Chapter 43
I wobbled slightly, and then took the fourth measurement, careful to keep my balance as I jotted the number down next to me on the pad of paper. My pad of paper. It was the first item I'd bought with my own bits. Well, I'd also bought several pencils alongside it. It was kinda embarrassing. Twilight had hauled me to Sofas and Quills in the morning after we'd gotten to the Cake's and realized I had nothing to write with. Mrs. Cake fought valiantly in attempts to give me a sizable down-payment towards the project, but I managed to negotiate it down to twenty bits after almost half an hour of arguing. It was almost like she wasn't used to haggling in the other direction before! Regardless, it was overly enough to buy some supplies for me.
The saddlebag was a little overkill, however. Shaking my head, I peeked down at the crisscross navy blue straps across my barrel and stomach, firmly securing the saddlebags, which themselves were attached to rotating spindles sewn directly into the leather of the harness. If I hadn't realized Rarity made it and put gemstones on it, I'd have thought it was for military use. It didn't help that I could feel the durability enhancement and protection magic dancing through the leather. Well, it looked like leather. I was actually unsure of what they were made out of. I was rather thankful for the swiveling bags themselves, however. I could access them upside-down this way.
Speaking of... I smiled up at Pinkie again, well, from my orientation. She was technically below me, gravity-wise. I rested on her back, lying on my back as well, and faced the ceiling of Sugarcube Corner. I had no idea where she got stilts or how she got them on, but there they were. Further, I was tied to her back, upside down as she walked along and I took measurements of the ceiling. Probably not the brightest or safest idea, but I had a feeling at least Scootaloo would be proud.
Using a barrier, I slipped the pencil back into one of the many loops along the underside of Rarity's saddlebag harness, sliding my measuring tape off the seal on the other end of the room. "I've got enough measurements for the large part of the room now, Pinkie. We need to get the loading area next, which is over by the cash register," I relayed, examining my notes as I felt us start to rotate.
"Roger, Boss!" she chirped, sounding like she was having way too much fun with this. Of course, she had looked delighted when I agreed to the idea, it being marginally better than Twilight trying to find a ladder in her basement.
"I'm not your boss, Pinkie..." I reminded. Again. It was met by yet another giggle as she walked along, humming happily.
"Oh, I know, Boss. I just don't have ponies accepting my plans very often, so I gotta make sure you're treated well, too!" she explained, making it difficult to hold back a sigh. Admittedly, this plan was a bit unorthodox, but it was getting the job done. Who was I to argue form over function? I was just an abomination of science, after all.
Twilight scurried along under us, moving tables out of Pinkie's way, frantically trying to make sure she didn't trip on anything. I somehow actually doubted that would happen, even if we were walking over an oiled mud pit full of rampaging Kronkshaws. Pinkie's balance was unreal, and she seemed to function at maximum reaction speed even when humming along and swaying happily. For a moment, I kinda wondered if she was Unit 001 in actuality. I never did figure out where the first unit went.
A mild dash of guilt slipped through me as I shifted my eyes to the fully repaired video in my inner screen. It had been repaired for a while now. Yet something made me not want to watch it. What was I afraid of? What could it possibly reveal to me that could be more painful than realizing that everything I was, was fake? Could it be worse than realizing that my ultimate goal of being accepted as a normal pony was impossible? I swallowed weakly as I stared at it, feeling that anger and frustration bubbling up inside of me again.
Another giggle. "Mmm, you smell good," Pinkie complimented under me, shifting to a halt finally, directly under the corner of the cash register area connected to the kitchen.
"Uh, thanks?" I offered back, unsure of what to make of the pink mare as I connected my measuring tape to the wall. Of course, she kinda smelled good, too. Kinda like a cake with frosting, but that could have been simply from her job here. A certain deeper, spicier scent also mixed in with it, but I didn't question the depth of what they made in the kitchen.
Twilight groaned under us somewhere, whacking one of the firmly rooted stilts with her hoof, sending a light vibration up to us. "Pinkie! You said you could do this and behave," she reminded a moment later. I blinked, stopping after I finished the seal on the wall and peeking down at the lavender mare below. Behave?
My thoughts caught up a moment later, and then hit a speed bump. Smells. Pinkie was more in tune with pheromones at the moment. I forgot that heat had started this morning. Why had I forgotten that? It had been a nightmare getting out of bed this morning with an extremely overly affectionate Twilight Sparkle having woken up ahead of me this time. Why had I overslept?! Memories of the party flooded into my mind, answering that question instantly. Ugh. Now I was glad that they sent the males away. It would be rather annoying working and operating daily things with this going on. Rather intelligent, honestly.
"Hey, I am behaving. I haven't kissed him even once," Pinkie reminded, smiling down at Twilight while upside down. My fillyfriend didn't look amused, but I rotated around to finish the measurements.
Uh, time to think of an excuse, Mender! "It would be a good idea to hurry this up anyways, Pinkie. The blood's starting to pool in my skull. Across the front of the cubby, please," I instructed, lying more than a little. I saw Twilight pause for a moment out of the corner of my eye, and then smile lightly. Figured she'd realize I was lying. As if my newly 'upgraded' systems wouldn't let the blood pool where it wasn't supposed to. There was a key segment of that statement, however, as I discovered this morning. It was perfectly fine letting it pool where it was supposed to, apparently. Damn, that was awkward.
"Oooh, okay! That's definitely a bad thing. It happens to me if I stay in one spot for too long so I always try to keep moving whenever I possibly can, which is weird because it doesn't do it when I'm asleep which is for a really, really, super-duper long time each day. Shouldn't I wake up and be all, 'Arg, my blood hurts!', and stuff? Maybe I move around a lot in my sleep, which would explain why I sometimes fall out of bed. That wasn't much fun when I had my sides hurt like that, but thankfully I just started healing really, really well about two days into recovery and the doctor was all amazed that I was doing so well and..." I just started filtering her out as I continued taking measurements. I didn't mind her capability to endlessly ramble, and it was certainly better than her smelling me in rather creepy manners.
"Wait, what? What do you mean two days in?" Twilight suddenly asked, snapping my attention back to the two as Pinkie kept walking. Err, wait...
Seeing it coming, my armor snapped on just under my skin as I whacked into the side of the underhang with my head. It jiggled me a little, but no damage was sustained and I sighed, peeking down at Pinkie as she just kept walking and talking, stilts sliding along the floor now instead of pushing us forwards. "Oh, well the doctor came on the second day in and I was all horrified that he said it was going to take a full two weeks to heal my ribs! Can you imagine just lying in bed for two weeks?! It was horrifying. But after he checked up on me with his magic, he got so confused. It was kinda funny until he explained that somehow I'd started healing at almost four times the normal rate of a pony. Not that I'd know, as I'd never gotten that hurt before. Maybe I'm supposed to heal that fast?" Pinkie suggested, finally stopping her forward walking and nodding vigorously to Twilight. That's very strange. Well, for a normal pony, anyway. I'd imagine it's about on par for Pinkie.
Twilight looked perplexed, however, and I already realized she wasn't going to be satisfied with that answer. Shifting away from the inevitable, I took the other measurement and ran it through my energy to magical mass calculation. We were still under par for what I could manage with my own magic as it currently was. This was good. This project was well within my reserves to do.
"Did he figure out what was causing it?" my fillyfriend inquired, totally distracted now from what she'd been saying prior.
I felt Pinkie shake her head beneath me, her curly mane tickling mine momentarily from the motion. "Nope! He thought it might be a strange reaction to the potion that Zecora made, because the reaction was coming from my blood or something. He took a sample, but I dunno after that," she explained, still sounding rather chipper. Well, at least she wasn't worried about it or anything.
"Kiddy corner, Pinkie," I instructed softly after she finished. She started moving towards the back wall almost instantly, being careful of my head this time. Oh, she had noticed that after all?
"Very interesting. Do you mind if I take a small sample as well, Pinkie?" Twilight asked politely a moment later. I felt us stop and pushed the tape measure into the other wall, carefully taking the measurement down. With this, I'd have all the information I needed, hopefully. Volume of the room was important, alongside table and chair height, and optimal height of a pony sitting in one of the chairs. Velvet was kind enough to provide me those measurements.
A quick glance showed me that Twilight's parents were still at the corner table on the other side of the room. Twilight Velvet was talking excitedly about something and making rather wide gestures with her hooves in emphasis. In contrast, Night Light had his head down on the table and looked either passed out already, or really close to it. Note to self, the hotel in Ponyville must be terrible for getting proper sleep. Or he just had anxiety issues. Those definitely could keep me up at night.
"Of course you can take a sample! That means I get to eat even more sugary things afterwards!" Pinkie chirped a moment later, wiggling excitedly.
I frowned and shook my head while writing down the measurements. "I don't think she needs to draw that much blood, Pinkie," I assured, checking over the totals. Including the side room with just an estimate, I was pushing my magical capacity. This would probably make me tired, if only because of the detail needed to go into the enchantment. Thankfully it was low energy use once I got the initial enchantments laid down.
"Of course not. A single vial is enough. I'm just, well, concerned about something, is all," Twilight muttered, suddenly sounding distracted. Uh oh. I'd been around Twilight to know that usually meant she'd thought of something potentially disastrous.
"Ooohh?" Pinkie asked, not really sounding all that worried and instead smiling down at her friend. Oddly, her link felt more like amusement than concern. Again, I suddenly got that sensation that she was fully aware of what the problem was. Maybe I was just being paranoid, though.
Interrupting slightly, I requested, "We're done here, Pinkie. Can you get us d-" She interrupted my interruption by slipping each of the hooks on her stilts at the same time and sliding us down to the ground as gently as a drifting feather, smiling back at me while giving me a visual 'wink' through the link. She sent images amazingly well through that thing. "Ah, thanks," I appended, telling the 'ropes' to unwind from around us. They'd only ever looked like ropes. Tentacles were actually amazingly handy, especially when they could shapeshift and disguise themselves... After I made sure nopony was looking apart from Twilight and Pinkie, I sucked them back into myself almost instantly.
"Yeah. I'm worried about timing, is all. Do you recall what happened a couple days after the incident, Mender?" Twilight asked, looking over at me instead. I frowned, and then thought about it for a moment.
"Well, I woke up a day and a half after my surgery. You and Fluttershy stayed with me that night, then the next day... uh..." I muttered in sync with my thinking, trying to remember specifics. Oh. No, it couldn't have anything to do with...
I frowned, and Twilight smiled gently and nodded. "The, um, disks? You think it has something to do with me activating Pinkie's disk?" I asked quietly, making sure we couldn't be overheard. There were only a few other ponies in the shop, but it would be bad should they hear any of this. It didn't help that a few were still paying attention due to Pinkie's and my antics with the measurements.
My fillyfriend nodded lightly, and explained, "Like I said, it's just a concern. Nothing concrete, hence the blood test." She looked a little nervous, but kept her voice down.
Pinkie seemed unfazed by the revelation, of course, but I'd already anticipated as much. "But if it makes me heal faster, isn't it a good thing?" she pointed out, surprising me by also lowering her voice. Sometimes I forgot she could be subtle when she wanted to be.
"Oh, no doubt. I'm just concerned there could be other side effects that we need to look out for. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, too," Twilight explained, nodding at the pink one instead. Ugh. If the links were dangerous, I was going to feel horrible.
"I'll look more into my database files and see if I can get any information on the disks and the technology surrounding them," I offered, frowning lightly. Frankly, I didn't really want to think of myself like a cyborg. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and I guessed I'd been procrastinating several key issues. With my processors fixed and my systems back in production mode, my insides had been expanding with new components without me really bothering to check what it was making. I suppose that was a bad thing. I'll just blame it all on denial. That fit the closest with my feelings regarding my less squishy insides. Further, was it too much to hope that there was an instruction manual or two in my files revolving around that whole "weapon of galactic extinction" and the disks?
"That would be very helpful! Thank you, Mender. You're a sweetie..." Twilight cooed, smiling again and nuzzling against my shoulder gently. Oh boy. Here we go again. Pinkie burst into a fit of giggling, earning her a mildly annoyed glare from Twilight.
"You'd better head towards Sweet Apple Acres, Mender! Quick, before Twi changes her mind and follows you to the cabins," the pink mare warned mirthfully, smirking at us. Twilight's cheeks flushed lightly and she hesitantly glanced back at me instead of looking angry. Uh oh. Pinkie was right!
I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I don't want to be late. I'll see both of you at the parting, then," I excused, shifting past and trotting for the door. This wasn't the violent reaction I'd been worried about, but part of me decided this was actually a little worse. Trying to subdue me gave me full permission to flee as fast as I could manage. Twilight acting like this actually made me not want to flee in the first place, which I knew was a dangerous mindset that was being influenced by how absolutely delicious she smelled.
Flushing lightly, I almost, almost ran into the still closed door as I headed in that direction, skidding to a halt half a meter before impact. "Ah, Mender! Wait, um..." Twilight started to call out behind me. I heard her hoofsteps nearing again and mentally sighed. Oh no. She was slipping again.
"Uh, like I said earlier, um, maybe Rarity was right? I mean, maybe I'm just being silly and too hasty and it really isn't fair to you for me to not consider it," Twilight murmured behind me. Taking the slow turn for a distraction, I subtly opened the door as I rotated, to give myself a polite out later.
"Twilight, I appreciate the thought and really wouldn't mind, but we both know that wouldn't be a wise idea," I reminded. This was the third time she had started to change her mind. She wouldn't like it now, but she'd thank me later for this.
Her ears lowered a little as she looked down and away, looking just as sad as I expected. "Now I regret deciding that in the first place. Mender, I just don't want you to be lonely or looked down upon by any other stallions or anything. Plus, well, I don't really want to be lonely either. You're wonderful company," she complimented softly, peeking up again with just her eyes while shifting her front right hoof over the other. The gesture was like sticking my brain onto a frying pan and I resisted panting as she tried to look as winning as possible. Damn her! The heat hadn't reduced her cleverness in the slightest.
Sweating a little, I rapidly shook my head, subtly disguising my attempt to clear it with a negative reply. "Twilight, it's only for a week or so. Plus, we can write each other, but you don't want kids this soon, do you?" I reminded, adding a bit of emphasis on the 'kids' part. Her reaction snapped back like I'd fired a rubber band into her face, and she coughed lightly.
"Ah, well, not really. Um, I mean there are spells I could use to uh, avoid that outcome but... Wait, no, that's implying that I was going to... uh..." she started rapidly muttering, tinting pink in the cheeks again. Yes! It worked. I took the moment to further cement the negative with her by reassuringly rubbing her shoulder with my forehoof.
"I understand, Twilight. Now do you see why it's better if I leave for a while?" I asked, attempting to clear her mind a bit more with a strong dose of logic.
Hesitantly, she nodded again, while Pinkie was busy trying not to laugh behind her. Ugh. I think I would have preferred just running away. "Um, yeah. You're right. It's still not fair, though, and I'm going to make it up to you when you get back. Well, along with all the rest of the things I screwed up," Twilight promised suddenly, coughing and looking away from me. I couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing.
Pinkie could nod in agreement with that one, however. "Yup! The party went well, but I still feel a little guilty over everything, so I'm gonna do some extra stuff for ya, too, Mender!" she added on, hopping over to where we stood.
Resisting rolling my eyes, I shook my head to her instead. "You've more than made up for the acid and potion things, Pinkie. That party couldn't have been cheap," I reminded, ironically feeling guilty for my own reward party. Did that defeat the purpose?
"Don't be silly, Silly! I didn't pay for much at all. My work was mostly in the planning for it! Princess Luna paid for almost everything!" she assured almost instantly.
Wait, what?! "And told you to keep that a secret," Twilight reminded, giving a skeptical glance at the pink mare. Eh? Why did she want to remain anonymous? Why did she pay for it in the first place?! Oh, that answered that first question. She didn't want me asking why she wanted to pay for it in the first place, maybe? I rapidly confused myself.
"Uh, oopsie! Um, have fun, Mender!" Pinkie squeaked out, covering her mouth with her hooves. I could have sworn I saw an extra set of legs momentarily that she used to shove me backwards. My mouth opened in protest, but the door slammed shut again and I went rolling backwards into the dirt, wincing as I clutched my nose with both hooves. Aaah! I needed warning to get my armor up!
Groaning, my muzzle gave out throbs of protest as I shakily stood up, then sat back down properly and held it again. Scan showed blunt force trauma and vein injury, but nothing broken. I sneezed, a bit of pooling blood dripping out my nose before my nanites rapidly started to repair me again. At least I didn't need to worry about ponies noticing my fast regeneration on the inside of my nose.
I toned down the nerve magnitudes to the area as I sighed and started walking towards the farm. This was going to be a long day.
* * * * *
Admittedly, I didn't mind the sun too much when it wasn't right in my eyes. The approach to Sweet Apple Acres was nice and shady, which meant I stayed cool and could properly see. Note to self, install an air conditioning system. Having no wind whatsoever made the heat all the worse, it seemed. The air kind of just hung there in a blistering haze, and I sort of imagined an oven would feel like this. Sniffing the air lightly, I noticed the strong fragrance of apples and decided I was probably on the right track. A moment later, a heavy smacking noise resounded through the air, causing me to smile. AJ was probably hard at work.
My hoofsteps were more than audible with the metallic clinking noise with each set of movements, which admittedly was beyond annoying if I focused on it too hard. She must have heard it as well, because the repeating impacts ceased as I got closer. Sure enough, the hat peeked over the hill first, followed by a certain blonde mare. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, I noticed, before she regained control of her expression and shifted to a weak smile instead. Would things ever be the same between us?
"Howdy, Mender! Ah thought plans had changed with how late ya are. Er, what happened ta yer nose?" she questioned, patiently waiting for me to get closer to her. I noticed she shivered lightly with each clink of my leg brace. I'd not expected that reaction, and intentionally stopped walking once I got within comfortable talking distance.
"Pinkie happened. Which, not-so-coincidentally, is also why I'm late. I'm sorry. I dropped by there to get the measurements for the project the Cake's wanted me to do," I explained, skipping over the awkwardness of almost being tackled by Twilight on my way out.
Applejack cracked her back with a fluid bend, and then slowly treaded down the hill, narrowing the distance to a mere meter as she peeked at my muzzle. At this distance, I could see the drops of sweat sliding down her coat, and suddenly realized how insane she was to work heavy physical labor in this heat.
"Are you okay, Applejack? This isn't good weather to be bucking apples," I cautioned, frowning at the sheen on her coat.
She momentarily looked confused before glancing back at her shoulder, then smiling gently. "Ah'm drinkin' lots o' water, so Ah'll be fine, Sugarcube. Ah appreciate tha concern, though. Yer nose is okay?" she returned, shifting her attention back to my muzzle with a frown.
I nodded of course. "Yeah. My nanites made short work of the damage on the walk over here," I assured, smiling at her. I also started a processor on actually sorting out the data files that came with me, with a second one to govern the computations. Anything to do with the biological weapon or disks was getting flagged for reading later. It was frustrating that I couldn't just 'upload' it into my mind, but it seemed that my electronic parts and biological thinking capacity were two entirely separate systems.
"Er, what're those?" she asked, tilting her head lightly at me.
"They're small robots that float around inside of me and repair me rapidly from the inside. I have to eat a lot more if I use them heavily, but they mean I heal really fast," I summarized simply.
She perked up at that, and smiled again. "That's right useful, then! Does that mean if Ah feed ya ah few dozen apple pies, that ya'll heal even faster?" she asked, smirking finally. She was starting to relax again, which was good. However, she was now considering overstuffing me, which wasn't so good.
"Er, after I stopped looking like a balloon, probably. Um, I shouldn't eat that much of your food up, though. I'd feel-" I started.
That one I should have thought through first. She pounced not unlike a feral tiger, but the impact with the ground in front of me almost made me think she was three times heavier than what she really was! I gulped and swallowed, backing up and shrinking a little as the top of her snout smashed into mine, pushing my head down as she glared into my eyes. "No! Don't even start thinkin' that way! Ah'm practically directly responsible fer yer leg bein' like that, plus Ah..." she started, before her voice faltered and she winced again.
I frowned as she backed away and looked away from me again, shaking slightly. "Ah was ah horrible friend ta ya. So really, Mender. If simply feedin' yah can help, it's tha absolute least Ah can do. Trust me, Ah'm gonna think o' other things ta do, too," she assured, looking back towards me again.
Her eyes widened slightly, but I'd already stepped forwards, and she didn't have time to react as I closed the gap again. Her breath caught as I gently wrapped my right foreleg around her, giving her a soft hug. "Applejack, I know you feel bad, and I admit that I'm sad you hadn't trusted me, but it's not the end of our friendship. You don't have to rush anything or push yourself to try to make amends. What would really make me happy is if you started to trust me," I explained, realizing I wasn't going to get her to swear off trying to appease me. She was more doing this for her than me at this point, I realized.
She chuckled lightly finally before resting her head on my shoulder and hugging back. "Thank ya, Mender. Um, Ah think Ah needed that. Eventually things'll feel right again, o' course. Rainbow feels tha same. She was talkin' about bein' yer underlin' or somethin'," the farm mare muttered, breaking away after another moment and nodding to me.
"Eh? My underling? What do you mean?" I asked, not liking the sound of that. Underling for what? That sounded remarkably 'evil overlord' to me.
Applejack smirked and shook her head. "Ah suppose that does sound ah tad nefarious. Nah. Ah think she just said 'underlin'' because she ain't gonna accept pay fer tha position. She said somethin' about heavy liftin' an' helpin' with high up work," she elaborated. Oooh! Dash was talking about my new 'job' I was starting. That made more sense, now.
"Well, it's up to her. You can also do anything you want, of course," I accepted, continuing down the path towards the barn where I assumed Big Mac was waiting with Spike. The little dragon had gotten a head start this morning on us. A big one. As in, he saw Twilight pushing me against the pillows amidst a rather deep kiss and fled far faster than I realized he could run. Of course, Twilight's embarrassment over being caught allowed me the distraction to slip out from under her, so I supposed I should thank him for that.
"Do Ah detect ah change o' heart in regards ta us makin' amends?" Applejack inquired, falling into hoofstep alongside me.
Okay, I rolled my eyes at that one. "Not really. Just accepting that it's easier to just say yes than fight against two stubborn mares like yourselves," I corrected, smiling as I caught her grin widen in my peripheral vision.
"Guess yer wisin' up! Pity it ain't affected yer punctuality. Heh. Hate ta break it ta ya, but Big Mac an Spike left over an hour ago," she cooed in amusement.
My motions ground to a halt as I locked up, processing the new information with no small amount of frustration. What?! "Seriously? Why? The departing thing isn't for an hour!" I whined, stomping my right forehoof down.
Applejack had continued walking momentarily after I stopped but I saw her smile widen slightly due to the corner of her mouth. She was amused by this, wasn't she?! "Heh. Yer tha one who was late. Guess ya'll just have ta keep me company instead, 'til tha departin' announcement," she suggested, voice shifting a bit whimsical as she turned around. I froze instantly, eyes widening slightly at her.
If this new, heightened awareness taught me anything, it was that body language was an extremely powerful thing. The flick of her tail, gentle sway of her hips as she turned, and half-open eyes set off so many red flags that I was hard pressed not to panic then and there. "Don't worry. Ah know yer injured so Ah'll be gentle so ya can keep up. Not that Ah imagine ya'll have trouble stayin' up, o' course," she assured, slowly swaying as she walked towards me.
I made out a weak wheeze and stepped backwards slightly, legs not wanting to cooperate with me suddenly. Crap! Turn around and run, Mender! She watched me for a moment before the corners of her mouth twitched oddly. Huh? Her face scrunched a moment later and she burst into laughter, flopping over onto her side. Oh. Damn it!
"Tha look on yer face! Ha! Oh, that was just awesome!" she squealed, laughing hysterically. My ears flattened down and I exhaled, glaring at her. I should have known she was joking. Gah. Come to think of it, she'd 'play flirted' with me before for her own amusement, too. I think she just got a kick out of making me blush. The heat faded slowly from my cheeks and I shook my head, a little miffed now. She's lucky I knew Nirru didn't have her image to clone, or that might have gone differently. Still, she knew what had happened to me, and this was a bit too soon for this!
Her laughter made it really easy to mask the sound of my brace clinking as I walked past her and towards the barn, glaring at nothing in particular. That meant she had intentionally not looked at me until she knew she was done lying. Props for knowing your weakness, I suppose. Big Mac and Spike were probably still here, then. A few more meters of walking and Spike rounded the barn, peeking curiously towards the laughter behind me. He smiled when he saw me, then widened his eyes and lost it when he saw my glare. It wouldn't take a genius to guess who had irked me.
The laughter dwindled to a snicker behind me as I heard her roll over. "Eh?!" she squeaked out, apparently just realizing I wasn't there anymore. Heck, I was almost to the barn. Maybe I made a better ninja than I gave myself credit for? There was a scrambling noise a moment later and rapid hoofsteps catching up behind me. "H-Hey! Wait up! Did Ah upset ya?" Applejack called out, closing the distance between us with record speed. I resisted the urge to dodge, realizing she probably wasn't going to plow me over like Pinkie or Dash might.
"You're lucky I didn't think you were Nirru," I muttered, not turning to look at her when she finally fell into line at my side.
"W-What? Oh! Oh shoot. Ah didn't even think o' that. Ah'm sorry, Mender. It was supposed ta be ah joke," she murmured, switching to sounding rather sullen almost instantly. I frowned, but an image flickered through my head an instant later. That aggressive kiss. Trying to pull me back and on top of her. Her tongue forcing its way into my mouth. I winced and suddenly held my right temple, stopping. Damn it. What was wrong with my head?
The hoofsteps stopped instantly, and I felt her eyes on me as I sat down again. Scuffling came from ahead too as I closed my eyes, and I knew Spike had run up as well. "It's... I'll be fine. It's just a touchy topic for me. I wish I had been faster in realizing it was a fake, and not kissed her. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth every time I remember it," I explained softly, relaxing my neck and letting my muscles unwind. The throb going through my skull slowly dwindled as I rested, and the images slipped from the back of my eyelids.
"It's not like we were expecting it, dude! It wasn't your fault she kissed you," Spike tried to assure, finally coming to a stop in front of me.
"Ah think he's more dislikin' tha memories. None o' us are holdin' anythin' that happened durin' that night against him. If anything, it was-" she started to elaborate.
"Nirru's fault. Don't, Applejack," I warned, eyes opening again and looking right at her. She looked startled at my rather adamant interruption, but shut up instantly, looking away from me again. No, not this time.
Feeling a little more guts than normal, I slid forwards a half meter and pulled her head back towards me with my left foreleg, mindful of the pointy parts of the brace. She didn't resist, eyes widening instead as she turned and looked at me again. "Enough, Applejack. You're a very smart mare, and know that almost everything that night was directly Nirru's fault. You apologized for not trusting me already, and we're working towards a way to get past that, but that's all you can do," I reasoned. She stared at me for a moment before sighing and nodding, emerald eyes still locked with mine.
"Ah know that much. The conscience has ah way o' eatin' at ya, though. I'm sleepin' ah little better, but it's rough still. Please let me do somethin' fer ya, Mender. If ya think o' anything before Ah do, just let me know," she requested gently.
Spike snickered and nodded to her as well. "Careful, you're starting to sound like I did, remember?" Eh? Wait, somepony had said something about that before. What was it?
Applejack let out a chuckle and nodded towards him. "It's ah little different, mind ya. Gratitude is ah far stretch from guilt, Ah think. Ah... well technically Ah killed him. That's just stuck in mah head somethin' fierce," she elaborated, looking down towards the dirt.
"I'm like a cat. Sure, you helped make it easier for Nirru to kill me, but I'm better now. Sometimes I think the universe just wants to keep me alive because I'm amusing," I muttered, looking up towards the sky. My life was far too long and drawn out in its misery to fit into a movie or show, but if this were a book, I'd so slap the author. Slap, not kill. If I killed them, I'd probably cease to exist.
The farm mare gave a snort and a playful shove with her hoof. Being Applejack, the coiled muscles in her foreleg were enough to send me sideways into the grass, and she slapped her forehead as I rolled. After everything came to a stop, I stared up at the sky, my armor folding back in from my left side. Well, at least it hadn't hurt.
I heard her start towards me again and decided to talk first, heading off another pointless apology. "This reminds me, is that offer to help me exercise still there? I'd really appreciate the help in getting some more muscles on these bones." It was true enough, I decided, as I rolled fully back onto my hooves again.
She stopped, and I looked over at her, getting a puzzled look in return before she smiled. She must have realized I wasn't injured in the slightest. I knew better than to complain. I'd felt the full force of those hooves, and knew what it was like to have them almost break me in half. That little shove was literally nothing in comparison. Suddenly it didn't surprise me that her adrenaline flooded self could snap Twilight's balcony off. Wait, had it surprised me before? I decided a moment later that I'd lost too much blood back then for the reaction to be an accurate sample. Plus, it was ruined now that I already knew she could, so I guess I'd never find out if it would have surprised me or not. Darn.
"That's easy enough ta do. We'll see how good ya can do with buckin', an' ya'll be in great shape in no time!" she assured, proudly stomping the dirt of the path while nodding in emphasis. I smirked and nodded to her before heading towards the barn again. Big Mac had the cart out and was carefully checking the undercarriage, it looked like.
"I'll give it a try, but don't plan any profits on me. I'll be hit by more than a few apples, I imagine," I warned, knowing my gravity field a little bit. That was next up on my list of things to fix inside of me. The special control chip had been 'brewing' inside of me for a day or so now. My only issue was I had to unplug the old one to add the new one. Given my internal mass calculations, that could be, well, really bad for the environment around me. And by ‘around me’, I actually meant a radius of a few hundred kilometers.
Applejack interrupted my attempt at calculations by snorting and shaking her head. "Ah reckon ya'll be fine. Heck, ya could even kill some time 'ere by practicin' if ya want ta. Once Big Mac gets done lookin' over tha wagon, he'll show ya tha moves," she offered, gesturing towards her brother.
I raised an eyebrow and wandered in the direction of the wagon instead. "Er, what's wrong with the wagon?" I inquired, peeking under it as well once I got closer.
"Nothin' yet. Hit ah pothole. Checkin' 'er out," Big Mac muttered softly, looking over at me from his side behind the wagon. I smiled and nodded before sitting down, shifting to a lying position, and kicking with my back legs so I slid under the wagon. A tendril shot out of my left shoulder and hooked around the other wheel, pulling me fully under the wagon almost instantly as I peeked it over.
"Hey! Ah don't have tha bits ta be payin' ya yet, Mender! Tha new undercarriage put us back ah week or so ago," I heard Applejack warn from behind me somewhere. I rolled my eyes as I looked it over.
It was functional, but bare minimum. This was an axle assembly made for a commercial wagon I bet, not a work wagon. There was only one attaching point for supporting the entire axle, with a support loop for each wheel. This wouldn't do at all for serious structural support. "Two things, Applejack. One, I never said I was doing this for bits. You're my friend and I love helping you. Two, this axle support is terrible. You need at least one more brace under here for this to be safe for heavy lifting. This looks commercial," I warned her, peeking it over again just to double check.
"Oh, fer cryin' out loud. Well, it was a commercial order. Couldn't afford tha prices o' tha industrial one an' stay out o' tha red! Gah. How much ta upgrade, ya think?" she asked, sticking her head under the side behind me. I tucked my tail up instinctively to cover any awkward bits, and peeked back at her.
"Do you have a couple bales of hay to prop the main body up with, and a couple decent sized logs?" I asked, smiling towards her. She raised an eyebrow to me, but nodded a moment later.
* * * * *
Whistling lightly, I smiled at my work as I screwed the last plate in, barrier rapidly spinning it up into the bottom of the wagon. Using the logs she gave me, I made two additional, functionally identical assemblies for the axle and fully replaced the partial loops they had towards each wheel. I also put in a proper support bar and, for kicks, used the old axle hinge from the busted axle to add a folding stand they could use to prop the wagon up when not in use! I aimed to please, of course. By the time I was done, I estimated the wagon's wheel system to be at least three point six times as sturdy as it was prior.
Applejack made a happy whistling noise as she hopped into the back and realized the wagon didn't so much as jiggle. "Whoooeee! When ya say yer gonna do somethin', ya do it! Ah can definitely respect that," she chirped, walking around in the wagon bed as I finally slid out from under it. Big Mac had helped me move the parts into position thankfully, and gave me a slow but respecting nod as I pulled myself out. As he was nearby, he hooked my right foreleg and yanked me out the rest of the way once my torso was clear. Rolling, I got to my hooves and shook myself off.
"I'm pleased with it. Barely used up any resources and it will last you a lot longer now, and carry about twice as much as before," I estimated, giving her a safe hauling weight to work with. Sure, it could probably handle a lot more than that, but it was better to be gentle on your tools.
Her grin expanded as she turned to face me, nodding twice. Spike came back from inside a moment later with a tray of what looked like glasses of lemonade. All three Crusaders tagged along after him, of course. Nodding, I accepted a glass off the tray into my barrier and took a sip, sighing as I sat down again. Big Mac mimicked my motions, albeit with both hooves to hold the glass, and Spike sat down next to me after Applejack took over the tray with a smirk. It didn't take long for Sweetie to pile in next to me, with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sitting down across from her.
"This is going to be miserable walking in this weather! We'd better make sure our canteens are full before we start," Spike groaned, looking up at the sky overhead. The blue seemed almost infinite as I gazed up at it, not noticing a cloud in the sky. Rainbow had done her job well.
"Rainbow apologized already. She said she can't give any cloud cover until evening, due to a mistake in the rainfall patterns handed down from Cloudsdale. Too wet, apparently," I muttered, remembering what she had said last night after getting me off the stage. That 'too wet' part really didn't help at all. I think I'd rather dry than wet heat.
Spike sighed and nodded weakly, scraping the dirt under him with a claw. "I know. It's just not gonna be fun, is all."
Applejack sat down next to her brother, completing the nice semicircle we made. "That's why ya ain't walkin'," she corrected, elaborating with, "Big Mac an' Noteworthy are gonna pull tha wagon, an' tha five o' ya are gonna ride instead. It's too dangerous ta march tha youngin's in this heat, an' Mender's leg is hurt." Well, this made me feel awkward.
Spike frowned for a moment, staring at my leg before he got a look of comprehension. "Oh! Mender obviously can't change his leg without giving himself away," he said out loud, earning a nod from Applejack. I stared down at the metal brace before sighing and nodding. Admittedly, walking all that distance with that thing wasn't going to be easy otherwise. Just getting around the short distances of town left the leg absurdly sore, although it was getting easier.
"Admittedly, it's still aching from the walk over here," I mumbled, glaring at the thing.
Applejack shook her head towards me a moment later, pointing out, "Yer bein' too impatient, Mender. Please, just try ta take it easy while yer out there? Ah feel bad enough about tha leg without ya goin' an' bangin' it up some more." Her words were tough sounding, but her tone didn't manage to keep face with them. I looked up at her and saw her focus on my leg instead, her emerald eyes looking downright miserable.
Sighing, I opened my mouth to assure her again when a low whistling noise came out instead. Wait, no, that wasn't right. My eyes widened drastically as my proximity detector fired off. My mind slammed on the panic button at the same time I heard Rainbow shout out, "Look out!"
Tendrils fanned out with shields extending from them, covering all three fillies instantly with light loops. My armor folded on just as a green blur smashed into Sweetie Belle's barrier, skipped off like a pinball to Scootaloo's barrier, then whipped up and skipped off my forehead an instant later. Wincing at the jarring sensation, I watched sparks skip off my fully plated head as I flopped backwards with the motion.
What the hell?! Rolling as I hit my back, I flipped back upright and extended the remainder of my tentacles, glaring at the slowly rotating green... turtle? I stopped and raised my head, giving the small tortoise an appraising examination. Definitely a tortoise, based off its legs. "No, don't hurt him! Tank just gets, uh, carried away!" Rainbow warned, landing in front of me gently and holding her hoof up to my chest. Oh! Her pet.
My tentacles slowly withdrew back into me, earning a giggle from Sweetie Belle and a confused 'Uh...' from Scootaloo. Oddly, Apple Bloom seemed unfazed and continued sipping her lemonade, as if having fully expected me to block anything that was flung her way. Trusting little filly, but a bit gutsy. I watched the little tortoise float there on an obviously magical propeller as my armor slowly folded back into me.
"Your pet? I'm not going to hurt him, Dash. He just surprised me," I explained, looking over to her instead. Her eyes softened and she nodded to me before puffing up again.
"You'd have trouble hurting him anyway. He's real tough! He just gets worked up when trying to keep up with me, obviously," she detailed, strutting over to Tank as she talked. My last withdrawing tentacle blocked her tail before it hit me in the face as she walked away. Normally she kept it a bit more still than that, but maybe it was part of her usual strutting and I just hadn't noticed. That didn't surprise me. The accompanying smell of raspberries and light spices made me a bit dizzy, though.
Applejack snickered at the strutting and shook her head. "Don't forget he's real strong, too! Lifted up tha boulder that almost flattened ya all by himself," she reminded. Err, what?! That sounded very unhealthy.
Rainbow shot a scowl back at her, and I glanced skeptically over at Applejack, silently asking for more details. I could have sworn I saw Rainbow duck down suddenly towards the tortoise and nuzzle his nose, but she was standing upright and looking innocent again when I glanced back at the motion. Wow, maybe I really was dizzy? Did getting hit in the head jar me or something? I did feel a little woozy. I fired up my internal scanners just to double check for injuries.
"Anyway, I was hoping to catch ya before the departing thingy!" Dash announced, snapping my attention back to reality. Who was she talking to?
"Ah told ya, Dash! Ah got enough work ta do on tha farm. Ah can't take care o' Tank fer ya too. Ah'm sorry, but it's just too much," Applejack said almost instantly. Why was Rainbow looking for somepony to take care of Tank?
The appropriately rainbow-maned mare shook her head rapidly, and then nodded towards me instead. "Not you, AJ. Mender. I, well, I'm a bit desperate, so I was hoping he'd accept. Uh, it's a learning experience! Builds character," Rainbow tried to sell, looking to me hopefully. I got more than a little confused.
"Wait, why do you want me to take care of Tank? I'm going to the cabins, remember? Why can't you take care of him?" I asked, raising an eyebrow to her.
Her reaction was completely different than I had anticipated. Instead of snapping my face off or acting defensive, her cheeks exploded into a pink color, and she rapidly looked away. "Ah, well, I don't think I can properly take care of him while, uh, I'm in heat. Fluttershy took care of him this Spring, but he, well, destroyed some of her stuff and I really, really don't want to put her up to it again," the blushing mare explained. Oh. Was her heat different than normal, then?
As if reading my mind, Applejack added, "Rainbow gets real nasty heats. Some mares do. Ah really do want ta help ya, Rainbow. It's just..." She trailed off and sighed, while Dash's pink turned to red as her eyes widened. I felt a flood of embarrassed shock down the link.
Mentally whispering, I warned, "I don't think she meant like that, Dash." Carefully, I averted my eyes as Rainbow looked over at me, scared now instead before suddenly realizing I'd said that in her head and relaxing. I was kinda sad that she thought I was stupid or vindictive enough to say that out loud, but let it pass. Applejack probably would have just laughed anyway.
"So you want me to bring him with me to the cabin?" I asked her, trying to pull her mind back to the topic at hand rather than steamy mental images of Applejack. I pulled back a moment after I thought it, and realized that I might be getting a little more snarky than normal. That wasn't the first time I'd noticed me reacting in a surprisingly sarcastic manner. Well, moreso than usual.
Rainbow glanced over to me in mild confusion for a second before snapping her eyes fully open again and nodding rapidly. "Yeah! He's really easy to take care of and I've been telling him about you all morning. He seems okay with the idea, so please?" Rainbow asked abruptly, taking a step forward while eyeing me. It wasn't quite begging, but it was a little more needy sounding than a simple request. I'm guessing I was the last pony left that she could ask, apart from Fluttershy. Could I really take care of a tortoise, though?
"I'll help ya take care of him, Dude. I've watched Tank before," Spike suddenly informed, smiling towards me. Oh! Well that made it a lot better, then. If I had somepony I could rely on to make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid, I felt a lot better.
"Oh, in that case, I don't mind as much. I'm just not sure how well I'd manage to take care of him. Does he have any special requirements?" I asked, glancing back at Rainbow.
She rolled her eyes suddenly, snickering. "Nowhere near as many as Opal. Just make sure he has plenty of water in a dish big enough for him to rest in if he wants. He finds his own food for the most part, but will probably hang around you guys most of the time. He's almost as loyal as I am!" she boasted again. It was to cover up the massive blast of relief I felt down the link, however, I realized a moment later. I smiled gently at Rainbow, but didn't say anything about it. Despite bragging about how tough he was, she really had been worried about him.
"All right then. Spike and I will watch him for you," I agreed, nodding to her. Her grin exploded a moment later.
"Thank you! Oh, you're a real lifesaver, Mender. Honestly, I just knew you'd say yes," Rainbow cheered, her relief somewhat betraying that statement. She still hadn't fully realized I could also feel her general emotions at this range, drifting down the link.
Scootaloo surprised me by shifting to look at me instead, fluttering slightly in excitement. "Can I help you take care of Tank, too, Mender? I promise I'll be super useful and do anything to help!" she asked, looking back over at the now amused looking Rainbow Dash while she asked.
"I'm sure Mender would take your help, Scoots. You're a hard worker," Rainbow complimented, nodding to the little orange filly.
Given her expression, I began to worry if it was possible for a filly to explode from being too excited. Sweetie Belle perked up a moment later and wrapped her forelegs around my leg brace. "We can help, too, Mender! Apple Bloom and I are useful, too!" she assured, slightly confusing me. I'd never said they weren't, but it would seem Rainbow got something started with the 'hard working' motion.
"Settle down, ya'all. Ah'm sure Mender'll be happy ta get all yer help, but we need ta get ready ta set out," Applejack warned, standing up again and stretching gently. Ah, yeah. I had used up a lot of the extra time on upgrading the wagon. Turning, I headed back towards it myself, Sweetie hot on my trail. Double-checking as I walked, I made sure I had everything attached still.
The saddlebags were definitely attached still. About three times as attached as a normal variant. Rarity definitely made sure they were sturdy. At this point, I was starting to wonder if she was trying to say something about me. Heh. Slipped inside the front, right pouch was Prudentia. I could feel her there. Feeling even weirder, I shifted to peek at the small dagger slipped between the straps on my left side as well. That had been quite the surprise this morning. I wanted to keep my promise and not let Ventosus Lacuna out of my sight, but it was proving more than a little difficult to find an easy way to carry the blasted thing. My final attempt had me attempting to shove it through the straps of my saddlebags while Twilight giggled hysterically at me, when the sword flared with light and the sheath, well, shrank.
Twilight's reaction speed was amazing, I might add. The second the thing flared with light, she had blasted it out of my grip and teleported to me, putting a barrier up in front of both of us. I threw my own up over hers and both of us stared at it for a good three minutes before anypony moved. I drew it out of the sheath just to make sure it was still okay, and it oddly pulled out the full blade. Compressed space, maybe? It didn't surprise me, given the technology and magical levels of the society that created the weapon. Meh.
Everything in place, I hopped up onto the wagon with a light burst from my back legs. The one was a little tender still, but at least I could manage simple movements. Sweetie curled up next to me, and her two fellow Crusaders piled practically on top of her. Rainbow surprised me a moment later by landing right next to me and snatching up Scootaloo, pulling the little filly next to her and extending a wing over her shoulders. Admittedly, she got no resistance at all.
Big Mac finished strapping himself in and gently pulled the cart into motion, not waiting for ceremony. Applejack fell in line next to him and peeked back at us with a smile. Well, sort of a smile. It faltered a little when she saw me, but she managed to maintain it. "RD and Ah will obviously go with until town. Mayor ain't one for long goodbyes, but Ah hear she has somethin' special fer this one," she explained softly, giving a nod afterwards.
"Eh, no sense in a long goodbye. Heat's only a week or so. They'll be back in no time!" Rainbow chipped in, waving her hoof dismissively in the air. She seemed relaxed, anyway, now.
"How will we know when it's okay to return?" I asked curiously, wondering what sort of communication system they had.
Rainbow grinned and bumped her hoof against her chest. "A pegasus, more than likely me, will fly over and let everypony know. Besides, Nurse Redheart'll be there, too, and she'll be able to tell when her own heat is over and give everypony the heads up. Well, I think she can feel it through the pills she takes to lessen the effects, anyway," she tried to explain, dwindling at the end when she confused herself and began thinking instead. Oh, my favorite nurse was coming, too?
Applejack peeked back again and nodded, and for a moment, I thought she had somehow heard my mental question. "She can still feel it, but she's always been darn amazin' at controllin' herself. She's goin' along just in case medical attention is needed," she added, confirming Rainbow's story.
"Probably wise if I'm going to be there. Heh. What's so different about this departure, though?" I asked, remembering suddenly that she'd never explained.
I saw her smirk, but she didn't turn to look at us this time. Uh oh. "Take ah guess. He's blue, klutzy, an' tha talk o' tha town fer bein' ah secret agent."
Oh. Well, this was going to be awkward. With a newly established sense of dread, I gulped weakly and settled back down in the wagon. Why was it that crowds made me so nervous, especially when they were all looking at me? So many ponies made me, well, dizzy. I wanted to run away and hide somewhere, but that would probably destroy the 'image' Tia was trying to turn me into. Without asking me, of course. Well, she'd done a lot to help me, regardless, so I guess I owed her this one.
Sweetie Belle smiled reassuringly at me and nuzzled closer into my shoulder after I lay down again. Heh, even without a link, she could tell I was nervous. Silly filly. I don't know why she liked me so much, but I was happy for her company regardless. Sighing, I waited patiently and listened to the wheels slowly turn...
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I see what you did there
Hmm, some nanites transferred to them via the disks, perhaps.
Sounds like Sweetie Belle as a little crush!!
Heh, flirty Twilight!!
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Pending Series alternate ending one: Mender finds out that his life is just a story. Eventually, the cast finds a way into the real word, and forces the author to make their lives perfect. Mender never gets injured again, and Kiroberos lives in constant fear of his own creation(s).
Nurse Redheart, in a cabin with all the stallions of Ponyville. Even with the medication, how does she resist?
Mender gonna slap a bitch
That gonna go without a hitch
Until he over extends, dropping forward in pitch
So they goin' out to the camp at last
Will it become a ground for the hauntings of preMender's past?
I wish we got to see the amazing, diabetes inducing Flutterheat
Though Twiheat was funny, for us, and neat
So I'm forced to wait a week again
At least it gives me time with my wren
And as I hope for more CMC antics
I think it will end with Mender quite frantic
So until next week here is my poem
And good luck to you Mender, wherever you may roam
-Eclipse
"The one was a little tender"
Missing word there methinks : )
Still loving the story too : )
So far I do love this chapter special the forth wall breaking from Mender. Possible that Pinkie is rubbing off on him? Anyway I had noticed a few things going back through these chapters. Like back during the mirror pond incident that it could have been a copy of Mender's hatred for himself that could have created the fakes issues. So that could explain it as well as a way to solve the whole link issues. From what I could tell couldn't Twilight teleport all the Keldarians that want to live in peace to Equestria? I mean we've seen that Twilight could do it in Memory Pending all she would need was to lock on to them. That could easily done with Mender bring Twilight over thought the link. That all they would need is a connection point which Keela could provide like she did to get the body for Nirru and Prudentia. I figured Celestia would be accepting of them and would have advance technology to us in defense of Equestria. Granted that's just my idea on the matter. But we know nothing is ever that easy for Mender. But I'm kind of surprised that hasn't at least crossed his mind once since all this was made to light to the girls and princesses. Just food for thought I suppose. Anyway can't wait for the next chapter and I hope you limb feels better soon.
3301213
My favorite borderline-fourth-wall-breaking quote from this series as of yet.
unit 001 is sweetie bot? frendship is witchcraft indeed
When will it happen? When will it all turn to shit?
Careful, there, Kiro. You may be typing, but maybe... Just MAYBE some ultra-dimensional force is MAKING you type what mender is actually thinking and doing! Thus, this whole idea of him slapping you, should the dimensional bubbles connect, may just become real!
Great chapter, keep up the good work!
It's nice to see Mender building more confidence. It's also great that is his job is coming along nicely.
Go Mender! And even though we'll never know whether he was in fact surprised AJ's strength or not, I still loved the chapter.
Read you later!
~ Baasz
1) Yes...heat time...let the lulz begin...
2)
lolzmorningwoodjoke
3) D'awww...ending the chapter with diasweetus.
3301277
...I'll be in my bunk...
wait so big mac saw mender launch tentacles out of his body without asking why?
o-hoho Twilight...
And nice borderline 4th wall reference
Mender knows Pinkie Pie... Pinkie Pie can... oh no! Kiro, behind you!
Good chapter! Only a 2 more personal problems. 1 I don't like the idea of mares going into heat in Equestria. 2 Not enough Fluttershy!
Hmmm. Night Light's exhausted. Wink wink, nudge nudge.
He's coming for you, Kiro
3302479
Yeah, I noticed that too.
3302707
You didn't see Fluttershy? She was right there, stalking him the whole time!
Excellent chapter Kiro, you really seem to like giving everypony's tail a flavor
~Momentai
so you have your own creation wanting to slap you. interesting. I guess you have put him through some hell, its not like its some all is happy clopfic for him to enjoy soo much
AJs little prank kinda makes me think shes gonna end up in the herd once shes over everything. or at least I want her to cause I like her. however if AJ does that means RD will have to also. it seems to kinda be hinting that Dash would be willing to join as long as AJ did. Mender might not quite have feelings for all of the 6 yet but I can see them growing on him in time.
So if Dash has some really strong heats and shes after AJ, no males will be around but AJ will be....I sense they'll be together by the time Mender returns
I wonder how many mares try an sneak into the camps. I can see someone sneaking into Menders camp and causing some trouble. and if Twi does then it will be even more awkward after Nirrus impersonation. oh and if the Nurse somes in because of her own needs that can be very interesting aswell
now I have an awkward image of Dash forcing herself on Tank. awww that's creepy....
another great chapter, cant wait till next
3302479
im sure Mac knows all about him by now. after all AJ was devastated for awhile and still kinda is and im sure he would of looked into it to see what really happened and hwo to fix it.
Okay. Its been long enough. I think I need to admit this, especially after this chapter.
My mind ships Mender and Applejack. Hard.
I know its not canon and Dash deserves to win her and I do love me some AppleDash. I rarely think of any shipping as more than a silly or interesting potential romance. I know Mender's preferences and why he turned down the jewel that is Rarity. I don't think this ship would be too plausible long-term. I like Mender x Twilight a lot.
But... goddamn do I love them together in my mind.
AJ had the most unique intro to Mender of the six in terms of how it went. He spends time afterward trying so hard to fix his mistake and earn her friendship and trust. With bumps in the road, they reach a confortable level though not a perfect one. Even so, he's happy where he reached with her. Then Nirru comes and the underlying problems return and AJ shows her trust is not full there with Mender. And that screw up bites her hard. She's forced to watch in tears as her lack of trust leads to Mender's torture, dismemberment, and death. Well, 'death.' Now as he returns barely alive and very much injured, she is forced to live with and regret her actions and what pain they caused and had to be witnessed. She blames herself heavily. She again becomes an overworking wreck. She sends apples as a sign, but knows it'll never be enough. The marketplace intervention stops the worst of her bad habits. In that, she tried to flee, knew he wouldn't forgive her for such horrible acts. But he spoke softly, tried to reassure her, told her he was sad but didn't blame or hate. AJ took his words as well as she could, trying to believe he was telling the truth about forgiveness, but how could anypony do so after that? False smiles, averted gazes, apologies, she tried to do as he requested and mend their relation. He didn't push, tried steps wherever he saw to help her forgive herself. It became almost a reversal of their beginning, AJ now trying hard to make things right between them. But as close as she gets to normality, she can't make it past a certain level of faking that things are alright now, always feeling that twinge of guilt around Mender. They get to talking in a moment of peace and she has her miniature slips that he picks up on. Holding her face to look at him directly, he tells her how it was NOT her fault and seeing her beat herself up like this is hearttearing. He holds her close as she breaks down and confesses just how much she can't understand him saying he forgives her when she knows he should not and she feels she herself never will. Mender gives firm words of moving forward and then turns to consoling her. She looks up at him, face soaked in tears, and interrupts him with a soft kiss. The kiss turns more and more passionate as Applejack pins him under her. She jumps a slight bit, not breaking the kiss, when she feels something poking- GAAHHHH!
See what I mean?! And this chapter was such a tease! Heat AJ swaying and whispering innuendoes to Mender, I too went 'Dammit!' when he and I realized she was teasing. What is wrong with me....?
Did I just write the first (abridged) Pending fanfic with a rant?
Considering how Mender reacted to AJ's teasing, just imagine what's going to go through his thoughts when him and Twilight start to get intimate. You know Nirru is going to flash into his mind, especially if Twilight is the one who makes the advance. One can only wonder what Twilight's planning in order to make it up to Mender for her past mistakes as well as sending him away.
I'm just curious, if the mares know where the stallions are located, what's to stop a sex-crazed mare from attempting to go there to find a stallion? Obviously they wouldn't normally want to due to the possibility of social and/or physical repercussions. However, if the heat is strong enough, they wouldn't be completely in their right mind to remind themselves why they don't want to find a stallion. We did see that Twilight was fully ready to change her mind and have Mender stay with her instead until Mender reminded her why it would be a bad idea. Does the stallion/foal campsite have some form of protection to ward away mares, like some kind of guard shift or town watch?
fourth wall. what is that? lol.
Loved the chapter. now I'm sad because I have to wait another week to get more.
3303211 AGREED!!! I kinda feel bad for wanting AppleMend because of the sorta dash likes AJ thing Kiroberos has going on. But its just so.... ERRRR!!! If it was doing the Duskshine thing where they all had a crush on him I don't think I would like it that much though.
When someone who's normally so dominant in their own life suddenly switches to subservient, it can be really endearing if pulled off right. With that being said, Applejack is cute. This chapter was a pretty good breather from both plot and drama. Which means the next chapter is perfect for insane amounts of comedy, drama, and/or plot. Wonder how a week in the woods is gonna go down. Probably full of CMC stirring trouble, A hydra trying to kill everyone, stallions teasing mender, and awkward in heat Nurse Redheart. Maybe.
Looking forward to next week.
3301863 Waiting for the same here. It cannot be long, though, 2 chapters in a row without incidents...
3303806 Soon... It must be soon!
I feel like this chapter was short and not a lot really happened...
You know I just noticed this chapter that you put two spaces after each period. You do know you're not actually supposed to do that right? The only reason teachers taught this in schools is because in the days of typewriters you were supposed to put two spaces after every period due to technical limitations and they passed this knowledge onto their students when they learned to type with word processors and later computers. In reality, you're actually only supposed to put one space after every period. You can read more on the subject here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentence_spacing
Why wasn't Big Mac surprised by Mender's tentacles? Did he already know about it? Or is just so jaded at this point that nothing surprises him anymore?
Sweetie evidently has a huge crush on Mender. That or some other form of obsession.
3303923 webtrax.hu/myfacewhen/faces/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/soon-sweetie-belle.jpg
sandrarose.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Morning-Wood-Way.jpg?42e305
HEYO!!
Seriously, how much of an abomination can Mender be if that's working correctly?
3307699 I am patient, I will wait for him to fall.
3307699
TwiShy will buck
And Mender will walk in on it, as is his luck
3307703 feel free not to reply to my comments. I feel bad for having you respond to all the ridiculous stuff I say.
3307699 Underaged infatuation. He seems to think of her as a little sister, but Sweetie seems to like him in the same way as Rarity... And we all know how that well ended.
3307703
Kinda hard to forget something that gruesome. Especially given that I found my reaction to be very amusing.
A peaceful but fun chapter, yet it feels like the calm before the storm
Breaking the first wall now, are we?
Meander do what do did with Twilight and Fluttershy to have RD and AJ kiss it's been way too long get those two together
3307703
Ah, that makes sense. And yes that is how I find most of my fics when looking for new ones. So I'd imagine other people would do that aswell. Anyway, the new chapter was amazing as always; keep the awesomeness coming!
3307703
Well... they're happy-ER compared to other chapters that haven't been to great. As for sensing anything, I'm not
, but I do sense something, though I haven't classified it as good or bad really yet.
Best Quote ever.
Great chapter, can't wait to see what happens next.
Aha, Luna must be Unit 001! Celestia's sister never actually came back from being banished at all, it was a Keldarian shapeshifter all along! Okay, probably not, but maybe Mender's original self wasn't actually his original self either, and Keldarian Mender was Unit 001. When that version was dying, Kyliona just transferred his memories into a new model as an upgrade. So the Mender we know now is every bit as original as the Keldarian soldier guy, just with some cosmetic differences. Sorta like getting rather carried away with plastic surgery. I bet lots of people would happily get a tentacle tuck, if they had the option.
And then hmm, so it seems Mender is triggering Pinkie's rapid healing. Interesting I suppose it makes sense that those links could have more of an effect than just the mental connection. I mean, just to do that, it's already messing with their minds somehow, so it follows that it could interact with their physiology too. How else does it affect them, and does it go both ways? Is Mender going to find himself twitch-a-twitchin' and able to use The Stare, as his bad luck rubs off on the others? At least his gravity should be limited to just him. Speaking of which, if he wants to swap out the damaged chip controlling that, he just needs to get Celestia and/or Luna to briefly banish him to the moon so he won't damage anything important while he does it. Knowing Mender, what could possibly go wrong?
And once again Mender introduces himself with his face as he meets another one of their pets. I guess technically he's seen both Opal and Angel before, but they're both apt to give him a nice thumping or slashing just out of spite, if he ever gets a more official introduction. And then Winona might be in his face too, but on the slobbery side instead of painful, which would be a little better, I guess.
So hot Dash smells like raspberries and spices, huh? That's amusing, even if I'm not sure why. Pinkie probably always smells like cake and frosting, so that's nothing new, but I want to know what he thinks Fluttershy smells like. I guess he's described her scent before as being like flowers, but that's under normal circumstances, so who knows how much different it'll be now.
Heh, things like the way Mender fought and argued to negotiate a lower down payment from the Cakes makes it amusing to imagine what it would be like if Mender and Fluttershy got into an argument, although that would be almost impossible to begin with. It's hard to have a fight where neither participant is really trying to win. But if they did, it'd be the strangest sort of reverse argument where they're both insisting the other is right and furiously apologizing to each other for disagreeing, or some such. That'd be entertaining to see, but it'd probably take something pretty big before it'd happen.
And so Sweetie Belle's crush becomes more and more apparent, as Mender remains blissfully oblivious. Careful there, Sweetie, if you get too affectionate with an adult stallion, you might get rumors starting, if you aren't careful. Definitely a very good way to get Mender in trouble, if other adults see too much snuggling going on. Or even if not in trouble, per se, Mender and his marefriends are in for quite a surprise sooner or later when they realize the reason for that fondness. Twilight yelled at Redheart to stop flirting with her coltfriend, but who knows how she would react to a filly doing something similar. And Rarity bound for all kinds of mixed feelings. By the way, why does "she'd thank me later" seem kind of ominous, regarding his conversation with Twilight?
"My life was far too long and drawn out in its misery to fit into a movie or show, but if this were a book, I'd so slap the author. Slap, not kill. If I killed them, I'd probably cease to exist." The funny thing about fictional characters is they have the potential to far outlive their creators, so to speak. Five hundred years from now, someone could read Mender's story without him being at all diminished from what he is now. In a way, it's the closest thing there is to immortality.
3307715
Yeah, I didn't so much mean "eager" as in enthusiastic support, but more as involving themselves rather vigorously, even if you discount his addled sniffing and accusations when they first arrived.
As for the warning possibilities, well, there's a bunch of ways the situation could go wrong. Another Grosh invasion, Nirru returning, Mender getting killed again, the bio-weapon thing unleashing, Keldarians attacking, etc. There's enough possibilities that may or may not be likely that it was easier to just be vague than try to guess which one Prudentia meant.
I suppose I might as well respond to 3277278 while I'm at it, since I sorta forgot last week. Normally I like to keep comments relegated to the chapters they're about, or close to the comments they're replying to, even if unnecessary, but if it's really short, I'll just tack them onto the end of my main comments.
But yeah, the name Periphery isn't just totally random and meaningless, after all.
got Skyrim this week for my upcoming birthday, so I’ve been a bit busy leveling up my Fireball-throwing and armor smithing. But hey, I wasn’t too busy to make my response!
And here we go!
Wait, the saddlebags rotate to keep the contents vertical at all times? Rarity, you are some kind of engineer yourself to develop something of that nature and capability. Sounds extremely handy for somepony who has a penchant for falling off things, being thrown around, being hit by random objects, and generally in every spatial direction you can imagine. And speaking of spatial directions, I wonder if Pinkie isn’t more comfortable on the stilts than she is on the ground, and given that it was her idea, I’m inclined to believe it.
And there we go with the “abomination of science” stuff again… Dammit Mender, I swear one of these days Twi’s gonna punch your head off if you keep thinking that way around these nice ponies. Seriously, she can do it.
Jumping ahead real quick: I liked how you planted the idea that Pinkie is Unit 001 here, and then further on established that Pinkie has her own brand of swift regeneration, which only reinforced the idea, but was then placated by the idea that the link had given Pinkie that ability through his nanites. I’m still not throwing out the possibility, however. Some of her behavior reflects that of certain AI’s in other franchises that go a bit haywire and loopy after so many years…
PHEREMONES PHEREMONES WARNING WARNING THANK YOU TWI FOR REMINDING HIM OF THAT. He might have found himself upside-down underneath Pinkie if he had said she smelled good too, which might not have been good for Twi right now.
Also, an overly affectionate Twilight Sparkle waking you up? I’ve had that dream.
I mean, what? What are you talking about? *runs away*
…Oh damn, I forgot I’m rooted to the ground.
Heh heh blood pooling. It’s a dick joke! Ha. Me like. And it’s not awkward if it’s just your fillyfriend. If Spike was there too… Yeah, that’s when things get awkward. Otherwise, ehh. It’s a part of life. Us guys gotta deal with it.
I’m going to go with anxiety issues. A wife overly-enthusiastic about the prospect of lots of foals combined with the rather stressful event of meeting your daughter’s significant other is tough enough, but throw in ‘at the beginning of heat season’ and DAMN any guy in that position would have anxiety issues to shame the captain of the Titanic after his ship hit the iceberg. He just had to worry about drowning and making sure everyone’s safe. Psh, easy-peasy in comparison.
Ooh, handy self-based ropes. Can’t imagine trying to explain that to Night Light and Twilight Velvet though… Knowing Night Light, he’d probably jump straight to the perverted conclusion, like most of us did. Yeah, the internet sucks sometimes…
Hmm, an instruction manual inside the programming of an organic computer for it to understand itself and potentially troubleshoot issues does sound like a good failsafe that would be built in, but more than likely somewhere not too obvious. That information would have the potential to cause an awful lot of harm if the computer itself wanted to, so there’s probably conditions that need to be met and firewalls that need to be bypassed. That, or it’s just in his metaphorical Start menu. Either one.
Yeah, Mender, you really need to get out of there before you get jumped. Especially with Twi trying her best to get you to stay, even though you both know that’s not what you want right now. Honestly, it would be cute and all, not to mention show good dedication, but seriously, it’s not in the cards, and you’ll both probably regret it later if it was to happen. So get out. NOW.
Stop talking about the party and leave. It’s nice that Luna paid for most of it, though. I always knew she was on Mender’s side!
Good, he’s out. Thank god. That could have gone a whole lot worse for everypony. Also, are Velvet and Light staying there for a while, or were they waiting before catching their train out later that evening after the sendout? I can’t remember.
Mender. It’s AJ, but it’s still also heat season. Why are you letting her get that close to your muzzle with hers? It’s not safe! IT’S A TRAP!
Thank you, Admiral Ackbar. I knew I kept you around for a reason.
AJ pouncing on him like that only reminded me that if AJ wanted him, she could probably have him. Don’t worry that he’s a hyper-advanced cybernetic organism that can devour things, cuz he won’t hurt her. So once again, he’s in a situation he needed to get out of ASAP.
It’s nice that they’re having this conversation though, should go a long way to mending fences.
Aaaaand AJ killed it a bit.
Like seriously? Though honestly I do have to say it was really funny and it got me for a second, but given what happened with Nirru, that was both incredibly dangerous and incredibly mean for her to do. He easily could have killed her under suspicion, especially since she hasn’t linked with him yet, and she brought up some really bad memories, which is never a good thing.
Ahahaha I do like that she pointed out the difference between gratitude and guilt. It reminds me of a quote from a TV series I keep up on, ‘Elementary’. It goes something like this:
It really stuck with me, and it’s pretty much the defining statement of AJ right now. I only watched that episode earlier tonight, so I’m kinda glad I was able to make that connection. Plus, it's starting to develop her character to the point where I can imagine her and Rainbow in a relationship. Before, I could only see a crush that Rainbow had on AJ, but now I'm starting to see some possible reciprocation of those feelings! THESE CHARACTERS YOU MAKE ARE TOO MUCH FOR ME!
I see what you did there. And I liked it.
AJ as a personal trainer? He’s definitely gonna get some meat on dem bones! Either through her Drill Sergeant regiment or Granny Smith’s cooking, one way or another he’s gonna gain some weight!
3.6x the safety and capability? Damn Mender, you sure do know your stuff. Not only that, but you can execute the plan, not just make it, and that’s a talent to be proud of!
Okay, so I’m assuming it’s not just Big Mac, Noteworthy, Redheart, the CMC, and Mender heading out, but who else is there? I guess I’ll just have to find out, right?
When Tank Attacks! should be in theatres. That guy makes a great ballistic missile!
Rainbow breaking character is just about the cutest thing ever! I really liked when she did that in Season 3 too!
AJ helping Rainbow with her heat problem might just make the prismatic pegasus’s year. I can’t imagine anything would make her happier! Other than, you know, starting out as a nice comfortable relationship. Steamy Applejack pictures doesn’t help though… I'm glad Rainbow wasn't there when AJ was 'seducing' Mender, she might have had a heart attack!
Ha Mender can see through Rainbow’s deceptions? I like that. It’s nice to have assurance sometimes of how she really feels, since the boasting can sometimes go a bit too far… She’s still best Mane6 in my book, but that’s more because of how she’s portrayed in these fanfics than how her character is developed in the actual show. Between A Bluebird’s Song, Blue Angel, and this fic, I really like the development of the RD character, which kind of poisons the show for me, since it’s so superficial in comparison, but that’s more an issue of me reading too much. Anyone who reads too many fanfics begins to notice how the show characters lack a certain depth, or they start transferring the fanfic image they've created themselves of the characters onto the ones on the screen. But hey, that's not a bad thing at all!
Other than that, I’m looking forward to the shenanigans in the woods, in which I’d like to see some CMC/Big Mac/Redheart/Noteworthy development, more visits from the pony who is Prudentia but not actually, and maybe some VentLac as well, though that’s more long odds, since the ponified Prudentia I believe to be an aspect unique to Prudentia as being unregistered. So yes, I can’t wait for this evening!
Fir out.
3301213 - Zcal80
Glad you like though.
It's TECHNICALLY not fourth wall breaking.
3301277 - Lucky424
Sometimes I kinda wish I could employ some sort of alternate dimension splitter or something and use all of them.
Oooh, another really good guess. There are so many awesome theories out there now.
Heh, it's looking highly probable.
Flirty Twi is best Twi, and I have almost every one of those pictures saved to my computer already.
3301310 - mrclootis
*keeps a lookout over his shoulder*
That's getting oh so meta scary...
3301347 - Bubbabob
It's not one giant cabin, but a whole cluster of smaller ones all grouped together.
Well actually she has her own cabin that doubles as the medical facility.
3301386 - Black Sun Eclipse
Also, yes. The CMC scenes are quite extensive throughout the Estrus arc due to being almost the only collection of characters he CAN interact with. Big Mac and Spike are also there, of course. 
...I should so get you to write future Zecora dialogue for me...
You'll get to see Fluttershy heat, don't worry.
3301490 - Madfish
I went to the spot and it makes perfect sense in context. What word am I missing?
Uh, I'm unsure of what you mean.
3301500 - LMessenger
Normally his books don't go for 'sad', but he definitely went all out with that. I'm pleased I can project 'sad' quite well too, though. Heh. Also, similar to the first story, this one has multiple endings to it. Three, this time. There's a catch, though. Only one of them can be canon. 
Maybe I'll just roll for it?
That was a sad one.
3301574 - DFatman
Their race is still doomed, but at least it beats being hunted down and wiped out by the Grosh. Although they might live again through proper application of cloning.... Anyways, the main issue with that is energy requirements. It takes an absurd amount of energy to transfer something through the dimensions with their current technology. And so far it's only been small things, such as the sword, book, and fake body for Nirru. Unshielded, moving at FTL speeds is also REALLY bad for squishy organic individuals, like a Keldarian. 
Side effects are extensive and have over a hundred percent probability of happening. Yes, over. We're already messing with quantum mechanics. They include things such as nausea, vomiting, vertigo, 4th degree radiation burns, and death. The portal gate they used in the first story was a FAR safer manner of transit, but also really tricky to make, and fixed at about three meters across, so you'd have to probably fire Keldarians one at a time through the portal using a launcher or something.
That's an interesting point. If they make another portal, they could probably transfer all the peaceful Keldarians over to Equestria, so long as they agreed to live in harmony.
3301654 - RoboGerbil
I should really watch those.
3301863 - Willsons
If you look closely, you'll notice it's at LEAST 20% shit already, and the decay is slowly speeding up.
Maybe you're not looking in the right places?
3301874 - Skijarama
It's not like I'm WRITING any of this anyways. It just sort of flows out and I'm just a spectator too. I have a weird style of writing, I guess. So maybe, just maybe you're right!
Eh, it wouldn't surprise me.
3302098 - Sir Baasz
I'm a fan of that technique, if you could call it that. I'm glad you're liking, though! Even Mender's random idle musings...
Oooh, you're noticing subtle character development.
3302441 - RoboRed
1. You'll probably be disappointed.
2. With Estrus-Twilight RIGHT THERE to wake up and notice it, too.
3. Heh, maybe I should put warning labels on my story? Or maybe get it approved by the food and drug administration. Eh...
(1/6)
3302479 - fenril
He's only been waking up to AJ screaming for a solid two weeks or so. At this point, given the fact that she utterly sucks at lying, it's a VERY safe assumption that she's told him pretty much everything. So safe an assumption that she already told Mender that she told him off screen and I didn't even feel the need to INFORM the readers of that. 
Eh? Of course.
3302517 - Enmar
Everypony seemed to like that, though...
Definitely a change of mood for Twilight, you'll notice.
3302632 - shirotora
*beaten unconscious!*
What?! AH!
3302707 - Midnight Blues
A bizarre form of diapause? I simply copied reproductive data from ponies. Also, more Fluttershy coming up. 
What would you prefer in its stead? Menstrual cycles?
3302800 - Allonso Bronyguy
Oh, and refer to my reply to the other person about Big Mac noticing the tentacles.
Heh, you're the first to point that out.
3302987 - PhantomKirby
*suddenly totally clueless* I'm glad you're enjoying regardless, even if I'm confused. 
Tail flavor?
3303122 - Buckin Bronco
Although, obviously, I can't detail anything that the future may hold for anypony. Dashie's a bit of a mystery too. Maybe you'll see more of her stuff in the future? That race IS coming up.
If that fails, the fact that it's 'technically' illegal unless you have prior situation set up is also a good reason to not sneak over there.
Heh, sorry, but this isn't a clopfic.
Applejack is just playing around. It's funny to watch Mender get flustered and panic...
Most mares that aren't already IN the camp don't want foals, which is usually a good enough deterrent.
Further... ew. If there was an emote of Tank throwing up, this would be a perfect spot to use it.
3303211 - QuietPonder
You'll probably enjoy two of the vignettes that are planned.
It's no real surprise that you're drawing connection between the two of them, because there really IS connection there. It's a friendly sort of one at the moment of course, but two of the 'what-if' vignettes deal with that. Optional canon at its finest. 
*snickers in amusement* Well there IS a bit of ship-teasing with them.
Interestingly enough, I believe I said it before, but Applejack has one of the highest levels of character development in the story, apart from Twilight and Mender himself.
......and yes, this last chapter was a shiptease, through and through.
3303251 - EonMaster
.....that may or may not have been a bad idea, but the future will tell.
Twilight's reasoning was a bit of an exception, because it wasn't just the heat getting to her, but the guilt and starting to second guess herself if it was the right choice. They've evolved past a majority of their instinctual needs in that regard, so 98% of them are fully aware of what they want and don't want. Sending the stallions away is actually more for them, so they don't have to deal with the pheromones everywhere, which can have light mental effects on them. Further, if that isn't enough to dissuade, there are legal penalties to going over there without proper justification or arrangements.
Twilight already realizes this is a probability, yes. She's been talking with Rarity on how to make things up to him and work on trust building between them.
Well the thing is, the best protection is the fact that they're NOT really sex-crazed. Only the absolute worst heats can distract a mare to that level, and they usually take medication for it at that point.
(2/6)
3303591 - funnyman2213
He doesn't address anything outside of the story, apart from being very correct in a meta sort of way.
It's actually more a fourth wall eluding reference, than actually breaking.
3303641 - Pickleless
This chapter is more a transition between the two arcs than anything, although based on your reasoning alone, it's likely that the next arc won't be nearly as friendly for Mender and crew, yeah...
Several of those guesses were somewhat accurate, but it's more fun if I don't tell you which ones.
3304779 - Somepony Nopony
It's weird that it's the same length as normal... *points to his blog* I commented on the same thing though. It felt shorter for some reason, regardless of being eighteen pages. Maybe because it covers a very small amount of actual in-story time?
3304957 - MuffinTop
Actually, it's a contested point. The very article you linked to explains that neither way is agreed upon as 'correct', so saying that I'm 'not supposed to' is misleading. I prefer two spaces after each sentence end however, not only because it's the way I was taught to write, but as it's also very visually appealing to me. Splitting the sentences up is gentle for my eyes to read.
3305193 - MuffinTop
He already knows about them. AJ told him after he calmed her down from a nightmare. Off-camera, she also told Mender that he knows. I figured it was such an extremely likely assumption at this point that I didn't even need to show it.
3305780 - aebed
It can't be both?
3307036 - MrAskAPirate
Lame. But yes, you're indeed right. 'That' is definitely working properly for him. Heh.
Aww, page not found?
3307147 - FlyingChurro
I could probably spend several pages of typing listing all the things, but instead I'm just going to laugh maniacally.
3307708 - Willsons
That's depressing when you say it like that.
3307760 - Black Sun Eclipse
Although that would be... kinda disastrous if they did and he found out.
You caught my subtle insinuation.
3307869 - FlyingChurro
Oooooooh, okay.
3308373 - Sergiovan
Thank you for worrying about my arm, but it's okay.
I reply to every comment that's appropriate to reply to, worry not.
3308532 - Edanite Phoenix
Have a link!
It's a Noodle Incident.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident
3308553 - Medlimakar
For the record, he's unsure what to think of Sweetie specifically, but yes, you're right. Storm's ahead.
3308670 - Edanite Phoenix
I'm glad you're still enjoying.
3309191 - Skijarama
*oh so curious now!*
Amusing? I like amusing!
3309397 - Caffeinated
If the next arc goes poorly, you'd be very accurate.
Heh, well it IS the transition chapter between two arcs.
3310138 - Narishia98
He never stepped out of character or referenced something out of the story even once.
Nothing was broken.
3310689 - Hawkx1
To meander is totally different. Heh. But you're right, it has been a long time coming...
Mender has no 'a's in his name.
3311222 - CaliPackFan
*makes a mental note to try sorting by 'views' as well*
I'm glad you're enjoying. It's always awesome to get new readers.
(3/6)