//------------------------------// // Chapter 33 // Story: Forgiveness Pending // by Kiroberos //------------------------------// Carefully, I shifted my weight to properly balance myself. After a bit of concentration, I took another light step forward, putting light pressure on my left foreleg. It held, if a little shaky. A slight ache shifted through it in protest as I stepped past it and took another step. My wires and tubes followed as I slid the pole along with me. My back legs had made a full recovery at this point, thankfully, between the unicorn magic and my own brand of regeneration. My side was still a little tender, however. The doctor looked me over this morning and said that the ribs were healed but there was still some lung and muscle damage. Applejack has one hell of a kick! The rhythmic beating of the electrocardiogram lulled me as I edged closer to the other side of the room. I don't know why they still had me hooked up to one anyway. I was stabilized and there was nothing wrong with my heart. Sighing, I tried to remain focused as I touched against the opposite wall. A little burst of joy went off inside of me at my minor but encouraging victory. Of course, technically I wasn't supposed to be out of bed yet but nopony was around and I wanted to get on my legs again as soon as possible. Pinkie was lucky she got the all clear this morning! Being stuck in one spot for days at a time sucked. It was a good thing, though. My status reports fired off this morning informing me that I'd reached the limit of sheer 'regeneration' for my leg. It was as repaired as I could force it to be, which meant that the only thing lacking was the muscles. It of course gave me the suggestion of just supplementing the growth with the mass inside of me to recover almost instantly, but I'd refused that. It wasn't my mass to make that decision with in the first place. But if I ever wanted to use my left foreleg again for walking, I needed to exercise it. The mental distraction while turning around proved to be a mistake. I put too much weight down on the leg and winced, feeling it go limp as I tipped. I stumbled against the wall before slipping sideways from my body's weight and momentum. My armor flickered into place just before my head hit the floor, jarring me but doing very little in the way of pain or damage until I landed on the leg in question. I gasped sharply, inhaling rapidly afterwards as the pain flared up along my leg and I bit back choice expletives. I felt a tearing as I hit and for a moment, I froze as I heard the electrocardiogram flat line. A second passed and I realized I still felt totally fine. Well, apart from the agonizing throbs coming from my left foreleg, of course. Shifting myself rather uselessly along the floor, I managed to prop myself up against the wall and tuck my foreleg up, cradling it to my body. My other foreleg was shaking as I held it, partly out of pain and also out of disgust with my current state. This was pathetic, even for my standards. My ears perked as I heard scrambling coming from down the hall. Oh, wait. That machine probably wasn't hooked up to just me. Looking around, I noticed the wires coming from the machine lying on the floor a good meter from me. That must have been the ripping sensation. Oops. I tried to reach for them, but realized that I was probably busted at this point. Nurse Redheart practically took the door off its hinges as she skidded in, large defibrillator in her mouth. Her panicked eyes locked onto me for a split second before confusion took over instead. I gave her a sheepish smile, caught in the middle of trying to get the sticky things back on my chest in the right spots. A look of dawning realization mixed with relief set in as she set the defibrillator down and shot me a skeptical, annoyed glare. Oops? The guard looked past her from the doorway, looking both confused and mildly concerned as I heard more commotion from down the hallway. The nurse turned and stuck her head back out the door before shouting, "False Alarm!" Yelps resounded, along with a series of orders being barked as the commotion settled a little. She turned back around and gave me a stern look instead, however. "You're not supposed to be up and about yet, Mender. You fell, didn't you?" she asked, walking closer to me as the guard resumed his post. More than a little embarrassed at this point that my screw up had caused such a commotion, I looked away from her while lowering my eyes. No matter what excuse I gave her, it would just sound childish. Instead, I just nodded quietly. She exhaled softly and sat down in front of me, looking at my foreleg as I held it. After a moment, she spoke up with, "I know you're probably frustrated, just as much as I know you know that to heal, you have to take it easy. I know you're not stupid, Mender, so you must be getting a little stir crazy in here." Admittedly, that wasn't what I'd been expecting to hear. I looked back up at her again, a little surprised. "I'm not going to say anything about it. Frankly, I'm amazed you made it this far. Your healing capacity is phenomenal. Do you think you're ready to start getting the muscles back?" she asked, further disrupting my idea of how a hospital should operate. I frowned before asking, "Shouldn't you be the one telling me when I'm ready to begin physical therapy?" Admittedly, what I remembered of doctors from my old world had them pretty much lording their status over you and having absolute authority over your treatment. This was a bit outlandish in comparison. "By our calculations, you shouldn't have been able to get up out of bed for another three weeks. You're so much faster with your healing that I think I'm going to ask the doctor to speed things up for you." I felt a jolt of surprise go through me and it must have shown, as she shifted to a smirk a moment later before adding, "Further, my intuition tells me that it's not just what Princess Celestia did to you." My eyes widened a little. There was no question there. She had simply stated what her guess was, so anything I said for or against it would simply give more away. That sensation of walking over a minefield came back a moment later. "Why would you say that? I'm a normal pony," I reminded, careful to answer with an inquiry rather than give anything away. Her smirk didn't lose its edge as she shook her head. "You're an earth stallion who can use magic. You heal at an alarming rate; far faster than anything I've seen before. Further, the Princess herself stations guards around the hospital grounds and right outside your room door, not just throughout Ponyville. No, if I had to guess, there's quite a bit more about you that's being kept secret," she reasoned, shrugging her shoulders lightly and closing her eyes. I saw the guard look back into the room, giving her a frown. He would have been informed of some of the dangers I represented as well, no doubt. "The guards are more for your protection than mine. If one of those individuals comes back, it's better to have the event isolated and minimize the collateral damage, isn't it?" I pointed out softly, watching her as I slowly recovered feeling along my foreleg and sat up properly. Her eyes opened again a split second later and she frowned towards me, shaking her head. "Don't lessen yourself, Mender. You have many, many ponies who care about you. You might not think it, but I consider you a friend, too, you know." Her tone was stern yet soft, which only made her words confuse me even more. A light giggle cut my thinking off, however. It was rapidly followed by, "She's right, of course. Despite being a klutz and kind of thick sometimes, you make an amazingly good impression on everypony." Twilight followed her voice into the room, rounding the doorway with a smile on her face while her horn lit up. I was gently lifted into the air and drifted over my bed again before settling down against my pillows. They fluffed themselves as I landed, and my blankets slid up against me while enveloped in a soft glow. "Good impression?" I inquired, shifting back a little as I eyed her glowing horn with a little surge of paranoia. "Rainbow was already raving about how awesome you were and how you forgave her so readily," Twilight explained, sitting down in the middle of the room as Nurse Redheart picked up the wires from my electrocardiogram. I was a bit perplexed, but my side of caution got the better of me first. "Nurse Redheart. What room was I in when I was first hospitalized here? Twilight. What's your brother's name?" I asked rapidly. I never talked about my room here, and I hadn't talked to Keela after I discovered who Shining Armor was, so both questions were safe. Twilight halted in her tracks as her eyes softened again. Nurse Redheart answered, "Room one," instantly without even looking up, however. I think that was about the eighth question I'd asked her, now that I thought about it. "Mender, you really don't have to do this every time you see me," Twilight murmured. I narrowed my eyes while watching her carefully, my back starting to stir as I readied my armor just in case. Nurse Redheart chuckled as she stepped past Twilight with the cords straightened again. "He asks everypony questions except for Fluttershy. Relax, Twilight. Now hold still, Mender. I'll get these hooked back up," she instructed before lining the sticky ends up along my chest. I gave her room to work, ready to block for her if need be at the same time. If she really considered me a friend, I didn't want her to get hurt because of me. Actually, now that I considered it, I didn't really want anypony to get hurt because of me, friend or not. The lavender unicorn sighed a moment later, finally answering, "Shining Armor. It's because of the link, isn't it?" Nurse Redheart paused, but continued hooking the wires up a moment later. I relaxed and nodded gently, assuring her of what she already guessed. "I know it's Fluttershy from that, so I don't need to ask her anything," I furthered, looking away from Twilight. Even if she didn't like it, I didn't have a choice! I couldn't risk being surprised by an ambush again. Twilight shifted her gaze towards me, expression lightening a little from her sullen tone, surprisingly. "I figured that was the case. That's why I got Fluttershy to help me with some experiments last night," she revealed, smiling again suddenly at me. Experimenting? I rose an eyebrow to her, unable to contain a light blush. Twilight's eyes expanded and she mirrored my cheek shade. "Not that kind of experimenting!" she rapidly denied, coughing and looking away from me. Nurse Redheart smirked lightly as she plugged the last of the wires back onto my chest, but wisely stayed quiet. "Hey, I can't help it! You've ruined the term forever for me," I playfully refuted, earning a smirk and eye roll. Well, it beat depressed Twilight any day, even if I had to make an idiot of myself in order to cheer her up. Nurse Redheart backed up and double-checked the output from the electrocardiogram before nodding. "Okay, you're all hooked up again, Mender. Try to keep it that way this time so you don't give us another heart attack. No pun intended. I'll leave you two alone then," she added upon smiling back at me. Twilight giggled in my stead and nodded, adding, "I'll make sure he behaves and doesn't try hurtles or anything." I rolled my eyes and settled back into my pillows giving my best grumpy face. "I'm just getting stir crazy. I want to be back on my hooves again, not locked up inside a hospital room," I explained, exhaling softly. The nurse gave me a sympathetic nod before reminding, "Like I said, I'll talk to the doctor about starting your physical therapy. That will put you one step closer to leaving." I nodded and thanked her as she excused herself. Twilight idly watched her go before smiling and turning back to me again, an excited expression dancing across her face. Uh oh. Usually that only meant a few things with Twilight. "Anyways, like I said, I got Fluttershy to help me with more experiments. I wanted to test out the connection and if it truly did anything to her," Twilight furthered, hopping up on the bed and settling into a sitting position near my back legs. I idly noted her saddlebags and wondered if she had brought something. "Did you find out anything new?" I asked, making a mental note to peek into my 'documentation' myself to see if I could find anything on them. I'd not thought to look through that folder for anything about the disks. As if having waited for me to ask that, Twilight perked and nodded in a pleased manner. "Of course! There's a faint electromagnetic signature that fires off every time she attempts to contact you via the link! I'm starting to wonder if there's not something technological about it instead of magical," she enlightened. I swallowed, suddenly nervous about her getting closer to the truth of what the links were. Of course, did I know what the links were? It was an electronic signal that went both ways between the recipient and myself. It also picked up biorhythm information and various other bodily data. Wait, how did it pick up that stuff to begin with? "But the important thing is that there are no complications with her and she's perfectly healthy! The energy given off during the communication isn't harmful at all," my fillyfriend added upon seeing me hesitate. Okay, that I at least knew how to react to. I gave her a warm smile, of course. "I'd feel horrible if it was dangerous for her, so that's a good thing. Are you going to do any more tests with her?" I inquired, if only to keep the topic expanding. Okay, maybe I was fishing for a bit more data, too. Having her stumble into the truth would be disastrous. I'd much rather tell her myself and not let her think I was holding out on her. She grinned. That bolt of uneasiness went through me again. "Nope! No need. I decided that keeping myself as a control group was doing more, well, harm than good. It took a lot of consideration, but I decided that I wanted to be trusted by you as well," she further explained, closing her eyes lightly upon finishing. I frowned as she shivered, almost appearing to draw upon some inner strength to brace herself for something. Wait, what was she talking about? "I do trust you, Twilight. Making sure you're you every time doesn't mean I trust you less. It just means that I don't trust our ability to prepare for every possibility," I tried to explain, attempting to draw blame away from anypony involved. Her eyes opened softly, a gentle shine to them as I noticed they were a bit more watery than usual. She shook her head a moment later before smiling bravely up at me, causing a lump to form in my throat. "It hurts every time you ask me. I know I don't deserve your trust, but I just want you to be comfortable around me. I think that, um, I'm ready," she assured, momentarily confusing me before her horn lit up. I raised an eyebrow, but relaxed again as I saw her bags open up instead of any strange effect or other. The relaxation was shot to hell, however, when she pulled the glowing disk out of the bag, the center of which was painted lavender with her star-shaped Cutie Mark in it. The other disks followed rapidly, and to my surprise, Rarity's and Pinkie Pie's Cutie Marks were now amidst them. "I did a bit of experimenting. Pinkie touching it with her tail registered it. Rarity touching hers with her magic also worked. It seems that anything a pony touches the disks with that personally belongs to them will work," she theorized, laying the disks out in front of me. I stared at the two that had the brightened outer rings, then frowned and gave her a questioning glance. "Why did you bring them all here? Isn't that risky to get them near me? Further, do Rarity and Pinkie Pie know you got their readings?" I questioned, my mind swimming with an uneasy miasma of inquiries and situations that could explode from this. My eyes shifted in particular to the orange one with the trio of apples. "Of course they do. Rarity suggested hers, and Pinkie Pie was ecstatic at the chance," Twilight assured, expression stoic and unwavering. She said nothing else, however, so I guessed she was thinking intently about something. A nervous swallow from her a few moments later gave me a fairly certain confirmation. I decided to wait patiently for her to continue. After a good twenty seconds, she finally sighed and looked back down at the disks, explaining, "I talked to all the girls. Most think it's a good idea and want you to complete the links. If not just for the ability to tell if we're truly us, for the emotional support whenever you need it. Fluttershy says you can contact her, quote, 'Whenever you need it in the slightest,' of course." My eyes widened during, and remained quite large after she finished revealing those tidbits. More questions and extremely bad outcomes burst forth into my head, but I remained in control as best I could. That was amazingly good advice that I had read somewhere. 'Don't Panic!' "Uh, they 'want' me to form a link with them? Further, 'most' of them wanted to?" I inquired, her choice of wording not lost to me. Most did not equal all. Twilight sighed and nodded. "You probably already guessed that Applejack said no. I still present her disk here, however, due to the reason she said no. She tried to say that you'd never want to form that sort of connection with a 'horrible monster' like her," she relayed, chuckling weakly afterwards. I snorted. It came out before I even realized the true intent of my feelings about the matter. She thought that 'she' was the monster? No. She must not have gotten my message by the time Twilight had talked to her. "I'd hoped Rainbow had talked to her already and given her my message. I want to be friends with her again," I repeated, figuring I'd already said as much but I couldn't remember. That familiar tiredness crept up again and I suddenly fought the urge to just curl up and take a nap. I guess regenerating body parts really did take a lot out of me. This was easily the fourth time I distinctively had thoughts such as that. "I know. She just needs to forgive herself a little bit first. She'll come around, I'm sure. I'll try to talk to her if she's not better in a few days. I brought her disk anyway in the meantime, if you wanted," she muttered, nudging the incomplete disks towards me again. My eyes shifted to hers and I frowned, looking back up at her questioningly. She looked away in an instant, and I had the sneaking suspicion she wasn't as ready for this as she led me to believe. "Are any of the girls really ready for this? We don't even know the full extent of the capabilities of the links. I don't think any of you are thinking it through properly. You do realize I can't remove them, right?" I asked skeptically, suddenly more than a little paranoid. It was the truth. I had explored most of the options revolving around the two links I already had. They were called 'absolute' links for a reason, and there was no option to remove them. When I tried to 'uninstall' Rainbow's, it specifically warned me that the link was permanent and couldn't be disabled from either end. "The only two I'd worry about being unsure of it is Rarity and Applejack. Pinkie almost jumped down my throat at the opportunity, and I know I can speak for myself," she explained, still not looking at me. Sighing, I shook my head gently. Pinkie I understood. For some reason, I suddenly got the suspicion she knew exactly what she was getting into and truly had no fear of the link. I got the distinct mental image of her grinning and laughed softly to myself. Yeah. A moment later, I reached forwards and touched Pinkie's disk. To my surprise, an 'Are you sure?' prompt popped up in my mind, displaying across onto my eyes. Huh? Oh, so 'now' they were giving me the confirmation?! Of course, they might have given me one before and had it on a timer or something. Because I couldn't see it and wasn't aware of it, it just ran out of time and defaulted to yes. That was a really crappy system... Mentally, I hit the 'yes' option and watched the disk light up around the edge, displaying a 'Connection Established' above it via holographic letters. Twilight smiled gently as she watched until I withdrew my foreleg again. "That's the only one I'm going to establish," I added, closing my eyes and waiting for it. All it took was three seconds. Twilight let out a gasp before rapidly exclaiming, "No, Mender! I'm telling you, I'm ready! I don't want you to doubt me anymore and don't mind in the least." "Twilight, you already said you have a problem with the mind melding thing that your brother was so upset about. If you're not ready for that, how can you be ready for this? They're both equally permanent, from what I gather," I pointed out, frowning and opening my eyes to look at her again. Her expression practically killed me, of course. Both of her ears drooped almost flat against the sides of her head and her eyes were getting watery again as she edged closer to me, centimeter by centimeter. Damn it. Crying wasn't fair! "No, Mender. If you don't want the link, I'll, um, understand, of course. I mean, I don't think I'd trust me either. But the more I think about it, the more I realize how I really, really don't want you going anywhere away from my life," she muttered, eyes looking down as a faint streak slid down her right cheek. My right foreleg twitched in an effort to physically stop myself from raising it and wiping her eyes. I didn't think she was intentionally doing this... She continued after I didn't say anything. "It was a lot like friendship, really. I started off thinking I didn't need it and you made me uneasy because of what you 'forced' me to feel," she explained, adding the air quotes with a double shake of her hoof before following up with, "Eventually, I realized that I've never had anypony who I could seriously relate to with my academics and magical knowledge. My friends try to be interested but it's really not their thing. At first, I assumed it was just because of that, but everything about you just..." I watched her as she trailed off, shivering in what almost looked like frustration. Finally she let out an annoyed sounding sigh and tore her gaze back up at me with a pleading expression. "I just can't explain it! That's what frustrates me the most. Words have never failed me before. The more you're around me, the more I realize that I never want you to leave. I just want to hold you and kiss you and have wonderful discussions with you and, well, I want you to trust me. I trust you now, having learned my lesson. You're not here to hurt me or anypony I care about. You're hurt by all this the most, and if the link is what it takes for you to implicitly trust me, then I'm willing to do that," she explained in length, eyes locking back on mine towards the end. My chest felt full of both soda bubbles and ice cubes. On one hoof, I wanted to pull her against me and kiss her until she fell asleep. On the other, I was hiding a really huge secret from her now and definitely didn't think I deserved even half of how much she just said she cared. Still, she was opening herself totally and winced, watching me stare at her intently. She actually looked vulnerable. Her, a female. Vulnerable. I suddenly realized I'd never honestly seen that before. Fluttershy was timid and reserved, but always guarded, I noticed. Even with her opening herself up slowly over the last few days, she still held herself back. Twilight had just taken a flying leap off the proverbial cliff and was hoping I would catch her. Maybe she really did trust me? The lavender mare gave a start as I raised my right foreleg up, then relaxed a little as it simply brushed the tears from her cheeks. Those sparkling globes shifted back to my face a moment later, and I could have sworn I saw a glimmer of hope in those violet depths. Yeah, I didn't have a choice if I wanted this to work. "I, well, I believe you, Twilight. I want to be with you and Fluttershy, too. I don't think you 'need' to form the link with me to earn my trust back, but if you truly want to, then just tell me that. But think about it first and, um, wait a little bit before answering," I requested, earning both a happy and confused expression at the same time. Well, at least I got happy mixed in this time. Usually I was really good at just the confused part when interacting with other ponies. I sighed and shook my head quietly before she could ask. "You guessed right, from what I noticed. I'm hiding a rather big secret from you and have been trying to think of how to best tell you about it the past few days. I can't tell you quite yet, but after our meeting with Keela, I promise that I'll tell you everything in private," I promised, committing myself to biting the bullet later. I probably could have chosen a better time to do this, considering I couldn't even flee if I wanted to at the moment, but maybe that was part of the appeal? She looked surprisingly thoughtful for a moment before smiling and nodding. "I'm happy you're being honest with me. Admittedly, that's more than I've done for you in the past and I really, really apologize for that. I can wait until after the meeting, don't worry," she agreed, taking it amazingly well for what I had considered in my mind. I didn't even have to reattach any body parts! Smiling at her, I gently stroked her cheek while she relaxed again. A moment later, her horn lit up once more and opened her saddlebag. I tilted my head until she pulled out the enchantment notes she'd taken last time and gave me a guilty if not hopeful smile. Tossing a chuckle in, I nodded to her before drifting my bedside food tray into the air again. My fillyfriend gave a squeal of delight before flopping over next to me and tucking herself under my right foreleg, levitating her notepad in front of her. "Excellent! Based on what I discovered last time, Unicorn magic seems greatly magnified as you accelerate it through your own enchantment patching. From what I saw earlier from the burn marks, I think if we adjust your energy array, we can get it almost perfectly compatible!" she resumed, as if having never stopped in the first place. I snickered and added, “I was considering the problem. Perhaps if we drop a few of the circuits off the array, then lengthen each individual one?" I suggested, having considered the issue last night while munching apples. She gave a happy squeak and nodded, taking more notes rapidly. "Good idea! You try adjusting the left side, then I'll pump some energy into it and we'll hope it doesn't catch fire this time!" she requested, sounding absolutely gleeful. Snickering, I did as she asked and prepared a barrier for the two of us. This was going to be a long morning... * * * * * "Hey, mine can totally get bigger!" Shining Armor pointed out, smirking cockily at me as I shook my head. "It's not about how big it can get. Mine is way harder than yours, which is far more important," I refuted, a little frustrated and embarrassed over the conversation in general. Shining Armor shook his head and gave me a skeptical glance. "Honestly, if it's not big enough, it won't matter how hard it is, right? Have you actually gotten any real experience with using it?" he asked, sounding skeptical. I glared, shocked that he'd even ask that if Twilight told him as much as I thought she had. "Of course! Dozens if not hundreds of hours of experience!" I assured, a little indignant. Fluttershy gave out a timid giggle next to me, tucking further into the blankets as she listened in. Shining Armor ignored her entirely, of course. "Fine! You're obviously not going to be satisfied like this. Let's just smash them together repeatedly until one breaks," he finally suggested. He was joking, I assumed. There was a skidding sound in the hallway, and I suddenly saw Twilight burst back in. "What are you two talking about?!" she demanded, oddly beet red for some reason and looking absolutely horrified. I raised an eyebrow at the same time I lowered the barrier block I had formed in front of me. Her brother looked equally skeptical and lowered his shield-shaped barrier before turning to look at her. "Er, is something wrong, Twily?" he questioned, looking as perplexed as I felt. Fluttershy let out a pleased humming noise, informing, "They're comparing shield magic!" Well, at least she sounded amused by it. I was worried the technical discussion parts had bored her. Twilight gave us both a deadpan stare before exhaling and slapping her forehead with a forehoof. "Oh. Never mind, then. Uh, I brought lunch," she murmured, sliding a tray along after her. I gave her a questioning look, but decided it was probably best if I didn't ask. "Is Celestia almost set then?" I asked instead, watching as she shifted the tray in. There were all sorts of delightful sandwiches and salads on it, and my mouth started watering. Then she rotated the tray, turning the plate of processed cubes and slime towards me instead. My ears lowered as I stared at it, instantly losing my appetite. Ah yes, another reason to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. Twilight smiled gently and flopped over onto the bed next to me, the side opposite of Fluttershy. "Princess Celestia said that she'd be here in half an hour. She's sending a letter to Princess Luna," she explained. "Um, this isn't supposed to be dangerous, right?" Fluttershy questioned yet again, probably for the fifth time. Smiling, I pressed a little kiss into her right shoulder before shaking my head in assurance. She reddened but smiled towards me, eyes surprised but warm from my display of affection. "Me, too!" Twilight playfully reminded, tossing up a pouting face. I smirked as she pounced both of us, food momentarily forgotten. Fluttershy's blush expanded across her cheeks almost as fast as her eyes shot open, and for a moment, I was jealous of the reaction Twilight managed to get out of her. The shy yellow mare shifted her attention to Twilight instead, pulling her a little closer to the both of us. Shining Armor made a playful gagging motion over his sister's back and I managed a snicker. "You two should eat before your sandwiches get mushy," I suggested a moment later, both conscientious of her brother being in the room, and of Fluttershy's blood flow. Admittedly, it certainly wasn't for me. Having two adorable mares lying on top of me wasn't hard to take at all. The results hit as fast as I predicted. "Ah! The food!" Twilight squeaked, sitting up instantly and checking to see if she had jostled the tray with her pounce. Of course, if she had, it would have been far too late for that. Shining Armor smirked, pointing out, "Shouldn't you have checked that before launching yourself at him? If it was going to be upturned, you three would be wearing it at this point." No fair! He could get away with teasing her just because he was her brother. She stuck her tongue out at him before resting back against the pillows again, taking her plate into her lap. I still wasn't used to either of them sitting like that, but I suppose it wasn't that big of a deal. "Please eat, Mender. You'll need your strength for when Princess Celestia gets here," Fluttershy requested softly a moment after picking up her own plate. I sighed wearily as I looked down at mine. I'd eat if there were food present for me. The processed cubes and puddings on the plate didn't meet my specifications for edibility. Fluttershy gave me a frown and I caved instantly. She was far, far too adorable to refuse. Sighing in defeat, I lowered my head and picked up one of the bite-sized cubes before crunching into it in my mouth. It tasted grainy and somewhat burnt before shifting to a powdery prune aftertaste. I tried really hard not to gag, but I'm fairly certain that my grimace was enough to give away my opinion on it. Shining Armor apparently respected me enough to not burst into laughter as he watched, instead only holding a hoof up to his mouth politely as he grinned behind it. He then showed surprising understanding and distracted me with, "You did say that you had some sort of new spell you wanted to try that would show everypony else what was going on?" The question distracted me from the horrible misery in my mouth long enough to just swallow the thing whole and I nodded wearily. Of course, I could have swallowed it right off the bat, but that might have looked a little creepy to onlookers. I didn't think chewing something to maintain appearances would ever be a 'difficult' thing for me. "It's more a spell I remembered from before than anything new. I have no idea if it will work in this particular situation, but I figured it might be worth a shot," I explained, only lying a little bit of course. He nodded earnestly towards me, apparently pleased with my answer. Twilight gave me a quizzical look, however, so I decided it would be more effective to just show them. I closed my right eye and activated the projector effect in my left. All three ponies gasped as an image of Rainbow Dash soaring through the air came into existence drifting over the bed. She zipped easily through the air, my connection picking up the direction, speed, and muscle twitches accurately enough to recreate the image of her. The scenery was also reformed out of my basic memories of Ponyville, with a bit of guesswork on the computer's part for angles and such. I smiled as they all watched it. She zoomed down and headed for the hospital a moment later. Oh! Oops. "Wait, is this live?" Twilight asked instantly a moment later. I turned off the projector and coughed lightly just as Rainbow landed on my windowsill. "Hey, Mender, let me in!" she called out through the glass. Twilight and Shining Armor gave me a shocked look, but Fluttershy just smiled and drifted into the air, sliding the window open for her cyan friend. Dash zipped in instantly, landing lightly on the floor before stretching and flexing her wings out lazily. She'd probably been asleep before this. I didn't know specifically, as I kept the links off unless I wanted to do something with them out of respect for their privacy. "He can track us through the links if he focuses on it," Fluttershy explained upon settling on the bed again. "Isn't that a little, I dunno, creepy?" Twilight asked, metaphorically bowling me over with the bluntness. Wasn't that the same thing as calling me creepy?! Dash snorted, however, apparently picking up on what we were talking about. "It's not creepy. It's handy, honestly. If we get in trouble, he can contact somepony or come help himself. Plus, he keeps the links off when nothing’s happening," she reasoned, drifting into the air again and landing lightly on the bed to Fluttershy's left. It was getting a little crowded now, but Celestia said she was going to bring in another bed to give us a wider 'platform' to all lay on. "You believe him, I take it?" Shining Armor asked, not pointedly, but with an air of innocent inquiry instead. I sighed weakly, having anticipated the question coming. "Heck yeah! Everypony in this room probably does," Rainbow shot back without hesitation, shifting my expression to a blush in an instant. Twilight and Fluttershy both nodded in agreement, the lavender mare adding, "I'm fairly certain that he's more than proved his honesty. If anything, we should have started believing him long before now." Blushing even more now, I sunk a little lower into the blankets, earning another giggle from Fluttershy as she watched. "It's also really adorable when he doesn't know what to say," she pointed out, tucking her wing around my back and coaxing me upwards again as she gently nuzzled my left temple. Rainbow gave a sharp mix of snorting and laughter. "He just doesn't know how to take a compliment. I could totally help him get adjusted to that by getting help from my fan club!" she offered. At least, I think it was an offer. Wait, she had a fan club? "Yes, you'd certainly be the one to go to for ego training," Twilight muttered a moment later, smirking at Rainbow as she did so. This of course earned a glare of spite from the pegasus. "Hey, he needs to learn to at least stick up for himself, and I'm only trying to help!" she defended, earning a snicker from Twilight. I was more concerned that nopony was calling her on the fan club thing. She actually had a fan club?! "Oh, I know, I know. I'm just teasing you, Rainbow," she assured in a softer voice. Dash relaxed and smirked at her after recovering. All of us were interrupted, however, by the noise of something heavy rolling down the hallway outside. Wait, was that what I thought it was? Sure enough, half a minute later, a large bed got rolled in being pushed by a royal guard. Half a second after it cleared the doorway, Celestia herself followed them in and gave me a warm smile. I glanced at the guard as he started to rotate the mattress so it was horizontal, before turning and looking back to Celestia. "Good afternoon, my little ponies," she greeted warmly, sitting down at the foot of my bed. "Good afternoon, Auntie." "Good afternoon, Princess Celestia!" "Oh, um, good afternoon..." "Hiya, Princess Celestia!" "Hey Tia." I noticed we each had a different way in which to greet her. Mine earned a questioning glare from Shining Armor, however. Celestia seemed unaffected, though, and simply smiled and nodded to each of us in turn. "I'm glad everypony is well today. Do you mind Miss Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy watching as well?" she inquired after another moment. The guard gave her a polite bow upon rotating the bed completely and lining it up to the left of mine. "Nope. I even remembered an old spell that will let me hopefully project what we're seeing through one of my eyes for them," I returned. Her expression flickered to amusement for the barest split of a second before she nodded warmly. Heh. I figured she'd know the truth almost instantly. "Sweet! I wanted to see what Keela looked like, so I know who to buck into the stratosphere if we meet!" Rainbow spit out rather vehemently, to my surprise. Twilight shook her head rapidly, however, correcting, "Dash, it wasn't Keela who attacked Mender. It was her sister, Nirru. Keela was conned just as much as we were." Rainbow looked less than convinced, and I suddenly gathered she was more just looking for somepony to beat senseless to relieve some anger. "Let's wait and see how this meeting goes first. I have no idea what's going on or what's happened since the incident," I warned, earning a patient nod from Celestia. "He's right, of course. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions until we have more information. That's why we're going to talk to Keela," she reminded, drawing everypony's attention back towards her. In that split second lull, I took advantage of nopony looking at me. My tongue shot out half a meter, snagging three of the four remaining cubes and pulling them back into my mouth for me to swallow whole. Thank goodness for small blessings! Skipping the whole 'tasting' part of hospital food was definitely a perk. Celestia, the only pony who saw me, smirked and intentionally kept their attention as I swallowed. "Regardless, it doesn't hurt to be prepared. We don't know what's been going on while Mender's been hospitalized. Shining Armor, be prepared to shield us upon entry. Twilight, you get ready to use your magic to intervene as the situation demands it," Celestia requested, looking to each of them individually. They both nodded, leaving her to turn to me. Thankfully, I had finished swallowing the hospital food whole already. "You, Mender, will be our go-between and translator. You're the only one here who knows fully about the culture and technology we'll be seeing, so that's indispensable," she added, smiling towards me. I blushed, but nodded lightly, trying to stay calm. There was no guarantee that this was even going to work in the first place! Heck, I might end up going alone. The prospect of meeting Keela again after everything that happened was somewhat nerve wracking. 'Lunch', as they insisted on calling it, passed relatively uneventful after everypony settled down. Rainbow informed that she'd been by Rarity's earlier and told me to expect a visit from both her and the slightly slower, less energetic pink one later tonight. She also said the CMC would be visiting as well, having been asking about me left and right apparently. I doubted Scootaloo had been honestly, but it was easier to believe with Sweetie Belle. Positions shifted after we got rid of the food tray. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash moved to the chairs near the window across from the bed for prime watching location. Princess Celestia took up almost all of the bed she brought, being almost twice the size of a normal pony. Twilight stayed on my right and gently set her horn against my forehead as I lay down on my stomach. Shining Armor shot us a displeased look at the sight before settling in to her right and waiting. Celestia seemed oblivious to his annoyance, which I doubt was the truth, and settled her horn down on top of Twilight's, as planned. It was hard to see around all the horns at this point, but I saw Shining Armor finally lower his onto Celestia's, forming a 'chain' of horns. "You may begin when you're ready, Mender," Celestia relayed a moment after all four of us settled. Twilight frowned next to me, asking, "Don't you need to fall asleep for this to work?" Heh, normally yeah. That was a lot easier for me to do since discovering I was a cyborg, however. "I've gotten better at it in all my downtime. I'll get Keela's attention," I relayed before giving a firm, double tug on the inner connection to her. Twilight was already channeling energy into me and I knew she felt the sensation as well, going quiet instantly. A second passed before a burst of shock mixed with an incredibly distinct sense of fumbling a teacup into the side of a coffee table came into place. I felt Twilight restrain a giggle, and Celestia followed suit a moment later. I suddenly realized I could 'feel' all three of them there, seeing the reaction as well. "Just a minute, Mender! I'll power up the link so you can get a lock on me," Keela assured a moment later, sounding slightly scatterbrained. Well, I hadn't exactly given her any warning about this, so I guess I could sympathize. Twilight stiffened instantly next to me upon hearing the Keldarian's voice. Some part of her was probably in disbelief still that this was actually real. It was probably easier on her to believe that it was all a figment of my imagination. Not only had that been easier to treat, but it had far less implications involved. I understood why she did so. The power turned on, just as expected. I felt the connection strengthen and reached out to the book in the same instant. The ocean of power flooded into me and I slipped my mind down the link between us once more, turning off my consciousness on the way out the door, so to speak. Two of the three connected ponies gasped as they were dragged along with. Celestia followed with an almost practiced ease, however, which was more than a little disconcerting if I thought about it too hard. With a minor mental push, I shoved us into the other reality. * * * * * I stepped out first, beating out everypony else in the transition due to natural acclimation and due course for being half robot. My eyes widened, however, as I looked around, finding myself in a radically unfamiliar place. The room was exceedingly large, containing what appeared to be a full suite of living quarters. A large sofa sat across from several comfy looking recliners, a familiar looking and still dripping coffee table between them. A fireplace accented that corner and brought a warm light to the atmosphere. To the left of the seating arrangement was a large, sliding door installed in the middle of the wall. The corner to the left of that popped outwards and had a smaller door kitty corner to the main one. A restroom, maybe? I saw a full kitchen behind me upon shifting my perspective. It looked well stocked and had an island bar expanding a good two meters across it. Behind me on the other side was a nicely sized bedroom area that was partitioned off from the rest of the room via half-walls. A king-sized bed took up most of the area, but I also saw a cozy looking workstation. Snapping back to attention upon a mental nudge from Celestia, I snapped focus onto Keela, who stood next to the sofa I had originally noticed. She was waiting patiently and looking about the room, apparently for any signs of my being there. With a bit of focus, I touched upon the shielding capabilities of Prudentia and formed a barrier body for myself, coloring it with my natural colors. Keela's eyes locked onto me instantly and a warm smile flickered across her face. It shifted to a bit of confusion as I didn't return it, instead focusing on pulling forth all three separate individuals into full awareness and shifting them into their own bodies. It would probably be more comfortable for them that way. Twilight formed first, 'stepping' into place right next to me as her eyes widened and she looked around. My Keldarian friend gasped and nodded to her instantly, offering, "Oh, Twilight!" Shining Armor appeared to my left, also mid-step as he faded into place. He looked much calmer and slowly took in his surroundings with an air of calculated precision. He was extremely serious when he wanted to be, I noted. Celestia more pulled herself out, apparently having experience with dealing in a projected body already. She still borrowed my barrier capability to give herself a visible form, though, and stepped out behind me a little ways. Keela looked utterly shocked at this point, gaze flicking between the four of us rapidly. "Twilight, hold her. Shining Armor, throw a barrier over us and the door," Celestia ordered upon touching down. Huh? Both unicorns' horns lit up to either side of me. A barrier of energy went over the only two doors in the room a heartbeat later. Keela's eyes widened as her form went rigid at the same time, surrounded by a purple glow. I narrowed my eyes as I looked back at Celestia. "Don't hurt her. This wasn't part of the agreement," I reminded, ready to cut connection if need be. Celestia gave me a light shake of her head, explaining, "It's fine, Mender. I have no intention of hurting her. This is merely for both our safety, and to secure a private conversation with no interruptions." "It's okay, Mender. I should have realized you wouldn't be coming alone. Precautions are fine," Keela assured, smiling again regardless of her current state. I sighed and walked past her, earning a curious look from Twilight and Shining Armor. Fine, I might as well bite the bullet and cooperate then to speed things up. I stopped in front of the keypad to the right of the door. My barrier extended for a split second from my right shoulder, neatly slicing open the panel directly under the pad. A few tweaks later and I killed power to the surveillance circuit and the door. "There. Her internal surveillance system and door security are offline. They already sounded an alarm upon our entry, however," I warned, observing the energy flowing through the main circuit board. Of course, I 'cheated' a bit to analyze it, using my own processors. "We're in a detachable section of the ship with a self-contained life support system. I intentionally separated myself from the rest of the crew. They're only concerned for me and want to know what's going on," Keela explained gently, looking over her shoulder as I walked back up to the group. Celestia nodded gently, looking to Keela's left at me instead. "This is fair. Introductions are in order, Mender," she suggested softly. I walked past Keela and turned to face her again, once more in front of everypony else. "You already know who Twilight Sparkle is," I started, motioning to the lavender unicorn-shaped barrier in question. Keela nodded and smiled at her, affirming, "Yes, of course I've heard of Twilight. It's nice to finally meet you." Twilight looked momentarily surprised, but cracked a tiny smile and nodded back. "This is Twilight's brother, Prince Shining Armor. He's also Princess Celestia's nephew." I nodded towards him as I said as much, causing him to nod properly towards her in return. "Charmed. I can see the family resemblance," Keela noted, relaxing against the tight hold Twilight had on her. I noticed that it shifted her rather informal robes against her in a rather uncomfortable looking manner as well. "Last, but definitely not least, we have Princess Celestia herself, ruler of Equestria," I announced properly. Celestia smiled at my introduction, and Twilight actually perked up a little as she smirked at me. She was probably used to me chopping off the titles already. Keela’s eyes widened drastically and to my surprise, she actually dropped to one knee and bowed to Celestia. I gave a questioning glance at Twilight, who looked as surprised as I did and just shrugged. "She did it herself, and the expression seemed harmless," Twilight elaborated. "She's royalty. She deserves respect," Keela relayed, smiling gently but remaining eyes closed, head tilted down. Celestia flexed out her wings and nodded to her as well. "You may stand, of course. Twilight, you may relax the barrier to only restricting magic," she ordered, stepping past me slightly and sitting down to my left. "What about the windows?" Shining Armor inquired a moment later, glancing out the one to our left that showed a rather impressive view of nothing in particular. Honestly, that's all space was. A whole lot of nothing with pockets of burning gas and chunks of solids floating around them. Shaking myself out of the momentary distraction, I answered, "They're not actually windows, but parts of the wall that images of the outside are projected on. They're fine." To my surprise, he actually smiled at me and nodded. Well, these three were extremely talented. I guess I shouldn't have expected them to react poorly to the totally foreign environment. A mental image flicked by of him stomping my letter into the floor and I inwardly sighed. Well, for the most part, anyway. A muffled but abrupt pounding came to the door a moment later. Keela hesitated as she glanced over to it, but shifted her attention back to us. I saw Shining Armor thicken the barrier over the door, then go back to ignoring it. Celestia spoke up anyway, regardless. "Please forgive the surprise visit as well, Miss Keela. I'm sure you know why we're here, however," Celestia cut in, gesturing gently towards the Keldarian. Keela sighed and lost her smile, looking away from us before slowly nodding. "You're obviously here because of the attack from my sister a few days ago." That was indeed fairly obvious, and I wasn't quite sure why we were even starting there, if not purely for formalities. "Indeed. I wish to have the unpleasantness be as short as possible, of course. Where is Nirru now, and what is her status?" Celestia asked next, voice quiet but demanding all the same. Even totally out of her element, she seemed to hold an air of authority when she dropped into her serious demeanor. "My sister is under arrest and locked in a holding cell on this ship. A fight broke out after we were freed from the machine, and she had to be subdued by force. Thankfully, Mender took a lot of the fight out of her or it could have been a lot worse than it was," Keela explained instantly, no hesitation at all. Oh. Oh crap. "Wait, what?!" Twilight asked a moment later, shifting her gaze over to me in surprise. Keela's eyes shot open and she covered her mouth with her hands, suddenly realizing I hadn't told her yet. Celestia coughed, however, snapping Twilight's attention back up to her instead. "Now isn't the time for that, Twilight. I'm sure Mender will explain everything to you in due time," she assured, obviously not aware of my prior promise to Twilight in the first place. "I told you I'd tell you after this talk, Twilight. Please wait until after?" I requested, looking away from both Keela and Twilight as I said it. Given that reaction, I wasn't so sure this was going to go swimmingly anymore. Of course, what could I honestly expect, when I'm going to have to explain to her that I'm an abomination mixed with a weapon of mass destruction? There was a long pause before Twilight finally muttered, "Oh. Oh! It's what you wanted to talk to me about! Okay, I'll wait then, of course. I already promised to be patient." This surprised me. I hadn't anticipated her actually being understanding over this entire thing. As I turned, however, I could have sworn I saw her doing something with her hoof and deep breathing. Heh. She still had stress issues, I guessed. Remembering suddenly, I double-checked the feed to the hospital room as Celestia started talking to Keela again. It was kind of amazing how clear the images were given how theoretically far apart we were. Fluttershy was staring around the room in amazement as my eye projected a mostly completed version of us, Keela, and the room we were in. The timid pegasus oddly seemed more interested in the surroundings than Keela herself, unlike Rainbow. Dash's eyes were glued on the Keldarian, apparently interested in seeing what one's true form was. Well, true form that wasn't cut into three pieces and bleeding all over the place, anyway. I shuddered as I remembered the image of my original I was cloned from lying on that broken rock. He was me, wasn't he? If so, I wondered if he had been scared before he died. I probably would be. Hell, I was definitely terrified when the ship was about to explode. There was something more than that, though. A sense of calm and acceptance of everything. Now I didn't have that feeling anymore, oddly. Was that because I had more reasons to keep going on, now? Drawing myself back to reality, or as close as I got to it, anyway, I looked over at one of the main reasons I had for preserving myself. Twilight stared back and forth between Keela and Celestia with a certain sense of curiosity, of course. She usually held that look when she found new things to study or observe, I noticed. Frankly, it was rather adorable to watch. "The records we found in her study were more than a little disturbing. She'd known about Mender's original form the entire time, and only made the connection with who he was a day or so before everything fell apart. Worse yet, she got the council's approval for what she did. Well, for the most part," Keela continued, sounding rather grim for her usual standard. Celestia sighed, but nodded before inquiring, "What have you done about the information, may I ask?" The council confirmed her mission? No, that probably meant they just let her decide what to do. Keela shook her head, however, and looked away. It was a long minute before she finally spoke up. "I couldn't stand it anymore. The council has been nothing but a blight to our race for as long as I remember. Every choice they've made has been to preserve the status quo of the females and their own personal power, above and beyond the needs of our species itself. I took a vote," she revealed, looking back to Celestia with a stern yet sorrowful expression. A vote? I wasn't aware Keldarians knew the meaning of that. Mentally, I snickered at the aspect. "What were the results?" Twilight asked with more than a little interest. Heh, no unnecessary questions, I noticed. It didn't matter what they were voting on, I decided. Twilight was right. The only thing that mattered was what they did. Keela smiled weakly and answered, "We blew the FTL Communication Array off the side of this ship, then jumped into dark space where we currently are." What?! I choked out a cough, staring at Keela in shock. She looked startled for a moment before giggling at my reaction. Celestia raised an eyebrow to me, and I picked up her silent inquiry easily enough. "Dark space is empty space outside of a standard galaxy cluster. Nopony ever goes out that far and it's considered uncharted, for the most part. If you don't have specific coordinates for something, finding anything out here is pretty much impossible. As for the FTL Array; that means she cut off all contact with the council. They probably think the ship was discovered by the Grosh and destroyed," I explained quietly. Keela nodded gently, closing her eyes as she fell backwards onto the couch again, spilled tea momentarily forgotten. "He still knows his stuff. We voted to live out here on this ship for the rest of our lives, the first free Keldarians in three thousand years. There are only twenty-seven of us who either didn't join up with Nirru, or lived through her arrest." Keldarians died trying to arrest her? I frowned, but kept my mouth shut, biting back the hostility. No, she was Keela's sister. I made the right choice in letting her live. "That is a brave and very lonely decision. You're a strong individual, Keela. Is that the same reason you isolated yourself here?" Celestia inquired curiously. Wait, why did Keela isolate herself? The Keldarian looked shocked for a moment. That question had caught her by surprise, it would seem. "Oh, I locked myself in here to keep the rest of my crew safe if, well..." she admitted, trailing off as she glanced over at me. Celestia raised an eyebrow and the two unicorns turned to me instead. What? Oh. "In case I decided to use the link you gave me to take revenge?" I asked gently, staring right at her. Did she honestly think that I would do something like that? Her ears flattened back and she looked away, giving me all the answer I needed. There was no trust anymore. Nopony trusted me, did they? It was a bit ironic, but maybe everypony already thought I was a monster? I idly wondered, with a small amount of bitterness, if that would ease my transition into a literal monster for them. "Surely, you realize Mender would never do that!" Twilight exclaimed, snapping my attention back to her instead, eyes widening a little. My fillyfriend continued to surprise me more and more since the incident. There were too many differences for it to just be guilt, and she seemed genuinely intent on changing. Maybe I wasn't the only one who had an epiphany? Her outlook itself seemed to change about the relationship. "I believe it was a precaution, Twilight. It's similar to us using magic to lock the room down when we arrived," Shining Armor spoke up. He had a point. Her reaction indicated she felt bad for having to do it, so maybe she really did believe that I wasn't going to murder her and blow up half the ship with it? Keela sighed and sank further into the cushions of her couch. "I knew the Mender I had gotten to know wouldn't have, no. But my sister did a terrible, terrible thing and I didn't know what the price would be for that. I insisted that Mender spare her and took her out of his reach, so I was worried he'd take me as a substitute instead. If he were a normal Keldarian, it would have only been a question of when," she corrected, still not looking at me. "That's kind of sad, really. Why was that promoted in your culture?" Twilight asked, looking a little down suddenly. 'Why' was never something asked. Keela laughed, though. "Power and control. Females were in charge and had an ironclad grip over every aspect of society. Males were treated as expendable property and 'disposed' of at the most minor of inconveniences. We didn't even call it murder or execution. It disgusted me, but even holding a seat on the council, there was nothing I could do. Males usually were instilled with a deep-seated psychological fear of females at an early age and rarely spoke out, much less rebelled. If a male were to actually get some form of power after all that, it usually ended up in a gory or vindictive form of revenge," Keela continued, opening her eyes again, now looking miserable. The reactions were interesting, to say the least. Celestia just frowned, having a reserved yet saddened expression on. Shining Armor looked downright horrified, however, showing open disgust for the first time since I met him. Ultimately, I had to agree. Twilight was totally different, though. She snapped to a sudden look of dawning comprehension instead, and rapidly looked over at me. "That's why you're afraid of me, isn't it?! That's why you act that way around us!" she suddenly exclaimed. Well, yes, that was mostly true. It wasn't honestly because she was so powerful. Sure, it was scary, but it was also because she was female. "You girls are powerful and important females. On an unconscious level, Mender probably instinctively attempts to submit because of that," Keela observed, earning a glare from me. Even if that was true, she didn't have to say it out loud to the entire room. I suddenly noticed that Shining Armor was looking at me instead of Keela, upon looking back up at everypony. He looked away when our eyes met, and immediately reminded, "We're getting a little off track. What's going to be done with Nirru?" I stared intently at him for a moment, but he didn't look back at me. I knew he'd seen that I wasn't enjoying that last topic. Did he switch it for me, then? "She's already had her rights and powers striped from her. Her Aegis Artifact is in my keeping instead, and she'll probably be incarcerated indefinitely. At least until the link between our dimensions is permanently broken," Keela responded, looking momentarily glum over the aspect, but maintaining her stoic expression. I had sympathy for her, honestly. She'd been through a lot, and while it could have been prevented, expecting her not to make mistakes in hindsight was stupid. She was hurting, too. Celestia smiled and nodded with that. "I understand that this is hard for you, too, but I believe that to be the right choice. My primary concern is keeping my little ponies safe, of course. This seems satisfactory to do so. What of your relation with Mender?" she asked. Keela seemed hesitant for a moment before smiling over at me instead. I met her gaze with a curious expression, wondering what the change in demeanor was about. "I would really like to be his friend still, but I know keeping the link open would just be dangerous. The only thing holding it open now is the link I gave him to communicate with me. If he severs that, our dimensions should shift apart again in a couple weeks. That, um, would be the best course of action, probably," she suggested, doing a very bad job of sounding sure of herself. Her eyes stayed locked on mine until her voice trailed off. "You're hesitating," I pointed out, watching her carefully. That got her to snap her eye contact with me instantly, looking away and to the left instead. Twilight's eyebrow raised and she tilted her head as well, theorizing, "The only anchor firm enough to maintain a connection at this distance theoretically is your life force. You mentioned earlier that Mender could also use the link to retaliate against you. What would happen to you if he severed the link?" Oh. That was indeed a good question. Keela's ears flattened back even further, and I suddenly realized that I probably wasn't going to like the answer. "I, um, don't know? The link I gave him used to be taken from slaves in order to control them and show ownership. The only time I've ever seen one broken is when the slave is killed by their owner," she revealed. "What?!" was out my mouth before I could stop it. Why the hell did she give one of those connections to me?! Twilight looked as surprised as I did, making me feel a little better about my sudden outburst. "Mender's not even in your dimension. Why did you give him such a link?" she asked, mirroring my thoughts, apparently. "Well, for one, I wanted him to trust me. Even if he didn't know the significance of the link, giving him clear leverage over me was the easiest and fastest way I could think of. So, well, I took a gamble on his personality. I don't really mind the thought. It's not like he asks me to do anything I wasn't technically doing already," she reasoned, making my feelings twist up even more. "So severing the link could potentially kill you?" Celestia asked in a rather direct, blunt manner, earning a wince from me. Keela just nodded wearily, suddenly looking somewhat uneasy. "Twilight, I'd like you to start looking into the nature of the link and see if you can find a way to break it without hurting Keela. In the meantime, the link shall stay. I also need to talk to you after this, Mender," she requested after a moment's consideration. I swallowed nervously, suddenly feeling as uneasy as Keela looked a moment ago. Was I in trouble? Regardless, I nodded towards Celestia, who gave me a soft smile in return. "Then I believe we're done for now. I'll contact you through Mender again in the future when we have more information, and vice versa with any discoveries you make. Oh, and I'm sure you realize now, but you don't need to worry about retaliation, Keela," Celestia continued, politely smiling back towards the Keldarian. Keela blushed and coughed lightly before smiling back. It was a precaution, but it was rather silly. "I'm not going to attack you, Keela. What happened was out of your control," I agreed, giving her a smile as well. Keela's eyes softened as she looked at me before she gave a single nod. "I realize that now. Um, thank you for believing me, Mender. Do you want to keep talking during this whole ordeal?" she asked, looking hopeful. Twilight giggled instead, however, pointing out, "He kind of has to if he wants to deliver information back and forth. But if he doesn't have a problem with it, do you think I could visit, too? You seem like an interesting individual," Twilight asked, looking back and forth between us. Wait, she was asking me, too? Keela grinned and shook her head, adding, "I don't have a problem with it if Mender doesn't. It's him doing all the hard work." I snorted and shook my head. "It's not really that hard at all. I'm actually in the hospital right now, so honestly, it's kind of like resting anyway. Maybe I'll ask Fluttershy to meet you too, even?" I offered, shifting my focus into my left eye and peeking back into the other dimension again. Fluttershy gave a squeak as I referenced her name, and shrunk down in her chair, of course. I tried to resist the urge to cut the link, then run over and hug her again. That 'running' part would probably throw a wrench in things. "I'd like that. Every, um, pony seems really kind so far. Now that I can truly meet them, I feel a lot better," Keela agreed, somewhat cryptically. I let it slide, however, deciding to ask her about it later. Princess Celestia nodded in agreement. "I'm pleased that this has gone so smoothly, and will gladly welcome communication between yourself and Equestria. For now, however, I apologize, but I have much to consider," she apologized. "I suppose that means you're leaving now?" the Keldarian asked, hiding the smallest burst of melancholy that flashed across her face. Celestia nodded, of course, earning a soft sigh from Keela. "All right. Before you go, Mender, I do have something for you," she revealed, sliding over to the other end of the couch and fetching something from around the side. I felt Shining Armor's barrier strengthen almost instantly and smirked to myself, amused at how cautious he was. Still, I kind of envied him for it. If I'd been this cautious when Nirru tried to trick me, she never would have even made it upstairs. Shining Armor probably would have figured it out on the ground floor, tricked her back, then ambushed her instead. He relaxed when Keela withdrew a medium sized box instead. Papers and notebooks were literally overflowing from the top of it, and she slid the box across the table and closer to my view. A simple glance at the top few pages revealed many familiar topics. "Doctor Kyliona's notes. How did you get these?" I asked, surprised they even still existed. "They're not the originals. I printed off and bound everything I could find in our database before deleting it. Those are the only copies left. I want to send them over to you in Equestria," she explained, sounding remarkably final about it. I frowned, but before I or anypony else could say anything, she kneeled down to my head level and slid something out from under the sofa. Shining Armor's shield flared up again as his eyes widened. Mine did too, for just cause. The silver and black hilt and sheath of "Void Cutter" was displayed before me. "I know I don't have any right to ask favors of you, but can I please send you Ventosus Lacuna, too? It's Nirru's Artifact, and as such, she can pull it to herself from almost anywhere. Almost. I have reason to believe that she can't draw it from a different dimension. I don't want her getting it. I've had to forcefully stop several attempts already of her pulling it," she explained. Ventosus Lacuna? Windy Emptiness? Why did Nirru call it something different? I started to turn and look at Celestia instead, but the alicorn beat me to the punch by far. "That actually is in line with my thoughts exactly. Please accept the Artifact, Mender," Celestia requested, surprising me and making me suspicious at the same time. I nodded slowly, turning back to Keela instead. The Keldarian smiled and gave me a gentle hug, squeezing around my shoulders. Subconsciously, I patted her on the back using my right foreleg, avoiding my left entirely. "Then I'll see you later, Mender?" Keela asked, finally backing up and giving me a hopeful expression. I nodded softly to her, offering, "Probably tonight, depending on what Twilight's doing. I'll tug on the link when I'm set." Of course, I didn't mention that Twilight might be busy either directing me or blasting me to pieces. I held back a shiver of nervousness at the prospect of telling her. "Okay! I look forward to talking to both of you again, then," Keela confirmed, sounding a lot happier than she was earlier, admittedly. Nodding to her, I gave her a parting bow for politeness before pulling all four of us back out and through the dimensional transit. Twilight waited until everything started to run together before sliding sideways and pressing a firm kiss to my right cheek. I gave her a smirk and kissed hers back in return as everything melted into a singularity. Maybe, just maybe, things would work out after all?