Twilight never ceased to impress me, time and time again.
"Oh no! This is bad. I mean, these thingies are really mean and it's supposed to be Mender's nice party day! Why would somepony drop these off everywhere when today is supposed to be a super fun day?" Pinkie asked quietly, staring at one of the remaining pamphlets in front of her. Dozens floated through the air around us, rapidly igniting and burning away as Twilight screamed out at the now terrified pegasi trying to fly away from the town square.
She grabbed them all. All seven pegasi were snatched up in a purple and red glow before being hauled out of the sky. At this point, they were probably lucky they too weren't on fire. "What are you doing?!" Twilight screamed after depositing them in front of her in the air, literally holding them there, afloat. I blinked, then waved at Derpy who floated upside down on the end of the line. She smiled pleasantly at me and waved back, seeming unfazed.
"Uh, our jobs? We were paid to drop these off," a pegasus mare towards the middle of the drifting cluster replied. I was amused by her light cyan mane that spiked upwards and back. It meshed well with her lavender coat. Actually, the pegasus right next to her looked remarkably similar in coat and mane colorings, but sported a more relaxed hairstyle and a large bow. Sisters?
Twilight gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing again. "Who? Who is paying you to spread these?" she demanded. Uh, that sounded bad.
"Twilight, calm down," I tried to plead, but only got a somewhat annoyed glare in return.
"Admittedly, I agree with Twilight on this one. Did you girls even look at what you were spreading?!" Rarity asked harshly, pounding the negative feelings out like one would swing a sledgehammer. Why was I the only one not actively wanting to murder something?
The other purple one swallowed and rapidly shook her head, while her sister sighed. "I just wanted this job to be done. No, we didn't bother reading them. That would have wasted time on a perfectly good day off for a Pinkie Party!" the spikey one explained. Wait, did the whole town stop working today?!
"This is slander! Derogatory and blatant lies about Moon Mender! You know, the one the party is for in the first place?!" Twilight snapped, throwing one of the slightly less crispy pamphlets at the two.
"What?! Oh no!" Derpy exclaimed, eyes widening as she snatched up another pamphlet and started reading it as well.
The not so spikey mare on the left flailed in the air suddenly. "What?! You're a changeling?!" she asked in panic, pointing her hoof right at me. Gasps shot through the considerable crowd that Twilight had attracted. My ears flattened back and I rapidly shook my head, backing away from her.
"No, of course he's not a changeling! I've done multiple scans on him for weeks. You really think I would have a changeling for a coltfriend?!" Twilight pointed out, moving rapidly in front of me.
A somewhat older-looking mare's voice sounded out from the crowd, however. "The Equestria Weekly says you'd say that! You're corrupted already by his influence!" she shouted. What?! Oh hell.
"No! That's just crazy. I'm Princess Celestia's student. She's seen me since! Don't you trust your Princess to pick up on something like that?!" Twilight tried to reason.
Pinkie hopped over to the other side of me and covered that direction as well. "She's right, everypony! Princess Celestia likes him, so that must mean he's totally not a changeling!" she shouted out.
"Be careful, Pinkie," I muttered, gesturing towards her side with my muzzle. She gave me a soft smile over her shoulder but shook her head.
"I don't trust him, I know that much! Prove it! Prove he's not a changeling right now," a closer, dark blue stallion near the front row demanded.
Murmurs shot through the crowd, and a few angry snarls joined his. This was insane! "First the attack, and now this! He's been nothing but trouble since he got here! I'm not going to let a monster like that near my foals," was screamed from the back.
My eyes widened as that one hit me dead on. Monster. I really had been nothing but trouble to Ponyville since I got here. Even before I learned that I was a monster. All I'd ever done was break things and cause chaos and destruction. She was right...
"Fine! I have a spell already that will reveal a changeling! I'll cast it on Mender, and then you'll see that everything is fine!" Twilight shouted, horn lighting up.
"Lies! You're under his spell already. No! We need a better way!" the same blue stallion shouted. That sense of dread came up again. Would her spell reveal my other parts, though?
Something small shot up over the crowd before flicking downwards and smashing into the wall behind me. I yelped as I lowered myself closer to the dirt, a still spinning rock coming to a slow rest. "Hit him! Changeling's can't keep their form up through pain! Hurt him so we can see!" screamed a pony from somewhere in the back of the crowd. Oddly, the voice was rather androgynous.
"Stop this!" Twilight shouted, horn lighting up as two more rocks bounced off her magic in front of us. This couldn't be happening. They all thought I was a monster and were trying to stone me!
"Move, Twilight! Get out of our way! One good hit and we'll have the truth," an orange mare with a golden mane shouted near the front of the closing-in crowd.
More rocks flew in before Twilight could respond, and were haphazardly knocked in other directions. Pinkie yelped and dodged sideways as another rock almost hit her in the shoulder. Amidst her dodge, she smashed into me instead and we both almost hit the dirt. I helped her steady herself as best I could, forced to grit my teeth as I dropped my left foreleg down against the dirt to brace her. She was surprisingly heavy!
Then I learned a very important weakness to my proximity sensors. I'd not thought about it before, as it really took a specific situation to take advantage of it, but my sensors could be shadowed out by other objects. Twilight, looking to the right as she knocked two rocks out of the path of Rarity's head, missed a rock to the left. Her body shadowed out the sensor just as she moved out from in front of the rock.
My eyes widened as I sent the signal down my body to pop out a single plate. Pain exploded from my left foreleg as my command was a few hundredths of a second too slow. I actually screamed as the stabbing burst shot through my left elbow area and radiated in all directions. My foreleg gave out as I felt the metal of my brace dent into my skin and tear. Pushing with my back legs, I managed to hit the ground on my shoulder instead of my leg at the last second and tucked myself up into a ball as best I could. My mind reeled in pain as I let out a series of airy gasps. I shouldn't have hesitated to put up my barriers for us! Screw scaring ponies... damn it!
"Mender!" Rarity called out, diving to the left towards me as I curled up.
Twilight's eyes widened as she looked back at me. A half second was all it took. Her expression twisted into a grimace as her eyes disappeared into white light. She whipped around again and let out a scream of rage. The ball of magic radiated out from her horn like a small sun, tearing the wind backwards away from it as it washed over us. Her mane and tail literally ignited in the same instant, the stray papers that had been drifting around her being reduced to a fine dust in a shockwave of heat. She fired a second later at point blank range into the advancing crowd. My eyes widened in shock as she flattened every single pony in the town square, knocking them every which way as they fell over each other and were sent into market stalls. Dust and debris were kicked up into the air as the stalls themselves were ravaged as well, produce and smaller items being sent flying as my pissed off girlfriend radiated out raw energy.
Only one stallion made it past. The blue one from earlier leapt forwards at the last second and managed to just barely get past Twilight's shot. He growled as he lunged, hooves extending back as he made to land on me! My eyes widened as his glowing brown ones narrowed. Wait, glowing?
An orange mare came out of nowhere and shoulder checked him before he made contact. His direction was instantly changed as his eyes widened instead, spinning once and flipping before crashing into a fruit stand a half dozen meters away. My eyes shifted over to Applejack as she slowly stood up fully, glaring at the groaning stallion as he struggled to get out of the mess of broken wood.
Twilight panted in rage as she rapidly looked around the square. Her eyes were burning like the surface of a star, and her horn absolutely radiated raw magical energy. Flames lapsed off where her mane and tail had been prior, moving as if billowing in the wind dancing off her. I'd seen that once before, I suddenly realized! That was my last sight before slipping into a coma after the ship exploded. "Twilight, that worked! Calm down," Rarity pleaded, rubbing her right forehoof down her friend's side to get her attention. Wait, how was flames coming off her head and butt even vaguely possible for an organic being?!
Pinkie was silent as she tore a tablecloth from the wreck of a nearby corn stand and started pushing it into my left foreleg. I winced, and then finally looked down at it. The cloth rapidly turned red, and I shuddered, wishing I hadn't looked suddenly. My internal sensors flared up and I instead did a scan of the damage.
"Ah! Pinkie, the brace is stabbing into my leg. I need to pull it off," I managed to whisper. She frowned but nodded with a surprisingly solemn expression. She pulled the tablecloth back, and I swallowed as I saw the dented metal had snapped before sliding cleanly into my flesh.
"Oh no! Uh... here!" Pinkie squeaked as she pushed her right foreleg down on the very end of my brace. I nodded to her and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth before pulling my foreleg backwards.
The pain was white hot and exploded as I yanked backwards. The wet and slick noise of the wire popping free told me it had worked, and Pinkie rapidly pushed the tablecloth back into my foreleg again.
"There?! Are you all happy now?!" Twilight screamed out, voice sounding as if it were seething in anger. The wind around her picked up with her shout, flames lapsing and dancing chaotically like actual hair. But… how?!
"What in tarnation is goin' on 'ere? Why was everypony attackin' you gals? Err, gals an' Mender," Applejack asked, correcting herself a moment later.
Rarity turned her attention back to me as she massaged my other leg gently, and explained, "These pamphlets contain terrible slander of Mender from the Equestria Weekly magazine and newspaper. They're claiming he's a changeling!"
Applejack stared at the papers for a moment before snorting to herself. A chorus of groans sounded out as dozens of rather confused looking ponies stood up and pulled themselves out of the wreckages of many a food stand. "What ah load o' hogwash if Ah ever saw one! Ah'm ashamed o' you ponies! Can't ya'all decide fer yerselves what's true an' what ain't?!" Applejack shouted out, turning to face them all instead of me.
Twilight exhaled softly as she looked over at Applejack, the burning light slowly fading from her eyes with the deep breath. Oddly, the flames that had lapsed from her prior faded away, leaving totally unharmed mane and tail in its wake. No, just no. I wasn’t even going to ask. The orange and golden mare who just crawled out of a carrot stand suddenly gasped, looking past Twilight and right at me instead. Oh hell. Here we go again. This time I didn't care what they'd think of it. I was going to put my barriers up.
"Oh no! W-What happened? What did we do?!" she asked, however, looking utterly horrified. What? Oh. Oh!
"Ah... Twilight, that stallion's eyes were glowing before Applejack knocked him flying," I managed to say, wincing as I pushed my lower body into a better position. The pain reverberated through my entire foreleg and I clenched my jaw. It hadn't hit any of the main blood vessels in my leg, but the pain was intense. My scan showed damage to a sizable nerve bundle near my elbow, and millions of nanites were released to start internal repairs again. My natural and unnatural regeneration only went so far...
Twilight gasped and immediately looked around for another flier. To my surprise, Derpy sat up on the other side of Pinkie, having apparently landed there after Twilight let the pegasi go to parry rocks. Oddly, only one of Derpy’s eyes was glowing lightly as she frowned.
"T-Twilight. Here's one of the pamphlets; undamaged. I, um, I don't want to hurt Mender. No, I'm not going to," she denied to nopony in particular. Twilight pulled the piece of paper away from her instantly using telekinesis, and it was like someone turned off the light bulb. She frowned and looked around again before exhaling softly.
Twilight glared at the pamphlet for a moment before tucking it into her saddlebag. "I'm going to bet that they're enchanted. But why?" she asked to herself. A second later, she gasped and spun around to me instead. "Ah, Mender!"
"Oh no! I'll go get a nurse!" the orange and gold mare shouted, tearing off towards the hospital. The blue stallion stood up shakily again as well.
"I'm going to need some food after this," I warned Twilight quietly. She looked momentarily confused before it dawned on her. I forced my eyes shut and manually shifted my body's energy flow. The nanites sped up at the same time my regeneration kicked into overdrive.
Applejack's expression shifted to surprise next to me as she watched my wound start to sizzle and seal up. "Oooh, neato!" Pinkie exclaimed, watching the effect with fascination. Their show was cut short, however, as Twilight's magic washed over the affected area. To my surprise, she actually started using a healing spell rather than just covering up what I was doing.
"It didn't hit in a critical spot," I assured, looking gently up at Twilight as I regenerated.
As I lifted my head, my muzzle came directly into hers, however. I hadn't realized she was so close, but she went with it and grinned against my lips, kissing me lightly as her magic restored my outer skin. I smiled and lightly pushed back, feeling better already. My leg even hurt less!
"Ah'm glad yer okay, Mender. Don't worry none about these ponies anymore. They learned their lesson, Ah think," Applejack spoke up, smiling at both of us after we broke apart.
Her eyes rapidly shifted away from mine as I looked over at her, however. Mentally, I sighed. There was no time to say anything, however, as that blue stallion from earlier limped over. Now that I got a better look at him, as he was no longer trying to pound my face in, I noticed he had two musical notes on his flank, and his fur was a very rich blue color, far darker than mine.
Applejack stepped up in front of me like a bodyguard, however. She puffed up and gave him a rather nasty looking glare. "Oh no. Yer gonna stay back if ya don't wanna go flyin' again," she warned, right forehoof digging into the dirt menacingly. Something about it made me blush lightly. It was similar to how she got with Twilight...
"I'm sorry, Applejack! I really am. It's all a blur and I don't remember what happened. I'm so sorry!" he apologized rapidly, halting his advance right there. I took note of a nick along his forehead that was causing a small trail of blood to run down the side of his face.
"Noteworthy! I'm ashamed of you! You're so polite and such a hard worker. What were you thinking attacking Mender like that?!" Rarity shot out angrily, stomping her hoof at him the second he finished talking.
Twilight shook her head, however, turning slightly away from me. "No, I don't think this is their fault directly. It feels like the pamphlets were enchanted. Possibly to magnify doubt and anger?" she suggested, thinking to herself.
"Why would somepony do that, though? And on such a fun day?" Pinkie asked, sounding almost heartbroken. Wait a second... Shifting slightly, I realized that the 'pillow' I was propped up against was in fact Pinkie's shoulder. Oh. Well, the proximity of her voice made sense now, anyways.
"Magnified?" Applejack asked suspiciously, staring over at Twilight. Huh?
The lavender unicorn hesitated before sighing weakly. "Only the most powerful spells can directly manipulate feelings to the point of instilling one that's not there. In order for it to have been this subtle, it would be restricted to only magnification," she revealed, looking down and away from me again. Oh. That I should have seen coming.
Applejack stared at her for a moment before frowning. "Ah think Ah got most o' that. Yer sayin' they already had tha doubt an' fear?"
"Yeah. It's to be expected, really. I'm a strange new pony who shows up out of nowhere with weird abilities, and then an attack happens in my vicinity," I pointed out, looking up at Applejack instead.
"N-No! It's not, well, it's just that you make a lot of us a little nervous, is all. We see you doing weird things and acting a little off and, I dunno. I'm sorry, Moon Mender," Noteworthy apologized softly, lowering his head. The crowd had gathered back around at this point, albeit considerably more passive this time. Most wore new scratches and a few were bleeding, I noticed. The town square looked like a hurricane hit it, however.
Twilight sighed and glanced back over at me, eyes dancing urgently. I recognized the stare and silently nodded back to her. She wanted permission. I wasn't sure on what, but I trusted that she had my best interest in mind.
"I was hoping we wouldn't have to say anything and things would just smooth out without incident, but it's a bit late for that. Mender's had a rough life before moving to Ponyville, however, and he has severe retrograde amnesia. Further, he occasionally gets flashbacks which scare him and might lead to you seeing him 'acting weird'," Twilight explained gently. As vague as that was, technically it was all true. She was trying to get them calmed down, then.
Noteworthy winced as he listened, then nodded silently. A mare stepped out of the crowd that I also recognized, however. She was with Lyra a while ago. Bon Bon, was it? "We're really sorry, Twilight. We haven't been told anything, really. What did Mender have to do with the attack a week or so ago?" she asked softly, giving my fillyfriend a pleading stare.
Twilight stared back for a moment before shaking her head and closing her eyes. "That was exactly what the Princesses said it was. A creature from another dimension attacked my library. Mender happened to be there at the time and was taken into the Everfree. He held it off until Princess Luna arrived, but got badly hurt in the process. You know the rest," she explained. Twilight was amazingly good at saying something that was technically true but avoiding most of the details. That kind of scared me.
"It was a monster. I tried to run away, but it told me what it wanted to do to Ponyville, and I got really angry. Unfortunately, that also made me a bit reckless," I added, shakily sitting up against Pinkie, who nudged me gently into a balanced position.
Noteworthy's eyes widened as he processed my information. "That thing wanted to do something to Ponyville?" he asked uneasily, suddenly unsure.
Applejack cut in instead with, "Yeah. It was really bad. Ponyville would'a been in real trouble, but it don't matter now because Princess Luna an' Mender stopped tha thing. Ya'all are safe now."
"The shield was just a precaution while Mender healed in the hospital," Twilight agreed, giving a nod.
Bon Bon tilted her head, however, shooting me a questioning gaze. "It was important to shield us while you were hospitalized?" she questioned.
"Yes, it was, my little ponies. Mender could hardly perform his duties as our Chief of Dimensional Regulation while he was in the hospital, after all," was suddenly spoken up to our right. What?!
Everypony, including me, turned to look at almost exactly the same time. Oddly, Princess Luna herself walked towards the crowd, a Night Guard to each side of her. I peeked at both of them, but they weren't familiar and I let out a sigh of relief. Wait, what was that about Chief of Dimensional Regulation?!
"P-Princess Luna! What are you doing here?" Twilight asked almost immediately as the entire crowd, minus herself, Pinkie, and me, bowed to the Princess. Twilight never seemed to, and I was told not to. Pinkie could have, I suppose, but I would have toppled over if she did. Her suddenly standing up would probably hurt.
"Oh, that one's easy! I invited both the Princesses to Mender's party!" Pinkie informed, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Twilight didn't seem to think as much, however. "Oh. Oh! But, Sugarcube Corner isn't done yet! Oh no!" she squeaked before rapidly opening the door again and fleeing back inside the building. I raised an eyebrow as I watched the door slowly shut, really hoping we didn't need her to deflect anymore rocks.
Luna snickered merrily as she approached, gesturing for all of us to stand up again. "Mender is, if he accepts, the head of the newly formed Dimensional Regulation Unit. It's a branch of the Royal Guard that my sister instated yesterday. Even given his amnesia, Mender is an expert on dimensional travel and magic involving it. We believe that's why he was targeted by the monster," she explained. My eyes widened dramatically as I looked up at her while Pinkie helped me stand up again. How much of that was just a cover story?! There was no way Celestia was going to make me chief of anything.
Gasps and whispers exploded throughout the crowd, and Noteworthy actually shifted to a look of realization. "Oh! You really are a secret agent, then! This news story is so bogus about your past, then. Duh, of course they're going to hide the truth about you," he muttered, kicking one of the half burned pamphlets on the ground.
"News?" Luna asked, looking over at me in minor confusion.
"Long story. Wanna come inside to talk there?" I offered, trying to stabilize myself as I looked about for where my brace skidded off to.
Pinkie gasped and hopped lightly, causing me to wobble. "Oooh, I'll go get you some snacks and tea!"
My eyes widened as she zipped inside less than a second later. "Pinkie, wait!" I exclaimed. As anticipated, my left leg gave out the second weight fell back onto it fully. I yelped and stumbled, tipping sideways as I hadn't expected the sudden shift in balance. Rarity made a grab for me from the other side but didn't react in time.
To my surprise, the ground never came, however. I gently opened my eyes, looking to the left in time to see Applejack had taken Pinkie's place and was gently propping me up. She shifted her gaze away awkwardly, but nodded to me. "Ah definitely ain't gonna let ya fall," she explained quietly.
I stared at her for a moment. She felt bad, and wanted to make up for her perceived slights against me. That much I got. Part of me realized that nothing would really be the same again, but I wanted to at least smooth out this awkwardness. "Thanks, Applejack. Could you help me inside?" I requested gently. If she were just looking for things she could do for me, I guess it could work. The only thing was I had to make sure the requests were dignified. She'd probably do almost anything, but I had a deep respect for the mare and didn't want her doing anything degrading.
She smiled lightly for just a split second, but every sense I had locked in on that and remembered it. She liked that. She liked any way she could think of to repay that. Me just telling her it was all fine was pointless if she didn't forgive herself. "Sure thing, Sugarcube," she said, gesturing Luna and Rarity inside as well with a move of her head.
I watched the Moon Princess step through the doorway, then heard more commotion from behind us. Rarity, Applejack, and I turned back around to look as the orange and gold mare rushed back up finally, the oh-so familiar Nurse Redheart on her tail. Both looked rather panicked, but Redheart gave me a worried smile upon finally making it.
"Twilight healed him a little bit, but it doesn't look like his leg is doing too good," Noteworthy explained, trotting up to the mares as they ran up. To my surprise, Bon Bon stepped out of the audience at the same time and held up my brace in her mouth. Rarity smiled towards her and nodded, picking it up with her magic and floating it over to us as well.
"He had his leg forcibly removed. It's a miracle he's even walking, so that's probably normal. I still want to take a look at it, though," Nurse Redheart explained, walking up after us after glancing towards Sugarcube Corner. A series of gasps spread through the crowd at that, and I winced inwardly.
Applejack, ignoring the reaction, nodded politely to her before requesting, "We're about ta head inside ta have ah talkin' with Princess Luna. Can ya come in an' take ah look at it there?"
"Of course!" the nurse exclaimed, brushing past her and giving me a frustrated glare on her way into the building. I swallowed lightly, realizing I was giving her even more work now.
"Oh, wait! My name is Golden Harvest, but my friends just call me Carrot Top," the golden-maned mare introduced, running up until she was about a meter away before bowing politely.
Frowning, I gave her a nod in return before asking, "Why do your friends call you..." I trailed off as I glanced up to her rather curly, golden orange mane. "Oh."
She giggled but nodded. "You got it! Anyway, I'm super sorry for what happened! If you ever need anything at all, just let me know. I'll jump right on it!" she apologized, eyes softening as she looked rather sincere. Slowly, I nodded back, starting to feel a little shy and honestly having no idea what to do with so many ponies staring at me. Carrot Top grinned happily and Noteworthy nodded in agreement.
"Me, too, of course. I'm a good friend of the Apples and a hard worker. If you need anything, either personally or in the defense of Equestria, please let me know!" he declared. Wow, they were really taking this 'Chief' thing seriously!
I started to cough weakly, but Applejack beat me to talking. "Ah can vouch fer him. He's strong an' ah good worker. O' course, ya also have mah family's support," she chipped in. Er, what?
"Not you too, Applejack! I don't even know what this position is yet!" I reminded, shooting her an awkwardly frustrated stare. She actually started laughing!
"We know what you're capable of, Mender. Stop being modest and realize you actually have skills in this area," Rarity lectured politely, giving my right shoulder a gentle rub with her forehoof. I sighed and looked over at her, but only received a half-lidded wink in return before she stood again and slowly walked inside. Coughing, I averted my gaze politely. So, she wasn't just going to give up, I noted. Either that or she was just being playful to make me squirm because it was humorous...
Applejack snickered even more before gesturing and shoving me inside. She was surprisingly gentle from what I'd been expecting. Luna smiled politely as I slid indoors, then lifted a massive folder crammed full of papers using her magic. Redheart nodded and smirked to me as well, holding up a rather large needle at the same time. Oh dear. This was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Even knowing they weren't going to publicly execute me, I still had worlds of trouble saying no to mares. One pointless tetanus shot later, I was sitting gingerly on a couch in the upper floors of Sugarcube Corner. The room was immensely pink, which didn't honestly surprise me. It was also extremely crammed with Princess Luna and Rarity on the bed, Twilight sitting next to me on the couch, and Applejack and Pinkie on the floor between the bed and said couch.
I spent another good half a minute staring blankly at the papers in front of me. What was the natural reaction to something like this? Only the top three were meant to be signed by me. The rest were detailed information about the Everfree Incident, an exceedingly detailed table of goals in a suspiciously familiar writing, and oddly enough, portfolio information on a dozen individuals.
"I'm sure you understand where my sister is coming from. This is a purely defensive aligned group meant to safeguard Equestria from any extradimensional risk," Luna explained again after my lengthy bout of silence had drawn on almost a minute.
I nodded weakly. That much was crystal clear. She was forming a mixture of combat and extremely selective R&D to guard against any and all future extradimensional incidents, focusing on defensive measures. "I get that much. I'm just not sure where I fit in, and why you're labeling me the 'chief' of the branch," I elaborated, frowning as I flipped to the next page again. It outlined the goals of the agency and vaguely explained what they wanted me for, but I didn't see where the research and development of alien technologies translated into 'chief'...
"You'll be monitoring and leading an expert team of unicorns in order to investigate and develop counters for any alien technology acquired," Luna informed. She gave a slight shift of her eyes when she said it, and I frowned. Twilight shivered lightly next to me, and I closed my eyes. She said she wouldn't. All I'd have to do is say something. Yes, that might be a better idea.
"This is your writing, Twilight. If you're running overhead on the entire agency, why aren't you chief?" I inquired, looking over at her. She winced as if burned, then swallowed.
A hesitation. Finally she rapidly shook her head, causing Applejack to give her a skeptical look. "I'm not going to lie to you. I'm your organizer and planner in the organization. But, um, I'm not the chief," she explained, not explaining much at all. I raised an eyebrow and she sighed again.
"Twi, it can't be that bad. Just come out with it, Sugarcube," Applejack interrupted, frowning up at her.
My fillyfriend's ears lowered and she shivered again before looking back up at me with a surprisingly determined stare. "No, I won’t lie! I, well, I don't have any actual combat experience. Actually, compared to you, the royal guards that dominate the personnel list don't either," she finally admitted.
I froze, eyes widening slightly. "Wait, what?" Rarity asked, sounding somewhat startled.
"You're expecting to need to use force against threats to Equestria, and want me to lead the guard into battle against them..." I muttered, eyes locked intently on Twilight's. She shivered again and tried to look away with her head, but her own eyes remained frozen on mine as she hesitated.
"Yes, that's true. You're the only one here currently that has led troops into battle. The only other individual who still technically has guard capacity and has the same qualifications is Shining Armor," Luna added calmly, watching the exchange.
I resisted snorting. "Yeah, and he's a prince. I get it. All I've ever led was a specialist squad, however. We didn't see much direct combat," I warned, voice softening. Only a little white lie. Just a tiny one. It took effort to resist shivering.
"Please, Mender? You said you wanted to protect us, and I'll be there with you the entire time," Twilight reminded, edging forwards a little and nuzzling along my shoulder. Heat danced up me and I flushed lightly as she almost touched the base of my neck before stopping. Yeah, not the place for that... Still, that was cheating!
I sighed and looked away from her, staring down at the floor. Technically, I wanted to protect them, yes. I didn't like placing myself under Celestia's orders, however. Further, I didn't want to give these ponies weapons of war. The 'threat' was almost over, unless Celestia knew things I didn't. The entire concept reeked of ulterior motives.
Pinkie was surprisingly quiet during the entire conversation, and shifted herself to a more comfortable spot. I was a little irked that she'd given up her bed. Not only was it her room, but she was also the injured one here. At least I thought she was injured. The way she'd been acting today, I couldn't tell for sure. She must heal amazingly fast.
Finally, she looked back up at me and softly asked, "What's wrong, Mender? Something about it must be bothering you if you didn't agree right away." The corner of my mouth turned up in amusement. Clever deduction, honestly. Above and beyond the others in the room, anyway.
"It bugs me. What is Celestia so afraid of? I've been dealing with it and the threat is almost done with," I said, merely speaking my thoughts out loud.
"It's a precaution, Mender. Plus, my sister worries for other dimensions getting involved due to the nature of the Elements here. It's not just your old dimension she's concerned for," Luna informed. Well, I suppose it was a small chance, but that was true. I was here, after all. If the Keldarians could figure out a way to get here, it stood to reason that others could, too.
Nurse Redheart raised her hoof from the doorway, and everypony turned to look at her at the same time. "Uh, I don't mean to interrupt everypony, but, um, should I still be here?" she squeaked, looking a little uncertain now. Oh yeah, I forgot she was here! Wait a second...
Frowning, I flipped through the paperwork again and came to her portfolio as well. Oh. I nodded to myself and looked back up at her. "Uh, actually you appear to have class-three agency clearance. Welcome aboard!"
She widened her eyes, and then looked down at her own file in my hooves. "Oh. Well, um, okay! I definitely accept then! This is way more entertaining than hospital detail!" she exclaimed.
"Actually, considering the agency shall be based out of Ponyville, I expect you'll probably continue the hospital detail until special request otherwise," Twilight pointed out, causing the nurse to deflate a little.
"Darn. I was hoping I could try on some black spandex and learn martial arts," Redheart muttered wistfully. Er, what? What was she thinking of?!
Luna continued, however, apparently deciding to ignore the comment. "Regardless, the agency is under my jurisdiction instead of my sister's. Further, any countermeasures we develop to defend Equestria shall remain strictly that. No copies and no prototypes are to be distributed anywhere else. We need not these advanced weapons except to defend ourselves from similar," she warned, looking grim.
I exhaled quietly, relaxing a bit. Okay, that put aside a lot of my concern. She seemed to notice this and smirked. No, Luna was amazingly perceptive, if I remembered anything from my dealings with her before. She probably 'warned' me of that simply because she figured out that it was bothering me earlier.
Twilight gave Luna a surprised glance for a second before also smiling and relaxing. "We understand, of course. I believe that is what Mender would prefer anyway," she assured, glancing back over at me with a soft smile.
"Of course! We ponies would much rather party than hurt others!" Pinkie chimed in, nodding rapidly to Luna.
The Princess of the Moon finally rolled her eyes and giggled lightly, revealing, "It wasn't an actual warning. Mender was just concerned about giving ponies weapons like that." I coughed and looked away, causing Rarity to smirk across the way.
"What about tha Elements? Are we on defense, too?" Applejack inquired, looking over her shoulder to Luna.
Luna nodded down to her before explaining, "Purely for defense, of course. It wouldn't be the same as before, however. Tia has requested we limit the Elements' exposure to other dimensions, so their use would be situational. Twilight and Mender should be able to judge when to use them."
I glanced over at Twilight, who nodded and smiled to me. "I'm extremely familiar with the Elements of Harmony. If Mender chips in the extradimensional parts, I'm sure we can come up with information on it," she estimated. I was surprised by her confidence, honestly. If it were just me, there's no way I'd accept this position, I suddenly realized.
"Then do I carry good news back to Tia?" Luna asked me politely.
I hesitated, but finally nodded. Why not? I really did want to protect them, and it appeared that I wouldn't be able to escape being a soldier after all. Pinkie interrupted both my thoughts and my attempt to reply, however.
"No! You're not bringing news back! That would mean that you left. And if you leave, you can't attend the party here, because it's not in Canterlot! If you can't make it to the party, I'll be really sad! So no, you can't deliver the news yet!" Pinkie ordered. Oddly, everything she said was the absolute truth.
Luna stared at her for a moment before smirking and adding, "Of course, Pinkie. I've already cleared the whole day, and was planning on staying. It's wonderful for everypony to truly want me to stay." Oh yeah. Her banishment then return probably left some lingering negative feelings.
Pinkie couldn't have looked more delighted. Well, maybe she could have, but I didn't want to think about that. That was kind of like just happily finishing your cup of ice cream, then somepony informing you that you have twenty seven more cups to finish, this time with chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and brownies. Delicious, but overwhelming at the same time and almost guaranteed to make you throw up. Of course, now I was thinking about it.
The pink one was gone when I snapped out of it again, and I was momentarily surprised. Uh oh. It was never a good thing if she got out of my sight that quickly. The door downstairs slammed open a second later and I heard, "Come on, everypony! Let's get this party started!" Oh.
Luna gave out a deafening cheer before flapping up off the bed and trotting back downstairs rapidly. My head momentarily swam from the decibels, and Twilight leaned over again, giving me a gentle massage. "Just try to relax and enjoy yourself. I'm staying with you all day, so don't worry," she assured.
I nodded weakly, then flattened my ears back as I heard the rampage of hooves downstairs. This was going to be a long night.
* * * * *
One startling, overwhelming conclusion I had come to over the last hour was that Pinkie Pie had absolutely no sense for numbers. Well, that might not be absolutely true. If she knew of them, she certainly ignored them.
Lowering, I ducked under a flying disk before it took my head off, then barely stumbled forward to avoid getting run over by the mare chasing it. Town's square was absolutely flooded with ponies, and Vinyl had moved her sound stage out here instead. The deafening bass that radiated from that direction literally shook the ground I walked on. As fun as the music was, I couldn't manage to get any closer than ten meters. That meant visiting Vinyl was out, as I wouldn't be able to hear what we were saying anyway. Yeah. Pinkie had no sense for numbers. She invited roughly seven times the amount of ponies that Sugarcube Corner could hold by itself.
The library opened itself up for mingling and a quieter scene in which to talk for most, as well. Rarity also surprised me by opening up the Boutique and serving tea for the easily upset ponies. I'd just come from there and was feeling delightfully sleepy, despite the loud noise and potentially fatal collision opportunities. Fluttershy was still there, and said she'd come to the library afterwards. Hopefully that's where Twilight still was.
Seeing as I had been in good hooves at the Carousel Boutique, she'd taken off to open up the library and shift some things upstairs. As she was late returning, I finally decided to wander that way and see what had slowed her down. It could be anything, knowing my fillyfriend.
To my surprise, an uncertain looking Spike sat just outside on the library's step. He shifted uneasily to look in my direction before smiling and waving. I returned a smirk and nod, dodging two mares as they danced past rather haphazardly. Frowning, I stared at the two for a minute, realizing they were the same pegasi from earlier with the lavender coats and blue manes. I oddly couldn't tell if they were dancing or fighting, so I decided to hurry past.
Owlowiscious flew out the upstairs window with a flail, momentarily dropping like a rock before pulling out of the fall and giving a couple of flaps over to me. "No! This was supposed to be a calm and quiet place!" I heard Twilight shout from inside on the first floor. Uh oh.
I ducked my head down while looking over at Owlowiscious. He took the hint and landed solidly on my back between my two shoulders, looking a bit frazzled but otherwise okay. It was amazing how much I noticed him now that I realized he existed!
"Hey, Mender. Twilight's going crazy inside. Ya might want to hang here for a bit," Spike warned, shooting a nervous glance back inside.
I peeked past him and saw Twilight chasing down a little pink-maned filly who had a book in her mouth. Seconds later, a table fell over and crashed in the corner as somepony slipped. Yikes. Twilight's feral scream of aggravation cemented Spike's suggestion into my head, and I sat down next to him. Owlowiscious fluttered off the incline and landed on my head instead, giving a tired hoot. "Agreed fully. When Pinkie decides to party, she really parties," I groaned, casting my eyes upwards at the owl.
Spike snickered and nodded, looking back down at his claws before shaking his head. "It kinda sucks, really. Sure it's fun, but there's no organization to it," he complained idly.
I raised an eyebrow to him before asking, "You're starting to sound like Twi. What do you mean?"
He snorted, but smirked at least. "I just want to find some of our friends to hang out. That's why I'm so happy to see you as well. Sitting out here by myself was kinda lonely," he confided, looking a little glum.
As depressing as it was, I was kinda happy he considered me a friend. I gave him a gentle nudge in the shoulder, and he smiled up at me. "Relax. I'm here now and you don't have to be by yourself, at least. I'm just surprised you're not with Rarity," I pointed out.
"I don't even know where she is right now! That's what I was talking about," he protested, dropping his head down again. Ah, he hadn't heard yet.
"Oh, that one's easy. She's at the Boutique. She opened up the first floor and is serving tea to ponies. She might even need your help to serve it," I revealed.
His expression changed like I'd flicked a switch. "What?! Really? Oh! Oh! I should go help her! If she needs my help, it's my duty to..." he started before slowly trailing off.
I gave him a skeptical glance, but he lowered his arms down again and stared at me. "But you just got here and were nice enough to tell me about her. It kinda feels like I'm ditching you now," he muttered, frowning a little.
My smile widened. Those were some extremely complex feelings. I suddenly realized he might not be as much of a 'kid' as I originally thought. "Spike, it's okay. If she needs help, you should help her. Show her that you can be a white knight, too. She'll realize it soon enough," I suggested gently. Of course, I didn't say anything about the ideas I'd dropped on her the other night.
He perked up and nodded. "Thanks, Mender. You're a good friend. I'll make this up to ya later, okay? Say hi to Twilight for me!" He ran off before I could say anything else, making a beeline for the boutique faster than I realized he could move. Right. Talk to Twilight.
Turning around, I peeked back inside at the horrible mess. Twilight was nowhere to be seen, but ponies appeared to be behaving themselves more, anyway. At least, I didn't see as many little foals in there. Did that mean she was getting the situation under control? Owlowiscious let out a weak, hooting noise, as if reading my thoughts. Yeah. Better stay out here for a while longer, just in case.
Rotating around, I plopped down onto the step and looked out at the crowd, listening to the reverberating beats of the nearby music. Celestia's Sun slowly drifted closer and closer to the horizon, and soon Luna would take over. Did it take her effort to raise the moon? It would seem like it should, but I'd never seen either Princess do it, so I tried not to jump to conclusions. Luna was somewhere in Ponyville enjoying herself, and I wondered what she'd do when she had to start her night.
My drifting mind snapped back to focus as my eyes picked out two stragglers moving along the outskirts of the party, as I had a bit ago. My paranoia increased somewhat as I realized I didn't recognize either of them. The mare was cream colored with a long, striped mane of purple and white. The stallion was a darker blue color, with an even darker mane. At first I thought it was Noteworthy from earlier, but as he got closer, I noticed not only was he different in facial structure, but both were unicorns. They were making straight for the library and the stallion had an expression of purpose. My armor prepped inside of me as I watched them, and I felt my muscles tense and twitch.
They halted maybe a half-dozen meters away and he started fidgeting with his bow tie. I noticed they were dressed rather formally for this sort of party. "Are you sure I look presentable? If he's indeed up to scruff, I want to make a good impression," the male asked, looking over at his partner. Mates? Dating? Married? My ears swiveled around to focus in on them, my hearing magnifying as I kicked on my scouting protocols.
"Dear, for the fifth time, you look fine. You're not going to make a very good impression if you keep getting so excitable. Relax," the mare soothed, nudging his hoof away and straightening his tie with both of hers. As she turned sideways to do so, I got a good look at her Cutie Mark. Three simple purple stars, misaligned in a loose cluster. Interesting. Stars? Her eyes were also a brilliant blue color that went really well with her mane.
They continued moving again before I could consider it further. His Cutie Mark was barely visible at this angle, but I thought I saw some sort of double crescent moon or something. As he got closer, I noticed his eyes were a lighter orange or brown. It was hard to tell as I lost my light.
The mare took a step forwards ahead of the stallion and approached me with a smile. "Ah, hello! Do you know if Twilight Sparkle is in?" she asked gently, surprising me. They were after Twilight?
"Well, yes, she is. She's a bit distracted right now, though. Do you want me to take you to her?" I offered after a moment's consideration. I didn't know these ponies, but if they wanted to hurt Twilight or were secretly spies or something, they were in for a world of hurt.
The stallion scoffed, however, and shook his head rapidly. "I don't need an escort to see my own daughter! She's here, and that's all we needed to know," he shot back. My eyes widened drastically and I started to panic before he plowed past me and headed into the library. Oh, oh hell! That was her father?!
The mare, presumably Twilight's mother at this point, sighed and shook her head as she watched. "I'm very sorry about that. He gets a little anxious about things," she apologized, sounding sincere as she gave me a light bow.
"Ah! N-No, it's fine. He just surprised me, is all," I excused, suddenly having no clue whatsoever what to say. Oh hell. I should have prepared something for this! I knew they were coming tonight at some point. Why didn't I think about it before now?!
She smiled, however, and shook her head. "It's no excuse for him to be so rude. Still, it's not every day that our daughter gets herself a coltfriend and potential marriage material, so I can see why he's worked up," she reasoned, turning and watching him hastily go upstairs. Twilight must not be on the first floor...
Wait. "Marriage?!" I questioned, turning back to the mare with a surprised expression. I'd known her dad was big on that, but the way her mom talked, this sounded like something Twilight herself said!
The mare giggled and nodded before correcting, "Not actually my idea. Twilight herself mentioned that she thinks he's 'the one' and all. It's so cute how she gushes! I'm surprised you didn't hear about him. I mean, she writes us all the time about him, so I figured... the news would..." She trailed off, but I wasn't paying attention. I felt a little dizzy as I sat back down again, head spinning. She wanted to marry me?! But it had only been a month or so! She was talking about marrying me already?
Suddenly remembering that I was still present for a supposed conversation, I snapped out of it and focused back on the mare in front of me. She was giving me a questioning stare, however, and I swallowed, tilting my head back and away from her a bit. "Actually, her letters were very detailed and descriptive. I..." she started, before glancing down at my left leg instead. Her eyes widened ever so slightly as she saw my newly repaired brace on it. Oh. Crap. Twilight probably told them about the injury.
She shifted to a smile a moment later, however, and looked back up at me. "Oh, terribly sorry! Where are my manners? My name is Twilight Velvet. My impatient husband you met earlier is Night Light. I'm very surprised I didn't notice sooner, but you seem to have a way of disappearing into the background, even when I'm talking right to you. I guess I thought you'd be taller," she spoke, sounding almost as if she were talking to herself or taking notes on me.
"Ah... ha ha... It's fine. It's very nice to meet you. Um, you probably guessed already, but I'm Moon Mender," I introduced, scratching my head with my brace and feeling kind of stupid. Well, this was still a better introduction than I gave Shining Armor.
If the introduction had been awkward for her, she didn't let it show. Instead, she smiled softly at me and returned with, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I wondered what my future son-in-law would look like. You're very polite, just like she said." That tasty awkwardness returned and I coughed weakly. "Maybe a little too polite. I'll have to work on that," she continued a moment later before grinning.
Somehow, I resisted hiding. "Ah, um, I'm sorry? I'm a little nervous," I apologized, shifting uncomfortably back and forth.
"See? I'll break you out of your shell, however! For now, though, we should go stop my husband before things get out of-" she started to suggest.
"Stop trying to subtly sniff my bed! I know what you think, but I was telling the truth!" I heard Twilight scream from upstairs. What?
Twilight Velvet sighed, muttering, "Oh dear. Too late. He's being creepy-paranoid again." Sniffing her bed? Even I thought that was being a little weird.
"I heard what your brother said! You need to wait to be respectably bonded via unicorn tradition! I mean, really! Not only mating, but joining energy outside of bond? I expected more from my daughter!" he shouted back. I thought she said that was cleared up?!
"Shiny told you that was a misunderstanding! We haven't bonded yet!" Twilight shouted back. Her mother headed for the stairs. Hesitation struck me, but I decided a second or two later to follow her. Even if I couldn't help, I could at least support Twilight. At least I might be able to be a good punching bag as well if need be.
There was more stomping upstairs. "You two were always close. You bribed him, didn't you? Tell me the truth, Twilight Sparkle! His smell is all over the place here. You're a mated pair already!" he rashly accused.
"That's quite enough, Night Li-" Twilight Velvet started as she hit the top of the stairs.
"GAH! FOR THE LAST TIME, MENDER AND I HAVEN'T MATED YET!" Twilight's voice exploded out from upstairs, causing me to wince under the volume of it. It matched what Luna could do.
Everything went dead quiet. Time practically stood still as I momentarily heard only the ringing of my ears. How loud had she said that? I swallowed nervously and turned around at the base of the stairs, only to see that every single pony in the room was staring up at the loft, looking surprised. Damn it. Wait, something was missing.
My ears twitched. Where the hell was the music outside?! A few seconds later, somepony coughed over the microphone. “Well, ‘that’ was awkward. Uh, right on. This next set o’ tracks is a remix I made at Tavi’s request. Some of her music meets some of mine! Let’s move those bodies, everypony!” Vinyl shouted out, recovering rapidly from the horribly timed track switch. The music blasted out most of the rumor spreading a second later, I imagined.
A quiet snort came from the nearby table and I heard, “Well at least we know he’s not a changeling. He’d have starved to death by now!” My ears flattened back, regardless of me not getting the implication. But the way it was said was clear enough. I didn’t even turn to look at them before scurrying up the stairs. Damn it! I could have sworn I heard Rainbow laughing hysterically over our link…