Forgiveness Pending

by Kiroberos


Chapter 66

Yawning sleepily, I sat on the rather uncomfortable wooden bench and leaned back against the wall, vacant stare aimed at the ceiling. Twenty-seven minutes and twelve seconds so far, wasted by just sitting here idly. The room was beyond packed, unfortunately, but at least nopony was paying a bit of attention to us at all. Fluttershy yawned sleepily, curled up against my left thigh while zoning in and out of unconsciousness. I fully agreed. It was far too early in the morning for this. Still, Twilight had insisted on 'beating the crowd' down here. That had gone poorly at best.

The room was quite spacious, thankfully, having enough room along the west wall for six three meter long counters all connected together, with access granted to behind them via a door on the south wall. They were made of nice oak, by the looks of the wood, but only three of them actually had ponies behind them at the moment. That was probably contributing to the delay. A queue was formed in front of all three open ones, with an empty row next to the line of ponies. The signs were self-explanatory enough, but I'd also watched a few other herds already. The lead stallion or mare waited in line, then the rest of the herd was called up through the empty row when they reached the actual counter. Then, when whatever business was concluded, the herd left via the empty row and the process was repeated for the next in line. Good in theory, but it took upwards of fifteen to twenty minutes for some of the herds... They really needed to open the other three counters.

Out of pure boredom, I looked about the rest of the room while waiting. Stone brick mostly, the dull color was a sharp contrast to the warmer reds and greens in the rugs and tapestries they'd selected, making it a bit better anyways. Benches largely filled the remainder of the main room, with bathrooms towards the back, next to what looked like private offices. I'd caught myself also marking the exits, sniping angles on the windows, and the structural supports to the place, formulating a solid guess as to the explosive yield required to slice through them with a shaped detonation. Keldarian Engineering Motto. Always have a plan to bring down any structure you lay eyes upon. Old habits die hard, it would seem. Regardless, I made sure that Fluttershy and I were well outside of the sniping angle of the two nearest windows, just in case.

"Argh! This is so boring! Why are there so many herds here so early?!" Twilight groaned out along the link, shooting us a frustrated glance from her place, third in line. Two more herds and we'd finally get our turn.

I tried smiling softly towards her while Fluttershy gave her a sympathetic expression, mentally suggesting, "There's usually always a lot of tension after the Fall estrus. Separation and hormones can cause bad decisions, and lots of stress in couples that are still together. Coupled with the colder weather and darker days, and it can cause a lot of problems." Heh, that was the truth there. It was a bad decision on their part that caused us to be here after all, but I'd just gotten done trying to cheer them up over that, so I was definitely not going to mention it again.

Twilight sighed and nodded, looking a bit glum before adding in a whisper down the link, "I figured as much. It's probably worse in larger cities, especially with the taller buildings blocking even more light. Seasonal Mood Disorder aside, we all know what bad decisions can do. But we're definitely going to fix it now, even if I have to stand in line all day!" Heh, she was resolute about this, anyway. SMD sounded vaguely familiar, however. I'd seen a study on Seasonal Affective Disorder theories applied to prolonged exposure to the Keldarian 'Sky Scorching' phenomenon that was rather interesting, and wondered if SMD was similar, for a moment. Then I decided I must be extremely bored, to wander off on that tangent.

"Um, do you think they'll give us any trouble with it, Twilight?" Fluttershy silently asked, expression softening as she looked down a little. I leaned down a bit and gently nuzzled the top of her forehead, giving her a little peck while I was down there. There were more than enough public displays of affection drifting around the room that I didn't feel I needed to worry about a minor one.

The yellow mare gave me a timid but thankful looking smile, and I nodded to her calmly. Twilight seemed to consider it for a moment before answering with, "I doubt it. All the forms I've seen so far are simplistic enough, and the waiver releases require a royal signature, which I can provide myself, so..." That was a good line of reasoning, honestly. We had everything they'd require, in theory. And if they required a 'full blood' royal signature, Cadance had said she'd be more than willing to sign for me.

The pink alicorn had caught up with us really fast this morning as we were heading out of the palace. She seemed quite intent on formally apologizing to me for the awkward question last night which had caused my small breakdown. I tried to explain that it wasn't her fault, and that I just had flashbacks sometimes if something reminded me of a bad 'memory', but she still insisted. She was definitely a kind mare, and explained that she hadn't meant to sound depreciating of what I'd undoubtedly gone through, which I thought was an amazingly diplomatic way to word it, but it was a nice thought anyway. Regardless, she said she would be at dinner tonight at Twilight's parents' house, so I'd be seeing her again then. Of course, that was a whole different can of worms that I didn't quite want to touch yet. Maybe I should invite Octavia along, too, just in case I need to smooth things over again?

"At least there's a large amount of herds here, some of the appointments quite loud. Even if the waiting annoys you, at least consider that we blend in fairly well and shouldn't cause any media controversies this time," I pointed out mentally, pulling Fluttershy closer as she giggled lightly, out loud this time.

Twilight smirked, and then admitted back, "That's a positive way to look at it, anyways. So, I guess suggesting that you cause a distraction to weed out the line a bit would be bad, then, right?" Ha!

Snickering as well, I returned, "Well I could always go into the bathroom, pop out my throat armor, and roar at the top of my lungs. Bet that would clear the building out fairly fast." Fluttershy giggled lightly, but Twilight held a hoof over her mouth to stop herself from outright laughing.

"Ha! The problem is, it would probably cause the workers to clear out, too, and then we'd be here a really long time," she pointed out a moment later, smirking back at me. The mare behind her was starting to give her rather strange looks given how animate Twilight was for not actually talking to anypony.

I snickered softly to Fluttershy, happy I was way back here where there was already quiet talking and our motions looked more like we were talking to each other. "Heh, probably. Still, I'm sure you could fill out the paperwork yourself with no trouble. Careful, though. The mare behind you is getting suspicious," I warned, turning back towards Fluttershy instead, who tilted her head past me and at Twilight.

"Gah! I can't help but make gestures while talking. Um, I'll try to be quieter so they don't think I'm crazy," Twilight suggested in a flustered a second later. Probably for the best, honestly.

Fluttershy sighed and shifted further against me, a somewhat nervous yet bored sensation drifting from her. Ah, I knew that sensation well enough. She wanted to be done with all of this, yet she didn't want to go through with it because she was nervous. I suppose I should consider it a sign of how much she truly cared that she was braving doing this at all.

She let out a light squeak and looked up at me as I leaned forwards and lightly kissed her on the forehead. I felt her move upwards and into me instead, oh so carefully lifting up and kissing me gently on the lips after I moved back. We kept it quick and chaste, of course, and she relaxed against my side instead, keeping her warm body up against mine as she relaxed there. Moments like this, however, made me want to stay here forever. The little yellow pegasus had quite proven her devotion to preserving the relationship already, and I was more than content being with her now. Twilight was also in the process of proving herself resolute in wanting to be with me. If this went through without a hitch, I'd also be an official member of the herd.

That rang through my mind, and I smiled, holding Fluttershy close as her wings slipped around me. Yeah, sure they both had each other and had definitely shown that over estrus, but they were going to solid lengths to prove that they wanted me here, too, so did I really have anything to complain about? It was hard to stay mad when they seemed genuinely apologetic. But despite my reasoning, why was I uneasy over it still?

"You're angry. It's as simple as that. They didn't bother thinking of you until it was too late over Estrus, and if they had, you wouldn't even have to be here," an oh so familiar voice reasoned to my left. My eyes narrowed, the smell of blood permeating the air suddenly. Blood and decay. Damn it. I hadn't heard from her since my tiny breakdown when we got back to Ponyville, and was hoping she'd given up on pestering me. Guess I was wrong.

"Me, give up on you? Of course not. You're me, and I'm certainly not going to give up on myself. Besides, you can feel that I'm right, no?" she suggested. Her voice didn't have the edge it normally did, nor was she taunting me, which threw me a bit off guard. Her 'suggestion' the last time she showed herself was rather reasonable, too, which was a bit disconcerting, now that I considered it. Was she growing nicer, or was I growing colder?

Holding my composure as best I could, I focused only on talking to her, thinking out, "Leave me alone, Nirru. You're either a figment of my imagination, or a computer error, both of which make you completely insignificant. I can figure things out without your input."

Fluttershy shivered slightly, eyes opening again as she looked up at me. Figured. At this distance, and with her amazing levels of empathy, I realized she'd probably be able to tell something was different. The 'sensation' of Nirru smirked, me realizing that despite me not looking at her. All the more proof that she was just in my head, I realized. "How mean. I'm only trying to help you and you lash out so violently towards me. Heh. I like it. You really are an alpha male. I never should have tried to kill you after all, should I have? You'd be a much better mate," she suggested, voice dropping in what I could only describe as a sick attempt to be seductive, largely because of who the voice belonged to. Sadly, I had a feeling she was fully aware of how much the 'seduction' would piss me off instead.

"Mender, what's that sensation?" Fluttershy asked quietly, starting to turn around in the direction of the rotting corpse behind her. I reached a hoof out instantly and stopped her rotation, pulling her back to face me.

"Don't look, Fluttershy," I quickly warned. Twilight's awareness shifted to us in an instant, a bit of alarm playing at her link. I realized my own heartbeat had greatly sped up, apprehension and unease readily apparent through the two links. Pinkie's link activated a second later as she too became aware of something. Rainbow's followed after, me distinctly feeling Pinkie's alert the cyan mare. Damn it.

"Mender, what is it? W-Who is this... I feel something really horrible b-behind..." Fluttershy started to whisper. Nirru slowly grinned, her jaw cracking with a wet snap as it expanded past its normal limits, the drops of blood flying out and towards...

No! In an instant, I pulled Fluttershy close to me, snapping all her focus back onto me as I released that empty hunger inside of me at point blank range, aiming just around behind the pegasus as best I could. Nirru's eyes widened in an instant as she started to shout out, "Wai-" Her image was gone, so fast that reality seemed to distort and burn away to blackness where she was. The black nothing, so empty and freezing cold, was there for just a moment, then gone again before one could even fully process its existence. I knew it had been there, though, which was enough to chill me to the bone.

Fluttershy gave a start, feeling the sudden emptiness flare up for that split second of existence, but it was gone before she could even complete her jerk. "Mender, what's wrong?!" Twilight quickly asked mentally a second later. Rainbow slid in through the door, to my surprise, less than three seconds later, followed by Applejack fast on her tail. They were supposed to be waiting outside!

"It... It's nothing. Well, no, it was her again. But she's gone now. I'm sorry," I quickly apologized, pushing it down the link to all of them at once. Damn it.

"I felt her, too! Oh dear. I-Is she always so scary? That was horrible," Fluttershy whimpered, shuddering as she slipped up next to me fully, her warm fur brushing up along mine and relaxing me. I wish she hadn't had to feel that at all however.

"What did she even want?! Did she show up just to make us mad?" Rainbow growled, outright hostility evident in her tone of mental voice. Applejack apparently caught on to what happened rather fast, Rainbow saying a few more words after asking that. The orange mare narrowed her eyes dangerously, looking back towards me instead.

I sighed softly, considering it for a second before answering with, "She shows up to taunt me about various insecurities, trying to give me 'advice' in how to deal with them." They already knew about her, so I might as well be honest. It had been working well for me so far.

Rainbow slowly translated for Applejack as the two mares headed over towards us. "Oh? What kind of things does she suggest?" Twilight asked, sounding a little irritated, the target being her undead and potentially hallucinatory look-alike, to my surprise. It was nice knowing she didn't think I was crazy.

"Um, and what was the insecurity this time, if you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy inquired softly, verbally only to my surprise. I glanced down at her, and she blushed, smiling gently at me.

That was difficult to answer without hurting her feelings. Frowning, I looked over at the two rapidly approaching mares, and then sighed. No, I had insisted on the truth so far, so I was going to stick with it. "I was momentarily insecure about what happened with the herd to get us into this position to begin with. It wasn't anything major, Fluttershy," I finally admitted, voice still in a whisper. Fluttershy's eyes softened slightly, and I immediately regretted telling her, but she smiled instead a half a second later and pushed into my chest again, sighing softly.

"Thank you for being honest, Mender," she whispered back, right into my chest fur as Applejack and Rainbow walked up. I held her gently and watched, somewhat uneasily, at the rather angry looking orange mare and concerned looking cyan one. Had I done something I wasn't supposed to?

"Mender, Ah want ya ta link with me. Tha next time this happens, Ah wanna be able ta personally see her, if possible, just so Ah can buck her in tha face," she requested, not so subtle rage underlying her normal tone of voice. I swallowed uneasily and considered the request. Could they see her? That would be beyond horrific if so. Still, honesty.

Sighing, I shook my head and explained, "Even if you link with me, I have no idea if you'd be able to see her. I might just be going crazy, Applejack." The orange mare looked less than dissuaded, but Fluttershy shook her head against my chest almost immediately.

"N-No, Mender. I felt her behind me. That was horrible, but she's real. I've never felt someone so cold before. Not since King Sombra," she revealed. Eh? Who? My confusion went largely unanswered as Applejack frowned to herself, slowly nodding a moment later.

"Ah made up mah mind regardless. Can ya complete tha link with me, Mender?" she finally requested, locking eyes with me but staying completely neutral in expression.

This was a bit beyond sudden and I swallowed. "Applejack, we don't know all the effects of the links yet. Plus, you've heard already some of the horrible things they can do. Are you really sure you want to be connected to me of all ponies for the rest of your life?" I hastily asked. Of course, the unspoken accusation was there regardless. Was she just doing this because she thought she 'owed' me?

"Ah'm certain. Ta be frank, Ah should'a asked fer this on tha train ride over, yesterday. We all know ya aren't gonna abuse tha connections. 'Sides, Dash 'ere is linked ta ya, an' she's tha element o' loyalty, so her approval means ah lot." I looked over at Rainbow, who stared at Applejack in stunned surprise, apparently having not expected that last statement in the least.

Her conviction was solid, and I really didn't have any reason to doubt her. Sighing, I looked down at Fluttershy, who smiled and nodded against my chest. Well, if Fluttershy approved, how could it go wrong? Closing my eyes, I shifted the link displays back up and onto my inner 'desktop', hooking into Applejack's. One ping request later, and I hit the yes confirmation to establish the full link.

"Welcome to our network, then, Applejack," I mentally greeted, earning a start from the orange mare, who was still looking right at me when I 'spoke'. Huh. That was amazingly similar to the reaction Twilight had. The lavender mare in question sent happy emotions down her link, while Rainbow grinned and nodded towards the still startled orange mare.

"W-Whoa. This is gonna take ah bit o' gettin' used ta. Ah can feel all o' ya," Applejack muttered in a bit of awe, looking between the four of us with wide eyes. I nodded, of course, shooting some amused feelings down the link, and felt Fluttershy add warm happiness into it, too.

Dash snickered, then nodded, adding, "Just be careful when Mender and Fluttershy get naughty. Those rather potent feelings can be felt quite a ways away." What?! Fluttershy started blushing almost instantly, and I felt my own cheeks heat up almost as fast as my eyes widened. Gah! Couldn't we get through even a single day without horribly awkward embarrassment?!

Applejack smirked instead and looked over at Rainbow, asking, "Is that why ya bailed right fast out tha window last night, all flushed an' bothered?" Oh? Wait, last night...?

Pinkie, whose presence was lingering nearby like a ghost might haunt me like one of my hundreds of failed aspirations, decided to finally bust into the conversation with, "Oooh, welcome, AJ! And yeah! Rainbow got flustered when Fluttershy and Mender started making out in bed." There were no words for that.

Fluttershy apparently agreed, instead releasing a low yet long whine, her entire face turning red as Applejack started laughing. "Pinkie!" I hissed, trying to get the mare to realize that maybe this wasn't the best time for this. I'd much prefer 'never' for most of her reveals.

"Psh, no need ta get all embarrassed-like on us. Ya both know it's natural," the orange mare assured, absently waving a hoof towards us both. Eh, at least I'd rather be talking about this than being insane and seeing corpses that looked like my fillyfriend. Speaking of, at mention of the incident last night, what could only be described as a 'wince' shot down the link from Twilight.

Frowning, I shook my head towards Applejack and warned, "Not all of us enjoyed that moment, so perhaps we should discuss something else instead?"

Applejack raised an eyebrow towards me, and then widened her eyes as she glanced back at Twilight instead. "Oh, right. Ah forgot that little detail. Ah'm sorry, Twi. Ya know Ah didn't mean anythin' by it," she apologized properly, focusing as she closed her eyes to send it mentally instead.

"How come everypony seems better at the whole 'mind talking thing' than me?! It's not fair. I can't even talk using just mental communication yet and I've been doing it a lot longer than AJ!" Rainbow suddenly complained, looking a bit on the miffed side. I chuckled at the comment, and Fluttershy smiled happily towards her regardless.

"You'll get the hang of it the more you use it, Rainbow. Just keep practicing," Twilight assured mentally, giving us a happy smile from her place in line. Oh! Which had shrunk, I suddenly noticed. It was true, I hadn't exactly been paying attention to it, but now I realized she was next up, and it looked like the single mare in front of her was wrapping things up rapidly. It was kind of depressing when I only saw one pony talking to them. They usually looked sad while doing so, and I realized a good chunk of them were herds that hadn't worked out for one reason or another. That made this a rather depressing building.

Rainbow sighed and nodded along absently while Applejack looked backwards following my gaze, then smirked. "Looks like yer gonna be up next real soon, an' then ya'll be ah proper member o' tha herd. Ah'm happy fer ya, Mender," she observed out loud, turning and looking towards me for the last part. I was a bit nervous, admittedly, but this was hopefully a step in the right direction.

The sharp intake of breath off to my left somewhere set off my 'bad news' alert flags. Gasps were usually never good. Looking that way, I saw a strawberry colored mare with light green hair that I didn't recognize. She stood a good three meters away from us, and had her eyes locked not on me, but Applejack instead. All four of us shifted our attention to her, the mares noticing my sudden distraction rather rapidly given that they were all linked to me now.

"M-Miss Applejack?! The Element of Honesty herself?! W-Wait, that means..." she squeaked out, eyes shifting to the rest of us. Oh hell. It was worse than I'd thought. An assassin charging at me was much, much easier to deal with.

Applejack herself looked more than a little confused, but the mare locked eyes with each of us in turn. "Miss Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as well! Oh, what an honor it is to see the Elements of Kindness and Loyalty. Wow! C-Could you sign your autographs?" she asked quickly, hopping forwards and pulling a small tablet out of her bag before digging for a pen. Oh? I tilted my head at my lack of introduction, but stayed quiet.

Rainbow grinned almost instantly and fluttered around to the other side of Applejack, puffing up a bit. "Sure thing! It's no trouble at all for us to give a signature, right?" she offered, shifting her overly exuberant smirk to the orange mare as well, who smiled but rolled her eyes.

"Sure, Ah guess. It ain't worth much, but if ya really like us, then it ain't no trouble," she admitted, shrugging absently. She didn't seem nearly as interested, I noticed.

"Aaah! I'm so happy! Wait, this means..." the still unknown mare suddenly muttered before looking forwards into the lines and tracing her eyes through them. It didn't take her long to spot Twilight, looking back at us in confusion, and she grinned even more. "Miss Twilight Sparkle is here! Oh, congratulations on your recent herd forming, Miss Fluttershy," she added less than a second later. That one hurt a bit, feeling somewhat like a kick to the gut, but I decided to just swallow the lump in my throat and remind myself that we were here to fix that little mistake.

Fluttershy went from silent confusion to timid fluster even faster than the mare managed to talk, shrinking down and partially hiding behind me, eyes wide. I smiled down towards her and sent some assuring thoughts down the link, brushing her mane back with a hoof and rubbing the side of her muzzle gently. I felt her relax a bit against my left thigh and start to look up at me with a gentle smile, her eyes softening a bit as her link grew more relaxed.

Of course, I hadn't noticed that the fan mare had rotated around in the meantime, so needless to say, it was a bit panic-inducing when she suddenly shouted out, "Hey, everypony! It's the Elements of Harmony!" Damn it.

It took maybe half a second for them to process the information. Three seconds later, a surge of ponies were moving our way, and Fluttershy squeaked again, looking horrified as they neared. Admittedly, I agreed with her and pulled her back against me, contemplating throwing up a shield to protect us.

"Hey! Who are you? What are you doing to Miss Fluttershy?!" the same mare asked as the crowd moved in. Eh?! Fluttershy herself shifted emotions again, moving from her horror as the crowd closed in, to distinct shock as she looked back to the mare instead, eyes widened as if she couldn't entirely believe what she just said.

Applejack cut off the crowd, however, stamping her hoof down and calling out, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Give us some space, ya'all! This 'ere stallion is just holdin' her, like he has every right ta. He's Moon Mender. Name ring any bells?" she tried to remind after halting the rapid advance of the many, many ponies. As much as I welcomed the anonymity, being stoned as a stalker or 'creep' was significantly lower on my list of things desired. Slightly above riding on a train, however.

There was a collective overall 'no', with one stallion to the right of the group moving a bit closer to look at me. "Wait, you're that stallion that was at the press conference yesterday. Uh, I don't remember anything else about you, though," he admitted a moment later. Okay, that made me kind of want to cry. Hadn't Tia spent a good chunk of time explaining exactly who I was supposed to be?

"I'm in a relationship with both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle, who's up there in line right now. There was an... Well, it was a mistake on the form, and I didn't get added to the herd like I should have," I tried to explain, focusing on getting a barrier ready still just in case we needed it. We probably wouldn't, I realized, but I discovered that if I focused on something else, I didn't get quite as freaked out about the large amount of ponies staring at us right now.

Fluttershy blushed against me, still not looking at anypony, but managing a gentle nod as well. Applejack smiled back at me instead, then repeated Fluttershy's gesture towards the crowd before adding, "Eeyup! Mender's ah part o' their herd, too. Just got goofed up in tha paperwork, which is why we're 'ere." Heh. Of course, she was the Element of Honesty, and they all knew she wouldn't lie to them. I shifted happy thanks towards Applejack, who just smiled and nodded at me.

The stunned silence from the crowd was broken by bursts of rapid talking here and there. Had I said too much? A yelp shot down the link a second later, and I glanced to the right in time to see Twilight throw up a barrier around herself, the line having fallen apart into a cluster around her, all of them talking, too. Wonderful. How soon until the reporters got a hold of this one? I'd been intentionally vague as to not...

"Sir? Mister Moon Mender? Might I have a statement, please?" was suddenly asked to my left. I gave a start and looked back, only to find a totally different, almost pure white mare all of a meter away, pad of paper in her hooves, quill floating nearby, and a 'Canterlot Inquirer' hat on her head. Her horn glowed a soft green, the same color as her eyes, and a forest green lock of mane slipped out from under the baseball cap she wore. Canterlot Inquirer? Wasn't that the newspaper that had slammed on Twilight?

I blinked, however, uncertain as to what exactly she was asking. "A statement as to what?" I requested, hoping she'd elaborate that a bit more. I mean, if she just wanted any statement, I could start going on about the finer points of magical safeguard construction and the importance of energy stability in enchantments.

"How does it feel to not only be abused daily for Princess Twilight's gain, but now to be betrayed by both her and Fluttershy, left out of the herd and any form of respectful standing? Do you feel like you can still call yourself a stallion?" she inquired politely. Err, what?

My vacant, entirely confused stare did nothing to dissuade her as she continued giving me an expectant expression. "Uh..." I finally managed to get out.

She immediately started writing, oddly. "Moon Mender is beyond traumatized by his situation, barely able to even speak properly to give a statement. We can only offer encouragement as his body heals from its grievous injuries; his left leg a withered husk of what it should be and scars covering every inch of his brutalized body. The Princess of Pain has left a terrible mark on his soul, easily visible through his haunted eyes," she spoke out loud while furiously writing in her notepad.

Most of the crowd had started to slowly edge away from her at this point, Applejack giving her a totally blank look next to me, slowly tilting her head. Yeah, I had nothing. This one was in her own special little world, was all I could gather. "Enough!" suddenly exploded to my right, above the roar of the crowd at this point. Everypony fell silent as a manager of some sorts, by the looks of her attire, stood up on a box that she must have dragged over. She looked a bit stressed, and there were a few wrinkles in her otherwise well maintained suit vest, but the dark gray looked good against her cream-toned coat and dark red mane. Her horn lit up with a dark maroon color as she lifted a megaphone in front of her to shout out over the crowd.

"This is not the time or place for gossip, fan frolicking, or anything apart from herd or marriage management! Form back into lines in your proper places now, or I'll be forced to ask everypony not complying to leave the premises! Further, would Miss Twilight Sparkle and Miss Fluttershy please come to the back offices instead?" the mare requested immediately upon everypony quieting down. There was grumbling, but I swallowed and nodded towards Twilight, who broke out of line and ran towards us rather quickly.

"This is a nightmare! There are reporters here already!" Twilight yelped through the link as she ran up. Fluttershy shrank even further down, using her wings to hide herself as best she could. I moved in front of her protectively and rubbed her shoulder, sending calming thoughts as the lavender unicorn caught back up with us.

Applejack glared at the crowd, causing them to rapidly disperse away from us as the unknown mare hopped down from her box and walked over, nodding towards Twilight. "Let's have your business taken care of in a far more private area, Miss Twilight. Not just for your own privacy, but for the sanctity of our daily operations as well," she suggested, rather calm despite everything that had just happened. Now that she was closer, however, I noticed a few stray strands of mane poking out of her otherwise tidy bun she had it tied back in. Twilight showed stress signs, too, with a few locks of mane rising up and away from her normally nicely combed self.

"I agree fully. Come on, Fluttershy. Mender," Twilight agreed, looking over at us instead with a shiver.

"You two should head back outside," I suggested, looking back over towards Applejack and Rainbow as well. Applejack nodded and smiled, but Dash decided to finish signing the autograph she was on before grinning and nodding. Gah. She was such a ham.

Applejack snickered and turned, adding, "Come on, hot shot. We're gettin' out o' 'ere." She snatched a good amount of prismatic tail up in her mouth as she walked past and proceeded to haul Rainbow towards the exit, still signing pads of paper.

"Hey! Yeah, yeah. Just two more. You don't want to disappoint the fans!" the cyan mare squeaked as she was drug across the floor, still managing to sign things even while sliding backwards. I was mildly impressed. The mare next to us cleared her throat, however, pulling attention back to herself again.

"My name is Golden Band, I might add. I'm the head consultant here and in charge of operations in our Canterlot branch. You may call me Miss Band, if you wish. I assume that Mister Moon Mender is involved as well?" she suggested calmly, looking to me instead.

I perked and looked back over at her fully, a bit confused. "Wait, you know who I am?" I asked, a bit surprised that she did when the crowd didn't appear to have a clue.

She smiled and nodded politely towards me, adding, "The newest guard lieutenant, head of the newly formed Dimensional Regulation, a dimensional researcher, and if our Princess Celestia spoke true, also involved with Miss Twilight and Miss Fluttershy. If I had to guess, that's also why you three are here. I won't say more in public, however." Okay, now I was impressed. Wait a second...

I pulled up the various snapshots that my electronic components had taken during that oh so horrible day. Public speaking definitely wasn't my thing. Regardless, I marked and analyzed all the visible faces in comparative identification, and picked up her three and two thirds of a second later. Ah, yes. She was there at that meeting yesterday. Being a government employee, she might have been mandated so.

"Very astute! Yes, let's head into the back rooms," Twilight suggested, this time following after the mare as she led the way. I exhaled, not realizing how much tension was in my body until I realized I'd been holding my breath through a good portion of that little situation.

Sadly, a glance towards Fluttershy showed her all but frozen, hiding under her own wings while pressed tightly into my side. Uh... With nothing else for it, I tucked myself down and nuzzled under her, lifting her onto my back as she clung there, heart racing against my back and inner emotions a mess of panic and fear. Sending more calm thoughts towards her, I quickly trotted after the two mares ahead of me, weaving around the ponies who hadn't scattered yet back into the lines and groupings. Yeah, the only thing I could do was get her into a calmer environment. Swallowing, I tried not to think about the newspaper headlines this time as I caught up with Twilight and followed her into a side room...

* * * * *

"This is a mess, admittedly. Thankfully, however, we know exactly what Estrus can bring, and hold all forms received during that time period for two weeks afterwards just in case things need to be appended or removed," Miss Band explained calmly, after a good five minutes of reviewing our paperwork folder. She'd pulled a pair of spectacles from her desk, floating them up to her eyes while peeking the paperwork over.

Twilight almost fell out of her chair as she released a huge sigh before asking, "Oh thank you! Is it really as easy as that?!"

The well-dressed mare frowned as she looked it over for another moment before gently setting it down and shaking her head. "Sadly, it's not. I'm not allowed, by law, to append a form that hasn't been entered into the system yet. Thus, a herd that hasn't actually been established legally yet. There are two ways you can go with this, however," she explained. Twilight frowned but settled again, locking onto the other mare hard with a more neutral expression now. My connection to her showed an intense amount of focus. Fluttershy was still slowly calming down from the small panic attack she'd gone through, and snuggled lightly into my side as we sat on the couch off on the right side of the room. Twilight, as potential 'head' of the herd, was the one who actually talked to Miss Band in official capacity, it would seem, and thus, sat in the chair in front of her desk.

"The first route is to simply cancel this form submission. You'll be restricted to a month's delay before you can send for another one, but it will clear up the issue," she continued a second later.

Twilight frowned but hesitantly nodded, asking, "And the other option?"

Miss Band smiled and answered, "Leave this form submitted and simply sign the waiver to immediately add Mister Moon Mender as a full member of the herd. You're technically a member of royalty and can sign it yourself. After the review session in three days’ time, he'll be fully added." Review session?

Twilight instantly picked up on my hesitation and nodded in agreement, asking, "What is the review session for?" She was getting better at the links, I noticed.

"We've had... Well, to be frank, there have been attempts at forgery in the past with signatures, both of royalty and members of the herd. We know very well that you're part of the royal line, and I'd be watching you sign it today, if so. That reduces your review session to a formality only, but we don't convene until three days from now to actually go over them all. My apologies," our rather helpful branch manager explained almost instantly, as if anticipating us asking that. Err, Twilight asking that. She didn't know we were similar to a hive mind. No, that was creepy if I thought about it like that...

There was a long pause before Twilight looked over at us instead, eyes softening gently as she decreed, "I can't make an important choice like that without my herd, of course." Miss Band nodded blankly, turning to look at us as well with professional neutrality.

Fluttershy frowned, staring at Twilight for a moment before shaking her head. "No, Twilight. We promised we'd fix this today. 'Fixing' the herd means putting us all on equal ground. I think we should wait the month and just try again then," she spoke up softly, but with conviction. She was feeling better since we got away from the crowd, but her natural voice volume was actually rather low.

I sighed and shook my head as well, adding, "It sounds like the review session is more for other herds and ours just can't be signed until then. Why wait a whole month to be a herd when we only have to wait three days if we do that? This is all just a formality, after all, and we're technically a herd already."

Twilight's ears lowered as she looked back and forth between us before sighing. "I agree with both of you. Gah. But this..." she muttered before looking back over at the desk in front of Miss Band, staring at the paper on it. I 'felt' the gears spinning in her mind, and her eyes slowly narrowed. Eh?

Miss Band cut in with, "Mister Moon Mender really is giving the most sensible choice. It's only three more days of waiting." Eh? Was she supposed to attempt to influence our choice like that? Twilight's eyes narrowed even further as they shifted up to the mare across the desk from her instead.

"Wait... No, that's not right. I read up on the rulebook last night about this. There was supposed to be a form for bypassing the month waiting period, too. Why can't we just throw that form away, sign a new form with all three of us, and then just have me sign the waiting period waiver?" she reasoned out. Oh! I forgot about that part.

Miss Band's eyes widened a little bit, then blinked as she backed up in her chair, away from the suddenly irritated sounding Twilight. Eh, I didn't blame her. I'd want to give an irritated Twilight space, too. Well, if she were irritated at me, anyway. "Oh, well, what version of our rulebook were you reading? If it was from last year, it probably wasn't updated with the new rule that abolished that form!" she announced, nodding twice afterwards, almost to herself.

Twilight's eyebrow rose up slowly as she stared at the mare, but I just sighed and wondered how close pony psychology was to Keldarians. That little flick of her eye when she said that indicated 'creative' brain activity, further indicating that the information hadn't come from prior known information but was just now fabricated, my database informed me. Further, it warned that her backing up, and her back right hoof rotating to face the window indicated defensive posture and a desire to leave very quickly. I momentarily amused myself with the thought of her jumping out the window to escape.

"So, what's the real reason you don't want us fixing the herd issue today?" I asked dryly, shooting her a skeptical expression instead. Fluttershy perked up at that and gave me a questioning glance, and then turned to look at the mare as well.

She actively swallowed, a sign of nervousness I recognized from firsthoof experience. Twilight went back to outright angry in a fraction of a second after hearing me say that. Miss Band held both her hooves up to ward off Twilight, obviously not realizing that I was just as dangerous, if not more so due to that probability of her tripping my more hostile instincts. "L-Look, it wasn't my call. My boss personally flagged Moon Mender's herd eligibility as automatic denial. All I was trying to do was stop a scene out there," she quickly informed. That, well, didn't surprise me as much as it should have, honestly.

Twilight's level of hostility spiked as I watched her teeth clench. To stop any potential fires from breaking out, Fluttershy started sending her calming thoughts a moment later, and the lavender mare took a deep breath instead before deducing, "So all of this, even so far as to recommend the two options you did, was all delaying tactics. Did he inform you as to 'why' Mender is to be denied?" Her tone was strained, and I felt myself getting a bit irked, too. I had a good guess and was really hoping I was wrong.

The mare looked away and coughed lightly before nodding and answering with, "I think he's running a full background check on Moon Mender. He, uh, doesn't believe that the papers are real, I don't think." The papers establishing me as a citizen of Equestria? Well, he was right, but probably not for the reason he thought.

Twilight slammed her hoof down on the surface of the desk, causing the mare to give a start and snap her attention quickly back to the lavender mare. "Those papers were confirmed by Princess Celestia herself! It's not his place to make a personal judgment on a legal issue because of what he thinks. I want to talk to him myself. Now, if at all possible," she growled out, not sounding at all pleased.

Miss Band shivered again, then hesitantly looked back and forth between Twilight, and slightly past her at the door. My legs tightened as I sat there, ready to tip the chair forwards and spring if I needed to. Something was off with this whole ordeal, and I openly broadcasted that to both Fluttershy and Twilight down the link.

"Uh, he's out for the day, but I'm sure I could leave a message in his-" the mare started to offer.

Fluttershy looked a bit confused at my warning, and then even more confused at the statement, however. "Um, not to interrupt, but, uh, I think I saw his door open at the end of the hall. At least, it said ministry chairman on the wall. Is somepony substituting for him, then?" she asked softly, looking towards our suddenly not so helpful branch manager. Oh! A fascinating observation.

Miss Band shifted her eyes over to her momentarily, mouth still open from her prior lie, and hesitated. No, he had nothing to do with this, did he? Further, she was outright lying. This wasn't about a background check at all, or even somepony not believing Tia's story! Her eyes locked with mine and widened even more as mine narrowed. That was all it took for her.

Her chair spilled over backwards as she landed on her desk, then leapt completely over the very surprised looking Twilight. My rear legs flicked back before her chair even hit the floor, and I leapt as well, nailing her out of the air and smashing us both into the other corner with the carried momentum, my back legs locking around hers and my front ones trying to get a grip around her barrel.

"No! Get off of me, Monster!" she shouted, struggling against my grip that went rigid with that, my eyes widening. Monster? She was one of-!

Her horn flared up with a flash of light of rather intense proportions an inch from my face and I yelped, vision blackening and a sharp stab of pain blasting from my eyes, instinctively moving my right foreleg up towards them as a shield. The mare moved backwards at the same time, smashing me into the wall in attempts to dislodge my grip. She was probably surprised when it didn't work, my thick back armor popping out and making me not feel a thing. She tried to dive away, but my back right leg hooked around her knee and tripped her again, causing her face to go into the bottom of the door with a loud crash. She cried out as her horn punched into the wood from the impact, and then she was violently yanked backwards instead. Eh?!

I could barely see anything, and momentarily lost where she'd gone once pulled out of my proximity sensor range. It was fairly easy enough to deduce, however, as Twilight growled, "Nopony hurts Mender!" Fluttershy was next to me a second later, helping me up as I rubbed my eyes with my right foreleg, the spots slowly disappearing as the nanites rapidly recovered my sight. Twilight had the struggling mare pinned to the floor with dozens of bands of purple magic locked around her legs, sealing them all together to the point of uselessness. More lines of energy tied the mare to the floor as well, ensuring she wasn't going anywhere at all.

My eyes narrowed and I ignored the rapid hoofsteps coming down the hallway, undoubtedly to investigate the ruckus. My barrier activated instead, zipping along the floor before forming a rudimentary box around the mare, just in case she decided to retaliate again with any other magic, and further trapping her inside.

The door rapidly opened a second later, hitting hard against the outside wall as what looked to be the ministry chairman and two guards slid into the doorway, shocked looks on their faces. The mare stopped struggling instantly and closed her eyes for a second before slowly opening them and looking over at me instead, with what could only be described as seething fury.

"Fine. You win for now, creature. But you're a monster, and you'll never, ever fool any of us, no matter how hard you try," she declared before spitting towards me from inside the cage. My eyes widened a little as I fully processed who she really was. Or at least, whom she really worked for.

Her horn flared up a second later and I strengthened my barrier, getting ready to extend more to protect Fluttershy or the three new ponies in the room. Twilight's eyes widened as she saw it, however, and she shouted out, "No! Open the barri-"

It was far, far too late. The magic exploded from the mare's horn and whiplashed right back into her own face, snapping her head back in an instant as the flare of light caused her eyes to roll back in her head, and a burst of blood to come out her nose. Ah! My eyes widened as I dropped the barrier instantly and Twilight rushed forward, kneeling down next to the now limp mare. What was that?!

Moving forward a bit, I realized that the mare was still breathing, but seemed to have knocked herself out completely. Twilight sighed a second later and shook her head, standing up again and looking over at me instead. "That wasn't an attack. She just shorted her own mind with a memory charm. She's probably not even going to remember whom she is when she wakes up. Not for a long while, anyway," she explained softly.

"She didn't want to be interrogated, then. That's some serious devotion," I muttered, staring down at her. Sure, she didn't kill herself or something, but that was some seriously drastic measures to ensure she didn't say anything to the authorities.

The stallion that came in with the guards groaned out in mild frustration before reminding, "If it's not too much trouble, can somepony please explain what's going on before I call the guards?" Oh, right.

"I am a guard. And yes, but this might take a moment," I warned him, brushing the invisible amulet on my chest long enough for it to fade into sight for a few seconds. He stared at it before sighing and nodding, sitting down in the doorway and nodding to both guards to do the same. Well, this was turning out just amazingly. Twilight nodded as well and started to explain...