Dusk Hope trotted back towards the city, bringing the cart with him. He insisted on returning it. Neon rolled her eyes with a tired huff. "We have things to do."
Dust frowned at Neon and pointed where Hope had gone. "Don't be angry at him for doing the right thing. Stealing their cart or leaving it in the bushes isn't how we say 'thanks'."
Neon leaned towards Dust. "So defiant. You used to be such an eager and willing mare. What happened to that girl I used to know? I miss her."
Dust's ears shot up and she hopped to her hooves. "You killed her, with a host of bombs. Did you forget that? You ordered her to fight and kill. She did everything you asked, and you destroyed her. You, of all people, don--"
Neon held up a hoof. "Fine fine! I was just thinking about the past. We used to have such fun together. Don't you ever miss it?"
Dust's cheeks flushed as she recoiled. "Y-you seduced me, made me feel things I never did before."
Even casually slipped her hooves over Lizzie's ears, but the girl swatted her hooves away. "God, mom, I'm not that innocent."
Neon swayed her thick tail left and right slowly. "I could do that again. It would be much more fun to be your friend, like we used to be."
Dust turned away. "You missed your chance. I'm dating someone else."
Neon burst into laughter. "You mean that little lost puppy of a soul?"
Dust spun on Neon. "Is more than twice the 'soul' you ever will be! He's brave, kind, sincere, caring, and even a superb unicorn on top of that."
I stepped between the two bickering ponies and casually blocked their line of sight with my bulk. I sat between them and reached to scratch behind their ears. Both accepted the attention with a bit of a sour expression, but the argument was cut short. "We're all one herd, let's not get carried away."
Neon pointed off at Sandra. "She's the only one that..." She drew short and sank to the ground, her haughty expression turning frustrated for a moment before she bottled it up.
I didn't want that. I pulled her closer and started rubbing over her cheeks and ears. "She's not the only one, but you do need to stop teasing everyone. You're part of our herd, not ruler of a nation."
Dust snorted from my other side, but didn't comment on it.
Reggie hiked a brow. "Ruler of a nation?"
Cindy nodded at him. "She took over most of South America before we stopped her."
Reggie looked dumbfounded. "And now you're just walking along with her, no problem?"
Neon scowled at Reggie. "What? You too?" She rose to her hooves. "Fine, I'll leave, if that--"
I pulled her up against my side. "None of that. Stay, please." I pet along her side slowly. "You're a part of this herd."
Sandra moved up to sandwich her between herself and me and settled, trapping her. "She's right. I would be very sad if you left, Karen too."
Neon raised an ear. "Karen?"
Cindy took control of one of my hands to point at herself. "Like me. Sandra has a guest too, just without the head to go with it."
"Yo," said Sandra in a slightly different voice. "I miss you, Neon. You were wonderful to be a part of. We agreed on almost everything!"
Neon went stiff in shock. "Y-you... You're a person?! Oh fucking hell..." She sank to the ground, going limp. "I miss you too, Karen? I want you back, please?"
Karen/Sandra shook her head. "Can't do that, besides, being a separate person, I can do this..." She extended her skilled tongues and they began to run over Neon, flickering as they did so. I guessed they were messing with her energy in subtle ways, and Neon began to squirm and moan in the pleasure of it.
Even Faith went pale and shoved her hooves in front of Lizzie's eyes with a hiss.
Neon's tongues met with Karen's and they flickered against each other, trading little bits of energy back and forth to their mutual pleasure. Neon slowly sat up, and their kissing became more and more intense. I suddenly heard Sandra's voice in my head, ~I don't think we can be monogamous anymore, even our awkward agreement. Neon really needs Karen, and Karen misses Neon a lot.~
I nodded slowly at Sandra/Karen, though they showed no physical sign of our communication. ~I understand. I really do... We're a herd, not a married couple. Are you alright with Karen going to town with Neon like that?~
~Mostly. It feels intense now that Neon's returning the favor. It's like I'm being electrified with... god that's good.~ Karen/Sandra and Neon all moaned into one another, shuddering with obvious release and fulfillment. They sagged against one another and became relaxed.
With fortuitous timing, Dusk Hope came trotting back. "All set! They were happy to get their stuff back. They thought we might have walked off with it. Wouldn't that be rude?" He looked between Neon and Sandra nuzzling and smiled. "You two are cute together."
Neon flushed intensely, and Dust laughed. "She just finished trying to seduce me away from you."
Hope shuffled in place. "Did it work?"
Dust rolled her eyes as she rose to her hooves and moved up to Hope. She leaned in and kissed him with her head tilted. He melted in the exchange and soon she had him on the ground, powerless before her overwhelming smooch. When she drew back, he gasped for air, but she seemed relaxed. "You tell me."
Dusk Hope got a goofy smile from the ground. "No, ma'am..." He glanced towards Neon as he got up on shaking legs. "You know, I wouldn't get angry."
Dust glanced where he did, then back at him. "At what?"
Hope shrugged a little. "If you wanted to love her too. We're a herd, a family, together."
Dust stiffened. "That's... very sweet, Hope, but we're not exactly on kissing terms."
Neon flashed a smile. "We could be!" Dusk Hope officially declaring himself not standing in the way seemed to bolster her spirits. She grinned naughtily. "Why, he could even participate, if he can behave himself and do as I say."
Hope nodded easily, but Dust went red with what looked to be anger and shame combined. "Hope! Don't just do what she says!"
Neon raised a brow. "And why not? Oh the things I could do with you both... Think about it. It doesn't have to be today."
Sandra cleared her throat. "Right, now that we're all together, we really should get moving. We've spent enough of the morning."
We gathered up and began the trip, hopping between worlds and navigating eastwards to wherever we saw elevation to try and keep a good view on things, at least until we came in for a landing and I felt a sharp pain explode through my left and rear thigh. I collapsed as ponies wielding strapped on firearms and wearing official looking uniforms approached our group. "Everyone, on the ground, belly first!"
Sandra reared in alarm, and got shot in almost exactly the same spot. She squealed and went down beside me. The ponies didn't shoot the others. They moved up and nudged them away from Sandra and I. "You're safe now," said a stallion that seemed to be in charge. "The ferals are under control."
Hope pointed at Sandra and I. "They're with us! They're not feral!"
The stallion raised a brow. "The scanner says feral. It hasn't failed before. Don't worry, we'll have your friends cleaned up and fit for civilization shortly."
Cindy paled. "Oh, no no no, please! That 'feral' you want to clean away is me, and i like it here, thank--"
The stallion raised a brow at Cindy. "Right, you're obviously suffering from feral delirium. Are you going to cooperate and come with us, or do we drag you?"
~Whatever they shot us with, it's blocking our magic, no teleporting,~ came Cindy's voice internally.
I raised my hands and slowly climbed to my hooves. "Look, I'm as human as not. We're not feral. In fact, we're representatives of the US Military."
He snorted loudly. "I'm Captain Birch. I didn't receive any orders about this, though that's an interesting story, new, at least."
I lowered a hand. "Can I pull something out? It's not a weapon." Birch nodded slowly, staring at me. I slowly produced the military walkie talkie we'd been using. "Here you go. We have a coalition that's managed to restore order to most of the US."
Birch snatched the walkie talkie in his mouth and set it down. He squinted at it, then flicked it on. "This is Captain Birch, who's on this channel?"
"This is Corporal Smith. I don't recognize that handle, state your business."
Birch raised a brow. "Well shoot, is this legit?" He flipped the device around and squinted at the channel. "I thought I tried this one ages ago. Fuck, this is amazing." He pressed the talk button. "Hey, Smith, we have two unknowns here, big pink mare, two heads, big brightly colored female too. What do you know about them?"
"You're describing some civilians turned agents. They're with us. You aren't giving them a hard time, I hope?"
Birch burst into laughter, slapping the ground with a hoof. "Well shit, I thought they were crazy feral monsters come to cause trouble. I'll make sure they're welcomed properly." He looked to me. "Hey, can I borrow this? Command needs to know about this."
I nodded at Birch. "Go ahead. We're trying to bring America back together."
One of the other soldiers came up to me and pulled a heavy dart out of my flank while another did the same to Sandra. The numbness didn't fade right away. Birch nodded. "I hear that. That's a cause I can get behind. Welcome to our base, now how the fuck did you get in? Are you all together then?"
Reggie nodded. "Yes, sir."
He raised a brow at Reggie. "I'd swear you were afraid I was going to hit you, man. I was saving your ass, or trying to. Relax."
Reggie looked confused, and just didn't say more. Even Faith cleared her throat softly. "These humans are ours."
It was Birch's turn to be confused. "Slavery's not legal in the United States last I checked, miss, or am I misunderstanding you?"
Lizzie relaxed at the announcement and threw an arm over Even's neck. "Mom's just joking around. We're related, Reggie and her."
Sandra shook herself out. "Do you have a lot of problems with feral ponies?"
Birch wobbled a hoof. "Not as much as we used to. We mostly keep to ourselves. At first we thought we'd get contact with the others, then we kinda gave up on that and just did our own thing. Anyway, come on, just keep away from the people that are still humans. Causing infection is a crime, punishable by death."
Dust Kicker raised a brow. "How did you stop being infectious?"
Birch looked confused. "Same way you did, I imagine? Scanner said you were clean."