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1: Aftermath7,218 words
2: Fields of Snow6,325 words
3: A New Nightmare6,833 words
4: Meeting of Minds6,348 words
5: Empire6,417 words
6: Legality of Clockwork6,058 words
7: Land of Ice6,874 words
8: Shatter6,017 words
9: Everything is Fine6,162 words
10: An Explanation6,231 words
11: High Skies6,049 words
12: Pair O' Docs5,806 words
13: Discussions6,086 words
14: Inability to Relax5,626 words
15: What He Has Withstood4,517 words
16: Epilogue632 words

10: An Explanation

It was probably the most amazing thing Copper had seen and he wanted to know everything about it. An airship. He had thought the car was impressive, but this went beyond that. So far beyond it that he had no words. The airships of his world were nothing. These looked hardly like ships. The ones of his world were ships taken out of the water and worked around. But these were structures built to fly. One question burned its way to the front of his mind. “What are the balloons for? Surely they can't be the only thing that lifts it?”

“They're filled with helium.” It was Chrysalis who answered him. The ship was absolutely massive. Not to the point of The False God, but it was...very impressive.

“Helium.” Of course. Helium. He knew of that. It was a gas, lighter than air. They used it to fill balloons. Oh how had he never thought of that before? That would lighten the load of the ship to the point were it wouldn't need wings or rotors. “I wonder if they'll let me see the engine room...”

“As long as you don't touch anything,” Scootaloo said as they were boarding the ship. “I'd rather us not fall out of the sky.”

There were several people there to greet them. A pony, who judging by his uniform and hat was the captain, came up to them and said, “Welcome aboard The Lady, Detective Feather. Burrasca has instructed that your time with us be as pleasant as possible.” He waved a hand to the left of him, gesturing down the hall. He was a rather...large pony. No doubt the largest pony Copper had yet to see. But there was something in the eyes... “Your rooms have been made up and prepared with dinner. We leave first thing in the morning once the other guests have boarded.”

“Sounds good to me,” Copper said as he rubbed his hands together. “I was hoping that I could have a tour of the engine room, perhaps tomorrow?”

“Oh yes, I'm certain Horsh would-” all conversation stopped, as Chrysalis came aboard.

“Well I must say, it's just as impressive inside,” she said. She had dressed to impress, that was clear with the long flowing gown she was wearing. And from the look the crew was giving, there was this odd mixture of awe and jealousy, or was it envy? Copper couldn't be bothered.

“Horsh,” he said softly. He shook his head. “Sounds good. Very good.” Horsh. He would see Horsh again. That was going to be...odd.

“So I heard dinner?” Chrysalis moved to stand beside Copper. He gave her a look and she frowned at him. “Yes, I want to eat.”

There were some confused looks. “All right then, let us go.”

It felt like they were walking through some sort of building. How could this be a ship? It looked nothing like one; Copper just couldn’t seem to get over that. But there was food waiting for them. He had been eating very well as of late and it looked as though this would be no exception. “Well, this is...ridiculous,” Scootaloo said as she sat down at the table.

“Why's that?” Copper also took a seat and noticed how Chrysalis sat across from him. Of course he had seen Chrysalis eat, but from what he knew, it was not very filling. As she had described it, it is like starving and eating a few grapes. It's something.

“I've never seen Burrasca treat somepony like this...ever.” Scootaloo was glaring at him. “It's suspicious.” There was a large plate of lobsters on the table.

“Well...” He thought about it as he began serving himself. “We go back a long time. Memories are sort of...well, they're forcing their way to the front. Especially important ones.”

“And you and he knew each other?” She wasn't getting anything.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. “Yes. Apparently, I was his inspiration. We met back in the war.”

To that Scootaloo had nothing to say. Nopony did and so they ate in silence. “I'm going to bed,” she said finally as she stood up.

“Goodnight,” he said, watching as she walked away from the table.

She didn't say anything in response and shut the door. “Well, that's quite a bit of hostility,” Chrysalis said.

“You don't have to tell me,” he said with a sigh. Should he tell her? What sort of things would she think? He would have to tell her eventually. Someday. Maybe he should tell her now? But it just...didn't feel right. To share something like that. “She knows I'm not telling her the whole story...”

“Why aren't you?” Ever the voice of his thoughts, even here.

“Because I'm not sure. Why would Copper not have told her? I mean...” He looked up at the ceiling. “It feels like it's not something that I can tell her. But there's nopony other than me that knows.”

“Well, you'll have to tell her eventually.” Again? Could she see his thoughts? Was he so easy to read? Maybe it was just the way his brain worked. They were obvious decisions. “Anyways. It can wait until tomorrow, when her mood has improved. She is still very young and needs time to calm down.” She pushed her plate away as she stood up. She had eaten the most of the three of them.

Was it possible for a changeling to starve? He had never given much thought to it. “Yes, I suppose that's true...on both points.” He rubbed his face. Why was he so tired suddenly? Probably because of all the food he had eaten. And there was still so much left over...that bothered him somewhat. But he could do nothing about that right now and stood up.

Realization dawned on him as they both made a move to go towards the bedroom. There were only two beds. He did not move, even when she did. Slowly she moved to the bedroom, looking inside before moving slightly in and looking back at him. “We could always...share...”

He saw the way she fiddled with the ring upon her finger. “I'm not him,” he said as he leaned against the table.

“I know that. And for the most part I've accepted he's gone but...but everything I loved about him, I've seen in you.” She sounded sincere. She sounded like she meant every word of it. “It doesn't feel like you've changed at all...”

What would he say at this point? He honestly wanted to sleep in a bed. He had spent a month with her. Of course he'd spent less time with the other Chrysalis before things had gone certain ways. But that had been out of desperation. Desperation for attention. For love. Everything told him he should. “How big is the bed?”

She looked behind her and then back at him. “Ridiculous, as Scootaloo would say.” She was smiling at him.

Was this a good idea? He was quite sure it wasn't. But when he got into the room and saw the size of the bed, there was no question there was room for the two of them. There'd be room for ten ponies, maybe twelve. She sat down on one side of the bed, looking at him. He moved to the opposite side, taking a deep breath as he did. He was being cold. To Chrysalis. “Chrysalis, I-” he turned around and saw her. The real Chrysalis. No disguise. Just those beautiful green eyes staring at him. She had closed the distance quite a lot faster than he would have thought possible.

“Copper,” her voice was soft, in that familiar tone that he had come to adore, “I know you love me. You know you can't hide your feelings from me. Nor could I hide mine from you. I know it is going to take time...but...but please...just stop trying to push me away at least...” She moved back, to the other side of the bed. “Then at the very least...maybe things between us will get better.”

“It'll never be how it was, Chrysalis...but,” he couldn't. He couldn't say no to her. She was still much the Chrysalis he loved. “We'll have to see...there's a lot that will happen, I'm sure...” He got comfortable in the bed, his gun under the pillow. He'd seen that in one of the movies.

The dreamscape. It is difficult to explain in detail, but simply, it is the state of one’s mind, reflected by their personality. Right now, his was more than a little bit messed up, with broken and withered trees as well as shattered gears. He wished that he had a Luna in this world. She had been more than a comfort to him in the other world. She had come to him on more than one occasion, calming him. But here he was alone.

Or at least, usually he was. “Nightmare,” he said, looking at the figure not terribly far away from him. “Interesting seeing you again.”

She did not look the least bit happy, but her annoyance was not aimed at Copper. “They want to speak with you.”

His brow furrowed. Who would want to speak with him? Furthermore, what sort of pony would use Nightmare in such a way? “I-” He could say no more as everything rushed to black and they were standing upon what appeared to be glass, but he could see nothing else. It gave him an odd feeling like he was not standing on anything.

“There. I brought him,” she said. She sounded as if she was trying not to murder something. “I do not like being used as some sort of errand pony.”

“As we see.” The voice was overbearing. Overpowering. Suffocating. Every word was beat into his ears whether he wanted to hear it or not. The worse thing was, he had heard it before. But now he realized that before it had been from a great distance. Now, it was in front of him.

“The Pony of Gears,” he muttered, trying to stay upright at the sheer force of that voice.

“No,” it said. “That was something we made, that interacted with you.” There was nothing actually speaking.

“Then what are you?” It was hard to have any sort of defiance in him, but somehow he managed. At the very least, Nightmare seemed impressed.

“It does not matter what we are. What matters, is what you do and what you have done.”

“What I have done?” He wished that he had something to look at beside the darkness around him.

There was silence for a moment. “And what we have done. We sought your strength in this world. We needed you to be here, to save it.”

“Save it from what?” Again, Nightmare seemed impressed he could talk back in such a manner. He was impressed as well; it was weird how he could get through with such outbursts.

“From destruction. From the Other. It is time that we explain much. The Other seeks death. The death of all. The destruction of everything. But in order to do so, he must win over that world. Many he has tried with force, such as in your world. But in this world, he is trying something else.”

“He was Sombra?” Copper said, taking deep breaths. Words were hard. It was like having the fever again.

“He gave power to Sombra when he demanded it. You will ask Celestia for further understanding. But the Other did not enter your world. Not yet. Only when he has entered, can he truly be defeated. And only then can he truly win. In this world, he has entered. He defeated the one we had sent to face him, but before he could take control, we diverted our focus to you and pulled you here. But you fought, with the power that was given to you. You fought us with the power we had given you.”

“You should have expected that,” he said, panting slightly.

“Yes. We should. But it was in the manner we brought you here. We could not pull you straight through. He has not been beaten in your world and if we drew you out, we would forfeit that world to him. Such are the Rules. Unlike him, we may change champions, but if those champions are moved from that world, the world is forfeit.”

He wanted to retort and it took him a moment to gather the strength. “Rules...like some sort of game?”

“To the Other, it is a game. We do not see it as such. Every world we lose is the loss of countless lives. Every loss weighs heavy upon us. We seek to not lose any more.”

He took deep breaths; they seemed to help build words. “So you pulled me into this world?”

“No. We put your soul into the body of this Copper. He had died, of alcohol poisoning.” Something thudded in Copper's chest. “It was unfortunate, but it worked to our advantage. We had a body that would accept your soul.”

IT WAS NOT THAT SIMPLE, something said. Or perhaps said was not the proper way to phrase it. The words were simply in his head. Like someone writing in all caps on the inside of his skull. IF IT WERE THAT EASY, IT COULD BE DONE MORE OFTEN.

Copper turned slowly and saw, standing behind quite a terrified looking Nightmare, was a tall figure, wrapped in a tattered black cloak. Held in the bones of its hand was a large scythe. “Death is on our side.”

I DO NOT TAKE SIDES. BUT NOR DO I LIKE MEANINGLESS DEATH. Those words were almost painful. Two points of glowing light beneath the hood seemed to stare at Copper. BUT WE WILL SPEAK MORE ONCE THEY HAVE FINISHED.

“You must stop fighting us, Copper. When we tried to pull you, you fought and lashed at us. You broke what we were trying to do, which is why you now flip flop back and forth. You would have remained here until you died and then been returned. But because you fractured what we had done, it is now unpredictable.”

“And you can't fix it?” Copper said, practically gasping now. The voice of Death was nothing compared to this.

“We have tried. Something inside you fights us every time. You must find the Doctor and get his help to fix what you have done, lest you destroy both worlds.” Copper had nothing left in him to fight. “Then you must defeat the Other and save this world.”

There was silence, but in that silence, Nightmare moved to him. She held onto him, as she helped him back to his feet. He was gasping for breath, but eventually, it calmed. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” he said, turning to Death.

TIME IS SOMETHING I HAVE PLENTY OF, he said. Or didn't say.

“What is it that you wanted to discuss?” He was leaning against Nightmare for support. Both physically, mentally and morally.

I WANT YOU TO WIN, COPPER. BUT I WILL NOT INTERFERE ANY FURTHER THAN I HAVE ALREADY. Those eyes flashed brighter for a second and Copper had a feeling he'd already done much more than he realized. IF YOU DIE, THIS WORLD WILL END. HE DID NOT TELL YOU MUCH. NOT ENOUGH.

“How much more is there?”

MUCH. MORE THAN I COULD EXPLAIN. BUT KNOW THAT I CANNOT HELP FURTHER, OR I WILL BREAK THE RULES THAT HAVE BEEN PUT FORTH, he said as he shouldered his scythe.

“May I ask you a question?” While speaking with Death, you might as well try to find some things out.

YOU MAY ASK. Again his eyes flashed. BUT I MAY NOT ANSWER.

“When I was brought back...in my world...what sort of things happened? I can only remember things in a very vague way.” It was bothering him that he felt like he was missing those years.

THAT IS GOOD. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU. EVERY WORLD HAS THEIR OWN VERSION OF DEATH. I DO NOT KNOW HOW YOU WERE BROUGHT BACK. BUT I DO NOT THINK I WOULD HAVE ALLOWED IT. THOUGH I AM CURIOUS AS TO WHY IT WAS ALLOWED. It was odd to think of Death as curious. But that raised more questions than it answered.

But he decided to not push his luck. He was Death after all. “Thank you,” he said as he watched Death walk away.

DO NOT DIE NEEDLESSLY, AGAIN.

And suddenly they were back in the dreamscape. “A warning of that might have been nice,” he mumbled, looking at Nightmare out of the corner of his eyes.

“I didn't have time.” He noticed how she held onto him tighter. “When they tell you to do something, you do it...but I'm glad that the Doctor will be able to help.”

“You know him?” He leaned into her, taking a deep breath. She was a comfort to him.

“Yes. And if anypony can help, he can. The only problem is finding him. I can't find him,” she added before he had a chance to ask.

“I have a feeling that he'll find me...” That was a strong feeling, one that he was more than sure of.

“Probably...” She laid her head on top of his. “He has a way of popping up when he's needed.”

His eyes closed. It was not often he closed his eyes in the dreamscape. “I do not know what to do...I am so conflicted on so many ends...”

“I know you are,” she said softly. Then she did the most tender thing that Copper could imagine her doing. She kissed his forehead softly. “But you must do what you think you must.”

He was warm. Very warm. Maybe a little too warm? And what was he holding on- oh. He had opened his eyes to find himself looking over the top of Chrysalis's head. They were in the center of the bed, so he couldn't know who had moved to whom. What he did know was that his arms were wrapped around her and her arms were wrapped around him. Right then, he didn't care. But that changed quickly when he heard the clearing of a throat and looked to see Scootaloo glaring slightly at him. “Cozy?” Apparently she had been standing there a while, getting over the shock of her appearance most likely.

There was slight hesitation, before he pulled from her and sat up. Not abruptly, but slowly as to not disturb her. He knew the consequences of waking a sleeping changeling. “I think it's time we have a talk...”

Her nose crinkled slightly. “I've had that talk before, thank you very much.”

He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. “No not that.” He took a deep breath and told her. He told her the whole story, as he could remember it.

At first she stood with her arms folded, but by the end of it, she was sitting on the edge of the bed in tears. “Why didn't you tell me?”

Copper was sitting beside her now. Crying ponies were always his weakest point. “I didn't know how. And I didn't know why it was being kept a secret... I just-” she hugged him. Her hands clenched tightly onto his shirt as she sobbed.

“Now it makes sense...everything makes sense...the way you look at me. The way you act around me...” He couldn't think of anything else to do but put his arms around her. “I'm sorry...I'm so sorry for the way I've been acting...I...if I had known...things would be so different. So much better...”

Maybe they would have been, but Copper couldn't be sure and they would never know. What he did know is that he would do anything for Scootaloo. That was a feeling that he would never let go of.

He spent most of the morning with Scootaloo and Chrysalis when she woke up. Even though he wanted to go and see Horsh and discover the secrets of this ship, this was more important. This was far more important.

But eventually they did go their separate ways. Scootaloo apparently had some things to do, as did Chrysalis. Both of them would not answer questions of where or what. Copper felt that slightly odd, but apparently they were spending the day together, or so it seemed since they both went off in the same direction.

The engine room was not hard to find, as there were plenty of signs and a large door with the words 'Engine Room' printed on it. He felt odd when he found it to be unlocked. The smell of it made him feel good. Oil, metal, the burning of coal. It smelled right and the air felt right. It was quite loud as he made his way down into the underbelly of the ship.

There was a conversation going on. “-I said, I don't care. There are some things down here I don't want anypony touchin'.” The voice was unmistakable. He'd heard it many times before.

As he rounded a corner, he saw him. “You must be Horsh,” he said with a smile. Both Horsh and the pony he was talking to froze, staring at him. “I do believe that the captain informed you I was planning a visit. Hope you don't mind me coming down here...”

Horsh eyed him and then looked back at the pony. “Now, get out and don't touch anything more.” The other pony disappeared down a side passage under some pipes. “As for you, I do mind. Just cus you got permission, doesn't mean you can just barge down here.” A pause. “How did you get down here?”

“The door was unlocked,” he said, gesturing back towards where he had come.

“That blasted idiot,” Horsh turned back to what he had apparently been doing previously. “I'd wring his neck and toss him overboard if I could run the ship by myself. But I can't be in two places at once.”

“Yes, well, I'm sorry to barge down here. I just wanted to see the engine.” And what he was seeing was all he had hoped for and more. The efficiency and complexity.

“Don't see why. Only ponies that wanna see the engine are either thinking of ruining it, or are one of those blasted enthusiasts, who think that just cus they can put together a watch, they know how a ship works.”

“Well, I'm afraid I'm neither,” Copper had his hands behind his back as he watched things work.

Horsh looked back at him, almost glaring. But it was obvious that Copper had gotten his attention. “Then what are you?”

“That is a good question,” he said with a smile. “May I?” He gestured to a desk, which was covered in papers.

Horsh looked at him a moment and then shrugged. “Knock yourself out.”

Copper moved quickly, looking for a blank piece of paper. “I would like to consider myself an inventor.” Horsh laughed and then masked it into a cough. “Yes I thought you'd think as much.” He sketched what he could remember of his wing, making several modifications to it to compensate for the fact he was much bigger and shaped differently. “Though I'm afraid the simplest things often escape my eye.” Such as helium. “I'm afraid this is just a rough sketch, but, what do you think?” He held the paper out to Horsh.

It took the griffon a moment before he grudgingly glanced at the paper before turning back to the engine. Then he stopped and snatched the paper from Copper. His eyes ran over the paper several times. “Well color me surprised. You've actually got a lot of skill...ever built it?”

Finally he had his full attention. “A few versions. I never thought to use helium though...or something similar. Something to take up weight would make it work a lot better.”

“Yeah...but...” He turned the paper to the side. “Why just one? You need-” he stopped as Copper showed him. “Ah. Sorry.”

“It's fine,” he said as he pulled back on his coat.

“From the war?” Horsh said as he took a seat beside him.

“The bombing of London.” He shifted slightly to look more at the griffon. In the darkness of the engine room he could not make out terribly much.

“Mm.” He leaned forward and pulled up his left pants leg. “We've got a lot in common it seems.” Even in the low light, Copper could see the metal. His mind raced back to that memory that he had gained. Had he seen Horsh in that group? He couldn't remember seeing him. But it was a big city and a major disaster from what he had heard and seen.

“So it seems.” He offered his hand to Horsh. It was an odd gesture, but apparently it was important here. “Copper Feather.”

The smile on his face partially caught Copper off guard, but not as much as the feeling of cold metal on his hand. “Horsh.”

Copper couldn't help but twist the hand slightly to get a better look at it in the gloom. “Impressive... I-” He hesitated. “May I see it?”

He laughed in response, pulling it from somewhere up his shirt. It was connected at the elbow. It was nowhere near the elegance of Emily, but it was very impressive. “Built it myself,” Horsh said as he passed the forearm over to Copper. “Took quite a lot of effort, building with one hand.”

“I can imagine,” he mumbled as he turned to the desk. He picked up several things, one of which was an examination eyepiece. “Quite impressive...”

“It's taken years to perfect it. Still acts up on occasion.” Horsh was moving about now. Copper noticed there was ever so slightly the hint of a limp. Normally it would be impossible to notice, but he was looking for it. “Just can't seem to get the fingers to work all the time.”

“That's cus this S-spring is the wrong grade,” he muttered. He pulled it out without thinking, pulling out another from some drawer. This Horsh set up his work station the exact same way. It was amazingly familiar. “And this gear needs less teeth and this needs more...” Fingers were amazing. He could work so much, so fast. He practically gutted and rebuilt the entire thing.

“Spent years on it. But I've gotten used to its little quarks. Still, be nice if it could- what the heck are you doing?” He had finally turned around and saw what Copper was doing.

Copper looked up, with the look of somepony who'd been caught with their hooves in the cookie jar. “Uh. Tinkering?”

He snatched the arm up, glaring at him. “You don't just mess with things that don't belong to you.” He was working on reattaching the arm. “Honestly, if you messed this up I...huh...” He wriggled and twisted things. “Interesting...this is some advanced clockwork engineering. How do you know so much about clockwork? It's illegal in the states.”

Copper now had quite a triumphant look on his face, though he did not show Horsh. “Oh well, I'm not really all that legal of a pony. I've had the chance to examine quite an impressive one up close.”

“Oho? Well then...someday you'll have to show it to me.” He was fiddling with his hand now.

“Hopefully I will.” It would be nice to speak with Horsh about Emily. But Burrasca had said that none of the staff had been informed and he was not to tell them.

A little alarm went off above their heads and Horsh looked up. “Ah. Six. Dinner will be served soon. You best get upstairs. You're apparently some sorta guest of honor...” Again they shook hands. “If you get the chance, come on back and I'll give you a tour.”

They gave each other a large smile. “Oh that would be grand. I'd love to get more ideas from this thing...”

“Do anything more and you'll end up like Doctor Vonzinzer.”

Copper's brow furrowed. “Who?”

Now he had a lot to think about. Dr. Vonzinzer...apparently he was the greatest inventor the world had ever seen. But he was also in prison for...many reasons. Going insane for one. Murder for another... He was the reason clockworks were illegal in the states. If there was a candidate for the Other, that was probably a good bet. Oh and apparently he was in London. “Are you all right?”

He looked up, looking at Chrysalis. He took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind.”

“Too much down there for you, hm?” Scootaloo said, looking at him over her bowl of soup. Her attitude had changed quite a bit, but she was still snippy.

“More than I had the chance to see. It was good to see Horsh...” He was looking down into his own bowl of soup.

“Know him from your other world, hm?” Chrysalis said and Scootaloo gave her a look. Though Scootaloo was much more accepting of the fact he was from some other world, she did not like talking about it.

“Knew...” he said as he swirled his soup. “He died.” He pushed his soup away; it wasn't really to his tastes. “And it was sorta my fault, though partially his own as well...it's a long story.” It was odd how this was enough to make him lose his appetite.

“Oh...I'm sorry. This must have been really...weird for you then.” Chrysalis was watching him. Scootaloo, however, took his bowl and finished it off. That made him smile.

“It was actually quite nice. He's very similar...but also very different. It's so interesting to see the differences.” Why did he keep glancing at the door? Did he have his gun on him? It was odd to try to nonchalantly pat himself to make sure.

“I see. I can imagine it-” Chrysalis had spotted him acting weird and her brow furrowed. “What are you doing?”

“I have a bad feeling all of a sudden,” he said as he was now watching the door.

“Shame,” Scootaloo said as she finished off his soup. “The main course is coming soon.”

The doors burst open.

“And you think you can just change, just like that?”

Oh here it was. Here was the madness that he was becoming used to. He was enjoying it. “I did. I think. I'm not sure.” He was comfortable. The madness made the other world just...melt away. But at least he knew it was madness. The madness of youth. “Fairly certain that I've changed quite a lot.”

“I say for the better,” Twilight said as she sat across from him. Of course she would take his side. “If you're happy, then everything is fine.”

He took a deep breath and smiled at her. “Yes. Very happy now.” How could he not be? He looked at Gilda and her almost annoyed look. “I feel Pinkie would be the only pony to give me a run for my bits at this point.” He stretched out on the chair and sighed happily. Truly he was so happy. He felt bubbling with it now and every moment he felt more and more.

“That's quite a lot of happy,” Twilight said, smiling. She seemed to be the only pony here that saw the change as positive, besides himself.

“Indeed.” He took a deep breath and laid his head down, frowning as he realized he put it down upon his metal leg. He stared at it, as he had quite forgotten it was there. “This is going to take a lot of getting used to.”

“Does it hurt at all?” Chestnut was there as well. How many ponies were here? Quite a few it seemed. How did he keep forgetting that there are several ponies there? He needed to stop doing that. She was pointing a hoof at his leg.

He looked at her and tilted his head slightly to the side. “No. It's a bit heavy, that's all.” He raised the leg slowly and realized that everypony was staring at it. Experimentally he waved it back and forth and watched their eyes follow it. He couldn't help but smirk. “And that's not all it can do.” Shink.

They all stared at it. And all took a step back. Except for Twilight, who scooted slightly away on the seat. “I...that seems...excessive...”

“Well...” He had to admit that it seemed far bigger a blade than he had intended. Perhaps it was the angle? Either way his point was quite clear. “I'm done playing nice with them. Whoever them are. Sombra, or Raven, or any of their allies. A lot of ponies doing a lot of things that I'm not going to put up with.” He repeated the motion and with a shnikt the blade disappeared once again.

“But it's only for emergencies.” Again he laid down, making sure that he was not laying his head down on the metal limb.

“Fairly impressive.” Several of them seemed to share in Chestnut's statement. It probably was to them, but it wasn't like he wanted to use it. He had used the same sort of mechanics within Emily's arm to build it. It had been a lot more difficult than he had imagined, especially re-assembling her arm before Scootaloo had the chance to catch him. But he felt that he had to do it. Prove that he could do it. Prove that he could do whatever they could do. And do it better. He wasn't sure if it was better, but it was larger and more compact at the same time.

“I don't want to use it, but it felt necessary. In the best case scenario, I won’t need it. Especially with the power I have.” He took another deep breath.

“What power?” That seemed echoed from everypony.

There was a few seconds of silence as he thought how best to describe it. But everypony here was trustworthy, or at least not going to betray him. “I'm not quite sure myself, in fact. But in order to beat Sombra, I was given power by-” he hesitated, trying to describe it. “I don't know what. I've been trying to figure out what it is, or was...it called itself The Pony of Gears, but apparently that wasn't quite what gave me the power, only what facilitated its transfer to me...”

“So back in the Crystal Empire,” Twilight said slowly, putting the pieces together in her head. “What happened in the bathroom, was actually you?”

“So it would seem. But I'm not sure what exactly triggered that...when I fought Madam Raven, it was anger and that seems to be a heavy influence...first thing I need to do is learn control.” He was quite tired. He wondered if they'd let him sleep for the rest of the trip. “It's some kind of magic, so I was hoping that you'd be able to help me, Twilight.”

She sat up noticeably straighter. “Why of course, Copper. I'd be more than happy to help.”

“I know that look,” Chestnut said, before moving towards a nearby seat.

Twilight blinked and looked at her. “What? What look?”

“Not you, him.” She pointed an almost accusing hoof at Copper. “He wants to sleep.”

Had he really spent so much time with her that she could tell that? Perhaps he had. She was a good friend and he'd spent...probably months with her. “Yes. I'm fairly tired.”

“Well, it has been a long day,” Gilda said, waving her hand up in the air as she walked away. “What with chasing you all over the damned Crystal Empire and all.”

He couldn't help but laugh, as did most of the group. Even Gilda seemed amused by it all. “Thank you. All of you. Just for being around and putting up with me.”

There seemed a bit of general consent that it wasn't very easy. “We're friends, Copper. At least, with you.” He noticed Twilight's glance at Gilda and Chestnut.

With that, he closed his eyes. A thought slowly crept into his mind. If I'm the one fighting them, then that means that I am the reason for the switching. Could I force myself to switch?

Author's Note:

((Chapter edited by Amneiger))

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Crystal Static

Crystal Static #1 · Feb 14th, 2014 · · ·

This fic is sexy, finish it up.

TheFoxern

TheFoxern #2 · Feb 14th, 2014 · · ·

3942097 yes yes. XD I'm working on it. I still have to write, like, 5 or 6 chapters. And I'm almost done with the next one. But I'm very glad you enjoy it.

Crystal Static