Chapter 09
I have no idea how long I lay there, crying pathetically. Everything caved in at once and I suddenly felt overwhelmed by where I was. Who I was. I had no idea of either one of them. Twilight said nothing, surprisingly. No questions or comments. She just sat on her haunches next to the bed with her front legs tucked up on the mattress and her head resting on them, watching me from a sideways perspective. She wore a quiet smile and her horn glowed softly in the darkened room. She didn't flinch, even as I started shaking and lightly pounding the mattress over and over again with my hoof. The frustration of everything and feeling so useless and helpless just spilled over.
It must have been a while going. The light slipping through the windows was starting to dim and I realized the sun must be setting. The sun. Yes, it was the sun, not a horrible death ray. It sounded so stupid now that I could think properly again. My nose ran lightly and I sniffed to try to keep it under control. My tears finally stopped, but the uncontrollable shaking persisted. A small tissue was put against my nose and I shifted my left eye to see Spike, giving a timid smile while holding a box of tissues. The one in his clawed hand rested lightly against my nose and I nodded, reaching a hoof up myself to rub it. I was soaked, and it was hard to tell which came from the vases and which from my nose. Folding it lightly using the surface of the mattress, I used the dry side to wipe my left eye. I was suddenly aware that the inside of my bandage felt a little soggy.
Shifting my eye back towards Twilight, I saw that the light blue and purple glow from her horn lit her features in a soft illumination and she looked very pretty. The colors complimented her well, it seemed. Her smile never faltered as she finally, gently spoke, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you by yourself."
I was more than a little stunned by her comment. I shook my head, trying to tell her she didn't need to apologize; that it was my fault, but she gave a single nod, silencing me again. "I know you're going to try to take the blame but no. It's all right. Sometimes I get wrapped up in things and I should have thought about how you felt instead. You really have nothing and that must be really, really scary," she continued, her eyes almost piercing through me as she gazed. The words were true enough and I felt a light, frosty stabbing sensation in my chest at them. But it was hard to look away from the soft glow of her horn and I found myself relaxing. There was no tingle of magic. This didn't seem like a spell she was using. She was just lighting the darkness.
"So I want to," she started, and then frowned. She seemed momentarily unsure of something, and hesitated. "I want to help you. There's something deep inside of you that's hurting immensely and we need to get it out. But, unfortunately, I don't know the best way to go about it," she finished, looking back up at my eye after she regained focus.
All I really could do was nod gently. Then I remembered I hadn't told her about yesterday, either. "Um, I think there's something wrong in my memories. I, um, this has happened before. Yesterday, in fact," I finally admitted, feeling a bit better at telling her.
Twilight frowned, concerned looking but nodded me to go on. Taking a deep breath, I continued, "I was talking to Fluttershy and something bled through, overwriting her voice with something else, but in her voice still if that makes sense. A light headache started after that and I started to panic but I don't know why. Things started feeling well, not real, and I suddenly felt lost and unsure."
"Did something similar happen today?" she asked carefully, watching my expression intently.
Sighing, I nodded timidly, feeling vulnerable again. If the guys in the barracks saw me like this, I'd be laughed out of the reserves. But they were all dead now. "Yes. Only visual instead," I confirmed, taking deep breaths and trying to relax.
"The window. You were staring at it looking terrified, so I slammed it shut as fast as I could. I came up here when I sensed… magic," she spoke quietly. A chill shifted up me, and my left eye nervously darted towards the window again, past her. My body lit up its fight or flight response again, but my view was suddenly obscured completely, eclipsed in purple. Twilight had shifted so her head totally blocked my view. I was about to freak out when the tip of her horn touched my forehead. There was a pulse of silver and pale, pale blue, as the colors from the soft illumination washed over my senses again.
My heart slowed and I exhaled quietly. Twilight smiled warmly as she heard it, eyes closed as her surprisingly warm horn rested on my forehead. It wasn't naked bone but covered in a soft velvet-like substance. "The light calms you?" she asked quietly, after a few seconds.
You calm me. "Yes. The color," I whispered, voice still wanting to hide.
"Your coat color," she revealed, smile shifting to an amused smirk.
My eye widened and I glanced at my nearby arm to check, already knowing she was right. "It's the color of moonlight on a cloudy day. Very pretty," she elaborated. Her amethyst eyes opened, then widened a little as she realized her calming technique had placed her inches from my face. A faint blush drifted across her cheeks but she didn't move away, instead giving a more questioning look with her eyes as she looked into my single one.
"Hey, Moonlight is kind of a cool name, no?" Spike suddenly asked. I started slightly, but Twilight just smiled and shifted her gaze to the left, giving an amused look towards Spike.
"He should get the final say in that. But it is a good name,” she agreed, seeming to think again. Moonlight? I lost my thoughts and just watched the silvery blue drift through her horn. It felt so well, correct, for lack of better words. Was there a reason I was this color? Maybe I had resonated with it and this was the color of my life force, or something. It felt right, regardless.
Twilight shifted her attention back to me, smiling warmly again. There was a certain glimmer in the mirrored pools of amethyst that were her eyes, and she appended softly, "He's very good at fixing things, both mechanical and involving ponies' feelings. Repairing? No. Too forced. Fixing? Hmm, no. A little too literal."
"Mend?" I offered, smiling shyly at her. More abstract than the others, and it had a nice ring to it. Her smile widened, and she nodded in agreement.
"Moon Mender," Twilight tested in a soothing voice, becoming the first pony to use my new name.
"Wicked awesome!" Spike chimed in, excitedly pumping his right arm into the air.
Chuckling, I nodded, careful to avoid skewering myself on her horn. "Sexy. It has a nice ring to it," I agreed, repeating what I had already decided in my mind. Twilight couldn't seem to help herself and burst out into mirthful laughter. She pulled us along as if moons in orbit and soon all three of us were laughing.
It took a good three minutes before I could breathe properly again. Spike, in his rolling chortles, had fallen off the bedside table that was above my head and landed behind me somewhere. I could still hear his weak, breathless laughing. I didn’t even know why it was so funny but something about her laugh just drew us in.
Finally Twilight calmed down and rested her head back on her forelegs, giving me a pleasant smile. “I think it suits you. Although you don’t need to be afraid to say things to me, I hope you realize. Now I understand that your prior interest in magic went beyond the fundamental,” she pointed out softly. I swallowed lightly but oddly felt conflicted with her expression. She radiated non-threatening with her smile and gentle speaking. I decided to once more bite the bullet.
“Yeah. I was a mage in my prior existence. Utility and supplemental if I recall correctly, using spells that shielded, repaired, and physically manipulated. They well, they don’t work anymore,” I revealed, unable to keep my nervousness out of my voice.
The lavender unicorn simply smiled however, before asking, “Does it feel like it’s stuck inside of you?”
My eyes widened a little bit and I nodded timidly. She smiled wider and nodded, a new light seemingly dancing in her eyes that I couldn’t quite place. “Oh, this is exciting. An Earth Pony who has training in magic. I could learn a lot from you! If I could figure out a way to let you use it, it could revolutionize theory and…” she started excitedly spewing.
“Twilight, focus!” Spike shouted from behind me, now standing up and resting his claws on my foreleg. I was a little concerned she was going to dissect me but decided I could trust her still. Also, I was more than a little curious as to what kind of creature Spike was, suddenly having a much closer view of him than normal.
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Um, sorry,” she muttered, blushing lightly and giving me a sheepish grin before continuing, “All three pony subsets have some amount of magic inside of them. Unicorns have horns which they can use to manipulate their reserves directly through…”
“Channeling. I was watching you earlier,” I interrupted, starting to figure out what went wrong myself.
Her eyes widened and she let out an interesting sounding squeak before nodding enthusiastically. “You understand theory too! Oh, even better. Yes! We channel the energy using our horns to directly affect things. Pegasi use their wings to channel theirs, allowing for easier and much faster flight, while innately having the capability to walk on clouds and other air-based entities. Earth ponies are different, however. Their magic remains inside them all the time, instead strengthening their muscles and constitution. Everypony is different of course, in how much magic they have and how they use it. I think you’re the first Earth pony to try to use their magic like a Unicorn!” she exclaimed in one long but rapid instruction.
I blinked but rapidly absorbed the host of new information. “So my body’s geared for one manner of using the energy but I’m trying to force it to use it a different way, right? Hence the burning, pain, and almost setting your house on fire…” I theorized, sighing weakly.
“Um, yeah. Well, that’s what I think, anyway. Your style of magic might be significantly different from ours as well, so there might be something more fundamental going wrong instead,” she reasoned, scratching the coat under her chin with her right forehoof.
Just wonderful. So it was like attempting to use a Phillips to turn a Flathead screw. Suddenly, my capabilities with magic seemed very, very far away. Twilight seemed to notice my dejected look and shook her head at me. “No, I’ll see what I can do. We might be able to get your magic working again, so don’t give up yet,” she admonished.
“Well, maybe we can find something tomorrow,” I reluctantly agreed, earning an encouraging nod.
“Yes, it’s a big day tomorrow, so why don’t you try to get some sleep? I didn’t realize it was so late,” she suggested, suddenly looking back towards the window.
Swallowing, I nodded hesitantly towards her. I suppose sleep would do me some good, although admittedly the prospects of what I could potentially dream of unnerved me a little. She smiled and nodded to me before walking over to her desk by the window. “Good. I’m staying in the room this time, so I’ll be right here if you need anything. Even if you feel like you’ve got nothing, remember that you at least have me, alright?” she reminded, a warm smile gracing her features.
Blushing at the potential implications, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind and nodded back to her before resting my head down on the pillow again. Twilight shifted to a softer smile after my eyes lidded and I pretended to close them. She remained watching me for a few more moments before seemingly snickering at something in her mind and turning back to her desk. A book opened on it as she sat down. Listening to the occasional flipping sound of the pages, I drifted lightly between waking and unconscious thought before succumbing and slipping away into sleep.
* * * * *
The day was a surprisingly pleasant one. The sun heated the landscape gently with just enough cloud cover to make it nice, rather than overbearing. Yawning sleepily, I stared into the undisturbed puddle of water in front of me. Bits of dirt drifted through it but not nearly enough to label it as mud. I could clearly see the bottom of the pool through the water, even if it was slightly distorted. The surface of the crater consisted of hardened, cooked dirt. It had splintered in a spider web pattern out from the center and looked vaguely reminiscent of dark brown clay. Of course, there was potentially a little bit of clay in it already so I might not be that far off.
Lying lazily in the grass next to the crater, I stretched and folded my legs back under me before looking back up at Twilight Sparkle. She was a couple meters away with a strange, metallic contraption on a tripod. I knew enough about magic to identify that it was taking readings in the locations she set it up in, but the design was foreign to me. We hadn't used magic for detection in my world, it seemed. Or at least I couldn't remember anything about that from what lessons I did remember. She adjusted another dial on it and then darted back to the other side to read the output again, her curious eyes flicking back and forth excitedly. She hadn't said a word since she started taking readings but I didn't particularly mind. This is what I had led her here for and she was definitely finding something, if the clicking on the machine indicated anything. Plus her excitement was simply adorable to watch. I just wished I could help out more.
Flopping over onto my side, I watched the clouds pass gently overhead. It was strange realizing the weather didn't truly depend on natural occurrence but in producing the correct clouds and moving them to the right spots via pegasi. That was a bit of a shock when I read about that. Rainbow Dash was one of the weather ponies for Ponyville if I recalled correctly. The clouds were still pretty, and these were largely allowed to simply drift wherever they desired. There were no occasions today, or storms scheduled. Not until the weekend anyway. That put today as, hmm, Thursday if I recalled. Time keeping was a tad difficult when I had to find the clock tower in town in order to be exact. At least my right eye was uncovered, now. Making the trip here through the mud sinkholes and hills would have been… entertaining with no depth perception.
Twilight had used a minor healing spell on my eye this morning and it was recovering nicely. Now I just had a tiny little nick to the right of it with an elongated bruise surrounding it. It basically looked like I had lost a hoof fight, in an epic manner. My chest wasn't damaged it would seem, although Twilight insisted on checking it as well. She was horrified to find dozens of scars under my coat that weren't in the nurse reports. They were tiny, some lines and some indented circles. I had no recollection of them at all so they didn't really bother me. You couldn't tell unless you were playing with my coat, regardless.
She let out a quiet squealing noise and resumed frantically recording things in the notebook floating next to her. Spike, who was sitting on a blue blanket nearby, chuckled at her and shook his head. He had ridden along on her back, helping her carry a smaller container on his own. She elaborated, after we had gotten here, that it was food. Apparently she had decided to make a picnic out of it, to my surprise. Oh well, I suppose. Nothing of today indicated it couldn't be pleasant, as I really felt no particular attachment to the crater. It was just a depression in the ground, to me.
Returning my attention to the sky, I noticed a yellow speck on the horizon and frowned. It was quite a ways in the air and slowly getting bigger. A pegasus or large bird heading towards us. Yellow? I swallowed lightly and started to worry a little. I hadn't seen her since yesterday and my thoughts were still pretty fresh in my mind. Of course, it was really my fault for setting myself up like that. I shouldn't punish her simply for not feeling a certain way. That was stupid and immature.
Sighing weakly, I saw that my suspicions were indeed correct. The pink mane became identifiable shortly afterwards and I saw that it was Fluttershy drifting through the sky. She was traveling a lot slower than Rainbow Dash which didn't honestly surprise me. She had said she enjoyed the scenery more than the rush of adrenaline. Her path wasn't directly targeting us, however. She drifted a little off target and appeared to be aiming for a small cloud bank to our left. West? She was also carrying something small, it looked like.
Twilight must have heard my sigh and glanced over at me. She followed my gaze and also caught the sight of Fluttershy in the sky. She raised an eyebrow back towards me, quizzically, but didn't ask anything. We watched Fluttershy land on top of the cloud bank, apparently totally oblivious to our existence, and not come out again. As I couldn't see on top of the bank, I shrugged and lay back again, relaxing. Maybe she was having a cloud picnic instead? I didn't know if there was such a thing but if there was, this seemed like a good day for one.
My concentration and guess was blown out of the air as a bolt of rainbow streaked across the sky above me with an extremely distinct whistling noise that I definitely recognized almost immediately. Oh, Rainbow Dash was here? Maybe she was meeting Fluttershy for something. Sure enough, she took a beeline towards the cloud bank and disappeared over it. Twilight had seemingly decided that they were otherwise distracted and went back to her machine’s readings, shifting the location of her scanner using her telekinesis. I just watched the bank for a few seconds before I saw the bolt of rainbow shoot away from it again.
Raising an eyebrow, I wondered what the colorful pegasus was doing. After a few more moments, she flickered back into my vision, spiraling this time in a slightly downward pattern. She corkscrewed for a few seconds, before bursting out of the dive and slipping sideways, causing a burst of rainbow to keep spiraling where she would have been. Oh, that was pretty. She was showing off? That sounded a little more like Rainbow Dash. It was way too high up to hear anything if Fluttershy was cheering or not. Well, it was hard to imagine Fluttershy cheering, regardless.
Her pattern continued, bursting through the air in the corkscrew again and splashing like she did before. This time, though, she dipped through her own splash, picking up a trail through the air as she zigzagged. Oh! I couldn't help but smile as she wrote out 'Hello!' in the sky using her trail. Very cute indeed. Was an event coming up that she was practicing for or something? Her patterns repeated for quite a while. Every time she let the pattern fade, she'd repeat and write something new in the sky. Simple things, sometimes misspelled. Twilight caught me chuckling on more than one occasion as the afternoon wound on and snickered herself as she watched Rainbow Dash work. She was practicing, I realized. Showing off was entirely different. This was definitely her training for something. She was at it way too long to be otherwise.
Every fifteen minutes or so, she'd zip back to the cloud for a few minutes. That thing Fluttershy had been carrying was probably a basket. Refreshments maybe? They really were good friends, it seemed. I got a little self-conscious at that point. Was I being a little too nosey? A minor twinge of jealousy went through me, but passed rapidly. Did I wish I had a good friend to spend the day with like that? Kind of. But…
Smiling gently again, I glanced back at Twilight who was in her fourteenth location around the crater, writing more casually now. We didn't really have to say anything to be hanging out, right? Well, she was more than a little distracted and this was kind of an experiment for her, but she was still spending time with me, right? Glancing back towards the blanket, I pondered striking up a conversation with Spike, only to discover him snoring while lying on his back, spread eagle.
Well there went my chances for intelligent conversation. I stared blankly at the pool of water, idly wondering how crazy Twilight would think I was if I just started talking to it instead. Well, probably not more so than she did already. Deflating a little, I raised my head to the skies to update myself on the only other source of activity for miles. My eyebrow rose, as I saw 'Rainbow' written, amusingly enough using rainbows themselves. Below it, she was swooping in for another run. My eyes got progressively wider, the more of 'Applejack' she got spelled out. Was this what I thought it was? Twilight caught my expression and also turned her attention to the writing.
Sure enough, she veered back around, and completed the message with a cute looking heart symbol in-between the names. I guess some things are universal. Still, I had to give her credit. Spelling out her heart's desire a mile off the ground in a hundred thousand-point font size took some serious guts! I was impressed. For it being practice, she was taking quite a risk.
"Oh my. That's an interesting confession idea," Twilight finally commented.
I chuckled and couldn't help but smile. "One that's definitely unique to Rainbow Dash too," I added, watching the writing slowly fade. As expected, Dash had zipped back to the cloud once it was completed, probably to admire her work and get Fluttershy's opinion.
"Agreed. I wish somepony would confess to me like that," she spoke wistfully, watching the fading letters.
"You like Rainbow?" I asked, tilting my head towards her. I'd not expected Twilight to match very well with the much more spontaneous pegasus.
Twilight's eyes shot open fully and she blushed. "No! Not exactly like that. Just something huge and out there, you know?" she tried to explain, looking back down at me. A small part of me was relieved when she said no, I noticed.
"Well that's unfair to us little guys without wings or horns, you know," I pointed out, sticking my tongue out at her. She gave me a skeptical look and rolled her eyes.
"Easy there, Romeo. You can't like me as well if you already like Fluttershy," she fired back, giving me a sarcastic looking smirk.
Normally I'd have blushed, but knowing the irony of the statement deflated the amusement factor a few notches. She saw my expression falter and sighed, putting down her pen and notebook. "Look, I'm not that thick, Mender. Your reaction when seeing her, coupled with this, leads me to think something happened yesterday," she reasoned, standing up and gently walking towards me.
I might as well get it over with. "Nothing much, really. She just doesn't like me like that. Just give me a few days," I requested, sighing weakly and looking away from the lavender unicorn.
"You asked her?!" Twilight asked in a shocked, somewhat horrified voice. Okay, so now I blushed. I had been doing so well, too.
"What? No! She told Rainbow Dash that she saw me as a wounded animal that she needed to nurture until healed," I rapidly corrected, panicking at the thought of bluntly asking her.
Twilight visibly relaxed but sighed weakly at the same time. "That seems unlike Fluttershy. Did she know you were listening?" she asked, closing the distance a little and sitting down a meter or so in front of me.
I gave a miniscule nod before furthering, "She knew I was there but Rainbow Dash was giving her a hard time about showing interest in me." I'm still not sure if it was an excuse to get out of the situation or if she actually meant it.
"Yeah, she probably just panicked, knowing Fluttershy. If she noticed, she probably feels badly now," Twilight reasoned, looking up towards the cloud bank that the two were on. Well, I hadn't seen them leave it but I wasn't exactly paying attention.
I chuckled feebly. "Is it strange that I was a little bit happy that she said it?" I asked, suddenly a little unsure of myself.
Twilight slowly looked back over at me, and tilted her head a little. "Why is that? Wouldn't you be happy if she liked you as more than a friend?" she questioned, seeming mildly perplexed.
"Well, I was happy she didn't take any teasing from Rainbow Dash but I'm also kind of glad she turned me down, even if either unintended or unknowingly. I think I needed it," I admitted, a little irked that I had taken so long to make the connection.
She looked surprised but her expression remained largely neutral. "I'm glad Fluttershy is getting a bit more confident as well. Did you remember something else, though?" she guessed, being very close to dead on.
"Yeah. Well, not directly. My world had an extremely skewed gender ratio, I think. It was the opposite and then some of the situation in Equestria, from what I’ve seen. I can vaguely remember male friends, but no female ones. Plus there are definite memories of breeding programs in effect. I'm thinking it was something of a long standing problem for our race. Well, my old race anyway," I concluded, at least sharing what I had thought about.
Twilight considered it for a few seconds, before smiling and nodding quietly. "An educated deduction and as good a theory as any. I'd love to have definite data but that would go a long way in explaining things in your memories. So you think you're unused to females?" she asked gently, ever watching my reactions.
I sighed and considered it. This wasn't very well put together or thought out yet on my part. Eventually I decided upon, "It's been bothering me, yes. I've never been this well, hormonal to my knowledge. Admittedly, my knowledge is rather limited, but it's more of a general feeling I get."
"Oh my! Well, what's good for the body is good for the soul I hear, right?" I suddenly heard from my right. Twilight and I both about jumped out of our skins and I rapidly turned my head, only to see Rarity slowly approaching. Oddly, she wore a heavier looking saddlebag set and lightly pulled a wagon attached behind her. A shovel handle was stuck out from a saddle loop at a forty-five degree angle. She looked like she was about to do some serious excavation or something, which struck me as more than a little odd considering her personality.
"Rarity! You shouldn't eavesdrop on people like that," Twilight berated, looking irked at the white unicorn. Uh oh. How much had she heard?
Rarity let out a knowing sigh and waved a hoof nonchalantly in our direction. "I know, I know. I'd not meant to listen in. I simply was nearby looking for gems for my collection and latest project, is all. Then I heard two dear friends talking and decided to see if they wanted a little company. How was I to know you were having such an intimate discussion?" she reasoned, smiling politely at us.
"And how long had you been listening in?" Twilight asked, giving her an extremely suspicious look. I swallowed wearily.
"Oh, not long at all. Barely a few minutes, of course," she assured, waving us off again and blushing lightly.
That… That was pretty much the whole conversation. Twilight's eyes danced with anger now and she glared towards the white unicorn. A sinking sensation dropped into my stomach and I suddenly had the strongest urge to crawl into the watery crater and hide there until I drown. Rarity watched me for a few seconds before she sighed quietly. "I know, I shouldn't have and I apologize. I'm not entirely certain of what's going on but I realize it's bigger than I thought. I'd originally come here because I was getting strange signals of interesting minerals that are under that crater over there," she spoke softly, in an uncharacteristically informal manner.
Twilight's eyes shifted slightly in the direction of the crater and I saw a twinkle of curiosity in them, but she maintained her glare at Rarity. "What do you plan on doing with the information?" she asked, a little warmer this time as she straightened out of her hostile posture.
"Nothing if you wish it. But as I said, I would really enjoy helping. He is a very nice stallion, after all," she repeated, giving a polite bow of her head at the end towards me.
Twilight frowned but looked over at me, unsure this time. Thinking for a few seconds, I sighed, coming to the obvious conclusion. Twilight had spoken for Rarity when we first talked, saying she was one of the few to take things seriously. It wasn't for the same severity of topic but I had a feeling it still applied. After a few more seconds, I swallowed and nodded quietly, looking back up at Twilight then shifting my gaze to Rarity, who was now meeting it.
"I'm not from this dimension. This place, Equestria, is totally new to me, as is this form. I remember very little before five days ago when I woke up right here, in the middle of this crater. My memory is riddled with bits and pieces of another life, however. One where I was something else and in a place very much not pleasant," I summarized, after taking a breath.
To her credit, Rarity's face remained perfectly neutral throughout and she gave me a soft smile once I finished. I imagine I probably looked fairly vulnerable. "Thank you for telling me. I imagine Twilight discovered this when she tried to repair your memories?" she deduced, glancing back over at the lavender mare who was now sitting next to me. Feeling antsy, I remained standing.
Twilight nodded softly to her friend. "Yes. He's suffering from a very unique condition. It shares similar symptoms with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder on a more acute factor. We're here today trying to find out more information about him," she explained, giving the shortened form of what she'd mentioned this morning over breakfast.
"Oh, and we came up with 'Moon Mender' as a name," I added, blushing lightly at my own silliness. It certainly hadn't matched the gravity of the prior statements.
"It’s very nice name indeed. Would you let me assist you as well, Moon Mender?" she asked, returning to her warm smile, after looking a bit concerned at Twilight's diagnosis.
"She's really good at finding minerals. We might be able to find out more about what brought you here," Twilight vouched, looking back over at me with a smile now. She was calming down fast. Wait, did that mean she had only gotten angry to defend me?
I blushed lightly but nodded. "Yeah, anything that can help would be deeply appreciated," I agreed, shifting away from Twilight's gaze and feeling a bit awkward suddenly. Stupid hormones.
Rarity perked up and nodded pleasantly. "This is an excellent outcome. You won't regret it! The interesting stones are under the crater," she announced, horn starting to glow. The shovel drifted into the air behind her.
* * * * *
Hooves aren't meant for digging. At all. Twilight went back to taking scan measurements for the rocks of course. Sadly, Rarity complained of a headache five minutes in. A half couch came out of nowhere, almost running me over, and she flopped onto it. Unsurprisingly, the shovel was tossed to me instead.
A long twenty-five minutes later, I was down maybe a half a meter. It didn't help that neither mare could narrow it down to less than a four-meter wide area. My coat was soaked with sweat and I felt lightheaded. My technique for shovel manipulation got progressively better but my body was reasonably weak still. Plus my forehoof was acting up again from the accident before the party. Ug, I was going to die here yet!
Rarity let out a cheer ten minutes later or so. Both Twilight and I glanced over at her, me full of hope that the rocks were found and I could peacefully pass out now. Sadly, her eyes focused upwards and I watched as Rainbow Dash zipped overhead. Ug. Wait, did she just?
Sure enough, Dash had heard her and swooped down upon us. "Hey, Rare! What's up?" she asked in a chipper manner. My urge to beat the happiness out of her with the shovel steadily rose.
"Oh, we're just digging for magical stones while having a picnic. Do you two care to join us?" she asked politely.
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow to her, and then shifted her gaze down to the couch. Then she looked over at Twilight sitting next to the scanner, writing. Then to Spike, snoring on his back, and finally to me, panting painfully in a shallow pool of water, holding a shovel. "Er, sure? Shouldn't you be helping him?" she pointed out. Yes! Thank you!
"Oh? Ah, nah. He's got it covered and needs the exercise," she assured. What?!
"Oh, okay. Be right back, then," Rainbow agreed, smiling happily. Traitor! She was gone in a beat of my about-to-explode heart, which was impressive. Rarity went back to sunbathing and Twilight to oblivious study. Some days, I hated my life.
She was back all of three minutes later, Fluttershy in tow. The yellow pegasus took one look at me, sadly, and visibly wilted. Rainbow Dash gave her a weird, questioning look before shrugging and trotting towards me. "Heya! How's your head feel? Sorry about yesterday," she spewed out rapidly, looking nonchalant and distracted.
All I could manage was an irritable glare through my drenched bangs. "Er, you look kinda soggy. Training is cool and all but you should watch yourself," she advised, before giving a merry nod and walking over to Twilight instead. Shovels were, ug, used for, ah, digging! I must resist bludgeoning with it. It wasn’t a weapon! The conflict drifted back and forth in my mind as I developed an interesting eye twitch.
Fluttershy was gone when I turned back around and I sighed. Wonderful. Now she was scared of me. Splat! I landed on my side in the thin pool of mud, shovel jutting up like a weird headstone. Too tired. Forget this.
"Uh, Rarity? Are we even getting close to the stones?" I heard a concerned Twilight say from somewhere behind me.
"Huh? The what? Oh! Yes, the stones. Oh, oops. There are three of them total and they're in that pile of mud over there," she informed after a moment. Pile of mud? The pile of mud I excavated out of this pit? Ten minutes ago? For a very long moment, I felt like screaming until I passed out. The urge to alter the shovel’s weapon classification rose significantly.
Slowly sitting up, I let the cool water run gloriously down my back. It felt amazing after the massive amount of exertion I just put out. I glared over at Rarity, who had gone back to sunbathing and was oblivious. Giving up the ineffectual death stare, I stood, now totally soaked in water and sweat and dragged the blasted shovel towards the pile of mud, dirt, and rocks I had made.
Twilight wandered over to help me search but it truly wasn't needed as finding them in the pile was exceptionally easy. They were an unassuming gray color. There were numbers painted very, very clearly on all three chunks in a bright yellow, however. It was strange, as my eyes hurt looking at them. An uncomfortable sensation crept into the back of my skull the longer I looked. Nudging them around with the shovel, I managed to get them to line up. 312? My eyes widened, as I instantly recognized the number of the vault I had been tasked to protect.
"Weird. What's with the number?" Twilight asked, staring intensely at them.
Rarity finally looked curious and got up to her hooves, dispelling her couch and revealing a shaking Fluttershy behind where it had been. She swallowed nervously and carefully followed Rarity over to where we were standing. I did my best not to look at her, or make any sudden moves. "My, ugly things. They certainly don't look very magical," she muttered, sounding unimpressed.
"Whoa, they're cool! You can see the number no matter how you look at it," Dash exclaimed in amusement, drifting around us in a lazy circle. Frowning, I nudged the first one over on its side using the shovel and was shocked to discover it 'rolled' into the exact same shape and position it was in before. I definitely didn't like these!
Twilight's eyes widened as she watched and she started rapidly writing in her notebook. "They don't follow normal rules of geometry. I wonder if the effect is physical or purely optical."
"Huzzuh-what, now?" Dash asked, looking annoyed now.
"She wants to know if they feel the same, even after we rotate it," I explained, staring at the rocks. They felt wrong to me. They shouldn't be here.
Fluttershy had gotten curious by then and come out from around Rarity. She sported a nervous expression and I couldn't help but watch her cute shifting as she got a better look at our find.
"Oh! Well whack em with the shovel and see?" Rainbow suggested, sounding as if she were rapidly losing interest.
Twilight stopped writing long enough to glare up at her. "Don't you dare! I need recordable results, none of which are how far they can fly," she warned sarcastically.
"They feel k-kind of squishy," Fluttershy suddenly reported, in her typical timid manner.
All four of us looked back towards her in an instant and my eyes bulged out when I saw her nudging the closest rock with her hoof, of all things. It sank into the surface of the rock and she gasped, a suddenly terrified look spreading across her face. Oh crap.
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Uh oh, this can't end well
An excellent chapter Kiroberos
CLIFFFFHANGERRRRRRRRR
DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN
So are they radioactive? Or just squishy?
Colour me intrigued. Also, that delay? Totally worth it.
oh damn not good!
New Chapter! Must read, homework can wait
YES! NEW CHAPTER! AHHHHHH! YAAAAAAY! YEEEAAAAHHH!
pics.livejournal.com/cordeliasmarz/pic/0013k5bc
Jesus is confused.
Epic cliff hanger.
As usual. Man, you're giving me whiplash with these. Any chapters soon with some action in the middle as well as the beginning and end?
Whoah, cliffhanger. What's going on!!???
...wat
First thing I thought was GRENADES!!!!!!!!!????????
Shortly followed by SILLY PUTTY!!!!!!!!??????
CLIFF HANGER!!!!!!!!
i.neoseeker.com/mgv/574321-Liege/321/42/nooo_display.jpg
Well, this opens up more questions than they answer.
This story is so amazing, you even update quickly! Awesome chapter. I can't wait until some perplexing questions are finally revealed.
Ohhhhhhh mmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
OKay... where to begin... Called the magical backup! called it!
Love the name
And the bit about the shovel doubling as a weapon, so much lols
Now... About those rocks... I would assume they fit together and are some kind of memory storage device? Something that if it is found will tell whoever finds it what happened and everything they wish the observer to know... I don't know, very little to go on in the end of this. Also, since it seems that it is from where Moon Mender is originally from, I can only assume he might not be the only one to make it through. Quite possibly some others could've got caught and just weren't found yet? Ahh, so much speculation on my part.
Anyways, can't wait for the next chapter!
I wonder if it's some sort of weapon. Fluttergun.
So many questions! I can has next chapter nao plzkthx?
templeofcats.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/begging-cat.jpg
Then Everypony died.The End.
win...
This is gooooood!
NEED MOAR...if that is, um, I mean if that's okay with you
204343
I thought the same thing about the rocks. I also assume Equestria could be the aftereffects of the beam of death he fears. Possibly his shield doubled as a stasis device for him only, and just woke up.
If Fluttershy may see his memories... -crosses Fluttershy's name off of love interest list- Sadly, that may happen.
SO MUCH TO ASSUME, AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR ANOTHER CHAPTER.
But please take your time, this is so awesome.
That was a great!
Now i'm left with more questions than before
I really liked the shovel bit though
You must update MOAR Kiroberos or im gonna die~!
Another great chapter, another cliffhanger....
Loving it Kiro, really, truly loving it.
Mysterious alien Jello rocks! Coconut-flavored with number-shaped pineapple bits inside. He's right, those definitely shouldn't be there. Fruit is gross in Jello, and Fluttershy clearly agrees.
Hmm, I guess I was right about it being Rarity's turn to irk the guy. "Oh, the task was done twenty minutes ago. I just found it entertaining watching you struggle through your various injuries to dig pointlessly. That's a good way to make up for spying on you earlier, right?" Well, at least she didn't accidentally bonk him on the head when she threw the shovel at him.
Aha! Moon Mender. So I guess when you called him MM before, you didn't mean he's a little candy-coated ball of chocolate with peanuts and stuff inside. Actually, his new name sounds oddly relevant to his old life. Earlier he had memories about his previous culture abandoning their long-held lunar traditions and weaponizing their moons. And then those scars even sound vaguely like craters on a moon. Therefore, I'm going to take his name literally and say that he's somehow connected to a destroyed moon from his old world.
I'm waiting for a MoonLight pairing...(yes I just pulled an analogy for a Moon Mender x Twilight pairing dealwithit.jpg) Anyway, ooh a fallout reference with some sort of odd optical illusion gelatin mixed in, joyous.
NO FLUTTERSHY
...damm another cliffhanger. I simultaneously hate these things and love them. 
Btw
As long as he is getting these visions, mabey it is not such a good idea to teach him how to use magic twi, who knows what will happen...we will just have to find out later.
Edit: Love how the story combines the obvious with so much intruige that one moment everything seems clear and the next you are left guessing.
Now we wait >:3
...wow. That was definately unexpectedly squishy :3 y'know, the usual un-creative comment. I was thinking similar to the others' ideas though; that the rocks are some kind of memory link to his past, or that it's a link to his world/old self. Could just be what he was standing/lying on when he died though, which would also make sense. As always, looking forward to more :D
turtle
Hopefully Fluttershy won't be injured by the pliable and weird number gems
.
A cliff hanger? my good sir you have made an enemy today.
Hah, that part with the shovel was hilarious.
Also, I wonder what Luna thinks of his name?
Please don't take TOO long for the next chapter
Kiroberos, I am going to slaughter you.
You and your bloody cliffhangers.. WHERE IS MY SHOVEL?
I NEED IT
Oh. . . Oh FUCK. Shit's about to get real.
Great chapter, loved the visuals this one gave me. I was confused on one point, though; when Rainbow spelled out her love letter to Applejack (ARGH I WANTED HER TO BE MM'S) in the sky, was it the actual one? Or was she just practicing?
205695
I think Moon Mender has it, Flushy. I'll lend you mine.
We can take him down together and force him to post ALL THE UPDATES.
205747
I'm ready, are you?
POST ALL THE UPDATES!
Moon Mender? That's cool! I love it!
Well, now i know why do i prefer human-ponies fictions. They are all (well, mostly) awesome!
I say, that was one wonderful chapter, sir!
Hey look. You updated when I mentally commanded you to update. Cool.
Great chapter
Here's a bunny:
myfacewhen.net/uploads/2663-bwavo.jpg
-Glassed
"The urge to alter the shovel’s weapon classification rose significantly."
BEST. LINE. EVAR.
201603
You HAD to mention that song...
Ug.
201658
Well as long as I don't become like the Moirai. Splitting into three, thread weaving females would be a bit weird for me. I'm also not sure if my rating allows for that kind of picture posted. 
I'm the Fates now? Cool!
202491
And it's good to see you again Flushy! I missed you.
Not TRYING, actively.
202669
Is that why your avatar has a wingboner?
I'm glad.
202794
Although I prefer to give all three races equal magic. As you can obviously see, anyway. Heh.
Well it does sort of make sense.
202900
Just kidding.
NOW I'm curious if you're my preferred gender.
203023
Why did I not see that before?! *contemplates re-installing the second one again*
Whoa. You're right!
203376
Well, a little more love and tolerance in the world would be justified as is.
Heh, But then you'd have to show them all of MLP:FIM in order for them to understand it.
204036
I delayed it a couple hours as to heighten quality. I'm sorry.
It ish posted.
Splitting for a food break.
204131
And you're right, it probably won't end well at all.
Thanks Cloudhammer!
204136
And yes, I should suggest you get used to cliffhangers now.
Let's hope they're not radioactive, for poor Fluttershy's sake.
204149
the transition between bedtime and crater is much smoother now. Plus more of what happened in the last chapter is explained.
I'm glad.
204154
Indeed! Very, very bad!
204180
You should put homework first, as much as I'm flattered.
Bad EB.
204182
Oh, you found it! Whew.
204197
Well that does seem to be the standard reaction to the squishy rocks.
204200
There's only a couple with action all the way through. The last two or so. As for cliffhangers... I think there's... maybe one more chapter that doesn't end with one?
So action all the way through? Or one without a cliffhanger?
204201
Fluttershy poked a squishy, non-Euclidean rock and got her foot absorbed.
204208
Another vote for the standard WTF reaction. Yay!
204252
That would be..... ..... There are nine exclamation marks and eight question marks in your upper one, but only eight exclamation marks and six question marks in your bottom line. ... 
Heee. I never thought silly putty before.
204297
Heee. Awesome use of captioned Spike.
204311
I'm trying my hardest.
I'm glad!
204317
It took me about two months to write it originally.
I update quickly because I cheat and had them all written ahead of time.
204343
And yup, you did. It's really hard to not give things away when ponies guess so close. Heee. I'm glad you like the name, though. 
And yeah, he was contemplating mass murder with a shovel. Some days are just like that... 
The vault was already mentioned once, if I recall. As for others making it through as well, who knows? 
Oooh! A long one! Yay!
I love theories, though! Hee. They're the chunks of rock that had the numbers of the vault painted on them. He was guarding that vault when he and they apparently came with him. As to what properties they hold, hard to say...
Splitting it again...
206948
That picture is a underratment compared to your story
I need to find a better one
204392
It's like the party cannon, only it fires butterflies and kindness, reducing everything it hits to an adorable, overgrown nature reserve en-mass! She promptly uses it to level and rebuild the Gala Gardens.
Yes! Epic!
204418
In one of his dream sequences. As to a reference to Fallout, it wasn't intended at the time, but it's strikingly similar now that I consider it further. And ADORABLE kitty! 
The vault was mentioned a ways back, if I recall.
204475
Worst ending ever.
204480
VV007!
204485
I have a soft spot for Fluttershy. How'd you know?
Aww.
204616
If she's interested at all, of course.
Heh. If she knew how many creatures he's killed mercilessly, you're probably right. She wouldn't be nearly as interested in him.
204673
Heee. Questions are good in this case! And I don't think she'll be going yay.
205304
Although I'm very glad you're enjoying.
You're gonna have to get used to the cliffhangers.
205306
And I agree that eventually Rarity HAD to get a turn in at irking/mauling/brain raping him. Everyone else had a turn already I think. 
And y es, I was calling him by his abbreviated name. Although you're not the first to start guessing that the 'Moon' part indicates something more than his coat color. 
Hopefully next chapter will tell you a bit more.
Periphery! It's rare that I laugh hard enough to squeak. I thank you for that.
205352
True enough. Breaking laws of energy should come simply for her then.
205358
And that's fine. I like MoonLight more than Team Twilight, which Julia uses. Anything that reminds me of the other Twilight is icky.
The vault was mentioned before.
205373
The story is speeding up now, so lots of cliffhangers. And I'm sure teaching him magic will be fiiiine! 
I'm glad you're liking!
205385
Only for Monday or Tuesday.
205416
More will be explained next chapter of course, but yeah. That's definitely different from the others. I wish I could say more but I don't like spoilers.
Clever idea about the rocks.
205554
I hope not! Mender would never forgive himself.
205570
I'm sorry.
Aww.
Splitting again....
Heh, yeah, hard to think about new things when Fallout pops in your head. Vaults ftw i guess
But I can't wait for the next one!
Oh, also note, I don't think those'll be HIS memories per se, but it'll be something like the final moments of the vault if the story goes in that direction. And don't discount the fluttershy romance quite yet, remember, she's shy, but she comes around in the end.
205625
And I never considered Luna's thoughts. That WOULD be interesting.
Monday or Tuesday.
205695
I'm sorry. Uh... I don't suggest reading any more chapters then? There are a LOT of cliffhangers between now and the ending. 
205747
She took the time to bank up the clouds beforehand. They're South-East of Ponyville right now, which places Sweet Apple Acres directly to the West. That bank that Fluttershy was using a part of to sit on was blocking the view. She was just practicing. 
And you want Rainbow Dash to get together with Mender? 
I should have been more specific with the cloud bank descriptions. Sorry.
205753
You could murder me if you'd like. Julia's set up on contingency to post the entirety of the story all at once if something bad happens to me, but you'd also never get a sequel then. 
The quality would diminish, so no.
205790
Enough with the human thing... I can't take it anymore. Arg. You like Spike, I notice. 
Not you too!
205908
Now you're just cheating and using my schedule.
206011
It's so cute! And oooh, you changed your icon! 
YAY! Bunny!
206323
Surely you jest, but I thank you regardless. I'm glad you're liking the chapters.
206354
Heeeh. I guess I'll take that as your vote for shipping.
207064
But meeeeh. I'm not telling anyone.
I just worry about getting banned.
207297
And the next chapter, or Fallout 4? 
That's because Fallout, as a series, rocks.
207300
But yes, I wonder if ponies here are going to like Fluttershy or Twilight more as a ship. Plus there's a surprise candidate coming in as well! 
But you'll have to wait and see for that.
Heee. The last memories of the vault would be even worse. Really nothing but panic and hysteria.
207345
you confused me by replying to things from like a week ago.
then I figured it out and did lots of scrolling.
Anyhow, yeah. Cliffhangers suck.. if you've got the entire story, just update like every day and make everypony s00per happiniessz
Yeah, I can see why you aren't, but it frustrates me because I usually read completed stories
Also : Sequel?
SQEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
207316 Hehe yeah, this one fits me better; love reading and I have glasses... and then of course that's the second-cutest picture of Twilight out there
-Glassed
The Plot Thickens
awesome chapter, i hope Moon Mender and Fluttershy get paired 
Dammit cliffhanger!!
SUPRISE SHIP!!!!!!!
