I tried to console Even, but she was in no mood for petting from a strange pink tauric pony, so I let her get the tears out for a moment. Hope smiled a little. "So, is that part of why you were... You know, you recognized them, both of them, inside." He tapped his chest lightly. "Not outside, but you knew, and you tried to--"
Even Faith frowned a little. "N-no. I was just trying to be a decent person. You don't tell someone to just die and then mock them the whole way in. That's... That's not what we were taught." She let out a slow breath before looking to Lizzie, and her uncle. "Reggie, you're a good man, and a great brother. It must have hurt, watching after my daughter even while I just walked past her. You must be so angry with me."
Reggie chuckled as he leaned back. "Like you said, it's the right thing to do. I'm glad to have you back, even if you've changed quite a bit. Do you remember your old name?"
Even nodded before shaking her head a moment later. "I do, but it's not really me anymore. It's like remembering the name of a past life. I'm a woman now, a horse at that. What would I do with that name?" She sat up and offered a hoof to Reggie. "I... I want my family though. I can't even start to express how terrible I've been to you both. If you tell--"
"Shut up." Lizzie hopped to her feet and stormed in on her mare of a father. "Shut up! Do you really remember me?"
Even shrank a little at her fury. "Your favorite color is blue-green." She ran a hoof up and over her mane. "Maybe that's why my mane and tail are that color. I love you, Liz-pants. Give your daddy a hug." She held out her hooves wide.
Lizzie swallowed heavily. "Only my dad called me that... But you're not my dad." Even wilted. "You're my mom, obviously." They met in a tender embrace and were quiet for a moment. "Just don't expect me to take after you. You're stuck with a normal human for a daughter, and I get a flea-ridden horse for a mom. We're both stuck."
Even smiled gently. "I can live with that." She held out a hoof to Reggie and soon he joined in their group embrace. The family was together and, for the time, content with their fate.
Dust Kicker looked towards me. "We need to take action. This state, it's not... It's complicated, but we can't leave it like this."
I nodded in agreement as I rose to my hooves. "We might be better off working in the system instead of around it. Even Faith, who's in charge? Not of the city, but the state? Do the towns have a hierarchy?"
Even bobbed her head quickly. "Oh, yes. Our little town reports to Monticello, but the biggest city is still New York, the Big Apple itself. There were a lot of people there before, and there still is now, if very different. The laws come from there, usually common sense things, but still the law, and we follow it. They were the first one to outlaw conversion of humans without consent."
Reggie softly snorted. "Small blessings. Before that, if your 'owner' decided they were done with you, and they couldn't find a new owner fast enough, well, time to be a pony. Then there were the 'nice' ones that couldn't stand the idea of slavery that thought turning people into ponies was just the nicer way about it."
I turned slowly. "Which way is New York? That's our next destination."
Sandra looked confused. "Aren't we going to drop them off?"
Neon rolled her eyes at the idea of it. "Go all the way home? That's no short trip. Nope." She looked to Reggie and Lizzie. "You're our new slaves, congratulations. Hell, we bought you legally." She pointed at Lizzie. "Once we get back home, you're free to go, but for now, keep being good slaves."
I considered it, but there weren't a lot of other options. "We could leave you here, but I doubt you want to brave the wilderness alone. You're not really our slaves, just to keep everyone happy. Once we're out, you're 'free', forever." I dug out a walkie talkie and flicked it on. "Hello? Anyone in range?" It was tuned to the station the military said they'd monitor, but I wasn't sure how far that hand-held unit reached.
A crackly voice replied, "Copy that, mild static, but we read. Is that Big Pink?"
I smiled with relief. "Yes, this is Big Pink. Anyone in charge around? I have a question."
"Sure, lemme see who I can rustle up. Hold on a moment."
Dusk tilted his head. "I just noticed something." When several heads turned to him, he continued, "I think being a pony has changed us, I mean, in more than the obvious ways." He pointed a hoof at Neon. "You killed people, and wanted to blow up the world, but here you are, as part of us, forgiven." He moved the hoof to Even Faith. "You forgot your family, but here you are, hugging them now..."
"Harmony," said Sandra with a smile. "It's something that came from the pony world along with the tails and fur. People want to work things out if they can, pony or human. I'd say that's a good part of all of this." She focused on Neon. "I barely remember being angry at you for what you did before, now that you're behaving."
Reggie raised a brow, "She tried to blow up the world? How?"
The walkie talkie crackled to life. "This is Five-Star Stud, what's the status?"
Five-Star Stud? I couldn't help but giggle a bit, imagining our general friend. He really did get adjusted to being a unicorn. "Status is stable. The state is secure, but the treatment of humans is unreasonable. You are the military, I'm thinking maybe we should threaten old-fashioned police action? Going after it as a legal issue with their leaders instead of a hostile invasion may go over a lot smoother. What do you think?"
"Have you located their leaders?"
"That's a copy. New York is where all the laws come from. My plan was to visit the city, approach the leaders and make an ultimatum, if I have backing for that. No point throwing out empty threats. We don't want to stir up trouble if we're not ready to deal with it, but taking over forcefully will cause its own trouble. These towns are established and orderly, police departments included, firearms present."
"They have guns?" There was a pause. "Are they all unicorns?"
"That's a negative. Unicorn population is actually small, and their technique is low. Clever engineering has armed them. It's like a harness. They wear the gun. It looks a bit silly but it works well enough for them to feel safe."
"Copy that. Go ahead and see if you can't cow them into position. We're going to have to make a move one way or the other, but I'm hoping it won't involve the crosshairs of a strapped on gun. Oh, remind them we have ponies too, and I'm a damn general with a tail and fur coat, so it's not like we're just a bunch of humans crying about it or something."
I agreed with him before signing off and turning off the walkie. "You all heard that. We're headed to New York."
Reggie looked surprised. "Seriously? You're really with the US Military? I thought you were making a euphemism or something." I nodded. "Shit. Things could get really ugly then. I mean, I hate them for what they're doing as much as anyone, but I don't want a full-out war raging."
Even Faith placed a hoof over her chest. "Then we'll just have to get it done right. If our friends convince the lawmakers in New York to step down, there won't be any war." She smiled. "You have things to offer too, right? Things that might be worth more than human slaves?"
Hope clopped his hooves. "We do! Electricity!"
It wasn't much, but we had a start. We began chatting about how we'd showcase what we were offering in return for basic civil liberties for what was once 100% of the citizenry of the state not that long ago. My how things could change quickly.