• Published 21st Dec 2012
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Forgiveness Pending - Kiroberos



Moon Mender's adventure continues right where left off. He jumps at the chance for a new life, but will his old one truly leave him in peace? Some things are better off forgotten.

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Chapter 35

Reflecting upon things that had happened in the past usually gave me unique insight into the future. For example, for the entire duration of my stay in Equestria, rarely did I actually have a clue what was going on and for what reason. This brought the more recent events into disturbing light. For once, I wasn't entirely sure of what I myself was doing and why. I felt confused; the world was a more open and less controlled place. Further, my emotions were all over the place, it felt like.

I stared at Rainbow for a few moments before sighing and turning around again. She said nothing as she stood and walked up to my left side, keeping pace with me as I slowly started walking back towards Ponyville. Why had I run away to begin with? Her expression was the catalyst, but why did I choose that course of action? Still, Dash said nothing as we continued walking. She knew already, so was there even a point in pretending?

"Um, I'm sorry for running away," I apologized quietly as we walked. The forest around us was nippy now that my armor was gone, although I still had the heavier, fluffier look from the hair regrowth incident, so I was probably warmer than she was at the moment. Sadly, I still had the braids, too. As much as I disliked them, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them. Fluttershy had put them there, which made them something special.

Rainbow let out a light scoffing noise and shook her head. "You ran away that night, too. I told Twilight I'd go get you before following. I'm not stupid, however. You ran away from me specifically," she deduced, looking back over at me with a frown.

I swallowed nervously before explaining, "I know I did. Your expression when you look at, um, that side of me hurts, is all. I can't stand it." My voice was weak, as I felt both better and far, far worse by having this talk with Dash. Still, I had a sneaking suspicion that there were far nastier talks coming up in the future.

"I, well, yeah. Okay, so you're a little creepy looking with the armor on, but I didn't know it was you, Mender. All I knew was that it was dark out, blood was everywhere, and there was this unknown creature covered in the stuff and looking monstrous. I actually feel better knowing that there isn't some terrible creature loose in the forest," she admitted, somewhat to herself rather than me as she looked momentarily ponderous.

Better? "It's not armor exactly, Dash. I've been keeping a secret from you girls since I was hospitalized. You and Pinkie walked in on me finally explaining it to Twilight and Fluttershy," I corrected, shuffling a little as I tried to keep my balance with the new leg brace. It made a light squeaking noise every time I bent my knee, and I wondered if Twilight had some oil I could put on the hinges.

"Hmm. Well, you're an alien, so is it some sort of secret form or something?" she asked in a rather relaxed manner. I raised an eyebrow to her and stopped walking, earning a skeptical glance before she turned around to face me again.

"Kind of. I'm a cyborg. I'm a clone of a Keldarian, who was turned into a pony to scout Equestria, and then had a bunch of mechanical parts shoved inside of me. I’m not actually a pony," I summarized, risking it considering she was taking it well so far. Maybe she was like Applejack in the fact that she appreciated honesty?

She stared at me for a moment before snickering lightly and shrugging. "Eh, not really a big deal. You're a pony with extra, metal parts. Clone though? I wonder if that's like the effect of the Mirror Pond?" she questioned tentatively, tilting her head up as she rubbed her chin with her right forehoof.

"Mirror Pond?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to her as my left ear twitched lightly. I didn't recall Twilight having mentioned anything like that before.

"Yeah. It's an underground pond under the Everfree with a super crystal clear reflection. Turns out it's also magical and Pinkie Pie used it to make, like, dozens of herself," she explained, shuddering towards the end as if mentally violated by the memory. Well, I knew that feeling! Wait...

My eyes widened drastically, shuddering myself. No, the coincidence was just too high. Surely there were, um, all sorts of underground ponds with crystal clear reflections and creepy supernatural manifestations, right? A moment passed. Damn it. Well, all I could do was hope for the best!

"The clones weren't permanent, were they?" I inquired as subtly as possible. That would be absurdly strong magic if so. The level of energy required to support that level of permanency wouldn't have been feasible back in my old dimension.

Rainbow snickered, letting me breathe a sigh of relief. "Nah. Twilight found a spell to get rid of them. She's kinda our go-to mare for remedying the supernatural. That many Pinkies were scary and did quite a bit of damage to the town. That was, what, the third time Aj's barn was destroyed?" she guessed, looking rather impish this time instead. Yikes. It had as bad of luck as I did!

I finally continued walking again, Rainbow falling into place next to me in a far more relaxed manner this time. It was subtle, but I felt things shift more easily between us. I doubted that she grasped the full implications of what I told her, but at least she accepted it readily enough. It actually didn't appear to matter to her one way or another, which was both comforting and disheartening at the same time. Was I making too big of a deal out of it? I doubted it. It wasn't every day that I learned I was actually a cyborg. Rainbow’s laid back perspective was probably simply unique.

Deciding to be responsible for once, I started mentally communicating while walking. "Fluttershy, can you hear me? I'm, well, I'm okay." Damn, I was lame sometimes. I hated those awkward moments where I had no clue how to break the uncomfortable silence.

Rainbow perked next to me and glanced over, hearing it in her head as well as I broadcasted it. "Oh! Thank goodness! Did Rainbow find you, then?" the yellow mare questioned back, soft voice echoing in my mind.

"Oooh, how do I talk back?! I wanna learn how to do that!" Dash suddenly spoke up, sounding excited as she grinned again. I raised an eyebrow but nodded to her, halting my walking yet again. My left foreleg gave a surprising ache of protest, momentarily distracting me. I looked down at it, noticing the ankle was swelling up a little. Wonderful.

Rainbow turned around and grinned at me as I looked back up, and I rapidly masked my expression. "It's not that hard. Here," I offered out loud, stepping towards her. She momentarily looked unsure but held her ground as I approached. Heh. Was she a bit nervous after all? Her expression switched to a totally new kind of nervousness as I leaned in, her eyes widening drastically. My intentions were honest, however, and I gently pushed my forehead against hers, feeling the link directly. "Can you hear this?" I questioned into her mind, letting her feel the specific mental reverberation I used.

Her eyes widened and she suddenly realized what I was doing. It was comforting on multiple levels to see her nervousness melt away. "Um, yes?" Fluttershy asked cautiously, accidentally eavesdropping without knowing it.

Rainbow giggled in her mind, testing the technique before smiling wider. "This is so cool! That was to me, Flutters. He was teaching me how to do this," she added in her head a second later. I smirked at her before stepping around and continuing walking, this time with a slight limp.

It felt like my left foreleg was getting heavy. Heat was pooling into it and I became very aware of the heartbeat as it throbbed through. Maybe it wasn't as 'recovered' as I had hoped? It by far wasn't a pleasant sensation, aching dully every time I moved it.

"Oooh, are you guys talking with your minds?! So cool! Can we all communicate like this from now on?!" suddenly blasted out through my skull from all directions, somehow both spoken and 'thought' by Pinkie at the same time. Oddly, colors played across my vision as she spoke into my head, looking momentarily like psychedelic confetti oozing through the air.

"Whoa! Pinkie?!" Rainbow asked, half in and out of mental communication while sounding like she was reeling from the same effect. I stumbled and shook my head rapidly, trying to clear it.

"Yeah! Mender must have finished the link with me! Thank you so much! That means that just Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack need to do the link thingy," Pinkie continued, the mental speech this time significantly faster than her verbal, blurring ahead and causing colored streaks to rain through the area as I dove for cover.

A moment later, I groaned and shook my head. No, the streaks weren't actually there. They shimmered and faded as thoughts, in the purest imaginative sense, of colored balloons drifted through my mind. My eyes widened as the images flickered through, covering dozens of moments and ideas at once. "Pinkie, stop!" I heard Fluttershy gasp, and 'felt' her slip and fall over.

"Turn it off, Mender!" Rainbow groaned as she stumbled next to me, tripping over my collapsed form and falling into a heap on top of me.

"Stop what? I can't stop yet! I totally have a ton of party things to plan. Mender's doing better and everypony's recovering so nicely. This calls for a party! The occasion is perfect for my best party yet!" Pinkie added, bouncing in place with afterimages across the trail in front of us, prismatic effects not unlike an aurora bleeding through the ground in large pieces. "This is going to take all of my party-rific planning to pull off! In fact, I might have to talk to-" Pinkie started to continue, cracking the area around her with a web of colors before I forced every single connection off at once, trying really hard not to throw up.

Reality snapped back into place instantly, the quiet unnerving as my skull rang like a crate of culinary tools that fell off a bullet train going full speed. Damn! "Oh, thank you. It stopped," Rainbow murmured, shivering on top of me and rolling to the side. Her hooves clutched her temples as if she were trying to stop her head from vibrating, eyes slammed shut.

"Okay, we're going to have to talk to Pinkie before I turn her connection back on," I noted out loud, earning a rapid nod of approval from Dash.

"Yeah. Let's get back and do that before she gets absorbed into party planning, then. Ugh," she groaned a moment later, shakily getting to her hooves.

I frowned and shifted into a sitting position, wincing as I moved my leg. "Um, Dash? I think my leg is swelling. I stood up on it for too long and it's not used to that yet," I warned, lifting it up to try to elevate it above my heart. Would it stop if I changed just the leg into my armored form? I never really tested what the effects of partial transformation were.

"Uh, is that bad? Can you walk still?" Rainbow asked, frowning as she walked up to me again and looked at my leg. It felt better after I elevated it, but I could hardly walk like this.

I frowned and tested moving it again with a little more success than before. "I can kinda walk, but we'll have to take frequent breaks," I deduced, setting it back on the ground, gently.

My cyan friend looked less than amused by that. "Ugh. That's lame. Walking back is going to take forever at this rate," she protested, looking around the forest we resided in. Neither of us had a saddlebag, so that assured the lack of the harness we used before. I considered it for a moment before chuckling.

"Well, if you're impatient, there is one other option," I offered hesitantly. Twilight probably wouldn't approve of this. If I ran out of focus or magic, I'd probably end up falling and making an impressive crater in the ground. To my own amusement, I wondered if that would actually kill me.

Rainbow looked back at me with a skeptical glance, but I just reached out with my left forehoof and touched her chest. My magic expanded across her coat and made a makeshift 'harness' out of energy instead. She looked down at it, and then peeked over her shoulder to look at the straps forming out of barriers across her back. A smirk played across her expression as she turned back around. "Don't tell Twilight?" she inquired impishly.

"Don't tell Twilight," I agreed, smiling and nodding to her. This should be educational...

* * * * *

"Whoooo!" Rainbow screamed, flipping us sideways as she slammed into another tight curve. Her wings expanded with rainbow light, dozens of tiny jets bursting in synchronization with every muscle movement she did. The scream shifted into laughter as she spun, me holding on for dear life on her back as my viewpoint momentarily went upside-down. This was interesting indeed!

Her backwards-facing jets flared again as she burst forward, coming out of the tight turn like a rocket and skimming down through the clouds, shimmering rainbow trail far wider and more sporadic than she normally made. I grinned and enjoyed the rush as we shot downwards towards the ground at high velocity. I'd taken an interesting idea and plugged the wing jets directly into her own source of 'magic' that was inside of her. Ever since Twilight had told me that every pony, even pegasi and earth variants, had magic inside of them, I had wanted to see if Rainbow could support the jets by herself. I guess the answer was yes.

A blast of indigo hit me in the face as she flicked her wings up, letting us skim down just above the treetops and angle towards Ponyville at high speed. Ah, there were a few minor differences, I noticed. Her magical 'color' was prismatic. I really shouldn't be surprised, but it definitely gave her wings a more vibrant look than when I powered them. Further, a much more predicted outcome, they were nowhere near as powerful inside an atmosphere. I'd already realized that air friction and gravity would limit their capabilities. Still, she seemed to be enjoying them!

We skidded to a stop, Rainbow shifting to a dull trot as we landed outside of Ponyville proper. She panted and coughed once as I slid off her, and I was careful to land on specifically three of my four legs. "Wow, that was awesome! Normally a little flight like that wouldn't, wow, tire me out like this, though," Rainbow muttered between pants.

I snickered and shook my head. "I told you that I plugged the jets into your own source of magic this time. You weren't just exercising your muscles, but your internal energy. I'm told it's directly linked to your vitality, so it would make sense that you'd get tired," I pointed out.

Rainbow frowned and flexed her wings out again before looking back at the jets drifting across them and in the air spreading from their tips. "I kinda remember hearing that from school. Wait, does this mean that if I keep flying with the jets, that magical thingy inside of me will get stronger, too?" she asked, swirling back around to look at me, eyes widening.

"Yeah. It's exactly what I'm trying to do with my magic. It's linked to my vitality and constitution as an Earth Pony, so if I exercise both my magic and body at the same time, both should benefit. The only difference is that I know how to manipulate the energy directly, whereas you require an enchantment," I explained, smirking as I knew where she was going with this.

Her squeal surprised me still as she danced back and forth on her hooves, wings flapping lightly. "So awesome! This will so give me a one-up on making it into the Wonderbolts! Please, Mender! Can we practice with these jet thingies more often?" she pleaded, shuffling a little bit closer than I was comfortable with.

I flushed lightly as I stumbled and fell backwards onto my rear while backing away from her advance. "Uh, sure, Dash. It's no problem. I might be able to hook you up with a permanent set later once I build up some more of my magic reserves," I suggested quietly. I'd prefer she get more comfortable with the jets first, though, before she tried solo flights. I could probably do the permanent enchantment now, but decided against mentioning that. If she exhausted herself in midair and passed out... No, I couldn't let my friend take that risk.

Oblivious to my internal conflict, Dash nodded vigorously and hopped into the air, hovering in place as she spun in a quick circle. "Totally cool! Don't let anypony ever tell you that you're not awesome! I'll so buck them in the head if they do," Dash promised, grinning at me as I felt the heat get worse in my cheeks. Her expression shifted impish and I inwardly sighed. She enjoyed my reactions, too, I noted. What's with mares and liking to watch me blush?

A tiny gasp interrupted both of us, and I raised an eyebrow as I peeked to the left. An extremely familiar looking orange filly stood there, staring wide-eyed at Rainbow. Scootaloo wore a helmet this time and was parked on a scooter about three or four meters away. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom bailed off the back of the scooter at the same instant, the white unicorn filly making a mad dash in my direction with no hesitation whatsoever. I smiled at her and moved my injured leg out of the way before she plowed into my chest, giving me a rather sizable hug.

"Mender! You're out of the hospital! I really, really missed you," she squealed, looking up at me with huge eyes while wrapping her front legs around my right foreleg.

Apple Bloom approached slightly slower, snickering at Sweetie before sitting down next to me. "Ah missed ya too. We didn't get ah single chance ta visit ya in tha hospital between stupid school an' Applejack bein' all fussy!" she protested, flattening her ears back for a moment and looking annoyed.

"You really think he's awesome, Rainbow Dash?" Scootaloo asked rapidly, approaching Dash instead. I gave her a skeptical look, but decided I probably didn't want to know.

"I missed you girls, too. I'd heard your sister was taking what happened rather roughly," I returned, frowning a little as I gently patted Apple Bloom on the head.

She shook her head rapidly, looking more flustered than mad. "She's overworkin' herself again. She's in tha market today tryin' ta sell apples, actually," Apple Bloom informed, looking over at Sweetie Belle instead, who was trying her very hardest to assimilate with me.

"Heck yeah! Mender's totally awesome. He and I totally kick flank while working together!" Dashie bragged, causing Scootaloo's eyes to light up.

I groaned and warned, "You shouldn't go bragging about me like that. That's how rumors got started, remember?" The last thing I needed was for rumors to start about me and a little filly.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, adding, "And he's so modest, too! You really need to admit how cool you are sometimes, Mender." I gave her a skeptical stare, but shifted my attention to the movement rapidly rounding the corner.

"Are you sure Rainbow landed over here?" Twilight asked as she followed after the speeding pink bloodhound who was apparently on my trail. Oops. Heh.

Pinkie zoomed right at me, looking up in time to get a happy expression as she started hopping instead. "The twitches never fail me! They're right over here!" she announced happily. I braced for another impact, but noticed her bounces weren't nearly as high or fast as usual. Further, she slowed this time before reaching me and slid to a stop, giving me a soft hug instead. I smiled, happy with her gentleness today.

"Mender. I'm so, so happy you're okay!" Fluttershy whispered, drifting in and gently landing next to me, careful not to land on either filly. She then hugged my other side, squishing Apple Bloom up against my left foreleg as well. I blinked, starting to heat up for totally normal reasons as four ponies squished into me now. I'm glad I was trimmed down to only a 'fluffy' coat instead of 'two meter wide furball' like before. I'd probably melt.

"Ooooh, group hug!" Pinkie chirped, hugging into my side again. Sweetie Belle was locked on Fluttershy instead, however.

"You two are so cute together!" the white filly squealed, looking delighted and nodding up at me.

Twilight approached next however and smiled at me as well. "Got room for a fifth?" she asked, slipping in between Pinkie and Fluttershy before I could fully answer.

"Of course, Twi," I agreed, blushing lightly as she shifted and gave me a light peck on the mouth.

Sweetie Belle gasped and squeaked somewhere below her, not that I could physically see the filly anymore. I chuckled, and then apologized with, "Sorry for running away back there. I kinda, well-"

"I know why you ran. It's understandable after what you told us earlier. Nopony's mad at you," Twilight interrupted almost instantly, apparently having anticipated my attempt at apologizing. I coughed lightly and covered my mouth as I laughed. She knew me a little bit, I supposed.

Part of me was glad that Pinkie wasn't asking any awkward questions in front of the fillies, of course. Although, I realized she was excitable and curious, I also noticed that she seemed to have proper discretion when she wanted, too. Regardless, I decided a change of pace was probably in order.

"Do you think we could go to the market, by the way? Apple Bloom mentioned that Applejack was working the stand and, um, I'd like to try to talk to her," I asked gently, looking back up at Twilight upon giving up trying to find Sweetie Belle amidst all the colorful fur.

"Oooh, that's ah real good idea! Maybe if Sis talks ta Mender, she'll realize that half tha stuff she's been worryin' about is total hogwash! Ah bet that'll fix her up ah bit," Apple Bloom agreed, standing up again and giving me a merry grin.

Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, before the timid pegasus gave a nod, adding, "It would probably be a good idea. She's been really, really stressed the last few days." I heard as much from Rainbow herself, of course.

"She'll probably try to run away again. You might have to grab her with magic, Twi," Dash spoke up, cutting in between her and Pinkie as Twilight stepped back.

"I don't really want to restrain her. She's just going through a bad spot and scared," Twilight muttered. I bit back on my tongue and looked away from the mare. Sure, she didn't want to restrain Applejack, but using her magic to grab at or lock up aliens was totally fine. Keela and I were easy targets to justify, I suppose. Although Applejack being able to buck a hole through me was fairly dangerous, too!

Pinkie rapidly shook her head. "Using magic to hold anypony is wrong unless it's absolutely needed! I'll talk to her if she tries to run," Pinkie refuted, adding a hoof stomp as punctuation. I smiled at her, earning a beaming grin in return. Now there was a sensible opinion. It scared me that it came from Pinkie, but I had always seen maturity under the bubbly mare's exterior.

"All right. I wanted to talk with her anyway, so this is as good a time as any. Is everypony coming?" Twilight asked, stepping back a little more and rotating to face the market area.

"Heck yeah!" Rainbow agreed, taking to the air. I snickered until I felt a sudden weight impact my back. Raising an eyebrow, I looked back in time to see Sweetie Belle grinning at me from her new riding position.

Fluttershy gasped next to me, raising a hoof to her mouth before chiding, "Sweetie! He's injured. You shouldn't add more weight he has to walk on."

I shook my head and quieted her with a peck to the cheek. "It's okay. It's not too far, and sitting down for a bit has let me rest my leg. Thank you very much for worrying about me, though, Fluttershy," I thanked politely, giving the now flushed mare a soft smile. Twilight smiled as well at the display before turning and heading towards the market.

Slowly and steadily, I started walking towards the market as well, careful to keep most of the weight off my leg. Sweetie Belle really wasn't that heavy, and I barely felt any noticeable difference, honestly. Pinkie burst ahead, following after Rainbow, who had gone ahead of Twilight. Fluttershy fell in next to me on the left, keeping suspiciously close to me while glancing down at my injured leg every few seconds. I smiled inwardly to myself. She really was worried that I'd fall, I guessed. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo hung to my right and trotted along at a matching pace, breaking into talk about some break from school in a week. Idly, I wondered if there was a holiday coming up or something. I made a mental note to ask Twilight tonight. A holiday might be a fun way to forget everything for a while...

* * * * *

The markets were rather busy this time of day, I rapidly discovered. Ponies were hustling about with crisp conversation here and there. The day seemed a little darker with the light tint from the barrier over the entire town, and it meshed with the nip in the air to give the definite feel of winter approaching. School had started back up for the colts and fillies, too. They must have summers off, I noted.

Keldarians broke their schooling up into trimesters with short, two week breaks between, then mandatory combat training in the off season. It was interesting having all sorts of memories that weren't mine. I remembered that I couldn't remember a time when there wasn't combat training, even though I knew it had existed a few centuries prior to my birth. We'd fought the Grosh for so long that we forgot who we used to be.

My thoughts drifted as I watched Twilight approach the apple stand. Interestingly enough, Rarity was already there and appeared to be talking to Applejack when we walked up. My breath caught as I realized it was the first time I'd seen the orange mare since that night. Still, she looked far from dangerous at this point, which allowed my heart to slow down a little again. Stupid nerves. I knew she wasn't going to hurt me. I just wish I could up and tell my body that.

Applejack looked like a mess. Her eyes were totally bloodshot with irritated puffs under them. Her mane didn't look combed in the least and she apparently forgot her tail tie today, letting it limply drape across the ground instead. Her trademark hat was even on crooked as she appeared to give Rarity an annoyed glare. Uh oh.

"Applejack, I'm only trying to help you. You absolutely must take a rest and recover before you end up in the hospital, too!" Rarity continued, apparently from the conversation that had been going on before our arrival. As we got closer, I also noticed several nicks and cuts dotting the farm mare’s coat, only a few bandaged, and a wrap over her right shoulder. How much of that was from the explosion?

The stubborn farm mare gave a huff and shook her head rapidly. "Ah'm just fine! Look, Ah know yer worried about me and all, and Ah really appreciate that, but it's not needed. This is no more than what's usually done by me in tha week before tha second cycle, and it's good fer me ta keep mah mind off things!" she protested, whacking the stand towards the end to prove her point. The precariously balanced apple baskets wobbled a little bit, and I guessed outright that they wouldn't survive the conversation to come.

"She's right, Applejack. You're obviously exhausted. Remember the last time you refused to accept help?" Twilight warned, moving in next to Rarity upon approaching the stand. I idled closer, shifting off to the left as I watched. At some point while walking, all three fillies had ended up on my back. I really needed to work on that awareness thing. Apparently, I had this nasty tendency to drift off with my own thoughts and not pay attention to my surroundings. Given my luck and gravitational pull, that was probably one of my more stupid tendencies.

Rainbow and Pinkie soon joined Twilight's intervention, while Fluttershy hung back with me, ever alert in case I tipped. At this point, however, I noticed her subtly brushing against me while walking as well. Did she have two sets of ulterior motives for hanging back? I smirked at the clever mare, causing her to flush and look away rapidly. Heh. She knew I'd noticed, now. My leg gave a light throb, however, distracting me from my mirthful entertainment.

"Ah know. It won't happen this time. Look, Ah just have things ta think about, is all. Sleep's been ah little, well, lackin'," Applejack finally admitted, plopping back down behind her stand and staring at its wooden surface. I frowned as I watched her expression fall again, a haunted look momentarily flickering through her eyes. That I'd seen before. Well, the other me had seen it before, rather. Rainbow had that feel to her, too for a bit, after what happened on the Grosh ship. Regret and violence both had a way of decaying away at the inside of you, leaving behind a hollow, cold sensation over time. I couldn't do it justice, even when I considered it directly. War was hell. I'd imagine most ponies were totally unaccustomed to that level of violence, and she also probably felt like at least part of it was her fault. Fluttershy frowned in my peripheral vision as I started walking closer, flanking the stand to the left.

"Applejack, you really need to go and talk to him. Things aren't as bad as you think," Pinkie pleaded, expression surprisingly solemn for her.

Applejack frowned and shot her a dirty look before sighing and shaking her head. "Ah probably should, but he must hate me by now. He must! After everything Ah did ta him, there's just no other way ta consider it. Ah almost killed him. Where's tha honesty in that? He was tellin' tha truth all along and Ah..." Her voice trailed off as she shivered there, rapidly shaking her head and turning around. My frown deepened, and then I winced as she accidentally ran her face into the apple cart behind her. She let out a sharp yelp as apples spilled all over the place, rapidly backing away from the offending inanimate object. Some of those wounds did look more… recent. I started to guess as to how.

In her haste of backing up, her rear cracked into the stand instead. The baskets spilled instantly, apples rolling off the surface and onto the dirt by the dozens. "Dang it!" Applejack growled, glaring in frustration at all the fallen fruit. I nodded back to my fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, who returned the gesture before piling off my back. All three sprinted ahead of me and started helping Applejack to gather up the apples, while I righted the baskets for them to put them in.

"Thanks, ya'all. Ah just haven't been feelin' too good," she muttered, smiling at Apple Bloom as she shot past, chasing down a rogue apple. She didn't even look up to see me, however. Rarity did see me, her eyes widening momentarily before shooting over towards Twilight, who gave her a smirk and nod. Heh. Tricky, tricky mares. It felt weird to be actually in on the plan this time, though.

Pinkie and Dash split apart in almost choreographed precision, each slowing the expanding apple disaster as if herding cattle. Fluttershy sat down next to me and started holding the baskets steady as I created a funnel with my barriers for the fillies to dump the apples in, a split leading to all four baskets in question. Applejack actually smiled blankly over at us before turning and sighing, looking back to Twilight. Was she nearsighted or something while tired?

"Look, Applejack. He accepted your apples. He knows you sent them, too, and thought they were delicious. The 'plan' to figure out if he forgave you worked perfectly, and you have your answer," Twilight reminded, doing that adorable air quote motion with her hooves again as she sat there. I mentally snickered, wishing I could rush over and pounce her again. That would disrupt the plan, however.

"I don't believe he was ever upset with you in the first place, anyway. Why, he's not even upset with me, and I kissed him!" Rarity exclaimed, gasping afterwards and looking horrified.

Applejack gave her a deadpan stare for a moment before shaking her head and closing her eyes again. "Ah wanna make it up ta him, but how do ya even start with somethin' like this? Even if he is willin' ta try it?" she asked, lightly swallowing while keeping her eyes closed.

"Just talk to him! It's super easy, and I'm sure you could get him all cute and blushy and figure out a way to make him happy! It's easy! You could cook for him, or give him a massage, or do all his chores, or-" Pinkie started to rant, causing me to wince. I really was rather easy to get a blush out of, I realized. It was just so, well, hard! The more I thought about how silly I probably looked or acted to others, the more I got embarrassed. Out of frustration, I fought back a blush just from thinking about it. Dang it!

"I think she gets it, Pinkie. She's right, of course. You'll never work out anything if you don't talk to him," Twilight interrupted, causing the unfazed Pinkie to nod rapidly in agreement, smiling again.

Slowly, the baskets filled back up and Apple Bloom started loading the rest of them back into the cart instead. I nodded to her, getting a grin back before I lifted all four baskets back into the air, sliding them along my barrier and onto the stand.

"Thank ya," Applejack muttered, still not looking at me as she lay her chin down on the wooden surface, hat shielding her eyes from the light. "Ah'm just scared he won't wanna be friends again. Ah told him that night that we couldn't be anymore, after all. Ah was so stupid!" she muttered a moment later, whacking her head into the wood intentionally this time. My barriers steadied the baskets, but I frowned.

She wanted to be my friend again? Admittedly, that cleared up a lot of my own worries. I was happy she hadn't meant what she said that night, the words fresh in my heart as the chilliness crept back. Of course, I needed to tell them all the truth, or I couldn't expect them to truly be friends with me. All they knew was the mask, after all. Fluttershy and Twilight at least appeared to accept that I wasn't a psychotic murder machine, anyway. Still, I couldn't let this continue any longer.

"You were protecting your friend, Applejack. As long as you didn't mean what you said now that you know the truth, that's enough!" I explained finally, bracing for the reaction.

It was hard not to be mildly disappointed when she just snorted. "It doesn't change what Ah did ta him! Even if he accepts that Ah was just worried fer who Ah thought was Twi, that doesn't change tha fact that it was brutally cruel. Plus, it almost killed him," she murmured, apparently having slipped into her own dark world.

Apple Bloom hopped up on the stand and pulled Applejack's hat down, ruffling it over the mare's head. "It does too matter! He forgives ya, Sis! He just said so! Now talk ta him!" she demanded, sounding surprisingly stern, but in a rather cute way.

Applejack straightened her hat, then shot her little sister an annoyed glare, before it shifted to a questioning one. "She's right, Applejack. I do forgive you. I was never mad at you; just sad over everything that happened. Will you talk to me again?" I asked, earning the orange mare's attention finally.

She froze, eyes widening to their full extent as she stared at me. Momentarily, based off her expression, I wondered if I'd accidentally changed into my bio form or something. "Ah... buh... wha... yer not in tha... but..." she started stammering a moment later, a telltale shiver starting to go up her upper body as she appeared rooted to the spot. I blinked, and tilted my head towards her.

It all snapped to a head as she let out a piercing shriek instead and turned, falling into a bolting sprint from dead stop. I'd have been impressed had I not been busy slamming my eyes shut at the dirt flung up from her hooves. Dash had already swooped down by the time I opened my eyes an instant later, barely missing as the country mare dove sideways and made a break for the other side of the stand. The cyan pegasus recovered fast and was hot on her tail while Pinkie ran around the other end and cut her off.

"Wait, Applejack! Just talk to him!" she shouted. Applejack slid, trying to move around Pinkie by diving to the side. She hadn't cleared the stand yet, however, and crashed into it with her shoulder. Our carefully stacked apples ate dust yet again, her flailing hooves launching several across the market at high velocity.

Lily, who I recognized on the other side of the market, barely dodged an apple projectile as it hurtled past her position, splattering into the side of a house. "The horror! Apple attack! Run, everypony!" she screamed out before flailing and fleeing from the market. To my surprise, instead of questioning the sanity of such a statement, dozens of ponies started screaming as well, rapidly diminishing our attracted crowd as they fled in all directions. Well, that was silly.

Applejack winced as she stumbled, then reared as Pinkie tried to intersect her. Rainbow landed on her back a moment later and tried to pin the strong earth pony down. It was a losing battle, however, as Applejack, despite her state of exhaustion, attempted to jump over Pinkie. She might have made it had she been rested and not carrying an additional mare.

My eyes widened as both of them crashed down onto Pinkie in a large heap of multicolored fur. I heard Pinkie give out a sharp yelp from under the pile as Applejack rolled off her as fast as she could. I ran over, as did Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and the three CMC. The orange mare froze, looking up at me, but then swallowing and looking down at Pinkie lying on the ground. I smiled when Applejack sat down instead, concerned expression towards Pinkie.

"Pinkie! Are you okay? Your ribs..." Twilight muttered, rushing up. I'd never seen the happy mare in pain before, but she held her eyes shut hard as she let out a silent but sharp gasp, breathing jerking in her chest.

"Aah, y-yeah. I'll be okay. Owwie. Gimme a second," she murmured, tucking her legs up against her as she lay there.

Applejack looked even worse now. "Ah'm sorry, Pinkie! Please, just rest," she apologized rapidly.

Rainbow glared at her instead, however. "She wouldn't have gotten hurt if we didn't have to try to chase you down, AJ! You're better than this. Just talk to him instead of running away all the time!" she lectured, looking surprisingly angry. They were all good friends, and Pinkie was injured because of a fight. I could see why they'd be upset, regardless of how different it would have been handled in my dimension.

Shaking out of it, I pushed past Rainbow and went up to Pinkie instead. Speaking of different, there was another chance to improve things right in front of me. To limit the attention drawn, I lowered my head directly to Pinkie's side, eyes almost pressing into the shakily breathing skin at her rib level. She gave me a pained but questioning look until my eyes momentarily lit up her side with blue light.

"W-What was that?!" Applejack asked, but the light was gone an instant later. My scan complete, I rapidly looked it over.

"Twilight, she needs healing magic. There are a few ruptured blood vessels to the left of the third rib down that need healing, or she's going to have some really bad bruising. Other than that, her ribs are still okay, but her chest muscles are going crazy," I relayed. Twilight perked before immediately leaning down as well and counting out the ribs before pressing her horn in with a burst of healing magic.

Pinkie winced then gasped as the light washed over her, probably feeling better already. Her muscles were spasming due to pain, I guessed. The pink mare shivered as Twilight finally lifted her head again, the warm light fading. "I felt them repair. Thank you, Mender. Can you do something about the pain?" she asked shakily.

Fluttershy landed on the other side of Twilight and dug into her saddlebag instantly. "Here, Pinkie. These are some of the numbing herbs I was going to give Mender. I can always pick some more," she revealed, pulling out several green leaves before lowering them down to Pinkie's now open mouth.

Shifting forwards again, I lit both forehooves up and lightly pressed them into Pinkie's side, reaching out with my magic as I gently massaged her shivering muscles and smoothed out the bruising area. Pinkie cooed and practically melted into the ground as I continued massaging. She barely remembered to chew and swallow the leaves Fluttershy gave her.

Applejack had walked around to Pinkie's face at that point and sat down again. "Ah'm really sorry, Pinkie. Ah didn't mean ta do this, obviously. Can ya forgive me?" she asked softly, looking down at her friend.

Pinkie lay motionless for a few moments, a light smile starting to form at her mouth again as I continued gently massaging her side. Sweetie Belle slid into my left side and watched what I was doing with avid fascination, as did a few ponies from the crowd. Apple Bloom ran around and hugged her sister's side, looking up at her for support, while Scootaloo helped Rainbow dust herself off from her roll in the dirt. Pinkie finally opened her eyes and looked up at Applejack with a surprisingly melancholy expression.

"No, Applejack. I can't be happy until all of my friends are getting along again. Please, just talk to Mender?" she asked softly, eyes shifting to pleading instead. I swallowed. Pinkie really did have a heart of gold under that bubbly exterior. Even when in pain, she put her friends first and foremost in her mind. I massaged more intently to try to help her, even forgiving her for the mind rape she injected all of us with earlier.

Applejack swallowed uneasily, but Rarity drove the point home before she could say anything else with, "Relax, Applejack. We're all mature adults here and you have more than enough proof that he doesn't hate you, so please. For the sake of all of our efforts to show you otherwise, stop running away and simply talk to him." It felt a little harsh to me, but it was true. I didn't hate her.

The orange mare's eyes softened and she looked up fully at me again. They were absolutely bloodshot and she looked like she hadn't slept in days, now that I saw her up close. She also looked miserable. Why would she feel all of this, and do this to herself, over me? It was a totally foreign concept to me. "Mender, um, Ah don't even know how ta start," she finally muttered, looking lost as her focus waned. She almost stared through me for a moment.

I shook my head rapidly. "Please, start with what you said that night. Please, that wasn't true, right? You still want to be my friend?" I asked instead. That was first and foremost on my mind every time I thought about the orange mare recently. All I could see was her hateful face glaring down at me and stating our friendship was over. It was the same face looking at me now, which made me uneasy. But the expression was practically the mirror opposite.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the same moment her ears flicked back. She frowned a heartbeat later. "O-Of course! Ah was totally wrong about tha whole situation and, well, Ah shoulda believed ya from tha start. Or at least givin' ya tha benefit of tha doubt. Everything that happened ta ya that night coulda been prevented had Ah just, gah..." she groaned, cutting herself off and smashing the dirt in front of her in frustration.

Pinkie smiled softly and rolled finally, gently giving me a pleased squeeze with her neck and right shoulder before moving into a laying position. "I'm happy, Applejack. You're doing the right thing. You don't have to be embarrassed, though," she reasoned.

I smiled, realizing she was probably right on some level. It was a strong form of embarrassment called shame. "Relax, Applejack. What I just asked you was the only part that bothered me. The more I thought about it, the more I was happy that you were so fiercely loyal to Twilight. You're a wonderful friend for her. Of course you'd pick her over me, and I don't blame you for that. It's not your fault you were tricked by Nirru, too," I explained, trying to assure her.

Yet again I was reminded of how much I sucked at the whole social thing. Instead of looking assured, she looked more horrified than anything. "B-But that means ya don't think Ah'm friends with you instead! Yer tha one Ah hurt with all of this, Mender. Ah wanna be ah good friend ta you, too!" she protested, edging a little closer to me. I raised an eyebrow to her, but rapidly shook my head.

"Applejack, I've only been here for, like, a month. You've known the others for years. I want to be friends with all of you, but I was the one who got off to a rocky start. I mean, even I thought I was crazy some of the time," I murmured, flushing slightly at that admission. Part of me wondered at our crowd, too. I intentionally was leaving things vague due to all of our onlookers. This town sure had a lot of nosey ponies.

I barely looked up in time to see Applejack smush herself directly into my chest, almost bowling over Twilight to get over to me! My eyes widened, and then bulged as she practically crushed my torso with her strong forelegs. Holy hell! How strong was this mare?! She lifted her head back and finally lessened the pressure, letting me gasp for air as she snickered.

"Thank ya, Mender. Ah really wanna be yer friend, too, still. Ah know ya said that Ah'm forgivin', but Ah ain't gonna let mahself off tha hook that easily. Please, help meh come up with ways ta make this up ta ya, okay?" she requested, giving me a look that felt as if she were staring into my soul through my eyes.

I swallowed, and then suddenly remembered what Celestia said. The hardest pony to forgive is yourself. She recommended that to fix it, I try to help them to forgive themselves and feel better, if I recalled correctly. Taking the advice to heart, I smiled at Applejack and nodded lightly, internally beaming as she exhaled in relief. Then applause burst out from the crowd around us!

Applejack actually blushed as she rapidly released me, looking around at the crowd that had gathered. Well, the ones that didn't flee in terror a bit ago, anyway. "Right on, Applejack! A totally righteous performance! You had quite a lot of ponies worried for ya, ya know?" suddenly sounded out from the crowd. I recognized the voice instantly and smiled as Vinyl Scratch shifted out of the mass of mostly unrecognized ponies and walked towards us.

"Eh?! Vinyl?" Applejack started, looking surprised before Vinyl cut her off, hoof raising towards the farm mare.

"Hiya, Applejack! I’m pleased ta see that you’re talking to Mender again," she spoke up, lowering her purple and black shades to peek over them at Applejack.

I'd figured they'd met before, but she looked surprised to see her for some reason. Had they really never been introduced? Ponyville was a small town, but it wasn't 'that' small, I supposed. "Uh, it ain’t evenin’ yet. Why are ya-" Applejack started again, only to be cut off a second time. Evening?

Vinyl held up a hoof and gestured behind her to the small swarm of panicking ponies Lily was leading, screaming something about invading apples. "As if anypony could sleep through that. 'sides, I'm a friend o' Mender's here and was going to visit him in the hospital today, but am equally delighted ta see he made it out in one piece!" she exclaimed, shifting her attention back to me. She eyed me over and frowned at my leg before shaking her head. "Sorry I couldn't visit sooner. You totally beat me back to Ponyville by at least three days. Then imagine my surprise when I got back to a state of emergency? Not only that, but then I find out my newest friend, the wicked lifesaver up at the party in Canterlot, kicked so much monster flank in the Everfree that he got himself hospitalized!" she cooed, sounding more and more amused as her 'summary' went on.

Gasps and murmurs exploded amidst the crowd, of course. Well, the ones not panicking. Oh hell. Not again. My ears flattened back instantly and I whined, "Vinyl! All I did was stop the chandelier. Plus it was L- Er, Princess Luna who stopped the monster in the forest." Maybe I could head off some of these ridiculous rumors this time before they spiraled out of control. Again.

Vinyl just laughed, however, smirking at me. "Modest as always! You are just so awesome, dude! You saved the entire royal orchestra and then try to shrug it off. Then you survive certain death and hold off a terrible monster until the Princess of the Moon, who you know personally, got there to stop it. Dang!" she cooed, only making it far, far worse. I glared at her, suddenly realizing she was doing it on purpose! Even the three CMC were staring at me in shock. Twilight, however, slapped her forehead.

"Okay, that's it. Everypony back to the library. The apple stand is closed for now, as is my library! Back to your own business, everypony!" she called out, glaring at the crowd until they rapidly started to disperse.

"Oh, I guess I'll see ya later, then?" Vinyl asked skeptically, giving Twilight a wide birth.

Twilight stopped and looked back at her with a somewhat irritated expression. "I’m sorry, Vinyl. You can visit Mender in a little bit if you want, but we have some important things we need to discuss first," she apologized, nudging her head towards the tree looming over the rest of the buildings in town. Vinyl nodded and gave the universal backing off sign with her hooves towards Twilight.

Applejack helped Pinkie up, and gently supported her on the side as she limped along, probably still a bit tender in spots. I trailed along after, Fluttershy shifting to my left and resuming her guardianship over my injured left foreleg. I didn't say anything at all when the three fillies hopped quietly up onto my back again. After everything that happened, I felt they deserved an explanation, too. Besides, I was actually beginning to feel like a CMC member at this point. One of my only other belongings after all was the CMC cape, which was carefully tucked away in the saddlebags I now wore. I was just glad Twilight had enough mind to bring them with her from the hospital room after telling Nurse Redheart about my impromptu checking out. I made a mental note to return to the hospital after this and talk to the doctor. Twilight didn't think they'd want me to stay any longer, however. Of course, it also turned out that I’d torn the window frame and part of the wall down when I’d fled, so they were probably a little mad at me anyway...

Rarity followed along after as well, falling carefully into place at my right side instead. She gave me an uneasy smile, to which I countered with a real one and surprised her. Even though her outburst earlier had been rather silly in light of things, I realized that it probably really did bother her. The more I got to know her, the more I realized the depth of everything she didn't say. She was almost as stubborn as Applejack when it came to putting others first.

Dash, however, shot me a pleased grin as she hovered in place above me momentarily before dancing forward towards the library. By the time we cleared the market, she was already at the door and opened it for all of us. Twilight flipped the sign on the door to 'closed' as she walked inside. Hey, I'd get to see Spike again, too! Finally feeling a little more relaxed about the situation, I followed everypony inside. There would be a hell of a lot of questions coming up, I had a feeling, but maybe, just maybe, it would turn out okay. My final thought before resigning myself to my fate and entering the library was of how much I sucked at keeping secrets from these mares.

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