The knocking on the door was annoying, my head fucking ached, and my hooves were shaky as I unlocked the door with my hooves. What really gave me a migraine was the pony on the other side.

“Hey uh, Icepick,” Wellbore Axis said from behind the door. “Perm let me in.”

“Goddamnit Perm, it’s probably not even nine o’clock,” I yelled out into the house.

“Icepick, it’s noon!” Perm yelled back from the other side of the house.

“Oh shit,” I said in a softer voice. I looked back to Axis, who was standing there with an odd expression on her face.

“I would comment on you two being like an old married couple,” she flashed a shit-eating grin at me. Personally, I didn’t really know how married couples were supposed to work, other than them not fucking a lot apparently. Which I knew Perm and I didn’t have that issue. “But, you should come to the Harbor. Something big just blew in.”

“A piece of driftwood? A fishing boat?”

“No, a flotilla of rangers,” she bit her lip for a moment, “your kind of ranger.”

My yawn died on my lips. I looked at her for any hint of deception. I saw none.

“Let’s go!” I yelled in some kind of jubilation. Even as last night’s conversation filled my mind’s eye.

“Atta girl,” Axis said, just as Permittivity came around the corner wearing his saddlebags and clothes. He forced a smile onto his muzzle in sympathy.

---===*===---

The streets were busy, with a steady clamour of voices and ideas. When ponies recognized me for who I was, they seemed more strained. Their smiles seemed a little more like Perm’s when they met my gaze. All the while, Axis took point, pushing some out of the way with her voice and mollifying others with her resolute attitude.

“Your comrades have caused quite a stir,” Permittivity said from beside me. His coffee must have kicked in, he seemed a little peppier now.

“Well, if they brought in the Ember by itself, I wouldn’t be surprised if the ponies here started spontaneously singing a song ” I replied with a smirk.

“Huh?” He responded to that like a brick being smacked with a mallet.

“Well, first off, the Ember is a pre-war heavy cruiser that we’ve kept maintained. It has those 230-millimetre guns that make the deck shake…” I stopped speaking as Axis and Permy were giving me strange looks. “Or so I’ve heard-”

“That does kinda sound like the biggest ship they have parked out there,” Axis said while rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. “Is it parked if it’s a boat?” She added, to herself.

“It’s docked,” Permittivity added sweetly. I was starting to think he drank a cup of Shetland Coffee.

“I can totally see Churned sending an honour guard up here,” I said to them as we started walking again.

“Anyone, you particularly want to be in said guard?” Permittivity asked with curiosity thrumming in his voice.

“I’d love to know that my friends are well, alive! Yeah, that would be pretty good,” I answered automatically as the thoughts of coming home a hero flooded my mind. Then the inevitable caveat leapt into my mind. If there’s a home to return to-

“Iron Sight? Perhaps that Agave filly?” Permittivity questioned with a smile on his muzzle. Something about him today seemed very carefree.

“I would love to see Iron. Agave, I guess I could rub my success in her face,” I added with a laugh. Well, if he could be happy, then I could at least try to be happy too.

“I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you as well, they likely thought you were dead given your last actions among them,” Permittivity said with a bit of hesitation.

“Yeah,” I said simply. Being dead in your friend’s eyes isn’t fun. There’s usually a good story in there somewhere though.

And I’m a decent storyteller.

---===*===---

When we arrived, the Desert Rangers and Police had already begun to start controlling the crowds. I muscled my way to the front of the crowds, with Permittivity and Axis at my side, I waited with the rest for the smaller ship to come to the end of the pier. Eventually, a metal walkway extended from the front of the ship, on the side of the ship I spotted a bank of torpedo tubes and a small turret erected on the bow of the ship. It looked like a turret off of a tank, probably 90 millimetres in diameter. I couldn’t make out whether the barrel was rifled. If it was, then I would know for sure it was surplus from the Ursa Major line.

“Knights in shining armour,” Permittivity said in a low voice as the honour guard, just eight ponies descended the ramp and formed a double line at the hoof of the ramp. The stood stock still as one other pony wearing Star-Paladin markings on their armour made their way down. Beside them was a paladin first class. They made it to the bottom of the ramp, before walking past the honour guard and up to the Desert Rangers guarding one of the Paradise Council members. I was maybe twenty meters from them. The steel barricade having been put in place when the crowds were even closer to the pier. Then, they took off their helmets and I gasped.

Reflex and Iron Sight stood there with their helmets strapped to the backs of their armour. I couldn’t hear the words they said, but I was standing with my head and upper body over the barricade.

“Hey Reflex, hey Iron!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. The two of them turned to face me, their jaws dropping in sequence as they met my eyes.

One of the security ponies moved to stop me but Iron shook her head at him. Moments later that same security pony looked at me harshly, before unlatching the metal bars and letting me and Perm through.

“You’re actually alive!” Ironsight tried to keep a serious look on her face as I walked over to the first official contact between our peoples.

“Yep,” I’m the one that got this nice mare to send ships your way,” I added with my first genuine smile of the day.

“Yes, and you responded by sending quite a few of your own vessels here.” The council mare responded. She was one of the more outgoing members of the council here, Blueberry Bonds.

“We came here to send a message,” Reflex started to say, looking her in the eyes, his armoured bulk compared to her light business suit saying something as well. “Neither of us are alone anymore on this savage continent.”

“That’s all well and good, but was sending a battleship necessary?” She huffed slightly as her eyes drifted over to Ember.

“It’s a heavy cruiser,” Permittivity spoke up for the first time. Of course, it was in the most Pedantic way possible. “Battleships don’t carry torpedo tubes.”

“And who are you exactly?” Blueberry said to him, a hint of a suppressed scowl surfacing on her face.

“That is a good question,” Reflex added moments later.

“He’s my boyfriend, and he’s also the one that knows critical intelligence about the Arabs,” I said while looking first at Blueberry critically, and then Reflex curiously.

“Oh well, let me just grab my husband, he has critical intelligence on what the ants are doing to my front yard,” Blueberry said scathingly.

“They burned down one of your towns!” I said loudly enough to rouse the attention of the nearest Desert ranger.

“Yes, so we must go on a crusade to destroy all the myriad bedouin tribes floating through the inhospitable desert,” the councilmare said.

“That won’t be-” I was cut off by Reflex.

“If only they were ants to be crushed by a single stomp of a sabaton,” Reflex said wearily. “Alas, we aren’t that lucky.”

“Ah, the diplomatic warrior,” Blueberry said with a sigh. “Just tell me what you want out of us.”

“I’ve heard that you’re headed by an executive council, we would like to discuss a bilateral trade and immigration treaty with them, everything else can be left for a more formal diplomatic process,” Ironsight said cooly.

“That’s agreeable, we should be able to set up an emergency council meeting tomorrow,” Blueberry told Ironsight courteously enough.

“Are the two of us free to leave our armour and weapons on the ship and tour the city?”

“As the acting representative, I give you that privilege as diplomats. We’re a free people, with nothing to hide from you.” Blueberry finished before turning her back.

“Wait here Icepick, we’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Alright, I’ll keep these Desert rangers company,” I said just before the security began to disperse. “Well shit,” I turned to Perm. He was watching my old friends walk back to their small ship.

“That’s a yacht, not a warship,” Permittivity said thoughtfully.

“Why do you say that?” I asked him curiously, before leaning against him, laying my head on his shoulder and sniffing his mane.

“The hull is welded, and the armour plate is riveted to the preexisted hull,” Permittivity said quietly, before rotating his body out of my heads reach.

“I see,” I said quietly. The heady smell of salt in the air made me remember the last time I had been to this pier. The salt must’ve smelled the same to my ancestors crossing the ocean, not knowing they would never go home. It would be horribly ironic if Tegarni managed to balefire bomb Ramsgard…

“What are you thinking about?” Perm said before nuzzling my neck softly.

“Oh, nothing, just the thought of my home city being wiped out by a single enchanted dragon egg.” I paused and let out a deep breath as he looked at me sympathetically. “I’m starting to understand why the ponies in the past were mental. I don’t know how you stay sane knowing everything you love and fight for could be immolated at any time.”

“Yes,” he said simply. Because of course, he would. His world hadn’t yet blown itself up the first time, but they had no idea when their enemies would gain the power of megaspells. “It’s a poison to your mind. Everything becomes justifiable when it takes hold,” he finished just as a cold breeze blew in from the harbour.

“We’ll tell Reflex and Ironsight,” I told him. His lips slipped into a neutral position.

“Would you like to take them out to dinner, something tells me we won’t have the opportunity for fine dining soon. And well, the last of the specie is burning a hole in my saddlebags.”

“That, that sounds great.”

A moment later, as my lover and I stood side by side, my friends walked down the ramp wearing nothing more than light jackets and saddlebags.

---===*===---

“Hello! Are you looking for a specific book? We just got the newest reprint of Daring Do!” Page Turner said to Ironsight as she led the four of us into the bookshop.

“So you’re selling books? New books,” Ironsight said quizzically. Her brother stepped in and smiled at Page.

“Haha, sis, good one.” Perm and I stepped into the room, just watching how these ponies would interact. “Could I look at the book, I’ve only read one of the daring do books, and it was in very poor condition.”

“That’s interesting, sure,” Page said as she levitated out a copy to Reflex, who deftly grabbed it with a hoof and inspected the dust jacket.

“The workmareship on this book is really impressive, it looks as glossy as the pre-war books must have when they were new,” Reflex hoofed it back to her before clearing his throat.

“I’ve read it,” I spoke up as I walked up to my friends. “It’s only got a few places where the ghostwriter had to make up missing words or pages.”

“I take it this is a rare book?” Reflex asked nonchalantly.

“There were only five damaged copies, across multiple additions, left in all of paradise. Hyperion collected all of them, rewrote the missing sections, and then started printing these books a month ago.”

“And Hyperion is a private company?” Ironsight looked rapidly between her brother and Page.

“Yeah, it’s a family business actually. They do this kind of thing all the time, reprinting old books from before the war. I sell a decent amount of the copies they sell to me Wholesale.” Page looked at me now. Who the fuck are these weirdos?

“Hey Page, these are my friends, Ironsight and Reflex Sight,” I looked at her as she realized that these were other rangers. “They’re uh, seeing the sights of the city, I was just gonna come in and say hi, before grabbing your son and taking him out with us on a pub crawl.”

“Are they the diplomats I heard about on the radio?”

“Aye,” I smirked at her before starting towards the stairs.

“Do you want to buy some books?” Page asked the siblings as I climbed the stairs.

“Not at this moment, although I’m quite happy that Equestrian culture is being preserved by your society-” Reflex said as Perm and I made it to the top of the stairs.

Reflex’s notion reflected mine when I had heard of Hyperion, but I had gotten used to thinking of a lot of the economic activity here being directed by private ponies. It wasn’t nearly as foreign to me.

“Well, when you’re looking for a bookseller to buy from, remember me.” Page Turner said with a smile before I heard the noises of Reflex and Iron trotting up the stairs after us.

Moments later I walked into the kitchen, spotting Rosetta and Dalliance chatting over a cup of tea.

“Rosetta, you’re being conscripted into the posse,” I said to him as Perm trotted into the room before fixing himself a glass of water.

“What Posse? What is a posse?” Rosetta said as he eyed the two of us. I heard the Rangers pull up the rear and look into the living room of the apartment.

“A posse is an appoolasanism, sometime they would lynch ponies,” Dalliance said idly.

“It’s never a good sign when Icepick talks about forming a posse,” Ironsight said with a probably faked shiver.

“And uh, who are you two?” Dalliance asked as she got out of her chair and trotted up to the siblings.

“I’m star paladin Reflex Sight.”

“Paladin first class, Ironsight,” my friend added awkwardly as her older brother smiled broadly at Dalliance.

“Ah, well, you kids better stay out of trouble, and don’t lynch anyone unless they deserve it,” Dally finished before going back to the table and sipping her tea.

“So what are we doing exactly?” Rosetta said as he walked over to us. He met Ironsight and Reflex’s eyes in turn. Rosetta and Reflex were about the same height and a little taller than Iron.

“Pub crawl,” I smiled at him and then each of my friends in turn. “After eating at Torpedo Joe’s.”

“I never should have explained the concept of a pub crawl to her,” Permittivity said with a sigh.

---===*===---

I had just washed up in the little fillies room when I came back to the large table we had stolen, in front of us was a basket of chips and a mysterious white sauce that tasted like fat and satisfaction. I spotted another pony who had pulled up a chair and was drinking with the rest of them.

My legs carried me over there steadily enough, I had only had two beers so far, and I went over to my chair. As my ass came down into it, I smiled internally. Still warm. Perm sat to my right, drinking his own dark ale. To my left was Reflex, drinking soda with vodka in it. He was delighted when the bar ponies showed him the small umbrellas for the fruity drinks.

“So uh, potatoes,” I said loudly.

“Indeed,” Permittivity said without looking at me. His eyes kept floating over to the mare who had pulled up.

“Potatoes are better in vodka,” the mare said, as I finally recognized her. It was that bitch from the truck. Rosetta’s ex.

“The best potatoes are grown at the source of the Senegral,” Reflex replied ready to jump in on a story about the time he had taken a gunboat up the river to explore the snow-capped mountains that kept our society fed.

“Aren’t the floodplains of a river the most fertile parts?” Permittivity asked when Reflex took a breath.

“Typically, except large parts of the Sall’hanian range is volcanic, so there’s a large number of volcanic nutrients adding to the fertility of the region,” Reflex said with an edge of annoyance at being interrupted.

“Are the volcanoes at the site of tectonic plates meeting, or a geothermal hotspot,” Perm asked him while staring the other stallion down.

“I am for sending an expedition to find out the answer to that question,” Reflex added quickly.

“And you have trained geologists ready to make observations and take samples on the way?”

“Weight and logistical constraints are eased quite a lot when old world vehicles are available,” Reflex shot back.

“Yeah, that sounds really really interesting boys,” and totally not a dick measuring contest. I reached a hoof across the table and laid one on both of their hooves. Permittivity and Reflex quieted down quite a bit when they touched me.

“Oh shit, look!” I nodded my head at the server, bringing in the beer battered fried fish.

“You had me worried there for a second Icepick,” Reflex said with a laugh as the server put down out plates in front of us.

“Why?” I moved my hooves away from the two stallions and looked at him contemplatively.

“Well, remember all the times we had dates go badly, because of like, guns being aimed at us?” I recalled about twice that this happened. Once had happened pretty recently.

“Yeah, but were those really dates?” I asked aloud. Perm’s smile made me pause though.

“I mean-” He started to say before I pressed a hoof to his lips.

“Not right now, I just want to have a nice dinner,” I looked at Perm who was smiling broadly at the pony he fancied his opponent. “And Perm, please don’t tilt at windmills.” My buck lost his grin at that. He probably regretted explaining that expression about then. I took the moment to look at Rosetta as he slugged back his drink and focused on the potatoes. A faint recollection of me kissing him floated to the surface. Then again, at least Perm liked Rosetta.

“As the lady wishes,” Permittivity said quietly.

“Yeah, what he said,” Reflex mirrored him, even as his sister and Bajada picked up their own volume.

“So, Icepick blew up a whole oil field?” Iron asked her with exasperation written on her muzzle.

“Yeah, and that was before she got on the radio and called for a crusade against the Arabs.” Bajada finished with a belch. Her own portion of fish was already half gone. That girl could teach me half a thing about packing food away. Then again, she had broken Rosetta’s heart. But was I any better? Memories of last night came back to me. I had played with both of my friend’s heads.

“That does sound a lot like her,” Ironsight added with a chuckle.

“You’re laughing about it?” Bajada was a little confused by my friend's reaction.

“Well, she basically said what we would’ve in an official capacity,” Iron admitted as I leaned back in my chair and let my stomach deal with all the protein and starch I stuffed inside it.

“We picked up the radio transmission from our ship,” Ironsight added with a more serious tone. “It’s more amazing that she’s become such a public figure here amongst your public.”

“So, you’re all kinds of okay with your PR being done by a low ranking NCO, who is literally inflammatory.”

“Just look at her, she’s a natural bridge,” I looked over at them and smiled softly.

“Honestly Icepick, I thought you were a goner when you charged into that mine alone,” Ironsight said before looking down at her food. “That wasn’t a smart move by any definition. It was horrible having to order the retreat. We came back with reinforcements, but by that time they were gone, and nothing was left of you other than shell casings.” There was a darkness in her eyes. I had done what Perm had, but worse. I was her friend, and I had acted suicidally. Maybe it took having someone I loved doing the same thing to me, to really understand what the problem with that was, but now I knew. Now I wasn’t alone.

Now I had a real dream to fight for.

“I’m sorry about that,” I looked at her and then over to Perm. “But that’s where I found him. And well, he saved me from Tegarni,” Permittivity flushed as I said that.

“Wait, he was at the battle too?” Ironsight asked with an odd expression on his face.

“Yes, I was in their servitude when your attack began, so I thank you for that Ironsight,” Perm leaned over the table slightly and met her eyes. I was only a bystander as I watched my two greatest allies measure one another up. It wasn’t a competition like it was between Reflex and Perm, no it was more an acknowledgement of the other’s role in my life.

“Yeah, how have things been down south?” I asked with a curious expression on my muzzle.

“The attacks have died down on Ranger facilities and industry,” Ironsight said with a neutral expression.

“That and the shipments to small arms to the rebels have stopped,” Reflex added a moment later.

“I think I know why,” I said with a dark expression on my muzzle.

“They do have ships, marepower, and firepower,” Permittivity said while raising his eyebrows at me. Rosetta looked over at us, though he looked away from Bajada. “We really ought to be talking about this in another place, but the gist is simple. Tegarni has a weapon of great power from before the war, and I know where he’s preparing it.” Permittivity said with resolve.

“How did you learn about this?” Reflex asked, his face caught between fear and disbelief.

“I can’t tell you until you agree to help,” Perm looked Reflex in the eyes. “My contact has more information than I do. But I need an agreement that you’ll do whatever it takes to accomplish this task.”

“Wait, what?” Ironsight asked with a million questions about to spill forth from her lips.

“I agree,” Reflex said, raising a forehoof to his heart and holding it there as he spoke.

“Reflex?” Iron asked as I chuckled. I guess there were some aspects of bucks competing that I could get behind.

“I don’t trust him, or his source, but if there’s even a one percent chance of them being truthful, well, I’m obligated to follow up on that,” Reflex said with a clench in his jaw and a flex of his shoulders.

“Well, we can plan later,” Rosetta spoke up for the first time in ages. “For now, we should just ourselves. Something in the air tells me this might be the last time we’ll be able to for a while.”

“You’re always so doom and gloom,” Bajada replied with a huff of annoyance.

“I’m a realist, Sall’han is a powder keg, Tegarni’s secret weapon or not,” He looked at each of us in turn. His part of the table was filled with empty glasses, he had downed more than his fair share of booze. “The more I learn about it, the more I realize the desert was a good thing.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked him immediately.

“I’m going to help you stop Tegarni, there’s nothing heroic about that stallion. But, you all see that we’ve learned nothing from the past. You Rangers don’t even pretend to be anything more than an occupying army on foreign soil, you live and breath war. And with our help, you’re way closer to rebuilding the same weapons, same economy, the same society that destroyed the world before.”

“No, I don’t believe that,” I said to him. “We’ve learned, if we invent something like the bombs, we’ll use them first.”

“What?” Rosetta gasped and looked me in the eyes. “You think that’s what damned the world? Wow, you and Permittivity do belong together.” He picked up his drink and downed it in a single gulp.

“Rosetta!” I nearly snarled at him. He was such a little fucking hypocrite.

“I’m going home, you can sleep on the couch tonight,” Rosetta said with a huff, walking home with an exaggerated straightness in his steps. Perm started to get out of his chair to go after him. I pressed a hoof to his shoulder and kept him in his seat. As soon as he was out of earshot Bajada met my eyes.

“What is his deal? He sounds like one of those prewar peaceniks, all worried about the corrosive effects of war on a nation’s soul,” Reflex said sardonically and managed to get a laugh out of Bajada.

“Yeah, he’s always been like that. He either has his head in the clouds or drifting down in one of those deep ocean trenches,” Bajada said a moment later.

“You know him personally?” Reflex asked her with a curious smile.

“He thinks he’s an ex of mine,” Bajada paused and smiled a vulture-like smile. “Really though, he was decent lay and a good friend, but he read more into me than I had to give.”

“I see,” Reflex said simply. Iron just chuckled to herself as her brother spoke.

“What is she laughing at?” Bajada asked while Perm polished off his dark beer.

“Are you sure you’ve never met before?” Iron looked at Bajada and her brother in turn.

“Positive,” Reflex answered gruffly.

“Pretty sure,” Bajada said with a laugh.

“Honestly, the only pony here who doesn’t have a good partner is me,” Iron said wistfully. “Then again, I’m a hard mare to please.”

“Maybe he just left,” I suggested with a half smile. My hoof on Permittivity drifted up to his neck.

“That’d be too fucking convenient,” Ironsight said with a wry laugh.

“I mean, I know where he lives, he’s drunk and he’s lonely,” I added half seriously. Iron and Rosetta would be a cute couple, maybe he could help tie together our peoples- And there I was, thinking like a feudal warlord again.

“You’re not a forest nymph, you don’t have the power of sexual prophecy!” Perm spoke up out of nowhere, a smile on his muzzle, but tinged with disappointment.

“I dunno, she could be a nymphomaniac at least,” Iron said with a laugh.

“Hey, just because I actually get laid, doesn’t make me a nympho,” I responded quickly, with just a tad too much defensiveness.

“Sure,” she shook her head but continued smiling. I missed my bitchy best friend a lot. Even if she was a bitch.

“Anyhow, we should probably figure out where to discuss details,” I reminded everyone of the task at hoof, I got a groan from Bajada, a smile from Perm and intense gazes from the Siblings Sight. A table away, a couple looked over at us.

“I guess I’m just low key a part of this gunpowder plot,” Bajada said with even more of a huff.

“If you don’t join it then we’ll let Rosetta play with your memories,” I added with an evil grin. “Besides, it’s more of an anti-gunpowder plot.”

“I guess I’m in then,” Bajada acquiesced with a nervous grin. “My place would be great for this. I get it swept for bugs every weekend.”

“What?” Ironsight asked.

“It’s part of my normal cleaning list: Sweep the floor, clean the litter box, check for bugs.”

“Thank you for being understanding. If you can find some other Rangers willing to fight for us, but also willing to sacrifice, uh… everything, please refer them to me.”

“I get to run HR,” I chirped. Permittivity just shrugged as the rest of the table looked at me like I was crazy.

“This isn’t a company, this is a suicide pact with more steps,” Perm said to them. Somehow, it made everypony lose that look, even as I felt annoyance bubble up at how everyone’s mood had changed.

“Well, with that fuckin’ attitude...” I said punching him in the shoulder.

“And with that act of violence, I’ll go pay the tab,” Permittivity said as he started to get out of his chair. Reflex said before turning and looking over at that eavesdropping couple. He glared at them. They went back to their drinks, heads down. When he looked back at us, he had a smile on his face.

“I’m sure I can get you a diplomatic discount, maybe I’ll offer to mention this place prominently in a report.”

“I can’t say no to that,” Permittivity said with a smile that was covering up bitterness. After they got far enough away, I looked at Bajada and Ironsight.

“Sometimes I wish I was a lesbian,” I said with a shrug.

“Same.”

“Yeah.”

“But guys smell so good, and dicks are nice,” I added a moment later.

“That’s fair,” Ironsight replied.

“Solid points,” Bajada said with a chuckle. “Damn, we talked ourselves out of that fantasy pretty fast.”

“Yeah,” I said while looking at my the two stallions talking to the guy at the bar. Males were a pain, but also a joy. Besides, I’d like to have a dad in the family…

In the future!

---===*===---

“So this is my shithole apartment,” Bajada said to the other four of us. The door opened into a large living room with a couch, a loveseat with a phonograph radio combination in the central position. “Lemme get some background noise going.” With a slick move, she brushed past us, though she ran her tail against the sides of Perm and Reflex. The radio came to life. It was the same stallion that had interviewed me.

“So, she wasn’t kidding when she said they were strong,” He said loudly.

I took a seat close to the phonograph as Bajada went into the small kitchenette near the rear of the main area.

“Really, I expected a tank or something, maybe a big missile parade happening over there. What I didn’t expect was a fucking pre-war battleship steaming in at the head of a fleet. I guess Icepick really thinks they need more toasters or new movies because I think they have the war department handled-”

“You two, that was a power move,” I said to Ironsight and Reflex on the opposite couch. Perm and I were sitting snugly on the loveseat, his warm fur pressing against mine.

“And your radio interview wasn’t a power move too?” Reflex answered in turn. “And your cosmetic decisions, they weren’t politically motivated at all?”

“I mean, shit, you look really nice with pink in your mane and tail,” Iron said before smiling broadly at me. The last round had gotten her pretty damn fucked up. “If I was a little gayer, I’d say you were hot.” Perm only gained an incredulous grin. He seemed half paralyzed.

“Yeah, you do look a lot more exotic now,” Reflex added, somewhat aware of how close he was to his randy sibling. Memories of past-

“She was beautiful before, but now there is a more rebellious aspect to you, some part of you that only now has been allowed to be expressed,” Permittivity added. I let him finish, but the second he was done, I pulled him closer with my forehooves and kissed him deeply. For several seconds…

“Woah, you mackin’ on my loveseat,” Bajada said as she came out of her kitchen with a bottle of rye whiskey in her left hoof. Several small glasses came out with her.

“Yeah, it’s a called a fuckin’ love seat,” I said to her as I let a blushy Permittivity go. I turned to meet her eyes while letting my hoof crawl over his chest and fuzzy stomach. “Besides, you don’t seem like the kinda mare to mind me taking him for a ride on it.”

“Icepick-” Perm tried to interrupt, but Bajada spoke over him.

“Guilty as charged,” she said as she climbed into the seat between the sight siblings. Her smile was massive as she did this. “Though I would make you pay for the cleaning bill.”

“How much is it to Dry Clean a couch?” I asked aloud while smiling deviously at Perm. My hoof drifted a bit further south as I spoke. “Actually Iron, Reflex, these ponies reinvented dry cleaning, and it’s fucking amazing!”

“Cool,” Iron said as she began to look at that bottle sitting on the table in front of her while holding her head up with a foreleg.

“Honestly Icepick, making out with your friend in public, without at least a bottle being spun to spur you on,” Reflex said before making a tisk tisk noise with his mouth. I only had enough time to realize this in my inebriated state before Perm pulled me chest to chest with him on the couch, and stuffed his tongue into my unprepared mouth. Now we had a bit of cover. With a relatively subtle buck of my hips, I managed to grind against his sheath. It worked-

“So you’re both Exhibitionists,” Reflex chuckled before feeling Bajada’s hoof on the back of his withers.

“Please don’t,” Ironsight pleaded with the two other ponies on the couch, before looking at me, and realizing the kind of softcore performance I was already in the middle of. “Celestia fuck, I guess I’ll get the room.” She got up, stumbled slightly to the table, before grabbing the bottle of whiskey and a shot glass.

“Night Iron,” Reflex said with a wave.

“Be careful,” Perm said to her from his position under me. A position he had put himself in, the kinky stallion.

“Try not to get each other pregnant, or catch anything,” she slurred her words before walking towards Bajada’s bedroom. The door shut, and then we heard a thump as she fell onto her bed.

“What’s her hang up?” Bajada said as she looked up at the ceiling with her head in the centre of Reflex’s crotch.

“She’s my sister,” Reflex said with a touch of anger, right before she turned her head over, and starting to nuzzle at his parts.

“Yeah, that would do it,” She said as Perm baulked and I just laughed.

Tonight was gonna be fun!

---===*===---

The sunlight stung my tired eyes as I first came to. I raised my head up from Perm’s chest. We were laying on the loveseat together, me on top of him, the natural way of things. A thin blanket covered our lower parts, though both my crotch and the blanket seemed a bit sticky. But at least it was the dry kinda sticky.

“Rise and shine shrapnel ass,” I looked over to see Bajada sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee lifted up to her lips. Where was- On the floor in front of her slept an exhausted-looking Reflex. She really had worn him out…

“Shush. Do you have a cup for me?” I asked her wearily. Perm stirred below me as well, I picked myself off his chest and went in for a quick peck on the lips.

“No more, please!” He said with a yawn. Just to be thorough, I checked to see if little Permittivity agreed with the Perm with the brain. Aww! I guess I wasn’t waking up the best way.

“No, I made exactly one cup of coffee,” Bajada shot back with a hint of humour in her voice. I bet she had done some recruit training. “Nah, just get a cup yourself, your buck probably wants one too.”

“You don’t mind me opening all your cabinets looking for cups?” I asked her, grinning slightly. Maybe truck bitch was alright.

“I only keep balefire eggs and sex toys in my kitchen cabinets, so go ahead,” Bajada replied before letting out her own yawn.

“Don’t tempt me like that,” I looked her in the face, smiling broadly. “Those are like, my favourite things.”

“Just get your fuckin’ coffee,” She said with a wave of her hoof. On the floor, Reflex began to stir.

“I heard the word coffee,” Reflex said in a zombie-like fashion, instantly starting to hold his head with his hooves. “I need it, I feel like one of those old ponies that try to party with ponies half their age.”

“You’re three years older than me,” I said to Reflex. “Don’t be dramatic, you’re just out of practice.”

“Not all of us have the Excalibur of livers Icepick,” Perm shot back, as he stirred beneath me.

“What he said,” Reflex said as he kicked the blankets off of himself and got to his hooves quickly. Not quickly enough for me to avoid seeing his crotch was sticky like Perm’s. I got to my hooves too and made my way to get the coffee that would rouse the room.

We had had our party in the front, and now with the sober realities of our own mortality, we had to fucking plan a mission for the history books…

---===*===---

“So, we need a ship,” I said to the assembled ponies. We were all on our second cup of joe.

“We have ships,” Reflex answered instantly. “But you’re looking for a specific ship, something fast, something we could sneak out of the harbor without attracting much attention-”

“Because if Crescent Moon can get in and out of this city without attracting attention, I’m sure that Tegarni has spies as well,” Permittivity finished for him.

“Exactly,” Reflex admitted with a grudging respect for Perm.

“So, we’re going for the subtle approach,” Bajada butted in. “I mean, subtle for you guys.”

“Yes, we should aim for an unopposed landing, Rangers aren’t marines, and we lack dedicated landing craft,” Ironsight said to us.

“I mean, if they expect anything, it would be an all guns blazing assault,” I said before grinning. “We use the threat of that as a feint attack.”

“By actually launching a feint attack?” Reflex asked with a glint in his eyes.

“Exactly,” I said to him. We both smiled as our minds got to work planning out the attack.

“I think this is a good avenue of exploration, but we need more intelligence on the island itself, it’s defences both sea facing, and land facing,” Permittivity spoke up and looked at each of us in turn, before looking at Bajada. “Do you have any green clothing, that I could borrow?”

“Sure, I have a desert scarf, is green and black okay?” She asked curiously.

“That should be fine,” Perm looked at the ground for a moment. “I”m not sure when I’ll be back, but I’ll obtain more information from my contact, that I’m certain of.”

“Alright,” Ironsight said as she watched Bajada search around her apartment for that specific article of clothing.

“That’s a signal right?” I asked him straight up.

“Yes, she’s been watching us, me in particular.” He said with some discomfort in his voice. I understood that well. He wished our time here was without interruptions from the outside world. The fact that an Arabian mare had been spying on us for weeks reminded him that we couldn’t just bury our heads in the sand and pretend we had normal lives.

“Who? Who is your contact?” Reflex asked him, a sudden seriousness in his voice.

“The mare that saved Copper Springs,” Permittivity said solemnly, before looking at me. “Well, one of the mares that saved Copper Springs.”

“I wouldn’t call what I did any kind of salvation,” I said quietly. Memories of that night came back to me. The smell was the worst, the smell of burning crude and incinerated fur. Bodies reduced to cooking piles, some of them running out of the burn zone begging to be killed. We obliged them.

Mostly.

“Icepick please, you did what you had to do,” Permittivity said suddenly, before trotting over to me. His hooves held me tightly, as I felt numbness fill my form. Remember why you did it. Remember that you’ll do it again if they hurt him. I clenched my foreleg feeling the muscles bunch up and tighten. You have to work with an Arab to stop the Arabs, don’t think about the thousand ways she could be betraying you. “It’s the Arabian mare that managed to prevent Tegarni’s execution order from being passed on.” I threw a hoof over Perm’s shoulder and pulled him closer to me. We were chest to chest, and I took the moment to nuzzle his neck softly, while breathing deeply and slowly, trying to forget the worst moments. He helped, he reminded me of the good times we had had. The normal moments where the worst thing that could happen was a piss ant robber, or a dinner table discussion gone nuclear.

“Hey, I found it,” Bajada re-entered the room with Ironsight in tow. Hanging around her neck was a checkered green and black bandana.

“They’re having a moment,” Ironsight half whispered to her.

“It’s actually pretty cute,” Bajada said with a chuckle.

“Alright, so you all should go about the rest of the day like merely had a debaucherous night, and a long period of recovery,” Permittivity said before I caught his left ear in my mouth and bit down on it lightly. “Icepick!” He mewled lightly, before stroking my back and pulling me the slightest bit closer.

“Perm, I love you,” I whispered into that same ear. “Be careful, okay?”

“I love you too, with all of my being. And I’ll try to be careful with all this subterfuge,” Perm said to me. He pushed back against me, and I let my forelegs slacken. Before he pulled away, he lit his horn and pushed me against him, his forelegs squeezing my withers. Then he kissed me full on the lips. I moaned gently at his assertiveness, before letting his tongue into my mouth. It felt wonderful as my stallion filled my mouth with his tongue. This stallion could defend himself- most of the time.

And when he can’t, I’ll be there.

---===*===---

“So this is the Swift,” I said as I walked up the gangplank. Reflex looked at me and smiled broadly.

“Fastest ship in the fleet, it was made from a prewar yacht and given a new power plant,” Reflex said well, reflexively.

“Wow, I never knew the naval rebuilding program had moved that far ahead,” I had heard rumours of new ships other than our river gunboats being readied in the ports of Ramsgard, with only rangers to do the repairs.

“Yes, it was part of this five-year plan,” Reflex said wryly. “You did read the pamphlet that came with it last year, right?”

“Shut up Reflex, you know damn well I only read smutty romance novels and old adventure stories,” I said before punching him on the shoulder. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.

“I also know you’re working on the former, somewhere back in your quarters,” His smile deepened and he chuckled as my face went a little red.

“I only told you that because I was drunk and I had just ridden you dry,” I said in a low voice. “You were also sworn to secrecy.”

“I haven’t told a soul,” Reflex said with a smile and a hoof on my withers. “I-I thought you were gone Icepick,” he said as he led me past the empty decks. This boat had a skeleton crew only right now because most of the crew were off on shore leave. He looked at the ground. “And then I come back and you’ve changed. What happened to the mare who was just looking for fun and excitement? Why him?”

“I’m sorry, I acted impulsively, but in the process, I met the stallion of my dreams, simple as that. He’s not perfect, in fact I know he has a lot of flaws that he tries to cover up. But, he’s a good stallion, and he’s mine. I’m his in return. I want to live a happy life, I want to keep these ponies here safe. What they’ve built here is closer to Equestria than anything we’ll ever make through five-year plans…”

“You always did detest our methods,” Reflex said with a sigh. “You always had such a sense of duty. Now though, you’ve seen what ponies with vastly different circumstances managed to achieve, and you’re comparing us to them. In your mind, we’ve already come up short.” He stomped on the hull beneath us.

“You’re angry that I like these ponies?” I said, my voice growing louder with every second. “Well, fuck you! They’ve built a more advanced economy, with happier ponies, without fucking serfdom.” I said as I leveled my gave at him.

“Well, when the Arabs come knocking on their front door again, guess who will be there to stop them?” Reflex said with a huff, his face was reddening.

“I’ll be there,” I said simply. “Now, let's get back to the task at hoof. We need to storm an island, and a little bit of suppressive fire isn’t going to cut it.” My voice was still tinged with anger at my friend. A friend that didn’t even realize his own hypocrisy.

“You’re right, let’s stay professional.” He took a deep breath and led me further on.

Minutes passed in relative silence as he showed me the ship’s features. Torpedo tubes, Turrets ripped straight off the Ursa Major assembly line, and machine guns galore. Nothing that would seriously disrupt a large, prepared defence…

“What are those?” I asked him as we walked through the small cargo hold of the ship. They looked like missiles for a launcher only longer and thicker, nearly the size of an artillery shell. I hadn’t ever seen them before.

“Well, we had to set sail before we could remove everything we were carrying beforehand. Those are rockets designed to be launched off of the back of trucks.” Reflex said without realizing the implications.
“What did they launch off of exactly?” I asked, my voice dripping with curiosity.

“Basically just railroad rails,” He answered. I began to grin.

“I have an idea,” I said with a laugh. “Hear me out…”

---===*===---

I had gone back to the bookshop, and I was getting nervous. I hadn’t heard anything from Perm today, and neither had anyone in our household…

It was only a few minutes later that I heard a furious knocking on the door, the door that had an obvious closed sign on it. I trotted over to it, ready to clobber whoever decided fucking with me was a good idea. My hooves moved so slowly as I opened the door. The sight on the other side was startling. Permittivity was smiling at me harshly, and on his leg and withers were a pair of dripping wounds. Beside him was a mare wrapped up in a hoodie, despite the weather. She looked fine.

“May we come in? I think I need to get these packed and wrapped,” he said as he began to push past me. I watched him shudder slightly as he limped in. The moment she made it past the door, he threw his horn on and slammed the door shut. For a moment his horn seemed to ripple with energy, electricity coursing over it. The smell of ozone and blood hit my nose as he started towards the stairs.

“Perm, what the fuck happened?” I asked as I started to follow, getting close to Perm, and letting him lean against me.

“Your uh, associates, the rangers discovered Crescent’s true nature,” he said with a sly smile. There was pain in his voice too, but he was hiding it well. “I dissuaded them from trying to hurt her.”

“You didn’t need to do that,” Crescent said with an apologetic tone. “I was fine.”

“There were three of them, and one had a folding knife,” Perm replied as we made it to the front of the stairs.

“And you charged the one with the knife,” She said with a touch of annoyance slipping in. This was the side of Perm that I didn’t really want to encourage. The side that put him in danger. The heroic side.

“It worked, didn’t it? Ponies don’t expect to see a hornhead charging them head-on,” he smiled as he sat down at the dinner table. From the other room came Page and Dally, they saw Perm sitting there dripping blood and didn’t even bat an eye at the random Arab standing there beside him.

“What happened?” Page asked loudly, as Dally ran to get bandaged and alcohol for Perm.

“Oh, the usual, Rangers tried to accost dear Crescent Moon. I got in their way.” Around his neck was that green scarf Bajada had loaned him, it was wet with blood from the shoulder wound. “I must say, that unicorn with the knife had some strong control over that knife. Well, at least until they voided their bowels.”

“Did you kill someone?” Dally asked him. He shook his head and looked at me. I stroked his mane and held his hoof as the unicorns cleaned his wounds for him, he clenched up when the ethanol slipped in between the tears in his flesh.

“Pardon my speech but: I shocked the shit out of him.” Perm shivered a little as he recounted the memory. “I’m glad that I’ve learned to dial back the power well enough to prevent a heart from being stopped.”

“You’re a warrior, but a kind one,” Crescent said as she looked at him. There was remorse written across her features. Of course, he would go out of his way to save the pretty aristocrat.

“I didn’t want to cause a diplomatic incident,” He said softly. I glared at Crescent for a second, before holding his withers and kissing his cheek softly.

“That’s smart of you,” I said before looking at the rest of the ponies. “Seriously? A folding knife?” I sighed and let the wound dressers- dress the wound.

“Crescent Moon, meet Page Turner and Dalliance,” Perm said a moment later.

“Hello!” Dalliance said instantly, attention turning to the darkly coated mare.

“Salutations,” she said simply, before looking down at Perm. There was a spark in her at that moment. Her body tensed before she looked over at me.

“Your people did this to him,” she said sharply. “But I let myself be accosted by them, I was foolish.”

“I know,” I said neutrally. “He’s just like that, jumping into danger without thinking.”

“Oh please,” Page said as she finished packing the shoulder wound with gauze. “You’re both two peas in a fucking pod. You’re both heroic ponies.”

“It’s simple,” Perm said with a smile, “Crescent needed help, both because we need her help, because she helped save the ponies of Paradise, and because it was the right thing to do.” Perm paused and stood up, wounds now tightly bound. The green scarf hung limply below his neck. The specks of blood covering it were darkening as we spoke. He was a hero.

“Can we uh, talk alone,” I said to Dally and Page. They both nodded and left to go back to their bedroom. I hugged Perm tightly the moment the door shut. My face felt hot to the touch, and my eyes felt watery as I closed them tightly.

“I was worried you would lash out at her,” Perm said as held him close.

“No, you’re the one who’s gonna have to make things up to me,” I said with a laugh.

“So, from what Permittivity said before we were attacked, you found us a ship?” I smiled even more broadly at her words. We had a fuckin’ ship.

“Yeah, small, fast, and carrying a few surprises,” I replied before releasing him. He stood up, wincing a little as he moved his right foreleg.

“When do you think we should set off?” Crescent asked with a blush written across her face. Apparently, two ponies sharing a hug and a cheek kiss was risque.

“I’d give Bajada another day to gather some Rangers,” I replied.

“How many ponies do you intend on taking with us?” Crescent asked with an exasperated look on her muzzle.

“Uh, a dozen and a half Steel Rangers, not including me, and whatever desert rangers Bajada can scrape together,” I said with a grin, it was a small army. And it probably had enough firepower to crush whatever forces Tegarni had arrayed against us-

Hopefully…

Author's Note

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