Chapter 09
Okay, so this was a mess. Carefully weaving between the piles, I moved another group of planks in with the rest. We were finally wrapping up the sorting of the parts into the various piles on the floor of the barn. Applejack had taken off already, leaving the finer points of the sorting to the ponies that could use magic, it would seem. Although she did have the harvest to take care of, so I didn't exactly blame her there.
Smiling down at the last of the planks, I glanced back up at Twilight. At this point, I was growing a little concerned for the unicorn in question. She only got half as much done as me, mostly because she insisted that all of the nails and screws be aligned in the same direction. She was now smiling proudly down at her very exact, orderly piles. It was oddly kind of endearing, and I caught myself smiling softly at her. It was strange. The more I sorted out the feelings, the weirder I felt over the whole situation. Fluttershy had obviously distanced herself, which might have led to some of it, but surely not all. Spending so much time with Twilight had given me greater appreciation for the mare. She seemed honest in her desire to not hurt me anymore.
Okay, that was a total lie. I blushed as I realized it. As much as I was trying to stay distant, I couldn't help but get giddy little butterflies in my stomach when I watched her. She was a scary individual when upset, sure, but that's just because I knew what she could do to me. When she was happy, such as now, staring at her gave an entirely different feeling. I wasn't naive. That warm feeling was new to me, but I realized what I wanted. It was maddening some days. How would males on my home dimension stand it?
My eyes started to roam a little. All right, so it was really maddening. Her coat was well maintained, looking so soft in the barn light. Her form was sleek and streamlined. She lacked the muscle tone of Applejack, and the corded muscles of Rainbow Dash, but she was far from unhealthy looking. I blushed lightly as I traced gentle curves with my eyes. Her hips were particularly pleasant to take note of, and I saw her tail was well maintained, similar to her mane. My eyes drifted back that way, tracing along her mane that almost seemed to glow in the warm light of the Sun seeping through the barn's front door. It complimented the gorgeous shade of her eyes as they almost sparkled with energy when she was excited. It always made her look so cute. The light flush of her cheeks didn't help either, of course. Wait a second...
Twilight was staring right at me at this point, blushing softly and fidgeting with her right front leg. My blush expanded significantly and I politely looked away, coughing. I hope she hadn't noticed too long ago and saw me ogling her flank. Again. Well in her mind, anyway. The first time had indeed been an accident.
A light giggle. Her voice always caused me to melt a little, but I kept my hormones under control. No sense in getting her mad at me again. "Um, you don't need to look away, Mender. I don't mind you looking at me. It's just surprising, is all. I'm rather plain looking, honestly," she excused, looking down towards the floor of the barn instead.
I blatantly recoiled, shocked. "Twilight! You're far from plain. You're... You're gorgeous. I mean, I do find a lot of mares cute or pretty, but you're by far the only one I'd say was truly beautiful," I corrected softly, frowning now.
Twilight's eyes hit saucer size almost instantly. She looked shocked for a moment before her eyes softened and the blush in her cheeks magnified sharply. "M-Mender! I, well, I thank you, but I just don't know. I've never had a stallion think I was pretty." While she had barely choked out the first part of her statement, she calmed down a little and now looked reserved. Or was that a shy expression as she nervously looked at me.
Smiling, I shook my head. "I'm not going to do anything you don't want me to, Twilight. It's not just because you'd rip me limb from limb either if I tried," I assured her, nodding.
Her ears visibly drooped and she shook her head. "I told you that I'm not going to hurt you, Mender. I don't want you scared of me, okay?" she asked softly, walking towards me again. I hesitated and took a half step back, unsure of her intent. Was she mad at me for staring and only acting this way to get me to lower my guard? Her eyes softened, but she didn't stop walking. "What can I do to show you that I won't hurt you?" she asked a moment later, stopping a half-meter in front of me.
I swallowed but stood my ground. She was serious. "I, uh, have no idea, Twilight," I answered, as truthfully as I could manage.
Her eyes searched mine for a few seconds before she nodded. To my surprise, she started smiling. "It's a well-documented issue. Your situation is unique, but I bet I could figure out a way to let you have more confidence in dealing with me. Wanna give it a shot later?" she asked warmly, looking oddly excited.
Oh well. I couldn't see any particular harm in it and agreed with, "Sure. I don't see why not."
The lavender pony grinned instantly, instilling a sudden paranoia in me. Had that been the wrong choice? "Excellent! I'll study up on some of the techniques. Research and experimentation have never failed me in the past, so it will undoubtedly work here too!" she exclaimed excitedly.
More experiments? Smiling, I agreed with, "Well, your last 'experimentation' was a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll like these too, right?" Her happy expression shifted to that of a shocked blush in a heartbeat, earning a grin from me.
"Cool your jets, Lover Boy. We need to talk to Fluttershy first, don't forget," she reminded, playfully sticking her tongue out at me. I laughed, but nodded gently. She had already been more than adamant on me talking to Fluttershy about things. She didn't need to remind me any further. She continued before I could say anything else, however. "But I am serious. I'm, well, even if you don't end up picking me, you need to move slowly in the relationship. I'm a little worried that maybe kissing like that was too fast. It would be way too fast for Fluttershy," she voiced, an odd mixture of nervous yet sad sounding. Wait, slow? I'd never heard of that adjective being applied to mates before.
Swallowing my pride, and possibly sense of self-preservation, I decided to throw caution to the wind and ask Twilight what she meant. "How does slow apply to a relationship?"
She had started to turn around, but froze when I asked. Her initial expression seemed to be of surprise and curiosity, but she nodded quietly. "Well, to take your time dating and getting to know a pony before moving on to the more, uh, physical aspects of a relationship," she explained, causing even more confusion. Dating? This was another word that I'd not encountered before. Well, not in this context. To be 'dated' was to be old or out of place in your time period, if I recall correctly.
"Uh, what's 'dating' mean in this context?" I inquired, deciding that if she answered the first without hesitation, she shouldn't have any problem with the second. I hoped.
A large blush exploded over her cheeks almost instantly. Oops. Guess I was wrong, there. "What, um, what do you mean, Mender? Surely you've heard of dating before. What did your society do to pair up males and females for mating?" she questioned, sounding gravely embarrassed.
Uh oh. It had something to do with mating rituals. Please don’t kill me, Twilight. Guessing that I had just made an idiot of myself again, I lowered my head and drooped my ears. "Sorry, Twilight. Honestly, I don't think I've heard that word in that context before. From what I've pieced together and remember, there were no direct mating rituals. Sure, sometimes females took in a male specifically for such in the higher circles, but most of our breeding was done through clinics," I explained quietly, formulating it at the same time. It wasn't as if I had anticipated having to explain this to anypony. Dreams and vague memories showed me the clinics and I knew the male concubine facts. Everything else was purely speculation on my part, of course.
The lavender mare didn't look all that surprised. She did lose her smile and look away, however. "I expected as much. Dating is when a couple goes out and has fun together, with the purpose of testing compatibility and feelings for each other before anything more, um, intimate. Well, that's usually the case, anyway. There are exceptions, of course," she expanded upon, shifting back into analytical mode. That probably meant she was uncomfortable talking about this topic.
"So that's what you wish to start with, right? Dating? It makes sense if you aren't sure of your feelings, although admittedly, I have no idea what's expected of me," I confessed, blushing again but managing a smile this time. For once, I wasn't irritated at making an idiot of myself, especially if it made her more comfortable.
Both of us were interrupted by a sudden light fluttering sound above us. I glanced up for a moment until an impact sounded, and a light ruffling. What was that?!
Twilight must have seen me glance up and giggled lightly. "Oh, don't worry about that. Uh, Applejack has a slight issue with, um, birds in the loft. I told her I'd look into it later after this," she explained, fidgeting a little. She seemed nervous for some reason. Uh oh.
It dawned on me. Traumatic experiences in an individual's past could lead to painful phobias. Twilight must have had something happen to her involving birds and was too embarrassed to say anything to anypony! Applejack probably asked her to take care of the issue without even considering her feelings. How rude. Hmm. Well birds didn't sound too dangerous, so maybe I could help her with them? I wasn't as likely to get in the way or make her use more healing magic on me again.
"Oh, I understand, Twilight! I'll help you take care of them after this, then," I assured, nodding and smiling warmly at her.
She paled considerably. "You, um, you do? You don't need to do that!" she assured rapidly, shaking a little. Whoa! It was a nastier case than I had thought. But she was being so brave and trying to hide it. I wondered how long she had kept this pain inside.
Blushing, I shook my head again and opened my mouth to insist that I could easily help her on the issue. She interrupted before I could, however. "What do you think of me, Mender?" she suddenly asked out of nowhere.
My brain did a flip inside of my skull and I totally forgot what I had been about to say. "Er, wait, what?" Complete sentences eluded me as my brain shifted from sixth to reverse.
"About me. I mean, I know you think I'm pretty. Somehow. And fun to be around despite our conflicts in the past. I wanted to know what you think we could be to each other, though," she elaborated carefully, intensely locking eyes with me.
Swallowing, I shifted nervously off my left side. This wasn't expected at all. How did the conversation shift from birds to our future?! Although if she was insecure about things concerning her phobias and personality, that might have prompted this. She might have suddenly worried that I looked down upon her for having a phobia. Still, fear of birds wasn't that out of the normal range of things. Heck, I once met an Artificial Intelligence who was afraid of them. Well, she had a lot of problems other than that, but it still fit!
"Well, I really do like you a lot. You feel very mature and stable to me, honestly. You're extremely intelligent and I look up to that. You're also scarily powerful, which admittedly terrifies me on occasion. I would like to..." I started before trailing off and frowning to myself. I'd gone over this a hundred times in my head, but always managed to hit a snag here. She felt almost untouchable. Like she existed in a reality apart from my own. Above me and impossibly real. It was hard for me to imagine myself 'with' her in any romantic regard. I didn't know why. Technically, her kissing me should have made it easier, but it didn't. Funny thing, that.
She made an impossibly quiet sound a moment later, and I closed my eyes. Surely, if I couldn't see her, she couldn't see me, right? That somehow made the confession easier, and I started with, "I would like to be important to you like that, and have you let me care for you. I just have my doubts that I'd be able to, well, reach you. You're one of a kind in this world, and it feels like I, as an intruder here, shouldn't be considered for such good fortune." Every word was extremely carefully chosen, of course. I decided to leave out the extreme paranoia about her relationship with Celestia.
Twilight predictably blushed. "Mender, I want to be important to you, too. Just trust that instead of worrying about if you're worthy or not," she returned, calling me out on my polite wording. I guess I did kind of consider myself unworthy of her, didn't I?
"But thank you. That helps me quite a bit. How do you feel about Fluttershy, then?' she asked less than a second later. This one I'd seen coming, however.
Sadly, that didn't make the answer any less complicated. "I'm not entirely sure. She makes me feel comfortable, which is amazing considering I'm an alien dumped into the middle of a new land with nothing to his name and who started off thinking that all of the natives wanted to kill and consume him," I groaned out, rubbing a hoof to my temple. At least I'd progressed a long way since then. Kind of. Oh fine; at least I knew they were vegetarians.
Twilight giggled pleasantly and shook her head. "Fluttershy is really good at making ponies feel comfortable when she doesn't feel threatened herself. Although from what I've read, you need more than comfort in order to love somepony," she pointed out, sitting down in front of me. I thought about it a little more. Technically she was right. Fluttershy was adorable, very cute, and made me feel safe. Was that enough to base a relationship off, though? Was it fair, to her, for me to try to base a relationship off that only? Everything was new to me, and it was frustrating having no idea what I was doing.
"I think you might be right. Now that I consider it, I'm not entirely sure my feelings for her were like that in the first place. I mean, she's cute and very, very kind, but I never intentionally looked at her in that way before." It was more pondering out loud than any direct statement. A light scraping came from above afterwards, along with more of the flapping noises, however. I raised an eyebrow and looked up again. Those sounded like destructive birds. Maybe we shouldn't be waiting to chase them away?
Twilight interrupted with, "You mean when you accidentally looked at her flank, right?" My gaze burned back down to her instantly, cheeks flaring up again. Of course she wore a smirk. For a moment, I thought I heard Fluttershy gasp. Then I realized it had just echoed through my head and chuckled mentally. True, that's exactly what she would do had she been here.
"Of course, given your wording, that would also indicate that you intentionally looked at mine," the mirthful lavender unicorn continued, giving a more playful smirk. Damn, she was a brat when she wanted to be! This was a whole new side of Twilight that I hadn't seen before, and I didn't particularly know how to deal with it. Well, what was that song? Fortune favors the bold.
I nodded in return, smirking. "Of course I did. You're definitely not hard on the eyes," I managed to get out, suppressing the urge to wince and hide behind the crate next to me.
Twilight's eyes widened drastically and her blush magnified tenfold. Her smile remained, however, and I eased up on my tense muscles. "You're a charmer when not cowering from me," she teased, slowly swaying closer to me. My pride made me hold my ground as she approached. If she was going to murder me, I could at least die with dignity. She leaned past me however, whispering into my ear, "I like it. Relax."
My turn to blush. Had it been that obvious that I was tense? I let out a little sigh and did just as she had suggested. She smiled gently at me from inches away. A sudden urge came over me, and I slowly leaned forwards.
Twilight turned away however at the last second and picked up a bunch of the wooden planks for the support structure. They drifted easily into the air around her so easily. I almost fell on my face, wobbling for a moment to recover my balance. "What about Applejack? She might be employing you," she asked instead, hauling the woodpile over to the corner of the barn.
My mind whirled with the sudden topic change and I had to do an about face to catch up. "Wait, what?" I asked a moment later. Okay, try to catch up, anyway.
She snickered, causing me to scowl but sigh. Was she intentionally throwing me off guard? "I've never really thought about it. Mostly I'm too preoccupied trying to make up for my terrible first impression. She's very kind though, and has been extremely hospitable since." I followed her over to where she was lining up the boards as I replied.
She smiled, agreeing with, "Applejack would like that description. You don't think she's pretty?"
I laughed, pointing a hoof over to the nails pile. "Nails. And don't get me wrong. Applejack is very pretty in her own unique way. She's not adorably cute like Fluttershy or subtly gorgeous like you; she holds a practical charm, in a down to earth kind of way," I tried to explain. Twilight didn't miss a beat and yanked a pile of nails over to where we were as I positioned two of the interlocking planks into a cross brace.
"You always seem to compliment me the most," she groaned as we instinctively swapped roles. She snagged both planks in her telekinesis and I magnetically picked up three of the sturdy nails with my left, glowing hoof.
"You're the one I like the most in that way, so isn't that normal?" I questioned, giving the nails a light kinetic burst of energy. They drove themselves into the board all at once an instant later.
Twilight smiled at me for a moment before starting at the sound of the nails. She looked momentarily amused when she glanced down at my work. "Well, admittedly, that makes me more than a little happy. Maybe I've been, I dunno, over-thinking things?" she muttered, turning back to the board pile and lighting her horn with magic.
Twilight, over-think things? I tried not to laugh as I realized I tended towards doing the same thing. I instinctively ducked as two more boards flew in over me and lined themselves up in a light magical aura. "I'm probably as nervous about things as you. Everything is going a little faster for me, and admittedly, it's a tad hard to keep up with mentally," I tried to assure.
She smiled pleasantly and nodded, expression relaxing a little. "Then I guess it will be new to both of us. Uh, well, if you pick me, of course," she backtracked, eyes widening at the last part.
This again? I sighed as I grabbed the next set of nails. "Twilight, we're pretty much assured that she's..." I stopped and frowned. Fluttershy didn't like me like that. I'd already figured that much out. Whether she did before she saw my memories, I'd probably never find out. For such a gentle soul, the prospect of war and death was probably grim indeed. I felt bad enough that she had to see what she did. "She just wants to be friends, Twilight. I don't blame her for that and frankly, I'm sad that she had to see what she did in the first place, regardless of it being the reason she changed her mind. I just want to be absolutely sure that's what she wants so I don't hurt her feelings, is all," I furthered after straightening out my mindset.
There was a light, contented sigh that echoed out of nowhere and everywhere at once. Frowning, I glanced around again. Okay, that time I swore I heard the timid yellow mare in question. Was it just my imagination? Twilight smiled and nodded at me as if she'd heard nothing, so I decided to keep it to myself lest I sound even less sane than she already thought I was.
"I understand. I'm sure she would as well if she heard that. Relax, Mender. I'm glad you like me like that. I think, um, I think I really do want to give it a try. Oh dear, I think I'll need to do some more reading on the topic," she groaned, shifting back and forth on her hooves. I lowered the hoof that had the nails and ducked again as her magic followed her swaying, whipping the boards back and forth in front of me, predictably.
I just shook my head and chuckled. At least I didn't try to figure out everything by reading about it. Well, not that it was a bad way to do things, but she might be content with just experimenting more, too. I grinned to myself as I remembered her last one. "Twilight, relax. You have all the time in the world," I assured regardless.
Well, it wasn't just assurance, I guess. Something still felt off about the whole situation. My instincts told me that she was more important than me, and I shouldn't be so lax and loose tongued around her, to be respectful and subservient instead. Not just because she was an Element of Harmony, one of the most important mares in Equestria, or could single-handedly tear the fabric of my being apart with her mind, but because she was female. The frustrating thing was not knowing where the instinct came from. What was my old culture like to instill such a nigh panic over the issue?
"...but I should be fine as long as I experiment slowly. Oh, and get lots of research and notes taken!" she continued from a statement I was apparently missing the first part of. Oops. It was easy enough to gather what she had been saying, however. Not that I knew how to respond anyway.
Further, not that it mattered, as she apparently wasn't looking for a response in the first place, and simply continued with, "Anyway, what about Rainbow Dash?"
After Applejack, I had been anticipating being grilled on Dash as well, so it wasn't as much of a surprise. Thankfully, the boards stopped flailing and I was able to sit up again, proceeding with driving the next set of nails into them. "I trust her with my life after what we went through. She really pulled her own back in my dimension, and showed me how truly loyal she can be. She's amazing." Twilight smirked at my explanation, and I saw it coming.
"Sounds like you like her too," she cooed a second later.
I rolled my eyes. "Twilight, I came from a world with no females in day to day activities. Every mare here is going to be at least a little cute to me. So yes, Rainbow is very cute. But you know her heart is also taken, and so is mine," I reminded, giving her a skeptical glance.
She nodded promptly, seemingly unfazed by my admission. "Rarity?" she asked without delay as we swapped plank sets again and moved further down the line.
"Very elegant and beautiful in her own way. She really maintains herself. Maybe a little too much. She's really nice, however, and her heart is in the right spot. I'm glad she's my friend," I returned, drawing forth more nails. This was going faster than I thought it would. Although I should have known better, as Twilight was an extremely intelligent mare and learned fast.
The mare in question snickered at the over-maintaining portion of my answer, but nodded. "Okay, a hard one. Pinkie Pie!" she launched, sounding a little amused.
Okay, that was a hard one. I drove the nails into the board before frowning and thinking about it a bit. I barely remembered to duck as more planks flew in via her magic. "She's a really nice mare and super friendly. Way too much energy for me, however. I get tired just watching her. Still, I've seen her when she's not wound up like a spastic ferret on sugar, and know she has other gears. I like her, overall," I reasoned simply.
Twilight started laughing by the time I was done. "Well, that's fairly accurate. Ha! Still, I think she'd be happy with that reply were she here," she agreed, nodding to me between snickers.
There was another light thump from above us, and more flapping sounds. For crying out loud, what were those birds doing up there? I saw the ropes for the lift shiver back and forth slightly and widened my eyes. Uh oh! We're they pecking at the lift ropes? That wouldn't do at all.
Twilight frowned as I stood up and trotted over to the lift. "I think those birds are on the lift ropes. I'm going to scare them off," I explained, smiling back at her.
Oddly, a look of shock and terror suddenly spread across her face. "No, Mender! It's okay, I'll get them after we're done!" she shouted.
I smiled further and shook my head. "It's okay, Twilight. You don't need to be brave. It's perfectly all right to be afraid of birds. I'll get rid of them," I assured.
"Wait, what?" she asked suddenly, getting an odd look on her face. Shaking my head at the stubborn mare, I reached over with my left hoof and touched the rope, swinging it into the edge of the loft above.
The shockwave shook the entire building, rippling and distorting across the loft floor. Nothing too strong, but that should be enough to scare the birds out of there. A trio of screams sounded through the air instantly, and my eyes widened a moment later. Applejack fell first, going sideways out of the lift hole. Rainbow Dash came next, looking more intentional as she dove after Applejack, her wings extended. What the hell?! A light squeak came from above a moment later, causing me to look up just in time to be greeted by a face full of yellow fur. Fluttershy landed on me with a force that was astounding for what I anticipated she weighed, and we became a pony pile on the floor in front of the lift. She gave another timid squeak upon landing on me, then rolled until she hit solid ground again.
Dash caught Applejack out of the air and spun, skipping and sliding along the ground on her back while cushioning the mare she held. Both of them slid to a stop right into one of the larger boxes still in the room. The side snapped on the box and the entire top collapsed in on them. My eyes widened and I slammed my left hoof into the ground as it fell. The energy shot along the ground and up the side of the box as it broke, killing the inertia and gravity and letting the broken top float free instead, drifting a ways off to the side of them before running out of energy and falling.
Everything slowly came to a stop. Fluttershy let out a pained "Ow" next to me, and Applejack slowly sat up on Rainbow. The cyan mare was blushing furiously as she looked up at the orange mare, who smirked down at her.
Rainbow scoffed a second later, looking away before asking, "Comfy there?"
The country mare let out a throaty clicking that sounded remarkably like laughter. "What if ah am?" she pointedly questioned, nudging a hoof into Dash's chest. Whoa! Well that sounded promising for her.
If she caught it, she was obvious. "Just... I don't care. We didn't crash and die so it's all good," she muttered, scarlet color in her cheeks standing out heavily against the blue of her fur. She was kind of cute when embarrassed.
Fluttershy sat up slowly next to me and looked around. Groaning, I decided she probably had the right idea, and sat up too. My neck hurt from being squashed into my shoulders when she landed on me, but at least it wasn't a direct blow to my head. I don't think I needed another concussion at this point to add to my collection. Then the situation dawned on me.
Slowly turning, I shot an extremely irked glare back at Twilight. She swallowed and edged away from me, shifting nervously on her front hooves. That's why she was asking me about all of them. She knew that the three of them were eavesdropping! That meant the entire conversation was a set up to get me to admit things not to her, but to the three of them listening above.
The unicorn shook her head rapidly, almost hearing my train of thought as I turned fully towards her. "Please let me explain, Mender. I can explain," she rapidly assured, shifting a little closer with her hoof reaching towards me.
Backing away slowly, I frowned further at her. "You let them listen intentionally. Why?" I asked carefully. I'd just started giving her the benefit of the doubt again, and now this. For not spying on me for her mentor, she used some awfully underhanded tricks. Underhanded? Underhoofed? It didn't matter!
"It was mah idea, actually. Ya don't be mad at her now," Applejack interrupted, turning around and climbing to her hooves again. Rainbow Dash looked momentarily stunned, but shook her head rapidly where the orange mare couldn't see.
My ears went back and I glared over at her instead. "Why? Why did you... Why didn't you just ask me?" I growled, stamping my hoof to the ground.
Applejack sighed wearily and nodded over towards the now shivering yellow ball of wings and fur on the floor. "Ah figured it would help Fluttershy ta hear yer thoughts indirectly first, ya know?" she explained slowly.
The murky heat I hadn't realized was there to begin with slowly withdrew back down my neck, and I could suddenly hear quiet whispers coming from the yellow mare.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," was being released from her shivering form, seemingly ad infinitum.
Sighing, I lowered my eyes. This wasn't a pleasant situation in the least. It made me feel unclean, I decided. But I couldn't stay angry at Fluttershy, anyway. She hadn't done anything wrong. It wasn't her idea, nor had she tricked me and steered the conversation in ways to benefit herself. If anypony was innocent here, it would be her.
Leaning down, I spoke directly to her instead, assuring, "Fluttershy, it's not your fault so don't worry. You most certainly didn't do anything wrong." The 'you' came out with particular venom. I didn't recall ever being truly mad at anypony before. Irritated, sure. Like when I was forced to dig for twenty minutes longer than what was needed. Or when a bag of apples descended onto my skull at high velocity. This felt different. I was angry. I'd just started to let go of the incident with Celestia and trust Twilight again. Then she did this!
Fluttershy looked up at me, eyes softly wavering and mouth partially open.
"Mender, we're sorry. I was just trying to help Fluttershy. You can see that, right?" Twilight tried to assure, taking a few steps closer again.
My eyes narrowed and I backed up yet again, away from Fluttershy. "That's why you asked about everypony else too, right?"
The lavender mare's eyes drastically widened and she shrank a little. Applejack let out an annoyed sounding snort before stamping her right hoof down with a dull thud.
"Now wait just ah minute, you! Twilight 'ere wouldn't go an' lead ya on without good reason. Can't ya understand why we did it?!" she growled, eyes narrowing at me.
Twilight finally shook her head and spoke up with, "No, Applejack. It was a bad idea. We should have just asked him." the orange mare turned and glared at her as well for a moment before rapidly shaking her head.
My flank brushed past the forward ropes to the lift, and I frowned. I honestly just wanted to get away and clear my head for a while, but the door was past the two mares. I momentarily contemplated fleeing using the lift and my magic, then diving out one of the second story windows, but decided I'd probably just land on my head and wake up in the hospital. Besides, I was oddly getting a little tired of just running away.
"It was not ah bad idea! Fluttershy 'ere benefited greatly from it," Applejack defended stubbornly, directing her irritation towards Twilight now instead, who was strangely shifting more towards me. Rainbow finally managed to recover enough to stand up again behind the country mare. Her gaze shifted past her however and at me instead. Ignoring all of them, I just walked forwards directly in-between Twilight and Applejack. Potentially lethal if either of them attacked me as I was setting up my own flanking position, but I was screwed if they did so anyway. The barn fell oddly quiet as I walked past both, keeping my eyes locked firmly on the exit.
"Uh, where are you, um, going, Mender? Oh, if you don't mind me asking," Fluttershy requested politely, tilting her head at an angle that encouraged her mane to drift absently along her cheek.
I stopped for a moment. Where was I going? "I'm taking a walk. I need to clear my head," I returned quietly, without looking back towards her. Twilight's ears drooped in my peripheral vision to the left, while Applejack's expression hardened on my other side.
"What about mah barn?" she questioned, a bit of sharpness to her tone. Looking back over at her, I frowned. Why was she suddenly in such a bad mood? She was the one who'd decided to spy on me.
"Build it yourself, then. At least there will be no need for spying without me here," I pointed out, admittedly a little on the bitter side.
As expected, she looked significantly taken aback, eyes widening as she leaned her head away from me as if I burned her muzzle. Not waiting for a retort, I turned back and proceeded out of the barn, happy for the fresh air.
* * * * *
To their credit, they didn't give chase. Slowly, I trotted along at a moderate pace, much faster than my normal speeds but nowhere near hurrying. The sun was still high above, spreading its soft warmth over the fields of grass and apple trees. There was a certain amount of peace I felt as I watched the leaves sway to and fro around me. I could definitely appreciate the draw of a farmer's life. Compared to my old life, where it seemed like I only stopped moving after I was blown into three parts, this place was heaven.
Slowly, I shifted from the path and walked down to the base of a small creek. The water ran clear and was chilled to the touch as I lightly dipped a forehoof into it. Maybe this really was heaven? My thoughts strayed back to the book, causing a slow sigh. They were trying to find me. It couldn't be just my imagination. Asking 'her' about it seemed pointless, however. She'd probably just say that it was all in my head again. Heh. That would give 'Tia' a real reason to spy on me again. Hell, Twilight would no doubt jump at the chance! Her mindset was practically geared towards clandestine operations.
The bitterness flared up again as I splashed the water about in front of me with a hoof, realizing that I must have sat down at some point. This was kind of pathetic, really. Get upset at the cute ponies displaying interest in you, so you run away and sulk? Real mature, Mender. Angrily, I whipped my hoof out and hit the water, sending a somewhat satisfying spray away from me.
Why didn't I trust them? Why was I so upset? I've been here for barely three weeks and have caused considerable problems in that time, not limited to accidentally dragging one of them to what could be considered hell in comparison. Rainbow Dash almost died with me in that desolate place. Of course they're not going to hold me in high regard.
It snapped into place. Of course Fluttershy was going to lose interest after she saw the hell I came from. Such a view surely scarred a gentle and innocent soul such as hers. Of course Twilight would pick her teacher, mentor, longtime friend, and ruler of the entire country over me, the whelp that had barely even touched upon her life. It was logical.
I wasn't important considering who I was trying to impress. Flicking a tiny rock along the creek, I wiped weakly at my eyes with the other hoof. This was so stupid. I gave a light groan and leaned down instead, pushing my muzzle and forehead into the modest flow of water. The gentle coolness shifting pleasantly over my fur and skin underneath felt amazing, and I relaxed my shoulders, letting my neck gently support my body. This was the first time I'd been alone in a while, and it was kind of nice. I just let the cool water drift past my coat for a moment, feeling the tension exit my body slowly.
Sighing, I sat back up, eyes yet closed as the water dripped down off my face and forehead. Maybe I needed more time to myself like this? Shaking back and forth, I let the water spray off me before giving a faint smile and opening my eyes once more. I was greeted to the sight of a magenta pair of eyes staring back from all of a half meter away.
Giving a rather embarrassing yelp, I hopped backwards to make some distance from the two pools of amused looking color. Given my natural levels of grace and foresight, I promptly tripped while going backwards and rolled. With all the finesse of a beached whale, I crashed into the loose dirt and mud to my right and slid a few inches before coming to a stop, dignity a long lost cause. Rainbow burst into laughter almost instantly, of course.
"You're just too awesome, Mender! I've never seen anypony with such bad luck or total lack of dexterity. I don't even have to prank you to get a good laugh!" she praised, voice mirthful and energetic in between gasping for air from the hysterical laughter. Well, praised was probably the wrong word, even though she made it sound like they were stellar attributes of mine.
I sat up again, glare returning and being blatantly aimed at the spunky cyan mare. "You could have said something. What do you want, Dash?" I asked, normal politeness decaying a little in my foul mood. Not that she normally cared about etiquette, of course.
She returned without hesitation, "Relax. I'm here to make sure you're all right. Ya know, battle partners checking up on each other, right?" I couldn't help but blush a little. Looking away from her, I sighed wearily.
"You don't need to remind me of how I put you in danger, Dash. But thank you," I muttered. It was ironic how I had just been thinking about that.
Her expression shifted to a glare almost instantly, fast enough for me to do a double take. "I told you that I had wanted to stay even longer. Don't you get it? You're our friend, and constantly thinking otherwise is really hurting a few ponies. So knock it off already!" she requested. Well, more demanded.
I'm not sure how prevalent radio was here, or if it even existed, but the effect was reasonably similar. If one rotates the dial through dead air long enough, and then finds a station that's barely managing to transmit to the area where the radio is, there's a light fade in of the sound mixed with the dead static. If one wasn't anticipating such a find, it was quite possible to zip right past the faint channel without quick enough mental reflexes. It was exactly like that, except the sound mixed in with the dead air was a very familiar voice, rather than any music or such. "...such is the nature... ...link faint, yet decidedly real... ...book leads to..." echoed through my skull.
Oh hell. The mention of the book put my nerves on edge, and I glanced around while feeling the blood drain from my face. Sadly, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone again. I now found myself distinctly aware of the sense of static left behind by the 'station,' now nothing more than dead air. Damn it. They didn't even give me the courtesy of being asleep this time.
"Hello? You awake there? As I said, your fillyfriend is going crazy thinking she screwed up, and Fluttershy won't stop apologizing to the dirt floor. Suck it up and go back and at least let them know you don't hate them," Dash continued, apparently repeating a large section of a conversation I zoned out again.
Shaking off the panic, I glanced back at her and frowned. She wasn't going to leave me alone until I did, probably. Wait, fillyfriend?! My cheeks went scarlet this time, instead of settling for just a mediocre blush, and I voiced my surprise with, "Wait, fillyfriend?! We haven't really, uh, decided that we'd make it official or anything."
The rainbow-maned mare smirked, and I knew that she knew that she'd gotten to me. Ug. Today just wasn't my day. Except for that kissing part. That was nice. "Mender, she's totally all for it. Which means, given Twi, she's probably thought about it and researched it until almost going crazy, so I'd take it as a compliment. Although you really wouldn't want to see her when she 'actually' goes crazy, so we should probably get back there," she warned a moment later, glancing back towards the barn. Uh oh. That was the distinct phrasing involved with past experience, I noticed. Which probably meant that I should listen to her advice.
Then I considered it more. An impossibly strong magic user with an extremely orderly and focused personality totally going off the deep end and acting irrational or otherwise, as Rainbow indicated, crazy. It all suddenly clicked into place, violently disturbing my thought processes long enough to at least drive the annoying dead air sound out of my skull. Well then, prior worry about interstellar invaders coming to destroy all of Equestria and everypony I had come to know and love put behind me, I decided my colorful friend and battle partner was probably right. It was pointless to worry about future invasions if a certain, extremely powerful lavender unicorn made Equestria go away before they even got here.
"Right indeed. I don't think I really want to see Twilight when she's crazy, given how she's acted before. Shall we go?" I offered, gesturing back towards the barn with a hesitant hoof.
Rainbow snickered and nodded, taking to the air again and drifting over from the other side of the creek. "Exactly! And don't forget, she's totally your special somepony now," she reminded. Again.
A spike of annoyance struck me. But her smirk indicated that's what she wanted, which oddly made it hard to stay angry at the exact same time. Paradoxical thoughts aside, I glared anyway, putting on a good show before pushing my hoof into the ground on my left side. This time she saw it and laughed, dodging out of the way as little orbs of water started shooting out of the creek at her. She flipped and swirled through the air, laughing as she avoided most of my barrages while dancing towards the barn again. Finally laughing, I ran after at my typical clutzy pace, firing more every time my left hoof touched down while managing to squeeze the happiness out of the few I managed to clip her with. She took it in playful jest as we headed towards our destination. Decidedly, I distracted myself wondering why I could never manage to stay mad at her. It was funny now that I thought about it. If she had gone there wanting to cheer me up and calm me down instead of just check up on me, she was an extremely clever filly. Suddenly, I had a lot more respect for the rainbow-maned mare that was frolicking through the air in front of me.
'Battle Partner’, huh? Smiling gently up at her, I stopped firing and just ran after as we rounded the barn.
Stats
Page generated in 0.109 seconds
Total duration
1,038 users online
1,888,838 hits today, 1,822,946 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I love this but here comes trouble mender better tell somepony about the voices.
Mender survived a meeting with GLaDOS? Awesome!
2127182 Yeah, I'm alright, it is just that I'm leaving for a two mission, religion thing, and I am not sure on the status of using the internet.
a very good chapter indeed
y u gotta go and be like james bond girls srsly wtf.
2127515
God speed Elder! where you goin?
2127599 Well due to some problems of being too honest on my papers, I'm going to serve a three month mini mission (trial mission) in Salt Lake City, and after that, I'm going to go back home and wait for my true calling if the mini mission was a success
They really don't need another Smartypants incident.
Well Cyber V, I'm certain as an elder you will serve well, god speed brother,
Wow. Another awesome chapter. It was really nice to see Mender stand up for himself for a change. It's gonna be akward when Mender sets his hoof back into the barn,(I just know it), but no doubt the universe will find a way to hurt Mender. Curse his ability to swayed easily! Can't wait for next week.
, or romance 
,). Love the story and keep writing!
Side note: What I really love about your writing is that you add so much personality and plain funny side comments to almost all the situations, yet you really know how to make the situation apply a certain feeling to it, (For example betrayal
So Mender comes from the Portal universe and has met GLaDOS after the events of Portal 2, huh? I'm going to figure out how this could work (
) when it's not 3 AM anymore.
Eh, I think his home universe takes elements from a lot of universes.
His race was clearly not human, albeit humanoid. No solid size measurements compared to humans, but as his old body was smaller than he is now, but also considered a runt by his species, they are probably similar or slightly smaller than ponies.
Also they have Fur, he had blue, but nothing said whether they all had blue fur or if it was technicolor-ed like Ponies.
On the other hand, They may have been actual humans (possibly alternate universe where magic was discovered and accepted a while back, and then time-lapse to space-age) Considering the fact they have been having breeding problems, and his damaged memories, it might have been significant mutation or similar genetic damage that caused the altered traits. After all, he refered to the... Uhm, Wormhole Bridge thing (Einstein-Rosenburg I think?)
Twilight Sparkle refered to Murphy from Murphies law. Unusual pony name aside (or not a pony at all, other races exist on Equis) that might point to parallel development in effect.
As for "AI Afraid of Bird", Yea, externally that is a reference to portal. Could be anything interally, and considering damaged memories, he might have played portal himself (if altered human race/paralell development)
Ok, I'm all out of things to say.
Well, Aside from "Spastic Ferret on Sugar", which is the best description of Pinkie Pie Ever. Needs to be a meme.
*Hmm...leftover pork-chops...* I think I'm going so spruce my commentary up a little bit. But how...? Hmm...ideas...
Wait a minute...that's it!
Aww. I was hoping there'd be more ellipses.
I have to admit. I was surprised to see Mender being angry at the end of the chapter. He really doesn't seem to be that kind of pony. Maybe there's more to him than we've perceived.
Why do i have the feeling that mender is going to go into the barn, apologize, get kicked by apple jack, then those voices are going to override his head while apple jack yells and his magic goes out of control again?
Totally called Fluttershy hiding in the roof, how did he get them down? It seems that he used the rope to charge the air in the loft to shove whatever animals out (if they were birds then they would just right themselves and fly away), but I would like to here how you visualized the scene/magic. The chapter was really cute/adorable, great writing as always.
~Momentai
Well I can certainly understand where Mender is coming from in regards to how he reacted to being spied on and Twilight being directly involved for the second time. I certainly hope for apologies all around in the next chapter and that Applejack stops being stubborn in justifying the whole spying ordeal.
Way to go Rainbow in getting Mender out of brooding. Just reminds me again on how awesome she can be when the time calls for it.
Oh yeah, still a bit suspicious on the whole inviting Mender to Canterlot thing. Can't wait to see what happens then.
2124004
I will neither confirm nor deny such accusations.
If anything, he was rather calm about it. I'd have been severely pissed off.
And I bet Dash will be "crashing" a bit more in to the barn huh?
The plot thickens! Another great chapter, can't wait to see how he reconciles
Mender met GLaDOS and lived? I have new found respect for the alien pony.
~Have a good one.
Dat portal reference.
2127641 Ditto.
Lovestruck Twilie is adorable...
Figured out that at least Flutters was in the barn after the second instance of Mender "hearing her in his mind".
Why do I get the feeling that after the end of this chapter Mender's developing feelings for Dash? Yet more mysteriously placed spanners go in the works for Mender :3
'my hoof is a nail gun, your argument is invalid'
still waiting for his daily dose of pain though, I don't think Fluttershy falling on him is enough. I should go back through and find out how many times he has fallen asleep compared to being knocked out.
I don't think the questioning was well thought out on their part, it could have taken such a different turn. "even if I liked Applejack that way I wouldn't get in Rainbows way. besides, those two hurt me enough as it is" lol
now to wait an see what mess he returns to.
Love it, now to go watch the new episode! :D
Yeah AJ... not exactly your best plan to date lass
I actually rather liked this chapter. It wasn't 'funny' as some other chapters have been, but a lot more... emotional I guess is the word? I will say that some of the girls doesn't exactly think about Mender's feelings before initiating plans.
-Glassed
The irony that RainbowDash of all ponies participated is fantastic.
~8chill
id be awesome if Rainbow and Mender ended up going out. Sure you don't want that but hey I always thought it would be...logical you know? Two mares making it hard for him so find a different mare that you can't be nervous around.
Ah, this is a great chapter, I am glad that I was able to read it before I leave, but when I get back, I'll be expecting 12 chapter of awesomeness wait for me to read before I leave for 21 months after that.
2131098
mender would probably start freaking out about her dive bombing into him with a sonic rainboom like she did that first night in the rain. or lifting him up a mile or 2 and dropping him if he angered her.
I was getting the weirdest sense something was up ...
<--(also very nice description of)
and those "birds" just sealed the deal
nice reference btw
wonder when mender will be getting more info on his past hmmmm... should explain a lot :D
2131465
Meh, not as bad as being ripped in half with crazy powerful magic right? You could probably (and some people actually have) survive a fall like that. Not to mention she is LOYALTY so she wouldn't betray him or endanger him knowingly.
2127178
To be frank, I've had the fortune of only being hit a few times down there. Suffice it to say groaning nauseating agony not only hits at the site of impact, but it actually moves up... straight into the stomach. It's vomit inducing and will make you want to curl into a pitiful ball on the ground.
2131716
I have heard stories of sky divers who's parachutes failed/refused to open, and they survived the fall. so yeah.
i technically could see mender getting a harem but i kinda feel like pinkie wouldn't be among them. from the way mender acts around her, he seems to think of her more like a sister and friend then anything romantic.
rarity, well he hasn't really seemed to show any temptation towards her. i mean when he first met her, he said he got a nice look at her flank and cutie mark but it didn't seem to stir him up like fluttershy and twilight.
out of everything it almost feels like he would view rarity like an older sister, and he gets along with sweetie bell to the point shes like his little sister.
apple jack does seem to like him kinda, and so does dash, a 4 girl harem could work with the ways things are moving.
Id really like to see Trixie show up and see what happens. I can just imagine the craziness. espeshily if it when she has the alicorn amulet and she tries to make mender her own to irritate twilight.
actually i just realized something, other then angel (actually.. wait was angel even mentioned?..... erg i feel like i want to re read everything for a 4th time now), none of the mane 6's pets have shown up. I can just imagine poor mender meeting tank since he loves to smash into people's heads.i wonder if mender and owlicious get along? would opal go to town slashing mender up like crazy? and apple jack's dog... um whose name escapes me at the time... hmm.. not sure how that would work.. that dog rarely appears in the show. ow gummy don't forget gummy, i can just imagine gummy clamping down on his face and him smashing into everything in shock.
Hopefully Mender gets his emotions and relationships sorted. ( Not likely, its Mender, stuff happens.. a lot)
I wonder what affect the book and those people in the other dimension will have on the story, look forward to that developing a bit more.
Birds like potatoes
So based on how the finale was handled, will alicorn Twilight be making an appearance at the end of this fic or not?
Whyyyyy??? Blarg. This chapter was painful. Like, ever-increasing, stomach-churning, squirming-around-as-I'm-trying-to-read tension and vicarious feelings of betrayal from the moment the "birds" were first mentioned. I might be a touch overly sensitive to stuff like this, but that was so meeeeaaaannnn!!!
Poor Mender. As if things weren't hard enough for him already, now they're ganging up on him. I was hoping you were toying with our expectations and it'd turn out to actually be some sort of large creepy birds, like literal Sea Gulls that shoot jets of water if you get anywhere near them.
But, phew, I'm so glad he didn't blame Fluttershy at all. "It wasn't her idea, nor had she tricked me and steered the conversation in ways to benefit herself. If anypony was innocent here, it would be her." was exactly what I was thinking, in some of the same words I was going to use, even. When he thought that, much of that tension finally released. Fluttershy was probably hesitant to go along with that ploy in the first place, and only reluctantly let them talk her into it because she's so unsure about this whole situation. And because she's, you know...Fluttershy.
Twilight, though, she gets the most ire here, as far as I'm concerned, despite Applejack claiming responsibility for the idea. Twilight was the one directly deceiving him to his face, and just like Mender thought, she was seriously directing his replies in her favor, with those comments like how his positive feelings toward Fluttershy weren't basis for a relationship. I suppose Dash doesn't deserve all that much blame either. She was complicit, but probably just trying to support AJ.
And then even without all the deception, it still bothers me how Twilight, despite her insistence that he talk to Fluttershy first, keeps pushing his favor towards herself before he's even had a chance to be alone with Fluttershy. I mean, I'd be fine if he did ultimately end up choosing Twilight (after a suitable period of grumpiness for this little incident), but I don't want it to be simply by default because of proximity and timing. Seriously, Moon, you haven't even had a single one-on-one conversation with 'Shy since you woke up from your two-week-long nap! You've gotta actually spend some time with her before you make up your mind. Twilight's foremost on your mind because she's always right there in front of you! ...Or on top of, occasionally.
The one positive I can see from all that sneaky trickery is the implications that arise from the fact that he could seemingly hear Fluttershy's reactions directly in his mind, while they were even both awake this time. This chapter makes me favor Fluttershy even more, and I really hope that was a sign that I was right about Mender possibly having some kind of special connection with Fluttershy that just hasn't been explored yet. I just hope her contented sigh was her realizing that he was only downplaying his feelings for her because he believed she only wanted to be friends, and because Twilight was steering him that way. I really think her trepidation that stemmed from seeing his memories will fade the more she's reminded that he's far more gentle and caring than the world he came from.
Hmm, sorry if my comment was kind of an angsty rant this time, I just REEALLLY don't like that sort of deception. Anyway, haven't even quite finished the chapter yet, so back to it. When I got to the part where he didn't blame Fluttershy, I just had to stop and write down what I was thinking.
...
So yeah, the last little bit didn't really change my views on anything I wrote already. Dash seems to be of the impression that Mender and Twilight are pretty much officially a couple at this point, but I don't think it's actually that settled, especially after this pleasant little development. Plus it also seems like she was at least partly just messing with him, so I really, really, really hope we get to see some one-on-one time between Flutters and Mender soon.
But hey, I guess I was sort of on the right track last chapter when I joked that Twilight would listen in on his conversation with Fluttershy. I just had the ponies swapped around, and left out the sneakiness. I'm not really sure why Applejack seems miffed that he wasn't happy to be spied on, though. As the element of honesty, you'd think she'd be the least open to deceiving a friend. But maybe that's why she was offended--she convinced herself they weren't doing anything wrong, the same way she did when she broke that Pinkie Promise in The Last Roundup. Can't help but think of the Mare Do Well incident too.
Hmm, I probably ought to say something about the alien ladies briefly traipsing through his head, but that scene was so short, I've got nothing, other than it sounds like they're starting to figure out where he is, so they'll probably pop in next chapter just as everypony's about to make amends. Although it is amusing that he can't even be alone for three minutes without a couple females forcing their way directly into his mind to give him things to worry about, right after another one startles him into an impromptu mud-bath. Sooner or later maybe he'll just decide it was simpler when he only knew males, so he'll go turn gay for Braeburn or something.
Had to wait a bit before commenting, mainly because this seemed so out of general character without knowing the full reasoning behind it. Especially AJ and Twi. I'm glad Mender was able to analyze his "standings" which each of the mane six, and I like the apparent connection he had with 'shy during the whole thing, though I wonder if that connection to her could develop into something else. I'm surprised that AJ came up with this idea of spying, I definitely want to see her reasoning, especially getting upset at his reaction; and Twi, knowing at least an inkling better about how he thinks, actually went along, I guess hormones drive mares to think crazy?
I do wonder how long Dash was sitting next to Mender when he was cooling off and thinking things over in the water, had she left the group just after him, just keeping her self stealthy? I do agree with Mender that he does need a good dose of alone time, hopefully he'll be more vocal about this soon, if anything to allow him to think things over a little better. I wonder if Dash's comment about him hurting "a few ponies" when he thinks he isn't their friend is going to sink in. Though this turn of events likely doesn't help. I did notice Dash mention that Twi was worried she'd screwed up, and 'shy was apologetic to everything, though no mention about AJ even thinking of her role in this... annoys me about AJ a little in this instance, I wouldn't be surprised if Mender (or isn't it technically ourselves? or is this read like he is telling us a story, my brain is fried right now and can't remember) refused to help AJs project, but knowing him he will anyway after an internal conflict coupled with blunt force head trauma. I do like the sibling thing he and Dash have going on, though I must admit that I do hope they get closer down the road.
As for the "radio" of his mind, things are definitely getting interesting, I don't recall this happening without blunt force head trauma or some type of unconsciousness of some variety either happening before or after. Makes me wonder how close they actually are, proximity-wise and to actually finding him.
tl;dr - long post is long, read it anyway
2128685
Hmm, that kind of answer usually means yes. So that's where those dreams came from.
Well then... Could you turn off my lights while you're at it? Sometimes I accidentally fall asleep with everything still turned on. And just make sure you re-lock the door when you leave. Don't want anyone creepy sneaking in, after all.
Huzzah! Assertiveness! For once, I'm happy to see conflict between characters I love.
2132756 I bet that would really scare the crap out of Mender.If he thought she was powerful then...
2135393 Oh no, definitely don't want creepy people getting in. I'll even wait outside in the nearest bush with my binoculars and watch out for them, and then chase the creepers away.
2138684
Aww, that's so nice of you to offer. Maybe you can even figure out who keeps taking all my curtains.
I just wish I knew I could properly thank you for being so generous and helpful. I'd make you a batch of appreciation cookies, but I can't ever seem to bake anything that doesn't make me really really sleepy, for some reason, and then I wake up with the strangest tastes in my mouth. I don't know, I guess I'm not a very good cook.
2133728
I really did feel sorry for mender in this, thou at the same time i got angry at him. the funniest part thou, is AJ and dash were both hiding in the loft, mender could have seriously done a look left look right while talking about his feelings for dash and said, you know dash has her heart set on AJ. you think flutter shy was making noise in the lost, just imagine dash hearing him say that and AJ hearing it as well. i could just imagine the chaos that would have ensued from that. dash drop kicking mender anyone?
I also think mender should tell them the new details hes figured out about females from his world. its not much but it might start cluing them in, especially twi as to why hes afraid of them.
also if those 2 females from his world sudenly pop into this world.... i wonder if they would sudenly morph into ponies. would they try to drag him back? would they be able to? he went back once and his new body didn't morph to the shape of the old one. if they are like drow, how would they adjust to a world were they are no longer rank in status above males just for being female?
also oddly menders race reminds me of something, not the drow or at least no appearance wise.
they kinda remind me of the creature in this picture, http://www.movie-roulette.com/photos_big/jetsons-the-movie-3-1.jpeg
the brown one, not quite the blue one, and i picture them bigger with more elf like ears.
or kinda like beast from xmen.
2145664
Oh yeah, I was really hoping that would happen, just to derail the conversation and turn it back on them a little. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash wasn't really the one who deserved it anyway, so even that would've been a "serves you right" to the wrong pony. Why angry at Mender at all, though?
I don't see any reason why the two females from his old world would gain pony bodies. It only happened for Moony because he got ripped away from his original body. Maybe if they killed themselves while they had that resurrection spell thingy on, but I don't know. It's funny, though, I almost wish those two would just go away and leave Mender alone so he can finally try to relax for a little while. Almost.
By the way, Kiro linked to some picture a while back that he said looked kinda like Mender's old race. I don't know where, but I think it was near the end of the original story.
Also, not that this has anything to do with you, but I can't decide if I was taking the joke too far with my last irrelevant-to-the-story comment. I keep thinking I should delete that 2nd paragraph. Hmm...
2145757
ow no its fine, i think, not even sure which one you refer to, i do generally enjoy your posts, well the ones Ive seen since i join Fimfiction and started commenting at least, I haven't seen the ones from before.
as for why i got angry at mender, its because he blew up at them, I'm different in how i think thou, in my shoes i think i would have more worried about everyponies safety first then questioned more then mender. (sorry i want to practice writing in pony sayings for my own story), i do see why he blew up thou, he still seems to distrust twi for her reports to celestia, which as far as i know twi doesn't know celestia told him. also hes been a loner for so long and had such a unique environment. it seems really easy to make him distrust and fear people. he seems to also fear most of the mares in ponyville, but i can't blame him for that, no experience with females, perhaps never having met one ever, now hes in a society with what seems to be 20% men to 80% females. maybe 30, 70? and it appears nearly every single female in ponyville has taken interest in him
I took a break from my own writing thou to make my first post thou, and add an update to my profile blog on the story. still new kinda to story writing. its been 10 years since i wrote stories and what i used to write was random silly short stories for my English teacher's class. trying to find balance in it with various things. i'm also not the best at grammar and punctuation. plus i keep finding new stories which i start reading and slow me down, just got hooked into first pony view. out of everything id say my 3 favorite stories are the pending series, first pony view, and hands. i thought forgiveness pending would drive me crazy waiting a week for each chapter, but first pony view is worse, the author seems t release a chapter once every 1-3 months. and chapter 13 was a major cliff hangar!....
i am combining rants together and mixing them up...
i'm currently writing my blog post so if you want to read more on... my frustration with my story, it can be explained there
sorry.
(edit: needed a comma there sorry. also blog post up.)
2145807
I think he was pretty safe in assuming they were all unharmed by the time he got angry, since two of them were joking around and the 3rd was sitting up right next to him.
Good luck with your story, by the way. I tried writing a couple times here and I just couldn't ever seem to figure out how to put anything into words, which is odd considering how some of my comments probably approach 1000 words.
And I actually have three unread chapters on First Pony View. I like the story, but I've just fallen behind with sooo many fics, I don't even know where to start. I usually have 5 pages of updated stories, and most of those have multiple unread chapters, plus hundreds in my Read Later list. One day I'll catch up! ...in 40 years or so. On the plus side, long waits between updates don't bother me anymore.
The comment I was talking about is just a few posts back. JZG (AKA Julia) and I had a silly pretend-stalker back-and-forth joke going briefly, and I've been trying to make up my mind about my last reply ever since I made it. I think I might have a tendency to be kinda sorta ever-so-slightly indecisive once in a while. Well, maybe it had gone on long enough anyway; didn't exactly have anything to do with the story.
2145867
ow the stalker thing? i was having a hoot reading that!
yeah i'm enjoying writing it really, i used to love writing short stories in school. thou most of them were so random and crazy my English teacher nearly laughed himself to death. i actually have a small problem other then grammar, at the start i don't want to write anything. i'll wake up and keep trying to put off writing even if i have nothing else to do, which i do. (dead space 3 i want to play you sooooooooo badly! but i keep pushing it away. i have a bad tendency that if i leave away from something i probably wont come back to it.) but i'll just him and ha over writing, I have to literaly drag myself over to opening Word and working on my story, and once i do i don't want to stop. kinda like how i get with books and stories.
, i get that way with the fimfictions ive come to like on here, ive read hands twice well kinda, I listed to most of in twice from a guy on youtube who reads them out loud, then i read what they haven't gotten to. ive read hands twice, dusk shine twice, ive read memory and forgiveness pending 3 times, and FPV twice the first of wich was actual reading, then i found a guy on youtube whos read 2/3rds.
I have the Artemis foul series and ive read most of the books atleast twice, once i start i don't want to stop, not even to eat
I think FPV is goo, if you havn't read the last 3 chapters that are currently out id say wait as 12 left at a very Very VERY big cliffhangar and its driving me insane, ive started concocting different ways the story will continue....err yeah.. when stories hook me in and do those giant cliff hangars my brain starts writing upp how it thinks it could work.
as for Favorited/fallowing i don't have many stories like that and a few are finished. i do like my little changeling; friendship is weird, but those stories have for the most part been one offs and thus i don't feel like i need to know whats gonna happen next.
.... I've just now noticed when i start commenting back and forth with you i make really big posts!
not a bad thing thou.
ow if your wondering how I'm replying so fast, i have my nexus 10 next to my laptop playing music and it tells me when i get mail, and thus i can see when someone replies to my comments. teehee, i love it, got some mlp music on it, got the mlp game, and used a bug to dupe gems before the recent hearts and hooves update which fixed the bug. i bought all the ponies and stores, beat the hearts warming eve and main story, spent over 12k gems to get balloon pop ponies and have 15 k gems left over from it all. hey i wanted to play legit but i don't have the money to pay them over $200 just to buy enough gems to buy the stuff for the main story missions. that and since they don't back up peoples games if it gets deleted all that money goes poof! sheesh i could buy the giant talking Celestia toy for way less then what she costs in game.