"Uh, Twi?" Applejack asked cautiously, giving the shivering lavender lump a nudge with her right forehoof.
It had been slightly awkward, but that was pretty much my modus operandi since coming here. Rainbow Dash and I had gotten back into the barn without issue or serious maiming, which is a positive mark on my part. Twilight was pacing around Fluttershy spouting worried statement after increasingly worried statement while practically wearing a groove in the dirt with her hooves. Her expression was a little scary, but snapped back to normal, if not slightly shocked, when I spoke her name. No, that wasn't the awkward part. The awkward part came as Twilight ceased to exist in her current location and then, for all intents and purposes, landed on me in a teleportation pounce technique. I would have been impressed had I not been rendered upside down and sideways. I never thought well when at other gravitational inclines.
Rainbow continued laughing while Fluttershy approached from Applejack's other side, smiling softly down at me. I swallowed nervously and did my best to gently squeeze the ball of lavender fur embedded onto my chest. "I'm sorry! I knew it was a bad idea and that I never should have gone along with it, especially after reading pointers indicating exactly the opposite in 'A Mare's Guide to the Modern Stallion' in chapter eleven! Sabotaging trust in a relationship is a fatal mistake!" she quoted, probably perfectly.
Averting my eyes, I tried really hard not to mention the whole spying on me for Celestia thing. Not that I had time to. "Wait now just ah sec. Relationship? Twi, are ya really datin' Mender?" Applejack asked suddenly, sounding surprised. Okay, I wasn't sure how to think about that reaction. Her surprise was probably justified, but her tone indicated it was because of me, not Twilight.
Rainbow let out a mirthful snort instantly, causing Twilight to lock up on top of me. Of course, anypony who knew Rainbow and had more than five brain cells to rub together at the moment probably could see what was coming. "Ha! Dating? More like making kissy faces with each other in Mender's bed!" she corrected, proceeding to laugh even harder afterwards.
To her credit, the orange farm mare didn't let her expression shift much past the surprise she held prior. Twilight was a different case, however. Her head whipped around and glared at Dash before I could even fully process the comment and formulate a blush in response. "Rainbow! You said you'd keep that a secret!" she reminded angrily, her left hoof jabbing painfully into my side. Suddenly I was a little bit concerned for my relative safety, being this close to a font of rage and magic.
"Twi! That's not tha point. Ya shouldn't have tried ta keep it ah secret in tha first place! Think of poor Fluttershy's feelin's," Applejack lectured instead, interrupting the bout of anger while gesturing towards the now surprised yellow pegasus.
"Oh! Oh, no, Applejack. I'm happy for them. I would, um, rather not be Mender's special somepony right now. I... Well..." Fluttershy started to deny rapidly, pink mane flailing as she rapidly shook her head back and forth. A light blush drifted into her cheeks, as timidly as she typically acted.
It hurt, but at this point, it was a dull pain. Falling asleep with the thoughts since waking up a few days ago had taken the edge off it. "The images in my memories hurt you, and I'm really sorry for that, Fluttershy. I know you only want to be friends, so don't worry about that. If I could at least take away the images, I would in a heartbeat," I interrupted after I saw her explanation start to dwindle.
Applejack closed her mouth slowly while watching me carefully, but the yellow mare just blushed even more before shaking her head. "No, it's not just that. Um, thank you though. I don't think I'm ready to be a special somepony yet as well," she whispered weakly, barely audible from my position, before adding, "Maybe, maybe one day I'll be ready. The images aren't you and won't bother me forever. Maybe then..."
I smiled and nodded, but Rainbow let out what could only be described as a gleeful and diabolical squeaking noise as she suddenly grinned out of the corner of my eye. "Oooh, are you gonna share him then, Twi?" she asked, fluttering a little closer.
The timid yellow pegasus let out a surprised squeaking sound, wings suddenly fluttering rapidly. Twilight groaned, right on time, but Applejack surprised me by giving a warm chuckle. "That sorta thing ain't done too often, RD. Let 'em git used to each other before Fluttershy joins in," she pointed out. Wait, polygamy actually happened here?! Well admittedly, I had a sneaking suspicion that it happened in the inverse in my past dimension too. Anywhere where there was a significant difference in gender ratios probably did similar. Still, something seemed different when it came in the context of myself.
"Uh, hold on a second! I want some time with him myself before I even consider that, okay?!" Twilight warned, pushing me back a little bit and giving Fluttershy a skeptical glance. Wait, what happened to not being sure of her feelings? I winced as I was further squished up against the barn's main doorframe. Further, didn't I get a say in any of this?
Fluttershy shook her head as fast as she could, eyes widening and assuring, "Oh my! No, it would be a very long time before, well, I was ready, I think." Her voice dwindled halfway through and I had to strain to hear the rest through the wheezing of my lungs struggling for air.
Twilight's skeptical expression shifted to that of a soft smile instead, and she nodded to the now red and yellow pegasus. I would have smiled had my neck not been squished at an odd angle. Gasping in again, I tried to shift out from under the lavender mare on top of me. "Hoo boy! Well 'ere RD an' Ah were jus' teasin' ya'all, but it looks like ya had somethin' else in mind," Applejack suddenly spoke up, trailing it with a whistle and smirk.
Twilight went from smiling to glaring in record time, tensing on top of me again. "Applejack! It's just, but..." she fussed, words suddenly failing her. They failed me as well, as she shifted to look fully at the country mare and squashed me further against the wall.
Rainbow managed to keep it to a controlled snicker this time before pointing out, "I think AJ is supporting ya. Although neither of you are going to get him if Twi kills him." She accompanied it with a hoof gesture in my direction.
The lavender mare in question gave a sharp start and whirled around to look at me again. I did my best assuring smile as my eyes watered and I tried to look relaxed rather than attempting to remain conscious. She let out a stifled squeaking noise regardless. The flash was rather on the blinding side, and I was left seeing a rather accurate after image of where she had been before. Twilight materialized back into existence several feet away in the same instant, right next to Applejack. She then proceeded to give me an exceedingly mortified stare.
"Oh no! I'm sorry, Mender! I was just so excited to see you come back. Admittedly, I didn't expect that Rainbow would actually succeed in convincing you," she spewed out at an accelerated rate. Nowhere near the speeds that Pinkie Pie could achieve, but at this point, I couldn't expect the unicorn to keep up with a hole in physics. That was a bit unreasonable, even for one so powerful.
"Hey!" Rainbow squawked, glaring at Twilight's new position as I flopped over on my side, both gasping for air and rubbing my eyes now. Dash reacted so easily to the teleportation. Would I ever get used to Twilight doing that? I doubted it; although it also made me significantly curious. There were so many properties that were interesting in it. How did it compare to 'blinking' from my dimension?
Twilight flinched, catching my attention again as my breathing slowly returned to normal. Damn, I was out of shape. "Sorry, Dash. It was Mender being offended that I was worried about, not the fact that you were going to get him," she quickly amended, giving her cyan friend a sheepish grin.
Rainbow straightened a little and almost visibly puffed up before bumping her right hoof into her chest. "Relax. I had it covered. Besides, Mender and I are Battle Partners, so we understand each other," she assured cockily.
Twilight gave her an annoyed look while Applejack chuckled and Fluttershy gave her a soft smile and nod. I decided to finally speak up with, "If it makes you feel better, Dash, I really do trust you. With my life, actually. You really pulled your own when it mattered the most, and I'm never going to forget that."
A warm blush drifted into Rainbow's cheeks and she smiled at me in an instant, posture relaxing a little. "Careful. Yer gonna swell her head even bigger with that kinda talk," Applejack warned a moment later with a smirk, tilting her surprisingly clean Stetson down a little. Hadn't she just finished falling off a loft and crashing into a large crate?
"Well I think it's nice. That you, uh, trust her. I mean, we do kind of deserve..." Fluttershy timidly whispered, barely audible as usual and getting worse as the sentence neared its conclusion.
Twilight interrupted, shaking her head rapidly to the yellow mare and correcting, "No, Fluttershy. You didn't do anything wrong. It was Applejack and I, well, mostly just me, who are in the wrong. I really screwed up, so if there's anything I can do." The second half of the sentence shifted not so subtly over to me, along with the unicorn's nervous gaze.
I really didn't like situations like this. A faint blush shifted into my cheeks. Shaking my head again, I looked away from her. "I'll be fine. I just would rather you ask me up front next time."
Applejack stomping her hoof down further scared me and I jumped, looking back up at her instead. “Now hold on just ah minute! Twi is right. Ah apologize too, fer bein’ downright stubborn on tha issue. Ah don’t think it was that great of ah’n idea after all,” she cut in, eyes softening. Wait, huh? Oh. That’s why she’d been defending it before.
Fluttershy joined the team against me and nodded, adding a soft smile before amending, “Yes, we shouldn’t have, well, tricked you like that. I promise that I’ll be braver, um, if this happens again in the future. Really! So, I’m sorry.” She acquired a faint blush halfway through, and bowed her head towards the end, wings fluttering ever so slightly on her back. Admittedly, she was adorable. But what did I really feel towards her? It didn’t feel the same as Twilight, whom I just enjoyed being with. I wanted to protect Fluttershy, helping her when she needed it. She obviously didn’t really need my help, but it was a secret little selfish wish inside of me.
I’d learned a lot more about myself today, in all honesty. I disliked dishonesty and tricking individuals when there was no obvious point besides greed. Forgiving the girls was reasonably easy to do, because there was a reason they did it that wasn’t for their own gain. They were trying to help Fluttershy, after all. It irritated me, but I realized that I could forgive it well enough. But it did get me thinking. It had been happening without me noticing it in the first place. Over the course of my stay here, I’d been reacting to external stimuli in ways that felt natural to me. Of course, I had started with nothing except for a large amount of technical knowledge and an indescribable panic at being lost in a new, unknown place. But now that I had been more accepted into their culture and adapted, I found myself seeing facets of myself that I wasn’t quite consciously aware of.
What did I know about myself so far? I disliked dishonesty, but didn’t shy away from it when it would benefit someone’s feelings. Rainbow Dash, I noticed, was a good example. Further, I wasn’t very confident in my own capabilities. Possibly because of this, I tended to try to figure things out as fast as possible and might have a small tendency to jump to the incorrect conclusion a couple of times. Or a lot. I was further loathed to mentally admit that I might have a little bit of trust issues. Although that was at least partially justified on my part, as I had been spied on for the first week of my stay. Still, I couldn’t fault Celestia for wanting to keep her kingdom safe. If it was so easy for me to accept that, though, why the hell did it make me so irritated?!
Then I realized I had been zoning out again. Snapping back to attention, fully expecting everyone’s attention to be directed angrily at me, I was pleasantly surprised to find them all staring at Rainbow Dash instead. She shifted back and forth between the stares, expression getting more and more negative with each switch. “What?! Hey, I didn’t do anything wrong. I’m so not apologizing!” she defended, crossing her forelegs and looking away from them with closed eyes.
"None of you had to in the first place," I muttered, ears drooping and trying my hardest to diminish the light blush I felt in my cheeks. If anything about my ideals and personality was certain, I wasn't cut out for this kind of attention.
Twilight smacked her hoof lightly into her forehead before glaring over at me again, returning, "Mender! You need to stand up for yourself a little more. Right now. Tell all four of us what you want to make up for this."
I blanched and backed up a little as all four mares shifted their attention to me instead. "Are ya sure this is ah good idea, Twi?" Applejack asked, sounding uncertain suddenly. Didn't I get a say in any of this?! Oh wait, technically that was the point of the 'exercise', I suddenly realized.
"Scared he'll ask for a bit of loving, AJ?" Rainbow teased, bumping her flank up against her orange friend, jarring her a little.
Fluttershy visibly wilted, cheeks going pink immediately. Oddly, I was close to mirroring her in posture, dropping to my haunches and staring in shock at Dash, a familiar heat sinking into my cheeks. Applejack smiled gently at my display and shook her head in reply.
"Of course not. Ah should'a known better in regards ta Mender. In this case, Ah think Twi's idea was ah good one, then. Give us somethin' ta do fer ya. All four of us," Applejack requested politely, recovering her warm smile.
Being around her was like walking on eggshells. She didn't fully trust me still, which admittedly was my own fault for making such a bad first impression. The 'almost eating her with extra-dimensional tentacles' thing probably didn't improve her opinion of me either. Oh, or almost getting her best friend killed in a space battle in an impossibly far away place. Honestly, I should be thankful she hasn't skinned and garroted me yet.
Although this was also getting a bit frustrating. They probably expected me to make some deeply personal and selfish request for them all to fulfill, which I obviously wasn't at all comfortable with doing. I had already forgiven them and definitely didn't want any pity, so it was a little confusing as to why they sought punishment in the first place.
My right hoof nervously scraped along the dirt floor as I rapidly tried to think of a way out of the situation, avoiding the gaze of all four intently watching mares. I was about to vote for panicking and fleeing into the forest when my hoof bumped into one of the screws on the floor. I stared at it for a second before a potential escape occurred to me. Smiling, I raised my head back up to them, earning a mixed response. I saw Applejack fidget minutely, but maintain her smile. Rainbow's smirk widened as she puffed up, awaiting my request. Fluttershy shrank down a little more, but maintained a standing position, barely. Twilight had the most amusing reaction of all, being no reaction whatsoever. A light blush adorned her cheeks and she almost looked as if she was staring past me, not really listening in the first place.
Finally, I announced, "I got it! All four of you," I started, pausing momentarily for dramatic effect. Three of the four leaned closer, with the lavender mare still staring blankly at the floor to my right. "Help Twilight and I finish upgrading the barn!" I finished rapidly, nodding twice in confirmation.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash shifted from anticipation and excitement to confusion a beat later. Fluttershy actually perked up a bit and recovered her smile, nodding to me. Twilight, hearing her name, snapped out of it and looked around rapidly, looking even more confused than her orange and cyan friends.
"Uh, Mender... Isn't that more helping AJ than you?" Dash reasoned, perfectly logically, of course.
Chuckling, I shook my head and walked past the four, the lavender unicorn now looking exceedingly flustered. "It might, but I just asked if of you four, so if you truly want to repay me, you'd better get to it," I reminded, not turning back as I headed gleefully towards the beginnings of the quality control platform.
"What are we supposed to do again?" I heard Twilight ask in a whisper behind me.
* * * * *
The sun slowly drifted below the window of the barn, casting an orange tint along the dirt and wood. It was pleasantly warm today, and the soft glow simply added to the ambiance. It was getting late at this point, causing a soft tiredness to drift through my muscles. It felt so different from the overworked sensation in my memories. I guess fighting for your life in a hopeless war and upgrading a friend's barn weren't really all that comparable.
Regardless of ducking another set of boards as they zipped in via telekinesis, I felt reasonably relaxed. Twilight's magic fit the wood softly along the frame we'd already made, setting up the outside of the conveyor belt. After she lined it up oh so expertly, I placed more nails against the pieces and sealed them together an instant later. I shook the wood once and smiled in satisfaction when it didn't budge. The lavender unicorn lagged in her next set of beams, however, and I glanced up and to the left automatically. Sure enough, Fluttershy drifted in with her apron held lightly, carrying a new supply of screws and nails in the cupped fabric. She gave me a warm smile as she lit softly upon the frame we'd just put together, and started pouring the tiny objects into Twilight's newly formed telekinetic tunnel. Working together, the girls made a neat pile of nails and screws directly to my left, earning a nod of approval from me. They were so adorable when they worked together like that. I felt myself blushing as I watched them nod to each other happily.
Unsurprisingly, Dash zipped in a moment later from behind the two, nodding to me and throwing an over the top salute. "Rainbow Dash reporting, Boss! The hole is cut in the loft floor perfectly, and lines up with the conveyor frame underneath for the lid lowering!" she reported, hamming her voice up as much as possible.
Predictably, I blushed at the performance, causing all three mares near me to grin. "Dash, you know you don't need to call me that. I'm just the engineer," I reminded, doubtlessly as futile as it was last time.
Further predictably, her grin widened and she shook her head, returning instantly, "The only engineer here. We don't have any instructions, so we need ya to work your magic." Well, that was true, I suppose. I'd forgotten that they didn't technically have any instructions. Although something seriously struck a bad chord in me when I considered someone asking for more bits for the instructions, too. That didn't seem very fair to me.
Of course, my gap in retort gave way to a stronger defense on their part. "Ah think it's an excellent idea. Yer savin' me a hefty 'mount o' bits already, Mender. Ah might be payin' ya fer the work, but in tha long run, it's ah lot cheaper than ah professional," Applejack chimed in as she dragged another pile of wooden beams into the barn, tied to her with a thick rope harness.
Fluttershy and Rainbow nodded along in agreement, but Twilight flattened her ears back and glared at her orange friend. I tilted my head to her, confused. I didn't even know where to start guessing as to what was wrong.
"Isn't he a professional anyway, Applejack? I didn't think about that before, but what is the going rate for a full-blown engineer?" she suddenly questioned, with a certain level of accusation to her voice. Oh crap. No longer needing to guess as to what was wrong, I started debating how to head off the argument.
Much to my extreme surprise, however, there was no argument in the first place. Applejack stopped pulling the boards, her muscles gently going slack as she sat back on her haunches, ears lowering a little. "Ah know, Twi. Trust me, Ah know. Ah could barely afford ta hire a construction team fer the job. An engineer, which is what's needed fer this, is totally out ah the budget. Ah wish I could pay ya the full price fer the work but..." she started to slowly admit, turning and looking at me instead of Twilight.
The unicorn's features softened as she absorbed what Applejack said. I looked away from her and over to the orange mare as well, smiling and shaking my head. "I already told you, I'm not accepting any bits for this. You're my friend, plus you've done a ton for me. Save the bits," I requested. I knew she was tight on funding before, so taking her bits had never sat well since she mentioned it. After this admission, I really couldn't accept anything from her, however. She had legitimate need for my skills, and I wasn't about to disappoint.
"Mender," she groaned, her right hoof digging into the dirt in front of her as her eyes closed. I tensed, remembering what it felt like for those powerhouses to collide with my skull. She continued before I could react, though, eyes opening softly with a warmer smile on her face. "Yer ah mighty good stallion, ya know that? Why, ifin' Twi hadn't caught hold o' ya first, Ah might have tried my luck ta swoon ya."
My expression froze in that of shock. In my peripheral vision, Rainbow locked up in midair and crashed into Fluttershy behind me, causing a loud thud and a squeak from the surprised yellow pegasus. Twilight also went rigid against my side, whipping her head up to look at her now grinning friend. Grinning?
Applejack burst into a hearty laughter, stomping the dirt floor with her hoofs alternately. "Ha! Ya should see yer faces!" she squealed in-between gasps of air and laughing.
"Oh thank Celestia, it was a joke," Twilight groaned out next to me, slumping visibly forwards as she exhaled.
The mass of pegasi slowly untangled themselves and stood again, Fluttershy blushing but Rainbow looking significantly bewildered. "Haha. Good one, AJ," the cyan pegasus muttered, shaking her head back and forth with her eyes unfocused. Either the fall knocked her for a loop, or the joke did. She had probably geared up mentally to murder me the second the others weren't looking, I predicted.
"Ya need ta be more careful there, RD. Yer gonna hurt somethin' if ya keep crashin' like that," Applejack lectured suddenly, eyes locked on Dash instead of me suddenly.
"Yeah, Fluttershy," Twilight quipped instantly, rolling her eyes as she rotated to look at the two. Seeing as the crisis was averted and I wasn't going to imminently die or be hospitalized, I decided to get back to the task at hand while they were distracted. Carefully, I started counting out the wooden plates that would comprise of the conveyor belt surface as they lay there in stacks. Something seemed off.
Rainbow huffed, shaking her head repeatedly. "I'd never hurt Fluttershy. We've been best buds for, like, forever," she assured, giving the yellow mare a light shake back and forth with her foreleg. Fluttershy smiled softly back at Rainbow, looking oddly appreciative for having just been flattened by her. I wasn't so distracted by the counting that I missed the odd look Applejack was giving them, either. I didn't know much about pony body language, however, and didn't have a clue as to what it indicated.
Not that it immediately mattered, of course. There were larger issues at the moment, I decided. "I don't mean to interrupt and I apologize, but I just noticed your stacks of wooden planks to be used for the conveyor," I spoke up, causing all four of them to glance back at me instead.
"Ah, yeah? It's no problem, Mender. Somethin' wrong with 'em?" Applejack inquired cautiously, looking a bit apprehensive instead.
Although that was the right way to react, in this case. "Well, I did a rough estimate of the surface area of both the treadmill surface and that of the conveyor. By my calculations, you have just under half of the required wooden plates to put this together. Are there others you haven't unpacked yet?" I asked, fidgeting with my hooves a little. If she didn't have any more of them, this was very bad.
Her expression deflated immediately. Damn it. She didn't have any more. I started trying to consider alternatives before she even replied with, "Dang it. That scoundrel said these would be plenty enough ta span tha distance ah needed!"
Twilight looked back at the conveyor and frowned. "A little under half what's needed? Oh, it was wordplay. You do have enough to span the distance you wanted, but a conveyor belt requires extra for the sides and underneath to function," she deduced, shaking her head in what looked like annoyance.
"That sneaky little jerk! I outta pound him into the ground!" Rainbow growled almost instantly, wings flaring up as she fluttered lightly off the ground, looking just about as pissed as I had ever seen her. Maybe more so.
Applejack motioned her back, however, smiling softly. "Ah was dun tricked completely fer this whole project, Rainbow. Still, ya don't need ta hurt anypony fer it. But thank ya. Fer everythin'. Yer ah good mare," she thanked. Rainbow plopped back down on the floor, now blushing profusely and looking awkward. I tried really hard not to laugh. She was just so adorable when embarrassed!
My mind snap-kicked me in the head, though, and I looked back at the wooden planks. Wood! "Applejack, do you happen to have any large logs of wood on hand? Or know where you can pick some up for cheap?" I asked quietly, trying not to interrupt abruptly. If I could still pull off that technique, I might be able to work with this still.
"Mender, the planks need to be exact. Sure it would be way cheaper to make our own, but it would take forever to carve them out, and if they were off in measurements by even half an inch," Twilight warned, looking back up at me, eyes softening as her brow furrowed.
Applejack looked intrigued, however, and smiled. "Ya think it's possible ta make more of 'em, Mender?"
Returning her smile, I nodded quietly. That's all that was needed, though. "Well ah think it's about time ah gave ya ah lil' trust too. Rainbow, can ya zip up ta tha loft an' drag one o' those big logs off that side?" she requested, shifting her gaze to Dash.
The pegasus perked up instantly and threw a sharp salute before zipping up and over the side of the loft in the space of a blink. I took a moment to admire her absurd speed before slipping over to the nearest pile of planks, taking one off the top with a slide of my hoof.
It was an old technique, having been in use since my race had learned basic abjuration and compression magic. Still, for what I remember of our largely scavenger engineering style towards the end, it was invaluable still. My engraved hoof brushed against the surface of the plank. The energy spread, forming an impossibly thin layer over the entire surface of the piece of wood. It was a skilled work of craftsmanship. The way it was cut indicated that it was created using some sort of form press, which made sense. Replaceable parts were fundamental for widespread use of key technologies. My magic traced each curve: the subtle tension lines cut into the surface to allow flexibility, the holes along the ends to anchor it, and even the roughness of each edge. It was easy to feel the exact dimensions and shape using the magic, and I embedded the template in my mind.
The room was dead silent as I focused, breaking the unspoken vigil only as the large log hit the dirt some four meters from me. Dash zipped down after it as I looked up again, propelling it slowly my direction by shoving it from one end. I laughed gently as she approached, holding my left hoof out and stopping the log as she came in. A wide smile adorned her face and she flopped over next to Applejack, both watching me carefully. Of course, I could almost feel Fluttershy and Twilight also staring. It was a little bit intimidating, but I pushed it out of my head and just focused on the technique.
I'd done it a thousand times before. The magic seeped into the wood, taking the precise shape of the template in my mind from the tip of the log. Each edge took focus and an exercise of will, but the results were amazing. With one plank of wood lined up with faint magic in the log, I started to duplicate it right next to the other one, the top surface of the first forming the bottom of the next. It had gone unsaid that I wasn't to waste any space inside of the log. That just wouldn't do. After the second duplicate was completed, the third was started. Then the fourth. Finally, I managed to get six copies of the plank to line up back to back inside of the log, and smiled.
Applejack and Rainbow wore an unsure look by then. Nothing was visually happening, so they were probably wondering what was going on. Twilight's eyes were glued to the log, however, her horn glowing softly as she no doubt watched the magic curiously. Fluttershy instead stared at me, which I found to be more than a little unnerving. I pushed down the blush and shifted all of the lines inside of the log into a barrier, not unlike the type I used to make my blade. This was my specialization, after all. Sure, I might be skilled at spatial manipulation and abjuration, but barriers were my true talent.
The top of the board that I was in contact with made a sharp hissing noise, no doubt the result of the sudden burst of friction caused by the shield slicing through it effortlessly. A burst of smoke raised up as the log jerked lightly, causing all four mares to jump back. I smiled, however, watching bits of wood fall away from the end I was holding. Shifting the shields, I slid out six pristinely carved wooden plates, exactly like the one I had scanned. I doubted I could make any more of them out of what was left of the log; at least not without some serious structural integrity loss.
Twilight made a squeaking noise, eyes widening as she watched me pull the plates out. Applejack seemed less surprised and just smiled warmly, nodding to me. The backlash hit a moment later, causing me to exhale quietly. That wasn’t too big of a job, but I was well out of shape, magic-wise. It reminded me that I had a long way to go before I was back to my old self, which was more than a little annoying. The wave of fatigue draped over me like a shawl.
“Well, ah’ll be! That’s mighty useful there, Mender. If ah can get ya more pieces o’ tree like that, ya can make me tha rest o’ tha parts?” she questioned, visibly relaxing and looking like a sudden great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
Smiling contently, I nodded to her, trying my best to ignore the light headache forming at the thought of more of the same. This was going to be a long day, I had a sneaking suspicion.
“That’s amazing, Mender. Doesn’t it take a tremendous amount of focus to do that, though? Aren’t you tired?” Twilight asked, sounding a little shocked still.
I swallowed weakly and purposefully avoided the lavender unicorn’s gaze. “Ah, well it does require quite a bit of focus, but I should be fine. Barrier magic is my specialty,” I tried to assure, hoping to not let show my own apprehension of the task. Applejack stared hard at me for several seconds, emerald eyes dragging over my features and seemingly staring into my very soul. I resisted shuddering. "Ah have ah sneakin' suspicion that yer lyin' ta us. But ah need them parts fer the machinery. Yer not gonna be able ta get away with not gettin' paid fer this anymore if'in it's that much work," she warned, eyes narrowing towards me.
"Just don't push yourself, Mender. I'll keep following the directions you gave us while you work on making the parts," Twilight assured, nodding to me before turning to the elevated platform we had finished.
"Why don't you do it, Twi? You're, like, crazy powerful with your magic, aren't you?" Rainbow asked curiously, bobbing through the air after the lavender unicorn as she walked.
I bit my tongue, trying not to let the frustration that question caused get to me. I wanted to be able to help them somehow! "I can't make precise copies like he can. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible until he actually did it. I could cut out the pieces a lot faster and not get tired, but they wouldn't be all that detailed and we probably couldn't use most of them," she explained in a rather neutral manner. It bugged me when I couldn't even guess what she was thinking. Was she upset about it?
Deciding not to take any risks, I offered, "I could probably show you the techniques needed. You could do it a lot better than me, and Applejack needs these parts."
"Mender, yer goin' awfully far fer mah sake," Applejack muttered softly behind me. I swallowed quietly, but didn't turn around. Twilight didn't either and I watched her head slowly lower, her gaze shifting to the floor instead. I still couldn't see her face, and had no idea what she was feeling.
Fluttershy walked past me slowly and placed a hoof gently on Twilight's shoulder upon coming up beside her. "You don't have to tell us, but, um, are you okay?" she asked quietly.
"It's nothing, Fluttershy. Let's just focus on getting as much of this project done as possible before tonight," she spoke gently, finally looking over at her yellow and pink friend. Her eyes looked dull, giving a distinct sense of being sad. Frowning, I watched her turn back around and walk the rest of the way to the platform.
A glance back at Applejack and Rainbow showed that they looked as confused as I felt. Dash gave me a weak shrug a moment later, and I sighed. I guess I'll just have to talk to her about it later. In no small amount of frustration, I swatted the pile of planks I had just made. The top one whipped up from the force of the blow, lightly skipping off the side of my head...