Three days past by, and it was now afternoon on the eve of the trial. I was not enjoying myself at all right at that moment. I was in the training courtyard, doing what Sunset demanded out of me. At the moment that involved crossing my forelegs across my torso, and trying to do push-ups with my wings. My poor little leathery wings had never endured such punishment. They burned with pain from being subjected to this use. I wondered if it would just be better if they fell off, and I could make it through the rest of my life on the ground.
"Why..am I..doing this..again?" I panted to Sunset. She was standing over me, literally over me, with all four hooves surrounding me.
I couldn't see her head from this angle, but I heard her reply.
"We want to make you a good flyer, not just a passable flyer," she said without pity. "You need to build up strength in those wing muscles. If you are ever in a position where escape is needed you will need to be able to outfly whatever might pursue. You weren't going to do that before, and if I don't make you work on developing your strength, you won't be able to do it still."
"How long do I need to keep doing this daily?" I asked as my wings gave out, having me collapse down on the ground again.
"Until I am satisfied that they are strong enough," she replied with tone that indicated this was obvious. "Which is however long it ends up taking. I am here to see you not only back in shape, but in shape to better defend yourself. Do you want to completely be reliant on Biblo to defend you? She can't defend you in the air, even if you do want to depend on her. Plus, you don't strike me as a mare who wants to put that much burden on another."
No, I didn't want to put that full burden on her. She should not have to be responsible for my safety, even if she seemed intent on being just that. It was too much of a burden, and it was an unfair burden. One that she should not feel guilt for if I got hurt from time to time.
I resumed the torturous exercise. I could hear Sunset counting the uninterrupted pushups, or wingups, as they might be better named. After a dozen more I collapsed down again, wings spasming with the exertion.
Sunset stepped out from over me, and looked down to me.
"That is enough of that for this second. Take a few minutes to drink something and let your muscles calm down. You'll be getting back on the obstacle course again after, running with use of wings."
Running the obstacle course with use of wings didn't allow me to really fly. But having my wings out helped a lot with balance, and I was allowed short flaps to make jumps. Sunset said that this simulated what it would be like as a flyer unable to take to the air. She also had me run it with no use of wings just as often. She said that helped me learn to use my tail for balance more when running, and helped more with my other muscles overall. Sunset would give feedback on how to move my tail or wings in certain situations to get better results. The last three days had been the same few things constantly repeated. Obstacle course, with and without use of wings, various other exercises aimed at different muscles, flying up and down from my balcony till my wings wouldn't allow me to fly any more, and running the perimeter of the courtyard. Sunset kept me working till she didn't think I could do any more, with short breaks to recover in between activities.
I pulled myself up, and walked over to the edge of the courtyard. Hot Sticks was sitting on the edge waiting for me. When I got up next to him he started poking the muscles of my wings, and moving them about. This had become routine, he did this each time to check to see that I wasn't hurting myself. As was usual he ended his check with a short nod, affirming that I was still alright.
Sunset joined us, and pulled out some food she had sitting aside. She passed me a sardine sandwich, set a tumbler of water in front of me, passed a sandwich of some type of flower to Hot Sticks, another tumbler for him, and finally pulled out an odd set of wraps that seemed to contain white rice and fish for herself.
"What do you call that?" I asked her after quickly swallowing my sandwich in a few rapid bites, and pointing at her food.
She took a bite of one of the little wraps, chewed it, and swallowed before answering.
"Sushi," she said. "It is something I came to enjoy when I was much younger."
"That is a weird name for a food," I replied, looking at the little sushi wraps. "Where do they make those? Is it a griffin dish?"
She had a brief sad look on her face before smiling again at me, and answering.
"There isn't anywhere in the Realm this is normally made. I have to walk the chefs through how to prepare it. I worked at a restaurant a long time ago that made this, but that place has been gone for a long time. I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind. I like leaving the past in the past when I can."
I nodded, though I was a bit disappointed. Sunset hadn't said much about herself so far. Not where she came from, or what she normally did for work, not even who she had for a personal Alicorn. She was nice enough, but she wasn't forthcoming about much concerning herself. I could understand in part, if you grew up a freak it was likely not a pleasant past. I never had a real chance of being friends with another Thestral before now, and not being able to learn more about her was disappointing.
I had my life pack sitting to the side next to Hot Sticks, and after finishing my food I dug into it to find my pipe. I was getting a bit low on the pipe weed, and would need to obtain more soon. I guessed that I could ask Hot Sticks to get some more for me. I hadn't spent much of my own bits on this trip, so I could afford it. Everything in the temple was just provided free of charge. All those offerings ponies left Meadowbrook must pay for everything. I made a mental note to leave some myself, next time I happened upon one of her shrines.
After getting the pipe lit, I turned my attention to Biblo. Biblo actually had a fair number of spectators at the moment. She was dueling with a member of the guard again, actually the same guard that had left several welts on her flank the other day in this exact same exercise. The tables had turned dramatically though. The guard in question was now clearly outmatched. He wasn't even getting close to successfully landing a blow on her. Biblo on the other hoof was deflecting and dodging his attacks with ease, and landing a large number of blows on her opponent. It actually looked like she wasn't even putting full effort into it, and that she was only toying with her opponent.
"Her development really is unprecidented," Hot Sticks said, as he watched with me. "I have watched new recruits for the guards countless times. They don't get this good, this fast, none of them. She is performing better than a seasoned soldier in less than two weeks time, typically it takes most of a year to get them whipped into passable soldiers. She isn't just passable."
"It isn't just unprecedented," Sunset quietly spoke. "It is unnatural. My best guess is that it is somehow a combination of her empath ability and her cutie mark. It's enough to make her a pony of interest. Ponies like that can find special employment by the Greaters. There are always ponies that excell at tasks better than most ponies, and the Greaters pay attention," she glanced up to the temple and pointed a hoof to it indicating we should look up as well. "Ponies down in this courtyard aren't the only audience she has right now."
Hot Sticks and I looked up, and our gaze fell on Meadowbrook's balcony. Her personal balcony was larger than the others, and could likely host an entire party upon it alone. Upon it now sat Meadowbrook, beside her sat two other Alicorns I did not know. While looking up at them two more came out on the balcony from within, again Alicorns I did not recognize. Beside me Hot Sticks pointed up higher, and my eyes followed. On the roof of the temple sat three more, two of those being Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie, the other yet another Alicorn I didn't recognize. Turning my gaze slightly, I could see Luna and another unknown Alicorn had taken up seats in another area. This wasn't some casual happenstance, they had to be gathering for a reason.
Biblo, and the medical guard, had not taken notice of their expanded audience as of yet. They were all to caught up watching her duel. The duel did end at that very moment, as the guard pony admitted defeat. Hoovestomps and hoofclaps went up from the guard, but abruptly came to a halt as one set of hooveclaps echoed from the opposite side of the courtyard.
All eyes turned to the source of the sound, and as they fell on its source ponies quickly prostrated themselves on the ground. Sitting at the end of the courtyard was an purple Alicorn, with a purple mane and tail, with a magenta stripe amongst the purple, the mane and tail blowing in an ethereal breeze, despite the complete lack of breeze here. On her flank was a cutie mark of a large pink six-point star upon a smaller six point star, with five smaller stars in white surrounding it--the standard of the Twilight Realm. This was the Twilight Princess herself.
"Please rise, I am here to watch," she said in what seemed a normal volume voice, but somehow it was still heard by all, despite the fact sound should not carry like that. "Bibulous Bottom, I have heard a great deal about your rapid training. You should be proud of yourself. I was wondering if you would care to show off your skill in front of me, please?"
Biblo nodded and looked to Comet Glider. Comet Glider nodded back, and called out the names of two guards, telling them to enter the dueling arena with Biblo. The end of the one guards name could be suddenly heard by all as the Twilight Princess cast a spell, making the sound from the courtyard carry the same as her voice.
Biblo took up a relaxed stance, versus the two guard's more ready stance. Comet Glider signaled the duel to begin, and the two guards, a mare and a stallion, moved in opposite directions in order to take her from either side.
Biblo glanced at each as they moved to position themselves, she didn't seem to be concerned. Suddenly they rushed her from both ends. Biblo pivoted and jumped, landing a two-legged buck to the stallion directly to his face. She bounced back from that buck and landed a strong blow to the mare's side using the training rod, causing the mare to go toppling over. It had been just a matter of seconds, and both her opponents yielded. Biblo hadn't played with her opponents this time, she had gone for swift victory.
The guard let out applause again, Hot Sticks and I did as well. Sunset sat silent, still watching Biblo. All applause again ceased as the Twilight Princess could again be heard giving her applause. All eyes returned to her.
"I am very impressed," she said. "Your skill at this point is nothing short of extraordinary. You were prompted to take on this training after an assault on you and your marefriend, correct?"
Biblo tensed up but answered with a bow and an even voice. "Yes, Most Holy."
The Twilight Princess leaned in a bit.
"And how many of those did you need to deal with then?" She asked.
"Just one of them restrained me, Most Holy," Biblo's tone hardened as she replied.
The Twilight Princess shook her head slightly.
"You misunderstand the question. How many did you need to deal with?"
Biblo looked down at her hooves and growled back an answer in anger. "Five, Most Holy. I needed to deal with five."
"Five it is then," Twilight nodded, before signaling Comet Glider. "Captain, send five of your guard into the dueling area,"
Comet Glider bowed and pointed to five soldiers in succession, directing them to enter the dueling arena against Biblo. I could see that the number of Alicorns in sitting in attendance across the temple had grown. I couldn't get a good count because they were so unevenly placed to confirm it, but I was sure that all the Greaters were here now. Spotting the Crusaders, again disguised as Crystal Ponies, on one of the balconies made me believe that there might be a fair number of the Lessers here as well.
"A good turnout for a fight," Sunset said quietly to me. "They would not do this normally, even if another pony was showing this kind of progress in fighting. But you and Biblo are effectively immortals, that changes things. They want to see for themselves what she can do, as she is going to be around a long time, not merely being a stray pony of interest who will die of old age in the seeming blink of an eye to them. A pony that learns that fast, that can live that long, is some pony that draws their immediate attention. You are of interest as well, of course, but you don't learn and change as fast. They are likely less concerned about you as a result. Though you know already you are being studied as well. Always be cautious of the Greaters, they like to feel there is no challenge to their control."
I missed the signal to start the duel while listening to Sunset and looking at the Alicorns. Biblo just went on the assault from the start, and was jaw dropping to watch. She moved with purpose, striking one guard then another, easily deflecting blows, and immediately attacking again after deflecting. Her blows, whether they be from her training weapon, or her hooves, ricocheted off one guard onto another. She moved with incredible speed, but seemed to be in no hurry, even as her opponents fell before her. It was a terrible, deadly dance. If she wore an actual blade it would be soaked in blood now. If this had been the Lunar guardponies she may have found a way to have it soaked in blood, despite it being a training weapon.
In seemingly no time at all, it was over again. Her opponents were on the ground, nursing their hurts, Biblo had not been gentle. A quiet hush descended on the courtyard with the end of the combat. No pony knew how to react. Biblo had just taken down five guardponies as if it were nothing. Comet Glider had said she had the makings of an elite, I was pretty sure this was elite. I didn't think he had thought that she would do so so soon.
The silence was broken by Pinkie Pie yelling out from her spot in the temple. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!" Which caused Sunset to smack a forehoof against her own face and shake her head sadly, before looking up and glaring at the pink Alicorn. I must have been missing something again.
"Astounding!" the Twilight Princess declared. "Color me impressed. I am sure I speak for all of us that we are all extremely impressed."
"I wish to duel Biblo if she will allow it," Sunset called out to the Twilight Princess. I was not sure what caused more gasps; that she interrupted the Twilight Princess, that she didn't address the Twilight Princess as Most Holy, or that she wanted to get in the dueling grounds with the pony that had in quick succession defeated eight different guardponies--five of those at once.
The Twilight Princess looked at Golden Sunset, silently considering. She then glanced to the various Alicorns, and then to Biblo, before returning her gaze to Sunset.
"Is it really necessary to see her duel more?" She asked. "I see little that will accomplish."
"Twilight," Sunset began, causing more gasps--from me as well. One did not address the Twilight Princess in such a familiar way, I doubted even the other Alicorns did. "You know I am far more challenging an opponent than these guards," she turned her head in direction of Meadowbrook, "no offense intended," I couldn't tell from where I was if Meadowbrook acknowledged the apology. Turning back to Biblo, Sunset said. "I am here to help and train. There are lessons to be learned here. Especially with a pony of your skills, Biblo. Will you allow me to duel you?"
Biblo looked between Sunset and the Twilight Princess, unsure of what to do. The two just sat waiting along with the rest if us for her reply. Biblo finally turned to Sunset.
"Um..I guess," Biblo said hesitantly. "If you think it is important."
"Very well," the Princess sighed. "Sunset please enter the dueling grounds."
As she spoke there was a mighty sound, as all the Alicorns perched around Meadowbrook's temple launched themselves into the air, and quickly descended down to the perimeter of the courtyard, surrounding it.
Biblo looked around nervously, not knowing what to make of this audience. The Medical Guard did as well. Sunset didn't seem to care, she was getting ready to duel.
"Don't concern yourself with them," Sunset addressed Biblo. "It is needless distraction. You are going to have Alicorns keeping tabs on you for the rest of your very long life, learn to stop worrying about them watching you. It will drive you insane worrying about it."
Biblo straightened her posture and turned to Sunset.
"Is that part of the lesson?" she asked.
"No," Sunset laughed. "Just advice from a friend who knows what she is talking about."
Biblo looked around the Alicorns again, and took a deep breath, and then nodded back to Sunset.
"Begin," instructed the Twilight Princess.
Biblo circled Sunset cautiously without attacking as Sunset stood still. Sunset raised an eyebrow at her.
"No full on attack like you just did? Am I that intimidating that you change your entire strategy for me? I applaud your caution, but wonder if that's it."
Biblo kept circling.
"I don't want to hurt you. I am trying to be more careful," she replied back.
"No need to worry about that," Sunset laughed. "I am anything but easy to hurt. But this leads us to lesson number one in this. You are hesitating because I am real to you, you have spent some time with me, and I am not just a face. Every pony you encounter isn't just a face either. If you had fought those ponies just now with actual steel it would have been a bloodbath. That is eight souls you would have ended the lives of, never lose track of that. Never let taking a life become a matter of course. Killing another pony is always something to be avoided."
Sunset bared her fangs.
"If you ever lose track of that, and start killing without consideration, I will put you down myself. I want to be your friend, and as your friend I would do what I must do. Do you understand me?" Sunset threatened.
Biblo gulped and nodded. Immediately after the nod, Sunset moved like a blur, and slammed Biblo on the side sending Biblo tumbling. Sunset had never equipped a training blade, she did her assault completely with pure brute force.
"If you need to take down an opponent don't hesitate so much," Sunset said as Biblo picked herself up from the ground. "You are just giving them more time to take you down. That is lesson two."
"How am I supposed to be careful about whether I could kill and not hesitate? That's contradictory!" Biblo growled angerly back.
Sunset just smiled back, while again taking a relaxed stance.
"Learn to take as much action as you need. It need not be the extremes of full force or inaction. Do something, even if it is only to get more information on how much you need to do."
Biblo charged full on at Sunset. She rained blows all over Sunset, and a huge crack could be heard as she brought her training rod down on Sunset's head, shattering the rod in the process. Sunset didn't budge at all, she didn't even seem to notice the blows.
Biblo gaped at the ineffectiveness of her own assault, and while she was doing so Sunset moved again. Sunset quickly pinned Biblo to the ground with one blow of her hoof, and then held her there. Biblo struggled to try to free herself, but Sunset was simply too strong.
"Next lesson," Sunset said looking down. "Know your limits. You can't win every fight. There is always going to be some pony too strong, some pony too fast, some pony just too lucky, ponies you will just not be able to beat. Learn to count on others to help you overcome such challenges together. You can't win by yourself against every opponent, but if you have the right friends you can overcome."
Biblo kept trying to struggle free but wasn't getting anywhere. She had not yet yielded nor unconscious so technically the duel had not ended. Sunset looked down at her sympathetically.
"And the last lesson is something private, between you and me. Please feel what I am allowing you to feel right now and consider." Sunset said sadly to the struggling Crystal Pony.
Biblo held still a moment with a small tilt of her head, listening to emotions. Her eyes went wide, and she turned her gaze around to all the Alicorns watching. She then twisted her neck around so she could see Sunset.
"Alright, I yield. I can't win this fight," Biblo said, and Sunset released her.
"Sunset," The Twilight Princess spoke again. "I shall speak to you later on this, in private. Expect a summon some point in the next week, once I have double checked where to schedule you."
"Of course, Twilight," Sunset said with a smile at the supreme ruler of the Realm.
The Twilight Princess gave a long suffering sigh.
"And though I have addressed this in the past with you, it needs to be gone over again. Show some respect in public, please. Your passive-aggressive hostility towards the Greaters gets very tiresome. Do you understand me?" The princess asked. Sunset nodded back in response.
"That was very informative to watch," The princess addressed all the Alicorns now. "But we are behind schedule. We shall gather in the main chamber to discuss the matters for why we are all gathering. We have at least one of those matters that needs to be dealt with tomorrow, and I prefer every pony among you are well informed," for some reason this caused a few of the Alicorns to slump slightly.
"All further training on these grounds is suspended for the rest of today. Enjoy the remainder of the day relaxing," The Twilight Princess then vanished in a flash of light, and all Greaters followed quickly afterward, the sound of twenty simultaneous teleports is an impossible sound to describe.
Biblo and Sunset made their way back over towards me and Hot Sticks. When Biblo hopped up out of the courtyard Hot Sticks floated a cloth over to her. She gratefully accepted it, and put it up to her muzzle. I hadn't noticed that it was bleeding. Sunset resumed her previous spot, and took a drink of water.
"So do Hot Sticks and I get to hear what the last lesson, or is it private from us too?" I asked.
Sunset looked to Biblo, and Biblo looked back to Sunset, then Biblo went over to me and gave me a tight hug.
"If the Alicorns think I am dangerous they will take me away from you," Biblo whispered with the sound of tears in her voice. "I make them nervous, and they need to know my limits. Seeing Sunset beat me makes them less nervous."
"She may be effectively immortal if she stays with you, Pearl," Sunset continued the explanation. "She also develops at an astounding rate. Think of it from their perspective. What could a pony like that gain the ability to do with thousands of years of time? Immortals get watched, in part, because they have so much time to grow and advance. Biblo's abilities attached to an immortal makes her far more worrisome than you are. They would rather deal with a potential problem early, before it has a chance to grow into something major."
"I don't want them to take me away from you," Biblo cried onto my shoulder.
After a moment or two Biblo regained her composure and laid down on her belly to rest. We all sat in silence for a few minutes.
Biblo started tilting her head to the side. Went wide eyed, then buried her face in her forehooves where she could be heard cursing.
"Bloody bucking ponyfeathers!"
We all looked at her with confusion. Had we all missed something else that had happened? Was she having a delayed reaction to the situation?
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Congratulations you heathen unicorn. You win. Guess I lost two fights today," she was still talking into her hooves, muffling the sound of her voice.
The remaining three of us looked at each other to see if any pony else had a clue what she was talking about. As Sunset and I turned to the only unicorn here, to ascertain what he might have done, a sly grin creeped onto Hot Sticks' face. He looked down to Biblo with that grin.
"My poor destitute village will appreciate your ongoing patronage," he said with obvious mirth.
"Bloody ponyfeathers!" Biblo cursed again.
Sunset decided not to continue with training me for the day, taking the Twilight Princess's declaration to include me as well. The four of us sat together for a bit in the courtyard just talking about what was coming tomorrow with the trial. The discussion was not particularly interesting. Biblo and I would likely be called on to testify. The Lunar Guards were being charged separately, rape directly charged to the leader of the patrol, and accessory to rape to the remaining guards, all being charged with assault and battery as well. They would have a lawyer to represent them, and a prosecutor would be arguing for the harshest punishments he could against them. The Alicorns would ask occasional questions but would withhold sentencing until all arguments were given. The judgement of guilt was a given, and that section of the trial was merely a formality, the trial was mainly to see how severe the punishments should be, as well as make a public statement.
Most of the talking was done by Hot Sticks with me, and Biblo, asking occasional questions. Sunset listened on, but since this didn't involve her, she didn't contribute anything. We didn't mind her presence. She had been around us constantly, except when we were in our rooms, and we had more or less accepted her as part of the group in the last few days. Biblo did have a question that she needed an answer from Sunset about.
"Are you a spy for the Alicorns? Keeping tabs on us for them?" Biblo asked her. The question came out of nowhere, shocking both me and Hot Sticks with the audacity of it. I had my own suspiscions about whether Sunset was reporting to the Alicorns, she seemed to be on pretty casual grounds with at least two of them. However, she also seemed to have some sort of grudge with them. It was pointless to just ask though, as if a spy would just tell a pony that they were a spy.
"Yep," Sunset replied with a grin. Apparently spies did just announce they were spies. We all looked at her with shock. "I am not joking either. I offered to help you, and they wanted me to keep tabs on you as a condition of me doing so. They will find some pony, no matter what, to do it. Better a pony you know about, than one you have to wonder about, don't you think?"
"I guess so," Biblo replied. She didn't really seem hesitant despite her words. She had purpose in asking. "You seem like you have an idea how they might feel about things me and Pearl might do. Do you think you could help with something?"
"I can't promise I know exactly how they will react to anything," Sunset said with interest. "I don't speak for them, but I can give you my best guess. Don't treat my best guess as anything more than that. What thing do you have in mind of doing that you are afraid is going to offend our holy rulers?" The last part of the question dripped with disdain. I wondered again what personal gripes Sunset had with the Alicorns, and again why she would work as their agent despite her obvious disdain.
I knew what Biblo was going to ask about, but Hot Sticks wasn't aware. He looked on Biblo with curiosity, while I looked towards Sunset to see what kind of reaction she would have to what Biblo was about to suggest doing with me.
Biblo took a deep breath before asking. Then looked Sunset in the eyes.
"Pearl needs my help. She hasn't been alright since the..stuff..happened. I know I can take all those memories and feelings she is dealing with out, make them go away forever. I also know doing that kind of thing is a really big deal. But I want to do what it takes to make her better. If we were to request permission for me to do it, do you think the Alicorns would be upset with us?"
Sunset stared at Biblo with a neutral expression. Then she glanced over to me.
"Have you been informed about the extent of what she is proposing to do to you?" She asked in an even tone. "This isn't just having some specific memories go away. It is much more invasive. She would be going into your head and searching out those memories to remove them. She has full access to everything in your mind when she does that, not just what you want her to. She would have the ability to remove or alter anything in your head, and no pony would know that she had done it right then. She also has access to all your memories, and whether she intends to or not, she will get to see many of them. Not likely all of them, that would take some time, but she would see a good number while searching for the ones she wants and you won't have any control over what she sees. She will also have the ability to insert things into your thoughts, things again we would not be aware of until you demonstrated signs that it had happened. This is beyond invasion of privacy, this is an invasion of your soul."
"I hadn't had it explained to that full extent," I said with a full in nervousness. "But I still want her to do it. They make me a mess, I am always worried that I will break down at the drop of a feather. Further, while you might teach her how not to absorb things she doesn't want from me, for right now she still is, and that puts her at risk of absorbing all that as well. I don't want her to gain all that trauma because of me."
"Do you trust her not to do more than just remove those memories and their associated feelings?" Sunset pressed me. "She will have the power to do much more. She can shape your mind however she feels. Mind control is less a crime than what she is capable of doing to you."
"I trust Biblo to not do anything to hurt me," I said looking the larger Thestral in the eyes. "And I trust her not to do anything that I don't want her to do."
I could see Biblo giving me a small, thankful smile in return for my confidence in her. I was not sure Sunset was satisfied. She sat appraising the Crystal Pony for a long moment. She then looked to Hot Sticks.
"Did you know they were thinking about this? I have not known any of you long. What do you think of it?"
Hot Sticks had displayed shock at the earlier requests as well. When he replied, he replied as a doctor would when describing the outlook for an illness.
"I did not know that they had this in mind. I can say that they both seem exceptionally comfortable with Biblo's abilities. I also know Biblo has no malicious intent against Pearl. I am more concerned, if anything, about Biblo's personal obsession with all things involving Pearl. If Biblo has not informed you, as of yet, she recently absorbed some traits from a nurse that was attending her over a week ago. Traits that led to further sexual obsession with Pearl. I would be concerned that she would have difficulties resisting the urge to insure that Pearl will return her advances, if she is given access to Pearl's mind. That is rape."
Biblo growled with rage. She walked right up to Hot Sticks, and keeping just enough space to ensure there would be no touching, began to shout in his face.
"How dare you! I would never force Pearl to feel anything about me! Yes, I know she was uncomfortable about that kind of thing, even before all of this happened. Yes, it would be something that I would want her to suddenly feel comfortable doing with me. And yes, I know my desires in that area are more intense lately, thanks to what I absorbed on accident. But I will not, will not, do anything in Pearl's head she didn't explicitly give me permission to do. I want Pearl, not some puppet!"
"Again, you seem obsessed," Hot Sticks replied back at her calmly. "Pearl is a pony, not some thing to be obtained. You have known Pearl less than a month, and everything you do now focuses on her. It isn't healthy."
"It doesn't matter how long it has been," Biblo fired back angerly. "I am an empath; I know her better than any of you, better than any pony other than her. Better than her in some ways. I love her and will do anything for her."
I had to put an end to this before Biblo said or did something she might regret. I cleared my throat to get everypony's attention. All eyes fell on me.
"I need to make it clear that I was the pony that wanted to have this done. Biblo told me about being able to do it during a moment of frustration, but she quickly suggested trying to do other things instead to help me.
"You have concerns about Biblo's mix of empath abilities and absorbing talent causing her to get unstable as she absorbs traits from others," I said as I turned to Sunset. "What if she accidently absorbs the impact of what was done to me? Is that fair to her? Do you think it would help me to bear that kind of guilt?"
"It is not a fault of yours if she does," Sunset answered me. "It was her choice to put herself in that position in the first place. She could avoid contact with you until she is better trained to deal with her own abilities."
Her reasoning walked right into the points I needed to make.
"Is what happens to her when she absorbs those things any less mind control than what you are suggesting she could do to me?" I asked. "She is altered, and she has no choice in the matter. You could tell her to have no contact with other ponies, but that is cruel as well. Further, I would likely be in much worse shape now without Biblo there trying to help me get through this. She leaves herself open every single day to the possibility that she could absorb my problems into herself, but she keeps doing it."
I turned now to Hot Sticks.
"As a person helping the sick, you know you face the risks of getting infected with what you are trying to treat, but you do it anyway. I am sick right now, not with any physical illness, but still sick. If you had a patient that you cared deeply about, would you do anything to make them better? Wouldn't you want your patient to do whatever they had to do to help themselves get better?"
I took a deep breath before I finished what I had to say.
"I have already decided I want Biblo to stay in my life, and it is going to be a long life. I must trust her to do right by me. She can't help if she has her mind altered by accidently absorbing something she might not have wanted. I do have a choice about this, and I make it fully trusting her," I gave a small grin and looked at Biblo.
"I will even make an additional request to you, Biblo," I said, surprising her. "You already know I love you, but I realize I haven't said that out loud yet. I love you. Ponies are concerned you will force my feelings. Let's make it clear you aren't forcing anything. We are going to be together for a long, long time. Let's just formalize that now and save time."
Biblo's eyes welled up with happy tears. She waited silently and expectantly for me to clearly ask the question. Yes, this was fast. Two weeks of knowing a pony--even knowing your own sexuality for that matter--wasn't long enough to make this kind of decision, not typically. Biblo was right though, she did know me better than any pony, including myself in some cases, and I was closer to her than any pony other than my deceased mother. Closer than I thought it was possible for me to get to another pony. It was right, no matter how short a time we had known each other. It isn't how long you have known a pony, it is how well. She sees into my very soul and I know her to be a pony that would do anything for me, but one I would never abuse that commitment with.
I came up to her and took her forehooves in mine. I looked her into those tear-filled green eyes and asked the important question.
"Bibulous Bottom, would you be my wife, and take me as yours?"
Her tears overflowed. She lurched forward making us both fall over as she hugged me tight. Her color lit up brightly. She let of light like a little sun. She was a beautiful work of stained glass with the perfect ray of sunshine hitting it. She was beyond beautiful, she was the personification of all things beautiful, loving, and joyous. The light of her love, radiating off her translucent body, bathed everything around us. She gave me the deepest kiss I had ever had before sitting back up to answer out loud. Smiling down at me with pure love and adoration.
"Yes," she let out breathlessly, through happy tears. "You make me so happy. I don't think I have ever been so happy as I am right this second." Her radiating light bore unquestionable proof of what she said.
"As soon as this trial is over we will have one of the Alicorns make it official," I told my now fiancee with a smile. "I have one more thing to ask too. It is a special wedding present to both of us."
She looked at me curiously and I could tell that she was also trying to read my emotions to try to tell what it was. Maybe I would manage to catch her by surprise again with this one. I had only just now decided that I wanted it.
"If they let you take out those memories I do want you to do one additional bit of meddling. You absorb things from me all the time, I think it is only fair I absorb something from you. Do you think you could spare a bit of what you picked up from that nurse into me? No pony can wonder if you are forcing me to, if I asked for that myself." Biblo somehow managed to blush in response, despite being brightly lit translucent crystal.
Sunset cleared her throat then to get our attention.
"Um..this is really sweet, and you did convince me about the mind altering. I even think you will convince the Alicorns. But, this is getting way too personal for me to be listening too. Hot Sticks, want to come with me and go find some food or something, and leave these two to their being sickeningly sweet?"
Hot Sticks had been caught up in the moment and had to shake his head to clear it.
"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," he said trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. "I need to go down to the city briefly to consult about some last minute details concerning the trial, as well as pick up a few items. Do you want to accompany me Sunset? I know Thestrals are not typically treated well, but I find it hard to believe any pony will dare so much as cross an eye at you."
"They typically don't," Sunset agreed. "Having a pony able to crush you with ease tends to keep manners in line."
"Can you pick me up some more pipe weed?" I called over to Hot Sticks, with Biblo still planted on top of me. "I am running low. I will pay you back later, just can't get to my bits this second."
"Of course," Hot Sticks replied. "I wouldn't ask you to get up right now. You seem very comfortable after all. Think I will see if I can find a pipe made of crystal for my village's newest valued customer." He actually managed to say that with a straight face.
Biblo turned to give him a glare, but there wasn't any anger in it.
"Heathen unicorn! You are still getting bucked! I am resisting that urge, just to give you no satisfaction," She took a second to briefly turn back and give me a quick peck of a kiss, before turning back to Hot Sticks. "If you do get one, please make sure it is pretty. If I am going to use the smelly thing, at least it can be pretty."
"I will get to helping you with your empathic abilities more starting tomorrow. Sorry I hadn't gotten to helping you fast enough to block that," Sunset said apologetically.
"Don't worry about failing to catch that," Biblo said, waving the apology away with a hoof. "It is part of me now, so I am not really upset. I was not wanting it to happen before, but that is water under the bridge. I just like giving the mutant duck a hard time. As long as we get to where I can block out really serious things, I am not concerned. I don't want to absorb anything really bad personality wise, and then feel alright with that."
"Well, I am concerned," Sunset smirked. "Now I have to deal with three ponies stinking things up."
Biblo blew a raspberry at her in response. She then turned back to Hot Sticks.
"Do you think you could find some sort of perfume or something too? I won't have ponies calling my fiancee stinky."
"Didn't you call her stinky yourself?" Hot Sticks replied with confusion.
"Feelings changed on that," she replied curtly. "Plus she is going to be my wife. No pony better call my wife stinky. I'll dump a garbage can on them and see who is stinky."
Sunset involuntarily looked around for any nearby trashcans as Biblo said this, likely hoping Biblo wasn't planning such action against her.
"Consider it my wedding gift then," Hot Sticks said with a roll of his eyes. "I doubt you will give me any bits to cover it. Sunset, let's get going, before they start asking us to go looking for wedding dresses for them too," Biblo's eyes lit up at that.
"No," Hot Sticks said firmly, before Biblo could open her mouth. Biblo closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, indignant. I resisted the urge to laugh. When the other two left, Biblo and I just cuddled up together where we were at, and silently enjoyed each other's presence, as we let the afternoon continue to go by. We were happy and content with the world.