he spread his wings, not thinking about what he was doing. That action had caused his magic to shift from cloudwalker mode to fly mode...and the fast moving air ripped him off the wing. He had a moment where he totally Matrix'd over the horizontal stabilizer (Celestia forbid he slammed into it after he promised his wingman he wouldn't) and tumbled behind the plane in its hot exhaust.

Remembering his flight training, he spread out all limbs, tweaked his wings and steadied into a glider profile. Tipping his head down and pushing hard with his wings, he regained some of the speed he lost while he was tumbling.

"1776 Papa, we see your signal has separated from Flight 1776, proceed on course 1 nautical mile, then change heading left 10 degrees until lined up with 04 Left, then hold 040 heading and continue descent on glide path." The rest of the landing proceeded without issue and both Flight 1776's touched down without incident. Tower and Ground were informed well in advance from the previous airport what to expect, so they ushered both of them to the same gate without any fuss. Flight 1776 taxied up to the gangway and waited for it to extend to the fuselage, the baggage handlers scrambling to open up the cargo doors and start transferring luggage out of the hold via conveyors. They were a little more surprised to see a pegasus trotting alongside the plane and wait at the base of the gangway stairwell, but they took it in stride.

As the pegasus shut down his equipment and closed out his flight plan, one of the handlers walked up the stairwell and opened the door for him. Of course, the human also had two strollers with him, priority items retrieved from the cargo hold of the plane so the disembarking owners could get their children in them as quick as possible and move on into the terminal. Still, it was the thought that counted. Civil climbed the steps and waited inside next to the strollers, nodding at the surprised agents that were attending to the plane's door.

After they opened up the door, the first one out was actually William. He knelt down and shook Civil's hoof. "Aside from some things we won't talk about or tell FAA, I enjoyed flying with you."

Civil nodded, smiling. "I enjoyed it too. Granted, I didn't get to see a lot of my folks, but it was for a good cause, right?"

William shook his head and stood up, replying, "You have no idea. I have to finish out some items. I suggest you go up the ramp and wait. A lot of passengers want to meet you." The color drained out of Civil's face. William laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's all appreciation over how you handled the girl. Tell your uncle I'll see him at the party later." With that, he entered back into the plane.

In a daze, Civil walked up the long ramp and eventually into the terminal. The crowd that had gathered and was preparing to board the plane as soon as it was ready shared similar surprise to see a pegasus emerge from the doorway. He smiled belatedly and stepped over to the side. He didn't like attention. All too often it meant he had pissed somepony off. True it was more exasperation with something he had gone and messed with, and almost always with good intentions. But still, to him attention was bad attention.

He frowned as he idly watched the First Class passengers come up the ramp, his family among them. Did William say the word 'party'? He was interrupted from his thoughts by suited men and women from First Class coming up to shake his hoof, all of them acknowledging his heroic action of consoling the girl, from outside the plane no less, and how there should be more humans like him. Not pony, but he knew what they meant, or so they said. He put on a plastic smile and nodded, thanking them in return. His parents and Renee stood by, watching all this and smiling. They were obviously waiting for the one passenger that was truly grateful for his big gushy heart.

"There he is, mommy! There's Civil!" She ran full tilt right for him. A lot of the passengers stepped aside, having foreseen this particular event. Civil braced himself. Before the girl could reach him, a much older female voice rang out.

"Sarah Coleen Weise! We do not grab strange animals!" No sooner had she said that, her daughter skidded to a halt mere inches from Civil, and her mother covered her mouth. She hurried over to her daughter, looking completely mortified.

Sarah looked up at her, her lower lip quivering, "He's not an animal, mommy! He's a person! A pony person!"

To her credit, her mother nodded and clasped both her hands together in front of her daughter. She bobbed her head at Civil and said in a much quieter voice, "I am so sorry Mister Patrol! I know you are a person. I wasn't thinking and I tried...I wasn't thinking. I'm new at this, so bear with me. Do you prefer to be a person, pony...none of the above?"

He smiled back at her and replied, "It's alright. Pony or person will do just fine." He tilted his head in thought. "Imagine turning into something you thought was only a myth. What would YOU do?"

She gave him a grateful smile. "I would have several nervous breakdowns."

"I wouldn't! I would fly around and do all sorts of pegasus things!" exclaimed Sarah. The adults laughed at the girl's exuberance. Karen and Daniel introduced themselves to Sarah's parents, Alice and Keith. Sarah, being just a kid, was too excited to stand there while the grownups did grownup things, so she tried to get Civil's attention while he was talking to her parents. She even inched a little closer to him, pushing her mother's arms off her.

Alice noticed this and addressed her daughter, "Sarah dear, if he is a person, then how do we respect persons?"

Sullenly she replied, "We respect their space and ask for permission." Her mother nodded in approval and looked at Civil. He wasn't sure what was expected of him and looked around. He saw Renee eyeing him. She made like she was hugging herself and nodded to Sarah, which is what he was starting to figure out.

With a small sigh, he acquiesced, "Okay, you can hug-" The air was squeezed out of him by a surprisingly powerful 9 year old going on 10. Renee took this moment to take a picture of it on her phone. While the adults cooed over the mortification of Civil, Keith leaned close to Alice.

"Honey, I think I'll go on ahead, okay? You can stay here with Sarah and talk to the pegasus, I'll meet you at baggage claim. I think she is going to talk his ears off and I wouldn't want someone grabbing our stuff during that time." Alice nodded, watching her daughter.

Renee smiled. "Actually, that's a great idea. Mom, dad? I'll stay here, keep an eye on the children?" Once Civil could breathe again and Sarah had let up, his eyes narrowed at his sister. What was she up to?

Karen smirked at Daniel and whispered, "I know a dismissal when I hear one." She and her husband, along with Keith, headed off to baggage claim.

Sarah told Civil, "Did you know, you smell like the ocean? Like a sweet perfumed ocean!" He gave her a lopsided smile, eyes wandering back to his sister.

"Um, thankyou?" He said weakly.

Renee laughed and smelled her own hair. "Oh, so that's where that smell was coming from. I thought it was my shampoo." She got a strange look and bent over, sniffing at him, then coughed. "Smells like ocean and sweaty pony, from my point of view." Civil gave his sister a dreary look. Absentmindedly, she smelled her own hair again and shrugged. "I should probably change shampoo brands."

"Thanks, Miss Smell Police," he muttered and stuck out his tongue.

Sarah booped him on the nose, getting his attention. "You said you had to leave the Royal Guard and Equestria? Why did you leave? I want to know." Alice tried to put a hand on her head as a warning, but the girl ducked out from under it, getting her closer to the pegasus. For his part, he knew she wasn't going to let up on this, so he answered her.

"Yesss...well, I didn't so much leave. More like I got kicked out." He wrinkled his nose, a twinge of darkness crossing his face.

"Why!? You said you didn't do anything bad....are you a bad pony?" There was worry on her face, as if he were about to tell her something that would shatter her image of him.

"What? No...at least, I don't think so. I stuck my nose into some things when I should have been guarding something or another. I never got any bad paperwork. I guess..." He shrugged. "I guess I didn't fit in." His wings started to slip down, ears lowering a little.

Renee tried to help get the pressure off him and interjected, "Yeah, some princess was mean to him and said he had to leave for a while until-"

"Princess!? Which one?" Sarah was unusually interested now and all but jumping up and down in front of Renee.

Renee shrugged. She had completely forgotten who it was her mother had said. "Celly? Cellphone. Wait, do they even have cellphones-"

"Celestia was her name," Civil supplied, steeling himself against the darkness that threatened to ruin his day. He didn't see what the big deal was. It was his banning, afterall.

With a gasp, Sarah got right in front of Civil and proclaimed, "Princess Celestia is bestest princess!" Protectively, Alice placed her hands on Sarah's shoulders and squeezed them.

Naturally, Civil wasn't picking up on her distress, so he rolled his eyes and started with, "I wouldn't go that far-" He yelped when a pair of juvenile hands grabbed his head and pulled him nose to nose with her. Her mother almost stepped in to hold her again, but she saw that look on her daughter's face and decided she wanted to keep all her fingers today. That spunky pegasus was on his own.

In a very low and unchildlike voice, Sarah said slowly, "Princess Celestia......say it!"

He gulped and replied, "Princess Celestia..."

"Is bestest..."

"Is bestest..."

"Princess!" Her face had a grim expression.

"Princess." Civil wasn't sure what he was supposed to do or say at this point. An adult hand tapped Sarah's shoulder. She blinked, looked up at her mother, and backed up a step, mumbling an apology. He frowned. Something wasn't right, and he wasn't about to let it go. "Why do you feel so strongly about her?"

The girl blinked at him as if he said water wasn't wet. "How can you not see her as she really is?! She's powerful, and regal, and a princess, and she never ever uses her position for bad things! She's a good princess!" Sarah was on the verge of tears.

He frowned and tilted his head. "There was that one time with the slice of...ow!" He rubbed his rump after his sister lightly kicked him from behind. "What was that for!?!"

"Listen to the girl. She knows what she's talking about." Renee was paying attention, and this was not mere fandom she was witnessing.

He had apoplexy for a couple of seconds, then answered, "WHAT!?! You're the one that said she was mean-"

"I said she was mean to YOU. I never said she was mean. And this girl corrected me on that small point, so why are you trying to convince us she is mean?" Sarah smiled and thanked Renee's acceptance of the truth, and Civil tried to figure out why he suddenly felt like he was in the wrong.

Then a thought came to him and he did some math. Three girls. One boy. Yeah, that's why he felt he was in the wrong. "Okay ladies, it was fun while it lasted. I'm going to go catch up with my folks." He started walking away. Renee waved for Alice and Sarah to follow and she drifted back to walk with the two humans.

"Give him a minute, he gets grouchy when conversations don't go his way," she whispered to them.

"I also get grouchy when you talk behind my back, Sister."

Damned hearing, Renee thought to herself. She pursed her lips, then commented, "That too."

Sarah was doing some very deep thinking, very deep for a girl of her age. Then she noticed something about the pegasus, something VERY VERY important.

"Mister Civil! Do you believe she was mean to you? Or do you believe, maybe, she was trying to help you?" She was about to burst. The two older women looked down at her with honest surprise, then glanced at each other.

Civil turned his head, slowing a little, "I dunno. She said a lot of stuff that didn't make sense."

Sarah ran ahead of the adults and stopped next to him, "Mommy, don't you see? He's...he's" Civil eyed the girl's hand hovering over the empty area of his flank. Great, here it comes. Mommy...he's...a...blank... "He's a crusader! And he needs all of our love and support!"

Looking back caused him to trip, but he caught himself before he splayed all over the place. "Um, I'm not one of the Cutie-mark Crusaders-"

"No!" exclaimed Sarah. She turned to him and said, "This proves Princess Celestia is not a mean princess! And this is not just about the Cutie-mark Crusaders!"

He stared at Renee, who stared at Sarah, who stared at her mother, who stared at Civil. Renee broke the silence. "Um, yeah, I already had this conversation and I got griped at. No thanks."

Sarah shook her head. "You don't get it, none of you do!" She turned to Civil and looked him in the eyes. "Mister Patrol. Civil. She would never be mean to you. She knew you had to come here, to find your way. She loves all her ponies." She reached out and touched his cheek. "All."

He was moved by her passion. He nodded, "Okay, then she is bestest princess. I can see you are a big Celestia fan." This made Sarah retract her hand.

"I used to be." She wandered back to her mother and held her, watching Civil sadly. He raised his brows and looked up to Alice.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Alice's face hardened a little, but she shook her head. "No. There are some other things that have happened. Part of why my little girl doesn't like to fly anymore." She leaned down and whispered something. Sarah smiled brightly and grabbed Renee's hand.

To placate her surprise, Alice told Renee, "Could you go on ahead, we'll be behind you. I trust you with her. You seem to have your head on straight." This earned a wide grin from Renee and she pulled Sarah along.

"Hey Sarah! Want me to tell you what he was like BEFORE he became a pony, and when we first met AFTER ponification?" The girl squealed in delight and she hopscotched alongside his sister ahead of them.

He looked up at Alice with a questioning expression and she replied, "I think it's time for that 'later' part." He nodded and fell instep alongside her. They walked several feet before she stated, "A couple of years ago, when she was a little younger, my sister, her aunt, took her to a convention, a My Little Pony convention. It was being hailed as the last one, and Sarah had just gotten into the genre, so my sister took her up to Baltimore. Strange, really, that actual ponies would show up so soon after..." She hesitated, looking straight ahead at her daughter. Civil did some math in his head and it lined up with the first portal opening, or close to it. He swallowed. It would seem quite a few lost loved ones around that time.

She shook it off and continued. "Anyway, They went to the convention and enjoyed themselves. Becky was always a child at heart. She loved to dress up, and Alice was her little partner in crime." She pulled out her phone and tabbed through some pictures before she got to the one she wanted and showed Civil. It was taken at the convention, in the dealer room. A younger Sarah and a pleasant looking adult woman with some likeness to Alice were in the scene. Both had colored hair, pastel colors.

He raised his brow and nodded at the picture, "Celestia fans?" Alice nodded.

"Sarah definitely. Becky, she was always the benevolent one. Personality, decision making, the full thing. I watched some of the episodes with Sarah and I didn't really see it, but Sarah was enamored with her, so I didn't argue the point. I certainly didn't bring up any of our early days together, my sister and I." She grinned ruefully to herself in thought. "Yeah, no princess back in the day."

Civil grinned and said consolingly, "I dare say the same could be said for the real Celestia back in Equestria. The stories I've heard...and don't forget, she's a few millenia old. I still think it's a miracle she tries to be good. So..." He paused. He can tell what might be coming next. "I take it something happened?"

Alice nodded and put her phone away. "Baltimore is known for a lot of crime. After the convention, they were staying the night at a nearby motel. I was willing to pay extra for a proper hotel, but Becky wouldn't have it. She said you just have to have faith in people, and she wasn't exactly dripping in jewelry and nice clothing, so they should be alright." She shook her head. "Faith in people." She glanced at Civil, smoldering anger on her face. "I wish you had been with them. That is my faith in 'people'." They walked on for a time, Civil willing to let her speak at her own pace. This would be where she was most vulnerable.

"She went out to get a bucket of ice, and didn't come back. Sarah, God bless her, she waited, and waited, but she knew not to go out and look for her. Eventually she called 911. They showed up and once she was certain they were police, she opened the door. By then, someone else had also found my sister." She paused, her eyes blinking away hot tears. "A single stab wound to the ribcage, ring and necklace gone. They were small semi-precious stones, not even worth the effort to replace if she had lost them. The next twenty-four hours were blurry for me. I still have a hard time trying to remember that night. I flew a redeye with Keith, got a hold of my daughter from the police headquarters, and I had to identify the body."

Civil absorbed all of this, the pain, the details. He asked, "Any suspects, arrests?" She shook her head no.

"They initially had a homeless man as the primary suspect, then they released him. He was in the area and had blood on his hands, but he claimed he had tried to help her, covering up the wound I suppose. They won't tell me more, for fear of ruining the case. They have no weapon, either. Mugging was the claimed motive, but even the police think that is a flimsy thing." She glanced down at Civil. "My daughter used to fly all over the place with Becky. They loved flying to different places, staying in crappy motels. After that night, Sarah almost completely shut down mentally. Just mentioning travel caused her to run into her room and hide, shutting the door and not opening it until she was convinced it was us knocking on it. She still looks at police like they were the ones that took her aunt away since she overheard them talking to us when we flew in that night."

She sighed. "I don't know." Blinking, she reached down and patted his head, causing his ears to flatten in surprise. "You did so much for her today, I can't begin to thank you. If she wants you for a brother, well, you have my vote, despite the nasty comments I made earlier."

Reflexively he nuzzled her hand, caught himself doing it and pulled away with a sheepish look. "Sorry, force of habit," he squeaked out. He cleared his throat and continued when he was sure he didn't sound like a young filly, "Like I told her, that's a lot to ask. We could pretend, I guess? I mean, I can't live with you guys."

Alice gave a throaty laugh. "Perish the thought! You wouldn't want to, anyway. She'd have your mane and tail braided in bows." This earned a shudder from the stallion, which Alice laughed at again.

"I could do the birthday thing."

She nodded, smiling. "Sarah would love that very much. It's a couple of months away, so no rush. You are officially the first invitee. The first since I lost my sister, actually." Civil looked at her sharply, then down at the tiled floor. They were nearing the baggage claim area and he could see his sister standing by a water fountain with Sarah. She said, "Birthdays haven't been the same, either."

"Alright, I'll show up. I just need to know the address and the date." They shared a meaningful look.

Renee said, "Don't worry, Sarah will email that to you, and text it in case you don't read your emails as usual."

He paused and asked, "Email, text?"

She grinned and replied, "Yep! I gave her your phone number and email address. Also mom and dad's mailing address. She wants to be your penpal! Isn't that wonderful?" He stared at her, trying to process all that...and the portent.

Alice took possession of Sarah, noted her husband had their luggage ready to go. She came back to Civil and said, "Again, thankyou for all that you've done-"

"Mommy! Did you tell him where we are going to go now???"

She looked down at her daughter with concern, "Are you sure you still want to go?" A very vigorous nodding made her shrug. She smiled to Civil and explained, "Normally this time of year we visit relatives in Maryland. It's easier to fly here and then rent a car to see them. In the past, it also coincided with the conventions my sister and Sarah would go to. After the flight today, Sarah has expressed interest to go to the convention this year."

A very confused Civil asked, "Wait a minute, I thought that was going to be the last one." She shook her head.

"Not since that whole portal thing, with ponies popping up? The merchandise market for chldren has always been money driven, what with ponies and transformers, G.I. Joe too. We will be going to the one scheduled for next week." She lowered her voice and said, "With a proper hotel, and proper room service." There was an odd tone to her voice, satisfaction and regret intertwined. He nodded in understanding.

He said his goodbyes to them, had a very tearful hug with Sarah, along with promises to write back to her, but SHE had to write first. She grinned, saying she would.

Renee walked with him to their parents where they had their luggage and were moving it to the street outside. He asked about why Sarah had his email address and phone number.

She replied with, "She's a little girl, Jason. You know how they are, write notes in class, check yes, check no. It's a phase. She'll probably send a few messages and then move on to makeup. I know I did. In fact, she probably already misplaced your-"

Ding.

Civil glared at a very innocent looking sister of his and checked his phone. Yep, a message from Sarah. A generic 'hey, what's up' message, along with a synopsis of her parents getting a rental car. He replied with a 'congrats' and a 'hope your drive is safe' message, then he put his phone away.

"Yah, not likely," Civil said to his sister and resumed following their parents. "In fact-"

Ding.

He shook his head and ignored his phone. Despite Renee finding sudden interest in random signs on the wall, he said to her, "Thanks, Renee. She was clingy-" Ding. "-enough. Penpal, my ass. I like the girl-" Ding. "-but she is going to make this-" Ding. "-VERY annoying!"

Renee shrugged. "You could always put the phone on silent."

He glowered at her. "That would be rude."

"I don't see the difference. Look, she's just excited she has a pony friend. A real pony, not just some toys from a store."

"I am NOT-" Ding. "-a toy." Ding. "Goddammit!" He stared at his phone, the message app filled with random questions and statements about what they were doing that minute.

"Oh, pony conventions!" Renee loved doing subject changes. Ding.

"No!" He cut her off as she breathed in to speak, "I mean it!" He stuck the phone in his saddlebag, the nicely muffling leather saddlebag. ding.

She waited until she was sure he wouldn't cut her off. "But you like anime," she said quickly.

He groaned. "For Celestia's sake, that doesn't mean...arg. look, simply imagining you're a super hero or a cosplay character and dressing up is one thing. Being it, being an actual...it doesn't translate well. Trust me on this. I don't need to be glorified on what I am...I have a tough enough time figuring out WHO I am."

He felt her touch his head softly. A rare moment of her showing affection for her brother, everybody get a picture of it. "I know who you are. And it's not like I can't relate." Did she actually understand? "...I took drama class in high school, remember?" Nevermind, she doesn't get it at all.

Karen stopped at the curb and waved to a vehicle down the line. It moved into a free lane and came up to their position. She said over her shoulder, "You ARE drama, Renee."

Her daughter smirked, "I'll take that as a compliment." She stuck her tongue at her brother.

He muttered, "I'm not a cow doctor."

Renee held a hand to her heart, "Ouch, sharp knife, sharp knife!"

A middle-aged man got out of the vehicle and opened the trunk. He grinned at them all, and then he noticed the pegasus. "Hey, Jason!"

Civil smiled and trotted over to the man. "Hi Uncle Joey!" He got a little closer, but noticed Joey wasn't exactly opening up his arms. They stared at each other for a moment.

Joey said, "Sorry kid, I don't know whether to hug you, pet you, or ride you."

Civil boggled and said tartly, "Uncle, you ride me and I'll buck you so hard you'll never ride anyone again. That includes humans."

Joey chuckled heartily and knelt down, opening his arms. "Yowsah, I'm in pain already. Come here, you ball buster."

Civil grinned and reared up, hugging his uncle. "You are the original ball buster."

Joey said quietly, "I love ya, kid. It's so good to see you again."

"Me too."

ding.

Joey peered behind Civil. "Something just dinged in your bags."

"I don't want to talk about it."

After a raised brow, his uncle shrugged, "Fair enough. Let's get you guys in so we can get outa here. Traffic is garbage for the next hour or two."

They all loaded up their bags and people, pegasus included, and were on the way out of the airport arrival area.

ding.

Civil sighed and took the phone out of his bag to peruse the messages. Renee leaned over a little, "She really likes to write. What is she saying now?"

The pegasus had started getting used to the messages. Guess even the most annoying things can be endured if given enough time to get used to them. He replied to her, "She wants to know about magic."

"Then tell her."

He hung his head, staring at his sister, then shook it and said, "I'm a pegasus. I don't know about unicorn magic. She wants to know about teleporting, time travel, moving things around."

"Don't all ponies have some kind of magic?"

"Yeah," he answered, "but it's...harder to explain. Like trying to explain how one eats or breathes."

Renee made a face at him and said, "Boring. Tell her something cool. Like, don't ponies sing or something dumb like that?"

He raised an eyebrow. The music of harmony was a fundamental thing to ponies. It spoke to their souls. It was NOT dumb. Before he responded with what he wanted to say, he paused and thought to himself for a minute. Ding. He stated slowly, "yes...we sing." The corner of his mouth quirked, not unlike the Grinch. He nodded to himself and began replying to Sarah...and he started humming a catchy tune to himself, but just low enough so only Renee heard it. If the others in the vehicle overheard and it took hold...he got rid of the thought and kept humming.

His sister wrinkled her brow. "Why do I know that song?"

He deliberately paused his humming and answered with, "It used to be a meme, back when memes weren't mainstream yet. Here, listen to this." That's when he unleashed his secret weapon. Banana Phone

Renee's eyes went wide and she exclaimed, "no...no no NO!" all the while holding her ears. It was too late. She had heard too much. She shut her eyes and said, "NO! It took me twelve years to get that fucking song out of my head!" She paused, listening, then groaned, "I've got this feeling, so appealing...for us to get together and-" She clapped her jaws shut and shot Civil the Glare of Death. "I'm going to kill you. Awake, asleep, as soon as I figure out how. Why did you play that video!?!"

He smiled and held up a hoof. "I'm not allowed to sing established songs, either by myself or in chorus." He stares at you and quips, "Copyright, am I right?"

Renee smacked him upside the head, "You moron! I meant why did you stick that damn song back in my head again!?! I had to go to therapy to stop it!"

Karen turned around from the front seat and chastised her, "Oh hush, don't be so melodramatic, you've never gone to therapy for anything." She turned back around and kept talking to her brother Joey, catching him up on all that had happened so far since Civil had returned home.

Renee muttered, "I'm NOT melodramatic. I almost went to therapy." She looked out the window, watching the other cars go by. She hummed to herself, "...boop boop ba doo ba doo..." Renee blinked, then growled, "Goddammit Jason, WHY!?!"

Ding.

He stared at his phone, knowing full well she was watching him. Then he primly typed in his response. The next few minutes were in silence as Joey and Karen quietly talked to each other.

Civil muttered, "operator get me Beijing jing jing jing..."

"I fucking hate you."

He smiled, still typing on the phone. After a while he shut down his phone. Not that Sarah was all that annoying now. He just didn't want to run out of stuff to talk about with her. Soon his eyes got heavy and he sat back for a nap.

Occasionally he could hear Renee hum snippets of the banana phone song and then swear to herself.

Renee snarls and punches Civil in the shoulder, jolting him out of his nap. "Ow! What the hell!" "I can't get that stupid song out of my head!" exclaims Renee. Civil stops before he delivers his return punch, sits back, and smiles. He says, "Revenge is a dish best served like sushi." Renee slaps his leg in response, not as forceful this time. "That's not how it goes." He responds, drifting back to sleep, "So sue me, I like food." She watches him for a minute, eyes twinkling. Then she smirks, whispering to herself, "I bet you do...."

All the while, the jaunty banana phone song rattles around in her head, fueling ideas.