Chapter 62
It was rather peaceful, I decided. Things moving forward rather than stagnant like a lukewarm swamp. It felt like I was making progress, rather than just doing the same thing over and over again. Of course, if I had expected different results each time, I guess the joke was on me.
We walked back through the town square side by side. Fluttershy was pushed tight into my right shoulder, affection levels at an all-time high, which I definitely wasn't complaining about. Twilight was close enough to my left side to feel her body heat on my fur, which was a good thing considering how nippy it was getting. Winter was coming.
"So it's agreed? All of us try the trust exercises that Rarity told me about? In the meantime, we'll try to, well, get more comfortable with Mender during the trip to Canterlot?" Twilight asked, more for confirmation than anything. I could almost feel the 'checklist' being built in her mind, suddenly having a front row seat to the event.
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, glancing over at the lavender mare and earning an eye twitch. "Y-Yeah, I know. Fine, I'll get more comfortable with Mender," she corrected a moment later, causing me to chuckle. Sure, it was awkward knowing exactly what she was talking about, but the exchange was amusing nonetheless.
"You don't have to pressure yourself into anyth-" I started to remind, before the lavender mare quickly turned and pushed a hoof against the front of my muzzle, causing me to stop walking. Seriously? Were they really going to insist on this?
"Yes, we're insisting on this. You told us the truth about being hurt, so we're going to act on it and make it up to you. A lot. Resisting will only make us try even harder until you feel like the most loved stallion in Equestria," Twilight retorted, smirking suddenly as I blushed. W-What?!
Fluttershy's eyes widened a little, looking over at me with a faint flush to her cheeks as I blinked in surprise. "L-Love?" I asked, not quite sure I interpreted that correctly.
Twilight's eyes shot open a bit as she suddenly realized where I'd gotten snagged up, and then all three of us were blushing. She looked away a moment later, and then nodded to herself. "Yeah. I think we're well on our way to that. Loving each other, that is. I... I'm not entirely sure what the signs to look for are or how to measure it, but..."
She trailed off, and the yellow mare on the other side of me smiled softly through her pink tint, offering up, "You feel it?" Oh. Twilight smiled to her and nodded before leaning in and pushing into both of us, kissing Fluttershy's neck, then mine in the same spot on the other side. Love.
That word terrified me. He had said he was in love with Keela, and look where that got him. They were pulled apart, and he was introduced to all new levels of agony because of it, just as bad as the torture itself. He'd set himself up for it, and knew that. It twisted and corrupted inside of him, blackening until he blamed her for it instead. If you never love, you never risk losing love. It's simple and straightforward. It's also lonely, cold, and empty. I was tired of being all three of those.
It was spontaneous, but I pulled Twilight closer and moved her to the right. She looked confused until I pushed her muzzle right into line with Fluttershy's. Both mares blushed but tentatively pecked each other on the mouth. Feeling heated, I moved in at the same time and pushed into the sides of each of their muzzles, right where their lips connected.
Twilight was surprised, but Fluttershy just melted into it, her muzzle pushing into both of ours at once in a wonderful, warm, happy triangle. Twilight gave in a moment later and relaxed into the shared kiss, just enjoying each other's warmth.
A few seconds later, we parted, and I smiled to both of them before gesturing back towards the library again. Yes, moving forwards, even if it was out of my comfort zone. Them treating me was going to be awkward for a while. Twilight nodded and trotted back towards her house, while Fluttershy reapplied herself to my side, kissing my shoulder before following me towards the large tree, turned library. I exhaled softly, and idly wondered what the future would bring, not thinking of anything in particular...
* * * * *
Things seemed to be speeding up, it would seem. A while back, I was just itching to get out of the hospital, tired of being stuck in one place for days at a time. It felt like things were just going to go faster and faster until everything careened out of control and fell apart. Of course, that was just my gut feeling talking. I didn't know where things were headed, or what would happen, but at least I had a few clear goals. I had places and ponies to protect now!
Speaking of, one was right here. Glancing back over my shoulder, I watched Fluttershy shift about and gently place a few more things in her suitcase. She was such a careful and relaxed packer compared to Twilight. It was nice to just watch the grace she moved with. Of course, I didn't mind watching other things either, as she swayed while she walked. Not that she'd complain, I realized, but we'd likely be late. I was a lot more comfortable with her now! How could I not be after yesterday morning? And the shower after, of course. Oh, then that 'supply run' that evening. Rarity certainly was amused when it took almost an hour. Oh, and of course when we got back home. Twilight's was still a mess, even after seven hours of cleaning, so she requested one more day to tidy up. I suspected Twilight was nervous about something else, but Fluttershy was very, very quick to offer her place again. Then there was this morning when we woke up, and again in the shower.
Snickering quietly to myself, I slipped up next to her and gently kissed her shoulder. This time she didn't even jump, instead smiling peacefully over at me. It was beyond relaxing. "Did you get the first bag packed?" she asked quietly, to which I smiled and nodded towards her. It had been fairly straightforward. The 'just in case' winter clothing for two took up a good chunk of the bag, and I was surprised when she'd insisted packing a hat and scarf for me as well, but it was all tucked in nicely. Beyond that, her toothbrush, toothpaste, my newly retrieved toothbrush, and her brush and trimming scissors were all safe inside it. She'd mentioned wanting to trim up my coat and mane a bit while we were gone.
"Yeah, it's all packed. Is there anything else you want to bring?" I asked, smiling towards her as she wobbled back and forth, thinking about it.
"Hmm. Not that I can think of. I mean, I really don't need much, of course. This and my carry-on saddlebags are enough," she murmured, glancing down at them and checking once more what they contained. Normally I'd think it a bit overkill to bring a full first aid kit and trauma package, but knowing my luck, I'd actually go off the stupid cliff this time. Yes, I said it! Do it, I dare you!
Fluttershy giggled, looking up long enough from her packing to catch my defiant thought. "You won't need to worry about that. You can't fall off the city. Princess Celestia has an enchantment under it that works like a nice, big safety net," she explained. Oh. Well, that was a perfectly good waste of anger and defiance.
"Huh. Wish I would have known about that during the chandelier accident. I would have just ridden it outside and bailed..." I muttered, rolling my eyes slightly to the sound of more of her giggling. Oh well. I could listen to that in particular all day.
I smiled and nuzzled her affectionately, earning more of the happy noises as I caught that little spot under her ears where she was ticklish. She shivered and stamped her hooves down twice before dancing away from me wearing a grin. I smiled back before she ducked forwards again and caught my mouth up in a soft kiss.
Sighing into it, I pushed back, and she very eagerly deepened it without hesitation, groaning in contentment as I let her tongue slip into my mouth. Oh! Wait, was that ticklish or erogenous? I could never remember. Oh well. She was almost insatiable regardless!
She backed up a moment later, flushed and with a string of saliva between our muzzles. "Oh, I wish we had more time. You're just so... Mmm. No, we can't be late. Um, maybe on the train. Yeah. Uh, anyway! I'll grab these saddlebags, and you get the suitcase!" she requested before scampering off, flustered and blushing. I tried not to snicker as I lifted her forgotten saddlebags up and slid them onto my back, hooking the rolling suitcase with a barrier as I followed after her. Hmm. Six seconds, this time.
Eight and a half later, I heard her whimper, and watched her slip back inside, blushing furiously. I smiled politely to her and gestured back to her saddlebags as I walked up, earning a nervous smile and wobble. "Oh dear. I'm just a mess. This isn't like me at all, but... I kinda like it. I don't want to leave your side!" she exclaimed, falling into a walking position next to me and lifting her saddlebags off my back with her right hoof.
I stopped walking long enough for her to situate them properly on herself. Normally I'd just carry them too, but my leg was bothering me after the surprising amount of exercise the last day or so. Cleaning, I mean, of course. Twilight's library was a horrible mess. How the mare could manage that in 'only' a week was astonishing. We still didn't clean up the entire basement, even after working on it for over three hours last night!
"Relax, Fluttershy. You know I don't mind, and very much like you hanging around me," I reminded, winking towards her as we started walking again, me shutting her cottage door behind us. No flock of birds greeted us this time, having already been alerted to our departure for a few days.
I turned back around only to be greeted by my blushing fillyfriend as she smiled happily at me, looking more composed. "Thank you, Mender. I've never felt this, well, relaxed around a stallion before. I think it's because I trust you so much. With my life," she suggested, those beautiful teal eyes softening as they looked at me.
That did it. She set off the ravenous protection urges inside of me, and I felt my chest heat up as I walked towards her. It didn't help that I was bigger than her, and she so easily slipped into a more submissive role, being perfectly content deciding that she was 'mine'. It didn't set well with me until I realized she liked saying it for some reason, a heated jolt going through her and spiking her heart rate up every time she did. Then it became sort of like role-playing, which I could definitely do. I didn't know the intimate details about their culture, but a happy Fluttershy was easy enough for me to understand!
The urge to guard her against the world set her off again in return, feeding a strange possessive to submissive feedback loop between us. The more I wanted to guard her and keep her safe, the safer she felt with me, and the happier I got. For once, the out of control spiral was in my favor with happiness instead.
"I'm not going to let anything hurt you, Fluttershy. You know that," I returned, walking past her and letting her slip up next to me again. I don't know why she said she wanted to stay by my side. She already had been for the past twenty hours or so, so she shouldn't have a 'want' for it. If anything, I thought she'd be getting tired of me by now, but I guessed not.
We walked in silent, self-assured comfort towards Ponyville's rather modest train station, with her tucked tight into my side as best she could while wearing the saddlebags. I was surprised at the amount of smiles we got towards us. They were the warm, pleased smiles, too. I think it was the first time I'd actually walked with Fluttershy like a coltfriend would. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like a warm bubble was around us, like everypony could 'see' that Fluttershy and I were together. A couple.
Both of us made it to the station without trial, despite us both blushing a bit. The one drawback so far of sharing an empathy link was the feedback thing. Fluttershy picked up my rather 'possessive' thoughts halfway there, and instead of them driving her away, she actually pushed a little closer. I kinda felt sorry for her right saddlebag, now.
"Ah, Fluttershy! Mender! You made it, and ten minutes early even," Rarity suddenly spoke out to our right as we rounded the station's back entry and arrived on the loading platform. We both gave a little jump before I smiled over at the pearly unicorn, who sat politely next to the train, waving at us. Spike was next to her, looking uncharacteristically happy for somepony who'd just hauled all the luggage that he was leaning against. I took a random guess that it was the purple tail oh so subtly brushed up against his as he rested there.
"Yeah, we're here. It was weird having the attendant just wave us through," I muttered, glancing back towards the front of the building. Apart from Rarity, we were the first ones here? Seriously? I'd expected Twilight to be parked on top of, or in the train already with a sleeping roll or tent. This was a personal summons from Princess Celestia herself, after all.
Rarity giggled, followed by, "Well, this is a personal summons from Princess Celestia herself. Besides, they know who you are now, Mender." Her accidental similar wording made me do a double take, and I momentarily was paranoid that the crafty unicorn had developed mind reading.
"Mmm, yes. It's not a bad thing, you know. Being with, um, a hero is really kind of exciting," Fluttershy murmured. Err, wait a second...
Smirking towards her, I nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is. Thank you for the honor, Fluttershy," I returned, bowing politely to her. Rarity smirked instantly while Spike started snickering. Predictably, Fluttershy's cheeks lit up as her eyes widened a little.
"O-Oh, I meant you! Oh my... I'm not a hero, Mender!" she refuted. I'd prepared for this moment, and was thankful that I had the book in my saddlebags. Digging to my left, I pulled out my historical reference guide on legends and historical events of Equestria, and flipped through it to the recent appendage to the Elements of Harmony.
Fluttershy pounced me and the book before I could get there, however, lightly closing it in my hooves and rapidly shaking her head, blushing furiously. "I don't care what they, um, say about it. I don't feel like a hero," she explained.
That, I could associate with. But she was ruthless in squashing it with me, and paybacks were apparently a happy sugar-bowl of tasty goodness. "Oh, I don't care what they say either. Because you're hero enough for me already, Fluttershy," I pointed out, smiling and lightly kissing her on her now very red cheek.
"Oh, you two are just adorable!" Rarity chirped, directing both of our attention back to her. Apparently, she'd grabbed the closest thing to her and squished it like a giant teddy at our display of affection. Spike definitely looked like the happiest asphyxiation victim I'd ever seen, however, as she hugged him to her chest.
A moment later, she saw where we were looking and tinted ever so slightly pink, setting Spike down gently again and steadying him as he wobbled back and forth. I could have sworn I saw little hearts popping up in his eyes, too. "Oh, sorry, Spikey-wikey. I got exuberant," she apologized properly, brushing her mane to the side again and making sure it was back properly adjusted.
"Oh, it's okay, Rarity! You can use me as a teddy any day," he assured, still sounding a bit dizzy. Maybe I should check him over for brain damage from the lack of oxygen? I snickered to myself while contemplating it. Of course, if it turned out he really did have brain damage or some sort of hemorrhaging later, I'd feel like a total jerk.
A light groan in the distance stopped me, the tone and voice sounding oh so familiar. I rotated instantly towards the entry to the train station again in time to see Twilight round the corner, dragging not one, but four suitcases along behind her. Ah!
A surprised Daisy barely managed to squeak and hop out of the way as I ran past again, shooting out the front of the building and sliding to a stop in front of a very startled Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes softened a moment later and she smiled as she almost instantly recognized me and eased up as I took three of the four suitcases from her. Her mane looked a bit frazzled, and I wondered if she'd slept very well last night. She hadn't even thought to use her magic to haul the suitcases, so I guessed that was a no.
"Oh, hey, Mender. Am I glad to see you. Ugh. I... I'm a little scared to admit how badly I've slept with you gone," Twilight muttered, blushing lightly. The blush worsened as I kissed her cheek and gave her jaw a nuzzle as Fluttershy flew up, finally catching up to me.
"Well, the three of us will be together tonight in, uh, wherever we're staying. So you won't have to worry about that. You also could have said something," I pointed out, getting a firm grip on the cluster of suitcases that she'd tied together. Yeah, she had to have been tired...
"Oh dear. Have you not been sleeping well, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked gently as I hauled the suitcases up the ramp and back inside the building, Daisy smirking at me in amusement from the line now. She was remarkably easy to spot with her green mane and tail, with a light purple coat. Wait, there was something I was supposed to be remembering about-
Oh! I shifted my path instead and made a beeline for her. Her eyes widened a bit as I smiled, and she ended up looking to either side of her to check to make sure she was my target. "Hey, Daisy, could I speak with you once you get through the line?" I asked gently.
She tilted her head, looking a little startled but nodded. "Oh, of course. Actually, now that I think about it, I kinda wanted to talk to you, too," she suddenly spoke up. I raised an eyebrow towards her, and she giggled, adding, "I saw the fliers." Oh hell.
"Well, I should probably warn you that the Apples have reserved my expertise for a few weeks after we get back from this trip," I cautioned, averting my gaze after. This was awkward. It would have been much better to wait to distribute those fliers.
Another giggle. Eh? "Oh, I know that, Silly. I'm one of the ponies that are helping for some bits on the side. My whole herd is," she explained simply as she took another step forward in the line. I deftly avoided the pony who just left the ticket booth, then smiled and nodded to Twilight and Fluttershy, who slipped up next to me a moment later with two curious expressions.
"Ah, that doesn't really surprise me. Actually, what I had wanted was to ask you about that later, if you didn't mind. Err, and of course, when you have the time. As you know, I'm in a herd now, and kinda, well, inexperienced in such things. You're already in an established herd, and I was kind of hoping to get a bit of advice on how to make it work smoother?" I explained. Fluttershy and Twilight might as well hear this, too.
Speaking of, both mares perked up, Fluttershy starting to blush lightly, but Twilight simply smiled and nodded towards me. "That's a really good idea, Mender. Could we be there, too?" she asked quietly, looking over at Daisy as well.
The flower mare was smiling happily at this point, and nodded twice. "Of course! I'll be back in Ponyville in time for the fall festivals, and then I'm working on the same project as Mender for the Apples, so any time then," she assured.
"It's set, then. Thank you, Daisy," I agreed, giving her a happy nod before heading back towards the train platform. Just in time, too, as the mare ahead of her finished getting her ticket and Daisy moved up to talk to the teller.
Rarity gave all three of us a pleased smile as we walked back out onto the loading platform, me feeling significantly better now that I had scheduled some 'herd tutoring' from an expert. My ears twitched a little as I heard Twilight whispering behind me, but I respected the two mares' privacy and shifted them back ahead.
Spike slid off the pile of luggage and ran up, helping me with the suitcases as I got close. They weren't too heavy, but there were a lot of them, which surprised me. One also made a rustling noise like lots of papers as he got it hoisted up with the others. Well, Twilight knew what she was doing, so who was I to question? Well, most of the time she knew what she was doing. Hmm, well, at least when it came to non-relationship stuff. Otherwise, she was as clueless as I was, which really said something considering I came from a war-torn dystopia with a breeding problem.
Giving a grunt, I pushed the last suitcase up onto the platform as Spike balanced it carefully, and then nodded to him, grinning. He shot me a grin back and lowered the palm of his claw, which I bumped my hoof into before rotating in place. His timing was amazing as he slipped off the stack of luggage and smoothly landed on my back as I walked back to the mares.
"It's not that much! Besides, two of the suitcases are for the presentation I need to give to Princess Celestia about everything we've learned," Twilight continued, apparently having been in the middle of being grilled by Rarity when I rejoined. Ah, that explained the paper sounds.
"It is important. I have the sneaking suspicion that the official reason we're all being called to Canterlot is to properly establish Dimensional Regulations," I interrupted, voicing my suspicion from the last couple days.
Rarity seemed to ponder that for a moment before simply nodding politely. Twilight, however, looked significantly more flustered. "S-Seriously? I don't think I'm prepared enough for that!" she squeaked out. Fluttershy didn't miss a beat in leaning in and brushing lightly against her right side, earning a hesitant smile and exhale.
"Well, we have a two hour train ride. Unfortunately. We could get prepared during it. Please tell me you still remember that anti-nausea spell?" I asked, shivering as I remembered my first introduction to train travel.
That distracted Twilight, as I'd hoped, and she giggled at the memory before nodding. "Of course! I never forget a spell after I look it up. I'll cast it on you once we all get settled in a cabin. Speaking of, we appear to be missing three, still," she suddenly pointed out, looking back towards the station entrance. Oh yeah, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and-
"Oooh, three?! Who else is coming?!" Pinkie asked exuberantly from my immediate right. I shot around in time to see her all of a third of a meter from me and yelped, almost stumbling sideways as I slid away from her now mirthful form.
Twilight twitched, then slowly rotated back around to see Pinkie standing on top of the suitcase I'd set down next to Rarity. Oddly, the pearly unicorn herself didn't even look fazed, and Fluttershy just smiled and nodded towards the pink one, as if this were perfectly normal. Oh, wait, it was.
Exhaling, I shook my head and whacked Pinkie in the shoulder with my tail, earning another burst of giggling from her. "Don't scare me like that! Sheesh. How you got that close without setting my proximity sensors off, I have no idea," I muttered, frowning at the concept. Twilight gave me a skeptical look as well, to which I just shrugged.
"That's easy, Silly! Those are for scary threats and enemies. I'm the friendliest, nicest, happiest pony around, and they thought so, too, so they trust me!" she declared. I stared blankly at her, wondering if I should try to explain that they're not sentient in the first place, so couldn't make a character judgment like that. But then I realized that, given whom she was, she might be right, so I just dropped it to preserve my brain cells.
"That just leaves Applejack and Rainbow, naturally. Fashionably late as usual, it would seem," Rarity chirped, sounding more amused than irritated.
Snickering, I nodded as well. "Together, even. Why, you don't suppose...?" I let out, allowing it to just hang there between us all. Twilight shot me a knowing smirk, but Rarity gasped outright.
"Oh, how scandalous! Why, you don't suppose they've been secretly seeing each other this whole time, do you?!" she asked, taking the bait and running with it, as anticipated.
Twilight snickered but shook her head a moment later. "I doubt it. Both of them are too stubborn for that. Rainbow probably overslept after her morning exercises, and Applejack is probably being pried away from the closest apple tree by a crowbar, as we speak," she deduced, giving me rather amusing mental images. Not that Big Mac would need a crowbar when he was capable of uprooting the tree and just carrying her and it over here.
"True. She's probably working up until the last minute. She felt horrible that she was leaving Big Mac for a few days to do all that work by himself! I bet she-" Fluttershy started to explain. My newly programmed Rainbow Proximity Alert went off a moment later, and I sighed. Prior to last week, I never imagined I'd have to make a proximity alarm for one of the links built to a tolerance window of a tenth of a second.
My world spun as she smashed into me in full landing dive. We flipped once through the air, me lightly pushing Spike towards the luggage as we spun. Lazily, both of us hung at the top point of her arc, her upside down and wincing, and me simply glaring straight ahead before kicking sideways. I rotated and caught her carefully before we smashed into the platform again, six meters from where I started. I landed on my back, of course, and she landed on my stomach. Thankfully, the station was still rather empty. Being indirectly responsible for somepony else's fractured skull and concussion would have been a bad way to start this trip.
"Woo! Hey, thanks for the awesome catch, Mender! I knew you'd make a good pillow," the cyan pegasus added, sitting up on top of me and smirking in amusement. She shifted to surprise a heartbeat later as a purple aura snagged her under the front legs and tossed her backwards into the luggage pile, Spike barely rolling out of the way in time.
"Please refrain from using our coltfriend as a landing platform in the future, Dash. While I know it's tempting and he wouldn't be hurt from it, it's reckless and could injure a third party," Twilight warned, giving a firm stare back towards the pegasus as she crawled out from the now spilled luggage. She snapped back around to me a moment later, then smiled, sliding in where Rainbow was a moment before and resting against my barrel gently.
I smiled down at her, and then widened my eyes as Fluttershy moved in and rested against my right side, tucking herself into us fully as well. Rainbow trotted back up, followed by a slower moving Rarity and an amused Pinkie Pie. "Hey! I don't get a hug, too?" the cyan mare asked, sticking her tongue out towards me before ruffling her mane back up again, making sure it was sufficiently 'messy' still. Hard to believe that the crash actually made it neater.
"That's not a hug, Silly! They're snuggling. Like this!" Pinkie pointed out before promptly tackling Rainbow sideways. I didn't see where they went through Rarity, of course, who simply moved her tail out of the way and resumed politely smiling at me. Heh. With all of us together, this was going to be a fun trip...
* * * * *
It was an interesting sensation, being able to 'feel' Twilight's magic gently massaging and keeping my stomach steady, despite any motion the train would do. It was pleasant, and a little tingly, I decided. Twilight herself rested to my right, and Fluttershy to my left, all three of us on the bench on the left side of the door coming in. Rarity, Spike, and Applejack sat opposite of us, in that order. Despite there being extra room on both benches, Pinkie and Rainbow sat on the floor, looking perfectly content with their choice.
What I was most surprised with was that, despite the fact that this was a presentation, everypony was listening perfectly intently to Twilight talk. I would have figured the two on the floor would have fallen asleep by now. Maybe they had and were just amazingly talented at faking it? Regardless, I blamed the subject matter.
"That's everything we know so far. In summary, they're made out of natural crystals found here, magically enchanted, loaded up with nanites, and then synced with Mender. After that, if a pony touches them, they copy the pony's Cutie Mark and register them in Mender's database. If he confirms them for full connection, they're then shared with the rest of the 'network', so to speak. The nanites do a variety of things to the host, including regeneration and poison filtration from the bloodstream, and also allow us to talk to each other mentally. Further, they can do other things upon Mender's request, as detailed already," Twilight finished, relaxing after she let the last page slide over on her presentation board.
I simply listened in, keeping my eyes closed as I relaxed between my two mares. It was everything I'd mentioned, but expanded in amazing levels of detail as she told them every function the disks had, and their composition. None of their heart rates betrayed anything, and I was uncertain how a few would respond. Fluttershy and Twilight, of course, were the image of perfect tranquility, having already known about it for one, and not really caring for another. I was also fairly certain Pinkie was aware and also didn't care. That just left Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow's heart rate indicated that she might yet be close to falling asleep if left to her own devices, so I assumed she was also in that 'don't care' list. That left just Rarity and Applejack, who I didn't have the capability to remotely read heart rate on...
"So, basically yer sayin' that, if he wanted ta, Mender could essentially take complete control o' our bodies an' use us like ah bunch o' fancy puppets?" Applejack herself asked a moment later. I opened my eyes at that, noticing her just staring blankly at me from across the room, with a nervous looking Spike next to her and edging slowly closer to Rarity, who rested with her eyes closed.
"Well, essentially, yeah," Twilight confirmed, blinking and looking away uneasily.
Applejack stared at me for a bit longer before looking back at Twilight's chart. "Huh. Interestin'. What about you, Rarity? Ya had ah problem with it when he first told us," she inquired. Idly, I wondered what she was doing, but contented myself to just watch.
Rarity smiled, however, still keeping her eyes relaxed and closed. "Yes, I did. I was very concerned that the nanites would do something to me automatically. I hold no such concerns of Mender doing anything intentionally, however," she assured. I blushed at that, admittedly surprised at her full-blown trust of me.
Applejack smiled at that, to my further surprise. "Spoken as true as ya could get. Ah was just worried. Ah think everypony 'ere agrees we ain't in danger from Mender, o' all ponies," she assured gently. Eh, what's that supposed to mean?! There was a round of snickers, so apparently everypony knew except for me, and I blushed a little more.
Twilight smiled after and nodded to everypony before replacing the large pad on the presentation board. Half an hour of travel and she already got through a full subject. She must be delighted. Heh. She situated the new notes before smiling and announcing, "Okay, the next topic is Mender's designs for a device capable of scanning for, analyzing, and blocking extradimensional travel, and what we're going to need to do to get one built and running!" She forgot to mention that 'theoretical' part in the title. Oh well.
Settling in to watch the next presentation, I was suddenly distracted by a light pinging sensation. Eh? Keela? Switching my eyes over to record mode, I slipped inside myself and turned Keela's communication line on instead.
"Um, Mender? Do you have a moment?" the Keldarian in question whispered, sounding both tired and sad at the same time. Uh oh.
"Of course, Keela. Are you okay? What's wrong?" I asked, 'sitting down' inside of my head as I talked openly to her. Pity we didn't have mental video chat, too. She might have found that amusing.
There was a slight delay before she sighed lightly and continued with, "I just, well, I need someone to, Err... Somepony to talk to for a little bit." Ah, so she was lonely?
"Are you okay? I'm here to talk if you need me," I assured, relaxing and idly watching Twilight's presentation without audio while waiting for Keela's replies.
Keela sighed softly again and hesitated for a moment before explaining, "I know this isn't the best topic and you probably don't care, but... It's my sister, Nirru." My eyes widened a bit, and then I frowned, a bit of a chill settling in my chest. What did she do now?
Sensing my irritation in the silence, Keela quickly continued with, "I know, she's a complete monster. I can't lie to myself anymore, and... I'm an idiot for doing it in the first place. I love her, and she took care of me growing up. She was all I had, and protected me after our mother passed on and they wanted me to be a breeder... She..."
I listened, for what it was worth, but sympathy just wasn't coming for her sister. The fact that, if it hadn't been for Keela, I would have crushed Nirru's skull and not lost a second of sleep over it weighed heavily into the decision. "Yeah. I'm sorry. She killed you, and tried to kill everyone you love. I know, she's a monster. Maybe I am, too, for trying to pretend she was normal? It doesn't matter anymore anyways. She's... She's crazy," Keela continued in a quieter whisper.
"More so than before?" I asked idly, deciding that indeed was a most concerning bit of information.
"Heh. Okay, yeah. More crazy. She's stopped eating, and she talks to herself almost constantly now. I tried talking to her, but she doesn't respond, talking about how she wanted revenge and that I was corrupted and not her sister anymore. That... That hurt a lot," Keela continued, and I heard a faint swallow afterwards.
Sighing, I had to admit that I'd seen it coming. "She's delusional. She refuses to think that I'm anything resembling a nice pony, so you have to be the corrupted one," I suggested. My other self had seen it once before. One of the cloning vat soldiers got totally unhinged after watching his 'little brother' get his head blasted off in the middle of one of our more intense firefights. He totally lost it, refusing to consider the concept that maybe, just maybe, command really was sending us on suicide missions. Logically, he walked into command and inquired as to what part of the missions we were doing wrong that kept getting soldiers killed. Of course, they interpreted it as dissent and we had two funerals that night, but at least he meant well.
"I know. It just hurts. She refuses to talk to me now. I don't know what to do. Tym is nice and I can still talk to him about things, but... You're all I have left and I want my sister to be normal again!" she whispered quickly. I heard her clothing bunch up and knew she'd tucked herself up, wherever she was.
Normal. She wanted her sister to be normal again so everything would be just fine, and she wouldn't have to only have me to talk to. A spike of anger shot through me, and my teeth clenched lightly. "Normal? Nothing will ever be 'normal' again, Keela! The very individual you're wishing that for destroyed my chances at that very thing! At the same time she murdered me, caused massive amounts of collateral damage, shot panic across all of my country, and threatened everypony I've ever cared about!" I shouted, not quite realizing my volume until I heard myself echo back through feedback with her.
Keela gave a sharp intake, then I heard her gasp and choke back a sudden sob, going quiet for a second until she whimpered lightly instead. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Mender. I'm sorry! I... There's no other way to look at it. Everything. It's all my fault. I stood by and let her do all those horrible things without even thinking... I... And now I'm crawling to the one I hurt the most and... Oh hell. I'm sorry. I'm..." she started whispering rapidly.
A pang went through me and I sighed, realizing she had it a lot worse. At least I had... Well, I considered them friends, anyways. And Fluttershy. She honestly wanted to be 'with' me. At least, she seemed to. Or she just really liked sex. Twilight... I didn't know about. She seemed earnest, but she was right. Trust exercises were... They were definitely needed.
"I shouldn't have snapped. I'm sorry, Keela," I apologized softly, in-between her crying and what sounded like a fist against a metal panel.
Silence. Nothing but her quiet whines came over the audio, followed by another sharp intake of breath. "N-No. I see it now. Everything I've done has been for my own benefit. I'm as selfish and monstrous as the council I'm running away from. I ruined your life, and then begged you to help me fix my sister's, the one who did it! I'm... I caused all of this," she continued, shifting gradually to horrified instead.
"Keela, stop it. You're nowhere near like them and you know it. Yeah, you made mistakes, but the fact that you love your sister is enough proof that-" I started to point out.
"No! Mender, I can't let you... I even gave you that link for my own benefit! All because I was lonely and didn't want you to leave. What better way to keep you here than give you a link to my very soul? I secretly wanted you to take me with you. To haul me away from here and all this... I was hoping that you had enough of, well, him in you to care for me, too. I'm a monster!" she screamed out instead.
Banging sounded through her audio link, followed by "Miss Keela, are you okay in there?!" She ignored both.
Admittedly, I was at a loss. I knew she would have taken losing him hard, but to be so hurt by it that she was hoping I was magically like him was... I'd guessed she'd intentionally given me that link to her, but this was beyond what I'd realized completely.
"Mender," she whispered softly, suddenly, despite the continued pounding. Eh?
"Keela. Calm down, I-" I tried to assure. She was hurting badly. More than I'd realized before. I should have guessed this and tried to help her long before now.
"Mender, cut the link," she requested. What?
"Keela! No, I'm not going to kill you!" I yelped, shocked she'd even ask such a thing.
Another sob, then a cough and dull scraping noise I recognized as claws on metal. "No! P-Pretend it was me who tried to kill you. Me who ruined your life. Me who threatened everypony! The link is putting Equestria in danger! Cut it and be free of this all forever. Please!" she begged suddenly.
"Keela, stop it! Open the door and let in those who care about you. They all need you, and I'm not going to kill you, Keela. I'm not!" I shouted, glaring at nothing in particular. Damn it. I pinged her twice, requesting transfer, but as anticipated, she ignored me entirely.
A giggle. Keela started giggling as I heard the sound of an energy cutter in the background. They were slicing her door open, but it would take a few minutes. She stopped crying entirely, and just started laughing. "You're crazy. You're totally, batshit crazy! I'm crazy, too! We're all crazy! Haha!" she exclaimed, starting to laugh hysterically and cry at the same time. Well, I was crazy, that much I'd give her.
My mouth opened to talk again when I heard the light hum of a power cell activating. Eh? "You're crazy. You could save everypony you love and kill the one responsible for hurting you so badly all in one instant, but you won't do it," she whispered, adding another giggle after before choking back a sob.
"That's because you're not the one who did it!" I pointed out. She was delusional, too!
"But I am. I let her do all of that because I was too stupid to think badly of her. But no. I'm not going to do it again. I'll turn the link off for you," she continued. My eyes widened as I heard the hum increase in intensity with a clicking noise. Hand held pulse laser!
Again, there was no conscious decision. Momentarily, my eyes opened in the real world again before lighting up with a burning amber color, swirls of cyan leaking into my vision as Prudentia activated at my side, causing everypony in the cabin to jump in surprise. Summoning enough energy, I 'felt' Purdue wake up and gasp before helping me shift it, and then, together, we slammed it into Keela's link.
Keela gasped, probably feeling the wave of heat as my distorted image phased out of her chest. The pulse pistol was already lifted to her temple when my hoof lashed out in an instant. The barrier it was formed of snapped the weapon in half, sending a shower of sparks flying everywhere as the cell in it shorted out, permanently rendering the weapon nothing more than an oddly shaped paperweight before it was ejected.
My weight landed on her entirely, and I smashed her to the floor and pinned her there with the barriers my 'body' was made out of. Purdue stepped out next to me and picked the two halves of the pistol up again, giving Keela a sad glance before tucking them into my non-existent saddlebags instead.
"Enough!" I shouted, glaring down at Keela as I pinned her. Her eyes widened and she went limp in an instant as I held her there.
The door burned open an instant later, a sudden flare of significantly magnified heat melting it away completely before two guards and Tym entered. "Killing yourself to get rid of the link is not the answer, Keela. Did you ever consider that maybe, just maybe, I don't think any of those things about you and don't want to lose you either?" I pointed out, lowering my voice a bit but refusing to break eye contact with her. Her eyes were bloodshot, indicating many lost hours of sleep beyond just what the tears had caused, and they started getting watery again as she slowly shook her head.
"Miss Keela, no! Don't kill yourself," one of the guards begged, sitting down beside her and setting her helmet down on the floor.
"I thought you were smarter than this, Keela. You can come to me long before you get to this," Tym reminded a moment later, the message a little harsh but his tone rather soft and concerned. He sat down as well on the other side of her as she just lay there, looking up at me.
It took a bit of effort, but I projected the two guards, Tym, and Keela through me entirely and into the cabin of the train, at the same time I projected the train and all six other ponies into Keela's room. I nodded down at her, adding, "Don't forget, you have six additional friends in Equestria that are willing to talk to you, too, Keela. Talk to us before you do any rash decisions again."
Keela kept crying, even harder now as she saw six additional smiles and nods towards her, everypony seeming to at least understand something was wrong with her. Of course, they all knew about the nature of the link I had with the Keldarian. "See? Come to us the next time, too. Any eight of us will easily set you straight, Silly," I assured, trying to fight through the headache as my focus wavered, and everything flickered in and out slightly. Damn. Even though it wasn't my power I was using, it was still my concentration to hold everything together, and brute forcing my way through the link was harder than I realized.
"Mender, disengage before you pass out. We got this," Tym ordered, smirking towards me.
I looked over at him momentarily before chuckling lightly. He knew me well enough, even though I was technically somepony else. But I think he knew that, too, always referring to me as 'Mender' instead.
"You'd better," I warned, smirking to him before nodding and letting the connection snap away to the image of his sudden grin.
Momentary darkness followed, and then my eyes opened again on Equestria's side of things. "Ah, sorry about that, everypony," I muttered weakly, rubbing at my temples as the headache flared up a bit.
"Mender, it's okay. Keela tried to hurt herself, didn't she?" Twilight asked softly, causing Fluttershy to gasp on the other side of me.
I started to nod before I realized I was still channeling Prudentia, and frowned. Normally it turned itself off after I'd completed whatever task it had been directed towards. The glow was still there as well, as I looked away from Twilight. Glow?
Sitting in the center of the cabin was Purdue. She looked a bit disoriented, and I realized that her current spot was vaguely where she'd been in the other dimension, in accordance to me. Oh, I'd shifted back while she was out! I smiled as she wobbled and stood up, and then widened my eyes as I realized time wasn't frozen. Twilight's eyes were huge as she stared at the little transparent filly in the center of the room as well. One by one, the mares turned and stared at her, varying levels of surprise on their faces. Oh. Oops.
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You'll know why I did this;
i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/211/934/24xp5ck.png
Now back to the chapter.
Heh, I see I'm not the only one that writes Fluttershy as an insatiable sex pest!!
Dammit Keela! Tym, slap some sense into her!
Wait... what? Guess you got some explaining to do, Mender!
Oh, yes. Now to introduce that off creature-Aegis Artifact-semi omniscient- little filly character to everyone else.
This will be fun.
Mender is now actively challenging you to inflict physical pain and misfortune upon him. I think you should oblige him.
And now everypony is going to believe that Mender has a dead filly haunting him. Hooray for jumping to conclusions in awkward situations!
OH SHIT! Purdue is here!
Can't wait to see Purdue interacting with everypony. I think she'll probably be a little angry at Mender to start with, but she'll eventually come to be a bit more relaxed, probably mostly thanks to Fluttershy. All of Purdue's interactions are wonderful, so I really can't wait to see them in this next chapter.
Purdue has arrive?
Welp, time to sit back and watch the show because "Fillies and Gentlecolts! I give you the beginning of the next storm!"
I can see Fluttershy just snatching Purdue up in a hug, saying she'll be the filly's mommy
.
Another great chapter, Kiro. I'm loving this story more and more every Friday.
Technically didn't directly call it, but still counting this as Black Sun Eclipse calling Purdue showing up.
I was quite curious if/when Purdue would appear to everypony.
Looking forward to the next update.
Purdue has arrived, I sense shenanigans!
AWESOME great Chapter ^^ Cant wait for the next Chapter to come out Keep up the Good work and I agree That fluttershy would say something like that Even Twilight kinda make's me wounder what Purdue Looks like
Eight and a half what? Minutes? Seconds?
I sense Mender impregnating either Fluttershy or Twilight and Perdue...transforming? Reincarnating? Fusing herself into their baby?
Just kinda seems like a happy end thing that might happen.
A little filly with a second chance
All around magic's little dance,
We see little Perdue show up at last
The rest get to meet a keldarian of the past
And with everything moving faster all the time,
All this is nearing, the final rhyme
There last harrah, or the beginning of the end
As there lives again, go back through a rend
But the approach still twists and turns
Still time to heal, and get new burns
But as time slowly marches on
All ponies know, it's darkest before the dawn
And it has not gotten Blackest yet
How much worse you wanna bet
Before karma finally lets Mender free
To be who he wishes, for others to see
The good in his heart and in his soul
But all others see, is a reality hole
So the spiral continues, even as they climb
Until the final song, and the ending rhyme
~Black Sun Eclipse
So it looks like the story is going to get to the bonus chapter sooner then I thought. Purdue is out now, so I'm going to guess Fluttershy is pregnant like she was in the bonus chapter. The device she used to check her estrus levels was probably defective.
...WHELP.
o-o
O_O
so will Pinkie throw a 'Welcome to Ponyville even if were on a train to Canterlot currently' party for her?
and so the part of trying to get Kella into Equestria begins.
at the rate Shy and Mender are going, I wonder how long it will take till it starts getting into fetishes. I can already see bondage might be coming up but I wonder what else will appear
so did Mender ever mentioned to Twi/Shy about RD trying to join and possibly even get AJ to also
.
Did you Know that you don't really die from a lack of oxygen, but rather the CO2 poisoning?
You know, I really liked this story, and the one before this, but it suffers from the exact same thing that made me grow to think the story was just meh. It drags on and becomes absolutely pointless after awhile. I mean come on, this is just dragging on far to long, the last 300,000 Words have been absoltuely pointless in my eyes. And this is where I take my cards and leave.
Mender is still having a hard time, but Shy loves him so much because of it.
Yup, if theres a clippy, theres Windows to the soul.
And now, ittttts Purdue. Roll your dice, Pick your card, and select your piece. Lets see what happens in the next half hour.
Wooo! Purdue gets added into the mix! Love that part! Also, thank you SOOO much for addressing Mender's anger (even if it was pushed down)! I was really upset with his character (even though that makes no sense to be upset at a fictional character logically). Now, everything is good.
4017265 you sir, are a genius how you come up with these rhymes every chapter is astounding. and nice chapter kiro.
So by 'everything', I assume you mean he also told them about Nirru spooking around in his reality perception.
If he has kept Prudue a secret yet, somepony could propably mistake the 'appeared from thin air'-filly for something other than the soul posessing his artifact book.
Here's to hoping Twi does not nuke her right away.
Mender must be looking rather terrified in his little ghost's direction after all...
Nah, propably just Flutterhug will happen.
Well shit.
Can someone answer me this question?
I have not been reading Forgiveness Pending for a while. I like to wait a few chapter to be posted first. So I forgot. Which chapter did Twilight turn into an Alicorn? I don't actually remember the part when Twilight got her corination. I think I need to reread that part.
Thank You
4177776 She hasn't ascended in this universe yet (if ever)