//------------------------------// // Chapter 74 // Story: Forgiveness Pending // by Kiroberos //------------------------------// Slowly, I walked along with the cool, high altitude air of Canterlot blowing gently around me. The sky above me was gray and gloomy, heralding the rapid end of fall and quickly approaching cold weather. I guessed it was fitting that we would be returning just in time for the end of fall celebrations. It didn't mean a huge amount to me as I wasn't competing in anything. The Running of the Leaves was all I qualified for, and if I didn't use my cybernetics, I doubted I'd make the first twenty meters. Maybe my leg would be ready by next year? I didn't feel like cheating just to run in this one. Cheating in order to pull a four hundred pound, fully loaded luggage trolley, however, was totally worth it. It creaked along idly behind me, tied securely to a thick harness that fit over my saddlebags. I was rather amused that it easily was six times my body width, and three times my length, yet my enhanced muscles let me easily pull the thing without so much as straining. Sadly, I was pretty sure that most of this luggage was Rarity's. Still, I had seen the design board that had been set up in her room. It appeared that she brought her work with her, so I couldn't really fault her for having a lot of bags. Half of these were probably fabrics and materials. Slowing as I trotted, I inwardly groaned, spotting two ponies towards the main gate that I had definitely hoped to not see again on this particular trip to Canterlot. And of course Twilight was still in the castle talking to her brother, step-sister, and Tia. Damn it. Velvet spotted me first, of course, being undoubtedly the more observant of the two. Her sudden shift in focus drew Night Light's gaze, and both ponies turned from their spot by the main gate and looked towards me. Anypony with a pass was allowed within the main grounds, of course, and I had no doubt that both of them had one. The palace doubled as a university for unicorns and other ponies interested in learning about how their internal magic worked, and also had an extensive library on the grounds, if I remembered correctly. "Ah, Mender. We were hoping to talk to you before you left," Velvet explained as both of them closed in on me. Options, options... I could decouple myself and make a break for it, throwing up a few barrier doubles of myself to confuse any spells they shot my way. Alternatively, I could just charge through them and make a run for the train station. It was only two miles or so, and if I picked up enough speed, I could just ride the cart there. Although that would probably run over a few doubtlessly innocent ponies as it went. So lose the luggage, risk flattening ponies, or risk actually talking to them and getting stabbed? Tough choice. Velvet was indeed observant and spotted my ears flattening back, and maybe the fight or flight instincts kicking in. She halted and lifted both forelegs up to me, tipping back into a sitting position while waving her hooves back and forth. "Whoa, peace, Mender. I know we didn't exactly give the best impression yesterday, but hear us out?" she offered softly. Night Light sighed but sat down next to her, apparently cooperating for the time being. I wondered idly what she'd bribed him with that he even came. "For what? To explain why you feel the way you do? I heard most of it from Twi. I agree with you, of course," I finally admitted, slowing my extremely heavy load to a stop over the span of three or four meters. That would have been awkward had I not been able to stop and just run both of them over. Of course, I'd laugh later, but Twilight probably wouldn't be pleased. Night Light blinked slowly, then asked, "Wait, you do?" His tone was disbelieving, and I had a sneaking suspicion none of their mentally prepared score cards had covered that response from me. "Yeah. I'm brand new to things here," I started, keeping it vague due to the public setting before continuing with, "I just met your daughter all of a month and a half ago, and she's accepted me into her herd with a few bumps and mistakes. I know that's probably absurdly fast moving, and then with the mix up with the link, it pushed you over the edge. That's both understandable and even justified." He continued staring blankly at me as Velvet began to frown, so I just decided to finish it out. This was a subject I was at least comfortable with. It was easy to talk about how far short of the bar I fell from time to time. Comfortable and safe, even. Maybe because of whom I was instinctively, or maybe it was engraved from the memories I got from my DNA donor. Or maybe I was just really tired and fed up with everything? "Regardless, I know you don't think I'm worthy of Twilight. Fluttershy's been her friend for years prior to becoming a herd member, which is how it's supposed to work. I'd be the first to tell you that I probably don't deserve either one of them. I don't know why they want me to stay or like me so much, but I do know that I care for them with everything I have and would do anything for them. That's all I can do in response to the feelings they give me, readily," I explained quietly, just openly telling how I felt. If it hadn't been for both of them, I'd probably have simply gone batshit crazy when I discovered I was actually a biological eldritch abomination from another dimension. That was a bit tricky to swallow. He frowned towards me, both of our expectations probably ruined at this point. I wasn't the con artist trying to seduce his daughter, and he wasn't stabbing me in the eyes yet. I kept a healthy air of skepticism, however, as one of those could change in the next five minutes, and I definitely didn't fancy myself as a smooth talker. Instead of drawing a weapon, however, he instead inquired, "So, you really are a...?" There was really only one logical conclusion to that sentence, and I nodded gently. For just a brief moment, my eyes rotated around with their lens equipment and flashed blue, making an audible humming noise, me intentionally turning off their vibration control. In addition to the amusing effect of making my vision wobble about, it gave both ponies in front of me a start as they watched. The effect was gone a heartbeat later, and I blinked, my vision tint disappearing and knowing my eyes were back to amber in color instead of bright blue. "Everything they told you was more than likely accurate. Of course, after Shining Armor muted the area, I and the three dozen café goers couldn't hear any further, so the rest is just speculation on my part," I warned, unable to entirely control the flash of bitterness drifting through me. He sighed and looked away from me, but Velvet outright winced, ears lowering fully. "I know. My husband and I are well aware of the scene we made, and the fact that we probably sounded like foals throwing a tantrum," she muttered, surprising me a little, and giving me no small sense of irony with her word choices. It of course shot right through me, hauling my memories back to my own tantrum this morning and leaving me with a foul taste in my mouth. I shook my head slowly, interrupting with, "No, really, it's understandable. I'm sorry if I was bitter there. Sometimes if feels like I'm the foal instead. You want to protect your daughter because you love her, and I'm potentially the biggest risk to her wellbeing that she has. I mean, why wouldn't you want to confront me about it? It's what parents do, I think. At least, it's what I'd do if I had a daughter in her position." Of course, that was just a theory. I didn't have a daughter or son, and wasn't likely to for a very long time. Especially with how things had been going. "You think?" Velvet asked almost instantly, picking that out of everything I had said, of course. Yeah, she'd do that. Sighing, I quickly explained, "I don't know how a parent is supposed to act apart from speculation and observation. That sort of thing wasn't the norm where I came from, and I don't know who my father was. My mother died before I knew her." That was as close to the truth as they needed to hear to get the point across, and a sour expression came across her face, probably having expected similar. Cracking my back using the harness, I hoisted it again, remembering that I'd told Twilight I'd have these outside the gate by the time she came out with the other mares. Oh, and Spike, of course. Twilight Velvet shifted over next to her husband, making room as I hauled the heavy cart past them slowly. I heard her hiss something as I passed, but given her facing Night Light, and the fact it was whispered, I assumed it wasn't for me to hear. The creaking and groaning of the wagon drowned out anything they might have been whispering after that, and I headed steadily on my way towards the gates. Both guards to either side of the gate threw up a sharp salute as I walked up, and I returned a pleasant and courteous nod, allowing them to fall back into standing position. I was starting to pick up the regulations of the guards after all. Velvet scampered in to my left as I walked through the gate, and I cast her a tentative raised eyebrow before turning and positioning the cart sideways to the right of the gate so I didn't block anypony. She idled past on my left again after I parked, walking backwards as she looked up at the large pile of luggage. Flanking me on the other side, Night Light walked past, still with no weapons drawn. Huh. She let out a low whistle, finally looking back down at me with a timid smile. "You certainly are strong for your size. Oh, and I saw your presentation at the palace. You seemed to know what you were talking about," she complimented. At least, I thought it was a compliment. I supposed it could also be interpreted that I was an impressive enough brute to at least be acceptable, and didn't appear to have been conning the Princesses and her daughter. Night Light sighed again, having been amazingly quiet so far. It didn't last, however, as he finally explained, "Look, I don't like avoiding the issue, so... We came to apologize to you and Twilight. Clear the air and maybe start over, okay? It's obvious she's not going to change her mind about dating you, so we might as well attempt to act like proper adults." I stared blankly at him as Velvet smacked her forehead with her hoof. Well, at least I actively knew he was trying to convince her not to 'date' me now. Did they still call it that when I was in her herd? I didn't know, regardless, so I decided not to dwell on it. Velvet shifted to a glare, however, looking over at him instead. "Dear, you get to have the couch for the rest of the week," she informed, causing his ears to drop back as he glared over at her. Huh? That expression shot right over my head, and I didn't even know where to begin. Did they not both own their couch? No, it was probably something subtler than that. Did they take turns with the couch? Her displeased tone indicated it was some sort of negative thing, which I also didn't get. Some of my best memories were on couches, and they were truly a wonderful invention. Comfy enough to sit or sleep on, while able to stretch out and really just relax. Plus they could sit multiple ponies and give a warm sensation of companionship if desired! "What?! Oh, come on! I'm being civil, like you asked! I even apologized!" he quickly protested. So the threat of this couch was the reason he apologized? Damn. What, was it covered in serrated spikes that rotated around or something? Why would you even make a couch like that?! This only appeared to anger Velvet even more, however, as she yelped out, "No, you didn't! You told him that's why we were here, then proceeded to insult him! We talked about this." If anything, he just looked more frustrated at that. "You heard him! He agrees with me. He has no idea why Twilight likes him and doesn't think he deserves her! Why should we even have to apologize for doing our obvious parental duties?!" he yelled back. Uh, right. Getting a little loud now! I glanced to the left as two mares stopped across the street and started to giggle while pointing towards me and whispering. Damn it! I felt the heat come back to my cheeks as I glared back at him. Velvet's eyes narrowed further, and I bit my tongue, remembering that antagonizing pissed off mares usually led to direct misery on my part. "We're apologizing because I, especially now, think that we're wrong!" she growled out. Uh, what? Night Light looked as surprised as I was before weakly asking, "Wait, wrong? But he just-" She immediately interrupted again with, "He's wrong, too. I see exactly why my daughter likes him now, and frankly, I agree with her now instead. Yes, it was fast. Yes, it was surprising. But now, I think that he's good for her. And given everything he's admitted to today, I think both mares are very much needed for him." Her tone left absolutely no room for even denying any of it, so I decided to just continue watching instead of volunteering my neck for any literal or metaphorical chopping block. Night Light appeared to decide the same, and she continued glaring at him for a second before rotating around to me instead. Oh hell. I braced myself, but her eyes softened a bit and she shook her head quickly. "You have, at the very least, my sincerest apologies. If you find yourself in Canterlot again in the future, please stop by. We would be honored to have you, even if I wouldn't blame you in the slightest for never wanting to deal with either of us again," she offered, shortly before shooting a burning glare to the now fully defensive Night Light. She finished, however with, "You have my blessing to be with Twilight. Please, keep understanding her, and let her help you, too." She reached out and tapped lightly on my chest, right over where my heart was located, and I frowned, looking down at it. My heart? With that, she turned around and stormed off past me, heading back towards the gate to the palace with her tail violently flicking back and forth. I frowned and felt the spot where she'd touched with my hoof. Was my heart damaged? I knew the physical organ was fine without even needing to check my sensors, but it was also obvious she was referring to something else entirely. That bitterness in me was readily apparent, after all. Night Light remained standing there for a moment, looking like he'd been kicked in the face repeatedly. Huh. I recognized that look well enough. Finally, he kicked the stone plate we were standing on and flattened his ears back, staring at his hoof for a moment. "Look, I know you probably think I'm a total jerk and, well... Okay, yeah, I was. As a father, one of the hardest things to do is see your little filly grow up, and admittedly, I didn't handle that as well as I could have," he slowly admitted before looking up and over at me. I stared back towards him, uncertain of where he was going with this. It didn't take him long to find whatever he was looking for in my expression, and he nodded. "We really did get off to the wrong start. I... I apologize as well. Like my wife said, please stop in if you can the next time you're in Canterlot, even if it's not with my daughter. I'd like to get to know you better, too, instead of just complaining that you're a stranger," he finally stated. My eyes widened a bit in surprise, but he didn't leave any room for reply as he simply walked past me and followed after his wife. Huh. Well, guess I was the surprised one in that conversation after all. Or maybe he was, too. I decided it probably didn't matter and sat down again, relaxing in the harness and sighing softly. Maybe one of these days I wouldn't feel so lost coming out of a conversation. I didn't hold my breath, of course, and pulled up my new 'Spider Solitaire' app while waiting for the others. I'd have to thank Keela for transferring it over to me after breakfast... * * * * * I stretched lightly while leaning against the wall next to the door, politely letting the mares enter the cabin of the train first. Of course, my ulterior motive was probably readily apparent as I shivered, cracking my back against the wall. While I was easily strong enough to pull the luggage cart, that harness was murder on the back! I made a mental note to activate my spinal reinforcement augments whenever I did any heavy moving. "Need a massage, Mender? I heard that cracking noise from back there," Spike offered as he strolled up, slowly following behind Rarity. The pearly mare nodded in agreement while giving me a sympathetic look. "Indeed, Mender. I feel simply awful that you got hurt hauling primarily my things," she lamented, at least confirming my earlier suspicion. I smiled towards the two of them, however, shaking my head. "I just need to take proper precautions next time, is all. It was my fault. Although that massage might be nice," I suggested, deciding to see if he was serious about his offer. He started to smile, but Applejack spun around faster than I thought possible for the strong mare. "Did ya just agree ta ah massage? Why don't ya let me give it ah shot? Ah'll gladly help ya out!" she quickly offered, perhaps a bit too fast. I knew she was eager to try to do anything to make amends, but the image from the dream kept haunting my waking thoughts. She looked almost soulless when she had looked up and said that she'd literally do anything for me. That Nirru thing from my mind had been psychologically tormenting her for so long... Rarity lifted an eyebrow to her a second later before pointing out, "He requested a massage, Applejack, not to be broken in half. He isn't a tree in need of bucking." Aww, crap. I was still in melee distance when she said that. In a surprising show of patience, Applejack just gave her a mildly annoyed glare before uttering, "Ah'll pretend that wasn't implyin' Ah only know one thing. Ya want Spike ta do it, then?" She turned to me as she asked the question, her expression completely neutral. Right. "Okay. I'll let you," I agreed after a moment of thought. Rarity started to nod sagely when she suddenly gave a start, looking back at me again. Applejack also looked entirely surprised by the turn of events, but Rainbow recovered far faster. The impish looking mare trotted to the left bench instead, where Twilight and Fluttershy sat. Twi gave her a confused stare as the mare slid around after stopping in front of her, but Dash just patted the cushion right next to the lavender mare. Seriously? "Come on, Mender. Hop up here and relax against Twi. Applejack will get your back and I'll massage your legs. Your left one can't feel good after hauling that huge cart," she deduced. Hey, she actually remembered which side it was! Of course, she picked up on my amused thought and shot me a dirty glare, but I just smirked and hopped up past her, instead turning to face a very nervous looking Twilight Sparkle. Eh? It was a bit of a surprise to see her fidget as our eyes met, but it didn't take long for me to remember the rather horrible incidents we'd had prior to Operation Rescue Applejack. I sighed, but she immediately winced at the gesture, and I tried to instead send her an assuring smile. Touchy, much? Applejack wasted no time in hopping up behind me, of course. "Calm down, Twi. It's just Mender. Yer actin' like you two are new ta tha intimacy thing," she pointed out in a somewhat vague manner. That of course switched her to riled up and partially annoyed mode almost instantly. I couldn't decide which was better. "Excuse me?! What's that supposed to mean? Wait, what has Dash been telling you?!" Twilight demanded, looking rather agitated for a moment before I felt a rather sharp shove and was almost put up her nose, yelping as I collapsed into her chest instead and both of us flopped against the wall behind her. Rainbow didn't seem to pay any attention to her crush flattening both Twilight and I, instead puffing up and vehemently defending herself with, "Hey, why does it have to be me that told her?! I never told anypony about walking in on you two... Uh..." No, too late. Stopping there was actually worse... Applejack snorted, then quickly shot both hooves up to her muzzle as I managed to look back. I felt Twilight turn scarlet at this range, then promptly shout out, "Kissing! There, is everypony happy?! We were kissing!" Rarity lifted an eyebrow at the whole display, and Pinkie started giggling hysterically on the bench next to her, wobbling back and forth. If anything, Spike just looked bored while sitting on the floor next to where Rarity dangled her front hooves down from her lying posture. "So what? I mean, couples kiss all the time, right?" he pointed out, giving a cautious glance to his left at Pinkie as she just started laughing outright. Everypony gave her a confused glance, but she just held both hooves to her mouth for a second before seemingly composing herself slightly. "Hee, I know! It's so silly that Twilight's turning all pink and embarrassed over kissing Mender. If it wasn't so funny, I might think it was strange even! Heee! Oh, or if I was Mender, I'd probably be upset that she thought kissing me was so horrifying, of course, but-" she started to explain, shifting to rapid fire mode on the worst possible topic. Rarity coughed, flicking her luggage case, which conveniently sat next to her, open with her right hoof. In that same instant, a thigh high leg sock popped out in a sky blue aura and tied around Pinkie's muzzle in a cute little bow. If anything, the pink one more stopped to look at it in amusement than any sort of restriction it posed on her. I blinked, raising an eyebrow to the scene before two hooves went to each side of my face and rotated my head to face forward again. Eh?! A slightly guilty, slightly determined looking Twilight faced me, and I debated if I should be excited or getting ready to break through the side window and roll for cover. "No, I'm not letting this one get out of hoof. Here, Mender," she quickly assured, even though I wasn't entirely certain who she was talking to. This communication thing was so tricky and- My thoughts were disrupted as she pulled me down instead, halting just a whisker's distance from my muzzle. Her eyes were locked onto my lips, but flicked up to meet mine for just a second. This close, I could feel her asking for permission, and stunned, I gave her the slightest nod. Her lips touched against mine less than a heartbeat later, and she exhaled softly, pulling me more over top of her as I slid against her form. Her body heat felt a sharp contrast against my fur and I snuggled closer as our muzzles pushed together, rather enjoying her warmth. Dash smirked next to us in my peripheral vision, and I resisted groaning. It might be misconstrued for something else in this situation. "Surprising, but you two were totally using your tongues when I accidentally saw ya," the cyan mare chirped, sounding amused. Ah! Why did she have to try to get me murdered at every given opportunity?! She just harassed the potential nuclear weapon I was currently kissing! The heat picked up against my chest from Twilight, but to my total surprise, her tongue slipped out instead and licked at my lips. Wasn't there some sort of rule or something about making out in front of other ponies?! I opened my mouth regardless, feeling a sort of start of surprise from each connected mare, and all eyes on us. Twilight let out a soft yet pleasant hum as her mouth opened and her tongue licked along the tip of mine. It was almost a teasing gesture, and I tried pushing back against hers, but she danced away back into her mouth again. It took me two tries before I took a risk and decided to follow her back into her own mouth. Twilight let out an oh so timid and stifled groan as my tongue slipped into her, teasing along her as it dipped and tickled the underside of mine oh so lightly. She suddenly felt so much warmer to me as she hugged me more tightly and I pressed down more on top of her, close enough now to even pick up the faint smell of her shampoo. Slowly, I saw Rainbow's wings starting to rise as she stared in shock at us, and inwardly smirked. She probably hadn't anticipated Twilight actually going this far. I hadn't either, of course. That rather familiar sensation crept up slowly, no amount of consideration of physics equations slowing it down. Slowly, I slid my tongue back and parted with Twilight's muzzle, noting her shiver and deep blush. Instead, her lips formed a smile as I cleared my head a bit, taking a few steady breaths. The fire burned rather hot if I let it, Fluttershy certainly not encouraging otherwise. "They're right, of course. I shouldn't be afraid of showing you intimacy. Nothing bad happened there, and the sky isn't falling on our heads, right?" Twilight reasoned out. Of course, me actually looking up to check the ceiling just in case knocked Rainbow out of her stunned state, getting her to snicker. Pinkie let out a high-pitched giggle while wiggling back and forth on her cushion. "That was an awesome kiss! I can't wait for somepony to kiss me like that," she praised, although I wasn't entirely certain if I should feel 'proud' of that. Rarity smirked but rolled her eyes at the display, but Fluttershy nodded slowly behind me. "Twilight's right. Neither of us have a reason to be afraid of you. We'll work things out by helping each other. Oh, um, maybe even once we get back, if you two don't have any, um, problems with it, of course," the timid mare suggested, leaving an out-clause as usual. Of course, maybe only I knew specifically why she worded it like that, but I kept my thoughts guarded from the rest of the links just to preserve her secrecy. Fluttershy and I hadn't been, well, intimate since we left for Canterlot. Twilight tilted her head slightly at that, obviously not picking up the private undertones of the statement. Rarity smirked, of course, but I had no doubt she'd pick it up. There was no reaction from Applejack or Dash, and Pinkie just sent me an image of a balloon filled with cotton candy when I checked on her link. Right. The lavender mare nodded finally before agreeing with, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try some more trust exercises after we get unpacked. Um, I admit to having a problem now, so..." Spike nodded to that, appending, "That's really important! When I had my Dragon Hoarding Instincts, I had the same issue. I kept thinking, well, what's the harm in getting just one more birthday gift? Then it was another and another. Then I was a massive monster destroying Ponyville and kidnapping Rarity! It just kinda spiraled out of control after that..." Wait, up until that point it was still under control? Wait, what was that part about 'massive monster'?! Sadly, Rarity nodded pleasantly before I could actually ask. "Yes, you handled that with maturity afterwards, Spike. Helping rebuild was a very noble thing to do, and talking to us about the instincts and urges is important," she complimented softly, causing him to swell up almost instantly as he smiled up at her. Applejack finally just silently slid forward, a sense of amusement flicking through her for a moment as I felt two surprisingly soft hooves touch against my back. Rarity had been right, of course. Even though I had agreed to the massage because it was Applejack who asked, I had still been picturing her hooves feeling something akin to a flanged mace dragging across my back. Although I was equally terrified of telling her that her hooves felt 'soft'. Twilight relaxed finally and let me simply rest against her chest while Applejack dug in. I guessed that no matter how blunt and inappropriate Rainbow could be sometimes, she really did help disarm Twilight's apprehension, even if it did take a trial by fire, so to speak. Call me very pleasantly surprised, but Applejack worked down my spine like it was second nature to her, systematically cradling then popping each little segment of my back. She hit a particularly nasty snag barely six seconds after starting and I groaned at the pop, trying to keep it quiet but I felt her smirk anyway. She had finesse to know exactly where to press in and how to move her hooves, and an almost impossible strength backing it up for stubborn muscles, but had equal parts finesse to not snap me in two, which was admittedly a good bonus. Twilight hummed softly as Rainbow slipped in and carefully grabbed my left leg, starting at the ankle and gently rotating it, starting her end of the massage. Given her athletic nature, I imagined she also knew what she was doing, of course. After another moment, Twilight finally disrupted the silence. "At least we had an extremely productive visit to Canterlot, despite everything that happened. We're all set up as members of Dimensional Regulation now, the public is aware of our organization and the guards have been assigned, plans are made for further construction in Ponyville, we're bringing the Elements back with us, and we've learned to never let Mender play tabletop games," she summarized. Hey! I gave her a teasingly annoyed glare upwards, and she smirked down at me as Pinkie and Dash started snickering again. Applejack continued working on my lower spine now but muttered, "Ah'm just ah bit concerned about that message that got left in Mender's bags. We never figured out who it was from." Ah, right. That. Rarity frowned at that before verbally reviewing the topic. "Well, it was a typed letter with no magical auras on it, so completely anonymous. It was left in Mender's saddlebags, which he hadn't accessed for at least a dozen hours. During that window, Octavia, two guards, and the two maids that cleaned the room had windows of opportunity to place the note inside. Further, it contained a clue to be investigated that had not been considered prior," she spoke slowly, eyes unfocused as she considered all the points while speaking. That ruled out those immediately involved with the investigation, anyway. Snapshot had been another suspect but would have simply told me herself. There was no need for secrecy with her, given her position. That also meant that the pony who gave the note to me had very, very good sources, potentially within BEID itself. They might even be a member and suddenly decided to have a change of heart. Rainbow fluttered her wings for a second before asking, "We can't figure out anything until tonight, right? That's when the crazy stalker mare is supposed to scope out the place and find out if the note was right, no?" I winced as she popped my ankle, and then moved up my foreleg. Oh hell, why was she doing this to me?! Why had she even volunteered to help massage my leg? Did she just want to put me through misery?! Twilight coughed lightly at the comment before correcting, "Her name is Snapshot, and yes. She said she was going to keep an eye on the place in the note instead of the alley. Regardless, we should have a lot more information over the next few days, if the note is even accurate." Applejack gave a suspicious glance at Dash after my left leg gave out a rather sharp cracking noise and I winced. She didn't need an empathy link to figure out that it wasn't exactly feeling pleasant, of course. Which actually made me wonder why I was letting the cyan mare do it in the first place. Huh... Fluttershy made a low whine, snapping me out of my contemplation of my own sanity, and causing me to glance over my shoulder at her, as she was still on the other side of Applejack. "Isn't it dangerous to split up like that? Um, I know I don't really know that much about how things like this work, but what if these ponies are dangerous? Wouldn't it be risky for both the guard who's investigating the alley and Miss Snapshot if they split up?" she wondered, indeed sounding worried. Although the way she said 'Miss Snapshot' was adorable. Spike shook his head first, however, interrupting with, "Nah, I'm sure they'll be fine. The guard they pick for the undercover thing is probably going to be one of the best they have, plus Snapshot's actually pretty tough herself. Mender fought her, remember?" His tone indicated that he remembered it fondly, but I myself paled a bit. I'd thought Tank had killed her for a second! "Hey, I wasn't trying to fight her! She attacked me first. Tank was the one to knock her out!" I defended before anypony got the wrong idea. Twilight giggled at that and pulled me back down against her before I tensed up any more. "Calm down, Silly. Nopony is blaming you for what happened. Plus, you can attest that Snapshot knows how to defend herself, no? Just relax," she cooed softly, kissing me on the nose after. I blushed lightly but settled back down onto her chest with a little smile. Okay, thanks, Dash. Your brash taunting somehow backfired and got her to totally relax. As if acknowledging my thanks, the cyan mare sent another pulse of agony up my leg, causing me to immediately take my thoughts back as I winced again. Damn it! Applejack sighed and stopped massaging my back at that point, giving a pointed glare to Rainbow instead. "Dash, Ah can't make much progress if yer breakin' his foreleg ta pieces an' gettin' him all tense again!" she chewed out. Wait, that wasn't even the point! The cyan pegasus snorted, glaring right back before defending herself with, "His foreleg is a total mess! It's so stiff, I don't know how he even walks like this. All I'm doing is popping his joints and working them back and forth ta limber them up!" I glanced down at my now swelled and slightly purple foreleg as it shivered there uncontrollably, and flattened my ears back a bit. Fluttershy saw it, of course, before releasing a squeak of surprise mixed with horror. Wait, uh... I couldn't get my warning to even process in the direction of my throat before her hip smashed into Rainbow's side and knocked the pegasus flying into the side of the compartment door with a yelp. "Oh no! It's swelling now, and looks quite agitated. I think a few surface blood vessels got ruptured near the elbow joint, too! Thankfully, I have a full medical kit with me, with anti-inflammatory cream in it," she quickly analyzed. Oh. Well, that was indeed useful! Rainbow finally crawled out of the heap she'd made by the door and glared at Fluttershy, but Applejack tilted her head instead, asking, "Wait, why do ya have ah full trauma kit with ya? Uh, is that burn cream an' reaction shots?" Huh? I looked down at the full medical kit that Fluttershy had pulled out of her saddlebag, and widened my eyes a little at all the supplies. The yellow mare blushed and shifted her forelegs together before whispering, "Oh, um, well, these are for any sick animals I might find while traveling." The last part came way too fast. Was... Was Fluttershy trying to lie? Applejack's expression flattened out into an incredulous, blank stare, but Twilight started snickering instead as Fluttershy fidgeted even more. "All that's for Mender, right?" she asked instead, a second later. What?! Hey! Fluttershy blushed even more, but finally nodded ever so slightly. What was next, they started taking bets on how things would go horribly wrong? My ears twitched, then flattened back as I scowled, but Twilight ruined my attempt at being angry by leaning up again and kissing my cheek. I sighed softly and looked back at her, only to be kissed softly on the lips instead. I 'felt' Applejack smirk behind me, almost without needing the link as she slid forward and managed to continue massaging my back slowly and carefully while the lavender mare nuzzled and kissed my muzzle. Okay, now they were just trying to butter me up. "A proper amount of precaution is good for ya, Mender. You have to admit, your luck is kinda terrible," Rainbow reminded, sliding forward next to Fluttershy finally and reaching out to touch my foreleg again. I hesitated, but she just smiled up at me and I relaxed. No, I trusted Dash. This time, she just stuck to the muscles, softly massaging them along my main foreleg length just under my shoulder, and I sagged, relaxing into the sensation. Ugh, I hadn't realized how tense it had been. Spike snickered at that, cutting in by correcting, "His luck isn't 'terrible', Rainbow." Well I sort of disagreed, but I was pleased he was defending me, regardless. Sadly, he appended, "There are two types of luck. Good luck, and bad luck. He just happens to be really efficient with the bad." Or he was a jerk. That worked, too. There was a round of snickering at that, and I couldn't help but chuckle myself. Okay, yeah, it was true. Sometimes the universe really was out to get me, it would seem. Rarity coughed lightly a moment later, and I glanced towards her just in time to catch her fidgeting. Eh? It was further unnerving that she was staring right at me while looking concerned. When she realized she had my attention, she politely cleared her throat before speaking. "Um, as much as I try to remain at ease, I can't help but think that a bit of proper precaution might indeed be appropriate, Mender. I know that, well, that thing has very little motive to target me, but I remain the only one at risk still. I'm a bit worried that it might single me out purely due to not having any other targets," she finally reminded, looking more than a little uneasy at the thought. Oh, right! I told her that I'd link up with her on the train. It wasn't like I would have forgotten for long, however. Twilight smiled towards her and nodded, easing up on her hold on me as I closed my eyes. It was odd, but sometimes I sort of felt like one of the actors in those cheesy horror movies that Keela used to love watching with me. Er, him, really. He always thought it was just an excuse on her part to act the part of the scaredy-cat, pun intended, and bury herself in his fur while watching, but she really did seem to get into it. So much so that she'd shout out warnings to the actors about to die or get horribly mangled. Sometimes, I kinda felt like somepony was silently doing that for me. I got that distinct unease as the confirmation box popped up. Well, it wasn't like the world was going to explode when I pushed the button, right? Seconds passed, and I relaxed as the box faded away. Slowly, a surprised sensation slipped down the newly formed link, and I smirked, mentally adding, "Welcome to the network, Rarity." She looked and felt even more surprised, noting my mouth not moving. Pinkie promptly cheered, of course, blasting us all with mental prismatic confetti, and causing Rainbow to immediately wince from the not so fond memories of her first experience with Pinkie's mental communication. Of course, admittedly, almost throwing up all over the path we were on wasn't the most pleasant of experiences. A light beep disrupted my focus and caused me to glance to the right instead. Eh? Twilight gave me an odd look, but I didn't see anything in particular in the direction I'd heard it from. Well, that was strange. Then it happened again, to my right once more and twice in a row this time. Ah! Turning further, I rotated completely around and was greeted by a very confused looking Applejack, who realized she was no longer pointed towards my back. "Uh, do ya need somethin', Mender?" she asked after an uncertain yet awkward moment of staring at each other. Well, this was disconcerting. I frowned, instead asking, "Uh, did you beep by any chance? Twice?" It was a long shot, but who knew? Maybe she'd momentarily had a small mental breakdown and started beeping? It certainly wasn't happening to me! No, not at all! She gave me a concerned look, and I frowned again, hearing another double beep from my right. Crap. It was in my inner audio output. One of these days, I was going to program in a way for me to listen to those little voices telling me not to do things. Apparently the ones watching this disaster I called a life knew far more than I. Popping my display up on my eye projection, I was greeted to my command window having opened by itself. Mission parameters were listed across the top of the header with six 'completed' checkmarks. Wait, what? Code was rapidly cycling down the side, referencing some sort of thing inside my black box unit about coordinates and spatial jaunt calculations. Uh, what? Was I supposed to have some sort of FTL system I could plug into? “Eh? What’s that stuff, Mender?” Twilight asked, frowning as she sat up next to me to look at the display as well. “It just popped up after Rarity’s link was fully registered. I think there was some sort of trigger in my set to activate when I got all six ‘energy sources’ linked to me,” I muttered, looking the data over as best I could as it shot past. That's when the splash display for an Icarus System popped up, calculating wing expansion and projection of energy at ratings anticipating almost three hundred centimeters. Wow, it was a good thing I didn't have an FTL system. That was almost as tall as the cabin of the train we were in! What kind of Slipstream jump needed that much energy?! Normally the 'wings' were proportional to the vessel that was making the jump, and that was almost four times my own body length! Rainbow reached up and playfully pushed her hoof through the light projection a few times, but Applejack only tilted her head, staring at the image from my other side. “What’s an Icarus Control System?” she asked, glancing to me instead for an explanation. I pulled up a diagnostic of what it was doing in the background while answering, “Icarus Effect is the name given to the ‘wing’ looking things that precede one of our Slipstream jumps. The actual wings are more akin to energy ribbons that fold the space around us in a bubble, and-“ I almost bit my own tongue as my back started heating up. Oh. Oh shit! Twilight yelped as the heat suddenly started radiating off my back, causing her to lift her forelegs up to try to shield some of it. Reacting as fast as I could, I earned a shocked look from everypony else as I bailed off the cushion, over Fluttershy and Rainbow's heads, and crashed into the floor of the carriage on my stomach. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise and immediately followed, halting only when I shouted out, "No, get back!" I hadn't even finished the sentence before two brilliant arcs of energy shot out of my back, sliding up the entire distance to the ceiling before neatly slicing through, chopping our overhead light in half and raining sparks down on us! Whoops! Overestimated the ceiling height. Wait, no, this was bad regardless! Firing off an FTL launch that was capable of bridging star systems would cause this entire cabin to go off like a two-megaton detonation! Where was it even sending me?! Managing a break point in the code, I picked up enough to note that it had no focal point for the exit. What?! It was just going to toss me off into dark space until I ran out of energy?! Sliding back up along the code, I realized in horror exactly what it was doing, just as it started to build its own Aegis Barrier. "Mender, what’s happening?! What are-" Twilight started to rapidly ask, eyes wide. Naturally, she was cut off by my panicked yelps. "No, stop! No! They’re trying to send me back to my old dimension!" I shouted out over the loud hum of the energy lancing out from my back. The launch timer continued counting down regardless of my protests, with less than fifteen seconds remaining in Equestria. Worse yet, my departure would kill every single pony on the train, alongside decimating a good ten miles of... No. I couldn't let it kill anypony. Especially not these ponies! Pulling a ping code up, I tossed it into an unbound infinite loop and aimed it at the process for the Icarus Control, rapidly overwhelming its lock down attempt simply by assigning all three processors to the spam. It turns out that an Icarus operating system got bogged down if you went over several billion pings a second. Who knew? The timer started to glitch out as I interrupted the process and hacked into the memory allocation for it. Timer, timer... There had to be a way to stop the timer! The wings started to short out as their maintaining energy faltered under the slowdown, and I quickly found the energy ratio integer. I barely had time to turn it down to a negligible value as a crack of energy was spat out, blowing the window out to the cabin as everypony yelped and hit the floor, Rarity and Fluttershy covering their heads. Slowly, my wings sputtered and shrank down to about a meter in height, bits of the ceiling coming down on top of me as I winced, the pane of glass from the light shattering over my head. Damn it! The shorting out continued, and at this rate, the Wings of Icarus would fold back on themselves, imploding into my back. That would still have a detonation radius of several meters though! No, I couldn't let these ponies die, especially! Twilight frantically looked up again, eyes widening as she watched the wings flare up. "Mender! No, I won't let you go back!" she shouted over the loud humming of the energy extending from me. I... I knew she was powerful, but she didn't understand the physics behind it and I didn't think she could stop this. No, while there was a very small probability that I'd survive the implosion, it was far more unlikely that they would. I had to get them out of the radius! Wait… No, no I didn’t. Looking up slightly, I saw the glass shards still flaking away from the now open window, wind blasting around our damaged cabin. No, all I had to do was move the radius away from them, instead! The timer had gone up since I adjusted the power level on the wings, shifting rapidly upwards into the hours before it reversed, instead counting down until the energy crumpled inwards. I had twenty-five seconds. Applejack looked horrified, however, staring at the wings on my back in a much more understanding manner. "Ah saw those before! Nirru used them an' it made that explosion!" she called out quickly. There was nothing else for it. Nodding, I quickly explained, "These are called Wings of Icarus, and normally they're an intentional effect created to let something travel faster than light using Slipstream. I just shorted mine out, and in about fifteen seconds, they're going to implode into me instead, probably causing me to explode in a few meters radius. I... I'm sorry!" Twilight's eyes widened at that, but she fell for the exact same trick she had ages past. Her wave of telekinetic energy grabbed onto the fake, Mender-shaped barrier I threw up as I dove aside. She didn’t get a second chance, and less than a heartbeat later, I had launched myself right towards the window. It was simple, really. Tuck and roll as I exited the train, hit and probably break something, but roll a significant distance away, and then make a really big mess all over the ground, safely away from all of my favorite ponies. A lump slammed into my throat as I realized I didn't even have time to say goodbye. Tucking, I rotated sideways as I went through the window, taking the few remaining shards of glass with me as my momentum easily snapped them. All that anger had been totally useless. Life wasn't even fair enough to give me a chance to fix anything. Could I survive this? Dash was already moving, of course, as she screamed, "Mender, stop!" Too late. My mind whirled in a state of shock at the speed everything had just gone to hell. My wings sliced two lines of melting metal through the wall as I left the window and started to rotate into a ball. I blinked as I aimed towards the ground, however. Okay, slight change in plans, I guessed. I saw the level of the bridge the train was going over slip past a full second later, and glanced down the side of the mountain as I fell. Right. We had only just cleared Canterlot. There were a whole ton of bridges over the gaps that the train traveled over. What wonderful timing. I almost laughed to myself as I stretched my legs down, intentionally slimming my form to speed myself towards the ground, while angling my hooves away from the support strut for the bridge. Blowing up on the support and sending the entire train careening off the side of the cliff would utterly defeat the point, after all. Of course, my odds of living through this had just dropped to almost nothing. Bitterly, I hoped Rainbow had a mop and bucket with her. The overload estimate was at eight seconds when I heard the wings above me. A pair of beats? I rotated as I fell and glanced back for just a moment, noting Rainbow managing to close fast in a dive. Fluttershy had surprisingly dove after her, looking horrified as she tried to match speeds but fell quickly behind. Damn it. She wasn’t supposed to see this. There was nothing I could do though as I killed the links to the mares. They definitely didn't need to feel this. My eyes widened. Half a heartbeat before Twilight's link closed out, her ping hit me, just like I'd taught her. No, she wasn't going to...! Her flash of light appeared next to me in the same instant, and I tried to roll out of the way, but her forelegs wrapped tight around me, her face pushing into my chest with wet tears hitting my fur. "Stop it!" she screamed, her momentum carrying us sideways into the cliff face. Shit! My tentacles lashed out around her from all sides, hitting the rocks and springing us free as Twilight flared with energy. Her magic actually expanded out and grabbed the burning wings extending off my back! Was she crazy?! This was going to kill both of us! What could only be described as dumb shock flooded through me as her eyes opened up again as two white orbs, and her magic grabbed multiple points on the wings and literally forced them apart. My brain entirely refused to comprehend what was happening, it going against everything I knew of with how the ‘wings’ functioned. Was Twilight strong enough to pull apart reality at the seams?! The mare's horn disappeared in a blinding gout of light as my meltdown timer slowed to a crawl. No, this wasn't physically possible! Rainbow narrowed her eyes in a look of pure determination as her wings powered up further and became thin jets along her back, her form flattening out as she sped up. Somehow, a Mach cone started to form around her before she’d even hit supersonic speeds, as if it was physics itself starting to bend and warp under her magic. Was this what it looked like from the outside? The last time I'd seen her like that was when we were flying into hell with only the vaguest resemblance of a plan. Her hoof reached out towards us as her cone tightened around her, and I reminded myself that this was actually how Rainbow usually operated. The timer locked at three seconds, Twilight fighting with the wings as she growled out and the ground rapidly catching up to us. I wondered if this had been a wise idea after all. Had I doubted their intent on coming after me? Had I just assumed the 'lithobraking' would carry me too far back for them to reach within the time limit? Of course Twilight would teleport. Had I doubted her desire to save me? I realized I had, as I looked back at her. I'd anticipated she wouldn't even think to teleport outside of the train cabin and endanger herself. Rainbow had wings and could save herself if need be. She should have left the rescue to her. She still had Fluttershy, even if I didn't make it... No, I didn't want to die. I wanted to stay with them, but in a split second choice between dying and killing all of them instead, there wasn't even a need for me to contemplate. The only hesitation had been figuring out how to get away from them as fast as possible. But she followed me, and risked following me straight into death, too. When had I become so important to her? I missed it. I smiled, looking 'up' at her as we fell. Rainbow burned with energy behind us, her form outlined by the radiance coming off Twilight. At this range, I felt her connection with me for just a moment. That shouldn’t have been possible. I had turned the links off specifically to avoid them feeling anything. For that moment, I was suddenly distinctly aware of that massive well of power seething up next to me. My eyes widened as I looked into Twilight’s eyes, like twin abysses of magic. It was impossible. Her magic, for just a moment, didn’t have an end that I could observe. Her link with me wasn’t through my disks and magic, but hers! She screamed out in rage at my wings, her own magic becoming the light of a small star as she suddenly tore the wings in both directions, to each side of me. In just that moment, with a thin stream of blood slipping from her nose, I thought I saw a flare of light, and wings that weren’t mine. But no, the light almost blinded me before I could even blink. In that same instant, as energy combusted into flames to either side of us that started to crush inwards, Rainbow exploded behind us, that Mach cone snapping like a rubber band...