• Published 21st Dec 2012
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Forgiveness Pending - Kiroberos



Moon Mender's adventure continues right where left off. He jumps at the chance for a new life, but will his old one truly leave him in peace? Some things are better off forgotten.

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Chapter 42

The sound was absurd as I got unceremoniously plopped onto the stage. Even though the music was turned down, the bass still was vibrating the wood I walked on. The cheering was incredible, and I did my absolute best to not look to the left at the ocean of ponies I knew was there. Oh hell. Oh crap. Please, please let me not trip. It was awkward enough limping with the clicking my brace made against the stage.

Rainbow had shot me a knowing smile after setting me down and actually landing, not only sticking with me but walking along to my left, partially shielding me from all the ponies. She felt my panic through the link, no doubt. Still, I made sure to send as much 'thankfulness' to her as I could now. Her assured smile told me she understood.

Vinyl absolutely beamed at us from the sound booth, sitting patiently on the steps with several glowing accessories on. Her glowing choker held her microphone, and I saw the wire running off it and to a flat, black box strapped to her hip. Interesting. "And here we have him! Good mares and stallions of the audience, Moon Mender!" she shouted out as we got closer. Oh hell.

To my surprise, a massive level of cheering broke out to the left. Risking a glance, I saw the audience come alive with shouts of actual happiness, and interestingly enough, they all started rapidly stomping their hooves along the ground. The significance was lost entirely on me, but I took it as a good thing. Eyes. Hundreds of pairs of eyes were all watching me. I got a little dizzy and had to look away and back at Vinyl a moment later. The faint, partially transparent screen was easily visible floating high above the stage as well. To my surprise, it was still going and showed a very bored looking Celestia talking at the podium. The sound appeared to be muted.

"There ya have it, Mender! Speaking from somepony who was there and saw it with my own two eyes, I could not, at all, let this continue. It just doesn't sit right, ya know? No matter who these mules are that happen to not like Twi and you, now you know that you have a whole town o' ponies that'll beg to disagree!" she declared confidently, smirking at me. Behind those dark purple shades, I knew her rose colored eyes were just dancing at the spectacle.

Rainbow smirked, and I saw it coming without even needing to hear the squeal from the link. "Heck yeah! Even if you didn't want to, you sure as hay stepped up and helped when needed. That," she emphasized, nudging me in the chest with a forehoof before continuing, "That is what ponies can respect. You have guts and morals, dude." She stared at me only the entire time, and I knew that she hadn't said it for the crowd. Yet, it was different.

I realized it a second later. She avoided using 'hero' completely. She knew that I didn't want any of it to happen, and after seeing what I became, I had no doubt she realized it was far from always a good thing. I was an abomination, and I could never be a normal, real pony. Ever. The very thought of that burned on the way down as I swallowed. Still, at the same time, she just said that I didn't have to be a pony. Guts and morals, huh?

Vinyl grinned, then surprised me by asking, "Way to say it, Dash! Got any words for us then, dude?" Her magic lit up a second later and extended her mic out and right under my muzzle. My eyes widened a little and I looked out to the audience instead. Everything went silent almost instantly and their cheering ceased. For the undercurrent of the simple beats, it felt amazingly soundless in the center of that stage. For a moment, I had to fight back pure panic.

Hundreds of them were all watching me. Half as many had almost stoned me this morning due to that bizarre and subtle attack. I remembered what Derpy had said in Sugarcube Corner. They were just normal ponies, just like I felt like before all this. They had hopes and fears, and this was even more terrifying to them.

Closing my eyes, I nodded to myself. No, I could do this. I flicked them open a second later, and Vinyl's smile widened a little. "Thank you, everypony, for accepting me into this wonderful town and letting me call it home. Um, I know my stay has been trying for some and I didn't make the best of impressions, but everything Princess Celestia just said is true," I started. I saw the murmurs without needing to hear them as the motion picked up in the crowd.

"I'm just a normal pony, honestly, and all of this is scary to me, too, but trust me when I say this then from that perspective. I'll do everything in my power to keep all of you safe, if only to return the hospitality you've shown me," I finished, nodding to Vinyl. I felt stupid after finishing and more than a little light headed, but the cheers surprised me by exploding out again. They either didn't mind it, or they were humoring me. Hospitality not including the angry mob and rock pelting, of course.

I turned to look back at Vinyl again when a sudden shout came from towards the front of the audience with, "Show us your magic, Mender!" A mare's voice that I knew fairly well. I looked back to the left and shot a skeptical glance to Lyra Heartstrings, who sat right up next to the stage, one forehoof up on it now as she waved the other in the air. A horrified Bon Bon sat next to her, shrinking down slightly as ponies turned to look at them. I smiled and turned more fully towards her as she grinned. Focusing on just her, I tuned out the rest of the crowd and it made me feel a lot better at the same time.

As traumatic a time as our introduction was, I guess she at least deserved that. "Whoa, are you gonna really do it, Dude?" Vinyl asked in amusement. I simply nodded without turning and walked slowly towards the front of the stage.

The runes of pale blue light danced out of my left hoof, expanding in shimmering patterns up my leg as I walked. Soon, my right foreleg, then my back ones also joined in the display as I walked towards the audience. The light from my energy emanation danced as embers off each of my steps, my slower speed making my limp less pronounced and easier on my body. I closed my eyes and felt out in all directions with the magic, feeling the lines of light dance across the stage and show me what was there and what wasn't. It was true. If there was anything that I really loved and appreciated in my life, apart from two special mares, it was my magic. I'd tasted its loss, and that tore me apart on a fundamental level, not considering the physical ones.

I stopped in the middle of the stage, my tail and mane starting to drift freely of their own accord as my magic came to life around me in lines and angles. It felt like a pool of light had expanded under me, and I knew it probably looked similar as the lines branched out from that, glyphs and ancient symbols dancing along them like butterflies. Gravity negation, propulsion, tethering, and barrier manipulation all flowed smoothly out of my thoughts, danced across my body, and became reality around me.

In one smooth motion, I inhaled lightly as I lifted off the ground and drifted into the air. More gasps and cheering caused me to smile to myself as I let my barriers and senses expand out around me. My target was already located, but knowing the absolute area was a good precaution. Lyra gasped, then laughed as I caught her in ribbons of light. The light guided my mind to her, showing me every detail of where she existed so I knew where to manipulate. The barriers lifted her up off the ground and caused her to drift into the sky towards me. She giggled and spun herself, rotating in a front flip before I slowed her and opened my eyes again. She gave me a happy grin as I reached out and bumped hooves with her, but then she gasped as the tendrils of light flexed out from her hoof's contact. She watched the flares come off my hoof, dancing like ribbons through the air towards her, and I smiled at her as her eyes started to shimmer. She thought that was pretty?

Nodding to her, I sent her back down slowly towards Bon Bon as I let myself drift towards the stage again. The back of my head ached lightly as I touched down, but I was happy overall. That was the most I'd done yet without tapping into the book, and I saw that my abilities were growing again. That was a good feeling, even if I was nowhere near what I had before yet. Baby steps.

Magic danced around me like fireflies as my hooves touched down against the hard wood again. I opened my eyes and, if just for a split second, everything was quiet. A light mist drew across the dancing breeze. The crowd was still, frozen mid-cheer as the haze drifted through my head. The little blue filly smiled at me from the front row and nodded, eyes open this time. Whatever color they used to be was lost to nothing but milky white textures mixed with dull grays.

"Remember. You have to remember. You're heading towards a bad outcome again. Will you do it? Remember." Her mouth didn't move as her voice danced in my ears. My eyes widened.

The crowd exploded into cheers, far louder than before and I gave a start, looking around at anything that could have changed. "Whoa! That's some amazing stuff ya got, Mender! Even teleportation. High level magic indeed!" Vinyl exclaimed behind me in surprise. What? Wait, something was...

My magic gently set Lyra down like I'd told it to already without my guidance and pulled back into me. I looked back at both of the mares and saw a surprised and somewhat confused Dash looking back and forth between me and where I used to be in the air. I gave her an equally confused expression back, which caused a spike of apprehension along the link. What had happened? I don't remember...

"Let's get this party started again, then!" Vinyl cheered out, knocking my thoughts out of my head almost instantly. She'd made it back to the sound booth and the music exploded from all around me, volume similar to how I imagined the end of world would compare. Rainbow smirked and nodded to me before bursting forward again. She was such a wonderful mare. I didn't think I'd ever have sweeter thoughts about her as she got me a safer distance away from the stage with those wonderful wings.

* * * * *

"Seriously?" the gray mare asked yet again, lazily resting against one of the many food tables. It seemed to be a pattern for us to meet in similar backdrops.

I sighed and nodded to Octavia. "Yeah. I don't exactly enjoy being so active, you know," I reminded softly.

"A day after almost dying in Canterlot, you almost die in Ponyville instead? Then get hospitalized?" she asked incredulously. Glaring, I gestured down to my left foreleg, the very obvious brace still glittering over it.

"Worst. Luck. Ever! It's kinda his 'other' special talent," Rainbow chipped in before shoving another graham cracker s’more into her mouth. Pinkie grinned across from us while making a few dozen more.

There were uncomfortable amounts of ponies around us at this point. I was more than a little surprised when tons had followed from the concert and started asking me a bunch of questions. I remembered the papers Luna had given me and was able to answer almost everything. I sensed a lot of fear in everypony. They were scared, normal ponies who had taken my speech to heart. I did my best to assure that the danger had diminished and that Celestia was confident in that.

"But you're sure it's safe enough to send the foals and stallions off to the campground next week? Sure, it's a bit uncomfortable if they stay, but..." Carrot Top asked timidly from her spot near the front of the group near us.

I nodded towards her while shifting into a more comfortable position to sit in. My systems reported almost full repair of the damage from earlier, but my stomach was complaining profusely while urging Pinkie to hurry the next set of s’mores. Applejack, who had come out of the crowd earlier after Rainbow had landed, surprised me by scoffing instead.

"Darn tootin'! Princess Luna an' Mender took care o' that thing, an' Mender already plans ta go with an' guard tha cabins," she assured, scrapping at the dirt with her hoof in a somewhat irritated looking manner.

Smiling, I opened my mouth to agree when a high-pitched yelp sounded off behind me. My head perked up in surprise as something impacted the table I sat at and lurched it backwards. I rolled once, sensors picking up the three fillies as they bounced off the table and spilled over backwards. My barriers shot out as I flopped upside down against the tipped over table, and I caught them out of the air. A moment later, things slowed again, and my shield deposited all three next to me. Well, that was unexpected!

Scootaloo got up first and dusted herself off before rapidly turning and looking at her flank. I peeked up at the now destroyed flag line they had apparently descended from. "Aww. I thought party entertainment Cutie Marks was gonna work!" Scootaloo murmured in frustration. Party entertainment? My view shifted to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as Octavia slid over and helped me to my hooves again. Both fillies were wearing a makeshift harness of some sort that had pinwheels and flags sticking out of it. I blinked slowly, then looked back up at the flag line, recognizing the rope in the harness immediately. Huh.

Octavia gave me a deadpan expression after I steadied myself, and then nodded to herself, adding, “Never mind. I’m beginning to see why it’s not that unlikely after all. What’s the prognosis on your leg?” I sat down again, feeling a little dizzy from my roll still, but scooted away from the fallen table as it started to shift again. All three fillies followed after me as Applejack nudged it from the other side and slowly tipped it upright again with her shoulder.

“Oh, Mender!” Sweetie Belle squealed after hopping up onto the other table. I lowered myself just in time for her to throw herself off the top of the table and land on the back of my neck a moment later. Saw that coming.

“It will eventually recover on its own, but it needs lots of exercise to get the muscles built back up,” I explained, gesturing gently with it while the little unicorn shuffled around behind me, getting situated on my back.

Applejack walked around the edge of the table by then and nudged her from behind, letting her stabilize herself and cling to my neck instead. Octavia gave out a smirk and nod towards her, and then the other two fillies. “Friends of yours, I imagine?” she suggested, a knowing smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.

I coughed lightly and averted my eyes, but Apple Bloom was quick enough to pick up the welcome. “Howdy, Ma’am! Ah’m Apple Bloom, an’ this ‘ere is Scootaloo. Mender’s new scarf is Sweetie Belle!” she introduced, earning a rolling series of snickers from the small crowd. Some of them were starting to disperse anyway, I guess being bored at this point. Well, I actually preferred that more than anything. It wasn’t like I spent my day lit up like a lightbulb, exploding periodically, or dodging heavy objects descending from the clouds. As entertaining as that was, I’d much rather just be a normal abomination of nature and engineering. The bad luck was getting a tad much anyway.

“Hey!” Sweetie Belle yelped, followed by, “Scarves are worn in the front! The back is more for capes!” I frowned, not entirely certain that was the point, but Octavia giggled and nodded regardless.

“And a very fine cape you are, Miss Sweetie Belle. I’m sure Mender, Savior of the Canterlot Orchestra, is honored to have you,” the gray mare assured in a whimsical and rather theatric tone.

It was my turn to give her a deadpan glare, but Sweetie disrupted my attempt with a sudden, surprised cooing noise before tightening her grip on my neck with a hug.

“Whoa. Mender saved the orchestra?!” Scootaloo asked, perking to attention instantly at that. I slapped my forehead with a hoof.

“O’ course! Don’t ya read, Scootaloo? It was all over in tha papers…” Apple Bloom chirped, giving her orange friend a nudge in the shoulder and getting a glare back. Well, it might have been a glare. It was slightly harder to see now that they’d systematically destroyed the line of lights above us with their ‘entertainment’ attempt.

I coughed lightly to draw their attention again, and not at all to distract from the topic at hand with a timely diversion. “T-That’s not important! Anyway, this lovely mare is-“ I started to properly introduce.

Pink exploded to my right before I could finish as the pink mare herself popped up between the seat and table of the picnic table, knocking the two seated fillies flying into me as she hopped onto the seat and bounced happily. Eh?! Turning, I caught Apple Bloom in my forelegs and tried to catch Scootaloo, but she made a fast buzzing noise and hovered up over my head, landing on it a second later. Sweetie Belle just giggled as she spun, and I frowned, suddenly finding myself ‘wearing’ three fillies. “Now you’re the scarf, Apple Bloom!” Sweetie chided in a playful tone from my back.

“This is Octavia Melody, of the Grand Canterlot Orchestra! She’s the super duper amazing head cellist in it!” Pinkie announced, dramatically flailing her forelegs out at the startled gray mare.

To my surprise, Octavia narrowed her eyes at Pinkie instead. “Ah yes. Pinkie Pie. I should have known you’d be here…” she muttered, glaring at my overly pink and excitable friend. Whoa! The hostility I suddenly detected was phenomenal.

“Well of course I’d be here! Biggest party of the year, and I so totally came up with it. I mean, why wouldn’t I be here? My most awesome friend Mender is the guest of honor and everything after I kinda accidentally poisoned him and then spilled acid all over him and then injured his leg which was already injured from falling out of a tree while trying to save a little baby bird who’d stumbled out of the nest after it had problems flying and tried to prove that it could after its mommy left to go get another set of worms for them and ran into Fluttershy who was inquiring as to where Mender was in the first place!” Pinkie gasped out.

There was dead silence as everyone stared blankly at her. Even Octavia had shifted from irritated to more bewildered at that point. "Pinkie... I think he forgave you for most of that stuff already..." Rainbow pointed out, holding her hoof to her forehead. I blinked, but nodded after my processor had caught up with the rambling.

"Oh, I know that! But I promised him a super awesome party and I keep my promises!" she corrected, nodding twice before grinning at me again. I smiled at her and started to nod when a series of rapid fire flashes to my left startled me. My head turned just in time to see Twilight of all mares with her face literally an inch from mine.

My totally natural reaction, of course, was to yelp in panic and flail backwards. "Sorry! Gotta borrow Mender real fast!" she squeaked out faster than I could fall over before grabbing me around the waist. The world rapidly disappeared into a wrinkle as reality seemed to fall in upon us and we were yanked sideways a hundredth of a second later.

* * * * *

After a few dozen compressions and expansions, I was feeling remarkably similar to how I imagined a slinky must feel. It was a fun spring toy I used to love playing with as a little Keldarian kitten and could have kept me entertained for hours, but it wasn't pleasant being treated like one. Well, technically it wasn't 'me' who played with the toy, but the memory felt fond regardless and served as a good example.

My head spun as I fell out of probably the thirtieth expansion and the world finally stopped moving. I groaned as Twilight let me go, only for me to fall onto a soft bed with three fillies spilling out after me. Oh hell. She hauled them along, too? "Oh... oh wow. My stomach feels like it's upside down..." Scootaloo groaned, rolling over and flopping onto her back as her eyes spun.

"Please make it stop. Ah wanna get off..." Apple Bloom groaned, sliding to her stomach and just lying there next to me. My sympathy extended to her, as my head spun, too. Only a light groan came from Sweetie, who still clung fiercely to my back with mastered conviction, refusing to let go.

Twilight looked shocked suddenly, looking at all three fillies. "Eh?! Girls? Wait, why did you come along, too? I should have only grabbed Mender..." she muttered.

"They were kinda holding on to me..." I informed in a low voice, lying in a still position on the covers. At least the landing had been soft. My sense of smell picked up Twilight all over the surface, and I realized this must be her bed. Why was I back at the library suddenly?

A light giggle sounded to the right, and I recognized the tone as Twilight Velvet almost instantly. My head rotated to find both of Twilight's parents sitting there, watching me and the fillies. Well, this was weird. Had I forgotten about something again? My mind strained, and I pondered making a program to run that would keep track of important points I tossed into it. Surely a database was better than my crappy memory.

"Don't mind us, Mender. Under proper unicorn tradition, we're simply here to make sure you properly consummate your relationship by observing," Twilight Velvet assured. My stomach lurched into the bottom of my lungs and I momentarily gagged, breaking into a coughing fit as I rolled to my side, gasping. What?!

Night Light gave her a slightly annoyed glare, and Twilight shot out, "Mother!" Eh? Oh, wait. I was being teased again... Damn it.

Twilight Velvet burst into snickering and I realized I'd been conned. "Consu-wha?" Sweetie Belle asked a moment later, looking up from my neck. Oh. Oh yeah. Oops. Well, it technically wasn't my fault, as I hadn't been the one to say that.

"Don't care. Too dizzy..." Scootaloo groaned, eyes closed now as she held both sides of her head with her forehooves. Oh, that might have been particularly bad for a pegasus.

Night Light sighed and shook his head, giving his wife a final irked glare before turning back to me and nodding. "Actually, we simply wanted to talk to you before we headed back to the hotel room. It's important, although I hadn't expected my overly excitable daughter to immediately retrieve you. I'd specified in a few minutes..." he explained, raising an eyebrow past me to the now lightly blushing Twilight, who looked away. Heh. I could agree with that description.

Slowly, I managed to sit upright on the bed. Sweetie slowly slid down my back until she landed on my tail and walked over to help Apple Bloom up. A few seconds later, I felt a light impact on my head and peeked upwards in time to see Owlowiscious look down at me. He gave a 'hoo' noise a moment later, and I nodded. Eh, I made a good perch I guess. "I'll answer anything I can, of course. I, um, want to be as helpful as possible," I muttered, deciding to just ignore the owl sitting on my head. How had I missed him all this time?!

"That's a good start. Why do you want to be as helpful as possible?" her father asked almost instantly, taking me aback.

"Well, I'm not very good at first impressions and I really wanted to, um, make a good one on Twilight's parents? I mean, not that I ever want to make a bad impression per say, but I'm very good at being, uh, awkward I suppose?' I tried to explain. The longer I went on, the more her mother giggled, but her dad just raised an eyebrow up.

"Why do you want to make a good impression on us, is more what I meant," he furthered skeptically.

Aww, crap. I'd screwed up the very first question. Starting to sweat a little, I shook my head rapidly. "Ah, sorry. I really, really care about Twilight and her parents are obviously important to her, so I didn't want to goof up and upset anypony important to her?" The longer I talked, the more idiotic I thought I sounded, of course. More giggling came from Twilight Velvet, but Night Light just averted his eyes over at her with a questioning glance before looking back to me.

He stared at me for an extremely uncomfortable thirty seconds or so before nodding and asking, "If things continue on this path, do you intend to marry my daughter?" My stomach flipped. What kind of question was that?!

"Dad!" Twilight squeaked, as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle started giggling. Scootaloo gave out a groan and slowly sat up again, looking around as if she didn't quite know where she was.

"If she'll have me, yes," I admitted, blushing lightly at the thought. After everything I'd been through over the last month, all I could honestly be certain of were my feelings regarding the two mares. Nothing beyond them was stable in my life, and I had already realized a while ago that they were the ones I really, really wanted to protect. I cared for all of my friends, but...

Twilight went from squeaking to a drawn out gasp as her head whipped around to look at me. "Yes! You two are so cute together… Plus, marriage is important for establishing a herd!" Sweetie Belle chipped in suddenly, hopping up into the air next to me and giving me a happy, blushing smile. I gave her an amused smirk, but she just grinned fully before hugging my left foreleg. Well, I knew her vote in the matter, anyway.

Night Light seemed surprised for once. He stared at me for a moment before tilting his head. "Your other answers were hesitant. All except that one. Why are you so sure of that?" he asked, shifting to a more neutral look.

Well, that answer was a lot easier to explain, anyway. "I've not had a wonderful life, but Twilight and Fluttershy are the best things to have happened to me since, well, ever. I'm not really sure about anything really, except for those two facts. I've already made that choice before, but I know I'd do anything to protect them. Anything," I answered, frowning down towards the floor. I remembered that exact feeling as I held my burning hoof up in an alien spaceship. I'd do anything I had to in order to make sure nothing hurt Twilight and Fluttershy. They were highest on my priority to guard, beyond even Equestria itself.

My eyes widened slightly as I felt the warm fur push into my right side. I looked over in time to see purple as Twilight lightly kissed my cheek. "I agree," she murmured, smiling towards me before continuing. "I used to think I didn't need friendship, but the Elements of Harmony opened my eyes wide to that. I don't think I've ever closed them afterwards. Romance and a coltfriend was something I, well, never thought would be for me. Mender started as my friend and I don't think I really noticed the transition. He still is my friend, but so much more now. Now I can't, and don't want to imagine not having him here."

One probably could have fried up an egg on my face at that point. She grinned at my reaction, and I finally saw Night Light smile towards us. "Yes, I can see that now. From your letters, I know it hasn't exactly been a painless ride so far, but the very fact that you're still together should be a good sign. I've also heard from others that you have morals and character. I'll accept you," he finally agreed. My eyes widened drastically, but her mother stepped up before I could say anything.

"I already had accepted you. Stallions get a certain look in their eyes when they stare at a mare they truly care for and see a future with, and you have a shine to yours I haven't seen since I met my husband. Almost like you'd be lost without them," she cooed, smiling again. Heh. She had no idea how accurate that last part was. If it wasn't for Twilight and Fluttershy, I'd have gone crazy by now. I didn't know if this was the right choice, but I didn't want to lose her. Was it selfish to want something like that even when I wasn't entirely sure what I was? Twilight knew enough about me to make an educated choice, however.

Still, I turned and looked at Twilight for confirmation. She was blushing noticeably, even in the dim light of the library loft. Her smile was definitely there, however, as she leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips. I joined in smiling after she pulled back, but a high-pitched, drawn out cooing noise distracted me. It didn't take long for me to locate the little white unicorn filly as the source. She wore a massive grin as she watched us, and I snickered, rubbing her on the top of the head.

"Oooh, good with foals. He's a keeper, my daughter," Twilight Velvet added a moment later. I barely resisted groaning.

"Why does everypony say that?!" I asked, turning around and giving a frustrated glance at her mother.

Twilight caught me off guard by answering instead with, "Hmm, you're right. Applejack and Fluttershy already pointed it out, and now my mom, too, who has experience in such. Empirical Evidence thus points to you indeed being good with foals!" Slowly, my head turned to glare at her instead, noticing she sported a rather impish grin. She was teasing me!

"But you are! We have a lot of fun around you, and you make me feel really safe," Sweetie added, leading to a light yet sugary stab into my chest. The filly gave me rather large eyes, almost begging for me to believe her.

"Ah think she's right, o' course. Just based on what ya did fer us, yer ah dependable pony. Sis says dependable is ah darn good thing, so Ah guess that makes ya good in mah book," Apple Bloom agreed.

Both turned and looked at Scootaloo, who looked like she was zoning out. A moment later, she perked and looked at both of them before apparently vaguely realizing that she was supposed to say something. "Oh, yeah, yeah. Uh, Rainbow Dash says he's cool, so he's cool," she tacked on. Sweetie kept staring blankly at her, and Apple Bloom smacked her forehead with a hoof. I couldn't help but snicker at their antics.

"This is perfect! Well, I, for one, fully approve! Night Light does, too," Twilight Velvet started suddenly, snapping my attention back to her. Wait, what?!

"Wait, I do?" Night Light questioned, looking over at her in shock. Oh yeah, he had only said he ‘accepted’ me, which was different from approval I suppose.

She continued, however, as if he weren’t even in the room, with, "You may have our daughter's hoof in marriage, and give us lots of foals! See if you can beat Shining. He's being a slowpoke with Cadence." Oh hell. My mind jumped to a really terrible pun there and I blushed, but Twilight hopped up into the air and thankfully distracted me.

"Thank you, Mom! I'm, well, I've never been so certain that I've wanted something before, and I'm really glad you both approve," she thanked, nodding to both of them in turn.

"I do?" her father asked again, a bit more annoyed sounding this time.

Uh oh. This wouldn't do. "Do you approve, Sir? I'd like your approval as well," I requested, interrupting them ignoring him and attempting to patch the damage.

Night Light looked surprised, but stared at me for a good long second before sighing. His wife smiled softly over at him, looking curious as he nodded finally. "Fine. You're, well, your head is on properly. You have a good sense of morals and are far better than I feared, but you'd better not hurt my daughter!" he warned, shifting to a glare instead.

Swallowing, I rapidly shook my head and held my hooves up in assurance. I didn't get a chance to respond, however, when movement caught my eye heading up the stairs instead. Unexpectedly, the entire crew wandered up, somehow having located us. "Twitchy twitch! See? He's even easier to locate using my Pinkie Sense!" the pink one announced upon beating everypony to the top of the stairs. Eh?! I was?

"Darn Tootin'. It's ah good thing, too! Twi, ya know it's rude ta snatch somepony away in tha middle o' conversation," Applejack pointed out, following after Pinkie. Rainbow followed her, and last was both Vinyl and Octavia walking side by side. Wait, Vinyl? My ears perked up, but sure enough, I still heard the music playing outside.

She smirked as she looked over at me, however, and shook her electric blue mane. "It's on record right now. I get breaks, too, ya know!" Vinyl explained, smirking at me. I snickered, but Night Light surprised me yet again by letting out a sharp gasp, having turned and looked at the new intruders.

"N-No! It can't be... But you're famous..." he muttered, eyes expanding as he took a couple steps forward. Oh?

Vinyl smirked and nodded to him, holding a hoof up. "Aw yeah! A fan! I got this, don't worry..." she assured. Night Light rushed past her a moment later.

"Please, Miss Octavia, will you grant me a humble autograph? I own all of your records and simply love your performance over in Manehatten at the Golden Shell!" he gushed out, disrupting Vinyl's sentence completely.

Vinyl slowly turned around and stared blankly at them, and I swore I heard Twilight's mother mutter, "Here we go..."

Octavia almost gave a knowing smirk towards Vinyl before nodding pleasantly. "But of course! Any friend of Mender's definitely deserves my attention," she agreed, slipping a record out of her saddlebag and setting it down on the floor, pulling a pen out with her teeth. I watched her with fascination as she managed to deftly write her name across the front of the record sleeve before handing it up to Night Light. He was the last stallion on earth I ever thought I'd hear squeal.

"A limited edition version of River Blossom Waltz?! No, no way! H-How much is...?!" he asked, starting to shake after his outburst was completed.

"I can't take him anywhere..." Twilight Velvet groaned, rubbing a hoof to her forehead and shooting me a helpless glance. I shrugged and smiled towards her, kind of amused by the sudden shift in demeanor.

Octavia shook her head and gave him the record regardless. "I've a few on commission, and like I said... Mender saved my life. Making the father of the mare he loves happy is nothing in comparison," she politely explained, smiling gently towards him.

I hadn't expected him to move so fast. He zipped backwards and over to me an instant later, and I suddenly found myself in the most awkward and uncomfortable embrace of my life. "You saved the life of an irreplaceable pony! You're forgiven on all accounts. Please, I accept you into this family with open hooves!" he squeaked out, shivering against me. The cologne he was wearing made me want to sneeze, which would have been even more awkward. Twilight blinked, and then shot us a skeptical look after she was shoved partially out of the way.

After an awkward ten seconds, in which Rainbow started to snicker, Twilight Velvet finally scoffed and hopped forwards, hauling him off me. "Leave the snuggling to Twilight, Dear. Don't forget you have me for that. Speaking of, we should get back to our hotel room," she reminded, tossing on multiple layers of awkward implication.

He coughed lightly before nodding. "Ah, yes. Well, I imagine we'll see more of you tomorrow before heading back to Canterlot. I must talk with you more about what happened at the party!" he suggested before getting prodded into moving by his wife again. I smiled politely and nodded to him, of course, if only to be relieved of the awkward situation a second ago.

"Oh, and, well," he started muttering again, stamping his hooves back and forth nervously as he was shoved closer towards Octavia, who had walked up next to Vinyl again.

"Dear..." Twilight Velvet added, pushing him past the two mares rather rapidly with her shoulder, rolling her eyes.

He started to protest when Octavia raised a hoof and silenced him instantly. "I'm a good friend of Mender's, so we'll undoubtedly see each other again, Mr. Night Light. Vinyl and I shall undoubtedly play at any occasion Mender hosts as well," she assured, causing his eyes to expand rapidly.

"D-Did you hear that, Velvet?! She knows my name!" he squeaked, looking excited. Rainbow had both hooves in her mouth at this point, face shifting red as her whole body shook from trying so hard not to laugh. Pinkie simply swayed happily and nodded in agreement, probably having already decided to invite the two musicians to future parties. She already knew Vinyl, after all.

Twilight's mother gave a sigh and nodded. "Of course, Dear. Now, um, well..." she started before averting her eyes and coughing lightly, nodding pleasantly towards me as a farewell. Then she shifted back to him and added, "Pre-Heat! Get moving! Hotel! Now!"

He let out a yelp and booked down the stairs almost instantly. Twilight Velvet turned and winked to us on the bed before following slowly after him. Twilight herself looked more ready to shrink down and disappear, however. A long squeal came from Rainbow's direction, and she finally exploded into laughter, falling over onto her back as she rolled about. Pinkie joined in, of course, if not to simply roll next to her.

"Well, that was awkward. Almost as awkward as Twilight shouting to the whole town that Mender hasn't gotten any..." Vinyl observed, scratching her temple while re-adjusting her glasses. Oh hell. I really needed to be reminded of that...

Twilight let out a low groan and sank back down onto the bed. I felt myself tint a light pink and coughed as Rainbow's laughter got louder, adding leg flailing into the mix. Pinkie got kicked a second later and giggled merrily as she spun out across the loft's floor. A light fluttering came to my ears, however, alongside a distractingly happy sensation drifting up my spine. I felt her before turning, but looked and smiled back over my shoulder anyway.

Fluttershy drifted up and over the balcony a moment later, looking about before nodding and smiling towards me, landing next to us on the bed. "I left before she went to get you. Um, I wanted to give her parents privacy..." the yellow mare whispered upon landing.

Smiling, I nodded to her softly before kissing her on the cheek. She returned my expression while blushing lightly. Sweetie Belle made another happy giggle, finding herself cushioned between Fluttershy's and my hips. Applejack shook her head finally at Rainbow's antics before sticking a hoof out and stopping the cyan pegasus, mid-roll.

"Don't ya think yer makin' Mender an' Twi feel bad, Dash?" she pointed out, gesturing towards the two of us. Apple Bloom perked up at that and peeked around Sweetie, as if checking on me to see how accurate that was. I gave her an assuring smile. Scootaloo finally sat up as well, looking more than a little groggy, but appeared to be recovering from her apparent first teleportation experience.

Rainbow gave a jerk and sat up, staring over at both of us. Twilight still had her face buried in the sheets, and Fluttershy lightly massaged her back to try to calm her down. "W-What? No, I wasn't trying to rub it in or anything. It was just funny that she shouted it so loud," Dash tried to explain.

"Ah think they got that much, Rainbow. How 'bout we just drop it?" Applejack suggested, tilting her head towards her cyan friend.

There was a slight hesitation before Rainbow nodded again and sat up fully again. Octavia nodded before reasonably adding, "It's probably wise. I doubt anypony really paid it much attention, plus they've only been dating about four weeks now. It's totally within reason to go slowly." I blinked at her before considering it. Yeah, it really had only been four weeks or so. Plus, I spent at least half of that time either hospitalized or in a coma. Oh, and we'd only made it official about two weeks ago.

Vinyl shook her head and gave a nonchalant hoof wave, however. "Psh, I was only teasing anyway. I'm actually pleasantly surprised that they aren't rushing inta things. Makes for a nice change of pace from what I normally see in the club scene," she corrected, sounding a bit annoyed for some reason. I detected a bad experience in the past in that regard, and decided it was best not to ask. At least not at this very moment.

"Ah'd like ta point out that Ah have no idea what ya'all are talkin' 'bout," Apple Bloom suddenly declared, raising her hoof up to draw more attention to herself. Oh, oh yeah. Those three probably shouldn't know about things like that yet.

Her big sister nodded, agreeing with, "That's ah darn good thing! Ah'm also thinkin' we should be headin' on back ta tha farm. We got ah long day tomorrow, gettin' ya set up ta go with yer big brother."

Apple Bloom let out a stifled groan before sinking down onto the covers. I smiled down at her before nodding gently, my right hoof lighting up and lifting her into the air with a barrier. She giggled as the barrier extended, sliding her along it in a dip before flipping her into the air and onto her sister's back as she stood up. My surprise spiked as Applejack gave me the first open smile since the incident, adding a nod to me as she adjusted her snickering sister on her back.

Rainbow yawned and stood as well, glancing towards us as Twilight finally looked up again. "Um, I'm gonna walk with AJ. My cloud house is in that direction anyway. Oh, and sorry if I upset ya," she apologized after a moment's hesitation.

Twilight managed to smile weakly before shaking her head. "No, I just feel stupid for doing it. I let myself get too worked up trying to have Mender impress my parents," she explained, looking away from her two friends and averting her gaze in my direction instead.

Octavia snickered and shook her head, interrupting with, "I believe he made a good impression regardless. I don't believe you had anything to worry about, Twilight." Well, that was to be excused. Octavia didn't know me very well, and didn't realize exactly how badly a situation involving me could turn out. A light 'hoo' came from my head in agreement, and I momentarily freaked out, realizing Owlowiscious was still sitting on my head. How did he do that?! It's like he just blended into nonexistence in the background whenever he wanted!

Rainbow nodded, halting Applejack again as she headed for the stairs down. "Of course! I think that's the best first impression Mender's ever made! Don't forget, he met me when I blew him up," she reminded a moment later, earning a groan from me.

Applejack smiled and nodded instead, suddenly perking up and looking straight at me. I got a little nervous before she smiled again, adding, "Almost forgot. Drop by tha farm before ya head out tomorrow, Mender. Mah brother'll show ya tha way an' walk with ya." Oh! That was indeed helpful. It would be nice having somepony I knew to walk with and assure me I was wandering vaguely in the right direction. Spike was set to come with as well.

I nodded politely. "I'll head over after I'm done at Pinkie's. I'm going to take measurements of their main room so I can get some designs drawn up while I'm gone," I explained a moment later. Applejack momentarily looked surprised, but Pinkie hopped up again in an instant despite being on her back just a moment ago. Damn, she had recovered fast!

"Oooh, you're going to be doing that neat job the Cake's wanted with their front room?! I can't wait! Not only will it be super fun to watch, but it saves us so much effort with running to each table!" the pink one squealed out excitedly.

Twilight's ears perked about and she looked over at me curiously. I attempted to mouth 'later' to her, but she nodded, so I assumed she figured it out. Applejack gave Pinkie an unsure stare, however. "Are ya sure ya should be movin' like that, Pinkie? Ah don't want ya hurting yerself," she asked, sounding rather concerned.

Pinkie rapidly shook her head, however. "I'm fine! I even went to the doctor's today before the party and they said I'm healing up, like, way faster than they've ever seen! So I'm good to go!" she exclaimed. Wait, what? That sounded a little, well, weird.

Applejack's frown intensified, but Rainbow just shrugged and pointed out, "Hey, you've seen how much raw energy she puts out. She did slow down for a few days so all that energy had to go somewhere. Maybe she has super healing?" I rolled my eyes but mentally agreed. It was probably just Pinkie being... Pinkie.

"Eh, Ah guess tha important thing is yer doin' better. We'll be headin' home then. See ya tomorrow, you two!" With that, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Rainbow Dash headed down the stairs. Pinkie stood there, grinning at me still as she almost vibrated in place. Was she that excited to see this thing built?

Twilight watched her for a moment, almost in a daze before sighing herself. I shifted my attention over to her just in time to see her nod. "Applejack's right, of course. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow, and Mender even longer, so I suppose we should get some rest," she muttered after another moment.

"Psh, where's the fun in that?" Vinyl asked almost instantly.

Octavia rolled her eyes a moment later before reminding, "Not everypony is nocturnal like you are, Vinyl. Let's go and let Mender rest. We can say goodbye to him at the farewell tomorrow before I take off myself. You're sure you're okay with me staying at your, uh, pad, was it?"

"Heck yeah! You're always welcome, Tavi! And trust me, we'll be there, Mender!" Vinyl Scratch assured before nodding to Octavia. After they reached the stairs, our group dwindled down to six. Well, seven if you counted my exotic headdress.

Twilight watched them go as well for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Well, I'd better go get the Casanova from Rarity's. Come on, you two. Sweetie Belle can be dropped off there, and Scootaloo can be dropped off on the way," she decided. I smirked, almost able to watch her plan out the shortest possible route.

"Aww, do we have to?" Sweetie asked, shuffling up further between Fluttershy and me and wrapping her forelegs around my hip. I lifted an eyebrow and peeked down at her, but she was more intent on shooting Twilight a brutal set of sad eyes. Unfortunately, it was super-ineffective, it would seem, as Twilight wasn't even looking.

"Yup! You get to hang out with Mender for a week starting tomorrow, which will start a lot sooner the faster you go to bed, you realize?" Twilight reasoned. Well, that was technically a false statement. Tomorrow wouldn't get here any faster regardless of her sleeping or not, but I suppose it was all about perspective.

Scootaloo nodded and managed to get back up into a sitting position a moment later. "Fine. Just so long as there's no more teleporting..." she groaned, clutching at her stomach again. I was suddenly glad I wasn't a pegasus.

"I'll come with as well! Sugarcube Corner is on the way," Pinkie chirped, standing upright fully. Oh, I guess everypony was leaving then. That only left...

My gaze shifted towards Fluttershy, who was staring off into space. She sat there with a blank expression for a moment before nodding gently. "Yes, I suppose I'd best get home, too," she finally admitted, smiling over at me. There was a hesitation as she glanced at me, and her expression flickered to a frown a moment later.

Oh, the link. It was true to some extent, of course. A part of me just wanted the day to last forever. It wasn't just that I was enjoying the party. Part of me was enjoying a quiet night for once, and I didn't want to see all of the company leave. It took me a moment, but I realized loneliness was starting to creep up on me.

Fluttershy started to open her muzzle to say something, but Twilight cut in with, "Oh, I'll walk with you then, Fluttershy. No sense in you walking by yourself in the dark," Twilight offered, not giving her much choice in the matter regardless as she spun around on the bed to look at both of us. The mare next to me hesitated, but I nodded softly to her. She frowned, but sighed before nodding back over at Twilight instead.

Both mares got off the bed, and Twilight nodded back to me as soon as Pinkie caught up. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Mender. You don't need to stay up and wait for me if you're tired," she offered. Heh, I would anyway, but it was a kind gesture. She stopped for a moment again, then glanced back at Scootaloo with a raised eyebrow.

Heh. Smirking now, I simply waited for it. "Sweetie, come on," Twilight called back, looking back over at me. Busted. My tail let out a dejected groan before Sweetie shuffled out from under it, revealing her hiding spot. My lavender fillyfriend rolled her eyes before lifting the filly up with magic and hauling her along.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mender!" Sweetie called out rapidly before being pulled down the stairs a moment later. Well, that was tiring. She really seemed to like me for some reason. Huh. Eh, I was probably thinking about it too hard. Closing my eyes slowly, I heard Twilight shout out downstairs that the library was closing, followed by a lot of ponies walking. That meant I was all alone again.

Seconds passed as I listened to the silence in a paradoxical sense. I felt her before I opened my eyes, and sighed. "You're never really alone, Mender," she whispered into my left ear. At this point, I was too tired to bother. My tentacles didn't extend, but my mind sliced her head off with a thought. My mind. That's the only place she resided, so I had complete control over her in theory.

An echoing giggle as her form burned away again. My eyes slowly opened, the blue glow shining across the room as I looked around. My hat let out a 'hoo' noise, but it was low and quiet. Almost depressed sounding. "Yeah. I'm lonely, too. But at least we have each other," I offered, standing up and walking towards the bathroom.

Owlowiscious hopped off my head and took to the air ahead of me, fluttering into the bathroom and landing on the sink gently, seconds before I hopped up on it as well and extended a barrier towards the toothpaste. "There's something oddly comforting in just talking to you. Maybe I should get a friend like you to just hang out with every day," I muttered gently, manipulating the brush into scrubbing my teeth down.

A pet. Was I responsible enough for one? Not really. I needed actual income if I were to be able to support anything, myself included. I was hesitant at best at the payment Celestia was offering me for this strange new position, after all. I'd at least have to figure out if she merely assigned it as an excuse to cover my public identity before coming to any decisions about it. The timing was very convenient indeed.

Opening the door after I flushed the toilet, a tingling sensation greeted me again. A slight static across my vision drifted, for just a moment, and I sighed. Madness was persistent tonight, it would seem. She sat near Twilight's bed, smiling at me with her detached jaw and bleeding skull. I paused, remembering the lake and stepping forwards, apprehension instead of fear. Owlowiscious landed on my head again oddly, staying with me rather than flying into the room again.

"Stupid bird. Doesn't it know it sits on a monster?" she questioned, eyes devoid of pupils as her body became more and more decayed with each visit. Technically not true, as she shouldn't have a head at all if that was her real corpse. No, she was only in my mind.

"Shut up. The biggest monster is locked away on Keela's ship right now, rotting in a cell. You're just an aspect of my slowly slipping sanity," I whispered into my head, not giving her the satisfaction of a verbal response this time.

She smirked wider, cracking noises sounding off as the right side of her mouth drooped. She heard me, which only further proved my statement that she was only in my head. "We're a monster, too, Mender. I'm you. The you who did this to her. Wasn't it so tasty to tear her apart? Why do you keep up this act?" she questioned.

"Even if I'm not a real pony, I have at least two mares who lo- care for me as if I were. If pretending to be a real pony makes them happy, so be it. I'll do anything for them," I agreed, ignoring her entirely and hopping past, up onto Twilight's bed this time.

Her head made a cracking noise as her neck twisted, face following my motions rather than tracking me with her sightless eyes. I'd only hesitated slightly, but I realized she probably picked up on that. "Oh? Do they care for you, or do they pity you? Maybe they just don't want their new toy to break or get too sad?" she suggested in a singsong voice. Yup, she picked up on it and was trying to play off my insecurities.

"And maybe you're just a cute little boot program that is loaded on my hard drives somewhere that's about to get deleted?" I offered back, silently staring over at her as her grin widened.

There was a slight flickering. Almost a graphical distortion along her image. A small whisper of blue. Yes, the sound blue makes drifted into my head. Okay, that was weird. I frowned as my hoof touched down on something hard while walking. Glancing down instead, I saw Prudentia lying on the covers of the bed. Oh. It was never far away, was it?

"Please, don't forget. If you continue on this path, it will happen again. Don't forget," came in a whisper behind me. I saw her image before even turning to look. The little blue filly sat on the edge of the bed, a light haze suddenly having gathered in the room. Owlowiscious was frozen in place a little past the bed, sitting on nothingness suddenly. I moved again. Or did everything else move?

"You! No. Get away from him. You're supposed to be dead!" the oh-so lovable Nirru-Twilight-thing suddenly shouted from my left side. Well, this just kept getting better and better. Now the voices in my head were arguing about something I had no clue on.

The small filly turned to look at her instead, losing the seemingly perpetual smile she seemed to wear. "You've fallen. You have no voice anymore," she whispered, barely even audible. Her eyes looked so sad. The creature next to me screamed in annoyance and lunged a moment later. My tentacles tore into its side before it even cleared a meter. I'd gotten faster.

Its body shattered, for lack of better words. It became a distortion of color before branching out into its separate prism components. Data could be seen inside the color, and my eyes widened before the creature screamed and winked out of existence. That was new. To my surprise, the young filly looked just as shocked as me. A moment passed and she turned back to me, slowly. Or maybe no time passed at all.

"You protected me," she whispered, in a surprised tone. It wasn't a question, but I nodded regardless.

"You feel kind to me. Call it gut instinct if you want, but you remind me of Fluttershy," I whispered back, purely in my mind. She paused before that soft smile returned, and I nodded to her. "You're Prudentia, aren't you?" I asked gently, off another gut instinct.

"I'm me. Prudentia is me. I'm not Prudentia, however. You are, well, not him. The old master. You are... clear. Clean. I like you. Maybe the path can be changed," she suggested, saying the most she'd ever had to me, ever.

"What path?" I questioned, tilting my head to her.

There was a pause, and she smiled fully. "Soon." It was in my mind, not from her lips. Owlowiscious let out a panicked hooting noise as I blinked. My eyebrow raised up as he flailed in midair, flying again as he landed on the bedpost instead, looking startled and confused. Time had skipped backwards again, just a second or so.

"Ah, sorry. Guess I'm more tired than I realized if I knocked you off. Accident. I'm very sorry," I apologized, blatantly lying through my teeth. Prudentia wasn't what I thought it was, that's for sure. Looking down, I noticed it in front of me again and smiled. It was never far away. Oddly, I took a strange sort of comfort in that fact. I touched the book and watched it float up, resting on the nightstand again. Yes. It was a good idea to keep it close.

Settling in, I looked up at the ceiling and waited for Twilight to get back. Owlowiscious gave a displeased hoot before fluttering up and landing on his stand that I'd never noticed before near Twilight's writing desk. Yes, things were moving forwards. I didn't know why I felt that way, but it seemed right. Now I just needed to figure out where we were going...

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