The sun was almost below the horizon, the lights along the street illuminating my way as I walked. I'd grown calmer, and more peaceful the closer I got to the castle. There was nothing in this world that I couldn't manage perfectly fine, and now I felt complete. There was nothing missing from my knowledge of myself. I understood my sadness revolving around Kyliona, and realized she was still inside of me. I'd gotten to meet my parents, and found out that I carried a link with my mother that would never be lost. I'd even come to understand why it had been so easy for me to accept Keela, and her for me in return. I also had a sneaking suspicion I knew who the rest of her science team was now, quite intimately. But that was a question for Purdue later tonight. For now...
I looked up at the rather imposing gate, the towering castle behind it. I could see how it could be intimidating, but for me, it just felt comforting instead. Far better than the first time I was here, anyway. It wasn't nearly as surprising this time when both Day Guards, one to each side of the gate, saluted me as I approached.
The one on the left was brief, and revealed, "We've been expecting you, Captain Moon Mender. The hospital sent a message ahead of you, and Princess Celestia is most interested in seeing you immediately in the throne room." His voice was soft despite the brief tone. Or maybe it was a she in disguise? It was hard to tell with the enchanted armor on, which was the point, of course. I nodded to the guard and just stepped past as they opened the gate for me. It always felt like I was underdressed when I spoke to them.
The castle normally being a shining beacon of diplomacy and order, I was a bit surprised to hear bickering the closer I got to the main gate. "No, I'm not sharing responsibility for this. We literally just returned to active duty. You were completely out of control!" was spoken in a stallion's voice. I raised an eyebrow in idle interest, the owner of the voice sounding familiar. As I got within a stone's throw of the castle wall, I noticed two very familiar looking Night Guards instead. Oh Celestia, it was them. They didn't appear to be actively guarding the door to the palace, so I hoped that I'd at least have a clear passage this time. I wasn't the same pony they'd harassed before, and resolved to simply ignore them. Failing that, petty revenge by tossing them into the courtyard fountain sounded pleasant. I was done trying to act the perfect white Knight at this point.
"You at least verbally chipped in! Come on, we're buds, right? I'm not asking you to take the blame. Just to back me up when explaining things to the board," the other stallion pleaded. The last time I'd seen him, he was being violated by a very irate rodent after a tree limb landed on him, both events courtesy of Malice, I now knew. Heh.
The other, slightly larger bat pony rolled his eyes and exhaled. Okay, no, that was an improper term. I think they were officially called 'Lunar Ponies', or just Lunars for short. I remembered reading about them in that history book now, something about Princess Luna sponsoring them in order to help them better fit in with the rest of the phenotypes or something. She built her Night Guard almost exclusively from their ranks, I heard.
"Look, you know I'm concerned, too. Don't forget, we're both up for review. I just don't think trying to petition your innocence is going to promote the image you think it will. Personally, I'd rather plead guilty and apologize profusely," he pointed out. Oh, actually take responsibility for what he did? Okay, he earned back points with me. I idly wondered what exactly being up for review entailed as I instead headed for the door.
Of course, even without Malice's direct influence, I wasn't nearly that lucky. Well, of the good variety, anyway. The bigger guard widened his eyes, finally spotting me as I was about to pass by. Of course, this encouraged the smaller, more annoying one to turn and look my way, too, also looking momentarily surprised.
"You!" he immediately exclaimed. Exhaling, I tried my very hardest not to roll my eyes as I stopped and turned my head towards him. One chance. He got once chance to not attack me, then he was getting the fountain.
"Flare!" the other hissed, shifting to annoyed instead as the smaller one made a sharp beeline for me.
Flare snorted, then assured, "Relax, Starfall, I'm not going to lay a hoof on him." That he was right about, in more ways than he realized.
"Do you need something?" I inquired, calming myself and trying to at least remain civil. His comment about Fluttershy threatened to make be buck his face in regardless as it burned suddenly to the forefront of my mind.
"Yeah, I just wanted to say that I hope you're happy. Your whining has gotten Star and me put up for review, and at the worst possible time! We could have even been eligible for that new posting, and we're up for transfer! So I hope you at least understand what you've done to us," he announced. I stared blankly at him, rather surprised at his level of conceited arrogance, and not entirely sure where he was going with this. Starfall just slapped his own forehead with a hoof, then ran up next to him in a surprising hurry.
"He doesn't mean any of that, Sir. He's just had a bad time of things since the incident, and it's been a rough recovery, especially with the infection and other complications from the squirrel bites," he excused, earning a more legitimate blink of awkwardness from me. Infection?
Flare glared pointedly at him, of course, then shot back with, "Sir? What are you, his best friend now? And why are you telling him about that?! He possibly ruined our chances with DReg!" Oh Celestia. These two had been potentially considered for guarding the dimension?! Well, okay, so the one wasn't too bad, but seriously...
Exhaling, I finally spoke up with, "It's a good thing to take responsibility for what you did. Your friend could stand to listen to you a bit more. I didn't realize you were up for transfer to Dimensional Regulation, though."
The smaller one looked furious, but his friend nodded to me, then surprised me a bit by adding, "I'm also sorry for our behavior. We're completely new to the force and I don't think we were ready for such a high posting. We, uh, might have also had a bit to drink prior. It's in the report." Ah, so he admitted that officially. I wasn't expecting the apology, though.
I started to nod to him when Flare stomped twice, looking frustrated before admitting, "Okay, look, fine. I was in the wrong, and I'll even apologize! But we really, really need help. DReg's highest members are meeting after the festival for the official transfer of guards, and our hearing is scheduled for then. That's tomorrow! Frankly, we're sunk without some sort of out. You here is like some sort of miracle, and I never thought I'd admit that... If you could go before the DReg board and say that we officially and sincerely apologized to you, we might just be accepted still!" Oh. That's what he wanted...
His friend instead blanched completely, then looked between us before stammering, "Flare, what are you doing?! You know who this is, right?! You can't just-" Oh, so he did know who I was. Well, at least one of them did, anyway. Although admittedly, now I was curious.
"Shut it, Star! We need this! Nopony has to know we made a deal. I'll even pay you! Please!" the smaller one begged, surprising me a bit yet again. Why was this so important to him?
Sighing, I looked to Star instead and asked, "Who exactly is on the council?" He seemed at least slightly more informed, anyway.
He gave me a weak, sheepish smile before saluting and informing, "Prince Shining Armor, who arrived yesterday, Princess Twilight Sparkle, who is set to arrive tomorrow afternoon, Princess Luna, and if you fully recovered in time, which it appears you have, you as well, Captain. Head researcher of DReg and one of two ponies completely in charge of the branch." His list of my titles wasn't aimed at me, but instead hissed violently at his friend, who sat down in shock while staring at me instead.
Averting my gaze, that awkward sensation bubbling up that came whenever somepony referenced me by my ill deserved position, I instead corrected, "I'm technically only in charge of the research and tactics. Prince Shining Armor is the one who's commanding the guards. Twilight also does most of the operational stuff."
Star remained saluting me, and Flare also remained staring with his jaw slack. At least I knew that Twilight was coming to Canterlot tomorrow regardless. That meant the meeting with her parents could be far less awkward with her actually there instead. If I could find a place to stay tonight, I could at least leave with her tomorrow. I wondered idly who else was coming with her. Was it all of the Elements? They were technically all part of DReg.
"So, why do both of you want to join DReg?" I asked, glancing back at Flare in hopes of at least rebooting his brain. It was polite to ask, as they didn't seem likely candidates for the position in normal circumstances.
He stared at me for a moment before huffing and looking away, but not managing to muster quite the gusto he had before. "It's a change of scenery. New places and things to do, mares to flirt with, and stallions to make jealous. That sort of thing!" he quickly explained. I raised an eyebrow to him, but his friend just chuckled weakly.
"His parents live in Ponyville, and were hitting a bit of a rough spot with several projects they manage. He figured if he was stationed there, at least part of the time, he could help them out," Starfall explained instead. Ruby Flare, as his now discovered profile revealed, just fell into a deadpan expression, then shifted to a slightly annoyed glare to his friend.
Exhaling softly, I pointed out, "That actually seems the more proper and just reason for applying. I'm glad to see there's a bit of heart in there." He didn't say anything apart from rolling his eyes, and I turned to Star instead, who explained without prompting.
"There's a mare I like. Uh, childhood friend, you could say? I heard she moved to Ponyville and was hoping that, stationed there, I might be able to see how she's doing and maybe, well, finally get the guts to tell her how I feel," he revealed, blushing lightly afterwards. Okay, that was kind of cute. Flare snickered at that, then got swatted in the shoulder by the now blushing stallion.
Smiling myself, I nodded to him at that, at least. "Both good reasons, then. I'll talk to Luna about the issues and see what she thinks. I'm pretty sure that Equestria as a whole runs on a second chances sort of thing, though, so I don't see why one mistake should ruin things for you," I reasoned. Plus, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I tried to deny second chances in the first place. I was living one, and certainly was pleased that I'd gotten the chance to.
Star looked a little surprised, but Flare frowned suddenly and looked back to me. For a long moment, we locked eyes, then he finally asked, "For real? Just like that?" It was a disbelieving tone, mixed with a fair level of low expectations. He felt like somepony who was used to getting in trouble and seeing the negative in things, now that I paid enough attention to his aura. My memories reminded me that I could do that, I realized.
"Just like that. I can't say that I like you, that's for sure, but that doesn't mean I think you deserve to lose your chance, either," I answered, shrugging to him. Another part of me just wanted to end the conversation, because now I was getting a bit fatigued and wanted to talk to Tia and find out what was going on before I crashed completely.
That he smirked at, for some reason. "That I can understand. You're... You aren't as bad as I thought you were. Which is good, if we're gonna end up following you into any sort of action whatsoever," he reasoned. I lost my smile at that and turned away from him.
"I honestly hope it doesn't come to that. You should, too, because if it does, I don't think it's anything that Equestria's experienced before," I warned, a momentary image of Grosh Warships trying to smash through the portal into this world danced into my head. No, if they got that close, it would be time to activate the weapon again, probably.
"That bad?" Starfall asked, sounding serious instead, his friend also looking surprised at the tone I'd used.
Shrugging, I corrected, "I can't pretend to know the future. But if we're not prepared, yeah, it's going to be bad. With luck, it'll never escalate, but that's what I'm working for, after all." Being honest without revealing crucial details was tricky, but I thought that was a fairly good stab at it. I couldn't really think of anything further, and both of them just nodded idly to me, so I turned and headed inside the castle instead, through the open door.
Surprisingly enough, in all of my trips to this place, I'd never actually entered through the main doors. When I'd been hauling out all of our luggage, I'd exited this way, but... I wasn't anticipating how regal the throne room looked on the way into it. The huge arches expanded up at least four stories, and the entire room seemed to just expand, stretching out in both directions that made a pony feel very small.
Walking along the carpet, I saw Luna sitting at the throne instead, and realized the day court must have already cycled out for her night one. It hadn't been long, though, as Tia was still there, talking with her sister and two guards as I approached. The guards to either side of the throne spotted me first, apparently the court not quite open yet as they both trotted forward, then held up a hoof each. They were even symetrical, I realized. Talented!
"Halt please, citizen. Please wait there, as the night court is not yet in attendance," the one ordered politely, the light glimmering off his golden armor along the leg he held up. The day guard were definitely extremely polite. As I didn't have a badge, and couldn't expect every member of the staff to have my identifaction, I just nodded and sat down instead. Well, actually I did have a badge, but that would take energy to lift my hoof up to poke it at my chest, and I'd expended most of it hauling my nervous self halfway across Canterlot to get here. Actually, I had nothing against sitting, either.
My ears perked regardless, picking up vaguely what Tia was speaking softly about. “…stress yourself out too much. We have reliable and very intelligent ponies already in charge,” she assured gently. Luna nodded to her, looking more than a little distracted, and possibly a bit uneasy.
“I know, Sister. Mender and Twilight I don’t worry for. My main concern is we put too much duty on Shining Armor. He must help Cadance to rule a kingdom, after all,” she pointed out wearily. Oh, right. It would be rather difficult for him to remain there and help manage things, and train and manage the troops in Ponyville…
Tia considered it for a moment before exhaling softly. “We’ll see. Perhaps we can send an instructor over to Ponyville as well, then just have Shining set up the basics?” she suggested, rather reasonably. Perhaps it was my new perspective of having all my memories back? Maybe I was just getting more comfortable with who I was? It didn’t really matter, though, as I made up my mind.
“I’ll help train them, if Shining shows me the basics. I am a soldier,” I offered, speaking up fully.
Both Princesses turned and looked at me, then simultaneously widened their eyes a little. The guard that halted me gave me a questioning look, then glanced back over his shoulder at the two Alicorns as Tia turned to face me fully. “Mender! I’d gotten the letter that you were awake, but I thought they’d keep you for longer. Wait, you’re offering to train them?” she asked, suddenly seeming to fully process my statement. Luna recovered far better and smiled towards me instead, her features warming considerably.
I nodded, then explained, “I don’t know pony martial arts, however, or how your martial training system works. I’d need to watch Shining a few times first to get it down. My own… Uh, I don’t think it fits a pony mentality very well…” That focus on ruthless efficiency seemed jarring when considering ponies. Eliminate your target as quickly, aggressively, and most energy efficiently as possible.
Tia smiled and nodded at that, before assuring, “I’m sure he’d have no problems showing you. It would mean a lot to both of us if you could, as he really is under a lot of stress. It’ll take a huge burden off him. But please, you may approach, of course. You’re our friend, after all.” The guard quickly stepped out of my way as I stood up again, then nodded to me politely. I returned the gesture, obviously knowing he, or she, was just doing their job. I'd have done the same...
"How are you feeling, Mender?" Luna asked softly as I made it up to the raised throne section, then immediately plopped down onto my haunches again.
Exhaling gently, I considered the question for a moment before going with the truthful approach. "Tired. My brain has been going overboard with the thinking in the last hour and a half or so, and walking here took even more energy," I admitted. If I couldn't be honest with the rulers of Equestria, things were a lot worse off than I thought.
Tia nodded to that, her horn lighting up as she slowly undid my saddlebags and lifted them off me. I was going to complain, but the weight being lifted from my back really did help. "Well, you can stay in the castle tonight, either in Twilight's room where you stayed before, or one of the guest rooms," she offered, making me flinch lightly.
"Staying in Twilight's room feels wrong without Twilight there. I'd prefer one of the guest rooms, if that's not too much trouble," I requested, looking back up at her. She only snickered, softer light now bathing her expression as the large crystalline chandeliers slowly turned on. It was rather magical to watch the city's lights all turn on at once. I figured the residents took it for granted, but the entire side of the mountain lighting up was still beautiful to me. I'd seen it from Ponyville a few times, and had watched out the window of the tower from Twilight's room the last time we were here.
"It's no trouble, Mender. Although we'd both like to know if you're okay or not," she reminded. Oh, right, the official medical report.
Reaching into the saddlebags she sat next to me, I pulled out a sheet of paper with my hoof, the soft glow of the magic field flowing over it as I rotated it to give to Tia. Her own golden magic overlapped my blue and silver for a moment before she lifted the page up to get a better look.
"Everything appears to be in order. This is good news, anyway. Although you could probably tell us a lot more about things after what happened. Twilight only knew that it was the Keldarian whom shared his DNA with you, and that he'd linked his own energy to your 'core', as you called it," she revealed. My ears perked up and I looked behind me to check how far the guards were. My unspoken question of whether or not they could hear all this was answered as I noticed the room dimmed about two meters behind me. That visual effect was a dampening spell, I remembered, Twilight and Shining both having used it before.
Turning back, I saw Luna's horn glowing gently, and she nodded to me. "Worry not about secrets. It is just us here now, and nopony can see or hear anything that happens within," she assured. Exhaling, I realized there was really nothing else I had to be doing anyway, so I started filling them in…
* * * * *
It took the better part of an hour to explain what had happened during the event. That of course led into what had happened after, and all of my newfound memories. I didn’t exactly go into specific detail so much as gave a basic timeline, but Tia was more than interested to hear what happened after Gem fell through the portal.
Both remained silent, having ceased commenting after I’d gotten to the very last part of the story and what happened with Kyliona. With that, though, I'd come full circle. There were no more secrets in my memories, and I felt like a complete pony, to be honest. My name was Moon Mender, and Azure before that. Both were me.
Tia and I sat on the steps to the side of the throne, me having fallen silent twice with my story as Luna had gotten visitors for her night court. Now we were alone again, the sun having long since left, and the warmth of the magical wall sconces drifting down on us. Prudentia, the book, lay on the steps to my right, a faint inner glow coming from it. Purdue sat next to it in her pony form, her image reconstructed using my magic so she could be seen, although I had a sneaking suspicion that the alicorns could have seen her before.
"You've both been through a tremendous amount of hardship," the Princess of the Sun admitted, frowning as she stared up towards the ceiling. Purdue rested against my leg, looking a bit sad after having heard even an abbreviated version of the story yet again. I wrapped my tail around her and held her close as she relaxed on my right back hip while I sat.
Exhaling wearily, I reminded, "This isn't your fault, Tia. It was a mistake, and I don't think anypony blames you for the accident anymore. I told you what my parents said." She'd been completely shocked that I'd spoken with them while unconscious. In theory, it shouldn't have been possible, but after hearing all of the details and how my mother was linked to me, she surmised that it was also the 'density' of my own life force that let it happen. The Elements hadn't destroyed Malice. Far from it, it would seem. Instead, every single soul within the amalgamation was subjected to an extraordinarily large dose of that energy. They'd been 'purified', for lack of a better term for it. I didn't exactly know what that entailed, of course, and honestly, I sort of didn't want to check and see. Regardless, apparently their 'density' was being added to my own soul, them being technically embedded inside of mine. Her explanation was a bit beyond me, but what I got from it was that because of that density, the Ether was more 'real' to me than most ponies.
She smiled gently at that before nodding, then looked back down at me. "I'm sorry again, for everything. Even if you forgive me, it takes us even longer to forgive ourselves. I've made a lot of mistakes in the past, and the worst ones are the ones that cost somepony other than me. You paid very dearly for my mistake, as did your parents. I'm... I'm very happy that they're willing to talk to me again. I think I'll pay them a visit later this week after they've had time to clear their heads," she mused, mostly to herself. Yeah, I understood that much. A mistake that you paid for was one thing, but if somepony else ended up suffering...
"I think they'd like that. Keela should be contacted, too," Purdue reminded, looking back up at me with big, curious eyes.
I looked back down at her, the question nagging in my mind openly. The little filly softened her expression, giving me a smile and nod of permission. She knew what I was going to ask, I suspected.
"The captain used your powers to erase their memories, didn't he?" I finally asked, drawing both Luna's and Tia's attention with that.
Purdue exhaled, then nodded weakly. My mind whirled, but she started talking first. "My powers revolve around telling the story that's in my pages. 'Foreshadowing' let's me try to find out information about those within the story, which is anypony you interact with enough. I can then use my own power to attempt to predict the most likely probabilities involving events surrounding you, or those ponies. It's purely probability, however," she explained, in more detail than she'd ever used before.
I suddenly understood that the level of information she gave me was based on how much she trusted me, not a lack of knowledge on her part. If she was used to dealing with the captain, who was a manipulative monster, it suddenly made a lot of sense that she was so timid and reserved when we first met. Her telling me all of this seriously proved how much she trusted me now, and I was sort of awed by it.
"You have other abilities than 'Foreshadowing', however?" Luna asked, now sitting sideways on the throne so she could face down at us fully. Her expression betrayed no emotion other than curiosity, which was a little scary, honestly.
Looking back to Purdue, I saw her hesitate, then nod. This one was less certain, and I realized that this was probably a scarier power than just finding out information. After a long few seconds, she closed her eyes and flicked her ears a few times, nervous energy drifting off her before she continued with, "Yes. The book is 'written' in third person perspective with a semi-omnescient narrative. That's the best way I can explain the scope of my sight. I can't figure out much about the actual owner of the book. Mender's feelings and thoughts are hidden from me. Also, tropes that apply to narrative also apply to me, and that's another one of my weaknesses. Like the Black Box in Mender before. It presented itself as a mystery, and I couldn't get my Foreshadowing to work on it, because it was 'supposed' to be a secret. It's complicated, but my last owner used that to his advantage to create the code injections in secret that took over Mender." That was... Okay, that was really, really weird. Her powers took being a 'book' a little too seriously, by the sounds of it. Was that some limitation that an Aegis Artifact had? I idly wondered if a sword had other powers, but because it was a sword, everything was manifested by cutting things. That was kind of sad if I thought about it too long.
Still, that didn't explain it fully. "Memories, though?" I asked, frowning as I realized that was entirely different from the powers I already thought she'd had.
Purdue shifted uneasily at that, and nodded. "That power the book developed from my own. I didn't have it while I was alive. Everypony within the pages is subject to the narrative perspective. Perspective can be skewed or distorted, however. It's easier for me to do it while it's happening, and that gives the ability to project illusions in the area around the book. But it's also possible to change or alter the perspective that's already happened. Change one thing in the memory of somepony witnessing the narrative, and their mind has a tendency to start trying to 'correct' their own memories to make sense of the change. He made me remove your presence from their memories," she revealed, looking back up at me with a sad frown. Oh.
Tia closed her eyes and clicked her tongue for a moment before admitting, "Changing the appearance of the narrative in one spot to confuse, then 'nudge' the mind into making things up to fill in the missing gaps... That's a frightening ability. It also hints at the ability to manipulate temporal stages." Oh. Wait, what?!
Purdue exhaled softly and nodded, nudging the book with her hoof. "Aegis Artifacts are made by intentionally invoking a paradox and binding it to an object. They're not supposed to exist, but are extremely powerful because of that pseudo-existence. Dimension is a relative thing, in comparison," she admitted. My head hurt, and I rubbed at both of my temples at once. Damn. I really wished Twilight was here now, if only to understand and explain half of this to me. I wasn't good with 'theories' and that sort of thing, especially once they got abstract like this.
"Can you undo it?" I asked, deciding to focus on being productive instead. The engineer in me squealed happily.
The little filly gave a start, then looked back up at me before slowly nodding. "If I push the memory back into where it's supposed to be, the mind is going to snap back to the way it was before with the correct memories. The only issue is, I had to do it with an order. Because of that, and the way that the Geas works on my soul, I couldn't undo it myself. You'd have to tell me to, but if I offered the option to you before this..." she revealed. Heh.
"You'd have to have explained how the option existed. I understand, Purdue. Relax," I assured, rubbing the top of her head and getting a blush out of the little filly. Luna smiled gently at that.
"You know, you'd make an awfully good-" she started.
My hoof shot up to halt her almost immediately. "No, please, no! I've heard that a half dozen times already! I really, really get it, yes," I interrupted, ears flicking as my inner feelings fussed about. Even if I loved foals, having one of my own implied many other things that I really wasn't ready for, I didn't think. For one, that would mean that Fluttershy or Twilight was a mother. A mother of my foal! I felt the heat drift into my cheeks, and Luna just grinned in amusement at my antics until I flailed at her. Behind that royal demeanor, she was a massive brat!
Looking back down at Purdue, I considered it for a moment before admitting, "I should probably talk to Keela about it all first. Just magically shunting her memories back into place would be a good way to confuse her. Plus, she seemed rather frantic to get a hold of me, so I hope nothing is wrong." As eager as I was to tell her about the memories, I understood that I was actually hitting her with three rather atrocious things all at once. Shock would be an understatement, and it also affected more than just her. My sudden newly restored memories had me easily able to identify each one of her crew now as well, having 'grown up' with them.
Tia nodded and stood, catching my attention again with the sudden motion. "It would be wise to talk with her. Obviously I don't suggest trying so here, as visually, that might cause quite a scene should Luna get any more visitors tonight. If I may, for the first two points you wish to talk to her about, I'd like to be present to assist you in explaining things. I'll respect your privacy about the third, and your relationship with her, of course," she requested, surprising me even further.
"Oh, to help explain Equus' side of the accident and what happened?" I asked. Keela had never known exactly 'how' my mom and I had arrived in her dimension. Mother's information on what had happened was spotty, everything having been a rush and the theories involved only being partially completed. Keela would be finding out that her ex-lover had attempted to enslave me and everypony I loved, alongside having murdered Kyliona and a few billion innocent Keldarians. She'd also be finding out that her sister had been captured, in all likelihood, and was probably under quite a bit of duress while supplying the Grosh with information. Then on top of all that, she'd get to find out that her memories were fake and that I broke a huge promise to her due to everything that happened. Fun times.
The alicorn shook her head, then nodded to Luna a moment later. "Excuse us, Sister. I'll fill you in on the proceedings afterwards, but we really must find a more private area for this," she excused, earning a nod and smile in return.
"I understand, of course. Give Keela my regards," she requested, before turning and looking back towards the entry. I saw two more ponies entering, Fancypants being one of them to my surprise. He looked momentarily startled himself to see me, and gave me a smile and nod. Purdue had already vanished from my peripheral vision, and I relaxed. I returned his nod before following after Tia, the Sun Princess retreating down the side hall linked up to the throne room. Prudentia snapped to my side in an instant, looking as if it were connected to my saddlebag at a glance.
“I also wish to speak with her about the danger to this dimension that’s still present,” Tia explained, once we were out of earshot of the throne room. Oh, right. Purdue’s prediction about Nirru.
My eyes softened and I nodded before admitting, “It’s a wise idea. Although, I’m not sure how much she’ll be able to tell you about that. Last I knew, she was searching for information herself.”
The Princess of the Sun nodded, but smiled softly. “I know. It’s more the explanation of the level of threat they could pose that I’m after. You’ll probably be able to help with that too,” she elaborated. Aaah. Yeah, that we could definitely do. If anypony knew the level of threat the Grosh could be, it was us.
We walked in fairly comfortable silence, her keeping pace with me carefully, given her much longer strides. She'd smile down at me occasionally while we moved, possibly thinking I didn't notice. My augmented peripheral vision was one of my more frequently used cybernetic upgrades, however. My mind jumped back to what she'd said about deeply regretting what had happened, and it brought new perspective to that first meeting we had in the café. She knew who I was all along. What exactly did that make me in regards to her own feelings? A second chance? Simple relief? Shock at the sheer probability of me standing in front of her three hundred years later? Despite my curiosity, I didn't voice any of my questions, and we moved down the halls in silence, heading towards where I knew the guest chambers in the back tower to be. Ground floor was a nice lounge, which would serve our needs admirably.
The door was within sight when that familiar pinging sensation drifted into my mind. It had been about two hours since her last attempt, so I should have expected it. I gave a start in surprise regardless, and momentarily stopped walking, shifting to a frown. Tia glanced back at me, a curious expression on her face, but not saying anything. I silently thanked her for her patience before flicking my 'speakers' on, lowering the volume to comfortable talking distance, and bringing the ping display up.
A spike of nervousness shot through me. My feelings and opinion of Keela had drastically changed since we last spoke, and I suddenly realized she'd behave as if I were just Mender. She'd confessed being 'curious' about a relationship with a pony, me in particular, but knowing that we'd technically already been in one before I arrived in Equus... My own feelings confused me now, and I suddenly felt unsure of what I'd even say. What would Twilight and Fluttershy say? I knew I cared for them just as much now.
The alicorn in front of me smiled softly and nodded before assuring, "Answer it. One step at a time, Mender. I'm also here for you." I idly wondered what one of my 'pings' looked like to her, or if she was just really good at guessing. Probably neither, given my magic literally made me wear my emotions on my fur. At least to those sensitive to such things...
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I closed my eyes and answered the ping. Her voice came immediately, although not directly to me. "Come on, come on! Answer, Mender! I'm worried and, um... what? Wait, Mender?" she asked, halting halfway through talking to herself and I sensed her snap to attention suddenly. I hesitated, my mouth open for almost two seconds before I shivered and finally spoke up.
"Hello, Keela," I greeted, feeling slow and stupid and awkward all at the same time. After everything that I knew and that had happened, that was the best I could come up with?
"Ah! Mender! Oh thank you, thank you! Are you okay?! What happened?!" the Keldarian asked instantly, and I winced, turning my speaker down again.
Tia giggled whimsically to her eagerness, then spoke up with, "I'm here as well, Keela. As eager as you are, Mender and I are almost to a private area, which we'll need to explain things to you fully. Can you give us a moment?"
"Oh! Of course, Princess Celestia. I'm just happy to hear from Mender again!" she gushed out, a wave of relief sounding from her voice. I felt guilty about making her worry, even though I knew it technically wasn't my fault. The truth wasn't going to do her any favors, though.
I picked up the pace to catch up with Tia, and both of us slipped inside the lounge area. Tia gently closed the door behind us with a burst of light from her horn, and I trotted over to the large fireplace, activating my trusty flame spell to ignite the magical logs within. It was so versatile, good for warming food, lighting fireplaces, and blowing up Grosh vessels!
"We're good to go, Keela," I spoke up, knowing the Keldarian was still listening. This time, however, I linked her up completely, her image projecting into the air above me as I felt a newly remembered metallic orb exit my left shoulder. I still had them, even if I'd forgotten they'd upgraded me with the system. My operating system had reset a lot of its defaults when I fried my core, including reinstalling all of the upgrades they'd given me over the six months.
Keela spotted it instantly and perked, her left ear twitching lightly before she smiled. "Oooh, you upgraded yourself! That better not be why you didn't answer for a week," she chided, smirking at me instead. A pang went through my chest, and I couldn't return her smile, instead causing her to lose hers and frown at me.
Looking away, I corrected, "Actually, you installed the orb projection system. And no, that's not why I wasn't answering." As expected, she only looked confused, her frown deepening, but Tia nodded as she caught up and sat down next to me, both of us illuminated by the soft firelight.
"We have a lot to tell you, and almost none of it will be comfortable or pleasing to hear. You may wish to sit down," the alicorn warned carefully.
Keela nodded slowly, appearing to pick up how grave it all was, and walked over to her bed, sitting down cross-legged on it before nodding to us. Exhaling softly, I broke into the story a second time of what happened that day. This time, I left Purdue inside of her book, at least sparing her from it...
* * * * *
Keela had shifted freely between shock, denial, and adamant horror over the course of the story, staring at the videos of the fight and hearing him personally explaining his plans to the seven of us. I'd used them as visual aids to the story this time, Tia taking great interest in watching them carefully.
By the time I'd caught her up with the present, event-wise, Keela sat there, looking glum on her bed. My eyes softened as I traced her form, eyes dancing along her sad expression and wishing I could pull her close and let her cry like I knew she wanted to. Exhaling softly, she finally spoke up with, "In my heart, I sort of knew he wasn't the same anymore. Of course I knew he was bitter and in so much pain over what my sister had done, but a part of me realized it was more than that. It twisted and tore him apart, and I almost didn't recognize him when we spoke afterwards."
She lifted her paws up to rub at both sides of her head before slowly shaking it. I slowly reminded, "It wasn't exactly him that I was dealing with. It was a fragment of himself comprising of essentially everything that still believed in his plan to 'save' the Keldarians. The real him died the day you left the planet."
She rested there for a moment, curled into a ball. I'd told her about her sister as well, but that had gotten almost no reaction in comparison. She already had come to that conclusion based on the research of the wreckage they did during my absence. I should have known, honestly. She looked more haunted now than anything, however.
"I'm... It scares me to ask how you found out half of this stuff. He acted like he already knew you from before, but you couldn't have met, could you? Was he involved in your project or something? My... My mind thinks that must be the case, but my heart is telling me that something is... Something's wrong," she muttered, looking back up at me, darker circles under her eyes in this light.
Exhaling, I warned, "That's the third and possibly worst reveal. I'll understand if you want to give it a rest for tonight." A part of me hoped she would, given how tired she looked. Another part wanted to at least tell her and get it over with, possibly selfish in not wanting to be alone in the burden of the secret anymore. An even more selfish part of me wanted to just undo the memory modification in hopes of getting her back. That would redefine 'long distance relationship', however...
Keela searched my eyes for a long moment before shaking her head slowly. "It's eating you up, too, I can tell. Please, just tell me, Mender," she requested, my own name suddenly sounding weird coming out of her mouth.
"You used to call me Azure," I revealed, it just slipping out alongside my own thoughts. Her eyes widened in an instant, the weight of my words hitting her visibly harder than I thought they would. She winced, then held her head harder with both paws, shuddering again. Prudentia activated by itself, and I looked to my left as Purdue faded in, then nodded to me. I returned it, but Tia slowly shook her head.
"Calm, Keela. Mender's right. Your memories have been altered using Prudentia's powers, under the order of the captain," the alicorn revealed.
Slowly, Keela's eyes widened even further, but she visibly slumped her shoulders slightly before looking back up at me instead. "My memories? W-Wait, did I...? Did I know you before, Mender? No, I had to have if you said I called you... Azure. Azure... Why does that make me sad...?" she asked, eyes softening as she traced my form, a bit of wetness showing in them as they moved.
No, as selfish as I wanted to be, I couldn't. Even if I didn't want to try to be a 'nice' guy, this was too huge. Forcing it on her would be completely monstrous. She couldn't go in blind. Not like I did...
"The memories you lost might not be entirely pleasant, Keela. I am in them, and now that I remember everything... It's not fair. No, I... It's your choice to restore your memories if you wish. Purdue has the ability to do so, and she'll listen to you. The others are also missing their memories, too. You should talk to Litta, Mirin, Amre, and Kyre about this, too," I warned her. I suddenly suspected that I wouldn’t be able to individually restore their memories.
Keela stared at me for a long moment before exhaling softly. “I… How much of our memories is missing? We all shared the same ones, right?” she finally asked, looking just as lost and confused as I expected her to be.
“Yes. Six months and change,” I answered simply, feeling a bit helpless, ironically. It was their choice on whether or not to accept the memories back. I felt biased, as I suddenly realized. I wanted them to accept the memories back, purely for my own selfish reasons. Feeling helpless in that case was probably a good thing.
The Keldarian stared down at her sheets for a long twenty seconds or so, twirling one of her paws around against its surface. A mixture of confusion and frustration showed in her eyes, them locked on a point far, far away from her. Slowly, she asked, “You’re in the memories, right? I knew you from before. That’s why it was so easy to trust you… but knowing that, now everything just feels fake.”
Exhaling, I realized I knew that feeling all too well. It had been subtle, but not having any memories past a certain point had made me feel ‘incomplete’. I wondered if it was different knowing memories were fabricated instead? Probably not by much. “Yeah, I’m in them. You watched me grow up,” I revealed, smiling more softly at her as her eyes lit up. Stressing over my own feelings was silly. What happens, happens.
She relaxed, watching me for a moment with a gentle looking smile on her face. After a long moment, she nodded again and agreed with, “You’re right. I can’t make a decision without asking the others, even if I already know what I want. Although I’m pretty sure I know what they’ll want, too. Mirin especially hates secrets. May I ping you back after I talk with them? Probably tomorrow.”
That was reasonable, but Tia smiled and nodded before I could do anything, adding, “That would be wise. You have a lot to think about, and I’ll also need to speak with you before too long. If Purdue is right about your sister still being a danger to my little ponies, you understand my concern.” Ah, right, that did make sense.
Keela looked a bit surprised, but nodded to that, as did I. “Yeah, I was expecting to talk to you about it anyway. I’ve also got a full report that I want to share with you as well, on the new data we have from the wreckage, and everything we know about the Grosh. Waiting until tomorrow gives me a chance to gather it all up,” she confirmed. It was kind of sad how little we actually knew about the Grosh. Understandable, though, given their usual attempt at communication consisted of ‘so sorry, but we’re here to exterminate you all’. The ones that didn’t get exterminated were actually worse off in that case, and I actually felt somewhat sorry for Nirru. If she thought what she did to the captain was bad…
“That settles it, then. I’ll talk to you tomorrow and we’ll take it from there,” I assured. She grinned at me, then shook her head slowly, causing me to tilt mine towards her. Eh? No?
“Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy. I’m calling you back tonight, too. I… Well, I just wanted to talk a bit more. I was worried and missed you,” she revealed. I blushed, matching her sudden shade shift with the heat in my cheeks, then nodded to her. That would be awkward, but I found myself looking forward to it regardless.
She grinned, and I nodded again as she disconnected the connection. For a long moment, I just stared into the fire, past the position she had floated at before. Wow. Okay, so she was probably more astute at guessing than I realized, and probably pretty much figured out exactly what our relationship had been prior, given my reactions. Still, she seemed to take it positively, and handled the loss of her memories far better than I had when I first came to Equus. Although she did have four others going through the same thing, which I kinda wish I’d had. Misery loves company, and all that.
Tia smiled softly while watching me, and I glanced back over at her, honestly expecting her to retire as soon as the conversation had concluded. Surely she had all sorts of princess-y duties to attend to. Or maybe just sleep, like normal ponies. Regardless, she stayed, which I was actually rather thankful for. That loneliness was trying to slowly creep up on me again.
“You have a lot to think about, but take it easy, Mender. Relax. Here!” she chirped. Her horn lit up, and a little cord over by the door took to her aura, then tugged down lightly. What looked remarkably like a wind chime made of crystals jingled above it, attached through the middle. The crystals vibrated, however, then started to glow as I heard a servant’s voice suddenly.
“Yes, Princess Celestia?” the mare’s voice spoke properly. I wondered how they knew it had been her that pulled the cord.
“Ah, Sunny, do be a dear and deliver some tea to the back guest lounge for us. My guest is a bit stressed, so make it something soothing,” Tia requested softly. I blushed, watching her interact with the staff. It was kinda awesome that she knew them all specifically by name.
“Oh, of course, Princess. I’ll be right there,” Sunny assured over the gentle crystal background chimes. They stopped glowing afterwards, and were silent a few seconds later. I was rather fascinated by pony technology, but suppressed my desire to ask more about it again. There was a time and place for everything, and reading up on that sort of thing could be done after everything had been dealt with. …however long that took.
The princess turned back to me and gave a soft smile, and I relaxed on the warm rug. Yeah, I wasn’t alone, even in a new city like this. I could manage this. Easing my back, I let all of my muscles unwind at once and shivered. A series of pops sprung from my back, and I winced instead, looking back over my shoulder at my twitching spine. Okay, so maybe I was a little high strung… Tia started giggling regardless…
* * * * *
Stretching out, I let my back crack pleasantly a few times. My fur was a little damp, and the bathroom was fogged up, but I felt a lot better now that I’d gotten a relaxing shower in. They’d apparently washed me a few times in the hospital, but there was nothing quite like the attention to detail I could do myself. Plus, it was already awkward enough realizing a bunch of mares had been running sponges all over my body while I was unconscious. I hadn’t seen a single male on their staff.
I’d gotten a surprisingly good night’s rest as well. Purdue had come out after we were alone, and I pulled her into a dream instead. Watching her laugh and run around chasing butterflies was absolutely adorable, and had definitely kept any bad nightmares at bay. I was giving her all the chances I could to experience all sorts of things with ‘sight’ that she hadn’t had before. Equus was a beautiful place, and I was happy to share it.
Walking down the hallway, I nodded to two guards as I moved past, both of them throwing up a salute to me. Sadly, I was starting to get adjusted to it, and decided that it was probably for the better. If I was going to use my borrowed information and skills for leading soldiers again, even a fully defensive force, I might as well get used to dealing with them. Plus, they were easier than civilians to handle for me. Crowds of ponies scared me far more than facing down dangerous opponents, ironically.
The halls were crowded as I slipped past a few other rather formal looking ponies. Canterlot had its own harvest festival, I understood, despite it being far smaller than the one that Ponyville regularly hosted. From the whispers I’d picked up so far today, the event was viewed as more of an ‘Earth Pony’ tradition, and given the larger amounts of unicorns Canterlot hosted, they seemed less apt on celebrating it. I thought it was rather stupid that they’d give such disdain to it like that, though. Still, Canterlot had seen an influx of attendees to their own festival, so I suppose I picked potentially the second worst time of the year to be turned to stone and abandoned in a strange city.
I’d almost gotten to the dining hall when a maid trotted up from the other direction, making a beeline right for me. It was always strange to see ponies in clothing, to be honest, and I momentarily watched the frills of her ‘skirt’ bob around as she approached. “Mister Moon Mender! I was hoping to find you. You have a guest waiting for you in the front courtyard,” she quickly informed, giving me a simple smile. Eh? For me specifically? My stomach growled, and I flattened my ears back, giving a longing gaze to the entry to the dining hall before exhaling softly. Ugh, no, I was too curious.
“Okay, thank you for telling me. Also, it’s just Mender, please,” I requested. She gave me an absent nod, and I realized she’d probably completely ignore that last request. She trotted off regardless, heading back the way I came from, and I idly huffed. The Element Bearers wouldn’t be arriving until later this afternoon, so this was way too early for them. Plus, they’d just walk in and find me themselves. That meant this was a pony from Canterlot who knew me.
Continuing down the hall instead of pursuing food, I exited into the main chamber that contained the throne. Tia gave me a smile and nod in the midst of talking to two other, official looking ponies who were a few meters from her elegant perch, and I returned it without bothering her further. Her life must be crazy-busy almost constantly. Personally, I had no idea how she did it and still managed to find time to let her mane down, so to speak.
Exiting the main doors, I trotted into the courtyard and immediately scanned the crowds of ponies that were lingering about. Great. There appeared to be some sort of official gathering or party of sorts going on, as there were snack tables set up, and soft and drowsy music was playing in the background from what sounded like a piano. I hoped whomever called me out had the common sense to hold up a giant sign to get my attention, as there was probably no way I was spotting them otherwise. Please, please don’t let it be Twilight’s parents…
To my surprise, I was proven wrong on both accounts when I saw a familiar gray mare holding her hoof up near the main gate and giving me a big wave and smile. Octavia had her massive cello case strapped to her back, it looking as strange as usual on the much smaller mare, especially with how easily she handled it. It looked like two saddlebags were to each side of her today as well, and she gave me an actual grin as I trotted up.
“You called, M’lady?” I inquired, sitting down in front of her and giving a softer smile. At least it wasn’t Twi’s parents. After the last fiasco involving the café shouting match, I was really hoping to avoid seeing them in a public spot.
Octavia giggled lightly, then returned, “Such manners. Definitely befitting of a ‘Captain’ of the guard. I’m glad the maid caught up with you, though. I’d heard from a little birdy that you were staying in the castle.” Oh? The musical mare had amazing sources, and if she was the one that left that note last time, they were quite a bit better than even I’d given her credit for prior.
“I’m glad to see you again, anyway. It’s… weird being here without the others,” I admitted, coughing lightly to myself. A few ponies were watching me now and whispering, my anonymity having not survived my jaunt across the courtyard, it would seem. There was a photographer nearby who even turned and took our picture, flash off.
Octavia just rolled her eyes, however, and assured, “Ignore him. That photographer’s just a tabloid reporter. He doesn’t publish in what many would consider a nonfiction magazine. I’m sure there will be some saucy story talking about how you’re recruiting me for your herd or something by next week.” Ack!
Blushing, I glared back at her, and she grinned again. “How can you be so calm about that sort of thing?!” I asked, a bit skeptical as to her outlook on it.
She just shrugged, however, and then revealed, “It would be about the seventh article they’ve put me in like that. You have to get used to being in the spotlight, Mender. At this point, I don’t think you’re going to be able to avoid it.” I sank a little, but she just patted me on the shoulder and nodded assuredly instead. “Hey, don’t let it get to you. You have lots of friends to help you through, including me. Speaking of, let’s ditch this atmosphere and get some food. I just finished playing and am starving. Maybe we can actually eat at my favorite café this time?” she offered. Oh, hey, that was a good idea!
Perking at the mention of food, I nodded to her, earning another snicker as she stood and effortlessly hauled her cello back up onto herself. I set my internal armor prepped to activate this time as I fell in line with her walking. It looked like she had a shiny new strap on it this time, but I wasn’t about to take chances and get crushed by the thing again.
It was a comfortable walk over there, the sun peeking its way through the splotches of cloud cover and warming the morning up. Ponies busied themselves everywhere, and thankfully ignored the two of us walking, for the most part. I smelled all sorts of baked goods and, interestingly enough, sea smells as we turned onto the street running along the dirigible port. Of course, given that the airships had boat bottoms, it wouldn’t surprise me if they frequently did water landings. That would explain the ‘salty’ smells lingering around them.
I squeaked as I walked into Octavia a second later. She had her hoof held up and smirked at me, bringing me to a stop as she rotated me to the right to face the café instead. Oh, right! I’d almost walked past it. “You definitely have an eye for mechanical things. I imagine if I’d let you keep walking, you would have gone right off Canterlot’s cliff,” she teased, winking at me. Blushing, I swatted idly at her with my right hoof and looked away.
“Bah. That’s what they have the shield under the city for,” I defended, earning another burst of snickering from her, and causing myself to smile, too. She nudged me across the street and towards the café entrance with that, and I looked up to find a familiar looking stallion perched on the stool behind the lectern.
“Ah, Miss Octavia. Captain Moon Mender. Welcome back! Just the two of you this morning?” Cufflink chirped, looking pleased to see us again, if not a bit amused. His hat was missing today, and I saw the small horn poking out from under his white mane. His coat was a light brown color, which interested me, as I usually didn’t see ponies with manes and tails that were lighter than their coats. He still wore his impeccable suit jacket, however. Something I hadn’t noticed either last time, was that he had a small scar going across his left eye, almost straight up and down. I’d not noticed many ponies with scars, which was why it was so interesting.
Octavia pouted, if anything. “Once again, just Octavia. And yes, it’s just the two of us this time, thankfully. I apologize once more for the disturbance last time…” she replied. Oh boy. And what a disturbance it was. If it wasn’t ponies screaming at the top of their lungs, it was a giant black sphere of magic consuming a portion of their eating space. Then we didn’t even end up ordering anything, getting chased out by the very disturbance we’d created.
He snickered and nodded at that before gesturing for us to follow him, hopping down off the stool. Being less spacy this time, I took in the sights of the café. The building itself had a few tables inside it, probably to accommodate if the weather turned bad. Most of the seating was outdoors, however, based off three different tiers of height that went up the hill towards the street corner it was pushed up against. Each tier had several nice stairs that connected them, the middle one being the one we arrived on. We were directed towards the upper, however. Oooh, we’d get a good view over the side of the cliff from there. There were small hedge walls that separated the three different levels, about coming up to pony chest height, and a few artistic fountains at the base of the tiers between the stairs, forming pools of water that ran the length of the separation. It was a very pretty place, really.
Octavia and I were seated up next to the building, towards the back of the upper tier and at a two pony table. That meant we were facing each other, which didn’t seem to bother her and she casually set her cello case down on the ground next to her chair. I momentarily imagined it cracking the cement under it, and was a little disappointed at the lack of earth shattering smash.
“Ah, a much nicer time we’re having. Maybe this time I’ll actually get to show you the food, provided nothing interrupts us before the waiter can get over here to take our orders,” she said, flipping her own menu open and looking it over as she let it rest on the table. I did the same with mine, and peeked at what I could actually order. We hadn’t gotten this far the first time I was here, the fight breaking out literally before I’d opened my menu, so I had no idea what this place even served. My eyes locked onto the sandwich section almost instantly, however, widening by themselves as I felt a bit of drool build up in my mouth. Smack on the front page was a triple decker grilled hay bacon strip and lettuce sandwich with three flavors of dressing. It was so thick that it was tied together, and even had a nice looking olive stuck into the top of it. I didn’t know what purpose that served, but damn did it make the sandwich all the tastier looking!
My Awkward Sense tingled, and my left ear twitched lightly before I tore my eyes away from the page and looked back up at Octavia. She was watching me, both hooves covering her mouth with a light flush, a low, whining giggle coming out of her regardless. I flattened my ears down a bit, then wiped the small dribble of drool off the menu under me, feeling my face heat up a little.
“I knew you liked sandwiches, but… heeee,” she cooed, finally bursting into snickering in an uncontrollable fashion, her tail flicking in amusement behind her.
“Yeah, yeah. I know. Rarity thinks I should ‘expand’ my palate, but really, I just like sticking to what I like already,” I defended, earning a grin from the mare instead.
She snickered again before pointing out, “It was amusing, but I wasn’t teasing. Really, it’s refreshing to know that you’re just happy with what you know you like. It’s… simplistic and down to earth. I like simplistic.” Part of me thought she was just trying to make me feel better, but I did understand her point.
“Are the customers ready to order, or should I give you a few more minutes to drool?” Cufflink chirped suddenly, from almost right next to us. I practically jumped out of my chair, whipping my head over to him in an instant. How did he get there so quietly?! He wore a Cheshire grin, so I assumed he just faded into existence next to us, at that point.
Octavia snickered, then nodded, guessing, “Mender probably wants the sandwich his drool landed on. I’ll take this breakfast dish combo here, with an extra side of eggs.” She gestured to one of the pancake specials with her hoof, and Cufflink nodded, the floating pad of paper and pen jotting down our orders before he tucked it back into his left chest pocket.
“Will do!” he chirped, followed by, “Anything I can get you two to drink to tide you over?”
“I’ll take some coffee. I’m not quite awake yet, despite already having my first gig over with,” she murmured in return, huffing to herself and letting her ears sag a little.
He smiled and nodded to her before turning to me instead, and I inquired, “Do you have Chamomile here?” Rarity had given me some of that, and I think I liked it the best, out of most teas.
Cufflink perked and nodded before writing that down as well, his shorter cropped mane bouncing a bit in the front with his enthusiasm. “Will do! I’ll bring those to you in a second!” he confirmed before trotting off and down the stairs towards the entry to the building. I noticed his Cutie Mark appeared to literally be a white cuff with two cufflinks laying under it, a blue gemstone on each of them. He really did seem to like his job, that was for sure.
“He makes coming here all the more pleasant, although he still refuses to drop the ‘Miss’ part. I think he does it purely to tease me at this point,” Octavia murmured, looking amused as well as she watched him trot off. I chuckled at that, mentally agreeing with her assessment. He seemed to greatly enjoy her company regardless.
“Maybe he likes you?” I suggested, turning back and smiling towards her as she gave me a raised eyebrow.
I tilted my head to her, but she just smiled softly and shrugged. “He might. At the moment, however, my life is a bit too hectic to seek out that sort of thing. Turns out, music demands a lot more hours than I realized it would going through school,” she admitted, chuckling lightly to herself as she relaxed against the table instead. Ah, that was true.
“I imagine it settles down at some point. Or do you just like playing at as many spots as you can manage?” I inquired, smirking to let her know that I was teasing. Thankfully the mare was observant enough to not really even need my facial cues, and she grinned back.
“You know I like keeping busy. No, I put away a lot more bits than I spend, honestly. I’d be comfortable with an income half of what I currently make, which would free up a lot of my hours. Maybe I just like playing music that much?” she suggested. Oddly, it didn’t feel like she was really asking. At least not asking me.
I just listened to her, and she blushed softly, resting her head on the table. For a moment, I thought she’d finished, but a few seconds later, she continued with, “I don’t know. Can I be honest with you?” Eh?
Tilting my head, I nodded to her, curious as to what she hadn’t been honest about in the first place. She frowned for a moment, then admitted, “This.” She gestured between the two of us, then at the table. I was a bit confused until I just assumed she was talking about our little breakfast trip. She frowned before setting her forelegs back down on the table and continuing. “This whole… idea that I had to haul you off to breakfast wasn’t just to treat you. I mean, obviously it works out for that, but I had ulterior motives,” she admitted, surprising me a little. Her tone was calm, however, so I just relaxed against my chair and let her continue.
“It’s been a long time since I tried dating. I’ve never actually been out on an official date. I wanted to emulate what it might be like, sort of as a trial run of sorts, to get myself mentally adjusted, is all. I was considering maybe trying for a real one in the future,” she explained, looking back up at me and locking eyes with mine. Well, that hadn’t been what I was expecting.
“So I’m sort of like a placeholder prop for an imagined date?” I inquired, snickering suddenly.
Her ears flattened back, of course, and she shot me a disbelieving yet amused expression. “No, silly. I really do enjoy your company and care for you. You’ve been a good friend. I was just thinking about what a date would be like, and realized that getting you alone for a bit of lunch might be a good example,” she corrected before sticking her tongue out at me. I couldn’t resist laughing a bit at that, which caused her to pout, of course.
“I’m curious if you have an actual target in mind, then, if so…?” I inquired, smirking towards her again. She blushed outright and looked away from me, admittedly telling me an answer already, but she still hesitated.
“I might… I’ve… not really decided yet,” she defended, crossing her forelegs playfully afterwards. I rolled my eyes, but then glanced over as Cufflink trotted back towards us, our drinks drifting next to him. He smiled and nodded politely, setting them down on the table carefully, then sliding the respective drink to both of us.
“Coffee, one sugar, no cream. Chamomile tea with flower included,” he declared, bowing politely to both of us. Octavia smiled and nodded without meeting his gaze, and I raised an eyebrow, trying hard not to smirk at her. Oh? She glared at me instead, and it was Cufflink’s turn to raise an eyebrow, glancing back and forth between the two of us. “Is something amiss with your drinks?” he inquired instead.
Octavia blushed a bit more and sat upright before finally assuring, “No, our drinks our fine. Mender is simply being very unsporting and teasing me ceaselessly.” What?! Cufflink grinned at that, looking back to me and opening his mouth to reply.
All three of us jumped instead in surprise when somepony shouted out my name literally at the top of their lungs. Blinking, I looked around, not immediately finding the source of the feminine sounding shout. “M-Moon Mender!” she shouted yet again, hesitant this time.
My eyes widened as I snapped them over to the only building between the corner of the two streets and the café. It looked like an office building of some sorts, with a light gray brick siding and regular windows on each floor. Dragging my eyes up the four stories to the roof, they widened as I spotted the mare perched at an angle on the clay tiles that comprised the lower part of the slope. They widened even further when I noticed she wasn’t alone. A small filly shivered against her chest, being held tight with both of her forelegs. The mare’s horn was lit up, and floating next to her looked to be some sort of large bread knife, meant for splitting loaves. She held it close to the now whimpering filly’s neck. What the hell?!
Other ponies had spotted her, too, many including myself getting up out of their seats. Half a dozen rushed over, and I stood fully from my spot, looking up at her as I moved away from the table. I’d never seen her before in my life, her coat an off-cream color with a bit of gray mixed in, and her mane and tail a muted orange color, with a stripe of dull red running through them. My eyes locked hard with her green ones, and she swallowed, her legs shaking against the filly as she pulled her closer. She was terrified… The filly was light pink with a softer yellow mane and tail, and similarly yellow eyes leaking tears down her cheeks.
“Miss! Please calm down. Can you tell me your name?” I shouted up towards her, trying to act as calm as I could while I slowly walked over to the gap in the fence and path that led over to the office building.
She jumped lightly at the sound of my voice and swallowed hard, closing her eyes for a moment before opening them and glaring down at me. “M-My name doesn’t matter! I don’t want to have to do anything to anypony, but you… You forced our actions!” she shouted back, steadying herself carefully on the roof. ‘Our’? She was working with others. BEID stuck out firmly in my mind, but I didn’t think they’d resort to something like this. She also wasn’t wearing anything to hide her identity at all.
“What have I done, Miss? Please, stay calm and let’s just talk about this,” I shouted, trying to ‘remember’ any training that I’d borrowed about dealing with a hostage situation, other than to try to calm her down.
Several guards ran up at the same time, one a unicorn and the other an Earth pony. I was both surprised and not at the same time when they mirrored to either side of me. She didn’t give me much time to contemplate it, however, before continuing with, “You’re a monster! Y-You’re evil and trying to take over Equestria’s government and nopony can do anything to stop you because you’ve duped them all! Well, I won’t let you ruin everything I love!” Oh. Her look of fear mixed with hostility suddenly made sense, and my eyes softened.
There was no choice. My borrowed training told me to try to prolong the situation as long as I could and to attempt negotiations with her for the release of the hostage first and foremost while remaining as calm as possible, so I went with that. “Please, Miss. Your problem is with me. The little filly has nothing to do with it, and you don’t want to hurt her. She’s not safe even being up there. Please, you need to let us get you both down safely,” I called back. The mare hesitated, swallowing again before looking to the side, then slowly shaking her head.
“N-No! You’re only trying to get me down there so you can stop me! I’m calling the shots! Right now, confess to everypony here! Tell them all the truth; that you’re an a-alien or monster or something!” she shouted out, starting to outright shiver as she shifted her position on the roof. A bit of dust flaked off the tiles and wafted down the side of the building, and I swallowed. Negotiations or not, if she slipped and fell off the roof anyway…
I saw them an instant later. Two guards slipped into the alley behind the office building and both nodded to me. One was a unicorn, and the other unfurled his wings as he started climbing up what appeared to be a maintenance ladder installed on the side of the building. My eyes only flickered to them for an instant before looking back up to the mare. Shit. They were going to try a rescue?! My training suggested specifically to not try a direct recovery of the hostages unless safety was practically assured. But there was no way I could get any message to them to stop…
My hoof hummed to life with magic, me hiding the light of the energy under the surface of it as I pushed it into the cobblestone. An almost invisible line of barrier energy slipped along the cracks in the cobble under me, and then hit the side of the building, slowly working its way up the bricks and towards the mare. I charged up enough energy under my foot to both not display any outward signs of magic, and hopefully to get a strong enough barrier spell off to catch them if they fell. Or grab the knife if there was a struggle.
“So if I tell everypony that I’m an alien, you’ll let us help you get yourself and the filly down? Can you please wait for us to get some safety equipment from the local fire department first? Even with a ladder, getting you two down from there is risky, and I don’t want either of you hurt, just in case,” I called out, stalling for time as my magic went up the side of the building, and the two officers got to the roof.
The mare hesitated again, her eyes looking wet as she looked down at the now crying filly. She really didn’t want to do this, she was right. She swallowed, then nodded slowly to me. “Y-Yes! If you tell everypony the truth, I… I’ll come down safely. Get the equipment,” she agreed, exhaling softly as she pushed back against the angle of the roof again. More dust fell, and I nervously watched it as I saw my energy reach the edge of the roof. A helmed head poked up over the other side of the roof almost at the same time, and I made a show of looking to my right at the Earth Pony, then nodding to him. He nodded back wordlessly and took off in a sprint in the direction of what I assumed was the fire department. I really should learn where those things are…
Looking back up at the mare, I called out, “Just stay calm up there. Those are tiles under you, so don’t put too much sideways pressure on them, or they might break! Try to stay leaned against the roof if you can, and brace against any wind.” The mare just held the filly tighter and nodded, leaning a bit back against the roof, tears now coming down both of their faces. Two more guards showed up a second later, helping to move the crowd of ponies away from the building edge. There were almost forty all around the building and in the street now, looking up in mixtures of shock and horror. Both of the guards slipped over the edge of the roof and moved closer to the mare, their tails blowing lightly in the wind.
Of course, Malice or not, I wasn’t that lucky. The unicorn guard’s eyes widened suddenly as one of the tiles snapped under his left front hoof. He slid slightly, sending two more down the side of the roof and causing the mare to gasp, whipping around in surprise. My eyes widened, but she managed to balance there, wobbling slightly as she panicked and flailed the knife towards the sliding guard! A single tile next to her popped off the top of the roof, my line of shielding exploding upwards. My barrier hit the knife and latched onto it in six spots, halting its path just as it swung in towards the guard’s shoulder. The mare screamed in panic as the other guard opened his wings and tried to dive to grab both of them, and she fell to the side to get out of the way. He missed completely, managing to turn in the air as he fell off the side of the roof and right himself, flying back up to catch her. She whipped her right foreleg out sideways to stop her own roll towards the edge of the roof, still managing to hold onto the filly with her other leg. I used my barrier to stab the knife into the side of the roof tiles instead, then let it go, rapidly charging another burst of energy visibly this time to try to form another barrier.
The downside of my magic compared to a unicorn’s is that, while mine is far more energy efficient, it’s not nearly as instantaneous as a spell that listens directly to the willpower of the caster. At this distance, that slowed down noticeably, the burst of magic traveling up the line I’d already made.
It was halfway up when the roof tiles gave away. The mare screamed, twisting her other foreleg out and throwing the filly in the direction of the unbroken part of the roof. The pegasus lashed out, but missed her by mere centimeters as he winced, bits of roof tile smashing into him in the air. A green aura shot around the shocked filly as she hit and rolled further down the roof, the unicorn guard sliding down and grabbing her. The mare fell…
My eyes flicked to my magic. It was almost halfway up. The barrier could activate there, but she’d hit it face first after falling two stories… I didn’t have time to re-calculate. I looked back up at her, for that brief instant, frozen in mid-fall and screaming. The guard to my left was rushing forward, his horn starting to spark with light. Could he catch her? Would it be any better than my barrier?
My eyes turned blue, a different set of calculations running instead. I decided in a split second that I didn’t want the mare to die. Six tentacles shot out of my back a fraction of a second later. Two for her torso, one for each leg. She didn’t have time to even look over at them coming in, them wrapping around her in the blink of an eye. The first story I used to slow her down. The second and last before she hit the ground I slid forward with, bringing her to far safer speeds before she landed on top of me.
Without my armor on, she was still heavy enough to cause me to wince when she crashed into my side, still technically ‘falling’ downwards. My tentacles pooled around us as she hit, forming a soft cushion on all sides for her to land on.
It was over less than a second later. She froze there, eyes wide as I slowly slid my tentacles off her legs and torso. Shakily, I stood back up, wincing as I lifted my right leg up to feel my right side. It was bruised, but that would heal fast. My ribs were metal now, and not damaged in the slightest. The tentacles slid back into me as I straightened, shifting my eyes back to their normal amber color as I turned my scanners off. I looked back over at the mare, partially curled into a ball and lying against the side of the building. She was still frozen, looking at me in shock.
Movement caught my eye instead, and I looked up and to the left as the pegasus guard landed, carrying the little filly, who ran crying to an older looking mare all of a meter away in the edge of the crowd. It looked like the mare was crying, too, and she ducked down fast to grab the filly as she ran up, holding her tight. The mare had a darker yellow coat and a teal mane, but I couldn’t see her eye color. Her mother, maybe? The rest of the crowd stared in shock at me, I suddenly realized, as I rotated halfway around and looked at them all. I felt a cold numbness creep into my stomach as I realized everything was going to hell with absurd speed.
Losing my focus, I frowned for a moment, then looked back to my right at the mare instead. No, focus on what I could actually do at the moment. “Are you okay?” I asked her weakly, my voice as unsteady as my resolve.
Slowly, she nodded, sitting up a little while shaking heavily. That wasn’t what I had intended, and definitely not ‘safe’, but they were both on the ground now. It nagged at me. Would it have been better to not use my tentacles to save her? The guard might have caught her in time, but… no. That was the only way I had to assure she’d make it.
“You need medical attention. The filly should get some, too. Can you guards take them back to the castle infirmary?” I asked, looking to the filly and the older mare instead. The mare wasn’t even looking at me in the slightest, just holding the little foal close. She glanced up at the guards as they approached and nodded, helping the filly back up to her hooves.
The guards helped the other mare up from her fallen position, and she winced, holding onto her back left leg for a moment as they helped her brace herself. A sprain, by the looks of it. The little filly had a cut on her foreleg from where she’d hit the roof, too, I realized, looking back over as the guards helped her and her mother towards the castle.
The crowd was still frozen, a mixture of confusion and surprise as they looked from myself to the guards escorting the three ponies towards the Northeast. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say or do. Looking back behind me, I spotted Octavia and Cufflink at the other edge of the crowd, both looking at me in surprise as well. My eyes softened, and I looked away from her and sighed. There was nothing else I could do. Tia needed to hear about all of this.
Feeling empty, I slowly followed after the guards as they headed towards the castle, feeling dozens of pairs of eyes on me as I walked…