//------------------------------// // Chapter 81 // Story: Forgiveness Pending // by Kiroberos //------------------------------// Sighing, I slowly opened the door and peeked out into the room, not sure what to expect in the slightest. I was dry and the tub was fully drained now, so I really couldn't delay any longer, even for a panic attack. Would there be panic, excitement, something in between, or would both mares be gone, entirely changing their minds and abandoning ship to find a more private spot? Given the myriad of thoughts and feelings rushing through me, I didn't know if I was disappointed or delighted to find both mares watching me from the bed. Maybe Fluttershy springing our first time on me by total surprise was a more merciful method, given that I had no time to think. An awkward four seconds passed with us just staring at each other. There were no new, Twilight-shaped holes in the wall afterwards, so I assumed we were off to a good start. The lavender mare herself appeared to be utterly frozen in place, but Fluttershy smiled softly and gestured for me to approach. I ran through a nervous checklist in my head while carefully approaching, sensations somewhere between eager and horrified bouncing in my chest. Tub draining? Check. Every inch of me clean and dry? Check. Subdermal armor operating at peak performance? Double check! The yellow mare smiled to me as I climbed up onto the bed like I had a half dozen times prior. This time it was nerve wracking, however. Twilight's head rotated in time with my movements as she watched me, eyes massive. She looked as if she were watching some huge tiger stalking up towards her, which was actually kind of sad. My heart sunk a little, but Fluttershy slipped between the two of us and smiled softly at me. "Did you remember to drain the tub?" she asked quietly, momentarily distracting me as my mind was forced to process something other than the sheer horror of the situation. Blinking once, I gathered my wits and nodded. "Yes, it should be draining right now," I informed, earning a pleased nod as she relaxed. To my surprise, she laid down on the blankets instead, partially in-between Twilight and me before settling into a relaxed posture. Wait, what? Twilight looked just as surprised as I felt, and I wondered idly if I had misread her statement as innuendo when it actually wasn't. She really wanted to just cuddle? "I missed this last night," Fluttershy murmured wistfully as she looked over at the lavender mare next to her instead. "Um, don't get me wrong! I love being with you and snuggling and everything, Twilight. I don't mean to imply I don't. It's just... I like it when all three of us are together. We should spend more time as a herd," she quickly elaborated, eyes flashing apologetic as she quickly corrected herself. Twilight visibly relaxed a bit and smiled finally, nodding to her. "I knew what you meant, Fluttershy. But you're right, of course. We should strive to be together at least a few hours each day, not including sleep. We also owe it to Mender to make him feel welcome," she agreed, looking over at me as she added the last part. Relaxing, I smiled and nodded to her. "Thank you, girls. Still, don't neglect your own relationship in order to do so," I warned. That was the last thing I wanted to see! Both mares looked at each other, then Fluttershy smiled and shook her head, sliding up further and snuggling into Twilight’s side. I found myself smiling a bit wider at the adorable display, and Twilight obviously couldn’t help but slide her forelegs around Fluttershy, who nuzzled up into her chest. Yeah, I could watch Fluttershy all day, honestly… Fluttershy wrapped her forelegs around Twilight’s as they rested together, then her left one extended out to gesture to me with a smile. Ha! Now she wanted snuggles from both of us. Sliding forward, I hugged the yellow mare as well, and Twilight sighed and leaned forward, resting her forehead against mine as we sandwiched Fluttershy between us. Yeah, we definitely needed to spend more time like this. The pegasus gave a content murmur as she wiggled to rotate and snuggle into both of us about equally. I let her adjust, then smirked as she leaned up and kissed Twilight under the chin. She was staying true to her other little secret, anyway. I think I was one of the only ponies in Equestria who knew that baths made Fluttershy really, really affectionate. I decided to potentially reevaluate my conclusion, however, as Twilight sighed and leaned down instead, capturing Fluttershy’s kiss with her own. Maybe it just made mares more affectionate in general? Wait… I watched them kiss for a bit as Fluttershy sighed into it and gave Twilight a squeeze, then felt a familiar twitch. Ah. Fluttershy had managed to defuse that situation expertly. Despite suddenly realizing this, I still felt rather relaxed seeing Twilight happy over it all, so I just rested there, gently rubbing Fluttershy’s back as her wings slowly shivered. Yup, she was still turned on. As the kiss got more involved, and the familiar flush crept up onto each of their chests and cheeks, I suddenly got the random urge to look away in order to give them ‘privacy’. It was kind of silly, really, now that I considered it fully. I was supposed to be here, and that was the entire point of this, well, whatever you’d call it. Exercise in gaining familiarity? Yeah, that was a polite way to phrase it. I felt a little Rarity in my head nodding back to me, and smirked. It was almost thirty seconds later when Fluttershy finally shivered and broke away, her wings shifting back and forth as I slowly massaged around their base. A little strand of saliva connected the two mares, and Twilight was blushing softly as well, and gave an almost hungry grin towards the yellow pegasus, who winked and looked back over at me as well. “We can’t leave Mender out either, though. He deserves a little attention now,” she reminded, causing Twilight’s eyes to flick to the side and lock onto me as well. She hesitated, but Fluttershy shifted around and slipped out of her lap, moving into mine instead as she pushed me gently to the side, into the pillows. Oh? She had a plan, then? “Just to get Twilight more used to you, she’s going to instead watch us, okay?” Fluttershy suggested softly, smiling down at me from over my chest now, blush getting a bit stronger as she searched my expression for affirmation. This might go well after all… * * * * * “And what did we learn?” Fluttershy asked, sounding more than a little annoyed and frustrated over the whole thing. Sighing, I lay carefully on my side on the hospital bed, more IVs put into my foreleg to do pain management along my spine and back, where the spell had shot once it got done ravaging my far more sensitive areas. I still couldn’t feel anything in it, which I was both thankful for, and a little concerned over. That was perfect. Just perfect. “Stop being stupid…?” Twilight groaned, face still buried in my thigh as she wrapped her forelegs around my waist. That was… rather generic, and untrue in her case. If anything, she desperately lacked common sense, not intelligence. Fluttershy kissed the back of my neck softly, snuggling into my back instead as we relaxed there and waited for the full diagnostic to be read out loud. Nurse Redheart looked over the paper in front of her on my bedside table with a healthy expression of skepticism before flipping to the second page. “Admittedly, I didn’t expect you back so soon, or to be assigned yet another night in the hospital, this time for pain management…” she muttered, scanning over the second page much faster. Twilight gave another frustrated groan into my hip, still not looking up at anypony. Exhaling, I leaned back against the two of them a bit more, kind of disappointed that it had all turned out so poorly. “I’m going to be here for a while. You two should at least go home and get some sleep,” I pointed out, checking Clocky only to note it was twenty-three hundred hours. “Mender… Please, I’m sorry. I’m going to make it up to you tomorrow for sure,” Twilight promised yet again, still not looking up from my hip. “It was a mistake, Twilight. They happen. Relax and go get some rest with Fluttershy. It’s late,” I suggested to both of them. Fluttershy kissed the back of my neck once more before slowly standing again. Behind me on the bed, the lavender mare attached to my hip didn’t move, however. I’d be concerned if I didn’t still feel her breath tickling the fur on my Cutie Mark. It was even well past ‘visiting’ hours, but Red wasn’t about to kick them out, obviously. Fluttershy slipped up next to her and nudged her in the side until she at least rolled over. She looked up at the yellow mare with red eyes, still looking rather miserable, despite not being the one that got their spine vibrated. Okay, so maybe I was a little miffed still. But it was hard to stay angry at her when she was so good at beating herself up over it. Wait, that sounded familiar. Oh yeah, it was exactly what Applejack and I were also good at. “Come on, Twilight. Let’s go get some sleep and let Mender do the same. We’ll hold you to your promise for tomorrow instead,” the yellow mare spoke, still sounding more than a little upset. She of course had mentioned that she had missed me the night before when I was stuck in the hospital. This was almost as if the universe was rubbing it in her face now. Twilight nodded and stood at that, exhaling quietly before reiterating, “Again, tomorrow. I will make it up to you.” I gave her a weak smile and she just winced and quickly looked away for a moment before reaching up and brushing her hoof against Fluttershy’s shoulder. They were gone in a flash of illumination to the room. Red shook her head as she turned back to the first page and slid it idly around on the table for a moment, looking tired still. “I definitely need a break soon, so try not to let her maim you tomorrow while ‘making it up’ to you, okay?” the nurse requested weakly, sliding sideways and resting her head on my mattress close to my forelegs. Smiling at that, I offered, “Once you get me set up here, just go rest, Red. I’ve got, what, four hours of pain meds in the bags?” She smiled as well towards me and nodded at that. “You’re a sweetheart. Yeah, I might go take a nap once you get settled. Still, the call button works if you need anything,” she agreed, relaxing a little as she slid the paper onto her clipboard instead. It was amazing how good she was at balancing that thing on her forelegs… I nodded to her and closed my eyes, relaxing against the pillows as I felt her slide the sheets up over me and suggest, “Try to get some sleep, Mender. We’ll make sure you’re okay in the morning, then get you on your way.” Well, with any luck, I should still be able to do the job for the Cakes tomorrow. That I had been worried about, admittedly. “Good night, Red,” I muttered, and the lights turned out as I heard her hoofsteps heading out the door of the room… * * * * * Ugh. What a day. Resting on my back, upside down and looking up at the ceiling of Sugarcube Corner, I stretched out and slid my plans up in front of me again. One master support for both ends of the ‘racing’ stretch would cover the weight of the entire thing, plus an extra forty pounds, so I assumed I was covered there. If the Cakes started making twenty pound donuts, they’d have to come talk to me first… The smaller brackets that held the individual track pieces up were a fourth of the size of the master supports, but I’d need a whole heck of a lot more of them. I also needed four trolleys for the treats themselves, one for each track. They were already built now, and the enchantments were put on them. It was rather simple really. Four spots on the counter where the little baskets would sit. A treat put on the baskets would initiate the tiny side barriers to hold it in place. Once they were ready for delivery, with any number of the baskets filled, a gem under the counter could be tapped and it would form a thin barrier line up to the rail connectors on the ceiling. That would lift all four up, or however many were filled, and start the race. Each treat basket had two possible delivery points to cover the eight tables the Cakes had set up, toggle-able with levers under the counter. The solar rechargeable battery that powered the whole thing was sitting in the window charging right now, and I’d made two replacement gem batteries for them, with the resources already purchased. These gems were really useful for storing energy! So far, I’d gotten the counter set up, the four baskets made, and the complicated starting line finished. Oh, and the three batteries, of course. Which was another issue. If I knew more about the gems and how they worked, I could probably have set up my device to use the universal ‘batteries’ that I saw already being produced, but as it stood so far, I had to modify the battery in order to get it to work with my design. So if they wanted more batteries, for now, they’d have to get them from me instead. Maybe I could upgrade that later down the road once I figure out how the gems functioned. Mrs. Cake was more than understanding, thankfully. She acted like it was already a shock that I’d made them two extra batteries from the resources, which was kind of weird, honestly. Now I was working on the tracks themselves. I’d already had most of the track rails made now, but it was getting on supper time, and I was running out of day to finish all of this in. This was going to take a while to make the entire tracks as well. My barriers held nicely, connected into the ceiling and holding all of my tools while giving me a spot to lay on as I worked. These I worked into enchantments so I could detach them from my energy supply, which was a good thing or I’d be dead tired by now. They also had a solar feed that was stuck out two different windows now, which should be workable for a few more hours anyway. I was running out of sunlight, too, which was another reason to finish this part of the project now, while I still had the barriers. My stomach growled, and I growled back, then proceeded to ignore it. Spike had been the only one at the library when I’d gotten myself checked out of the hospital. Interestingly enough, he refrained from admitting where he’d been the night before. Regardless, Fluttershy had left early before breakfast even, excusing herself over some sort of animal problem to look into. I had the sneaking suspicion it was more than that, given how uneasy Spike had looked over it. Twilight had left as well, apparently for a meeting with Mayor Mare over the upcoming events tomorrow and scheduling things. She’d skipped breakfast, too, and left abruptly, which also sounded bad. So between the two, he hadn’t cooked breakfast. He offered to for just me, but I couldn’t make him whip up an entire meal for one pony. Sheesh. So I’d skipped breakfast, too. And lunch, because I was working. And now supper, because I was still working. Attaching the third bracket, I slid further down the barrier, taking my tools with me as I moved to the next track location. I heard laughter echo out from behind the closed door of the kitchen and tried not to grumble to myself. Not having eaten anything all day caused the lovely smells coming from the kitchen to be agonizing. No, focus! Intentionally speeding up, I went through three more brackets rather mindlessly, following the instructions I’d made myself for position and how far down they needed to be. Working and keeping myself busy was a good way to keep my mind off all of the usual troubles I was having. Of course, I had been worried about what happened to cause everypony to behave so strangely. “Are ya sure he’s in ‘ere somewhere? Ain’t Sugarcube Corner closed anyway?” I suddenly heard in a very familiar sounding dialect. Freezing, my eyes widened as I still stuck to the ceiling, screwing in the fifth bracket for the track. Oh no. Those three could potentially eat up a tremendous amount of my time, and then I wouldn’t finish by tonight! “Of course! Totally saw him go in this morning. I think he’s setting up that cool track thing for the Cakes!” Scootaloo chirped, sounding excited. Figured she’d be interested in ‘anything’ racing. It sounded almost like they were just outside. Looking to my left, down through the window below me, I saw just the tip of a purple tail, which confirmed that all three were looking right at the door. Crap. There was a soft sigh, then Sweetie’s voice added, “Aww, come on. I really wanted to see him today. I haven’t gotten to see him since he got back! Stupid hospital…” It was hardly the hospital’s fault that Twilight blasted me in the… no, no, I was trying to calm down and stay relaxed. Calm, peaceful thoughts! “Uh, ah yah suah? If it’s closed, I don’t wanna get in trawble,” came a very unfamiliar voice, in a hard to place dialect. I remembered back to that interesting newspaper mare, and took a guess at Manehatten. This was a much younger voice, however. Scootaloo assured whomever it was with a, “Yeah! Pinkie Pie’s cool, and so are the Cakes, so I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if we just went in to see Mender. Like we told ya, he’s super cool!” Sighing, I decided it was probably inevitable that they’d be coming in, and quickly got back to work to finish as much as I could before getting interrupted. “So ya say. I guess he must be, given haw much ya tawk ahbout him. Sweetie’s crushin awn him hawd, too,” the new foal pointed out. It sounded like a filly, however. Sweetie giggled at that as she opened the door, explaining, “Of course I do! He even knows about it! He says I have to wait a few years, and if I still have feelings for him then, I can talk to him seriously about it.” I blinked at that, finishing adjusting the bracket I was working on while listening. Admittedly, that was a lot more level-headed than I’d last heard her talk about it. Maybe Rarity had indeed calmed her down a bit. “Aww. Ah thought ya said he was ‘ere, Scoots!” Apple Bloom whined, walking into the room further and practically right under me. Nopony ever looked up… Peeking over my barrier, I saw the three of them slip into the shop, followed by a filly looking to be roughly the same age. She was an Earth Pony, and sported a darker orange coat, short cropped strawberry mane and tail, pretty green eyes, and also no Cutie Mark. She ‘felt’ like a member of the Apple Family just by looking. I assumed it was the colors. Eh. Rolling off my platform, I fell the three meters or so to the floor. All four fillies squeaked and jumped at the same time as I landed, a loud thump and shake going through the floorboards. That wouldn’t have been fun had the floor given away. I was glad I wasn’t in any of my armor. Apple Bloom recovered first, despite being the closest to me when I landed, and smirked at me as I stood up fully again. “Hey, girls. Is there something you needed?” I asked politely, giving the three of them a warm smile, and peeking curiously over at the newcomer. Her wide eyes were shrinking a little, and she looked up at my glowing platform for a moment before returning her gaze to me, looking surprised now but not utterly shocked. “Mender!” Sweetie chirped, running past Apple Bloom in an instant and lightly pouncing my left foreleg, smiling up at me as she hugged it to herself. I smiled down at her and rubbed the top of her head, earning a giggle and a nuzzle to my shoulder. Scootaloo recovered next and smirked, nodding in amusement to me. “I knew you’d be in here working on the Cake’s race thingy! We wanted to introduce ya to the fourth Cutie Mark Crusader!” she cheered, causing me to look back at the new filly, who was now suddenly blushing under the spotlight of the situation. Ah, she had a shy streak in her… AB, however, puffed up and properly introduced, “This ‘ere’s mah cousin, Babs Seed. She’s from Manehatten! She’s visitin’ all o’ us fer tha Fall Festivities. Ah told ya you’d meet her.” Smiling towards the filly, I lifted my right forehoof up towards her. She shrank back slightly and stared at it for a moment before hesitantly stepping up and touching her much smaller hoof to mine, shaking it up and down slowly. “I thawt ya told me he has tentahcles,” Babs inquired a moment later, lifting an eyebrow at me. I raised an eyebrow as well, but shifted to the now sheepish looking Apple Bloom. The yellow filly chuckled weakly, looking back over at Babs before hastily reminding, “Ah told ya! He can pop ‘em in an’ out!” Uh… Sweetie winced at that, and then hissed, “I told you it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell her before getting permission from Mender.” Rolling my eyes, I nodded to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, then instructed, “Close the shades.” They both grinned and shot off to the various windows as Sweetie sat down next to me, in the same instant I sat down. Babs watched them with slight amusement before looking back at me and giving me the appraising eye. I just sat there and let her check me over. It was interesting that she took a short cropped mane and tail approach, giving her a bit less feminine appearance. Still, her build and muzzle structure gave her gender away readily enough. I wondered if the longer styles for mares were just a thing here in Canterlot and Ponyville. The room slowly lessened in light until it was getting hard to see the others. Once the last curtain was pulled, I inquired, “How much did they tell you? And you do realize this is technically a national secret at the moment, right?” Her eyes widened a little and she swallowed before nodding. “Dey said it wos ah big, impawtant secret, yah. That you’re an alien, and some sawt of mechanicol pony?” she explained, tilting her head to me as I nodded. “Yeah, Ti… err… Princess Celestia doesn’t want the secret spread around yet, and neither do I, really. It’s hard enough thinking of myself as a normal pony when I don’t have… large amounts of attention drawn to it. Regardless..." I started, deciding that I might as well get this over with. I closed my eyes and flicked on my full scanners, opening them a second later and spreading blue light across the fillies, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo catching up again. Babs perked up as she saw the sudden color shift and now light being produced by my eyes, the mechanical whirling noise plainly audible in the quiet room as I knew the zoom lenses were rotating around in them, focusing in slowly on Babs as all my eye displays lit up. Her eyes widened as she peeked closer into my actual pupils where she could see the moving images. Smiling at her curiosity, I wondered if she’d be the same once she saw the armor. It folded out as I thought about it, her eyes widening even further as she stepped backwards half a step, shifting to an uncertain look as the ridges of my blackened gray armor appeared. The layers of it folded over my shoulders, torso, back, and down my legs as I left the helmet off intentionally, stepping up as it finished plating over my hooves as well. Now I was taller, larger, and significantly heavier by a good hundred and twenty pounds. “Whoa…” was all she managed to say as she stood her ground and looked me over, her cousin slipped up next to her. “Told ya it was cool! Show her tha tentacles!” the yellow filly chirped, smiling up in the blue light coming off me. Smirking, I nodded as my armor folded over my head, and felt them spasm along my back before slowly extending out. The filly’s eyes got bigger and bigger as the cluster of tentacles extended off my back, going skywards while wiggling slightly as I stretched them out. It had been a while since I used them, but thankfully they weren’t all that stiff. Lowering them to generally drift around me, I extended my right shoulder one, one of the larger ones by a small degree, in front of her slowly. Apple Bloom bumped up against her side and nodded as she calmed down a little, then turned and looked down at the tentacle gently displayed for her. Hesitantly, she reached out and nudged it with her hoof for just a moment before tilting her head to the side. It didn’t move any when she poked it, so she then reached out with both forehooves and squished them around it, letting them poke to each side of it. After a few seconds of this, she smiled again and relaxed, wiggling it about a little. Apple Bloom lifted both hooves up to me and grinned, hopping lightly until my other tentacle slipped down and wrapped around her torso. Apple Bloom cheered happily, earning a surprised stare from Babs as she watched her cousin lifted up with her legs out, pretending she was flying. Scootaloo grinned and leapt over Babs with a flap of energy from her wings, and was snatched out of the air by another of my tentacles. She grinned, then ‘chased’ after Apple Bloom, directing where my tentacle went by which way her torso was turned. Sweetie was content to just smile up at me, two of my tentacles sliding down to wrap around her and gently squish her against my left side, giving her an excuse to nuzzle my shoulder again. “Wow. Ya con control dem awll at once, den?” Babs asked, watching her friend and cousin get spun around in the air laughing, then looking down at Sweetie, who was playing with one of the ones wrapped over her shoulder. Nodding, I added, “Yeah, I can control each one separately. They’re also really strong, but obviously I have to be careful that nopony sees me with all of this stuff-“ As if I’d summoned it myself, the door into the kitchen took that exact moment to open up. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom dropped, landing on my back thankfully after my armor collapsed into me at frighteningly quick speeds, and I sucked tentacles in left and right. By the time Mrs. Cake turned and looked over at me, I was back to my normal self, amber-gold eyes included as I returned her gaze. She raised an eyebrow as she looked around again, looking at the darkened room. For a tense moment, I realized Babs was still holding the one tentacle that was outside of my body, and I didn’t want to just rip it away from her and hurt her. Instead, however, she shifted to the side and covered the tentacle from sight with her body as I rotated it down my foreleg to extend from my elbow instead. Cup Cake looked back to me finally before asking, “Why is it so dark in here, Mender? Surely you could work better with the shades up?” Thinking fast, I simply explained, “I was just showing the fillies magic tricks.” My hoof extended up to form a fun pyramid shape made out of simple barriers above it in the dark, glowing and illuminating the area with the silvery blue light. She perked at the mention of fillies, then looked up at my back as Apple Bloom and Scootaloo waved innocently at her. That brought out a smile and she nodded happily to them. “Ah, distracting him, are you? Well, it’s probably about time for supper anyway, so why don’t you all come in here to get some food?” she chirped, totally buying my blatant lie. Wait, food? My stomach rumbled loud enough to echo in the quiet house and I, and apparently every other pony in the room, turned to look at it. Oh, right. Food. “Um, I’d love to but I didn’t bring any bits with me,” I explained, giving a sheepish look up at Cup’s knowing smirk. “Really, Mender? You’re doing a ton of work for us, and have almost completed it after working for most of the day non-stop. The least we can do is give you a bonus and feed you. Get in here,” she ordered, leaving no room for denial. Shrinking a bit, I nodded to her and earned giggles from my spontaneous passengers. Babs puffed up and smirked at me, nodding as well. “Yah, get in dere and eat wit us!” she echoed. “Oh, now you’re tough stuff, huh?” I asked playfully as I pounced at her, the other two on my back squeaking, then laughing as Babs squealed and slipped under the table, running for the kitchen. Grinning, I continued, “Hang on!” With that, to the surprise of both fillies and Mrs. Cake, I turned once and then leapt sideways. We cleared the top of the table as I tucked my legs up, then descended over the other side. Babs laughed and yelped as we hit right behind her, and we all shot into the kitchen, Sweetie giggling and running under the table after us… * * * * * Over the course of the really nice meal the Cakes and Pinkie had provided, I’d actually learned quite a bit about Babs. Bullying was definitely something I could relate to, of course. It driving her to be the bully was something I’d seen a lot, and admittedly, my donor Keldarian fell victim to, at least in how he handled Keela after the incident. It was all understandable, and she seemed relieved to some extent anyway that I thought as much. She also talked about her life in Manehatten to some extent. Large cities didn’t really bother me, but the other three crusaders seemed almost captivated by it. I didn’t particularly care where I was living at, so long as the ponies I cared about were there. And given that they were all here in Ponyville for the most part, this is where I lived, of course. Rather simple, and I really liked things simple. Babs’ life was a fairly stable one as well. She went to school in Manehatten, but was planning on potentially moving to Ponyville here after graduating. She and Apple Bloom had really hit it off. She even started her own ‘chapter’ of the CMC. It was exceptionally cute. "So yoah really ah membah of the CMC? Yah already gaht yoah Cutie Mark, dough," she pointed out, gesturing to the mark on my hip. Smiling as I ate another piece of the extremely tasty banana bread, I looked over at Pinkie, who grinned and nodded twice, happy to explain it for me. "He totally lost his memory, and apparently forgot what his Cutie Mark was, too! When he showed up in the hospital here about a month or so ago, he was a blank flank, too!" she chirped. Mr. Cake smirked behind her while wiping the kitchen counter down, probably having heard a lot about it already. "Noh way! Fer reahl?" Babs asked, eyes widening as she looked over at me yet again, from my left. Pinkie was across from me, having just plowed through four slices of the bread herself. Sweetie was to my immediate right, Apple Bloom to Babs' left, and Scootaloo across from her, next to Pinkie. The Cakes had given us an entire tray of banana bread slices, which they'd technically run out of frosting for. Without the super sweet layer, however, they made a rather decent 'normal' meal. The fillies were disappointed, but I was pleased just to have the sustenance. Scootaloo smirked and shot back, "Of course! We were the ones who found him hurt near the stream and went to get Applejack. He was closer to the farm by the time he finished washing down the stream," she added. I inwardly sighed as I swallowed my current bite, kinda wishing she'd left choice bits of that out. Aiming to switch the topic back to the intended one, I quickly added, "It's true. I didn't have a Cutie Mark when I got here, and your cousin swore me into the Crusaders before I got it back. I've only had it for about two weeks now. I'm still going to help the Crusaders regardless, though. Friendship is even deeper than finding your Cutie Marks, no?" I had a sneaking suspicion these fillies would remain friends long, long after they all had their marks, after all. Sweetie giggled, then spoke up from the other side of me with, “Once a Crusader, always a Crusader! We’re stuck with each other.” She jutted her hoof into the air as she said it, making it sound more like a rallying cry. The other three smiled and did the same, however, so maybe it was? Snickering, I set my sandwich down and mimicked them, earning a squeak and hug from my right from the little unicorn. Scootaloo frowned for a moment, however, lowering her hoof and scratching at her chin before asking, “What’s going to happen to the Cutie Mark Crusaders after we all get our Cutie Marks, though?” Hmm? Oh. “Yah mean the club, roit?” Babs asked, tilting her head to the pegasus. To my surprise, Mrs. Cake smiled softly as she set another tray of bread down, this time cooked just for us. “It doesn’t have to stop with you fillies. I imagine that, in all of Equestria, there’s quite a lot of fillies and colts that are frustrated over not having their Cutie Marks. Instead of it being something to be put down, however, you could help them to instead see that it’s something that brings them together, just like you girls,” she pointed out, smiling at them all as their eyes widened. “Ya think we could, I dunno, help out fillies an’ colts in other cities? Or even after we get our marks?” Apple Bloom asked, instead looking to her fellow Crusaders. They all hesitated, unsure of that answer, but it seemed fairly obvious to me, anyway. “Sounds like a youth group to me. That said, yeah, I think you could do it. Maybe even register it officially as an Equestrian club?” I suggested. Mrs. Cake was right. The Crusaders were definitely a good thing, and encouraging good things to continue was something I definitely could stand for. “Oh, hey, that’s right! Mender knows Princess Celestia and Princess Luna personally! Could you maybe put in a good word for us?” Scoots asked hopefully, her wings fluttering behind her as she smiled. Heh, I wouldn’t have told her no anyway, so acting absurdly cute was just overkill. I’d expected that when I suggested it, though. Snickering, I responded with, “I’ll tell them if you four want, but I have a feeling they’d think it was a good idea even without me saying anything. Why don’t you ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna about it yourselves? I think they’d be very happy to hear about it.” Scootaloo gasped at that, but Apple Bloom grinned and nodded rapidly, whacking her hoof against the table. “It’s settled, then! Ah think we should talk ta tha Princesses about maybe makin’ tha Cutie Mark Crusaders official! Think o’ all tha fillies an’ colts like us that we could help find their Cutie Marks fer!” she announced wistfully. I just smiled at that, not saying anything as I munched down another slice of bread, and Mrs. Cake snickered quietly. All four were in agreement with that, of course, and I had a feeling we might be bringing them with our next excursion to Canterlot. Wait, actually, that was a fairly good idea. Perking, I turned and looked to my left at the majority of the Crusaders and revealed, “Actually, I’m headed back to Canterlot for a day or so in a week or two from now. DReg has its first established meeting, and I’ll be meeting with the Princesses then. What would you say to coming along with, if Babs is sticking around that long?” All three perked up as well, then Sweetie leaned over from my right. “Really? You’d take us to Canterlot with you just for the Cutie Mark Crusaders?!” she asked, stabbing me in the face again with the cute levels. I was going to get diabetes yet, at this rate… Rubbing her on the head, I reminded, “I told you, I’m a Crusader, too, and I’m going to help you all as much as I can. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow are coming along anyway, so I doubt they’d mind if their little sisters come, too. Although…” Turning and looking at Babs, she smirked and shook her head. “I won’t be stayin in Ponyville dat long, but I dawt my folks will have any prawblems lettin me come bock fer somethin so important. Could I meet yah, like, the day befoah?” she asked hopefully. Apple Bloom quickly answered, “O’ course! Tha Apple Family don’t turn its back on anypony, especially family!” They smiled at each other, and I nodded in agreement. “Same. I don’t think the Crusaders should do it without you, so we’ll wait,” I assured. All four smiled at me and nodded in unison, and I was pleased to make them happy, even if it did mean delaying my own work. Eh, I’d just stay late if I had to. There was a quiet moment as the fillies dug into the next tray of bread, and I relaxed, finishing the piece I was currently working on. Mrs. Cake sat down to finish a piece herself, then smiled softly at me before commenting, “I’m probably not the first to tell you this, but you’d make a really good father, I suspect.” I felt my cheeks heat a bit as I looked away, and she started snickering, of course. “Ah, I knew I wasn’t the first to tell you that,” she added, somehow magically reading my mind. Or at least my body language. Why did so many mares think that?! I liked foals, yeah, but I didn’t think I was particularly responsible, or amazingly good at taking care of them. Sweetie grinned, of course, then spoke up with, “I think Fluttershy will be the first to have a foal with him!” Ah! I gave her an annoyed shove just under her horn, but she only grinned up at me as she rocked playfully in her chair. “Enough of that. Sheesh. Anyway, I really do need to get back to work, you four. I’ve got to finish this by tonight,” I reminded, gesturing back towards the still open door to the main room. Pinkie giggled at that and hopped up from her chair, nodding. “I know! Why don’t we all help you out?! I mean, I’m done cooking for the night in here and we have all the treats ready for tomorrow, so why don’t we make sure the track is all super decorated and awesome looking! Plus, you’ll get it done much faster!” she cheered. Oh hell. I had a feeling that exactly the opposite of that would prove true, but it was too late now as all of the fillies cheered, minus Babs who looked surprised at the sudden turn of events more than anything. Trying not to sigh out loud, I weakly smiled and nodded to the bouncing mare, then hoped for the best. No, no I didn’t. I was going to be here well into the night at this rate… * * * * * Sliding along my barrier platform, I hooked up the last bracket into the ceiling in its proper location, making sure to get it nice and secure. Pinkie giggled, her back hooves resting on my shoulders as she ‘followed’ me along my sliding motion, laying the track for the treat gondolas right behind me laying the brackets down. I was eating my own words, admittedly, as Pinkie proved quite dedicated as a worker when she put her mind to it, and somehow managed to still have fun while doing so. “This is the last of the track. After this, we just have the start and finish line, then trial runs,” I confirmed, looking up at her before remembering her tail was literally sitting on top of my head, and saw nothing but pink. I did hear a giggle, however, and she chirped, “I can’t wait for the testing! Plus, I got the start and finish lines done last night, so we just have to hook them up! They’re exactly the length you told me to make them.” She seemed proud of that, and I smiled up into her tail, causing her to snicker. No, I didn’t even try to consider if she could ‘feel’ me smiling through her tail. Some things weren’t meant for mortal minds to ponder. Spinning to my hooves, I rotated and caught Pinkie’s as she giggled and slid down to where I just was, then hooked up the last section of the track into the bracket I just placed. “And done!” she announced in a singsong tone as she clipped it firmly into its spot. Smirking, I nodded to her, then lowered our platform segment towards the floor as Babs trotted up with the full tray of tools still balanced on her back, a smile on her face. “This looks reahlly awesome. Ahr we gonna git to see it wohrk tonight?” she asked, sounding more than a little excited, despite her attempts to play the stoic, collected, and mature filly. I was starting to get to know her a little bit, anyway. “Yup. That’s what the test runs are for. To make sure it runs smoothly and nothing catches on fire!” I assured, smirking towards her as her eyes widened a little bit. Scootaloo snickered in amusement before tacking on, “He’s joking. Probably.” She zipped up with her energy wings on, hooking the wire up along the track that Pinkie just laid, not needing the platform obviously to reach it. Flying must be so amazing. Although the other phenotypes had their perks, too. Sweetie sat on the counter, humming a tune to herself as her horn glowed softly. Tiny felt flags that Pinkie had made drifted in the air around her, lifting towards the ceiling and sliding into place along the brackets. Only a single extension of my enchantment came off her horn to power it, indicating she’d gotten better at controlling her magic since I gave it to her. Apple Bloom was also abusing her enchantment, her legs glowing softly and sliding up her back as she lifted the entire parts box, which was significantly larger than she was, and rested it on her back while following Sweetie around the top of the counter, extra decorations drifting out of it with magic. They were all a good team, that was for sure. Mr. and Mrs. Cake also were working around the room, cleaning and wiping things down carefully to prepare for tomorrow. Well, at least when there weren’t cries coming from upstairs that would send one of them running towards it. Little foals seemed a lot harder to take care of. To my surprise, the door opened as Pinkie and I were headed back to the counter to get the actual ‘racing’ components. The setting sun illuminated the pearly unicorn, who gave us a rather radiant smile as she trotted in, looking quite pleased with life in general at the moment. “Good evening, Pinkie Pie. Hello again, Mender. Ah, and Sweetie. How’d I guess I’d find you here?” Rarity chirped, not missing a beat as she swished her mane out of her face and headed over to us. Sweetie blushed softly and fidgeted, but I quickly assured, “She’s actually been quite good. And very helpful.” This only made her hue shift from pink to red, but Rarity smiled more warmly towards me. “I’m glad to hear that. We had many a talking about what she did, and I think she understands now. I’m quite pleased to see her behaving like a proper filly,” she complimented, nodding towards her little sister, who exhaled softly and looked away from us. Heh, she’d probably been expecting a lecture. Nodding, I changed the topic with, “You seem in a good mood, Rarity. Did you catch up on those orders?” I remembered she was worried about being behind after our trip to Canterlot. The mare perked at that, and nodded back with a pleased smile. “Why yes, I did. A wave of inspiration hit me this afternoon, and I just found myself blurring effortlessly through them all. I’m quite pleased. So much so, I decided to visit some friends for the rest of the day and check on how everypony is doing!” she revealed, definitely in good spirits. I wondered at how much of her ‘inspiration’ was shipping Sweetie out of the house for a while, but refrained from commenting on that. “Did ya visit mah sister an’ brother?” the moving box asked, confusing Rarity for a brief moment before she giggled and shook her head, despite the filly obviously not able to see her body language from under there. “Why no, I didn’t have to. Your dear sister delivered food supplies to me that I had ordered earlier this month. She stayed for a good hour talking about the farm, harvest, and preparations for winter. I believe this year is the first in three that she’s actually pleased with the progress,” Rarity admitted, making me wonder what exactly had changed apart from the new lift and conveyor. Still, I doubted they’d make THAT much difference. She continued, however, with, “Afterwards, I visited Fluttershy for a while. Then I tried to visit Mender and Twilight, but remembered that Twilight was at the town hall laying out plans, and Mender was here working for the Cakes!” Her being here led me to assume that this was the next place she visited, but I had to ask anyway. “Did you visit Twilight at town hall?” I inquired, moving the large box off Apple Bloom and setting it down beside the filly, who smiled up at me and stopped glowing a moment later. “Ah, no. Twilight usually doesn’t like getting distracted while trying to plan,” Rarity excused, earning a raised eyebrow from me. The pearly mare hesitated and coughed lightly before adding, “And I heard from a reliable source that she’s in a foul mood. Fluttershy wasn’t doing well either, despite her animal friends trying to cheer her. I believe they got into a nasty fight last night.” Ah. Well, that would explain it. “Oh no! I’m gonna have to go around and cheer them up after this!” Pinkie gasped out, eyes widening as she held her hooves to her mouth while sitting next to me. Well, she didn’t have to, but… Well, okay, actually she might. I momentarily forgot who I was considering. Rarity gave a somber nod to that, then guessed, “I have a feeling it had something to do with you arriving in the hospital last night?” Ah, right, I forgot she was a very observant mare. Sighing, I nodded and added, “You could say that. I, uh… shouldn’t talk about it here, though.” My eye flicked ever so slightly towards the fillies, and a burst of realization shot down Rarity’s link as I realized she caught my hint. “Oh, oh dear. Okay. Do stop by after you’re finished with this, however. Oh, and if you could be a dear and deliver the girls as well? I believe we’re having a slumber party tonight,” she requested, smiling down at the fillies as they gathered closer, Babs catching up from the other side of the room. They gave happy nods, and I snickered before adding to it. “Sure. I’ll walk them over when we finish testing the tracks, then. It should only be another twenty minutes or so,” I estimated, looking up at the starting line directly above me. There was a big asterisk attached to that, of course, as I always planned for the worst of the whole thing just catching on fire, and then me having to rush everypony outside of the blazing building, then battle the flames back and try to save as much of the establishment as I could, hopefully as the fireponies arrived. “You’re a doll, Mender. I’ll see you in a half an hour or so, then,” Rarity agreed, giving me a warm smile before heading towards the door. The short visit led me to believe she planned on continuing our discussion at her place. She probably wanted to know all the dirty gossip, heh. Well, I trusted her enough as a close friend to give her the details, anyway. I wondered idly if she’d laugh. Pinkie nodded enthusiastically at that, however. “Good idea! I’ll walk with you to Rarity’s, then split off to go see Fluttershy! She’ll need the cheering up more, I think,” the pink mare deduced empathically. I nodded, then whispered a short summary of the ‘issue’ into the mare through the link. Her pink cheeks lit up a little and she gave me a sheepish grin before nodding. “Yeah, um, that would probably bother Fluttershy. I’ll go visit her and calm her down, then,” she assured in an uncharacteristically calm manner. Returning her smile, I looked back up at the starting line again. Oh boy. Well, might as well bite the bullet and see if we can get the flag systems to work, then test it. Here’s hoping the fire department had a fast response time…