Fluttershy let out a weak crying noise as she tried to yank her hoof back, away from the rock’s surface. Much to my shock, the rock came with her however, stretching out like some sort of organic ooze. Its texture warped and twisted as it stretched out, the large number three drifting down the newly formed tentacle as if it were a stream, somehow staying in the same shape. She flailed her hoof around violently while trying to back away further, but apparently reaching the limit of how far it could stretch, it held her in place.
"C-cold! It-It's cold!" she exclaimed, in full panic now.
There really wasn't a decision made, formally. A primal part of my mind decided she shouldn't be hurt. It's kind of unfair for something to suggest that and then offer no real method to achieve it. I went with option one. Probably idiotically, I lunged onto the cord of rock that was connected to the yellow pegasus before anypony else seemingly processed what was happening fully. There was a loud snapping noise as the elastic tension in the cord was overwhelmed and it tore away from her hoof. Of course, it was now strung across my chest in a long line. Okay, yeah. That was rather stupid of me.
Fluttershy stared in shock at her right forehoof and my eyes widened as I saw darkened veins extending partly up her leg. What the hell were these things?! That's when I felt the chilly numbness seep into my chest. Glancing down, I saw the ribbon of malformed rock slowly sink into my chest, dark veins extending out on all sides of it.
"Hold on!" Rainbow Dash shouted, suddenly colliding with my back. I had no other choice when she hooked her forelegs underneath mine and yanked me forwards off the ground. We spun in midair and slammed into the limit of the cord, not unlike a kite. It felt like a frozen line of fishhooks was anchoring me and I screamed in pain, jerking stiffly against Rainbow.
Twilight snapped out of her shocked stare and rapidly looked around her. Spotting the fallen shovel, she snagged hold of most of the handle with a purple aura and lifted it a good three meters into the air. Rainbow Dash struggled to pull me further from the rock at the same time. Wait, how was the rock on the other end not getting yanked with us? It probably only weighed a half dozen pounds or so! Possibly the second rash decision of the day, Twilight let out a sharp scream as her horn flared with a purple light. A split second later, the shovel whipped downwards at high velocity, faster than I could follow. A new fear and respect for the lavender unicorn passed through me. The shovel stabbed through the warped rock as if it were butter, sending a shower of sparks in every direction.
Wait, if the line was elastic, wasn't it going to..? Snap! A few pounds of weight collided with my chest and Rainbow Dash suddenly found herself with no resistance whatsoever. We were violently launched backwards through the air and she spiraled, attempting to right herself as we fell towards the treetops. She managed to correct our position but the angle of descent was too steep and we dipped below the canopy level. My lungs felt like a block of ice and I couldn't manage to breathe in anymore. Darkness danced at the edges of my vision as I weakly watched her dodge three trees before kicking off a fourth to avoid crashing. Then we landed in the stream.
The chilly water only magnified the already cold sensation in my chest and I tried to scream out, falling on my side as I felt somepony drag me out of the water. I couldn't hear anything at all and pulled into myself, blocking out everything I didn't need. Calm down! I managed pained sips of air and felt it slowly spreading into my chest. Into me. Into? A light smile graced my lips as I activated my magic once again but on the inside this time. I'm not sure if it was the panic and stress of the situation but memories came slipping back, as if by muscle reflex. New trained techniques came back into my memories as my energy swept through my system, picking up what was damaged and what wasn't. The scan isolated the invading source from the good tissue. A defensive technique I never thought I'd have to use, as our enemies were far less subtle than that. Why take over your enemy using magic or biochemical when simply blowing them to the consistency of strawberry pudding was so much faster? I felt my body still and my heartbeat slow as the ward was erected inside of me, rapidly closing off the intrusion in the space of a heartbeat. It worked!
Getting a better look at the intruder with scans after stopping its advance, I noticed it felt like energy, not some hostile chemical. So like a spell? The skin closest to the melted rock was starting to shift away, not dissolve like it looked like at first. But shift away to where? Interestingly enough, I could still feel it, even though it technically wasn't physically present. Deciding Twilight might be better at figuring that out, I decided to just get it out of me instead. Sliding my barrier along the intruder, the magic hit my skin level and I winced, bracing myself for that familiar burning sensation. Nothing happened however and it just kept going, outside of my body now. Tiny symbols of light appeared on the surface of the rock, which was rapidly becoming a rock again. Crap! That would mean I needed to get it out of my chest as soon as possible. Breathing through a chunk of solidified minerals didn’t sound particularly easy.
Glancing up, I saw Rainbow Dash staring at the symbols now covering the outside of the 'rock' mass in shock, seeming unsure of what to do. "Rainbow. Help me pull it out," I wheezed, unable to fully inhale.
"W-What?! But it will," she started to protest. No, my barrier would hold and protect her. It had to.
I shook my head weakly, trying not to spasm as the rock hardened in consistency further. "Trust me," I managed to whisper.
Her eyes softened and she nodded once before lunging. She surprised me completely by grabbing the putty-like stone with her teeth instead, in a large glob, and yanking backwards with all four legs and her wings. I was almost pulled off my hooves, but managed to dig in and pull in the other direction. She was unbelievably stronger than me and I slowly started sliding across the loose dirt next to the stream, the stone in my chest barely coming out an inch. Damn it! Pain started to wash through me and I shook back and forth, pushing on the inside with my barriers.
This wasn't going to work, was it? I thought about how decidedly stupid I had been to tackle the thing. Too much of its mass was inside of me now. My legs started to weaken as I ran out of oxygen to send to them. Rainbow looked frantic, pulling even harder. I didn't know what more I could do.
Then it felt like a brick wall slammed into me. My eyes widened as my entire body became lit up with a purple glow that violently shoved me backwards. Twilight Sparkle rounded the corner into the clearing at full speed, horn radiating energy as her teeth clenched. Dash grinned into the stone as she saw the energy and yanked backwards with way more force than I could match. She’d been holding back?!
Slowly, the rock started to pull out. Twilight skidded past Rainbow, being followed by Fluttershy and Rarity. Rarity's horn lit up as well, and I saw the stone around Dash's mouth start to glow with a light blue color. The pulling force effectively doubled as Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around my waist from behind and started pulling backwards with her wings.
The rock pulled out most of the way, leaving just the original tendril in my chest. I winced as I started to physically feel it inside me. It needed to be out of me, now preferably. Otherwise it might take a bit more of me with it than intended. Twilight hesitated, and then swallowed nervously before blushing and pushing the flat of her horn into my forehead. My eyes widened, seeing her right one from less than an inch away, cheek to cheek. I wasn't sure what she was doing until I felt the explosion of energy dance into my mind. I gasped as I was pulled inwards again and felt a pure image of Twilight smile and nod at me.
"I thought you'd count as a unicorn for this technique. I'm going to connect my power into your magic and help you with the barrier. I don't know how to use your spell, so you direct us," she spoke gently, directly into my thoughts. I suddenly realized I had no idea how to 'speak' back.
Her energy flowed like a waterfall all around me. I hadn't really comprehended how powerful Twilight was before now. If I possessed roughly a bucket of power, she was more akin to a lake! It was overwhelming, yet felt so much like well, her. I felt the flush enter my cheeks outside on my body, but I couldn't shake the feeling, starting to get giddy suddenly.
"Mender, please! Focus," she pleaded, causing me to shudder. I fought through the liquid pool of heat my mind was becoming and shifted my attention down to the barriers my magic had made. She noticed them the instant I pushed on them a little and watched me carefully. There was a sense of extreme curiosity and she watched as I activated the pushing effect again. Seemingly understanding, I felt a gentle nod and all of the energy rushed towards the barrier like a tsunami. My eyes widened as I was washed out of the way, flailing.
The popping noise was very audible. Rainbow Dash smashed into Rarity, who stumbled but caught her. She immediately spat the large rock out of her mouth and sent it hurtling into a tree to my left with a kick of her hind leg. I landed on Fluttershy, who tipped over with me, causing both of us to land in the stream. Struggling to stand and get my weight off her, we both splashed onto the bank a few seconds later, her shivering and me trying to hack up my newly liberated lungs. Twilight rushed over, looking terrified and slid into range before carefully feeling along my chest, testing each rib. "Are you alright?" she asked gently. I saw her hoof shaking a little. Rarity and Rainbow Dash slowly walked over after her, both looking tired. Although I don't know why Rarity was, having been 'resting' for the past forty minutes.
I nodded weakly to Twilight, smiling at her momentarily before coughing again. My lungs felt raw. I wondered how much internal damage there was. My magic was too low to run a scan at this point. Chances are, as it hadn't solidified in me, I'd just have some bruising and chest pain for a few days. Hopefully. "I'll be all right. Although I think Fluttershy and I should stay away from streams from now on. How's the hoof?" I asked, turning and smiling softly at the drenched yellow pegasus who just helped save me. Twilight snapped to attention, seemingly remembering Fluttershy's hoof when I said something. Both of us looked down at the bruised appendage as she sat there, shaking. The veins had gone down considerably and it looked like only a few blood vessels burst. She was going to be fine. She couldn't seem to stop shivering, however. I frowned, looking back up into her face and noticed she looked like she was about to cry.
"Th-Thank y-you! Y-You saved me," she stuttered out, hiccupping lightly before performing a gentle pounce. Getting knocked over, we both fell into Twilight instead. Blushing, I did my best to reassuringly hug her now crying form as Twilight smiled sympathetically at her. Think platonic thoughts, Mender!
"I don't blame her. That was kind of scary," Twilight added, hugging Fluttershy around me. Scary? That didn't even begin to describe it. What were those things? I don't think they were quite what they looked like. They had something to do with my arrival here, I had a sneaking suspicion.
Rarity snickered politely. Rainbow grinned however and pounced on Fluttershy from the other direction, squishing her between the three of us. She looked up from my shoulder, and smiled at both Twilight and Rainbow, sniffing and trying to wipe her eyes. "Thank you. Everypony," she thanked, blushing and seemingly unable to stop crying. Rarity gently sat down next to Twilight, and pulled out a handkerchief, using it to wipe Fluttershy's eyes.
A twinge went through me as I suddenly felt warm and content again. Maybe Twilight was right. Friendship, huh? "Something tells me those aren't exactly rocks," the purple unicorn in question muttered sarcastically, a few seconds later.
* * * * *
Today wasn't a good day for keeping secrets, that's for sure. We had pooled our picnic resources after getting back to the crater. Spike was just waking up, yawning and looking around as we walked into the clearing. He freaked out at first as to why he was alone when he awoke but was rapidly placated at the sight of Rarity, apparently. It didn't take a master of psychology or behaviorisms to note the massive infatuation he had over her. A pity it appeared to be largely one-sided, as Rarity smiled politely at him before settling down on the half couch once again.
Regardless, I knew what was coming before we'd even reached the crater site. Settling down in a vague semblance of a circle, we all got onto the large blanket. It was 'Grill the Alien' time, I'd guessed. Hopefully that wasn’t in a literal sense. Rarity was almost opposite of me, and Rainbow Dash fluttered once before flopping next to her at the base of the couch with a light roll. She came out of it with a smirk and tucked up, looking oddly comfortable, rainbow mane spread wildly. Fluttershy descended much more gently and landed off to my left, a few feet from me, before tucking herself up politely. Her legs crossed gently in the back, as she slid onto her side and gave me a shy smile.
Dragging my eyes, barely, away from her, I glanced to my right when something gently bumped into me. A light flush appeared across my cheeks as Twilight's rump was momentarily pointed in my direction as she rotated once. Completing her turn, she settled down directly to my right, barely an inch from me much to my surprise. Of course, she'd been giving me concerned looks the entire way back so I had this sneaking suspicion it was to keep a close eye on me. Her notebook was out an instant later and she flipped over the freshly taken notes.
"All right, enough small talk," Rainbow Dash declared, looking over at me instantly, eyes energetically dancing, and a smirk spreading across her face.
"Uh, nopony was talking, Dash," Fluttershy started to point out.
She was silenced when Rainbow raised a hoof to her and nodded. "Don't get technical. Spill it, Moon Mender. You know weird magic and seem to have something to do with those rocks," she ordered, staring right at me.
"Relax, Rainbow. It's up to him in how much he wants to say," Twilight reminded, not looking up from her notes.
Fluttershy nodded politely in agreement, adding, "Yes, v-very much so. Just tell us what you f-feel comfortable with."
I smiled over at her, and tried to fight back another blush. She was so kind, it was difficult not to like her. Nodding as well, I turned back to look at the center of the blanket. "You all deserve an explanation after all that, as you probably saved my life," I accepted, frowning slightly.
Spike slid into the center of the blanket with both baskets and started carefully unpacking lunch as I started in with an extended version of the story. They'd all heard most of it, minus the not so normal parts, so I was able to skip over quite a bit. Rarity listened with interest, already knowing that I wasn't a native but still apparently curious as to the specifics. Fluttershy also listened politely, but her eyes slowly kept getting larger and larger as she became more and more attentive. Rainbow Dash looked skeptical at best for the first half of the story and it wasn't until Twilight started confirming and explaining the things in her notes about my memory that she started to actually look surprised. Much to my horror, her surprise shifted steadily to a rabid excitement the longer I droned on.
I skipped most of the gory details in my memory and just covered the basics. What I knew of my old world, what I remembered, my pathetic level of magic, and my profession I thought I had been. It was a lot easier and shorter to give them what I did remember, rather than what I did not. Spike finished laying out a very delicious looking picnic lunch by the time I concluded the story and I had to admit that the diet was starting to grow on me. This body was more akin to a temple with how I took care of it now and it felt pretty good. Of course, given that comparison, I had a sneaking suspicion that if this body was a temple, my old one was a run down, one bedroom half bath apartment in the seedy neighborhood. Military MRE's were probably some of the healthiest I ate.
"For real? You're a dimensional traveler?" Rainbow Dash asked after a few seconds, sparkles almost dancing in her eyes as she grinned at me. Spike held back a snicker as he rapidly started putting a sandwich together.
"Really? Were you listening at all, Rainbow?" Twilight asked bluntly, with a hint of dripping snarky undertone. Fluttershy moved up closer to the food and started gently putting together a salad of some sorts, mindful of her bruised hoof. Her surprise seemed to have faded and she was oddly accepting, for some reason.
I sighed weakly, wishing I could find somewhere to curl up and hide. "It's not that special. Where I'm from doesn't exist anymore and wasn't the most pleasant place prior, anyway. I just want to stay here," I muttered, frowning as I considered it. Yeah, this place was infinitely better, no doubt at all.
"That's not a bad thing, right? I-I mean, you're perfectly welcome here and if where you're from is well, such a b-bad place, then it's a really easy choice," Fluttershy agreed quietly, smiling timidly at me as if to try to cheer me up.
Chuckling, I nodded reassuringly to her, glad she was talking to me again. "I agree fully. But I doubt I have much choice in the matter. Not that I'm complaining," I added, snickering to myself.
"That's simply nonsense! We have Twilight here, a very accomplished user of magic. If anypony short of the Princesses can send you back, it's her," Rarity assured, sounding quite proud of Twilight. Was she not listening to the 'no longer existing' part? Well, I had glazed over it a little. Maybe they thought I was speaking metaphorically?
Twilight gave a timid blush and shook her head. "I well, thank you for the vote of confidence, but I um, don't think that's workable," she explained quietly, frowning. Nice wording. She floated several sandwich ingredients up with her horn, and started rapidly assembling them. I idly wondered why Rarity hadn't done the same, yet, but decided I was getting off track. I'd simply wanted to spare them the details but I had a distinct desire suddenly to spare Twilight's reputation instead.
"She's probably fully capable of sending me back. From what I've seen, she's got an awe inspiring amount of power inside of her and a brilliant mind for magic to boot. She's not the problem," I spoke up, trying to redirect them before anypony else questioned her. Twilight looked surprised and I saw a soft pink tint to her cheeks form. Rainbow seemed to be losing interest and tackled one of the chip bags.
"Then what is?" Fluttershy asked quietly, a sudden hint of concern in her voice. She momentarily ceased salad preparation.
Spike snickered, eyeing up one of the sandwiches before looking up. "He doesn't have a home to go back to, like he said. Those big, mean baddies blew up the whole planet!" he exclaimed, with a certain oddly placed level of excitement. He emphasized the blowing up part with his arms extending out dramatically, and a 'woosh' noise.
"Spike!" Twilight scolded, glaring up at him over her notes. Fluttershy let out a stifled gasping noise to my left and scooted closer with a flap of her wings. I winced as I saw her salad bowl rock, but relaxed as it stabilized.
"That's terrible. I'm so s-sorry. I don't even k-know what to say t-to such a horrible thing. How are you c-coping?" she asked, looking more worried than I'd seen her before. The question caught me off guard, and I frowned.
Rainbow made a sighing motion and shook her head slowly. "I didn't realize anypony could be so cruel. That's just, well, evil," she agreed, sounding a bit disenchanted to the topic. She seemed to take it out on the paper chip bag, utterly destroying the top of it to get at the crunchy goodness inside.
Evil? They were monsters of hatred, given flesh. They wanted to exterminate all life that wasn't them and from what I recalled, had done just that for a hundred thousand years before we even saw our planet from orbit. We were totally outclassed from the start. But how was I coping? The concept was totally foreign to me. Nobody had said I could stop moving long enough to mourn before now. How did one get over the loss of their entire species? I was all that was left and I was now a pony. That meant my species was extinct now, right?
The question was inescapable and felt entirely too large for me to manage. What now? I was in a new place, a new body, and had nothing else. My head spun as I suddenly felt very small and alone.
"Um, are you alright, Mender?" Fluttershy asked quietly, looking up at me at an angle, peeking under my lowered head.
I snapped out of it with a start, and sighed. "Sorry. Sometimes I just feel a tad lost. And very small," I apologized, looking back at the center of the blanket. And zone out a lot, but that much was obvious.
"Hey, anypony here would if they were dumped in a new place, in a new form, with nothing to their name," Rainbow concurred, giving an 'assuring' nod. She then offered me a chip.
"Not helping, Dash," Twilight groaned, shaking her head next to me. The blue pegasus shot her an annoyed scowl before retracting the offered chip and violently crushing it in her mouth.
"Well, she's right. You ponies have been really helpful so far. Without you," I interrupted, realizing it fully, finally. I owed everypony here quite a debt. But they said they were my friends. Does that mean I pay them back with friendship, then?
Fluttershy giggled lightly, and shook her head. "You're a kind stallion and a good friend, right? We're happy to help," she assured. Her wing gently extended on her left side, and I was momentarily mesmerized in watching her scoop up her salad bowl with it and move it in front of her.
Twilight nodded in agreement next to me, snapping me out of it. "She's right. Friendship has well, taught me a lot since I came here. Some things either are a lot harder, or aren't possible at all without it," she added. Her attention shifted back to the sandwich in front of her and she took a greedy bite. Regardless, I suddenly got the impression that things with the Elements of Harmony were a bit more complex than I realized. Nurse Redheart had made it sound like a sort of storybook fantasy.
Both Rarity and Rainbow Dash perked up, nodding towards me. Kindness, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic were present. I suddenly felt a little awkward. Weren't these mares heroines? I was just a lone newcomer. The only thing different from me was my history and penchant for incredibly bad luck, it seemed.
"I think I'm going to need to find work soon," I muttered absently, frowning, before adding, "To be less of a burden on everypony, anyway."
Fluttershy looked perplexed but Twilight seemingly followed my cognitive jump. "You're still worried about room and board, aren't you?" she asked softly, resting her head on her legs and looking up at me, her sandwich re-adjusting to her new position. All of this food was theirs too, now that I thought about it.
There was definitely no denying it. "I deeply appreciate all of your help but I feel terrible with all of the attention. I mean, you're the Elements of Harmony and I'm just a newcomer here," I admitted, feeling minutely better for getting it out, but still insecure.
I wonder where it came from. It had bothered me at first but now I barely noticed it. I was slowly developing personality traits over the time I spent here. For example, I now knew for a fact that I was incredibly uncomfortable with accepting generosity. Coupled with incredible bad luck, my tendency to jump to conclusions, and my annoying habit of acting before I thought something through, and I seemed to be rapidly setting myself up for disaster. I wondered how accurate I was to my pre-amnesia self?
There was silence for a little bit before Twilight finally sighed. "We don't think we're all that special, really," she explained, and I could almost see her mulling words over in her head.
"Well, Twilight's awesome with magic and I'm totally the best flier in Equestria, so in a way, you are pretty lucky," Rainbow Dash interrupted, winking playfully, but causing me to flinch and bury my muzzle in my front legs. Her grin switched to a puzzled look.
Rarity gave her a scornful look. "While I admit to being quite capable of designing simply fabulous outfits, I think what Twilight is actually trying to imply is that we don't look down upon less fortunate," she started. She seemed to realize what she was saying and trailed off, covering her mouth lightly with her right forehoof. Well I was definitely less fortunate, regardless of her desire to be diplomatic.
"Oh, for crying out loud," Twilight muttered, lightly slapping her forehead beneath her horn.
"I um, that didn't come out right. Dreadfully sorry," Rarity apologized, giving a soft, yet mortified look.
Fluttershy giggled at my expression and I buried my entire face instead. Ug. "Relax. What they meant was, you're our friend, honest and t-true. We met by pure chance and e-each of us um, l-likes you for their own reasons," she enlightened. I felt two gentle hooves, one on each shoulder, giving me a soft, encouraging massage. I was then distinctly aware of how sore and knotted my shoulders were.
I peeked out of my hiding spot, but was surprised to find only one of Fluttershy's hooves so occupied. That meant... Glancing to my right as well, I saw Twilight also smiling gently at me, gently massaging my shoulder. "She's right. We're not perfect. We all have wants and wishes. If you paid attention, you might notice some ponies are taking as much away from interactions with you as you think you receive," she reasoned, gesturing towards her notes with her right, unused hoof. Her sandwich drifted, seemingly momentarily forgotten.
Huh? Oh, yeah. She studied magic, and as I caused quite an anomaly when I arrived, of course she stood to benefit from the new data.
Rarity scoffed and I started, looking back towards her. "Surely you value his conversational etiquette as well! He's very polite and truly honest in discussion. Simply a pleasure to converse with," she added, earning a sudden blush.
"Wasn't he just 'beneath' you?" Rainbow asked dryly, giving her a scrutinizing stare. Was Rarity trying to save face, then? That had sounded a little too over the top.
"Well I never! You were the one who made the poor fellow feel terrible over his lack of wings or a horn," she shot back instantly, starting a glaring duel.
Fluttershy gasped quietly at their antics and tried to interrupt with, "But Earth ponies are really strong and hearty. Tha-That's special too!" Sadly, she was so quiet, I doubt they heard her. Not that I had the 'strong' or 'hearty' thing going for me either.
"Maybe my special talent is bad luck," I mused, snickering to myself quietly. What would that look like as a cutie mark?
"Oh please. You made it sound like a bad thing when it's totally awesome and you know it. I wasn't trying to hurt his feelings," Dash bickered back.
Rarity didn't look amused. "Well, it's hardly awesome for him!" she returned. I winced again. It was true, though. But I didn't really feel the need to be like them, so much as simply be useful.
My mind wandered back to Twilight's comment earlier. I had a want too, didn't I? My memories. The more I could get back, the better. I might not like the pony, er, person I was back then, but the knowledge would be nice. Even if I didn't like my old me, it wasn't like just knowing about it would turn me into him, right?
"Girls! Knock it off! We still need to figure out what to do with the rocks," Twilight suddenly shouted over the two of them, causing me to almost pee myself, being right next to her. She angrily took another chomp on her sandwich after. Fluttershy nibbled politely at her salad as well, watching the two friends bicker.
Rainbow and Rarity glared at each other for a long moment, before the latter broke away and looked back over at Twilight. "Could we not simply bury them again?" she offered, flipping her well-styled purple mane back again, as if shaking away the previous anger. Spike further disarmed the irritated look by regally offering the sandwich he finished preparing to her. She gracefully nodded towards him before accepting it.
"Oh no! The worms or bugs might get hurt if they touched them," Fluttershy protested, looking worried and interrupting her munching.
"She's right. Other ponies might find them too and they'd have no defenses," Twilight agreed, thoroughly shooting down the idea.
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and huffed out, "I say Mender puts those symbol thingies on them, then I Rainboom them into orbit!" She emphasized the point by launching a chip almost straight up, before catching it with her mouth.
I chuckled at the mental images, but shook my head. "That would only work if I touched them again. My magic is stuck inside of me," I informed.
"Stuck?" Fluttershy asked politely from my left, resuming her dainty eating.
"He doesn't have a horn to channel it outside his body with. I wish I knew those spells," the lavender unicorn to my right added before I could reply.
I raised an eyebrow to her. "Didn't you see how from my memory?" I questioned, distinctly recalling her blundering upon all of the symbols I had used. Now I'm happy she did!
"No, they're your memories. It was like trying to read a book while the wind blows my pages along for me. You have them memorized," she explained, after swallowing the bite I caught her in the middle of.
I thought about it for a moment. "Well you could take another peek, if you wanted," I offered, secretly hoping she'd agree. She'd get more data and I'd get more memories back. It was win-win for both of us.
Twilight looked honestly surprised for a few moments before smiling. "After what happened the first time, you'd let me try again?" she asked, sounding unsure.
Rarity interrupted my gentle nodding with, "The first time?" Twilight acquired a faint blush and glanced over at her now gracefully smiling, if not somewhat knowing expression.
"I might have been a bit eager to try out the new magic. There were memories I shouldn't have touched upon, which really should have been left to his privacy. And I shouldn't have been so forceful or invasive. Oh, and I should have explained it more before getting started. And of course," she started. Like a slow motion train wreck, I watched her explanation derail and slide downhill into a mortified lamentation of sorts.
"Twilight, stop it. It's all right," I affirmed, this time placing a hoof on her shoulder, instead.
Rainbow surprised me by letting out a saucy giggle. "Ooh, the good stuff! What'd ya find?" she asked eagerly, grinning. I thought I was getting pretty used to blushing, but her entirely unabashed question threw me for a loop.
"Dash!" Twilight berated, and I watched Fluttershy shift pink a little. Hmm. As much as I faulted her bluntness, she had indeed defused Twilight's self-loathing. I wondered how much of it she did on purpose.
Rarity snickered softly in amusement, though. "While I abhor her wording, I must say that a few details might be permissible, no?" she suggested calmly, taking another small bite of her sandwich. She, on the other hoof, was obviously just curious. I swallowed weakly and glanced back at Twilight for support. She stared agape at Rarity instead.
"Um, d-did you l-like somepony uh, back in y-your old dimension?" Fluttershy asked in a shaky, unsure voice. I froze and slowly turned to look at her, horrified. Not her too! Letting out a squeak, she momentarily looked mortified before covering her mouth and going scarlet. "Oh! Oh, dear. I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean to m-make you uncomfortable. You don't have to tell us an-anything, if you don't want," she rapidly apologized, voice fading fast until I wasn't sure if she was still talking.
Sighing, I shook my head weakly, losing my blush somewhat. "I guess there's not much to hide, really. From what we've gathered, my world had an extreme gender ratio. I don't believe I had actually seen a female before coming here," I explained quietly.
All three mares looked surprised, minus Twilight of course. Rainbow, sadly, recovered fastest. She smirked and nodded towards me. "I'm surprised you realized we were female at all, then. The whole pony thing, tossed in," she remarked, sounding amused, slowly biting down on a chip, almost as emphasis as she remained eye locked with me.
"Ah, well um, I didn't at first, but I'm not naïve. Uh," I muttered, blushing yet again. I tried really hard not to look at Fluttershy. Now that's something I definitely didn't want to have to explain!
Rainbow snickered and looked absolutely impish. "Ooh, it makes sense, then," she agreed.
I was unsure if I wanted to know but curiosity got the better of me and I asked, "What does?"
"You ogling Twi's flank as she turned," she answered simply, giving me a wink. Yup, definitely shouldn't have asked.
"What?!" Twilight exclaimed, shifting bright crimson and looking over towards me with an utterly shocked expression, her sandwich falling out of the air.
I did my best to bury my head in my forelegs.
"Um, you really shouldn't, well, turn like that in front of him. It's n-not polite in the f-first place," Fluttershy spoke up, in the closest I'd heard to a stern voice from her.
"Er, huh? Wait, is she telling the t-truth? But," Twilight started stuttering in confusion, sounding extremely flustered from my hidden position.
A light nuzzling sensation occurred to my left shoulder suddenly and I shuddered, trying my hardest not to freak out and run away. "Shh. Its okay, M-Mender. It's not your f-fault she showed you t-that," Fluttershy assured in a shaken, but soothing voice.
"Hey! I didn't intentionally show him anything!" Twilight denied, suddenly sounding a little miffed.
Rainbow laughed almost continuously through the exchange, rolling around at the base of the couch when I peeked out. "This is hilarious! You should chill a little. Just take it as a compliment, Twi," she suggested, grinning mirthfully.
"A compliment?! That he wants to, ug! Do things with me?!" she asked, looking somewhat disturbed. A metaphorical boulder ran me over about then and I went back into hiding, wishing somepony would mercy kill me. Okay, so feelings for other ponies weren’t working out very well in this dimension. About as well as modesty and self-esteem it seems.
"Well yeah! I mean, you can't all have smokin' hot bodies like mine," Rainbow teased, sounding deeply amused, but I definitely picked up the joking tone. Let's hope Twilight did.
Fluttershy let out a tired sighing noise and I heard nothing at all from Twilight, which struck me as a bad sign.
"Relax, girls. We're letting this get out of hoof. Surely, he meant no harm by it. And you shouldn't tease him either unless you mean to act upon it, Rainbow," Rarity chastised.
Dash looked momentarily shocked and I tried to keep the weak chuckle in. She thought I was gross and already had her sights set on somepony else. No need to worry there. Filtering it, I added, "She thinks I'm gross. No need to worry about teasing me, Rarity."
"Hey! You're not gross. You know I just have my sights set on, uh," Rainbow started before trailed off. Her cheeks suddenly lit up and she glanced over at Rarity, who gave her a raised eyebrow in return. Well I had tried to spare her. She was just lucky Rarity hadn’t seen her earlier display. If she was already out here, the cloud bank that blocked it from Ponyville and Sweet Apple Acres wouldn’t have helped much.
There was a long moment's hesitation as I saw Dash visibly start to fluster. "Oh, will you look at the time. I have weather duties to do. Sorry! Gotta fly!" she spewed out rapidly a few seconds later.
"Wait," was all Rarity got out before she shot off into the sky, faster than the eye could follow. Several seconds passed, then a half consumed chip bag landed on my head with a quiet rustling sound. I sighed. At least it wasn't apples...