Arc steps out of the portal in his basement. Derpy and the girls are sitting in front of a computer watching a video. They run over to him as he recalls his armor.
“Hey dad!”
Apple Bloom grins. “That didn’t take too long, I guess!”
Sweetie Belle giggles. “How’d it go?!”
“Okay, I suppose. I ran into Hammer’s sister though.”
Derpy gasps. “Uh oh. Things go okay?”
“Oh yes. Well… okay, I suppose.”
“So she was the source of the problem?”
Arc shrugs. “She’s around the location it’s coming from anyways. But if I want her to talk she needs a letter from Hammer.”
Apple Bloom raises an eyebrow. “What for?”
“To make sure her sister’s okay.”
Sweetie Belle frowns. “Why wouldn’t she be though?”
“Mio thinks I kidnapped her. Or at the very least manipulated her into joining my side.”
Derpy’s eyes grow wide. “But Hammer loves you Arc!”
“I know, Derpy. But Mio doesn’t. So I’m going to pop back over to Equestria and get her to write something up real quick.”
“Okay, dad!”
Apple Bloom turns back to the computer. “Come back soon though!”
Sweetie Belle points a finger. “We’ll just be sitting here watching… what was that called again?”
Derpy looks at the screen. “YouTube.”
Arc chuckles. “Have fun.”
Pulling the Rainbow of Light from his ring, Arc channels his magic into it and opens a portal. With a wave he steps through and is gone. Reappearing back in his room in Canterlot Castle, Arc quickly heads for the door. Stepping out into the corridor he flags down a patrol. They approach him and salute.
“Yes sir?”
“I’m looking for Lieutenant Hammer. Can you tell me where she is?”
“At this time of day she should be in the Captain of the Royal Guard’s office doing paperwork with Colonel Flash Sentry, sir.”
“Good. I’ll head over there now.”
They salute again as Arc hurries away. Approaching the familiar door, he knocks lightly before entering. Spotting Hammer behind a desk going over papers he enters without a word before closing the door behind him. She calls out without looking up.
“That was fast, colonel. Was Raven not up for company today?”
Arc shrugs. “No idea. I just got here.”
Dropping her pen she looks up at Arc. Grinning, Hammer nearly climbs over her desk to get to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck she kisses him tenderly for a full ten seconds before coming up for air.
“Hey there, handsome!”
Arc chuckles. “Hi, Hammer. How are things going here?”
Hammer gestures to the table laden with paperwork. “Busy as you can see.”
“Certainly, yes.”
“But we’re keeping up with it.”
“That’s good. What’s it like working with Flash Sentry?”
“This colonel is definitely a step up from Diva, that’s for sure!”
“Nicer?”
“If a mistake is made it doesn’t lead to a punch in the mouth, for starters.”
“That would certainly make for a better work environment, yes.”
“He’s out with Raven at the moment. They always go on an afternoon walk about this time.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Something prescribed by her therapist. The colonel’s been trying to help her get over something or other.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Okay, I guess. But I’m not exactly the one whom should be talking about that sort of thing.”
“I suppose not.”
“Besides…”
She wraps her arms around his neck and grins before continuing.
“…I should be focusing on what I know.”
Arc chuckles as he puts his hands on her hips. “And what’s that?”
“How to please my man!”
She leans in for another kiss which Arc reciprocates. They continue for a few moments before Hammer suddenly stops and pulls back.
“Wait a second!”
“Hammer?”
“What the heck are you doing here anyways?! Aren’t you and the family supposed to be on Earth?!”
“Yeah, I was. But something came up.”
“And what could possibly be more important than them?!”
“I needed something from you.”
Hammer grins as she pulls her uniform’s neck down to expose a bra strap. “You finally coming around to…?”
Arc interrupts her. “Not that, no.”
Hammer frowns as she puts her hands on her hips. “You can’t get a gal’s hopes up like that, Arc!”
“Very funny, Hammer.”
“Who’s laughing?!”
“In any case, Ember notified us that there were some strange… something or other coming from our town back on Earth.”
Hammer clenches a fist. “Are those idiots back at Damocles Base up to it again?!”
“Not exactly. This time the problem turned out to be a small wooded area outside of town. “
Hammer flexes. “Need some muscle to look into it?”
Arc shakes his head. “Ember, Brightwing, Auriel, Scootaloo, and I went over there the check it out already.”
“What’d you find?”
“Oddly enough, your sister.”
Hammer narrows her eyes. “Which one?”
“Mio.”
“Good. I don’t really want to hear about Stingray right now.”
“That’s understandable.”
“But what was Mio doing in the middle of nowhere?”
“She portaled in just after we split up. Auriel found her first.”
Hammer grins. “Bet that scared her but GOOD!”
“Probably, yes. I wasn’t there when she arrived, mind you. But considering the fact that Auriel, in her human form at least, looks exactly like Diva I’m sure it was quite a shock.”
“Yeah. But you still haven’t answered my question.”
“To be perfectly honest, I don’t really know.”
Hammer groans. “So you just found her there and left?!”
“Not… exactly.”
“You ain’t making a lick of sense right now, Arc!”
“She offered a trade. Mio will tell me what she’s doing out there if I bring her proof that you’re okay.”
Hammer gestures to the desk. “Well, I don’t have time to be running back to Earth right now. This work doesn’t do itself, you know.”
“A letter was suggested.”
“A… letter?”
Arc nods. “She’d recognize your handwriting naturally. It wouldn’t have to be anything too elaborate, mind you. Just enough to convince her that you’re safe and happy here in Equestria. Um… without telling her you’re in another world, mind you.”
“Yeah, that might be a bit much for her to believe. After all, she still thinks I ran off with you somewhere.”
“Kinda did.”
“True. But I wasn’t forced, coerced, or otherwise made to come here like she probably thinks.”
“Right. Now then if you could just put that in writing I’ll deliver the message and let you get back to work.”
Hammer grins as she walks back to her desk. “I can do you one better.”
Opening a drawer, Hammer pulls out a book. Flipping through it for a few moments she comes to a certain page and begins to read silently for a few moments. Nodding, she carefully rips the page out and hands it to Arc.
“Here you go.”
Arc raises an eyebrow as he looks over the paper. “What’s this?”
“Just a page from my diary.”
Arc quickly turns away from the paper. “Ah! Sorry!”
Hammer chuckles. “It’s fine, Arc. If I didn’t want you to read it I would have told you so.”
“Guess that makes sense. But what would this prove?”
“I’ll tell you, Arc. However you need to keep it just between us.”
“Sure. What is it?”
Hammer lowers her voice. “I… I’ve been seeing a therapist lately.”
“You have?”
She looks down at the floor nervously. “Yeah. I… was having trouble processing what was done to me by Diva after Stingray lured me back to the apartment on Christmas Day.”
“Torture isn’t something that one deals with easily. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you were having problems though.”
Hammer shakes her head. “The torture I can handle.”
“Then what…?”
“Being betrayed by Stingray… someone I’ve known and trusted my whole life was… it was like my whole world just kinda… like the bottom fell out.”
“But you never said a word.”
“How could I? You always have it all together. And if you knew I was messed up, you might reconsider taking me into the herd.”
“What?!”
“And you’d be right to do it! After all, what use is a broken woman like me to a strong, handsome, dependable hunk of manliness like you?!”
“Hammer…”
Hammer interrupts him. “No, I mean it! What right does a weakling like me have to hold you back?! Pull you down?!”
“Hammer?”
She turns away and puts her hands on her desk. “I’m no good for you! Take the others as your brides and leave me!”
“Hammer!”
“What?!”
Without a word, Arc puts a hand on her shoulder and whirls Hammer around to face him. Before she can utter another word he wraps his arms around her and kisses her lips. Her legs buckle as they fall on the desk together with Arc on top. He pulls back as she gasps, clearly surprised at the turn of events.
“Arc? Why…?”
“Because I care about you, Hammer. You aren’t damaged goods and you aren’t weak. You were betrayed by a family member whom allowed another to hurt you… badly. That and what General Mustang and Colonel Diva did throughout your career couldn’t have been easy for you either. It’s hard when those you trust let you down or betray you, I know. However you’re not alone in this.”
“But I’m…!”
“…going to get through this. With the help of your therapist, your fellow herd-mates, and me too.”
“Do you… do you really mean that, Arc?”
Arc nods. “Yes, Hammer.”
Hammer appears hopeful. “You mean you still want me in your herd?”
“I do, yes. If we still agree that’s what we want after getting to know each other, that is.”
“And that’s what I want! To be with you forever! To give my life to you. To have your children and raise them up with you and the others!”
“Then you have to be strong, Hammer. Know that you can and will get through this with help.”
“Arc?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
Arc grins. “And I love you too, Hammer.”
Laying down on top of her, Arc kisses Hammer passionately as she pulls him into a hug. Eventually she pushes back and grins.
“Thanks.”
“Meant every word.”
“I know you did. But right now you need to get that paper to Mio.”
“Yeah. I… I’ll do that.”
Standing up, Arc reaches out a hand and helps Hammer stand up. She looks him in the eyes before speaking.
“I’ll do my best to make you proud of me, Arc.”
“Already am.”
“Well, there’s always room for improvement.”
“Then I’ll do my best to improve too.”
Hammer scoffs. “How? You’re already perfect.”
“Trust me, I’m not. But I need to get moving.”
“Y-yeah.”
“I’ll come see you when I get back though.”
“Take your time with the family though.”
“That I will. Good luck over here too, Hammer.”
He turns to leave, but Hammer calls out after him.
“Arc, wait!”
Arc looks back. “Huh?”
Hammer sits down at her desk and grabs a notepad. “One sec!”
Writing quickly, Hammer rips the note from the pad, folds it, and hands it to Arc.
“That should do it.”
Arc appears confused as he accepts the paper. “What’s this?”
“Just a little something extra for Mio. Give it to her if she won’t listen to reason after reading that page from my diary.”
“Um… okay.”
“But don’t read it yourself. At least not until Mio has, I guess.”
“No problem there.”
“I know I can trust you to do that."
Grinning, she picks up a stack of papers from her ‘in’ box before continuing.
“Now get outta here! I got work to do!”
Arc chuckles as he playfully salutes. “Yes ma’am.”