> Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain
>  by Halira
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Typical Day in the Northern Waste
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello, my name is Pearlwort, Pearl for short, a Thestral mare you may or may not have heard tales about, and this is my confession. 

I am writing the history of how a six-thousand year old civilization came to an end, and the part I played in that. I will tell you everything as I remember it, though I am writing this nearly two centuries after the fall. The great realm I was born into may be gone, but I survive.

Survival is my talent you see, and with me it is taken to great extremes. However, if I didn't have that talent then the Twilight Realm would have not fallen, millions of ponies would not have died, and we would not live now in a world of constantly warring nations.

You must be patient to understand, it was a combination of elements that led to the end, and many of them started small. The dangers of each were not always obvious.

Forgive me, I can't help that my talent is survival, and I am truly sorry it cost so many others their lives.


***



I pulled out my compass to check my direction again. A task I did every few minutes as it was easy to get turned around out in the waste. On a clearer day I could make out the mountains in the distance and know what way to go based on those familiar cliffs. However, today was not a clear day, a storm was threatening and I needed to make it back to town before the storm hit or risk being trapped in snow. I could survive the cold, but it didn’t mean I wanted to risk being trapped under several feet of snow and slowly starve to death.

Unfortunately, a survival talent is not full proof against everything,.

I couldn't risk flying with the wind picking up either. The wind would either smash me hard into something that broke bones, leaving me helpless, or throw me so far off course that making my way back to town would be impossible. It was rare that my wings ever did me much use out here. I would happily have traded them for a Unicorn horn or an Earth pony's strength. Heck, I would trade them for a set of Pegasus wings especially since those were at least feathered and could provide some measure of warmth. Cold might not be able to kill me on its own, but by Tartarus it was unpleasant to feel my webby bat wings flecked with frost, ice, and snow.

With my current haul of crystals I likely would be set for several months. The traders didn't give us what the crystals were actually worth, but they still gave us a fair number of bits. If I were the type who felt comfortable travelling south and trying to find buyers myself I could likely have long since been set for life with what I had already discovered over the years, but typically any Thestral that walked into an area to trade, unless they were wearing a guard's uniform, was unlikely to get much more than a, "We aren't interested in whatever you are selling.” Life just wasn’t fair sometimes, but I couldn’t complain too much. I still made more than enough bits to keep myself well fed and happy.

I started forward again, and after a few minutes came to a halt. Off in the distance to the east I saw a dark shape. It was clearly not a tree or rock outcrop as it was moving, albeit slowly. If it were a beast it likely would be moving much faster, and wouldn't allow me to have sight of it. This left two possibilities:

First, it could be an undead as they moved slowly and didn't have enough thought or cunning to think to hide their location which meant they were of little threat to the town, as they tended to come by themselves making them easy to dispatch well before they got close enough to cause any trouble. Out in the wastes, though, they were much more threatening. They typically came upon lone travelers and were strong and capable of overpowering most creatures on a one on one fight if they caught you without warning. Some ponies liked to call them zombies. Zombies were monsters in stories that tried to eat brains. You could have some sympathy for a zombie. It was just trying to eat. Undead didn't eat. They just killed. And second it was possible that it was another scavenger like me who was lost and struggling with the cold. If that was the case, and I didn't help get them back on track, they likely would die out here.

So what to do? Do I risk it being an undead and try to fight the thing? It wouldn't take me by surprise. My most effective fighting involved attacks from above, snapping their necks, and then finishing off the abominations by smashing in their skulls after their bodies were rendered useless. That kind of technique wouldn't work with this sort of wind up. I wouldn't be able to control my dive if I could manage a dive at all. I could very well end up breaking my own limbs, which would only serve to put me further at risk. The alternative would be trying to sever the thing's spinal cord with my fangs. That was a lot harder to do, since it involved me having to avoid the undead's grip and getting on its back all at the same time. Screw that up and I would be ripped to shreds and special ability or not, there was no surviving dismemberment.

On the other hoof, it could be another townspony or townscreature. I would feel so much guilt if I left them out here to die if that were the case. If they were frostbitten, possibly out of their senses, they would certainly travel slow; which made the danger of the approaching storm that much worse. But I have always been a type who couldn't stand to leave another to their fate, not if there was a chance I could help.

"Pony feathers," I cursed, decision made. I turned towards the dark lumbering shape and started making my way towards it.

After a minute or two of travel, the shape paused and I could make out its bright glowing green eyes. There was no mistaking those necromantic lights. I wasn't dealing with some stray traveler. This was definitely an undead, and it had definitely seen me now. Undead didn't give up their hunt once they had caught sight of a living creature. They had some deep need to kill any living thing they happened upon, as though to punish said living thing for having what it did not. They didn't even eat what they killed, just murdered for the sake of murder.

"Bloody bucking pony feathers!" I didn't care if the creature could hear me or not. It had already seen me and was pursuing. It was doubtful it could hear me anyway over all the wind. I didn't know if they could even hear to tell the truth. The thing was still lumbering slowly towards me as I considered my options again.

I could just make a break for it, and try to run all the way back to town. The town watch could then easily dispatch the abomination when they caught sight of it. Problem with that was that I am a notorious klutz, and would likely trip and fall if I tried to run. Which might result in a broken or sprained leg, and would slow me down enough to enable the undead to catch up to me, before I could make it to the safety of the town. And to make matters worse, I doubted I had the stamina for such a run, even if there wasn’t the chance I’d trip at some point along the way. Running wasn’t an option at all. Which only left one.

I would have to take the thing down here. Which meant I would have to sever its neck, since the wind was still much too fierce for me to take to the air and get above it for my preferred method. I really didn't look forward to biting it, the very idea of it made me want to vomit. I have no problem with biting into something, taking a predator down, or even hunting. I had done that for years; hunting birds and squirrels during lean times when I couldn't find or afford proper farm produce. It was a common belief that Thestrals were part pony and part bat, but a more accurate statement might be that we’re a mixture of pony, bat, and wolf. We are omnivores, and we don’t get our ability to hunt from ponies or bats.

So, I got myself mentally prepared to confront the monster. I tried to channel my inner predator as much as I could. I am not exactly sure how one channels their inner predator properly, but my method basically came down to me repeating in my head "think wolfy thoughts.” I am again not sure if this is the most effective way of doing this sort of thing; but it was the method I had developed long ago, and for better or worse it was the best I could do.

The undead and I were about twenty pony lengths from each other now. I began to try to circle it on the ground trying to turn to keep its eyes on me in an attempt to slow the thing down further. If I kept moving this way it was unlikely to gain any ground on me. I couldn't just circle it indefinitely though. I took the time to examine my prey---or hunter, depending on how you viewed it. It was a disgusting sight to behold. The skin looked like the worst frostbite you could imagine, the eyes glowing green bits of fire, and green necrotic blood was frozen on the thing in too many places to count as well as chunks of rock and dirt that didn't just cake it, but seemed to be actually embedded in its body. There was no mane to speak of, and its tail was hairless so it looked like a dried-up rat tail. It might have been a pony once. But now it resembled nothing of the sort.

"Think wolfy thoughts Pearl," I said to myself, trying to further prep myself to attack the thing. The undead would definitely be able to hear me, if it was capable, at this range. Not that it mattered, there was no intelligence or understanding in it, so it had no idea I was trying to goad myself into an attack. It was just intent on murder. Its thoughts, if they could be called that, began and ended with that simple concept.

I hastened my movements making it much more difficult for the thing to follow. When I got a clear shot, I sprang forward with a leap trying to get on its back, and the hopefully unprotected neck. I didn’t give it nearly enough credit. The thing lashed out with one of its hooves, sending me hurtling a good distance away.

I was slightly dazed, but not enough that I was incapacitated. My side hurt a lot, and it was bleeding and bruised, but it wasn’t major. Nothing seemed to be broken from what I could tell, but I wouldn’t know for certain until I could get to a doctor. On the plus side, the thing could apparently knock me farther than it was capable of quickly getting to. So, it still was trying to lumber towards me. I got up despite the pain, and began my circling again. I would have to get it right this time. I likely got lucky that it had only been able to swat me aside instead of being able to grab onto me. If it got a grip on me I would surely have been a goner.

I had to get a better judgement of what it was capable of, but I couldn't take too long. The injury I had sustained might heal with time but it might cause me to have problems with my attack if a muscle locked up as a result. And time was running out with the storm continuing to build. I didn’t have time to waste.

After a good bit of circling, I tried again. This attempt it couldn’t bring a hoof up in time to defend itself and I landed on its back, wrapping my legs around it to get a good grip. The creature bucked much more than I thought it would, and I found myself struggling to get a good angle to bite on its neck while it did everything possible to throw me off. It might have been comical to some bystander that a pony was trying its hardest to stay on the back of another bucking pony. There was nothing funny about it though. If it bucked me off it likely would finish me off in short order. I was already hurt so half its work was already done for it.

I finally went for the back of the neck. Throwing my full strength into the move. Success! The flesh tasted worse than I had imagined, and I hoped I didn't swallow any of the putrid stuff. I gripped as hard as I could with my jaws, trying to sever the spine. It kept bucking frantically, but I was locked on it now. Thestral jaws are like vices; once we have a deep penetrating bite not much can knock us loose.

I felt the bone beneath my teeth. I kept applying pressure down on it as hard as I could. Finally I heard the sound of a crack beneath my jaw as something gave way before the clear sound of bone snapping filled the air. The undead dropped like a rock to the ground. It was over.

I fell away from it, keeping well clear of its head. The body might be out of commission now, but those eyes still locked on me, its mouth moving as if trying to somehow bite me with no way of actually reaching me. It was like it had no comprehension that its body wasn't working anymore. I got up and stared at it for a long moment. How did ponies come to this? It wasn't some virus as just about every pony in town would have had it by now, given how often these things came down on us. Were they the remains of unfortunate townsponies that died out here in the wastes, or the remains of the long-lost ponies of the tribes from long ago? Perhaps they were something that was from beyond the wastes further north that just wandered aimlessly this far south.

I gave those thoughts no further time. I reared up and brought both my hooves down on the creature's skull, crushing it like a piece of fruit against the frozen ground. Whatever the creature was once, it didn’t matter now.

I forced myself to puke just to make sure nothing from that bite ended up in my digestive tract. After taking a moment to recover from my retching, I resumed my journey. The storm was much closer now and I had wasted valuable time. Plus, I was hurt which would only serve to slow me down. I pulled out my compass again to check my position before returning it back to my life-pack. I altered my course to face the south and took off again, leaving the necrotic corpse for the storm to bury.
> Chapter 2: New Career and Origins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My side was burning intensely as I approached town. A trip to the doctor seemed the expedient thing to do. I didn't want the wound to fester. Gaining any sort of permanent injury was something to be avoided. Thinking about it, I would need a strong drink to wash the taste of the undead’s flesh from my mouth.

The town was encased in a magic shield designed solely to keep the snow from entering the settlement. Special crystals were placed all along the pass heading back south and acted as the anchor points for it. Any snow that encountered the shield simply went poof. The town had a high wall and gate made of flat grey stone and a regular watch of guards patrolled the wall. Armed with crossbows and spy glasses, they tended to dispatch any threats from a distance.

As I approached the gate I was greeted by the watch calling down from the wall.

"You got back just in time Pearl! Pegasi are saying the storm is going to be coming down hard in the next few minutes," one of the guards called down. "We would miss seeing you if you went and got yourself trapped in snow. I would give you a good party though. And pretty sure the bidding for your house would be fierce.” 

It was assumed that sooner or later every inhabitant that went out into the wastes wouldn’t return. Space in the town was limited and every house was previously held by some other unfortunate soul that hadn't made it back. When they had been gone enough time a public auction for the house was done.

The longer you survived the better the house you could afford to bid for, and mine was quite nice. Though the situation that earned me mine was a bit different.

I don't have any regrets about its previous owner. She was a diamond dog who had a habit of 'asserting her dominance' over ponies. A pony would go out to scavenge and she would follow. When the pony returned they would have blood all over their private areas, looking haunted. Sometimes the ponies she followed didn't come back at all. No pony would speak up about what happened, and no one could prove anything happened to the ones that didn't come back. Scavengers didn't come back from the wastes all the time. One day she followed a pony that had fangs, and the dog didn't come back. When the bidding for her house went up, no pony had tried to bid against me for it, and the non-ponies didn't make any serious effort to either. I had returned to town with a bloody muzzle the day she disappeared, and the blood wasn't mine.

The Unicorn mare on the wall was named Pond Scum. What vindictive mother names her foal Pond Scum, and how does anyone expect a pony to turn out to be respectable with a name like that?

"You won't be earning enough bits to buy  my house if you keep yourself safe on guard duty all the time, Pond," I called back up to her. "The watch wages aren't that high, I am surprised you are as round as you are to tell the truth," I snarked with a grin, despite my physical discomfort.

"You are right about the wages, Pearl, but I have this fondness of living that keeps my accounts fairly low. As for my pleasant figure, I can only insist it is in my genes. I am not so destitute I don't have enough food, even if I can't have all the nice things you do. But food and drink and a roof over your head…what else does a pony need? I can tell you they need to be alive!"

"I for one need a trip to the doctor and something to take a rotten taste out of my mouth. I had to bite into something putrid," I yelled back. And continued with a taunt, "I mistook an undead for your flank and went for the kill to put you out of your misery. Not sure which would have tasted worse."

"Eww! Just eww! Don't remind me you eat meat! And you took a bite out of an undead? That is just…ugh I think I am going to be sick. You didn't have to tell me that!" The portly mare wailed. "And you better not think of trying to take a bite out of my flesh! Either type!"

I didn't have any interest in her 'other type of flesh', neither type really, but the subject of it made me uncomfortable. Anything even vaguely sexual made me feel that way. Guess that was my payback for trying to make another pony uncomfortable with talks of eating meat. I really needed to learn to stop setting myself up like that.

The gates stood open as there were no threats on the horizon. The Unicorns could shut them firmly at a moment’s notice, so they stayed open during daylight hours, most of the time. Beyond the gates was the town. The houses were an eclectic collection of shacks, freestanding wood houses with tile roofs, stone structures carved into the cliff side which could either be cave like, or more domicile like, stone buildings ranging from very crude to well-constructed buildings, and then there were stray tents put up around fires. Building materials were scarce and hard to come by, and the fact that there would inevitably be an auction for one of the nicer structures sometime over the course of the month, if not the week, dissuaded anyone from putting much effort in new housing. Why build something new when something nice, that was already standing, would be available soon enough?

While I wanted to get back home and relax, doing so would be delayed. A visit to a doctor was far more important. There was no telling what kind of infection might result from my wound. I had never dealt with an infection before, but I didn't want to start now.

Doctor Hot Sticks had his clinic close to the gate, so any injured travelers didn’t have to travel far upon returning to town. I didn't consider myself an urgent case, but was glad I didn't have to do much more walking. Even though the doctor himself made very little in bits, his clinic was one of the larger stone buildings in town. It’s many rooms made it the best building to use for the town’s hospital, especially if long term care was required which was often. The townsfolk considered having a mini hospital available important enough that they made sure that he had the second largest building after the town center.

Hot Sticks had an open-door policy, so I didn’t bother knocking when I got there. The pony in question was sitting at a desk in the first room looking over some books, while smoking a pipe. He was a coppery brown Unicorn with a dull yellow mane and cutie mark of a lit match. He didn't immediately look up as I entered as he was thoroughly engrossed in whatever it was he was reading.

"I know you have to have some patients in here somewhere doc. That stinky thing you have in your muzzle can't be sanitary," I chided him to get his attention. "I was feeling fairly ill myself before I walked in, not counting being banged up, and then I walked into that smell."

"If some pony or anyone else had a breathing problem I would take care not to have this lit," he said with a raised eyebrow. "But since most of you either give yourselves frostbite or get yourself 'banged up' as you put it, I think I’ll keep it." He made no effort to put out his pipe but did get up from his desk.

I scrunched up my muzzle in mock disgust, well, partially mock anyway, and walked over to him.

"I had a run in with one of our northern neighbors. We had a bit of an argument, it wanted to rip me to shreds and I took that personally. It did get a good blow on me though, and I just wanted to make sure it would be alright and whether you had some pain relievers....and maybe some mouthwash while you are at it."

"Mouthwash huh?" He gave me a flat look, and then leaned in to examine my side, with the pipe still in his mouth. I gave the smoke a wary look, reached out with my magic, and started pushing it away, not actually sure if it would really work with whatever he was burning. It did indeed work, and after pushing it away I decided to test out what else I could do with it, and attempted to shape it.

"You'll be fine," he said as he looked up from his examination. "I'll give you some pain killers, but as long as you keep it clean it shouldn't be an issue." I had now created a little miniature doctor Hot Sticks out of his smoke that mimicked his motions and mouthed along with him as he spoke. He glanced up at the little smoke creation then back at me. "You’re clearly not that bad off if you can do that. Though I admit it is a nice likeness."

He levitated his pipe out of his muzzle and extinguished it, and then blew my little effigy of him away. I pouted when he did. I don't try to do things like that too often, and I felt sad that my little work was dispatched like that. I don't go messing with whatever he does with his fancy Unicorn magic, now do I? I can't do much Thestral magic, give me my fun.

"I would recommend that you not do any more work out in the wastes until fully healed," he commented. "Physical strain will cause it to heal slower, and aggravate the wound."

"No need to worry, Doc, I have enough to sell when the traders get here in a few weeks to be set for a few months," I said proudly. "I planned on taking it a bit easy until then as it is, and only going back out again after I have sold off what I’ve gathered."

Between today's haul, and what I already had, I could possibly be good for the remainder of the year, as well as into next if I was frugal enough. It was certainly a productive few months for me and I likely could have gone without my most recent venture out, but I feel a need to keep active. Even when I didn’t really need to be.

Hot Sticks was quiet for a moment, and seemed to be thinking about something, or maybe concentrating on something, though I saw no glow from his horn. After a few moments he looked at me again.

"If you wouldn't mind too much I would be interested in employing you for a while. I can pay you," he said.

"What kind of services do you need?"  I asked, caught by surprise at the offer.

"Nothing too extreme," Hot Sticks replied back as he sat down and looked through some papers. "It would be helpful to have another hoof to watch over patients here. There has been an uptick in illnesses lately. And I have heard word that you have a resistance to illness which is invaluable, as any pony else that I might have helping me could end up becoming a patient as well if they catch whatever strain of illness they happen to be treating. It is the bane of any help that I might get typically. If you aren't going to be out there in the ice and snow, I thought you might want some extra pay on the side."

"You can afford to pay somepony? I didn't think you really made many bits..."

I was a bit skeptical that the doctor had much in terms of money. He had to pay for food, medical supplies, medical texts, and whatever luxuries he had for himself. And while he had a steady income from the various sick and injured of the community, the prices were relatively low, low enough that I couldn't imagine much leftover for his own personal use after taking care of resupplying his cupboard. Let alone pay an employee.

"I have a fair amount of personal wealth," he smirked as he spoke. "Part of why I charge so little for my services is that I don't actually need the payments." His explanation was a bit of a surprise, and it brought up more questions. "I didn't come here because I had nowhere else to go. I could have set up quite well just about anywhere, and not had to worry about much in terms of needs."

"So why are you here?" I asked. "And what did you do to earn your own personal fortune? Are you avoiding greedy relatives or something?" It was a joke about the relatives, but only partially. I really was curious how he came to be wealthy if what he claimed was true. 

His face fell a little bit and he took some time to consider his answer. 

"I served as an acolyte for several years, and acolytes do fairly well for themselves in terms of amassing bits." He looked off to a door on the side of the room. Perhaps a private shrine to whatever Alicorn he served? "Unfortunately, it got to the point where I felt the need to retire from my position, as it wasn't lining up with what I wanted to do. I am a healer first and foremost, and sadly acolytes tend to be more politicians and go betweens for others and our Alicorns. There is rarely a break from such duties."

Acolyte? This Unicorn was an acolyte? I had seen some of them in passing, years before in Hallow Shades when Starlight Glimmer had visited the village. They had kept close to her, and seemed to do most of the talking to the elders of the town---much to the consternation of said elders, who wanted to speak with the Alicorn herself. Alicorns typically didn't do much direct talking to ponies, and I am still in wonder to this day that she took the time to talk to me during her visit. 

It didn't lessen my troubles of the time, in fact her meeting me made them escalate to the point I no longer could remain in Hollow Shades, or around my own kind. But I held no resentment towards her for that outcome. If I resented anyone I resented my fellow Thestrals for being the bigots that they are, and all but driving me out. Bastards could all go to Tartarus for all I cared.

"Acolyte to what Alicorn?" I asked with a small hope that it was Starlight Glimmer, though that it was highly unlikely. There were lots of Alicorns, and I didn't know what most of them were named or what they represented. And there were many lesser Alicorns that didn't really represent anything, and just wandered around like normal ponies, super magically immortal ponies, but normal enough. The only Alicorns I knew the name for were Starlight Glimmer, Paleo, Luna, and of course the Twilight Princess herself; and I knew that was but a small portion of the total. 

Actually, that isn't true as I knew the name of Applejack, by the sheer number of ponies with apple in their name that claimed they were special and descended from her. I had no idea what Applejack was the Alicorn of though.

"Meadowbrook," he said with some pride. The name didn't ring any bells, and the blank expression on my face must have conveyed that to Hot Sticks, as he grimaced and then gave further explanation. "Meadowbrook is the Alicorn of medicine and healing; when I went to serve under her I had big visions in my head of becoming a great doctor and healer myself. It was an opportunity to learn from the ultimate authority on all things related to my craft. I did indeed learn a great deal from her, but the politicking made me weary, and I eventually retired from the position with a very healthy pension, and no hard feelings from Meadowbrook."

"If you are so well off and respectable then why did you choose to come here? There had to be many places you could have settled that needed doctors that are a lot more pleasant than this Tartarus cursed place."

I had come here to get away from everypony and everything in the south and didn't have any dark history either. But I was an outcast among my own kind, and since I was still a Thestral, I was also largely an outcast among common ponies as well. I suppose I could have gone off to one of the areas less populated by ponies in general, but they tended to be built for their respective species in mind, which caused a lot of little problems you would never think of before coming to them.

"When retiring I discovered that just because I was no longer in service of my Alicorn, I wasn't free of all the damn political crap," he said with some venom. "I was constantly harassed by nobles, acolytes, and common ponies who all thought I had some way of getting a good word into Meadowbrook, or her remaining acolytes, on their behalf. I finally got so sick of it I just packed up, and went somewhere I figured they would just leave me alone."

He was quiet for a moment before looking at me with both eyebrows raised.

"So, are you interested in working for me? I can teach you a bit of the trade, and pay well enough. It is certainly safer than going out into the wastes on a regular basis," he extended a hoof to me with the offer.

Well, there were far worse jobs, and steady pay without having to worry about some monster eating me alive, or getting lost out in the snow.

It really wasn’t a difficult decision to make. I extended out my hoof and locked it around his.

"I'm in."


***



I returned to Hot Sticks house the next day, letting myself in as was the normal for coming to his dwelling. He was not present in the immediate living room-lobby of his house. The area was well lit with candles. Most houses kept candles going even during the day because the entire settlement was in a bit of a perpetual shadow of the cliff faces. It was much like my childhood home in Hallow Shades in that respect; and despite my difficulties with the citizens of my birthplace the constant shade, and regular candlelight during the day gave me a somehow comforting sense of home.

I was debating between calling out to the doctor, or simply waiting and making myself at home; when I picked up sounds of movement, and mild cursing, from one of the adjoining rooms. My curiosity sparked, I decided to go investigate, assuming it was Hot Sticks, and the cursing indicated he might need help with something. I was here to learn, and help, so might as well take initiative; and not sit around when I might be needed.

Letting myself through the plain wooden door of the room. I came into a less brightly lit room, with a few unoccupied beds. One of these beds likely should have been occupied; as a well bandaged, brown, earth pony stallion, with a very eye piercing green mane was on the floor. He lay next to one of the beds, with two of his legs in casts, and a rope tangled around one of them. The rope in turn was attached to some sort of pole hanging above the bed, which in turn was attached firmly to the wall. I think I might have recognized him, so he was almost certainly no newcomer to the village, but I didn't get too social with that many others in town. I only knew those I had to have regular dealings with; such as shopkeepers I frequented often, the guards at the wall, the town officials, and of course Hot Sticks. The unbound cast was on one of his hind legs, and the roped cast was on the corresponding foreleg. With casts on both legs on one side it was very evident that this stallion should still be in his bed. He wouldn't be walking with any ease any time soon. What needed to be done seemed obvious enough. Just get the patient back in bed.

Coming over to him, I noticed he had knocked over a porcelain something or other, as it had bits and shards of it all around the surrounding floor. He hadn't taken notice of me as he was very focused on his current situation.

"I think you need to get back in bed," I spoke, which prompted him to do a bit of a startled jump, confirming he had indeed not taken note of me. "With two busted legs you need to just rest and heal. Let me help you get back in bed."

He looked at me with dark brown eyes and grimaced. "What's ya know? It is the bitch killer. I say I am perfectly fine to walk. I can't afford to just stay huddled up in bed. A little pain ain't never killed no pony."

I had heard the name he used for me whispered about in the tavern when I visited there. It wasn't an insult, just a reference to my most infamous deed--at least most infamous in this town. 

"I have no idea what you are talking about with that name. It was just a coincidence she happened to not come back that day. Townsfolk don't come back from scavenging trips all the time," I denied, but I don't know why I bothered to deny what I had done. It was obvious to every citizen of the town what had gone down. Maybe it was just some part of me that didn't want to admit murdering, even in self-defense, of another intelligent creature. Squirrels, birds, and random monsters were one thing, but something felt monstrous about killing something that could think, and speak, as easily as you could. "And get back in bed. I am sure Hot Sticks wouldn't be keeping you here as a house guest if he felt you should be walking around." The logic seemed sound enough to me.

He struggled again to rise and failed.... miserably. He looked rather pathetic like this. "Hot Sticks is not the boss of me. And he isn't here to stop me from getting out either. I am thankful for him patching me up, but I can take care of myself from here on out."

I rolled my eyes. Some ponies just didn't know common sense. "I am starting to work for the doctor today. I am not fully clear on everything I should be doing yet, but I am fairly sure he would have me insist on you getting back in bed," I did my most firm voice I could manage, hoping it would lend some credibility as the doctor's assistant. What do you call a doctor's assistant? Did that make me a nurse? I could like that, Nurse Pearlwort. I was getting such nicer titles since moving to this town. First 'bitch killer', and now 'nurse'. A far cry better than my old ones; 'it', 'freak', 'abomination'---and those were the nicer ones. If I never met another of my kind again then I might die happy.

He scoffed at me. Then right back to trying to untangle himself from the rope. I heard him gasp in pain a few times. I just sat there as he tried. He clearly wasn't getting anywhere with his attempts. He would give this up sooner or later. I just hoped he didn't hurt himself further; leaving me to explain to my new employer how he had hurt himself more with me watching.

His struggles finally ended. He turned and looked at me, an irritable glare, and asked, "Are you just going to sit there and watch? Or ya go'in to help."

"I will help you back to bed," I offered.

"Ya'll help me get out of this place. Dirty meat eater." He snarled. Bad move, don't insult the pony trying to help you.

I decided the most diplomatic course of action at this point was to push home the full implications of his comment. I opened my muzzle and showed my fangs. Giving him the most menacing look I could muster. I really didn't like the prejudice that Thestrals were bloodthirsty monsters. It was a prejudice that got me scorned from the company of most ponies. However, if it got him to do what I needed it would have to do. If he called my bluff I was fresh out of ideas. Intimidation was my last card to play before simply running to go get Hot Sticks.

Fortunately he seemed to buy into common pony beliefs about Thestrals. At least his cringe back indicated as much. He paled a bit, and gave my fangs a very fearful gaze. 

"No need for all that," he whined, "I suppose there being no harm in me being in bed a wee bit longer. If I can't get myself untangled from this here rope then I don't rightly deserve to be out of bed now do I?"

He struggled to get himself untangled from the rope, and failed again. And then simply tried to get himself back in bed. The tangle with the rope made that impossible. After watching his pathetic failures, I dropped the menacing look, then went to help untangle him. After getting him untangled from the roped I lifted him up on my back, and then hefted him back into the bed. He was silent for the most part, a few grunts of discomfort, and a final silently said word of thanks when he was in the bed. My patient back where he belonged, I decided there was no more reason to remain in the room. I exited out of the room, and shut the door behind me. Sitting right outside the door was Hot Sticks.

"I apologize for leaving you alone with our guest," he rose to his hooves as he spoke. "I must have come up front almost as soon as you went in to check on him." 

He walked over to his desk and pulled out his pipe, along with a pouch, from one of the top drawers. He knocked the pipe upside down against a bowl for a moment and then began stuffing it with whatever he had in the pouch. 

"I decided not to intrude," he continued. "How you handle a patient on your own was something worth knowing."

I paled at this a bit. My bedside manner in there couldn't have been considered the best. Threatening a patient with becoming a meal didn't scream 'good medical practices. At least not to me. Maybe I was about to be dismissed from my position before formally starting it. Way to go Pearl, you know how to screw things up for yourself. I didn't say anything in return. Instead waiting for him to continue.

He pulled out a second pipe from the desk, along with a separate pouch. He then began packing this second pipe with something clearly different than what he packed the first pipe with. A curious action, but not something that I was particularly concerned about compared to the certain scolding that was coming.

"Sit," he said, motioning to a couch off to a set of couches off in one corner of the room. "We will have a bit of a chat about how you handled Granite Bottom, and we will talk about some other things as well." 

I moved quickly to one of the couches. Hoping that my immediate action would somehow indicate I could follow instructions. Losing this position was not something that I really wanted to do. I wanted a safer job as well as real training in a profession.

He came and sat down opposite me. Bringing with him both pipes in his magic. He sat down and lit the second pipe he had packed and took a long draw. He then passed the pipe with me with his magic. Was this some weird punishment method that doctors used on their apprentices? Made me wonder how often he had to have been punished with it to do it freely himself.

"Take a draw of this," he said as the pipe came in front of me. "It is a special herb that will calm you somewhat. I can tell you are tense, and I would rather have you not go batty on me due to nerves."

Not a punishment then. Though the stuff certainly had an all too sweet smell. There was no real desire to do any puffing of anything from a pipe. However, I wasn't going to argue with him. I trusted that if he said all it would do would calm my nerves, then that was all it was for. So I gripped the thing with my hooves and put my mouth up to the mouthpiece taking a draw. Then I let out a great deal of hacking. Yuck! That stuff was horrible! I briefly wondered if I was mistaken, and he was trying to poison me with his foul smoke.

He chuckled at my expense. 

"I am sorry. The first few draws of something like that can be rather harsh if you aren't used to it." And as if reading my mind he continued with, "And it really is just to calm your nerves. Let me say upfront you aren't in any danger of losing your job." I gave him a sulky glare. He could have said that to calm me instead of having me puff on his disgusting burning herb.

"Plus I admit I miss sitting down and having a smoke with a colleague," he confessed. 

So, you attempt to corrupt your apprentices into smoking? You hedonistic bastard of a unicorn. Still, I was potentially in trouble, and wanting to please. I made another attempt at a puff at this bit of news. I managed not to start hacking this time around. It was still dreadful, but a more bearable this time around.

He lit up his own pipe now, which had a distinctly different smell to it. Apparently not simply some calming drug I guessed. After blowing out some smoke he continued again when I still hadn't said anything. 

"I am not mad about how you handled the situation. You are not properly trained yet. And there was no harm done. However, I would advise that you not threaten a patient again. Granite was suffering from some simple broken bones and fractures, but if you tried pulling that kind of thing on a pony with a heart condition, or any pony suffering from some sort of post-traumatic stress, you could give them a heart attack. And though it is extremely rare for there to be foals in this town, I would hate to have any foal afraid of being at the doctor because they are afraid the nurse might eat them!"

"Yes sir." It was all the reply I could come up with to this. I took another draw from the pipe and blew out some of the smoke. I hoped it did have whatever calming properties he said it had.

"Now, I would like to move the conversation to something different. I have told you a little bit about myself, but about you I know only second hoof information. I am curious to learn a bit more about you." His tone was casual. With no hint of anger. "Tell me about how you came to this Tartarus-damned place. Tell me about how you got your cutie mark. Let me get to know a bit more about you."

That elicited another draw from the pipe from me. Most townsfolk didn't like talking about their pasts, and I was no different. Who honestly wanted to tell how they had been driven to desperation to come somewhere their life was always on the line? There were things in my past that I didn't discuss with any pony. I could perhaps tell him some. My cutie mark tale wasn't anything spectacular. I could tell a little bit about my childhood and moving from place to place after I reached marehood. Plenty I could discuss without touching on more uncomfortable subjects.

"I will tell you doctor, but what I say stays between us. I don't want any of this to spread around. And if I don't want to talk about something you don't push me on it. Alright?" Completely fair compromise.

"I'll not promise not to ask questions, but I won't push if you say you aren't willing to discuss something. I understand that most in this town have some sort of unpleasant history. I have heard some rather bone chilling stories from others about what they have done. I won't judge you too harshly. I get a sense you are a generally good mare."

"That's all I can ask." And with that I began telling him how I came to be at Starlight's Folly.  

"I never knew who my father was, and I never learned his name. My mother and my aunt were in the Lunar Guard and on deployment to one of the southern outposts during one of the Klugian insurrections. My mother's name was Night Flower and my aunt's name was Night Blossom. They were twins and very close to one another."

"To be expected of twins," Hot Sticks commented.

I nodded. "One day on routine patrol, my mother felt it: her sister had died. She didn't have to be told by anypony what had happened. She just knew. She almost plummeted out of the sky from the shock of it, but managed to complete her patrol regardless. But when she returned to her outpost what she had felt was confirmed. Night Blossom had been killed by Klugian rebels in an ambush."

"I assume this was a turning point for her life?" Hot Sticks asked.

I nodded again. "She was put on temporary leave. She couldn't return home right away, as the region was far too hostile for travel at the time. She instead went to a local tavern to drown her sorrows. There she ran into a Pegasus stallion of a separate guard unit. She never learned his name, and she didn’t see him again after that. But she had a one-night stand with the stallion, and became pregnant with me."

"I am not familiar with many Thestrals, but I am told they are very tribal-oriented. Is that true?" he asked.

“Yes,” I sighed. “The worst of the worst. I am a Thestral, there is no question of that, but I am not pure blood because my mother had gone and screwed a Pegasus. So, we both had a stigma attached to us.”

"Pure blood lines in tribes is a completely garbage concept. There are no pure-blooded ponies. Every pony has ancestry in all the other tribes at some point or another in their history," he seemed as disgusted with the tribalism of Thestrals as I was.

"I am glad that I was born a Thestral instead of a Pegasus. I don't think my mother would have been allowed to live in Hallow Shades, or any other Thestral community for that matter, if I hadn’t been. And being a Thestral herself, she wasn't likely to find much in most pony communities. As it was, when not on active duty as a guard she tended to be left with the least desirable jobs in town: trash collection, street sweeping, whatever odd job that could be done. When I was small she couldn't go out on guard tours. There was no pony to watch me but her." I still felt the heavy sting of guilt at my mother's hardships.

“As for how I got my cutie mark story: I was picked on mercilessly by the fillies and colts of the town. One day, after I took a pretty fair beating, I went home a bloody mess, and Mother just came up to me and wrapped her wing around me to soothe me. She told me about how she had come to name me Pearlwort. She said that when she found out that she was pregnant with a foal of a Pegasus she feared for the future, there would be no place for her. She didn't know how she would survive. Well, her doctor, seeing how worried she was, told her about pearlwort. About how they are resilient,can survive just about anywhere, and about how my mother and I would survive too. My mother kept some growing outside our house after that. Most ponies considered them weeds, but to her they were special. I went outside, saw them blooming, and I knew I would survive no matter what hardship I faced. Then my cutie mark appeared: a simple pearlwort bloom."

"It seems strange to me that fillies and colts would be so hostile to you," Hot Sticks mused. "The adults I can see as being highly tribalistic, but the young are typically much more accepting."

My ears fell, and I took a draw from the drugged pipe to attempt to soothe my anxiety concerning the subject. I sat in silence trying to consider if this subject could be avoided.

"There is clearly something more from your reaction. Do you wish to speak about it?" Hot Sticks asked in a sympathetic tone.

Gratitude flooded me. He was respecting my privacy on uncomfortable subjects, but it still didn't help me decide whether I would tell him or not. Despite that, it did make me feel a sense of trust in a pony I hadn't had in years.

I continued to sit silently, considering my options. He was a doctor. Not just any doctor, a doctor who was at one point an acolyte of an Alicorn. Starlight Glimmer had no harsh judgement of me. Did that kindness extend to the other Alicorns, and by extension, their acolytes? I really didn't want to have him disgusted by me. But I also longed for the ability to be open to some pony else. I wanted to have that companionship, where I could feel safe from judgement. Only with my mother and Starlight Glimmer had I ever felt that.

"If it really is something you don't feel comfortable telling me, I won't pressure you. I will tell you that anything you tell me will be confidential though. I am a healer first and foremost, and hurts to the soul are just as much my concern as hurts to the body."

I looked up to meet his gaze. Maybe I could take a chance and trust him. But I would have to work myself up to it. I took yet another draw of the pipe, watching the smoke as I shaped it into a star with a wisp of magic.

He looked at the design I had shaped then back at me. "Starlight Glimmer's mark?" That was something he didn't have to be an acolyte to know in this town. Her mark was clear to see on the outside of her shrine.

I nodded. "I will get to her. And I will talk to you about why every pony was far crueler than what simple tribalism would cause, but let me get to it at my own pace."

“Fair enough,” he agreed.

"When I was sixteen the call to arms for the Lunar Guard went out again. Yet another Klugian rebellion, the largest that had happened yet."

"I remember that one well. So many dead or wounded. I was able to operate primarily as a doctor, rather than a cog in the royal machine. It was so bad the Alicorns all went out personally to either fight, or treat the wounded. If they hadn’t we would have a nation of slavers on our southern border now. I still have nightmares about all the dead."

Tears welled up in my eyes. I had nightmares about the dead from that war as well, but I never saw the rows of dead ponies that would never return home to their families. There was only one dead pony I saw, and I only saw them in my dreams.

Trying to speak through the urge to sob I continued, "My mother was itching to go fight. She wanted a chance to take vengeance for Aunt Blossom. I was sixteen, I wasn't old enough to enlist, but I was old enough to fend for myself for a few months. We had food stored, I was not an incompetent hunter if the need arose, and I could do the same dirty jobs my mother was often doing. I sometimes wonder if part of the reason she was so eager to get back to fighting was to do something of dignity again..."

"There is no dignity in killing. There is necessity but never dignity. Killing another fully reasoning creature in violent bloodshed is nothing but a tragedy," his tone left no room for argument.

I wonder what he would think of me killing that bitch. It was needed, but did he feel that way? He must know about it, every pony in town who isn’t a newcomer knew about it. I took in more of his drug. I was crying openly now, and it took a moment before I could speak.

"Messengers came by the score to tell ponies that friends and families would not be coming home. There were so many. I knew in my heart, without being told, one would be seeking me out to tell me that she was gone. I was busy sweeping the street when they arrived… I ran into an alleyway to hide and just sobbed."

Hot Sticks got up from the couch he was sitting on, and came over to me. He embraced me. It was a rare gesture for some pony to do for me. One that I had only experienced from two ponies in my life. I didn't fight the embrace, I just sobbed into his shoulder. He kept holding me for several moments while I let the old hurt flow out.

I kept crying, but after a few moments the sobs relented. I didn't want him to stop hugging me. It was so nice to be hugged, especially after so long. But I wouldn't be able to bring myself to focus if he stayed that way. I would be too caught up in savoring the rare comfort. I finally pulled back, and motioned to him that I was alright for the moment, though the still fresh tears in my eyes might have told a different story.

I pulled the drug in deep and let it out in a long breath, seeking calm.

"I don't know how long I sat in that alleyway sobbing when I felt someone embrace me. I looked down and saw a great purple wing wrapped around me. Looking up, I beheld her, an Alicorn."

"Starlight Glimmer?" He asked.

"Yes, though I didn't know her name yet. She pulled me closer to her and I just resumed my sobbing, with my muzzle planted firmly in her fur. She said nothing to me, just let me cry."

I changed the shape of the smoke again. I shifted it to the vague shape of an Alicorn standing before another vague pony shape.

"When I had finally ran out of energy to sob she held me out in front of her, and looked at me. I could feel that she was more powerful than I could imagine, and yet there were tears in her eyes. This goddess had wept for me and my mother.

“She told me to tell her about my life, my mother, and my fears. I do not know if she magically compelled me to do so, I just let it all out; the harsh treatment both my mother and I received, how my mother came to have me, all the insults that had been thrown at me, all my misery.

Her ears dropped, and she embraced me again. Then something happened that would change my life. She asked me what she could do for me."

Hot Sticks spoke up. "Was it she who granted you extreme resilience?"

"No. That part is all me and my cutie mark," I shook my head. "No, I had something far more selfish to ask. I have no idea why, above all things, I felt the need to ask for what I did. I was there sobbing over my mother, and I asked for something I had longed for as long as I could remember."

I didn't continue right away. Instead adding more to the smoke that hovered in the room and shaping it yet again. Hot Sticks sat silently as I worked my magic. I finally shaped it into that of a younger stallion. Looking up at my work for a silent moment, I braced myself for revealing what was next.

Unable to hold back tears, I spoke in a sob, "I asked her to make me a...a mare..."

Hot Sticks had a confused look on his face. 

"You asked her to age you a few years?" His voice clearly indicated he wasn't getting what I had said.

"No," was all the response I gave. But I did look up again to my creation.

His eyes followed, and after a moment, realization dawned on his face. 

"You were born male." There was no harshness in his statement.

Some primal need to defend myself welled up in me.

"No, I was born with a male body. I knew I was female. I always insisted on the fact to every pony. It is why my classmates were so mean to me. I was asked what she could do for me, and I selfishly asked that she make me what I always knew I was."

"As far as I can tell, it is safe to assume she did as you asked," Hot Sticks still had no accusation in his voice, no cruelty in his tone, and I was grateful. Perhaps he wouldn't judge me.

"She was a little shocked at my request. She asked if I was sure. When I told her I was more sure than at any point in my life, she just told me that this would come with its own challenges. It wouldn't fix my life. I stood by my request. If she didn't do this for me then I would never have that aspect of me fixed."

Hot Sticks interjected, “Technically a top-level Unicorn can manage such spells as well. It is extremely costly, but it can be done. I have seen it done before."

Him being familiar with others like me, and having seen the same thing done to them gave me comfort. It wasn't something strange and unfamiliar to him. It gave me hope he would greet me no differently for knowing.

I reshaped my little stallion avatar to that of a mare. 

"I might never have had that opportunity. Maybe there were better things to have asked for, and then hope for that opportunity to come down the line. I wasn't going to wait though. When she saw I was steadfast in my request she wrapped me in her magic. She tried the spell once and it failed. She was shocked and caught off guard by this. She took a long gaze at my cutie mark, studying it. She then did another spell, without warning, that did something I doubt any pony could have expected. She separated my cutie mark right off my flanks. I looked up at her in shock, and she, without much pause, went and did her original spell again. She smirked like she had just figured out a puzzle, and then reattached my cutie mark to my now feminine flanks."

"Your cutie mark thwarted her spell?" Hot Sticks seemed incredulous. "Your cutie mark was able to block the spell of an Alicorn?"

"Apparently so," I nodded. "I looked my new body over and wrapped myself in a hug, before darting over to her and embracing her. She returned my embrace and told me I had a special cutie mark, and that whatever came she was sure I would find a way to thrive. Her acolytes then called her away, leaving me sitting in that dark alley. It was the last I ever saw of her. I have considered her my patron Alicorn since then."

"Starlight Glimmer is known for having deep insight into cutie marks. If she says you would do well, then there is no reason not to believe her," Hot Sticks took a draw from his pipe and released it slowly after speaking.

It was a blessing to finally talk to another pony about this, and be accepted. The rest of the story after was not pleasant, but the hard part of it was told and nothing bad had come of it. I still needed to finish though.

"I didn't thrive after that though. Thestrals, as a tribe, are very...committed...to having a certain order to the world. Me being a mare, when I had appeared to them a stallion before, didn't sit well with any of them. They became more violent than before. They wouldn't let me do any work for any of them. They wouldn't let me into their shops. They wrote horrible things on the side of my house. They told me I was a weed and that weeds needed to be ripped up.

“I fled Hallow Shades. I tried moving into other Thestral settlements, but word gets around among Thestrals quickly. I was not welcome in any of them.

“I tried moving into villages with other types of ponies. That is when I learned that most ponies considered Thestrals just one hoof up from being monsters. I tried desperately to blend in. I would trim the tufts on my ears, wear a smock over my wings to hide the fact they were webbed, try to keep my fangs hidden with a variety of methods. Nothing worked. Ponies always figured it out. And if they didn't avoid me they would still simply refuse to do business with me.

“I tried enlisting. But Thestrals are regulated exclusively to the Lunar Guard. Attempts at enlistment just put me back in contact with my fellow Thestrals again. And they knew who I was and would not have me. There seemed to be no place for me.

“I wandered the countryside for some time. I lived on a diet of grass and small animals. One night, I came upon a batch of merchants who had stopped to make camp. I hovered near the edges of the camp, and overheard them talking about the town of Starlight's Folly. I was at a very low point. I was near suicidal to be honest. But the town's name struck a chord for me. It was like a description of me. So I took off north to find it. Ponies here didn't care that I was a Thestral, at least not enough to refuse me work or shelter. I had finally found a home. And that is all there is to say about me."

Hot Sticks got up again and came and sat on the same couch with me. He wrapped a foreleg around me and embraced me. I wrapped my wings and foreleg around him in turn and gave him a tight hug. 

Sitting back, he said, "I take it you don’t have any harsh views of Starlight Glimmer?"

"No, I don't," I giggled for some reason. "I might not have a perfect life. But my life right now is better than it would have ever been back in Hallow Shades. This place might be one hoof up from Tartarus, but I think I would have preferred Tartarus to my life before. I know some ponies had it worse, but it was still miserable."

Our friendly talk was interrupted when the mayor came in suddenly, followed by several other ponies. The other ponies all looked very pale, and several had bits of fur missing.

“Doctor, I think we might have an epidemic."
> Chapter 3: Epidemic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hot Sticks immediately went to a nearby closet and pulled out a plague mask. I had never seen one before, but I knew what it was from school, a mask that had magical enchantments that blocked the contraction of most illnesses when worn. The doctor then turned back to the mayor and the ponies filing in. Looking over the ponies to study their obvious symptoms as the entered.

"Board, why am I just now hearing of a large number of sick ponies?" Hot Sticks asked the mayor with anger. "Why wasn't I informed immediately when there was a pony showing signs of an unusual illness? I should have been informed right away before something like this spread to so many. What is the explanation?" His voice was fuming with rage. I couldn't blame him. This seemed common sense to me as well.  I was also glad that I was magically resistant to getting sick on my own.  It was likely that I was going to get thrown into the fire right away with my new job.

The mayor, a royal blue Pegasus by the name of Drawing Board, looked apologetic. 

"I didn't know until just about an hour ago. And since that hour I have been running around town trying to gather who might be sick. They don't want to come out of their homes. I had to all but physically carry some of them out of their houses," the Pegasus responded.

"So they are in extreme weakened states? They seem to be walking around without trouble at the moment." Hot Sticks kept his eyes on the ponies as the last entered. It was now extremely cramped as there were more than a dozen ponies in the room. "Not particularly energetic though." He observed.

"They aren't weak," Drawing Board said anxiously. "From what I can tell they are as strong as they have ever been. They simply don't have any desire to move. It took someone standing over them ordering them to move, after pushing them out of bed to actually get them moving. I only found out about it after half the town watch didn't show up to work today. I then went directly to their houses and found them. And then I asked about for any others who seemed to be missing from businesses and found a few others. This is likely not even all of them. I only gathered the ones I could find who didn't show up for work today. Scavengers don't have regular job hours so I have no idea how many of them are similarly effected."

Hot Sticks kept looking over the ponies in question. Faded color on all, three were missing patches of fur, none were showing much in way of energy, and none were speaking or showing any interest in what was going on around them. They just stared at the floor. 

"They do what they are told once you get them up and moving," the mayor continued.  "They don't talk unless you ask them a question. You have to be specific in what you ask or tell them to do. They don't do any more or any less than what you said. And they only answer the question that you asked, they don't add any other pertinent information."

"And you are not sure if there are additional infected," Hot Sticks said. "We could have as many, or more, out in town right now. I am going to need more space."

"I can give you full access to the floor of town hall and can have tents set up quickly," said Drawing Board. "I am going to have houses searched to see how many others may be infected as of right now."

"I have a spare mask that you can have some pony use. I wish I had more. I will be running tests immediately. How long ago were those absent from work last at work?" Hot Sticks inquired.

Drawing Board gave a relieved sigh, thinking he had some good news.

"All them were present just yesterday. I am hoping that this means it hasn't had days to spread, and we can contain it."

"That isn't really good news," the doctor said, causing the other's face to fall. "That just shows that it spreads exceptionally fast and disables ponies in very short periods of time," Hot Sticks sighed. "I can only assume that you are likely infected already, and will be showing symptoms by tomorrow. I want you back here as soon as you are done giving out instructions and finding some pony to do the searching. Keep from touching any pony, or standing too close, if you can help it."

"I will take your word for it, doctor," Drawing Board's face paled as he replied. "I trust you can do something to bring this under control, and prevent it from getting out of control?"

"I still have to figure out what this happens to be. A virus, poisoning, a bacterial infection, some sort of parasite, or some sort of magic," Hot Sticks replied while looking closely at one of the infected's eyes. "I will determine that soon, and then begin figuring out how severe an illness this is, and how to treat it."

Mayor Drawing Board then headed out quickly. If he were already infected he definitely wasn't showing the lack of energy as these other ponies. I wondered how long it would take if Hot Sticks were right. After thinking that, I realized Hot Sticks was likely wondering the same thing. I was trying to get my head into my job.

Hot Sticks was totally engrossed in examining the infected ponies. I took in his actions trying to judge why he was doing things, as well as how he went about it. He brought his hoof up and poked at them, sometimes holding his hoof on there sides for a moment and then watching the spot he had pressed after removing it. He held open their eyes and looked into them. Pulled off strands of their manes and looked the strands over. One pony he even kicked in the leg, the pony didn't respond to the kick. It occurred to me I should be doing something other than just standing there. I was here to help and all I was doing was sitting on my flank.

"What do you want me to do be doing?" I asked Hot Sticks. While he was using his magic to pull on one pony's belly fat.

He gave a start. He had apparently altogether forgotten I was there. He looked around the room briefly and came to a decision. 

"First things first," he began. "Do you feel absolutely certain that your cutie mark will keep you from getting ill? I don't want another patient on my hooves. If you have any doubt, I would prefer you just head home and keep to yourself to avoid further spread. There isn't any playing around with an illness spreading this fast."

I stood at attention with my wings up like a soldier, ready to do her duty.

"I am completely sure I won't get sick. I have never been sick in my life even when the worst flu seasons were going on. From what I can tell I am completely immune to getting sick."

"That's good to hear. I will be very cross with you if you end up like these lumps though. But if you are confident I have a list of things for you to do. First, I want you to get our good friend Mr. Granite moved from his current room to the room on the far back of the hallway on the left. His current room has multiple beds. I will be in need of those. He can make due with a smaller room," Hot Sticks motioned at the room. "There is a rolling bed near one of the walls in that room. You can use that to get him moved with little trouble. Once you have that done, I should be done with my initial examination. Hopefully Drawing Board will be back as well at that point with whoever he rounded up to help search for other infected. If they are back I will be sending you out, along with his help, to go looking. I only have two medical masks, and I will be in non stop use for one. Whoever will be assisting you will be taking the other. If they aren't back I by the time you are done moving Granite I will have you assist me with some examinations."


***


Granite got moved with a great deal of complaining and whimpering on his part. It didn't involve me having to make him feel threatened this time around though. He was actually much more accommodating once I explained the situation to him. When I returned back out from that job I found that Drawing Board had returned, along with a Pegasus by the name of Tulip Turner. Hot Sticks had Drawing Board take up residence in a separate single bed room for observation. He gave Tulip Turner the spare doctor's mask. Tulip was green and the mask was a green and yellowed striped bird shape, it made the Pegasus look like some sort of giant tropical parrot.

Tulip and I made our way through town. Knocking on doors, checking in windows when there were no replies, and asking around if any pony had encountered townsfolk that were displaying symptoms or seemed to have suddenly withdrawn from every pony. It took all of the morning and most of the afternoon. The results were not good. There were a lot of ponies who had whatever this was in town. Far more than what Hot Sticks house could possibly handle.

The worst of the cases was a known scavenger, an earth pony named Marble Shine, we found locked in his house. No one had seen him in two or three days.  He was completely bald and the flesh underneath was discolored. He had strange lumps on his hooves and he could not move as his bones seemed to be misshapen. Surprisingly, he still had the ability to speak with no problem. We questioned him as best we could, but he gave only short answers, and didn't provide any information you didn't specifically ask him for. I had to carry him as Tulip wanted to have nothing to do with touching the severely infected pony. The chivalry of stallions, let the mare carry the mass of pony. Wasn't I suppose to be taking it easy?

The trip back around town was frustrating. Marble was the only one who actually had to be carried, thank Twilight. The rest of the ponies moved perfectly well, once you got them up. We found they took orders by exact wording while we were searching. We could tell them to follow and they would do so, but they would continue trying to follow us into houses we were searching if not told to stand still and wait. In addition, other townsfolk were a nuisance that had to be told to keep a distance. Tulip and I couldn't both search a dwelling. If we left our little parade unattended then townsfolk would come far closer to our line of infected ponies than was likely safe.  So each location made us flip a bit to find out who was going to be the searcher and who was going to be the foalsitter.

We finally got back to Hot Sticks. We had a not so little parade of infected ponies when we arrived, twenty-five ponies in all. Hot Sticks didn't give us any rest though. Immediately upon meeting us he sent us out again to a storehouse in the side of the cliff to gather tents. After returning with them we began setting them up, all the while all the infected continued to just stand around outside. The gate was ordered closed with no scavengers allowed out. Ponies were ordered back to their homes to keep them away from the infected. I had a feeling that this order meant Tulip and I were going to be doing another sweep of the town again tomorrow. The exceptions for this order were of course me, Tulip, Hot Sticks, and a selection of ponies for the town watch.

By late evening we had the infected quartered in three different locations. Hot Sticks had effective run of the town through some documents that the mayor had drawn up before being put into isolation. True to suspicion, Drawing Board was losing color as well as night fell. Hot Sticks made a schedule for supervision of the infected for the three of us. My shift was third in line which did provide an opportunity to sleep. Unfortunately a return home was not going to happen. Since I could be needed at any moment my bed became the same couch that earlier that day I sat as I had sobbed to the doctor. By that point me telling my life story to Hot Sticks felt like it had happened weeks before. 

I was able to get Hot Sticks to tell me where to find some pain killers. My side hurt where the undead had hit me. It would heal, but all this activity wasn't helping it along at all. I thankfully was not needed that night again until my shift. The shift was fairly boring. The patients didn't really do anything. Some of them would sleep, some of them would just sit there doing nothing despite being awake. Asleep or awake there wasn't much difference between the two states for them. The evening allowed for two short shifts of sleep for each of our little crew, and I was tired enough that I had little trouble falling asleep quickly for both.

Not exactly the best first day on a job ever. The days going forward weren't going to get any easier.


***



The next few days passed with little excitement. Within three days’ time there were no townsfolk, other than the three of us, who weren't infected. The last of the uninfected townsfolk had been a few guards who had refused to leave their posts far after their shifts had ended. They had no apparent contact with the infected, but in the end, they had come down with the affliction as well.

Hot Sticks and Tulip never removed their masks except to eat. When they had to have meals, they went outside the town into the southern path up to take their meals. They would not risk removing their masks within the town borders. Well, I was sure Tulip took meals in the southern path. I wasn't really sure what Hot Sticks did for food.

I had no need for the masks. Seeing only my compatriots fancifully painted masks, along with the non-responsive infected, I felt like the last living pony in town. Non-ponies were not spared either. There were five griffins, a minotaur, two diamond dogs, and a lone changeling among the silent rank and file. They all displayed much the same symptoms, with small variations for body parts ponies did not have.

The logistics of handling the town was surprisingly simple. One of the surprising symptoms discovered early on was the infected didn't seem to need to eat. The discovery was made when we realized that Marble Shine had been ill for a longer period than we initially thought. He was missing at least two days earlier. Interviewing some of the last, before they took ill, gave us that information. When we realized Marble hadn't lost any weight in that time, despite not eating, and in fact inexplicably gained weight, we determined that we could avoid the hassle of feeding. Not that we could feed them if we tried. Force feeding was near impossible. Their lack of need for food was very troubling, but it was certainly convenient.

We, and by we I mean Hot Sticks, had new insight on where the illness came from originally. Marble had scavenged an unusual object. It was a small metallic looking rod. It was extremely reflective, occasionally giving off little bits of light. Despite this it didn't give off any magic, or seem to have any inherent magic. It also had no visible moving parts. So, with magical and mechanical eliminated, and it clearly not being organic, we were at a loss at what it was. Hot Sticks had the thing locked in some sort of glass box, and he spent a great deal of time examining the rod.

Tulip and I weren't needed much for taking care of patients. Hot Sticks ran tests of every sort non-stop, only taking naps here and there. Tulip and I guarded the southern pass into the town to keep any wanderers out, taking turns for the other to sleep. Occasionally, Hot Sticks would need one of us to help him with something, but it was a rare occurrence. It was maddening having anxiety from the epidemic, and then not being able to do anything.

We thought we were going to have to divide our time guarding the northern gate, but we received some unexpected boons. One of our unpleasant neighbors to the north, the Wendigos, had picked up on our dour feelings, and they were out in force as a result. Wendigos were a threat only to travelers. The same shield that kept the snow and ice out, kept the Wendigos out. As pure spirits, with only attacks being dumping snow and ice on travelers, they were no threat to us in town. What they did do, by accident, was create massive snowdrifts just north of town. This gave the town an extra wall, as well as hiding the entrance from the largely unthinking threats we would normally have to concern ourselves about. However, it was going to be a real pain to dig through, once the town got to operating again.

So I became very well acquainted with the canyon walls to the south of town. Lots of evenings just spent worrying, and sitting on my flank staring at rocks. I may have also picked up an addiction to Hot Sticks calming drug. I went through a lot of it just waiting. If this all turned out alright in the end I would have to give Hot Sticks a good kick in the flank for that. At least I had something to shape to try to keep me entertained on the long nights.

I was entertaining myself in such a fashion at the end of the fourth night. I had made little smoke avatars of Tulip and Hot Sticks in masks, and had my little creations doing some strange bird mating dance with one another. Hot Sticks avatar didn't have wings so had him more duck-like to match Tulip's parrot. Whatever kept me distracted. It didn't take a keen eye to spot any pony coming up the canyon, so only had to pay it half a mind.

Tulip arrived as I saw the sun's light start to creep into the sky. He was earlier than normal. More often than not, he arrived clearly an hour or two after dawn. We didn't have strict hourly schedules, just vague times of day for our shifts. Maybe I could get some extra sleep this morning.

"Doc wants to see you Batty," Tulip said. "Seems like he has some new idea on how to try to use you for healing."

So much for extra sleep. Hot Sticks had already tried taking my blood and injecting it into ponies. It didn't end up doing anything. Apparently, my magic didn't transfer with blood. He hadn't even warned me he would be taking blood from me; just started jabbing needles into me. I about gave him a good smack with my wings, and I did lay into him about warning me first. He didn't really pay attention though. Between lack of sleep, and lack of results, he was manic.

I extinguished the pipe, and put it in my life pack. Hopefully this visit wouldn't involve any more drawn blood. I wanted to have some magical way of curing ponies. It seemed unfair that I didn't get sick to this, while every pony else did. It seemed like I should be able to do something, due to my resistance to illness. Sadly, it just didn't seem to work that way. At least not with any method the doctor had tried so far.

I did a short glide back to the other side of town, and landed on a balcony built in by that some previous owner of Hot Sticks house. The balcony was to provide an easy entrance for Pegasi, or Thestrals in my case. It didn't provide any view, not unless you were fond of staring at the canyon cliffside. I had only learned of it just the other day. It had since become my default entrance.

I quickly made my way down the stairs, and through the door at the bottom. From the hallway I could see Hot Sticks working away in his makeshift lab in the living room. I made my way over to him.

He jumped with a start as he saw me. He was still not used to me not entering through the front door. He didn't look well at all. I couldn't see his face, due to the never removed mask, but I could see he had lost weight. In addition, his eyes were bloodshot. He seemed skittish in general. I wondered if he had even been eating. Tulip took meals when on guard duty. Tulip would fly further down the canyon away from town to feel safer about lifting up his mask long enough to eat, but he was eating. Hot Sticks had no such arrangements that I was aware of. Between lack of food and lack of sleep he was soon going to need medical care as well. He didn't scold me for the backdoor entrance, though. 

"Good, you got here quickly," he said with some excitement. "I had an idea with one of the patients that your abilities may help. I wanted to be quick before she progressed too far." He motioned me to a side room with his now regular frantic pace.

I followed him into the smaller side room. It was the same one that I had previously put Granite into a few days before. Granite was no longer the occupant though. A younger mare was in bed. I couldn't be sure with the faded colors, but she seemed to be pink furred with a yellow mane. Her cutie mark was a sponge, which made me guess she might have been a maid, or something of the sort, in the past. She wasn't fat, but she was carrying some extra weight in her flanks. I took her for an Earth Pony at first glance, but a second glance at her fur showed the telltale signs of a Crystal Pony. I didn't recognize her, and it made me guess that Hot Sticks had at least gone out of the house to go gather other patients. She must have been a newer resident of town, as I would have noticed a Crystal Pony resident within a few days of their arrival for sure. There weren't any Crystal Ponies in town last time either a bidding happened, or when merchants came by. She just sat on the bed, awake, but as unresponsive as all the rest.

"From what I got from her short answers," Hot Sticks began explaining, “this is Bibulous Bottom. She was unfortunate to arrive in town, almost immediately, as we were putting the town in quarantine. I found her in one of the storage caves when gathering some tools. My best guess, she had nowhere else to go, so she just hid there. It is hard getting clear answers from her."

Alright, that explained why I had never seen her. It didn't explain her significance. Really bad luck for her on her arrival date. Another day on the road and she could have avoided this happening.

"If you haven't noticed she is a Crystal Pony," he continued. "Now, I know that we haven't had any luck with using your material to work as an aid with any of the others. But, I think we can do something different with her. Crystal Ponies absorb magic from others naturally. I am hoping we can get her to soak in some of yours. It might not be helpful with the others right now, but if we can help at least her that would be more than anything else we have accomplished so far."

He sighed, and then looked me in the eye to drive in what he would say next. 

"I am not going to lie to you. And I think it is obvious anyway. But I am out of ideas. Anti-bacterial medicines don't work. Anti-viral medicines don't work. I have tried baking out the illness. I have tried freezing it out. I have tried using every form of anti-magic I know. And tried making up new methods as I go. I am at a loss," I could see the tears in his eyes.

I came up to him and wrapped a wing and foreleg around him to comfort him. He allowed it. 

"We know you are doing everything you can do," I tried to comfort him. "Tulip and I have faith in you. You're a big important acolyte to the medicine Alicorn."

He didn't get any comfort from my words. 

"Former acolyte," he reminded me, “and I have considered sending you south, to find my old mistress, to tell you the truth."

That was a possibility, I supposed. It might be more prudent for him to be the one to go do that. All being here amounted to was foalsitting and guarding the town for me, but I would have trouble getting any pony to listen to me. If he really wasn't getting anywhere on a cure, he at least would get further than me finding help.

It was disconcerting, knowing he had no idea on how this illness worked still, but he was also overtired and underfed. Maybe he just needed some food, and rest, to get a new perspective. I would have to insist after trying whatever he wanted me to do with this pony.

First thing first though, needed to know what he wanted from me. 

"So, what do I need to do?" I asked.

He walked over next to the bed, and motioned to the patient.

"Crystal Ponies absorb magic best when positive emotions are present. Typically, it is their own positive emotions that trigger the absorbing process. Clearly in this state we are not going to get any emotional response out of her. We are going to have to provide those positive emotions ourselves."

That was a tall order. I doubted that any of the three of us had any happy feelings right now.

"This might seem silly," he continued. "but can you try hugging her, and thinking good thoughts?"

"What?" Was he serious? Think happy thoughts?! Maybe he was going a bit loopy from the strain. I couldn't tell with the mask if he looked embarrassed. 

"Think about how much you want her to get better," he further explained. "Think about some happy memory. Think of anything that has good vibes to it. Anything that her innate magic can possibly latch onto, and help her absorb your magic. The hug reinforces the positivity, and hopefully the close contact will help with the absorption."

Okay, this did feel silly. We were reduced to the next thing up from some pony kissing their true love to wake them from their magical sleep. We were officially reduced to fairy tale cures. I would humor Hot Sticks, and try my best though.

So, I walked over to her and gave her a look over. She didn't look at me. She wasn't really looking at anything. Just staring out at nothing. Complete empty expression. How was I supposed to think positive thoughts to a pony I didn't even know? How did you even think positive thoughts to any pony? I decided to try something else first. 

"Bibulous? Do you know how you were feeling before you got liked this? Please, tell me."

"Scared," short one-word answer from her. She didn't have any emotion to it. It was her doing something she was told to do. No more than that, and no less. She didn't even turn to look at me as she answered.

I decided to keep digging. Learn a bit more about her. Make her a pony, and not just a face and name. 

"Tell me why you came to Starlight's Folly."

"It was a place I thought I would find adventure," she said, again with no emotion. A bit of a different answer from what the majority of town might have given.

"Were you running away from anything down south?" 

Every other pony I ever met had something they were running away from when they came here. Even Hot Sticks wanted to get away from politics.

"No," again, short and direct.

"So, you just wanted adventure," I hadn't asked a question so she didn't answer. "Had you ever been on an adventure before?"

"No."

Well, she made a poor choice in places to come. However, I was getting a bit of an idea of what she might have been like, before she came down with this. She was a naive little thrill seeker, likely sheltered, who had read way too many stories. She likely had never had any pony be cruel to her in her life, or ever experienced any personal tragedy. She might not have made it long up here, even if this hadn't happened. The wastes would have finished her off quickly. Perhaps that was harsh. I didn't know the mare. I was just inventing a personality, and history, so I could feel more for her.

I didn't know what else to ask. I just stood up on my hind legs, and wrapped my forehooves around her. I closed my eyes and rested my head against her. I thought of the mare I had invented in my head, fresh out in the world, unaware how cruel it could be. A mare who likely had a loving family somewhere that might never see her again. They might not even find out what happened. A mare who was full of life who was now reduced to this state. I didn't know if it was true or not, but it was something that could inspire strong feelings.

I started crying. It wasn't just her. It was all the anxiety of the last few days. It was feeling helpless. It was wanting to help, and feeling useless. I thought of how I had finally started opening up to some pony with Hot Sticks. Then right away after opening up, this all happened. It was that scared little filly in me that just wanted to be loved, and feeling hurt and angry that this mare, who I imagined as being loved, was going to lose all that love too. It was a dam breaking that I had held in the last few days. It had only been days before when that dam broke in front of Hot Sticks. Maybe it was hard to hold things in once you let them out the first time.

I don't know how long I stood there hugging her. Suddenly, Hot Sticks let out a gasp. I opened my eyes to see him staring at the pony I was hugging. I turned my head up to look. She was looking down to me. she wasn't discolored anymore, she was bright and glowing. She was smiling down at me. I couldn't help but smile back.

She reached down and hugged me right back and said, "You give good hugs."
> Chapter 4: Biblo and the Bat
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

After finally ending our hug, the Crystal Pony became a bit of a bouncy blur around the room. She jumped off her bed, and started looking around. She showed a great deal of energy. You would have never have guessed that just moments before she was dull and almost lifeless.

She jumped right in front of my face. Her muzzle almost touching mine. No respect for personal space.

"Hi! I am Bibulous Bottom, but you can call me Biblo. Biblo is so much easier to say than Bibulous Bottom, and if you took all the time saying my full name you might forget what else you were going to say. And then that would be awkward. So, call me Biblo! Did I tell you give really good hugs! What's your name? Why are your wings and eyes like that? You have such cute fluffy ears! What's your name? Did I already ask that question? I'm sorry! I just feel like I haven't talked to any pony in ages! And you give such good hugs! So, I'm Biblo! What's your name?"

I just stared. I tried to take in all of that and process it. I don't think she paused for breath in all of that. I worked out my answers as I remembered questions.

"Um, I'm Pearlwort. You can call me Pearl," I started with the question I am pretty sure I caught getting asked multiple times. I also backed up a bit, to give myself more personal space. I was not used to ponies being this friendly. I wasn't sure any pony was used to ponies being this friendly.

She moved forward and hugged me again.

"Hi Pearl! You give really good hugs! It made me feel really good," she said with childlike glee.

"Um, thank you? “ I really didn't have words right now. I tried to remember her other questions.

She, herself forgetting the other questions, seemed to notice Hot Sticks for the first time. And Hot Sticks was promptly met with a similar barrage with a very enthusiastic Biblo in his face.

"Hi! I'm Biblo! What's your name? Are you some sort of mutant horned duck? Can you quack! Your face looks weird, it's neat!"

Hot Sticks also backed up a step.

"I am a Unicorn. I am wearing a mask, so I don't get sick. Please don't knock it off me. I am doctor Hot Sticks. And I would like to ask you some questions."

"Hi doctor Hot Sticks! I can answer questions! I don't know if they are the right answers, but I can try," she actually paused and blushed for a moment. It was an interesting sight to see a glowing pony blush. "Please don't mind me too much right now. I have a hard time containing myself when I am filled up with light. I promise I will calm down eventually. I'll try really hard to be good. What kind of questions?"

"First of all, how much do you remember of the last few days?" I was glad he specified the last few days. With her hyped up as she was I wouldn't be surprised if she gave a recounting of every memory ever.

She sat down and thought. She put one of her forehooves to her head and for some reason stuck her tongue out one side of her mouth as she did. I don't think I missed my mark on guessing she wasn't the type of pony that should be in this part of the world. She was just too innocent and adorable. I couldn't help but smile a bit.

"I remember!" She held up one hoof and smiled as she answered. "I came into town and every pony was running to get back to their homes. I didn't know what was going on. So, I yelled up to this really fat Pegasus that was flying by, and asked her what was going on," Biblo's ears dropped a little and her glow got a little less bright. "She said there were really sick ponies. Sick enough that we all had to go hide ourselves away to not get sick too. She said we could all die if we didn't! I was scared! I didn't know where to go. I had just gotten to town. I didn't even find a hotel or anything yet. I found a cave that no one was in that had a lot of food and other stuff in it, and I hid out there. I know I was there for a while. And then I fell asleep and woke up here getting hugged."

So, she remembered nothing after she got sick. Guess that answered the question about whether the patients were aware of anything or not.

"That is troubling," Hot Sticks sighed. "Did you have any physical contact with any pony when you arrived in town?" She shook her head in response. "Then we have to assume it is spreading through some other means. I have already checked the fleas, other insects, food, and water supply for any clues and come up short. All that I have for a clue is that damned rod, and it isn't giving up any secrets so far." His ears and posture dropped.

"Well, I don't remember being sick. I feel great! Better than great! I am sure you will find a way to make every other pony feel great too!" She seemed to have a great deal of confidence.

Hot Sticks shook his head. "The solution that worked for you won't work on the others. It was Pearl's magic that healed you, and it only worked because you could absorb it innately. But maybe we can find a way with you helping us. I already have some ideas. I just have to go start writing down those ideas."

I remembered my earlier decision concerning Hot Sticks. "I think you need to take a break first. You don't look so well yourself. You haven't been sleeping regularly and I have my doubts you have been eating. You just said the food is safe. Find yourself somewhere right outside of town to sit down and eat. Then get some sleep. Take some sleep aids if you have to."

I couldn't see his face, but his reply sounded indignant. “Pearl, I am the only doctor here. I need to keep working. We made a breakthrough just now. As well as gathered more information. I need to record my findings and chart the next course of action."

"If you collapse from exhaustion or starvation we are out of your abilities," I told him sternly. "I am your assistant. And while I might not be trained yet, I do know it is my job to make sure you take care of yourself too. Not much is going to change here in the time you get a meal in you and a few hours’ sleep."

Biblo looked between us as Hot Sticks and I glared at one another. Then she stood on her hind legs and through her opinion into the fray having decided that it counted. "Pearl made me better, and I vote with Pearl!"

I was really starting to like Biblo. I smiled smugly over to Hot Sticks. "I guess I win. Get something to eat."

"This isn't a democracy. This is a quarantined area, and I am the doctor in charge," Hot Sticks grumbled.

With reason exhausted I decided on another tactic. "You don't want to make Biblo here unhappy, do you?" Biblo launched into a pouty face and puppy dog eyes immediately. This pony was great.

Hot Sticks stared at me and Biblo for a long moment and relented. "Alright, you win" Biblo clapped her forehooves together in response. Hot Sticks continued as if there was no interruption. "I would like a word with you, Pearl, before I find somewhere I feel safe eating."

Fair enough. I came over to Hot Sticks, so he could speak privately with me. "You likely are right about me needing food and sleep. Thank you for seeing that I don't lose track of taking care of myself. I do want you to keep Biblo close to you. Look for any sort of relapse. I don't want her getting sick again."

The possibility that she could go right back to being sick hadn't occurred to me. "What can I do to prevent that?"

He kept his voice low. "Keep feeding her magic. What you did will dissipate out of her slowly if you don't. Crystal Ponies absorb magic, but they don't just keep it in. It leaks out."

"How do I do that?" I wished he would be clearer.

"Just keep her close to you. Give her hugs, she seems to absorb well from those. Just keep her happy," he said.

I gave him a cold look. "Did you forget something? I am a Thestral. Ponies fear us. She is bouncy and bubbly now because she is high on good feelings. But it is going to wear off and then she is going to be afraid."

Hot Sticks laughed. It was good to hear even if it was at my expense. “Dear mare, didn't you listen to her? She hasn't got a clue what a Thestral is. When it comes to those prejudices you are dealing with a blank slate."

The memory of her barrage of questions came back to me. It didn't seem like she knew what I was. She didn't know why my wings and eyes were as they were. And her impression of my ears was cute! Maybe this was a chance to deal with a pony with no negative assumptions about me. Even Hot Sticks knew about my Diamond Dog incident, he had to have some negative feelings for me as a result. Biblo had none of that. I was just the weird looking pony that gave good hugs to her.

"I'll keep that all in mind," I said. "Now get some food and sleep so you can work later at the top of your game instead of the bottom."

He turned to go, “I’ll set up a sleeping bag out on the balcony for myself. My room is occupied. Please remember to use the front door."

I gave a slightly annoyed grunt. "I already planned to. I must keep her with me, and I don't think Crystal Ponies fly. You aren't thinking straight. Get off without any more delays." He finally headed out to go find food without any more comment.

That left me alone with Biblo. I technically wasn't alone with her as the house was full of ponies, but we had already established they weren't home upstairs right now. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with her though.

The mare in question was back sitting on top of the bed waiting patiently for me. She seemed to have calmed down a bit from earlier. I didn't know if that was good or bad. It could be good because it made her easier to deal with. It could be bad because it could mean my magic was leaking out and she needed a recharge.

When I came up to her I gave her a hug just to be safe. She accepted with enthusiasm and brightened up a bit. I guess hugs did recharge her a bit. At least if her shine was an indicator of how much magic she was holding. She didn't go into wild spastic dialogue this time though.

"Well, Biblo," I greeted her, “I suppose you never got to see around town when you arrived. It is pretty much a ghost town right now, but I can give you a tour." I kept my tone upbeat. I really didn't want to see the town devoid of townsfolk, but I needed to do something with her for the moment. It occurred to me that I would normally be getting to bed soon, to sleep through the afternoon. That seemed unlikely today.

"Alright," she said hoping down off the bed, “sounds fun. Show me the way and I promise to be good." This was the second time already today that she promised specifically to be good. I wondered if she had a history of getting into trouble. She definitely didn't seem to be the malcontent type.

She came looking for adventure, so I supposed that a trip up to the northern wall to see the Wendigos could be a good enough stop. Real monsters out of legend, they were harmless while we were in town and they were out there. It was something exciting to show her.

She followed me out of the room and out into the hall. As we crossed into the living room she stopped and started trying to greet all the infected who were just sitting around. I was getting so used to them I had forgotten to alert her about them.

She was getting replies of their names from them in response to her questioning them about their names, but they weren't forthcoming with any other things she asked about. Those things being questions like 'how are you doing?' and 'why are you sitting here?

I spoke to her, “I should have told you about them. These are the infected ponies. They aren't aware of anything. They will do what they are told and answer really basic questions, but you aren't going to get anything out of them."

Her ears dropped again, and her brightness dimmed a little. "Is this the way I was until a little while ago?" She looked at me with a sad look.

Way to go with keeping her happy Pearl. You really are off to a great start. I chided myself internally. "Yeah, but you are better now. And we will find a way to make them better too, soon," I hoped. "The entire town is like this except you, me, Hot Sticks, and Tulip. You haven't met Tulip Turner yet. I will take you to meet him in a little bit."

She perked up a little at being told she would be meeting someone new soon, but she still seemed unhappy. I walked over to her and gave her another hug. It was getting easier for me to give hugs with each new attempt. And I had an honest desire to keep her happy. It protected her from all of this. And even if it didn't, I would still want her happy, to enjoy her enthusiasm. It was a pleasant change from what I was used to from other ponies. The hug did the trick, and she perked up again.

We made our way to the wall. When we got there I was a little surprised to see, or fail to see, any Wendigos. They had been constant outside the gates the last few days. I guess they didn't like being around Biblo. Happiness and positivity tended to drive them off. I should have thought about that.

"I had planned on showing you the Wendigos," I told her, still gazing out at the snowbank they had left behind. "It seems that is a bit of a bust though."

She smiled over to me. "It's okay. Wendigos don't like happy things. I know the stories. I don't really want to see a bunch of meanies who live on pony suffering. I still get to see what the Lost Land looks like from here. It looks a lot like back home in Crystal Heart. Well, not like Crystal Heart, but a lot like the area around the city. It's kind of nice."

I was glad she wasn't disappointed with the lack of Wendigos. I, however, was worried about the lack of Wendigos. No Wendigos meant the other creatures of the waste were likely to start wandering up again soon. It was a new source of anxiety. It had been such a good day too, until finding that out.

As had become my recent habit, I reached into my ever-present life pack. I pulled out the pipe and pouch with the calming drug, along with a match. I packed the thing, put it in my muzzle, and struck the match against the side of the wall lighting it. Biblo scrunched up her nose at me. There was some irony there somewhere.

"Those things are stinky," she said. I had to agree. I was planning that kicking of flank for Hot Sticks at the end of all this. It was on my list. The list went celebrate, then buck Hot Sticks for getting me hooked on smoking this thing. If this didn't ever end I might just do it still.

I blew a large stream of smoke out towards the waste. Then grinned at Biblo. "I think I said the same thing to Hot Sticks before this all started. I will take it as part of his punishment for getting me hooked on this that he can't light his up due to that mask he has to wear," I turned back to my smoke and started working my magic. "On the bright side I can do this."

I shaped it into a pair of ponies and had them do a dance together. Biblo giggled and clapped her forehooves together with glee watching my little display. After watching me make a few other little things, to entertain her with, she turned to me and asked, "How are you doing that? You aren't a Unicorn. And I haven't ever heard of a Pegasus doing that kind of thing without flapping their wings," her gaze drifted down to my leathery wings.

Well, time to find out if she really hasn't heard of Thestrals. All signs, so far, pointed to she hadn't. I didn't turn to her. I just kept blowing out bits of smoke over the wall and playing with it. My forehooves planted on the side of the wall with the pipe between. But I spoke to her, "Have you ever heard of Thestrals or Bat-Ponies?"

She gave a confused look and shook her head. She looked at my wings and realization dawned on her. "So, you are a Bat-Pony? What's a Bat-Pony and what's a Thestral? I only know Crystal Ponies, Earth Ponies, Pegasi, Unicorns, and Alicorns. I haven't heard of Bat-Ponies or Thestrals before."

I smiled at her ignorance. "Bat-Pony is just another name for Thestrals. There are less of us than a lot of other types of ponies. We prefer to be out at night, and we tend to avoid other types of ponies. We have our own types of magic, and we have some other differences as well."

"Magic like shaping smoke into things?" she asked. She seemed very interested, and not at all afraid.

I nodded to her question to confirm it. "We see better in the dark too. We can tell if a pony is having a nightmare and help soothe the nightmare away," at least other Thestrals could, I was unable to do that, "we are omnivores, so we can hunt as well."

"You mean like small animals? For food?" she didn't seem afraid. I was still nervous about answering.

"When we need to. We eat fruits and vegetables like other ponies too. But sometimes food is scarce. And sometimes we have to defend ourselves, or others, from creatures that would do ponies harm. When defending ourselves, or other ponies, we need to be more vicious than the things that want to hurt us," as I spoke I shaped my latest plume into a timber wolf and a Thestral. I had the them fight, with the Thestral of course winning.

She came up closer to me. "You sound like you are sad. Why are you sad?" Her eyes only held concern. There was no trace of judgement.

I looked at her. "A lot of ponies fear Thestrals. Most ponies actually. I live in this town because I couldn't find a place to be accepted down south."

She came up to me all the way and gave me a hug. "Don't feel so sad. I like you. I know you are a good pony. I can tell it when you hug me. A Crystal Pony always knows what kind of pony is hugging them. You are a good pony. When I say you give good hugs, that is what I mean. I'll never be mean to you for being a Thestral pony."

I smiled. The explanation about good hugs was touching. It still felt extremely innocent, but it felt a lot less childish having had it explained to me. I returned her hug, hoping she felt all the gratitude I felt for her. Ponies like her were rare.

She giggled. "Besides, every pony can eat meat. Didn't you know that? Lots of ponies eat fish, and no pony says a word about it. And Griffins, Minotaur, Hippogriffs, and lots of other creatures hunt. It isn't really that weird. Every pony must eat, and if you have a few more options, I don't blame you for taking them. I'll tell you a secret, I tried fish once, and I liked it." She broke down in a fit of giggles, like she had told some dark secret. In many parts of Equestria that might indeed be a dark secret.

Biblo was something else. I didn't know what. But she made me smile.


***


After leaving the wall, it was late enough that I was going to have to go take a nap. I couldn't leave Biblo unattended though. A trip to the south side to have her meet Tulip seemed in order, since Hot Sticks was hopefully sleeping as well.

"Biblo, I need to get to sleep soon. Tulip and I take turns guarding the south side of the town. I have to relieve him in a few hours, and if I don't get some sleep I risk falling asleep on the job," I told her. "I was thinking of taking you over to him, to have him keep you company as I slept."

She did not look happy about this at all. Her ears dropped, her color dimmed a bit, and she looked down at the ground. While I was happy some pony enjoyed my company greatly, this didn't seem a healthy reaction. Tulip wasn't much for company. In fact, I got the distinct impression from him he was secretly enjoying the increased solitude of the last few days. But she couldn't be left unattended just yet. Not until she was properly settled in, and given part of the daily routines.

Her ears perked back up a bit. She turned her head to face me as we walked and said, "It just occurred to me that if I was like all those other ponies, then I have been awake for days. Is that right?"

The ponies did seem to stop sleeping after a point. I wasn't sure I would call what those ponies were awake though. Yeah, their eyes were open, but they weren't aware of anything. I would as soon say they had fallen asleep when they got sick and still hadn't woken up. I wasn't medically trained though, and it wasn't something Hot Sticks had the focus to alert me about. I suppose they could be technically awake. But it was clear where this line of thought from her was going.

"You want to nap with me instead. Don't you?" I said, deciding to just cut straight to the chase.

"It has been a very busy day. Getting cured, seeing the wall, meeting new ponies, learning about different tribes, watching smoke shows, I should get some sleep," she said innocently, ignoring the fact I just wanted her to straight out say she intended to just keep with me. Even if it involved taking a nap.

Maybe she just wanted me to offer to let her. "Alright, you can come take a nap with me. If you wake up before me, or if I fall asleep before you, will you promise to stay by me and not go wandering off on your own? I don't want you getting hurt, or worse."

She stopped her walk, and I stopped as well and turned to her. She then launched into the most absurd oath I had ever heard. "Pinkie promise! Cross my heart. Hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" The final part of the oath actually involved her jabbing her eye with her hoof. She winced in pain and rubbed the closed eye afterward.

I laughed at her antics. "What in holy Twilight was that? That was the silliest oath I have ever seen."

She got a serious look on her face. Perhaps it wasn't so silly to her? Maybe I shouldn't have laughed.

She got right up in my face and said, "Pinkie Promises are serious business. No one breaks a Pinkie Promise. Pinkie Pie will know!"

A bit confused, I asked the obvious question. "Who is Pinkie Pie?"

She looked shocked, "Gasp!" Did she seriously just say the word gasp? "Pinkie Pie is the Alicorn of Laughter and Enthusiasm. You don't make her mad at you by breaking her promises!"

Hadn't heard of her, but I hadn't heard of most Alicorns. I suppose that if Starlight Glimmer had some sort of special oath dedicated to her I would take it seriously if I made one. "Is Pinkie Pie your patron Alicorn?" Laughter and enthusiasm definitely seemed to be Biblo's mantra.

She grinned. "Yep! I say my prayers to her every night! And I have my prayer doll of her in my," a look of horror entered her eyes as she reached back to where she assumed her pack was only to find her bare side, "pack. My pack! It must still be back in that cave! Can we please stop to find it?" Her eyes were pleading.

It wouldn't take much longer than taking her to Tulip would have taken I suppose. "Sure thing. We will get it and we can nap there. Napping one place or another doesn't matter much. I have an extra blanket or two in my life pack."

She looked grateful and relieved. As we started walking in the general direction of the storage areas, she looked at my pack and asked, “You have a life pack? You are really lucky. I just have a regular old saddle bag."

"When you come up here one of the first things you invest in as soon as you can is a life pack," I answered. "They can be expensive. But up here there are lots of questionable ponies. You need something that can store all your stuff and it be something only you can get into. So you fork over most of your first round of earnings for one. They normally have some unicorn mages come up with the merchants who will make them. They know how high the demand is here."

"Do you have a lot in your pack?" She asked curiously.

I went through a mental inventory of the pack. "My compass, a few blankets, some writing materials, all my food, some bandages, a knife, about four ponyweight in crystals, my pipe, the stuff for the pipe, matches, a few candles, a prayer doll to Luna, a prayer doll to Starlight Glimmer, a prayer doll to the Twilight Princess, an old recorder made out of some sort of bone, some pieces of dry wood, a cup, a bowl, two pony lengths of rope, plenty of bits, a wind up alarm clock, mane brush, and some soap."

She blinked. Life packs had no limit on what they could hold as long as you could fit it through their opening, and only the owner could get anything out. It might be surprising to the average pony how much an owner of a life pack would keep in it. I was sure that there were ponies in town with far more in their packs. It occurred to me that in their current state I could order them to give me the items in their packs. But I was an honest pony.

"You have three prayer dolls?" She asked. "I have only ever heard of ponies keeping one or two. Are you really religious?"

I laughed. "Definitely not. The Luna and Twilight Princess dolls were gifts from my mother. Luna is considered the patron of Thestrals, so most Thestrals, if they get a prayer doll, get one of Luna. I got the Starlight one myself. I kind of adopted her as my patron when I was a teen. I don't really use them for prayer though. I'll take them out sometimes just to remember my mother. She died a few years ago, and I miss her a lot sometimes."

"It is nice you keep them to remember your mother," she started, “but you should pray to your Alicorn once and a while. You don't want her to think you are ignoring her."

"I don't need my Alicorn, Starlight, to answer any prayers," I said. "She has done enough for me," I didn't add the fact I didn't believe Alicorns heard prayers. At least not unless they were standing right there while you were praying.

I avoided any question about what Starlight did for me, and Biblo finally relented when we got to the storage area. She found her pack in short order, and pulled out and checked a few different items from her pack. She then grabbed up a very pink doll from her pack and went over to a corner to pray. While she did I set up the blankets, then sat at the cave entrance and had a quick smoke of my pipe, making the cutie marks of Starlight, Luna, and the Twilight Princess with the smoke.

When she finished we went to settle in for our nap. I set my little alarm clock up a foreleg's reach away. She cuddled up close to me and was asleep within seconds. I guess she really was tired. I was not far behind her.


***


I woke up to the alarm a few, short, hours later. Biblo was still sound asleep, the alarm hadn't roused her. She continued to sleep peacefully cuddled up next to my side. She was still giving off her glow. I guess cuddling close to some pony was good for keeping her charged with magic as well.

I got up, and gathered up the alarm clock into my life pack. It was a shame to wake her, but I had guard duty to attend to. She couldn't be left unattended so her peaceful slumber would have to end. I booped her on the nose to wake her. She opened her eyes slowly, and stretched out her legs in all directions, mumbling incoherently.

"Alright sleepy-head, we had our nap," I said, doing my best impression of my mother. "Time to get to work. You can get back to sleep when we get to where we need to be. It is going to be pretty boring there. Perfect place to catch up on your sleep. Just a few minutes’ walk."

She stared at me, half awake, and stretched again before pulling herself up onto her hooves. "Okay, getting some more sleep doesn't sound too bad. Plus, I want to meet Mr. Tulip." She helpfully gathered up the blankets we had been laying on, and passed them to me. "Is Tulip his whole name? Tulip what? Or what Tulip?"

Taking the blankets, and pushing them into the life pack, I replied, "Tulip Turner. I don't know what his cutie mark, or talent, happens to be. He has a regular saddle bag set on all the time that covers it up," life packs always had their owner's cutie mark emblem on them, saddle bags didn’t, “and he isn't much of a talker. He'll be wearing a mask like Hot Sticks. His looks more like a parrot head instead of a duck head."

"Do I get a mask too? So, I don't get sick again?" She asked. "It might be fun to walk around pretending to be some sort of bird." She briefly sat on her launches for a moment and spread her foreleg out in imitation of wings. 

"Or maybe a bat," she said looking at my wings.

I shook my head. "Nope, only two masks in town. We'll keep you from getting sick though. My magic will do that for you. As long as you keep absorbing it."

"Is that another Bat-Pony type of magic?" She asked we a tilt of her head. "They don't get sick? That would be cool, never having to get sick."

I giggled, "No, that's all me. It's part of my talent. I don't get sick like normal ponies."

She smiled, "Well, that's awesome too! Guess you are stuck with me. I don't mind. You give good hugs, and you are warm to cuddle against too."

I was reminded of how I felt she might have a bit of an unhealthy attachment earlier. I was starting to wonder if it was a different sort of attachment. I had never had any pony think about me that way, so I couldn't be sure, but I was starting to wonder if she was a filly-fooler with a crush on me. I really didn't know how to feel about that if it were so. The idea of any pony having a crush on me made me feel uncomfortable. I didn't even know for sure if I was a straight mare, a filly-fooler, or what. The subject made me so uncomfortable that I couldn't tell my own feelings on the subject.

Picking up on my discomfort, she asked, "Did I say something bad? Is something else bothering you? I can tell when a pony is upset. You can't hide it from me. If I did something bad I want to know so I don't make you sad anymore." She had a slight pleading tone to her voice.

I debated lying for just a quick second and saying there wasn't anything bothering me. I decided that would be a bad idea though. She said she picked up on other things about me when she absorbed my magic. She likely would pick up on the fact I lied to her. It occurred to me, if she was indeed a filly-fooler with a crush, that part of that crush might have been gained from whatever other insight she had into me, thanks to her absorption. I would have to ask Hot Sticks about it, and see if he had any advice.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I assured her. "There's been a lot on my mind. Nothing you need to worry about right now."

She looked a little doubtful. Then she came over and gave me yet another hug. I wrapped my forehooves around her returning the embrace. After a moment we broke contact and she seemed to be concentrating on something. Then she broke into a smile and said, "You do give really good hugs," leaving me wondering again how much she picked up, other than my magic, when we hugged.


***


Tulip was reading a book when we finally came upon him. He looked up and dropped the book at the sight of Biblo. He addressed her presence right away.

"She was sick yesterday. I saw Hot Sticks trying to question her before he told me to go get you, Batty," he began. "So, does that mean Hot Sticks found a cure now?"

I shook my head, "No, but it turns out that Crystal Ponies can absorb my magic. Tulip this is Bibulous Bottom. Biblo this is Tulip Turner," I said introducing them.

Biblo didn't give Tulip time for greeting. She bounced over to him in one mighty pronk and wrapped her forelegs around him. Tulip clearly surprised, and unsure what to do returned the hug. Biblo broke contact a moment later with a smile. "Your hugs are okay, not nearly as good as Pearl's, but they are okay."

"Okay?" Tulip didn't seem to know how to react to that. Turning to me he asked, "so is she staying the night out here with you, Batty?"

"Unless she decides to go back to town with you. It's her call. She can't go unattended yet, but she is free to spend her time with who she wants," she pranced back over to me and gave me a big hug and snuggled her muzzle into my side. "And I guess that answers that question. I'll see you in a few hours Tulip."

Tulip spread his wings, "Fine with me. I'll track down the doc, and see if he needs anything before I hit the bed."

I stopped him before he could take flight. "Hot Sticks might be sleeping on the balcony. I convinced him to finally get some sleep. I don't know if he is asleep, but if he is, I wouldn't do anything to wake him." I made my warning as stern as I could.

Tulip gave me a nod. "Front door it is, and don't wake the doc if he is asleep. Got it," and with that he took off through the air back into town.

Biblo and I watched him go out of view. She then looked around the canyon walls and asked me, "So what exactly do we do out here?"

"We just sit around and make sure no one comes to town. Other than that, not much else," I explained.

She frowned a bit. "Sounds boring. I guess I will continue my nap," she gave me another hug. Smiled and settled herself down on the ground with her tail and muzzle almost touching. She was out like a light within seconds again. She had an excellent talent for falling asleep quickly.

I watched her a few minutes. Still wondering at this strange mare, that I had a mandated job to give physical affection. Affection of any type was something I was not used to giving, or receiving. I guess I was doing a good job based on how she behaved. Maybe there could be a bit more to my life than just surviving.


***


It was well past midnight when Biblo finally woke up. I was a little away from her tending a small fire and smoking my pipe. She came over to me and gave me a hug, which I returned. She then sat down and looked about. Nothing new to see other than the fire.

"Turn away any visitors?" She inquired.

I shook my head. "Nope. To tell the truth I haven't seen a pony, or anything else save a few birds, since we started the quarantine. I haven't asked Tulip if he has turned any pony away, but I suspect you were the last pony to walk up that path. It’s usually weeks between new arrivals, and merchants aren't due for weeks yet."

"What's it like when the merchants come up?" She asked watching the smoke from the fire and my pipe. I guessed she was wanting a bit of a show from me, so I obliged her.

I combined smokes into a group of wagons complete with the illusion of them being pulled forward by ponies. "The wagons, around a dozen, would pull up to around this spot," I blew out some more smoke and reshaped it rapidly: my blue smoke into ponies and the grey smoke of the fire into tents and stalls. "They would set up a sort of market right around here. Scavenging and most businesses in the town would shut down while they were here. A few ponies from town would take to performing, “ I made one of my smoke ponies to do cartwheels and flips while another played a drum, “it was a major event."

"Like a fair!" She said excitedly. "We had a fair every year back in Crystal Heart! It was a lot like that. Except at the end the Heart of the City would gather all the light from all of us and glow super bright itself. Then it would shoot out light in all directions, and the snow beyond the city edge would be pushed back showing green grass and flowers!"

"Sounds impressive," I smiled. "Ours didn't power any super magical artifacts, or do anything to push back the snow. But it was generally a fun time for all. Ponies would sell to merchants the crystals they had gathered out in the wastes, sometimes other things they found. The merchants would have all kinds of food for sale, various other household or survival goods, and you could find other things like books, prayer dolls, music boxes, and paintings," I shaped the smoke into the shapes of each as I said their names.

I took another draw and blew out more smoke to draw with. I shaped a Unicorn in a wizard's cap and robes. "There was always a Unicorn mage with them, sometimes two, and they would do things for a fee. Most commonly make life packs for townsfolk. We likely get them cheaper up here because the Unicorns would get so many customers in such a short time that they could afford to give a discount."

She smiled and leaned against me as I continued to shape pictures of when the merchants came, life in Starlight's Folly, stories about the wastes beyond, and more, narrating the whole time.

This continued until the sun could be seen in the sky. Tulip was running late. That wasn't a big deal. I was more entertained this shift, by trying to entertain Biblo, than any previous shift. The time had flown by. If it weren't for the sight of the sun I would have assumed it had only been a few minutes.

Tulip finally returned for his shift, flying in a hurry. He didn't lower his wings upon landing though. "Doc wants us all back at the house. Says he needs to show us something. He wants to try something with Bibulous too."

"Call me Biblo!" Biblo shouted enthusiastically. "I will try to do whatever he needs me to do. I want to be useful!" She moved away from me and started bouncing in place. Her enthusiasm picking up with the prospect that she was needed. It was impressive how high she bounced with her plump flanks.

I doused the fire and kicked out the embers and wondered if Hot Sticks had made some sort of breakthrough after getting a good sleep. Something big had to be up if we were abandoning the watch. Hope filled me as I gave Biblo an unasked-for hug. She smiled and returned it.

Tulip took off in the air ahead of us. Biblo and I took off at a run. I had to slow my pace, as my plump companion couldn't keep up with me. Eventually we had to slow to a walk as she became incapable of running. She really wasn't in shape for it. I didn't comment on it though. and gave her another hug just in case the activity had drained her magic. She smiled her thanks and we continued our walk back to Hot Sticks house.

When we got there Hot Sticks and Tulip were standing outside waiting. Hot Sticks was pacing and Tulip as far as I could tell was bored. They turned as we came up.

Hot Sticks yelled, “Took you two long enough! Have a sense of urgency!"

I wrapped a hoof around Biblo and replied defensively, "Biblo can only run so much. We came as fast as we could."

Despite me defending her, Biblo's ears dropped a bit and her face showed embarrassment. I wanted to kick myself for making her feel less adequate.

Hot Sticks calmed a bit and softened his tone. "Well, now that you two are here we have two items to take care of," he turned to Biblo and asked. "Are you capable of projecting magic you have stored out of you? I know some Crystal Ponies can do it."

Her ears dropped all the way down. She looked miserable. "Not without a focus stone. I am really good at soaking magic in, but can't send it out on my own. And even if I had a focus stone I could only do it once per focus stone. They are only good for one use. I wouldn't be able to help all these ponies," she looked near tears having to say that she wouldn't be of help after all. I didn't know what a focus stone was, but guessed it was something exclusively used by Crystal Ponies. I gave her a hug to try to cheer her up. She looked grateful for it, but not much happier.

Hot Sticks sighed, "Don't worry about it. That was a long shot, and I am not sure a permanent one. It just makes what we need to do certain."

We all looked to Hot Sticks expectantly. The Unicorn seemed to consider for a second before beckoning us to follow him back into the house. We all followed silently as he led us to one of the side rooms. I recognized it as the room we had put Marble Shine in.

As we entered, we each let out a gasp except for Hot Sticks. Where Marble Shine should have been on the bed was a great big something. I really had no idea what it was. It was organic, it looked like it was made of spiderwebs, all piled on one another into a thick solid mass. It took up the whole bed, and was longer than the bed, and it hung off all the edges.

"What is that?" I asked, breaking the shocked silence.

Hot Sticks walked up and poked it with a hoof, giving it a slight push that didn't budge it. "It's a cocoon. This isn't some illness. This is a full-on body transformation."

"Into what?" Biblo's voice shook as she stared at the cocoon that could have been her in a few days if she hadn't been cured.

"I don't have a bloody idea!" Hot Sticks sounded disgusted. "I haven't encountered this before. This is something well outside my field of knowledge," he sat down in defeat before the cocoon.

We all kept staring at the thing that had once been Marble Shine. I could only imagine what was going on in the others’ minds. Tulip was a mystery. Hot Sticks had to feel a sense of failure. Biblo had to be contemplating the fate that she had been spared. I couldn't wrap my head around what to think. I hated using the word unnatural since it was used against me so often, but that is all I could think of staring at the thing. It was unnatural and monstrous, and the thought gave me grim insight into how my fellow Thestrals saw me.

"So, what do we do now?" Tulip asked.

Hot Sticks sighed again, "We get outside help. Tulip, if you are willing I would like you to keep watch on the town."

We all looked to Tulip expectantly.

Tulip shrugged, "Fine by me. If monsters start popping out of these things, then I am high tailing it out of here, though. I don't mind being here by myself, but I value my life."

"No one will blame you for doing so," Hot Sticks continued. "In fact, if something of the sort happens somepony needs to alert the Realm. That is your primary purpose. If that kind of thing happens, you are to head south to the city of Yazyakistan, and get the authorities there immediately. I will leave word with them as we pass through that you should be taken seriously."

Turning to me and Biblo he said, " The rest of us will head south. We will get to Yazyakistan and alert the authorities there of the situation, and have them send guards for the pass. We shall then take a flight from their air dock to Harmony. Hopefully, Meadowbrook will be there, and we can petition her for aid. If she is not, we will seek the aid of any other Alicorns we can."

I looked at Hot Sticks and asked, "What if the Alicorns can't come up with a cure?"

He looked me in the eye. "Then this town will likely be purged. Every building demolished and burned. Every living thing put to death."

Biblo and I looked at him in shock. Biblo started crying. I didn't have a hug to comfort her with this time around.

"So, we are abandoning the town?" I asked.

"We are getting outside help because this is beyond anything we can handle," Hot Sticks said. "As for purging it? That is only a final solution after every other method the Alicorns have at their disposal is exhausted. It hopefully won't come to that, but it is a possibility, one that we have to mentally prepare ourselves for."

Well, I hoped it wouldn't come to that. It still felt like we were passing a death sentence on the town right now. That no matter what happened, this place would end up gone forever. It had been my home for some time. The first where I didn't live in constant fear of my neighbors. I never got to know anypony well, but they were still my neighbors. My mind for some reason went out to Pond Scum who had spoken to me from the wall just a few days ago, and Granite who I had helped back into bed, both would be in these cocoons soon enough. They would come out something else, or perhaps be put to death in a final solution to stop the spread of whatever this was.

I couldn't take it. Overwhelmed, I hurried out of the room into the hall. I laid down and just sobbed like a foal. I didn't want my home taken away. I didn't want my neighbors dead, or worse. It was unfair. I had run for so long before finding sanctuary here, and now it was going to be gone. The townsfolk weren't perfect, but they didn't deserve this. I didn't deserve this. It felt selfish, thinking of how this impacted me personally, but I couldn't help it.

I heard the door open behind me and tentative hoovesteps. I didn't look up to see who it was. I just stayed there on the ground sobbing into my forehooves. My mane was a tangled mess in my eyes, I didn't care.

The hoovesteps came up next to me, and their body came down next to mine. Their owner just laid beside me for a moment letting me cry. Then a forehoof I had come to know well the last day dropped itself around me, and pulled me into a hug.

Biblo didn't speak for a while, she just held me. Eventually she started brushing her hoof along my mane to try to soothe me, and soon my sobbing died down. There were still tears in my eyes, but I was able to focus on the feeling of her hoof in my mane.

"Do you know how lucky I am?" she asked. "If I weren't a Crystal Pony and you didn't have your immunity to sickness, I might be dead soon. I might be something worse than dead soon."

Her voice had held back tears in it. I listened on.

"I was a silly pony who wanted to go off and see the world," she said. "And if you weren't here I would have met my end. You’re my hero for that. You might think you failed, but you saved at least me. I thank you for that."

I finally turned to her. She was crying. She took her hoof up and wiped her eyes. "We'll find a way to make everything better," she continued. "I believe in the Alicorns. They will find a way to help. Good ponies shouldn't have to go through this. We will get to them and they will make it right."

I didn't have the heart to tell her Alicorns couldn't do everything. And I wanted to have her faith. This felt very final though. All my instincts were telling me that this town was doomed. Still, her talk soothed me enough that I finally returned her hug. We both sat there hugging and crying with no interruption from either of the stallions.
> Chapter 5: Fish in Yazyakistan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our preparations were brief. I already had everything I needed in my life pack, and Biblo had all her worldly possessions in her own pack. It was but a brief wait for Hot Sticks to gather what he wished in his life pack, while he also gave detailed instructions to Tulip on what to do in certain circumstances.

Tulip followed us to the end of the canyon. His intention was to set up camp there, and wait for whomever would come from Yazyakistan. He would make occasional trips for an hour at a time to check the progress of the most advanced cases. After those guards came, he would head back into town to monitor it full time. It would leave the town unattended for much of the day, but he was eager to have an excuse to remove his mask for a while. When help finally arrived he had intention to leave town entirely.

Beyond the canyon were the icy passes of the Crystal Mountains. Inhospitable enough to keep any stray wanderers from the south away, if they didn't have a strong desire to reach Starlight's Folly. They were cold, but not as bad as the wastes beyond to the north. There were threats in these mountains as well though. Yeti made their homes here, as well as did snow tigers. They thankfully were rarely a threat if you kept to the winding road through the mountain passes. The nearest actual city was a two day trek on these roads. A good flyer might be able to circumvent the roads and fly straight on, but we were going to have to stick to the roads.

The road was lined with similar crystals as the canyon was. This kept them free of snow. There were occasional points along the road where they opened into large circular plazas. These were for travelers to make camp at if they chose. There were also side roads, from time to time, that branched off leading to mining camps elsewhere.

We walked in silence for some time. It was windy, and it wasn't easy to hear each other over all the wind, so there was little effort to try. It would take until early afternoon of the second day of travel to finally reach Yazyakistan, as we had it figured. The travel time was a stark reminder how isolated from the world Starlight's Folly was in its location.

When the sun was starting to set, we came again upon another plaza. We decided to set up camp for the evening. We hadn't planned to keep walking straight through the night. The roads may be fairly safe, but walking at night along them was foolhardy.

Hot Sticks had brought tent supplies. The plaza had places set in the stone to aid with setting up tents. Along with locations for a few fire pits. I appreciated the road engineers' foresight.

We had just two tents. A stallion’s tent, and a mares tent. It seemed a little unfair that Hot Sticks got a tent to himself, but Biblo and I didn't mind.

She fell asleep fairly quickly after we got the tent set up. She really wasn't in shape for all this travel, and she was far more exhausted than either me or Hot Sticks. She still took time to get a hug from me before going to sleep. This far from town it shouldn't be a concern any longer, but it was habit at this point. Plus, it made her happy.

I went over to Hot Sticks tent. I wasn't tired enough to sleep, and neither was he. The tents were spacious and the two of us sat at its entrance to talk and smoke.

"I still owe you a kick in the flank for getting me hooked on this," I said to him with mock animosity. I then blew out a long plume of smoke. "It isn't even just when I am anxious anymore. Just when I have downtime. I am pretty sure that's a sign that I am addicted to whatever this is," it occurred to me I still didn't know the name of the drug.

Hot Sticks blew out his own plume of smoke and replied. "It is called Cotton Tail's Pipe Weed. Or just pipe weed for short. It grows commonly in swamps and wetlands. It is harvested, dried out, and ground into little bits. There is quite the economy for producing it, in towns and villages near those types of areas."

"It is an interesting way of running a town economy, I guess. Produce something that ponies will get addicted to and come back for more of," I said. "Never ending stream of demand."

He laughed, "That's pretty close to the idea. And we swamp dwellers are pretty tricky about trying to get new customers."

I smacked him hard with one of my wings. "Alright, you deserved that! You just admitted you got me hooked on this pipe weed on purpose! I thought you some sort of hedonistic unicorn in joking before, but you admit it! You better be glad this stuff calms me, or I would give you a good thrashing," and with that I took another draw to produce another plume. He laughed. It was good to hear him laughing. I still wanted to give him a beating, but I could restrain myself.

Moving on to another subject. "So, you are from one those swamp communities originally?"

He nodded. "Called Cat Tail's Corner. It wasn't a big community, about two dozen families. We of course produced pipe weed in our community, but we also harvested several other medicinal plants. I took an interest in all these various medicines at a young age. Read every book on them I could. Meadowbrook had been a healer long ago in our town, long before she had become an Alicorn, or so the legends around town said. Her story inspired me."

I wasn't aware Alicorns became Alicorns. I thought they just were. It didn't seem likely any such legend was true. If normal ponies could become Alicorns wouldn't it actually happen from time to time? We would hear stories about that kind of thing.

I decided to question the former acolyte to see if he had any secret wisdom that would make that kind of story more probable. "So why are there no ponies turning into Alicorns if that kind of thing is possible?"

He paused for a moment and seemed to be considering whether to answer me, rather than considering the question. It is hard to distinguish between these two types of considering, but a sharp eye will note that a pony will look down when thinking about something or trying to remember. They will have instead a small imperceptible tilt of the head if they are wondering something else.

"It used to happen often. A very long time ago. Long enough now that the Alicorns themselves only remember it because they recorded it," he said. "There was a great conflict and most the Alicorns died, or were thrown into Tartarus. The remaining Alicorns sealed the means of becoming an Alicorn away after that."

I had never heard of such a story. I wasn't up on my Alicorn knowledge, but that seemed something that would be commonly told. "Why haven't I ever heard a story about that before? Is it some sort of secret acolyte knowledge?" I asked.

"Not really secret," he said, "more, not something the Alicorns don't enjoy having discussed."

That sounded like secret to me, but I wasn't going to tell Hot Sticks he was committing some form of heresy. I decided to change the subject back to something safer. "So, did you ever marry? Have a wife and foals?"

There was a sad note to his reply, " No, never got around to it. Too caught up in my career. I suppose it isn't too late for that kind of thing though," his eyes took on a mischievous look as he turned to me. "I noticed you might be looking to possibly take a wife in the future. Didn't realize before you are a filly-fooler."

A lot of apprehension, and a tiny hint of excitement came over me. "Can you actually tell something like that? Am I a filly-fooler?"

He broke down laughing. "So, I guess you are still trying to work it out. No, there is no sign you are a filly-fooler. Just an assumption based on your recent bond with miss Biblo. I am actually far more certain with her. I had thought that it was some sort of gratitude, or habit that kept her glued next to you. But I have seen the way she looks at you, when you aren't looking. There is more than gratitude in that look, there is definitely a hint of lust. Then she is still looking for physical affection from you, despite not needing it any more. That mare has a definite infatuation with you."

Well, that cleared up whether she had a crush on me or not. Hot Sticks could be wrong, but I trusted his wisdom on this. I still didn't know for sure how I felt. It did remind me of another question I had been meaning to ask.

"I meant to ask you. How much does she absorb when we hug? I don't mean just magic. She seems like she is getting a taste of my personality. And she seems really aware of how I am feeling. Is that a normal Crystal Pony thing?"

"It's not typical to Crystal Ponies," he said, "but there is a small subset of Crystal Ponies that can do something like that. What do you mean exactly by getting a taste of your personality?"

I recalled one time in particular. 

"At one point I was wondering about her, and feeling a bit uncomfortable, when my thoughts drifted to whether I had those kinds of feelings or not," I blushed. "I really don't feel comfortable with those kinds of thoughts typically. She seemed to notice, which I don't suppose is unusual, but then she hugged me again. After she hugged me she seemed to be focusing on something. Like she was sorting through something, or tasting something. Then she brightened up suddenly, and told me it was a good hug. She has also said that she can tell if a pony is good, or not, when she hugs them."

Hot Sticks laughed. "Well, you will have to ask her about her parentage to be sure, but she seems to be that subset of Crystal Pony," he switched over to a more instructional tone, "while ponies typically can't produce offspring with non-ponies there is one exception. Crystal Ponies and Changelings can mate and produce foals. The foals always end up being Crystal Ponies, no different in most ways than the rest of their tribe, but they have one big difference-in the first generation at least. They are much more empathic than other ponies. They can feel another pony's emotions. They can even discern a pony's feelings about a specific thing, if the pony is thinking about it at the time. They have to be physically close to a pony to do this, but I think hugging definitely is more than close enough."

He got a mischievous grin. "I would dare say, she might have a better idea what your feelings about her are than you do. While you are questioning your sexuality still, and doing so while she is hugging you, she might have a clear picture of what it happens to be. She might just be waiting for you to realize how you feel, before opening up about her feelings."

I didn't know how to feel about that. I barely knew this mare. She had been around me for a mere two days. I had a lot of emotional baggage. Maybe I was just reacting overly strong to some pony who seemed to openly to desire to be around me.

Hot Sticks extinguished his pipe and knocked its contents out. "Want my advice? I would open up to her about your past if you haven't already. Crystal Ponies are isolated much like Thestrals, but they are the most open and accepting of the tribes as well. If she is of mixed parentage, as I suspect, she might be more open with you about it if you are open with her. I have met two ponies like that previously, and they weren't the best of circumstances. Ponies, as you know can be cruel, and those two ponies I met because other ponies had violently been cruel to them. So, she might well feel cautious about saying anything about it."

The thought of any pony hurting Biblo made me feel a wave of anger. I had dealt with that constantly growing up. I didn't want Biblo to have to suffer the same way. I wondered if that was why she decided to go out to see the world. To try to go where no pony would know about that kind of thing. It gave me a sense of kinship with her.

"Thanks for the talk," I said as I rose to go back to my tent. "You gave me a lot to think about. I am going to find time to talk with her sometime in the next few days. I think I might be a little more confident about how I think of her too. You're a good friend Hot Sticks."

He smiled. "I try to be."

"Even if you still deserve to get bucked to the moon," I said as I finally exited the tent for the night.


***



I had once again woken before Biblo. She certainly could sleep soundly. She was cuddled up close to me for warmth, with a small smile on her muzzle. I determined that, yes, I could find her attractive. Attractive that way? That I was still uncertain of, it was just something I hadn't ever put thought to with anyone. I was too busy being worried about judgement. I would figure it out sooner or later, I guessed. There wasn't a rush.

I gave her a boop on the nose to wake her up. She scrunched up her muzzle and opened her eyes. Looking up at me she smiled. "Time to get going already? Feels like I just got to sleep. I did this walk before, but I think I took more frequent stops last time."

I smiled back, "You'll get to rest some more when we get to the city. And the trip to Harmony will be by airship, so no walking involved there. Just a few more hours to go."

She pulled herself up to her hooves. "Something to look forward to, I guess," she then wrapped her forehooves around me in her customary hug, which I returned. We kept hugging for a moment and when we broke away she gave me a half-lidded look with a very different smile type on her face. "Your hugs are always great, but that one felt even better."

I blushed, should have realized she would pick up on what I had been thinking. "I had a talk with Hot Sticks about you, after you went to sleep last night. It gave me a new perspective."

She seemed a torn, not knowing if this was a good thing or a bad thing. "What did you talk about?" she asked hesitantly.

I gave her another hug to reassure her. She gratefully accepted and seemed more confident almost immediately. "It wasn't anything bad. We will sit down and talk about it later. For right now, we need to get ready to get packed up and back to moving." And with that said, I got to work on gathering our items together from around the tent.

She seemed like she wanted to continue the conversation, but after she looked around for just a moment and she sighed, and went to work getting her few items put away. After we finished that we both exited the tent and got to work taking it down. I caught her glancing at me regularly throughout.

Hot Sticks was of course already done with his tent and had cleared the fire pit. Being able to just manipulate everything with a horn and stare at the ponies who must take their time doing things, by hoof or wing, must be nice. He didn't indicate any impatience though.

The remainder of the journey was as without incident as the night before. The winding cliff road eventually opened to reveal the city of Yazyakistan. The city was built on a plateau overlooking the plains below. Pegasi and griffins, in equal numbers, could be seen flying about the sky. Busy about town on the ground was an eclectic collection of ponies, yaks, griffins, and diamond dogs. Most of the buildings were stone, painted brightly with murals, one or two stories, and block shaped. A massive domed building could be seen off in the center of the city which served as both convention center for the city, as well as its administrative offices. The air dock was not visible from where we stood, though I thought I could almost make out one of its air towers. It would be somewhere on the opposite side of the city, hugging the cliff side. There was no city wall, or city guard, preventing free entrance into the city, like in Starlight's Folly.

We made our way down the streets taking in the sights. I had passed through here briefly on my trip to Starlight's Folly, but never really took the time to take it in. The murals on the buildings indicated what kind of business the building housed. There were general supply stores, clothing stores, book stores, restaurants, banks, schools, and shrines. There wasn't anything offering magical services, and it seemed that the ponies here were all either Pegasi or Earth Ponies. The largest part of the population seemed to be yaks. I noticed that ponies dominated the majority of the businesses though. Yak businesses seemed to be primarily restaurants, and an occasional clothing store. There were guards in the city itself, and they all seemed to be ponies. This was a yak city, but ponies were clearly the ones in control.

We stopped by a restaurant with a mural of a yak holding three plates of food. The plates contained a cake, a plate of fish, and a salad. I guess that indicated it catered to all types of diets. The cake had several beans of some sort surrounding it in the air.

Hot Sticks signaled us to stop. "I will head on to the governor, and see to the arrangements that need to be done. It may take a few hours, and I won't be needing you to available while I do so. Take some time to eat and relax. There is a waiting area in the front lobby of the dome that I will meet you at later. I will either be waiting for you there, or you can wait for me there if I am still not done."

"Will we be spending the night?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. I intend to have us take one of the evening flights tonight. Be sure to be ready to meet me by sundown so we are not delayed. For right now I am going to hurry on to business. Enjoy yourselves," and with that he went off towards the city center, leaving me and Biblo to our own devices.

We looked at each other, then turned to look again at the restaurant. "It seems like we should start with food," Biblo said. "Something fresher than what we have been having sounds great."

"I definitely agree," I replied. "Let's see what the local cuisine happens to be."

She turned to me and gave a smirk. "And you can tell me all about your conversation with Hot Sticks."

I blushed again, which elicited a giggle and a hug from her. She seemed pleased still with the hug, and kept smiling. We headed into the restaurant.

Entering the restaurant, we found it was low lit, darkly colored, and most tables had privacy booths surrounding them on three sides. We were greeted by a female yak who didn't bat an eye at a Crystal Pony and a Thestral walking in.

"Welcome little ponies to the Vanilla Bean! Home of the best authentic vanilla extract cakes in all of Yazyakistan!" She greeted us warmly. "I am Ruth, and I will be serving you today! I take it you are tourists. I hope you are enjoying your visit to the ancient homeland of the yaks!"

"We are just travelling south from Starlight's Folly," I said. "But we did want to take in the sights as we were heading through."

She smiled. "We don't get many visitors from up there. It seems a shame as your town is not that far away. I suppose the trip down isn't the most pleasant one. Most that head up that way don't seem that nice, but you two seem like a nice enough pair of little ponies. Let me get you to a booth, so you may figure out your order."

Ruth escorted us to a booth towards that in the back. It was high backed like the rest and the level of the seating to the table seemed to indicate it was specifically made for ponies, rather than any of the larger races that might be guests. The booths we passed had mainly griffins, with a few yaks scattered about. I am guessed the lure of fish drew a larger griffin customer base.

We were seated, and told that some water would be brought shortly. Our menus were subdivided by race on what kinds of food were available. Biblo apparently didn't seem to understand that.

"I am going to order a fish!" she announced proudly, as Ruth returned to take our orders. I was glad we were the only ponies in the place from what I could tell. That was not something you announced in most areas. Ponies had strange ideas about ponies eating meat. Biblo might insist that a lot of ponies did it, but it was still taboo.

The taboo of ponies eating meat apparently was shared by yaks as well. Ruth seemed unhappy. "You little ponies are aware that fish is meat?"

"Um, yeah," Biblo seemed to be regretting her choice a bit now. She had made our hostess unhappy.

Ruth continued her questioning. "And you are aware little ponies don't eat meat?"

I came to Pearl's rescue. "Well, I am a Thestral, our tribe is omnivorous," I opened my mouth a bit and pointed a hoof at my teeth. "I haven't had fish in a while. I haven't eaten any meat, on purpose, for a year or two. It might be nice to have some again."

Ruth took that information in, and then pushed her point further. "The other little pony is one of the shiny type though. They don't eat meat."

"Well, I had a fish once and I liked it. I thought it would be fun to try again," Biblo said, pleading her case.

Ruth relented with a roll of her eyes. "Alright little pony, you might be crazy, but I will get you some fish. Don't complain to me if you get a stomach ache though. What type of fish?"

Biblo apparently didn't know one fish from another. She looked confused and picked up the menu in her hooves to examine it more closely. I was not sure that would be much help to her.

Thankfully, I had taken a moment to look the menu over. "I'll get a baked trout with a side daisy salad. She'll get the small fried sardine sampler with the rose petal sandwich," I said, coming to her rescue again. "I have my doubts about her eating fish too, but those seem smaller and hopefully won't upset her tummy too much if it can't handle them."

Biblo gave me a grateful look. I had backed her up and looked to her welfare. Ruth seemed to accept this reasoning. She took the menus from the table, and gave Biblo one last curious look before heading off to attend to our orders.

Biblo gave me a puzzled look. "What do you mean on purpose? How do you eat meat on accident?"

I looked down in mild shame. I really didn't want to scare her with me telling her that I had done flat out murder. The bitch deserved it, and it was self-defense, but it was murder all the same. "Starlight's Folly was sometimes a very dangerous place. I had to defend myself at times. It usually involved a lot of behaving like a predator. it also involved biting out chunks of flesh. I wouldn't be surprised if I accidentally swallowed."

Her mouth dropped a bit. And she looked a little pale. Maybe the idea that I was capable of going full predator was sinking in, and it wasn't as comfortable an idea anymore. Way to go Pearl, you are going to make one of the only ponies who likes you afraid of you.

She took a moment to pull herself together. Her ears were lowered a bit. "I feel like such a stupid foal sometimes. I wouldn't have survived in that town," not the response I was expecting, "I went off to have adventures. I can't even walk for a day without getting exhausted."

I tried reassuring her. "You aren't used to all the walking. You would have gotten better at it with time."

She wasn't reassured. 

"It isn't just the walking and me being fat. I wouldn't have had time to get better. Some thing would have likely had me for lunch. I couldn't defend myself like you can." Her ears were at their lowest point. She looked very dejected. I didn't know what to say. She was probably right. She seemed like the type of pony that would be dead after attempting a single scavenging run.

I still tried to reassure her again regardless. "You never know what will happen out in the wastes. I didn't know if I would survive when I would go out myself. A lot of it is luck. And you are a very lucky mare."

She looked at me. "I am lucky to have you. You saved me. You can do all those amazing things. You can defend yourself. I feel safe around you."

"I will do everything in my power to keep you safe," I replied. "I like you and don't want you hurt."

She blushed a bit. She turned shyly and gave a coy smile. “I like you too," she said with a bat of her eyes. There was no denying her intention with that. Her response made me blush as well. Which elicited a giggle from her. Her mood had at least picked up.

We sat in silence for a moment or two, before Ruth returned with our food. Ruth stood there waiting to see if we would really eat the fish. Biblo looked at her plate. She didn't seem as confident about the fish as she had before.

"Little pony, who should not be eating fish, is something wrong with your food?" Ruth asked with a hint of smug satisfaction.

Biblo poked at the sardines with her hooves. "It just looks different from the last fish I ate," she replied, “I guess I had part of a bigger fish before. I didn't get to see the full body." I could see where that might be upsetting to some pony who was supposed to not eat other creatures.

Biblo poked them a few more times and looked at me. I was eating my trout with no problem, I never had properly cooked meat before, it was pretty good.

She looked down at her plate again. Then Ruth asked her, “Would the little pony prefer something else?"

Biblo took a deep breath then picked up one of the little fish, and then put it in her mouth. Ruth and I looked on expectantly. She closed her mouth and started chewing. You could tell she was considering the taste. Then her eyes widened a bit and she swallowed. She gave us a smile and promptly picked up another sardine without hesitation and bit into that as well. "Nope! I'm good, and this is really good! My compliments to the chef."

Ruth shook her head. "Little pony is going to get a stomach ache, but it is little pony's business. I will tell the chef that you liked the fish," and with that she left us to eat.

"So, what did you and Hot Sticks talk about last night?" Biblo asked me while chewing.

I had finished the trout and was picking through the salad. I knew this had been coming. Start on the safer side. "Biblo, are you half changeling?"

She paused in her eating. She looked a little worried again. "I am a Crystal Pony, but yeah, my mom is a changeling," she said. She looked at me. "Does that bother you?"

I shook my head. "No, I have mixed parents as well. My dad was a Pegasus."

She looked relieved at my answer. Then twisted up her muzzle in thought and asked, "Why do you ask? Did I do something changeling-ish?"

"We were talking about your hugs. I was wondering if how much you felt, other than besides my magic. Hot Sticks, had said Crystal Ponies with a changeling parent could pick up more detailed information about a pony's thoughts and feelings."

"I didn't know that was because I had a changeling mom," she said, “but yeah I can do that. Just feelings. A bit of an impression of your personality. If you are nice or mean. I can't tell exactly what you are thinking. Just how you are feeling, and what your feeling is directed at."

She looked worried again. "If you want me to stop hugging you so much I will. I need to be in close contact to really get a good impression. I don't want you to feel like I am invading your thoughts or anything. I don't want you uncomfortable around me. It just happens when I touch any pony, I can't help it."

"You don't have to worry about that. It doesn't bother me," I replied. "I trust you. I just wanted to know for sure if that was what was happening." I reached over and touched her hoof, she smiled back at me.

Now for the more uncomfortable part. "Um, since you can tell how I am feeling about things," I really had no idea how to ask this so I just blurted, “am I a filly-fooler?"

Her eyes went wide, and then she tried to bite back a laugh. She had to put both forehooves up to her muzzle to cover her laughter. I blushed as she did so. She finally got herself calmed down enough to ask with a smile, "Do you really need me to tell you? I had to feel around for it, but I know if you are, but would rather have you tell me."

Did I already know for sure? I looked at her, she was definitely attractive, and she made me happy. I also realized that I definitely wanted to get a chance to kiss her. Okay, I guess I did know for sure.

She decided to push while I was considering her. She gave me a look that was unabashed lust. "I really like what I feel when I hug you, and I am talking about your personality. I think the tufts on your ears are really cute. Plus you are kind of my hero." She extended a hoof out to me to touch. I obliged, extending a hoof back. She could tell then exactly what I was feeling. It made her smile broadly. She knew she had me.

"So, is this a date?" I asked, blushing as I did so.

She giggled. "Do you want to consider it a date?" She blushed a little as she replied.

I decided to be bold and damn the consequences. I got up from my side of the table and hopped up on her bench next to her. I gave her a hug and a quick kiss on the muzzle.

She wanted a bit more though. She pulled me into a tighter embrace and planted her muzzle firmly against mine, and we had a much bigger kiss.

When we broke off the kiss she laughed. "You have fishy breath!"

I smiled at my marefriend. "You do too."
> Chapter 6: To Harmony
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Biblo and I waited in the lobby of the dome for Hot Sticks. We were being unashamedly lovey-dovie with one another, gazing into one another's eyes, hugging, cuddling, kissing, all that sickeningly sweet stuff. Biblo was so crystaly, and lit up, she looked like stained glass with the sun shining through it. I was being a silly pony, and didn't even care.

Onlookers gave us looks and comments. Typically the non-ponies reactions would range from signs they thought it was adorable, to comments to go get a room. Pony reactions typically were veiled to open disgust. Likely because a perfectly nice Crystal Pony was clearly involved with a nasty dirty Thestral. Ponies could get themselves bucked to the moon for all I cared. I had a marefriend and I was happy.

Hot Sticks finally returned around sundown and gave us a curious look. "I guess you two have been having fun. I see you have figured out you have a sexual preference for hyperactive Crystal Pony mares?"

Biblo and I didn't say anything. I blushed while she giggled. I liked hearing her giggle. Hot Sticks continued. "Well, you two will have to wait a while to continue your frolicking. Next airship to Harmony leaves in just over an hour, and we have been given passage. When we get to Harmony you two might be needed for study. That is why you two are on this trip instead of guarding cocoons, waiting to see what pops out, with Tulip."

I did wonder why he brought us along, and left Starlight's Folly so poorly attended. It made sense. I had magic that resisted this, Biblo was more often than not filled with that magic, and Biblo had also recovered from what was afflicting the other townsfolk. Fairly obvious, when I thought about it. Hope it didn't involve any more needles though.

We traveled quickly across town to the air dock. It had about a dozen air ships moored on the side of the cliff. Ours was a simple transport ship without many passengers and perhaps a dozen members of crew. There were few enough passengers that we likely doubled the non crew on the ship with our inclusion. The other passengers looked to all be government officials, or some other type of important ponies.

The crew was almost entirely Pegasi with a lone Minotaur who could be seen adjusting various ropes. It made sense on one hoof that they were all Pegasi, but it also seemed strange because why did Pegasi need to worry about airships when they could fly themselves.

After we boarded we took to the railings for the view. It was pretty high up, and we were still docked for the moment. When we took off it would only get higher. I may have wings, but the thought of being so high was mildly scary.

Biblo laughed at me. "Why so worried about flying in an airship. You have wings so flying should be natural to you."

I tried to keep getting myself used to the height while looking over the rail. "I can't fly as well as a Pegasus. Thestrals are more gliders and low level flyers. We don't typically get this high up. We have a harder time dealing with the wind, and we can't naturally cloud walk." I could likely glide from up here if the ship was going to crash, but who knows where I would end up landing. Lunar guards and some others were trained to glide, or even fly, from this kind of height. I wasn't one of those.

"I'll be fine," I continued. "When we get moving, and away from these cliffs, I will feel better. I think I am just imagining get bashed against the cliff side by the wind."

She gave me a hug and a quick kiss, laughed, and then began exploring about the deck. Biblo was on an airship, on a flight to Harmony, in order to help save a town. All right after escaping the illness herself, and then gaining a love interest. Biblo was having her adventure, and having the time of her life.

I on the other hoof was nervous. Yeah I was on a trip to Harmony too, and I had just gotten into my first relationship. Both exciting things, but I was worried about what could be going on back in Starlight's Folly. Had more townsfolk gone into cocoon state? Had something emerged from that first cocoon? Would the Alicorns be able to find a solution in time? What if something breached the northern gate in the meantime? Looking down and still being nervous about high winds ending my life didn't help either.

I took out my pipe to settle my nerves, and tried to banish my worries from my mind. The sense that this was going to end badly wouldn't relent though. I hoped my intuition was wrong.


***



I was woken up by a pony shaking me. I had apparently fallen asleep where I had sat gazing by the railing. Looking to my side I noticed Biblo right away, sound asleep as well, apparently having curled up next to me sometime after I had drifted off. Turning the other direction, I found the identity of the pony who had shaken me awake, Hot Sticks in an unusually happy mood.

"Sorry to wake you up," he said, "but we are coming in sight of Harmony, and I thought you two would want to take in the view. If you have never been to Harmony the first view of it coming into sight can really take your breath away."

I looked up over the rail and my mouth dropped at what I saw. I had heard the stories and descriptions. The wildest ones didn't do this justice. I was looking upon something that seemed impossible to exist.

The first thing you noticed was the Great Tree. There was no failing to notice the Great Tree. It was massive beyond any other structure ever crafted, or forged by magic. It stood as high as a mountain. From it's trunk spread massive branches that extended out extremely far, and were so massive everything you knew of physics said they should fall to the ground and shatter the ground thousands of pony lengths below. The whole thing was a bright crystalline white. This tree was crystal not a thing of plant matter, but somehow it seemed more alive than any other tree ever was. Against all reason and defiant against reality the thing cast no shadow. It was the most real and unreal thing all at once.

I shook Biblo awake, while still keeping my eyes glued on the wonder. I heard her waking up, but did not turn away to look. A moment later she must have gotten up to see what I was gazing at. "Holy Twilight!" It seemed an appropriate response from her in my opinion.

We just kept our eyes glued to it. I took notice of other details. Each branch was marked in multiple places. I recognized the marks of Luna, Starlight, and Paleo. Each branch bore a different set of markings. I didn't recognize most, but could only assume they were the marks of each of the Alicorns. At the far end of each branch were massive, highly ornate buildings, the high temple of each Alicorn. The craftsmanship and size of each of these buildings would have made each a wonder into themselves. The buildings were mere accessories of the tree, like ornaments on a Hearth's Warming tree.

"This makes the Crystal Spire back home in Crystal Heart look like a toothpick," I heard Biblo say. I had never seen the Crystal Spire so I could not compare, but I could easily believe her comparison. Nothing could rival this, nothing could even come close.

I was finally able to turn my attention to the city below. The city itself stretched far in all directions. It had to hold more ponies than I had imagined lived in the whole world. Millions of ponies, perhaps tens of millions of ponies, must make their homes here. The buildings were of untold number and variation. They ranged from simple single story buildings to massive complexes bigger than most towns, fifty or more stories in height.

There were multiple air docks throughout the city. The airships moved out of the city in all directions, and also to and from the branches of the Great Tree. There were hundreds of airships in the air, yet they looked like gnats flying around the Tree.

This was the capital of the Twilight Realm, and it silenced all questions of pony might. Gazing upon this city you knew ponies were masters of this world. Nothing could stand against the power of those who had built all of this. To even contemplate perceived weakness here took insanity. I felt extremely small seeing it, but also full of pride that I too was part of this.

Hot Sticks spoke to us, "Welcome to Harmony! This is my old stomping grounds, and I admit I have missed it. We will be landing in the city soon, and hopefully soon after we will get the help we need to save Starlight's Folly."


***



We landed in the city below minutes later. Having the branches of the tree hanging overhead was disconcerting. Disconcerting both because there was a vastly huge thing above that seemed like it should collapse under its own impossible weight, and also because that impossible structure was casting no shadow. I had grown up in Hallow Shades, and my hometown was a place that reinforced the idea of shadows cast by large structures. The lack of shadow from the tree and its branches was extra unnerving to me as a result.

Hot Sticks spoke with us as we exited the air dock into the city. "Since we are petitioning Alicorns, we must go up the Tree. Unfortunately, only air ships from certain docks are allowed to travel to the branches. Thankfully a proper air dock is only a few blocks away to reach Meadowbrook's temple. I don't know for sure if she will be in her temple at the moment. If she is not we will have to travel back down to the the city again and take a separate air ship, from a separate dock, to the general petition location."

This sounded like it could take a long time to get anything done. "Why is it so needlessly complicated to let the Alicorns know what is going on and we need their help?" I asked.

Hot Sticks grumbled. "Bureaucracy. Bureaucracy and concerns for security. This land has existed over seven thousand years since the unification of the three tribes that formed its core. Rules have been piled on rules over all that time. More and more gets complex as time goes on. It isn't just in the city, it is through all the land. Seemingly simple things can drive you to madness trying to understand the convoluted logic of why they are that way."

"I can't think of anything really complicated back home," Biblo said. "Everything makes perfect sense back in Crystal Heart."

Hot Sticks laughed. "Alright my shiny friend. Let me show you how complicated things are where you live if you haven't realized yet. Simple question, what year where you born?"

Biblo looked confused. "What do you mean? I was born twenty-four years ago." She was a little older than I thought. I thought she was at least six or seven years younger, instead she was about three. I tucked that information away in my mind.

Hot Sticks looked smug. "But what year was it?"

Biblo still looked confused. "What do you mean what year was it? It was the year twenty-four years ago."

Hot Sticks started laughing again. "Let's try asking the question a different way. What year is it now?"

"This year of course," Biblo replied. She looked frustrated and embarrassed, her ears were lowered. "What am I missing with your question? You are making me feel stupid."

The doctor was apologetic as he replied. "You aren't stupid for not knowing what I am talking about. We have a calendar for tracking exact dates. Most ponies don't bother to learn it, because it is so needlessly complicated. At some point in the past it was simple, each year numbered in order without any complications. But as it stands now I would have to go to a calendar specialist to figure out how long-ago a given date was because it is a complex thing of cycles, that don't make sense to anyone who doesn't study it specifically for a living. We have to keep it or a whole division of jobs would vanish."

It seemed like keeping ponies employed was a good thing to me. I think I would just keep to referring to things so many years or moons ago. I am not sure ponies had any real need to learn such things. If it was needed, he said that there were ponies who could do it. I failed to see any problem with this. I guess it did illustrate that things had reasons for why they were done a certain way, even if it didn't seem to make sense at first glance. Best to just accept that we would have to go through extra steps.

Hot Sticks continued. "In the case of the air docks. There are certain ones with special contracts to do the transport to the Tree. It ensures they always have business. They at the same time can't do transport in and out of the city, which creates the need for a separate set of air docks that can do that. So, you end up with twice as many jobs."

Alright, that made sense after the previous explanation. I guessed that a great many arrangements had to make sure there were jobs for this many ponies. My mind still reeled that so many ponies could live in one place. Biblo seemed to understand the explanation as well, proving that she wasn't stupid.

The travel to the dock was indeed a short distance, at just a few blocks. There were street signs marking the names of streets, but nothing indicating where certain locations might be found. You had to know where you were going to get anywhere, or you could wander aimlessly for days on these streets and still not find where you were wanting to go. From the glances that Hot Sticks gave up at the Great Tree I guessed residents figured out their location in this labyrinth of streets by using the tree as the ultimate land mark. I looked up at the Tree to try to at least learn our own current location, but I wasn't familiar enough with the tree to really get much of an idea.

When we got to the dock it was marked with a symbol of a doctor's mask like the ones that Hot Sticks had. Looking up I could see a similar mark up on the closest branch of the Tree. This must be the cutie mark of Meadowbrook. If she was Alicorn of Medicine, it seemed an appropriate mark.

We were quickly transported up to a docking site up on the branch. Again, my nervousness about heights came into play. This was higher than I felt comfortable, and worse there was no breeze. The lack of breeze might have made it easier to control a glide, but it also reminded me of how unreal this place was. This high up there should be a breeze of some sort. The lack of it wasn't natural.

Meadowbrook's temple was a large structure with huge columns leading into the entrance, and two connecting domed structures. Balconies dotted the entire structure. The entire thing was painted in colors of blue, green, and red. Her cutie mark was displayed proudly on the front of the building.

"Is this where you used to work?" I asked Hot Sticks.

"Technically my office was here," he replied. "More often than not I was elsewhere. Alicorns don't just sit around in their temples all the time," He paused and then added. "Well, most don't anyway. Meadowbrook was very frequently away, and it was my duty to be where she was. I got to see a fair number of places, though most were swamps or marshes."

"Why swamps and marshes?" Biblo asked.

"A combination of reasons," Hot Sticks answered. "Those areas are more prone to outbreaks, they have a high number of medicinal herbs in them, and she just likes those kinds of places."

We had finished walking into the entrance as he finished his explanation. His face fell as he looked about.

"Bloody Tartarus! There are no acolytes about. That likely means she is not here right now," he said with clear frustration. "It was a small hope that she would be in her temple, but we had to check. Now we have to do this the hard way."


***



We were back on the air ship and flown back down to the ground quickly. As we got off Hot Sticks addressed us. "This is going to take until at least tomorrow for our petition to be heard, bloody bureaucracy! We best check in a hotel for the night. After we get checked in I will go out and make the petition. There isn't any need for you to come along for that. You two can do as you like in the meantime. Just make sure you are up and ready an hour after sunrise to head out again."

Biblo and I looked at one another. We were being left to our own devices yet again. It was nice having time to just relax, but it made us feel rather unnecessary for the entire trip. I knew our time would likely come where we would be examined, and likely poked with needles. So, I guess I wasn't that eager to be needed. Still didn't help me feel useful for the moment. On the other hoof I did get to spend time with my new marefriend. Definitely wasn't going to complain about that opportunity.

Biblo wasn't complaining about the opportunity either. She gave me a hug and said, "Yea! More kiss and hug time!"

"If that is what you intend to spend your time doing that's your business," Hot Sticks said. He motioned us to follow and we did. He apparently knew where he was going despite not having been here for a few years.

We came to the hotel. I wouldn't have known it was a hotel without Hot Sticks telling us it was. A three story building which would have been the biggest building in town at most places I had been to. Here it wasn't anything of note with it's size. It had a name hanging over the entrance, Sunbeam Bouquet, which I didn't know of it was name of the hotel, the owner, or both. Entering in the lobby was large enough to fit my house into. There was a pair of Earth Ponies sitting behind what I assumed to be the check in desk, with several bellhops of various tribes standing at the ready.

Hot Sticks went up to the desk and said. "Hello, I will need two rooms, one bed each, I am not sure of the extent of the stay yet, just put it down for five days for right now. I might have us leaving earlier, but that feels safe."

"One bed each? There are three of us," I said to Hot Sticks.

He turned to me and said, "I did make an assumption there, but you two had been sleeping together to this point, and I assumed your change in relationship status just increased the likelihood you would be sharing a bed. Do you prefer two beds?"

I drew a blank. What was I supposed to do? Yeah, we had been sleeping next to each other nonstop. But now we were a thing, and we might be expected to do things. I wasn't sure I was ready for said things. I had just figured out I liked mares. Did Biblo expect things to happen? Would she try to make things happen? Would she be upset if I didn't feel comfortable doing anything yet? Was I making her upset now about being hesitant about sharing a bed with her suddenly?

I looked over at Biblo for some sort of idea how she was reacting. She was giving me a bit of a puzzled look, not a hurt look, just a puzzled one.

She went to her go-to way of figuring out what was going on and gave me a hug. After ending her hug, she tilted her head as if listening for a moment, sorting through my emotions. She then gave me a little smile and hugged me again.

"It's okay, I understand," she said. "It's all new to me too, and I didn't even think of all that yet. I hadn't planned on doing any of that, yet. I do want to be able to keep cuddled up with you though, like we have been."

I gave my pink marefriend a grateful smile. I was so lucky to have my first romantic interest be some pony who could tell for sure how I was feeling. No trying to convince her, she just knew. I gained new sympathy right then for the average pony who did not have such a benefit in their relationships. It also occurred to me that she had to trust that I believe her, since I couldn't read her feelings the same way she could do mine. There had to be trust in a relationship.

I turned back to Hot Sticks and said, "One bed is fine."

He didn't comment or even raise an eyebrow at the little exchange between me and Biblo. I appreciated his easy going, accepting ways of doing things. He still deserved a serious bucking for other things. But he was a good friend in that regard. I figured he would be busy, but I wondered if I could get any more advice out of him tonight.

We checked into our rooms and Hot Sticks took off right away to do what needed be done for the petition. Biblo and I just kind of meandered around the room we were given. It wasn't very interesting or large. It consisted of a bed that could hold us both easily, a wash tub big enough for one pony, a sink, a single chair, one lamp, and a lone window that looked out on the street below. There wasn't much decoration. Just a lone area rug with a daisy design, and a picture of a Sunrise.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Biblo asked. "This seems a kind of boring place to just sit around. We can talk, and learn more about each other, but we can do that somewhere more fun than this."

I gave the room one final look around. Yeah, it was okay for sleeping, but I didn't really feel like spending hours awake just sitting around here. There was the biggest city in the Realm right outside. There had to be things to occupy our time.

"Food seems like a good idea," I replied. " I have plenty of it packed away still, but something freshly made would be much better. Maybe a second restaurant date?"

She smiled and gave me a hug. "That sounds good. I did have a favor to ask. Would you be willing to buy me a book at the bookstore? I don't have much for bits, and there are some things I really want to read up on."

That wasn't a big deal. I had plenty of bits to spare. "Sure thing. I am sure there has to be bookstores around here. I am happy to spare a few to get you something."

She smiled and gave me a quick kiss. I could definitely get used to having kisses added to our routine shows of affection. "Your sweet! I promise to try to not get anything to expensive!"

"Do you read a lot? What kind of book were you looking to get?" I asked as we made our way back to the door.

She paused and blushed, turning a bright red instead of pink. "Well, no I don't read that much. Which I am going to try to change. I feel like the dumbest pony in the room sometimes, and I don't like feeling stupid. I am going to try to educate myself."

That seemed worthwhile. I could do to learn a bit more myself. "You aren't a stupid pony Biblo. But it sounds like a good idea. What did you have in mind to start with reading?"

Her whole body turned red and her face was almost purple. "Um, things. Pertinent things. Things like what you do with a marefriend."

That made me blush. I would have to borrow her book.

She continued. "I am really new to this, I had never gone on a date before yesterday. You were having feelings about doing stuff, and I realized that I don't even know what to do with that, or when the right time is, or anything! I know you don't either, but I just really don't want to do something stupid and have you upset with me."

I turned around and gathered her up in a two foreleg hug, wrapping my neck around hers, and held her. She leaned into my embrace and returned it tightly. I could feel tears on my shoulder. I smoothed her mane with one of my hooves. "It’s okay, you are doing great at it. At least as great as I would know. You are making me feel special and loved. That isn't something I am used to. I like seeing you happy, and I want you to feel the same way you make me feel. Minus the insecurities, insecurities can go away for both of us, but we will work through that together. I haven't ever had a marefriend, or stallionfriend, or even thought about having one. You are great. Don't put yourself down so much, I want you happy. I like seeing you happy. You make me happy."

She sniffled and continued to hug for a moment more before releasing. "I am going to do my best to do this right. Anyway, let’s go get lunch. I am starving!" she said.

"Let's avoid the fish this time around," I laughed. "We don't want to go upsetting ponies."

"But I like fish!" And we exited the room to go explore Harmony.


***



We managed to find a restaurant with little trouble. We didn't order any fish, or any other type of meat for that matter. We didn't have an option to anyway. Nothing on the menu was available for carnivorous appetites. This was a city of ponies and it did not cater to any but ponies.

During our meal I got dirty looks from the other patrons. Well, I got dirty looks from every pony but Biblo everywhere we went. I tried not to let it get to me, but it was hard. No pony would talk to me. They would talk to Biblo but not me. When the waitress took our order she asked Biblo what I was having. Biblo gave the order after I told her to just roll with it and order for me. She did look unhappy with how other ponies treated me though.

I paid for the meals. I left a tip just because they were nice to Biblo at least. They had served me, even if they refused to acknowledge me as they did so. I have had worse happen in towns. This counted as good service compared to my normal experiences.

Finding a bookstore was not as easy. We wandered around aimlessly through the streets. Biblo would ask for directions sometimes and vague answers, or answers that were completely unhelpful if you didn't understand the basic geography of the city or how to use the Tree to judge position. I tried once, I managed to get spit on for it. I didn't let Biblo see what had happened and I didn't react, other than wipe off my face.

We finally found our way to a bookstore. It was, like everything else in this city, the largest of its kind I had ever seen. Each genre of book had sections for sale larger than any full library I had ever seen. Biblo was less impressed, she said the library in Crystal Heart was far larger than this. I had never been to Crystal Heart, so I would have to take her word for it. It would have seemed unimaginable that a library larger than this place existed, but I was reassessing what scales of things were possible in the last day.

Biblo finally located a book that satisfied her. I didn't catch the title, but I was able to some very revealing illustrations. I blushed red when I saw them. Biblo saw me and blushed red herself, before closing the book quickly to hide the erotic material. We may not be planning on doing anything yet, but she definitely wanted to be educated on what to do when that time came.

Unfortunately the shop keeper had other ideas. He was a portly, black, earth pony stallion, with a white mane. He seemed fine with Biblo purchasing the book up until the point that I came to pay for it, then his entire demeanor changed.

He set the book aside and addressed Biblo. "I am sorry, I won't be selling you any books."

Biblo was confused. "Why?" She asked. "We have the bits. We aren't minors. Why won't you sell me this?"

He sneered. "I don't sell to ponies who go screwing bats. It's filthy having such relations. It is disgusting and perverted."

I knew there was no winning here. Best to leave without any further scene. It was my fault, I should have just given her the bits ahead of time. I opened her up to this with not thinking ahead of time. She didn't deserve this kind of treatment, but there wasn't anything we could do.

Biblo wasn't so easily dismissed. She got angry. I had seen her get frustrated before, and upset, but this was my first exposure to her honestly angry. She slammed her hoof down on the counter causing it to shake. "What in bloody Tarturus did you just say!" She screamed at the shop keeper. "What is your problem with my marefriend! And what business is it to you who I choose to go to bed with! You sell books! I am here to buy a book! We give you bits, you give us the book! That is how it works!" Her voice rose with each sentence. Every pony in the store and even some just outside it were staring at us now. I knew from experience we would not have any allies in those watching.

"Biblo," I said, "let it go. We can find somewhere else. He isn't going to sell to us. We are making a scene." I pleaded with her. I wanted to spare her as many ponies judgments as I could. This was daily life for me for most my adult life. I was used to it. I could understand her anger getting exposed to this for the first time, but I couldn't let her get herself in trouble.

"Listen filly to your bat-bed-buddy. She knows how this works. You aren't buying anything here. If you stay here I will call the guard to haul you off," he growled at Biblo. This was escalating. I did not want us to end up in a dungeon cell.

Biblo refused to relent. "We have done nothing wrong. Go on call the guard! I don't even want to buy from you anymore! I want you to apologize to Pearl though. Ponies should not treat other ponies this way."

"All I see is a dirty, stinking, bat and her dirty, stinking, bat-lover. I don't see any real ponies," he sneered back.

At this point I had to restrain Biblo. She tried to jump the counter and go after the shop keeper. She was a lot stronger than she looked. Pure rage was fueling her strength, and it was hard to hold her back.

Holding her did transfer my emotions to her. She must have been clear enough of mind to feel them. I was terrified for her. I didn't want her getting in trouble on my behalf. I didn't want ponies judging her. I was angry too, but more than anything I wanted her safe. She turned and looked at me. She was crying from the rage and the hurt. Then she pulled me with her as she took off out of the store.

We just kept moving through the streets quickly without goal. She just wanted to be away from that place. We finally came to a stop in an alley that didn't have any ponies around. She bent down and buried her face into her forehooves and sobbed. I came over next to her and wrapped my forehooves around her in embrace.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to her.

She stopped sobbing and pulled away. She got to her her hooves and turned to look at me. "You have no reason to be sorry," she said forcefully. "You were treated badly by those ponies, and you didn't do anything to earn that. You are a good pony, you give good hugs. You are not some monster."

I tried to find some way of explaining this to her. "Nothing can be done to change how they act. It's just the way things are. It's why I live in Starlight's Folly instead of some other city. Ponies just see a Thestral and they see a monster, and there is nothing I can do to change that. Part of why I like you so much is you don't see me that way, and that is so rare. I feel really guilty that a pony treated you that way too, just because you were with me. You might be better off not being seen with me."

She came over to me quickly and gave me a fierce hug. "No! I am not turning tail on you because ponies are mean. I am going to do a better job at making sure ponies don't treat you like that. I don't know how yet, I am not a smart pony. But I will find a way. It matters to me, and it should definitely matter to you, that ponies treat you with at least with basic respect.

I can feel what you are feeling. I know how much it is hurting you. I don't want you hurt like that. I don't want any pony hurt like that. You are worried about me, and I appreciate that, but I would rather deal with being treated meanly by mean ponies than not being able to be around you."

I sighed. "Maybe when this is all over we can go back to Starlight's Folly, or maybe Crystal Heart, and not have to worry about it. We can figure that out later. Right now it is really late, and we need to find our way back to the hotel."

She glanced up at the sky. Luna's moon was out. Out in the street, beyond the alley, the number of ponies had dropped dramatically as they went home for the night. She looked like She wanted to say more, but nodded instead.

We exited the alleyway and came to the immediate conclusion we had no idea where we were in relation to the hotel. So we started trying to retrace our steps back to the bookstore, and hopefully from there find our way back to where we are, and then back to the hotel. After several minutes of wandering we weren't having much luck. Nothing looked familiar, not that we had been paying much attention when we fled the bookstore.

I glanced up to try to see if I had gotten any better at judging location by the Tree. My breath caught when I did as I spotted the night patrol, making sweeps of the area off in the distance. Lunar Guard ponies, Thestrals, I could not have them see me. Biblo was this upset about how most ponies treated me, she could not be exposed to how Thestrals treat me.

"I think we should go this way," I said, half lying. I definitely thought we needed to move in a direction away from the Lunar patrol, I had no idea if it was the right way to get back to the hotel.

She followed without seeming to realize at first my concern. She wasn't in direct contact with me and her own emotions were a mess at the moment. I would have to avoid touching her until we got back to the hotel, or at least safely away from the patrol.

My pace increased and she began picking up on the fact that something was up. "Pearl stop! We are getting more twisted around," she said, bringing us to a halt. I glanced up involuntarily to see where the patrol was and her eyes followed mine. The patrol was extremely close.

Biblo spotted them and her face lit up. "Look Pearl, more Thestrals! They can give us directions. Hey! Over here! We need assistance!" She waved and shouted to my fellow Thestrals. Oh the things she did without realizing how bad an idea it was to do them. It wasn't her fault she didn't know.

Unfortunately she managed to get the patrol's attention. The patrol paused in mid air to look directly at us. Biblo didn't have as sharp an eye as me or vision that worked as well at night. Mine wasn't perfect, but I saw what she didn't. They weren't looking directly at us, they were looking directly at me. Their vision was almost certainly better than mine, which means they knew exactly who I was, word gets around Thestrals easily.

My heart quickened. We needed to get away now. I had to convince Biblo of the danger. I pulled her into an embrace. "Biblo, we need to get out of here now! I will explain later, but we can't let them get to us. Feel what I am feeling and trust me please!"

She didn't take long to realize the source of my panic. I am fairly sure my feelings were Crystal clear. She didn't ask questions, she just nodded with a look of fear on her face. She might not know why she should fear this patrol, but she knew how much I did. We took off again at a blind run.

We ran for a few minutes, I kept glancing behind and up, but couldn't get a sight on them. That meant nothing. These were not just any Thestrals, these were Lunar Guard, they could pursue without being seen. They were trained to stay out of sight when engaging enemies. My instincts screamed at me to take to the air and fly away, but that was a bad idea on multiple levels. They were also much better flyers than me, and I was much more exposed in the air, not to mention I couldn't leave Biblo. So I just kept running.

We were running down an alley and it took a turn. Then certain doom happened, this alley had a dead end.

We turned around to try to backtrack, but it was too late. They were there, five Lunar Guards. Two of them landed in the alleyway blocking our exit, the other three landed on top of the surrounding buildings. We were trapped, even if we by dome miracle were able to get through the two in front of us, the other three would be down on us in an instant.

They were all stallions. One of the ones in front of us addressed Biblo. "You signaled us for help. I see you are in dire need. Seems you are being held captive by an abomination. Don't worry the Lunar Guard is here to help."

My anxiety and panic somehow rose further upon hearing the old condemnation again. Biblo wasn't taking it though. Her anger from earlier rose to the surface again, and she replied. "Don't call her that! Why is she so afraid of you? She hasn't done anything wrong!"

The speaker for the patrol sneered. "It is wrong by existing! It is named perfectly, named after a weed, it needs to be ripped out. This thing you call a mare is an affront to what is natural, it is an affront to holy Luna! It needs to be punished for betraying the natural order."

This wasn't going to be taunting. I didn't think this was going to even be a beating. They were murderous. "Biblo get away from here! They are concerned with me. Just go away and they'll leave you alone."

"Listen to the abomination, little Crystal mare. It's likely the best advice this thing has ever given. Go home and be a good pony," the stallion told Biblo.

"Please Biblo," I begged. "Keep yourself safe."

"No!" Biblo yelled at the guard. "I am not leaving and you are not going to hurt her!"

The leader signaled the other guard on the ground. "Suit yourself. You were given the opportunity to leave and be good. You'll just have to hang around for the show."

The other stallion walked up to Biblo and quickly pinned her forelegs up against the wall. This kept her from being able to properly buck with her hind legs. She let out a scream in defiance and he took one of his foreleg and punched her hard in the torso with it, knocking the air out of her scream.

Rage built up in me. "Don't hurt her!" I tried to run to Biblo's rescue but the three above were down on me in an instant pinning me.

The leader gave a short chuckle. "Oh the Weed did grow a spine at some point. Too bad you didn't keep your balls. Maybe you would have made a passable little half breed if you did. Still an embarrassment mind you, but some pony we would take pity on and let clean some latrines. You had to go and do something unnatural though. We have no pity for that."

Biblo tried to give out another shout, but another blow to her gut once again silenced her. "Biblo!" I cried out trying to free myself to come to her aid.

A forehooves came down on my muzzle hard causing my fangs to fig into my own flesh. Another came down on my back near the base of my wing, another followed in quick succession on the other wing base. I could taste my own blood in my mouth.

"Oh don't concern yourself with her, Weed," the leader chided. "You have your own concerns to worry about right now." He lifted a forehooves and brought it down hard against my face. I had trouble reopening my right eye.

I was in severe pain, and it only got worse. They took turns taking blows at me, making everything hurt, what didn't hurt was numb. They laughed as they struck me repeatedly with their forehooves, and took bucks at my sides. I couldn't even try to fight back. Nothing seemed to respond right in my body, it hurt too much.

Finally they relented. Though they still had me pinned. I could somehow hear Biblo gasping for breath despite the ringing in my ears.

"You want to be treated as a mare, maybe we should oblige you," the leader said with a laugh. Next thing I knew my rump was being held up and my tail held back. My mind screamed as I realized their intention, but I couldn't break loose.

"Let's give you a real lesson. One you won't forget," he continued to laugh.

He mounted me. I somehow pulled more strength from somewhere to fight, but it was for naught. My struggles were met with additional blows and soon ceased. A final pain erupted from my most personal of spaces, and then all was black.
> Chapter 7: Temple of Meadowbrook
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I heard heard voices from time to time. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, but never opened my eyes to see who was speaking. I don't know how much time was passing, but I didn't want to get up.

I woke finally more alert. I still didn't open my eyes. Everything was sore. I couldn't remember where I was or why I was so sore. I tried to focus and recall, it seemed important, but I was drawing a blank.

"I can tell you are awake," a voice said. It seemed like I should know the voice. Whose voice was that? I had it a the tip of my tongue.

"Don't try to move around too much. Your body is still recovering. You took a severe beating. Some ponies might not have survived all the internal bleeding. I was worried you wouldn't. But your talent seems to have pulled you through," Hot Sticks said. Yes, Hot Sticks was who that voice belonged to. I was proud of myself for remembering.

"Can you open your eyes yet?" He asked.

That was a good question. I didn't know why it should seem so hard, but it took me thinking about it to do it. I squinted as the light coming in hurt my eyes. It took a moment for things to gain focus.

I took in my surroundings slowly. It was a big room, with lots of blue, green, and red decorations. I noticed I was in a well cushioned bed. I noticed Hot Sticks too. He was off to my side at a desk. He was looking at me, studying me. I didn't like the fact I had him watching me, but couldn't figure out why. But him watching me made me feel very dirty and ashamed.

"You are likely very unfocused right now. You have been more or less unconscious for three days. Your body and mind are still in shock. It will pass soon," he continued.

Oh, that was why it was so hard to think clearly. Why was I in shock? Some memory played at my mind, but I couldn't recall. It felt like something I didn't want to think about, so I didn't.

"You have been a very popular mare the last few days. You had three separate Alicorns visit you while you slept. They wanted to see how you were doing. They were worried about you. I will have to send word that you are awake. They insisted on knowing," Hot Sticks said.

Three Alicorns? Why would three Alicorns be worried about me? I felt sore, but I was alright. I was just really sleepy the last few days was all. I wasn't any pony special that Alicorns should be coming to visit me.

My thoughts gained a bit more clarity and went to one pony. I spoke up for the first time. "Where is Biblo?"

I saw Hot Sticks lower his ears in regret a bit. "I have not let her come in to see you. I was worried she would accidentally upset your injuries with her desire to show you physical affection. I also didn't want her getting exposed to whatever may have been going on in your head. She wasn't physically hurt badly, but there are other concerns with her."

Biblo had been hurt? What did he mean other concerns? I took my own self in finally. I had bandaged everywhere. One wing was in a splint. I looked really rough. What had happened?

I sat thinking for a moment. It was something just out of reach in my thoughts. What was the last thing I remembered?

It came flooding back all at once, and I let out a sob. I remembered what had happened. The other Thestrals, Biblo pinned against the wall, the beating, and...the other thing.

My mind raced. I felt claustrophobic. The walls felt like they were closing in. I felt all the bandages on me, and I wanted them off. I didn't want things attached onto me. It made me scared. I started panicking and thrashing about. I wouldn't be held down again. I couldn't let that happen. Why was this happening.

Hot Sticks was at my side in a second. He tried putting a hoof on me to calm me down. I flinched away from his hoof. He lowered it back down and gave a sad shake of his head.

"You are okay," he said. "It is over. No one here will hurt you like that again. You need to calm down. You are going to hurt yourself. Please, trust me. I know it is hard right now, but you need to trust me."

His words calmed me a little bit, but not much. My heart was racing. Why did I feel so helpless? I was away from them. I was safe. Hot Sticks was my friend, why was I flinching away from him?

"Just breath," he said. "This is not an uncommon reaction to what you have gone through. You are having a panic attack. You need to take slow deep breaths and remind yourself you are okay, and that you are safe. Take a slow breath and count to ten as you do it."

I did as instructed. As I reached ten my heartbeat had slowed down some, and I didn't feel so claustrophobic. I was still shaking though. He said this was normal? How long would this keep happening? Not knowing what else to do, I just cried.


***



I don't know how long I sat there and sobbed. Hot Sticks didn't stop me. He didn't hug me or anything else either. He was probably afraid he would set off another panic attack. Buy it eventually I got to where I could start thinking again. I just had to not think about what had happened.

I finally got brave enough to start asking questions. "Where are we?" That was a safe subject.

Hot Sticks lifted a good in gesture. "You are in the hospital wing of the temple of Meadowbrook. I pulled some strings and was able to get you treated here, after we found you."

"Did Meadowbrook return?" I asked. "Is she going to take care of Starlight's Folly? She didn't take all the last three days taking care of me and not take care of our town did she?"

He shook his head. "No, she is not back, but she has been sent for. While you were asleep we have had our petition moved forward. Stygian and Fluttershy are off to look into it personally. We haven't heard back yet, but hopefully with two Alicorns looking into it we will know something soon."

Okay, that was good news. It made me feel a bit better. "You said that three Alicorns came to visit me. Who came?"

"Luna, Pinkie Pie, and Starlight Glimmer," he replied. "Luna was enraged over what had happened. She found your assailants and almost murdered them herself. She had to be restrained by other Alicorns. They are currently incarcerated in the city dungeons awaiting trial. Starlight Glimmer had a personal interest in you, which you may easily guess at, and was eager to see if you would be alright."

I felt honored that my two patrons decided took take such a direct interest in me. A large part of me wanted it to be that Luna was able to finish off my attackers. I felt some small resentment that the others had stopped her.

"And why was Pinkie Pie here?" I asked. "Was she worried about Biblo?" It seemed to make sense that if my patrons came to check on me, then Biblo's would come check on her.

Hot Sticks paused considering his answer, then he said. "She was worried about Biblo, and did come because of her. But it was because Biblo made such a ruckus. For several hours after you came in she was yelling and breaking things. Carrying on about how she broke a Pinkie Promise. Finally Pinkie Pie came herself to address Biblo's insistence that she had broken an oath to her. She checked in on you after attending to Biblo."

I was confused. "She didn't break any Pinkie Promise."

Hot Sticks nodded. "That is what Pinkie Pie said as well. Biblo didn't take Pinkie Pie denying her lack of oathkeeping well. She cussed the Alicorn out and started throwing things at her."

I blinked. It was getting easier to do so. I was pretty sure I could move on my own. Hearing Biblo had cussed out Pinkie Pie was shocking. Add assaulting an Alicorn to that, and I worried about how much trouble she must be in right now.

"Is she alright?" I asked hesitantly.

"Pinkie Pie or Biblo?" Hot Sticks asked. "Pinkie Pie is fine. Alicorns can not be easily harmed physically. An angry Crystal Pony throwing things doesn't make the top million most dangerous things an Alicorn has to deal with. I think Biblo might have managed to hurt Pinkie Pie's feelings though. Pinkie Pie didn't take any retaliation for what Biblo did, just left Biblo alone after that."

"And is Biblo still doing all that?" I asked, afraid my marefriend was going to still be in trouble.

"No," Hot Sticks replied. "After that she first tried insisting on sitting in with you. She was denied that for the reasons I told you. Right after that Luna arrived and interviewed us to find out what she could. I must apologise that I had to disclose what you had told me about your past. When an Alicorn demands information you give it to them. Biblo was present and heard it all."

I gulped. I had some part of me that was angry he had told some pony else what I had told him in confidence. But he was right, you did not deny Alicorns any information they asked. Biblo may have gotten away with assault on an Alicorn, the rest of us ponies knew better than to tempt fate.

"How did Biblo take it?" I asked. I hadn't gotten around to telling her about my full past yet.

"Well enough," Hot Sticks said as adjusted position on a nearby cushion. "She didn't really say anything at first. When I asked her how she felt about it she just said that she did another stupid thing, not knowing what she was doing, and that she would need to do better to keep you safe. She has since divided much of the last two days moping outside your door, visiting the library, and watching the Medical Guard train."

"Medical Guard?" I inquired.

"Meadowbrook's personal guard," he explained. "Every Alicorn has their own division of guards in the military. Meadowbrook is no exception. They mainly are present to defend medical crews and civilians in armed conflicts, but they are still trained soldiers. Smaller guard units, like Meadowbrook's, do their training at their Alicorn's temple. If you are not attending the sick the two most interesting things here are the library and the guard."

I tried to rise to my hooves. I fell flat on my face. It hurt, but I began an attempt again.

"You just regained consciousness after being asleep three days, and you still are healing. I don't think you should be trying too much physical activity," Hot Sticks warned. He didn't do anything else to stop me though.

I tried again and finally got into a standing position. "I won't be doing any running, or flying, for a while. I do want to move about some. I think it will help me not feel like I was earlier."

He gave me a quick nod. "If you think so. I wouldn't normally recommend a pony with your injuries leave bed yet, but you do heal fast and well. Your mental health is likely our biggest concern, and if you feel it will help try it. But please, take things easy. If you feel you are exhausting yourself get back to bed."

I didn't respond. I was focused on trying to get out of bed. It was just a large cushion on the ground. Nothing I could fall out of, but I was still unsure on my feet.

With a few shaking steps I was clear of the cushion. Looking around the room again I noticed a small balcony. I slowly made my way over to the balcony. Hot Sticks followed a safe distance behind, ready to catch me with his magic if I looked like I was going to stumble.

I made it to the balcony without incident and looked around at the surroundings. We were pretty high up. Not so high it induced any anxiety about heights though. The balcony looked down on a courtyard far below where I could see the formally mentioned Medical Guard going through exercises.

They had an obstacle course that several were running. It seemed to be aimed mainly at training ponies with no wings, as it was all ground based obstacles. In another area they had dummies set up that archers practiced on, and another area where you could see ponies dueling with blades strapped to their forehooves. It was interesting to see. I had once briefly fantasized about joining the Lunar Guard since my mother was a member. Every little filly wants to be like her mommy. I was no different, male body at the time not withstanding.

Scanning around I spotted who I hoped to see. Biblo was in attendance as well. She was almost right below me. She was laying down with a book between her forehooves, though her attention seemed focused on the various training regimens of the guard. She was too far down for me to shout to and hope to be heard, so I just watched her as she watched the guard.

After a few minutes an idea occurred to me. I took a few breathes to check, and then turned to Hot Sticks. "My breathing seems fine. Would it be okay if I had my pipe? I want to try something."

He gave me a skeptical look. "I don't normally recommend my patients smoke."

"Well, it is your fault I do," I replied. "I want to try using my magic. My breathing is fine as I told you. Did you bring my things?"

He grabbed up my life pack and floated it over to me. I pulled the pipe out and began preparing it. He spoke to me as I did. "If you start coughing I am taking it away from you. But I suppose exercising your magic is worthwhile. Sometimes ponies with a lot of trauma can have trouble with magic. So, we do need to see about that. Your survival ability seems fine, but testing the rest won't hurt."

I  did a draw letting the calming effects take hold and let it out without incident. I then went to work on the plume. I was trying something a bit more complex. I formed it into a little smoke cloud and didn't let it disperse. I added a few more plumes to it trying to darken it up. It was bright outside and I wanted what I made to be able to be seen.

After I was satisfied that it was thick and dark enough I began shaping it. My final creation was a good likeness of my cutie mark. Now for the part that I hadn't tried before.

I tried to make the thing sink down while still holding shape. It took a lot of concentration on my part and I had no idea what my limits on range were. I was about to find out in any case. I ever so slowly navigated the little cutie mark down towards Biblo. The closer I got to her, the more a strain it became.

I was sweating from the strain now. Hot Sticks spoke up. "I told you not to overexert yourself. You are straining. You need to stop that for now."

I shook my head. "Just a little bit further, this will be done one way or another in just a few more seconds."

It was in range of her now. Biblo just had to glance up a tiny bit and she would notice it. She wasn't being accommodating though. I had to push a little bit further. Finally I floated it down to eye level for her, and held it for one last moment, before I had to let it go from the strain.

She looked up at me. I could see her face move from puzzled to overjoyed. The next thing I knew she was gone. Moving as a blur back into the temple and likely to me.

I was right about Biblo heading up to greet me. Within moments there was some pony pounding on the door of the room. Biblo could be heard on the other side calling. "Let me in! Let me see Pearl! You have kept me out while she is sleeping, but she is up now. I need to see her. I need to make things right. Let me in! Pearl, tell the mutant duck to let me in!" Repeated bangs continued on the door. I was surprised it held up to the amount of abuse she was laying on it.

"Can you please open the door Hot Sticks?" I asked. "She is right, I am up, and you don't have to keep her out anymore."

He harrumphed. "Just remember to take it easy. You know how physical, and excitable, she can get."

He used his magic to open the door. Biblo was through the door right away. She looked at the bed first as if expecting me to be in it, despite the fact she had just spotted me up on the balcony. She gave the room a quick scan until her eyes fell on me.

She ran over to me and attempted to give me a hug. I was all for it happening. But as she wrapped her forelegs around me it happened again, the panic, the claustrophobia, the fear of being touched. Without even thinking about it, I pushed away from her and let out a cry of panic.

I sat there for a moment trying to pull myself together, taking deep breaths, and counting to ten. I got it under control after a minute of this and looked up. Biblo was on the far side of the room away from me just staring. There were tears in her eyes, and she had the most hurt look I had ever seen on her face, or any pony's face for that matter. My ears fell as I looked at her. Why did I have to have a panic attack then? Why was I even having these at all. I had been hurt before, hurt badly before. What was different about this?

"Biblo, I didn't mean to do that," I pleaded with her. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I did that."

She just looked at me with ears held low. She finally rushed out of the room without a word. I wanted to call out after her, but I didn't know what else to say. I had already apologized. I didn't understand what was going on with me right now, so I couldn't explain it to her. Normally she would just be able to hug me and know, that might not be an option for the time being.

Hot Sticks watched on with sympathy. "She got to touch you, she likely knows you aren't upset with her. She just needs to sort it out. I told her that this could possibly happen as well. Just give her some time."

I wanted to go rushing off after her. I wasn't in any position to go rushing off anywhere though. My heart was racing again, and this time I was panicking about something very real. I had hurt Biblo's feelings.

I tried to do the breathing and the counting. It wasn't working. The claustrophobia was setting in again. I wanted to take off flying, but one of my wings wouldn't respond. Why wasn't my wing responding? That increased the panic.

Hot Sticks noticed my condition and spoke to me in a soothing voice. "Pearl, close your eyes, and breathe. Now think of what I am saying to you. You are safe right now. Biblo is worried about you, and what just happened isn't changing that. Biblo cares about you. I worry about you because your my friend. You aren't alone. Neither of us is leaving you."

"Biblo just ran off," I let out despondently.

He signed, "Biblo isn't going anywhere. She doesn't even have a means of leaving if she wanted to. She has no bits for the ride down and she is under medical watch too. She just needs to calm down a few minutes and clear her head. I will talk to her about what's going on. She will understand."

Right then another knock came at the door. Was Biblo back already? It calmed me a lot to think she might already be back. My ears perked up.

Hot Sticks reopened the door and my ears fell back down. It wasn't Biblo. It was the Alicorns that Hot Sticks said would be checking back in on me. They must have been alerted of my being up when Biblo had been trying to pound down the door. I should be overwhelmed by the honor and the feel of their presence, but I was generally just disappointed they weren't Biblo. At least the panic had gone away.

Hot Sticks prostrated himself as the entered. I didn't really do anything but watch. I should be doing something similar, but I couldn't bring myself to care. It was strange how quick my emotions could flip. One moment panicking I upset a pony, and the next unconcerned I was not showing proper respect to Alicorns. I casually wondered if this was some sort of symptom.

I knew Starlight Glimmer, as she was unchanged from when I last saw her. I knew Luna from my own prayer doll depiction. The last was obviously Pinkie Pie, she bore a striking resemblance to Biblo, if Biblo had pink hair, was taller, and was an Alicorn.

"My little pony," Starlight began, taking the lead for the Alicorns, and gave Luna a passing smug look as she spoke. Luna looked a bit annoyed at it, but made no response. Starlight continued with a more motherly tone to me. "I am relieved to see you awake. I know your talents first hoof, but your injuries were severe. I am glad they impressed me yet again."

Starlight started walking towards me and Hot Sticks moved to intercept her. Standing in front of the taken aback Alicorn he spoke, head still lowered. "Forgive me your Holiness, but I would recommend not getting too close for the moment."

Starlight Glimmer tilted her head and asked in a neutral tone. "And why should I need to keep my distance from one of my subjects?"

Hot Sticks looked to her apologetically. "Pearlwort is recovering rapidly from physical injury, but she is having panic attacks due to the emotional trauma of what happened. Being touched seems to be a consistent trigger. This will likely pass with time, but she has just started trying to cope with this. Being touched by some pony so overwhelmingly powerful could trigger a strong reaction."

Starlight gave me a sympathetic look. A similar look passed between her fellow Alicorns. She looked at Hot Sticks again. "I respect your care of your friend and patient. I find no fault in you blocking my path. You are to be commended in fact. I will take your words to heart and speak to her from here instead. I would ask that you wait outside till we leave. We wish to discuss various matters with your patient."

Hot Sticks removed himself from in front of Starlight Glimmer and then the room. The Alicorn sat in her current location. Starlight sighed and then spoke. "Forgive me being formal Pearlwort. There are certain, expectations, Alicorns have to maintain. Since you are not bowing and prostrating yourself I hope we can just do away with that for now, and talk like normal ponies."

My Alicorn was saying she wanted a casual talk. I wasn't going to argue with her. It also was less stressful having to not worry about how I was supposed to be behaving. This was the more motherly figure I had met before, not sure if I could deal with the more formal version right now. I nodded, keeping silent.

"I can only imagine how you are feeling right now," she continued. "I have seen it many times in the past, but thankfully have never endured that experience myself. At least, if I have I don't remember it," she turned her head to Pinkie Pie. "And no, I don't want to be told if I ever did."

I couldn't imagine any way this could happen to an Alicorn. Then I recalled Hot Sticks telling me the Alicorns were all once normal ponies. I supposed that there was opportunity long ago. I wondered what kind of pony Starlight Glimmer had been before becoming an Alicorn.

Starlight went back to addressing me. "What happened to you is very upsetting. Unfortunately, it is something that happens far too often. However, the three of us all have personal interest in finding out the circumstances of what happened, and we were deeply troubled by what we found. There is a sickness of spirit among our subjects that we were somewhat aware of before, but listening to the circumstances of your incident hit us hard."

"What do you mean?" I finally spoke up.

"The animosity and hateful attitudes directed towards you disgusted us and made us feel ashamed," she said, lowering her ears. "We were aware of prejudices existing. There are always ponies of prejudice. But the extent, and the sheer scale of it, shocked us. We feel a message needs to be sent to our subjects that this is unacceptable. Which is one of the reasons we wished to speak to you."

"So, you are going to make some sort of proclamation? Why do you need to speak to me about that?" I asked.

Luna stepped forward and sat herself next to Starlight. Then she spoke. "We intend to make a public example that this kind of prejudice is not going to be tolerated. We rarely do it, but we intend to hold public trial against your assailants. Public trial with all the greater Alicorns sitting in judgement."

That was certainly something that every pony would talk about and try to see if possible. I still didn't see how this required them to talk to me.

"The trial is a formality really," Starlight spoke, retaking control of the conversation. "Guilt is certain, and we will be very harsh in judgement. What we need from you, to make this worthwhile, is permission to disclose all you went through and why. We wish it to be clear how much prejudice played in what befell you. We will make it clear we are not only condemning rape and violence, but the hatefulness that sparked what happened. However, we will not do so without your permission."

My heart started racing again. I didn't want every pony to know about me. About how I had mixed parentage, about how I was born with a male body. The Thestrals knew already, and they were the worst in terms of how ponies react to such things, but I felt like my freak status to all the other ponies would just be cemented further.

I closed my eyes and started counting. As I started breathing I reminded myself that they were giving me a choice. I had control over whether they would say it all to the world or not. I could say no. They gave me the power. Realizing this fact, my panic subsided. I had control over what happened, and that brought a feeling of security.

I looked at Starlight Glimmer and Luna. I glanced in the direction of Pinkie Pie, who still had not said anything. The pink Alicorn gave me a small smile and spoke for the first time. "What happens is your choice," was all she said.

I turned back to my patron. "I'll allow it. I will even testify if you want me to. I want justice, but I also want to help any other pony that might be like me. If this might make things better in the future, then I want to do it."

Luna spoke up. "Excellent! I admit this situation has me very angry. I want swift and bitter justice on the perpetrators. It offends me deeply that my Thestrals should hurt one another," Starlight coughed into one of her forehooves and gave Luna a look. Luna rolled her eyes and continued, "alright, that my Thestrals should hurt a former one of mine, or any pony for that matter. I was aware of the misguided nature of Thestral communities, and I should have acted directly before now to start correction. You have my apologies for allowing this to fester, and having you forced to flee your home. You were right to take another Alicorn as patron, I failed you."

It seemed like Alicorns had pissing contests between each other on who took followers from whom. This made them seem a little petty, but made them seem a little more like normal ponies too, sort of anyway. As if reading my thoughts Pinkie Pie laughed. It was completely inappropriate to what was just said, but the other two seemed to pay it no mind. I guess you get used to weirdness after thousands of years.

Pinkie Pie spoke up for the second time. "Since that is settled, would you two mind if I talked to Pearl alone for a few minutes?"

Starlight and Luna looked at Pinkie Pie, then to me, then to each other. Then Starlight spoke to me. "We will come by again to discuss when things will proceed. It will take time to gather the others back in Harmony. I have already secured permission from Twilight to call them. We only needed to discuss this with you first. Take care Pearl."

The two rose to their hooves and began to exit. Luna spoke one last time to me before going. "Regardless of whether our message sinks in quickly, I promise you that with your fellow Thestrals you will have nothing more to fear. I intend to take more direct action with them. I will not have my name muddied with justifications for such crimes. Such blasphemy will not go further unaddressed," and with that the two left the room, leaving me with the Alicorn of Laughter.

Pinkie Pie looked sad as she looked at me. For the embodiment of joy and laughter it was pretty depressing. She walked over to the location the other two had sat and sat down herself.

"I apologize for them treating you like some prize that was won," she began. "All of us do that sometimes. But it really is a sad thing most of the time when a pony changes Alicorn patrons. It usually means something went wrong for that pony. We can get a little smug about gaining a pony follower from another, our level of authority in the council is based on our number of followers after all. That doesn't mean we don't care about the circumstances."

I waited not knowing what to say. "With that in mind," Pinkie Pie continued, "I may be losing a follower of mine soon to another. Bibulous Bottom is a good pony, and she has been a good representation of what I stand for, but I feel she might be looking elsewhere for guidance soon."

"I am sorry," I said, "she is just upset right now. It was a very upsetting experience. I can't imagine she'll lose her joy and laughter. I can't imagine her not being a bit silly."

Pinkie Pie smiled, but didn't raise her ears. Her expression was sad but accepting as she spoke. "I think she will likely get back to laughing again soon too. It might take a little time, but she will. It doesn't mean she isn't changed by what happened. She saw something horrifying, and it hurt her a lot. She is looking for more than laughter to guide her now. I don't know what way she will turn to guide her, but laughter isn't likely going to be it.

And that's okay," Pinkie Pie said with a hint of resolve in her voice. "My first priority is seeing that my ponies are happy. If she needs some new guiding principle to make her happy, I support it. But I want you to promise me you will do everything you can to make her happy. She adores you. In a few days time she has made you the center of her world, and it isn't just some passing crush."

I nodded. I very much wanted to just go seek out Biblo this very minute, and try to make her feel better. Pinkie Pie had no need to ask it of me.

Pinkie considered for a moment. The considering of whether to tell a pony something rather than what to tell a pony. Then she spoke again. "I know things. Secret things that I can't explain. There is a lot going on right now. I know you make it to the end, you're the narrator after all. I am very limited in what I can see. The fourth wall only shows so much. Make sure you keep her safe to the end too."

That was cryptic and confusing. I thought it best to just nod. here was little hope of understanding what she just said. I did understand the part about keeping Biblo safe and happy though. I would do my best.

Pinkie Pie rose to leave. "I wish I could do more. I was the one who found you and brought you up here after those bad ponies got to you, if no one told you. It was the most I could do for you. You are not a helpless pony, remember that. What was it you do? Think wolfy thoughts? It's kind of silly, but whatever reminds you that you aren't helpless."

She exited the room without any further goodbye. I don't think I had ever told any pony about the wolfy thoughts mantra. How did she know about it? How did she know to find me? She was a very strange Alicorn. Not that I had much experience dealing with Alicorns.

I pulled myself to my hooves. Looking for Biblo was going to be painful. My body wasn't up to all this movement yet. But I had the excuse that an Alicorn tasked me with it, so Hot Sticks could not deny me. I hoped that the stairs weren't too steep going down.

Hot Sticks was not happy with me, but he followed behind, ready to catch me if I stumbled. I was slowly making my way down a curved ramp path leading down to the first floor. I had expected a stairway, but this path down was even more frustrating. Hot Sticks explained it was to help wheel beds up easier. The path did have small raised bumps along it for catching wheels of the said beds, so they wouldn't roll down the ramp. Seemed like it would make for a very bumpy trip for any patient. For me it just made trying to walk down it, with my injuries, all the more troublesome.

He had acquiesced to my demands to go hunting for Biblo myself. I had implied to him Pinkie Pie had ordered I do so, though technically she didn't actually order me to go searching for her that second. Hot Sticks didn't know that of course. He had offered to go find her and bring her back, but I was insistent.

My legs felt ready to fall off as I reached the bottom of the ramp. I had to orient myself to figure out which way the courtyard was I saw earlier. Hot Sticks did me the courtesy of pointing me in the right direction. Though he continued to grumble I should still be in bed, and that no self respecting doctor would be letting me do this unless an Alicorn ordered it.

As I made my way through the entrance of the courtyard I spotted her right away. She was sitting upright, again watching the ponies go through their drills. Her back was to the entrance so I couldn't see her face. I doubted she was aware I was behind her.

I signaled Hot Sticks to keep back at the entrance as I made my way over to her. Hot Sticks sat at the doorway and pulled out his pipe with a very silent grumble. I slowly approached Biblo.

She didn't notice my approach. I finally came up beside her and sat when she finally took notice. Her eyes went extremely wide, and she seemed torn on what to do. I could tell she had been crying. I hadn't said anything, and my eyes were turned to the guards, though I could still see her clearly in my periphery vision. She finally just turned her eyes back to the guards in training, though I guessed she was watching me as well.

We sat silently for a moment. Just watching the guards train. It was getting late. I guessed that they would soon finish for the day. I decided to break the silence.

"I'm sorry I reacted that way," I said.

She took her eyes off the guard and looked at me directly. Her face went through several emotions as she searched for what she wanted to say. Then she hung her ears and closed her eyes before saying. "It's not your fault. I was warned, and I didn't listen. I have been reading about it, and haven't paid attention. If any pony should be sorry, for everything, it is me."

"You are not to blame for what happened," I replied. "It wasn't your fault."

A bit of anger flickered in her eyes and I could see her work to control it. "I was the one who signaled those Lunar Guards. I was the one who ran like a little filly through the streets, and got us lost. I was the one who was right there with you, and completely unable to stop them!" She spit on the ground in anger with the last sentence.

"You didn't know how the other Thestrals would react to me, that was my fault," I said. "As I recall, I only got us further lost when I spotted them. Finally, those were trained soldiers, neither of us stood a chance."

She kept staring at me. Emotions rolling over her features as she tried to come up with more reasons why she was to blame. She finally just broke down crying.

"I felt so helpless, Pearl," she sobbed. "I saw them doing that to you, and I couldn't even put up a fight. Maybe you couldn't fight them off on your own, but it was taking three of them to restrain you. If I could have done more so more of them had to deal with me, then maybe you could have stopped them."

"We don't know if that would have made a difference," I told her as I shook my head in denial.

"Well, it could have!" She shot back with anger now. "Why are you defending me? You should be angry with me."

"Biblo, it was not your fault," was all I could say. I didn't have the words to convince her.

"Pinkie Pie came to me," Biblo said to the ground, speaking in a low voice. "She said the same thing. I told her she could go to Tarturus."

"I heard," trying not to chuckle at the image of little Biblo chasing off a huge Alicorn. "I also heard you pretty much assaulted her. She came by to visit me just now. She was worried about you."

Biblo blinked at that news. Then lowered her head again. "I am not sure I want her concern. I am not sure I want her for my Alicorn anymore. I like laughing, and having fun, but I want to be able to do more."

"You can still do that with Pinkie Pie as your Alicorn," I said. "I don't think she objects to you trying to better yourself."

"Maybe," she sadly replied

"So, you heard about my past," I said, changing the subject. "Everything I told Hot Sticks." She nodded to this and I continued. "I intended on telling you about it all the other day, but things got in the way. I might have told you sooner, but was worried you might think me a freak."

"Why would I think you a freak?" She asked, looking up in confusion. "Yeah, I wish I knew about how your tribe thought of you. I really wish I had known that. But, why would I think you a freak?"

"Well, the whole being born with a male body. Maybe, you would have felt that weird."

"Okay, now you are starting to sound like the stupid pony," she snorted and gave me a stern look. "Let me explain something, I have a Changeling mother. Do you know anything about Changelings? They don't have defined sexes. She took a pony mare form most of the time, but other times she was a stallion. A pony changing from stallion to mare physically, or the other way around doesn't matter to me. She is my mother and you are my marefriend," her ears dropped again. "At least you were my marefriend. I don't know if you still want that or not. I don't know if that is all messed up now."

"Of course I still want you as my marefriend," I said sternly back. "I was worried you might not want me after what happened a little bit ago. I had another panic attack right after it happened because I thought I had hurt your feelings!"

She was still crying. It took her a moment to reply back. "I did get my feelings hurt, but it wasn't your fault. I was just thinking that now you wouldn't be able to touch me anymore without feeling reminder of what happened."

I couldn't take this. I got up despite the soreness and wrapped my legs around her in embrace. She stiffened, afraid to move. Then slowly returned the embrace.

"I didn't think you would be able to touch a pony for a long while," she kept crying as she spoke into my shoulder.

I didn't have any feelings of panic at all.

"Maybe because I am initiating it, that helps for right now," I explained. "Makes me feel like I have control of being touched. It will take a while, perhaps, for me to get as easy with others touching me, but if I am the one choosing it, then that helps."

We just sat there hugging for a few minutes, with her taking in my feelings and emotions. She didn't break the embrace, but did turn her head to speak. "Pearl, do you mind if we stay here for a while after your injuries heal? If they don't need to have us go back to Starlight's Folly for anything, once they figure out what to do there? Or come back here after we are done with that if they do?"

"I would think you would never want to be in Harmony again after what happened," I said with some surprise.

She gave a little shake of her head, before answering back. "No, not the city, here in the temple. I talked to the Guard captain. I don't want to join the Guard, but I want to learn how to fight. Learn how to defend myself, and learn how to defend you. They have a big library too. I could learn all kind of things, so I don't feel so stupid all the time. I never want to feel helpless like that again. Never again," the last bit was said with extra firmness. "They said it is alright. But I want to know if it is alright with you. Is it okay?"

"You're a grown mare Biblo," I replied. "You can make your own choices."

She hugged me a little tighter. "But I want you here with me. I want to do this for me, but I also want to do this for you. I don't think In will ever find a pony that gives as good a hug as you do. I feel safe with your hugs. I want to be able to keep you safe too."

I couldn't refuse her. I wasn't going to find another pony like her anywhere. I had also made a promise to myself, and to Pinkie Pie, that I would keep her safe and happy. I intended on doing just that. "I support you one-hundred percent if this is what you want to do. Just don't forget to smile. I love your smile."

She buried her face in my fur to hide her blush. I did catch sight of it before she got it hidden though. Then she gave a little chuckle. "If you love it then I will have to remember to keep doing it for you. And thank you for understanding."

We eventually broke our hug and just went back to sitting for a while. Hot Sticks had departed without me noticing at some point as I didn't see him about. The ponies training had departed as well. It was just my the two of us out here as Luna's moon came into sight.

Biblo pulled herself to her hooves and looked down at the obstacle course with a determined look. She then turned to me and asked. "Starlight Glimmer is your Alicorn right?"

I nodded the affirmative.

"What is she the Alicorn of again?" She asked. Looking back to the obstacle course.

"Alicorn of Empathy, Patron of Misfits and Outcasts," I answered without hesitation. There was at least one Alicorn I knew all about.

"I think I might start praying to her instead. She gave me you after all," she smiled as she said that. "And empathy is kind of my thing too after all. I am starting a fresh path. I still like Pinkie Pie, I guess. But it is time to think about what's more important to me than just being carefree. Fresh start, fresh Alicorn. I'm even a bit of a misfit myself."

I smiled at her, just enjoying her presence and enjoying her being self assured. "I am sure Starlight will be happy to have you. Pinkie Pie talked to me and said you were likely going to change who your personal Alicorn was, she seemed to understand, she just wants you happy."

Biblo smiled with the knowledge her decision would be accepted all around. Then she said. "Well, the captain said I could start trying the obstacle course on my own tonight. It's night now. I guess I should get started. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck!" I shouted to her as she took off towards the course.

I watched as she attempted the obstacles. Her results were not so great, down right embarrassing really. She ended up with her muzzle planted in the dirt regularly, went splat against walls that she was trying to clear, and generally fumbled every section of the course. I had to remind myself that this was her first real attempt at doing this, and that she would get better with practice. Still was painful to watch though.

"So what's your marefriend up to now?" Came a voice from my side. It startled me and made me jump a bit. Hot Sticks had stealthily taken up a seat beside me, and was watching Biblo currently pulling herself out of a pit of mud that she had fallen into while trying to cross a balance beam.

I settled and turned my attention back to Biblo, before taking time to reply. "She wants to learn how to fight. The captain of the guard told her that he would allow her to train. He said she could start trying to run the obstacle course by herself tonight."

Hot Sticks nodded. He pulled out his pipe and produced mine as well for me. I had apparently left it out up in my room. After lighting his and lighting mine for me he spoke. "I have seen the guard whip ponies far more out of shape than Biblo into fighters. Seen those same ponies do even worse than what she is doing now when they start off. If she is committed to it, then I have faith she'll end up doing well eventually."

I blew a plume and shaped it into a sponge like Biblo's cutie mark. "That's a relief. Looking at her current attempts I was worried she might end up feeling embarrassed." Biblo punctuated my statement with another unintended tumble to the ground.

"Oh her performance right now is embarrassing," Hot Sticks laughed and banged a hoof against a leg. "But embarrassing performance is typical for most ponies when they start doing this kind of training. Just don't let her get discouraged. She'll get it down if she keeps to it."

"She decided to take up Starlight as her new personal Alicorn," I said, and then winced as Biblo went muzzle first into a stone wall. "Said she needed a fresh Alicorn for a fresh start."

Hot Sticks blew another plume and answered. "A good match I suppose. Empath and all. I watched you two from the balcony for a while. It seems you have mended any hurt feelings from earlier. You also had physical contact without you having an episode, that's very good to see. Your resilience is a marvel."

I shivered a little. Just thinking of physical contact with another pony felt wrong right now. "I won't be better with that for a while. I don't know if I will ever be better. Just thinking about it..."

I had to stop talking. I closed my eyes, and started taking slow breaths. I hated this. But I would get through it. I wasn't even sure if what had happened had fully sunk in yet. I felt like I was blocking thinking about it. I didn't want to think about it. I wouldn't think about it. If I didn't think about it I could pretend it didn't happen and everything was okay.

I opened my eyes again and saw Biblo again on the balance beam trying to make her way across without falling. Something she hadn't managed as of yet, like every other obstacle. Another faceplant in the mud was likely incoming.

I saw Hot Sticks give me a sympathetic look. He looked like he wanted to reach out for a moment before thinking better of it. He turned his attention back to Biblo.

"It will take time," he said as he kept watching her along with me. "You likely are still suffering psychological shock. Don't force it. Keep to doing what it takes to calm yourself, redevelop your sense of control. If it persists badly for a long period of time we will look into other solutions, but for now just take it easy."

I nodded. Biblo was a mere ponylength away from crossing the beam for the first time. I was holding my breath for her. She wobbled like she was going to fall again, pulled herself back to balance, and took the last few steps clearing the beam. When she got her whole body on other side of the beam she looked back at it with amazement.

Hot Sticks and I let off a cheer and stomped our hooves. We must have been loud, because we startled her. She turned to see us and I could see her smiling. She gave us both a wave and moved on to the next obstacle.

Yeah, I just had to keep doing what I needed to do. I could get through this.
> Chapter 8: Dire News
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several days past by without much event. I healed up physically to where I was almost back to normal by the end of the week. Psychologically I was still struggling, panic attacks were still common. My ability to be touched by Biblo was improving, but I still couldn't be caught by surprise by her without an episode. Other ponies I could barely tolerate standing near me, much less touching me.

I was in my usual position of the day. Out in the courtyard, smoking my pipe, and watching Biblo train. It was midafternoon. It had taken her three days to get where she could successfully run the obstacle course. It was rather surprising how quickly she managed to master it, considering her first night left her bruised and defeated. But she showed a lot of adaptability. Now she was starting to practice with the guards themselves. Specifically, right now she was getting her flank beat with a wooden practice blade. I had faith she would get it down though.

Eventually they broke for a meal, and Biblo made her way to me. I was able to acquire some fish on request, claiming I needed protein to heal. I had plenty of sardines to share with Biblo, who had a fondness for the little fish since our first date. It never did upset her stomach either.

Biblo winced as she sat down. "I swear that mare is trying to make my flank fall off. I don't know how many times I can get hit on it with a wooden practice blade and still have it attached." She noticed the sardines and quickly grabbed one and swallowed it in one gulp. Biblo was the pony scourge of small fish.

"Your flank might be a little red right now," I said as I visually inspected her flank, "but it is looking pretty good. You may not be as pleasantly plump down there as you were, but you are much more toned and muscled. That muscle developed pretty fast. Are you sure you aren't a changeling and can shift shape?"

She blew a raspberry at me. "I am a Crystal Pony. Though who knows, maybe my changeling ancestry helps me adjust faster. It doesn't feel fast. Each day is filled with new ways of giving me pain."

"But you are doing well," I pointed out. "Two days or so after starting anything out there and you are able to do it without trouble. I don't think I could beat you in a hoof wrestling competition anymore. And if I didn't have fangs I doubt I could take you in unarmed combat if I couldn't fly. I'm proud of you."

"I appreciate your support," she said with a blush and a smile. "I hadn't realized there seemed to be a regular rate for me to get good at things," then she grimaced, "though that does mean I have to deal with another day or two of that meanie mare giving me welts on my flank."

"If you keep learning developing at the rate you are she will be the one worried about her flank a week from now," I chuckled as I spoke. "I'll keep cheering you on."

"You know," she put on a thoughtful expression, "I always thought my cutie mark just meant I soaked in magic and emotions like a sponge. Maybe it means I can do the same thing with skills and knowledge. I never really took trying to learn new things too seriously, so it didn't come up. Do you think it's possible?"

"I don't know," I replied with a shrug. "Seems like it could be. You certainly are getting better with this stuff at an astonishing rate. I'm no expert, but it is obvious you are learning really fast."

She gave the mark on her flank a considering look and touched it, which caused her to wince in pain. 

"It certainly soaks in pain," she said with a hiss. "Touching it right now wasn't really smart. I need a good long soak in a bath and some ice on this. Can I get a kiss?"

She didn't just kiss or hug me anymore. She either waited for me to do it myself or she asked for it. She still walked on eggshells with me. I didn't think she needed to as much, at least not her, but she still took care. I gave her a light kiss on the muzzle, eliciting a fresh smile and giggle.

She stopped giggling and looked down with a bit of embarrassment. Prepping herself to say something.

"Um, Pearl?" She took a breath and let the rest out rapidly, "Do you think it might be possible to start sharing a bed again? Not to do anything! Well, to sleep, but that isn't a thing. Well, it is, but it isn't the thing! I know it might take a long time for you to be ready for the thing, but I don't mind. Well, I do, but I understand the circumstances. And I am just running my mouth and embarrassing myself now. So I will just ask again if we can share a bed again, because I miss having you next to me as I sleep. So can we sleep together?" She was bright red as she finished saying that.

"Um, can I take a moment to process all that?" I asked. "I don't soak things in as fast as you do."

She gave an even more embarrassed nod. She seemed to be just processing some of what she said as well.

Breaking it down in my head I started thinking about it.

First off the request itself. She wanted to get back to sleeping next to me. That was understandable. I missed sleeping next to her too. I was worried about lashing out at her in my sleep or when I woke up. I had nightmares I didn't ever remember, just recalling I was terrified. They made me wake up in the middle of a panic attack. If she was touching me as it was happening I didn't know what would happen.

Next thing I realized is she said she knew I wasn't ready to do things. Things being sex. That was going to take a while, if it happened at all. My first experience with that was something I still refused to think about.

It also occurred to me, suddenly, that she had specified I wasn't ready. She had left herself out of that part, she was ready, and she was just being considerate of me. That made me go a little red. She noticed my blush and turned a deeper shade of red.

"I am worried I would end up hurting you," I said, starting to address my concerns. "You know how I get. I don't want to hurt you by accident."

She snorted in response.

"I would pick up on what was coming before it happened. Empath remember?" She raised a hoof to her head and tapped it. "I would know if you had an attack coming on, and be there to help you through it. Plus, you said it yourself, I am stronger than you now. I don't think you can hurt me easily, at least not blindly lashing out. I take a lot of beatings out here training, so I think I can take what you might do. It hurts me already, emotionally, to see you having those attacks. I want to be close by to help you. If you fall asleep with me touching you, maybe you will get better with getting touched. Make it more normal for you, safer."

I could see her logic. Biblo was not a stupid pony. Didn't stop me from worrying. I didn't want to deny her either.

"We'll try sleeping together again tonight and see how it goes. If I end up hurting you, we wait some more though."

She got back to her hooves and smiled. "You won't, trust me. We are going to get you better."

"I trust you Biblo," I said. Her ears dropped slightly in response.

"You don't trust me all the way yet. You don't trust any pony," her ears then picked back up, "but we are going to get that fixed. It will take time, but I know we can do it. You are going to feel completely safe with me, and I will be able to protect you from that ever happening again."

I initiated a hug which she gladly accepted. "I want that. Looks like break time is over though. You need to get back to getting more welts on your flank."

She blew another raspberry at me and hopped back down to get back to training.

"It might not be such a bad idea," I heard a voice from behind, causing me to jump with a start.

"Hot Sticks!" I scolded as I turned to face him. "You really deserve to get a buck to the side sometimes. Stop sneaking up on ponies!"

He walked up beside me, and I scooted over a bit to give a little more space between us. He didn't raise an eyebrow at it. He knew that I didn't feel comfortable being too close to any pony, minus Biblo.

"Unfortunately," he continued, "your continued recovery isn't what I came to talk to you about. I likely should have spoken up when Biblo was still up here, but we will have to tell her when she is done."

Were we finally getting an update on Starlight's Folly? They said it would only be a few days. They had been gone over a week.

"What's the news?" I asked with anticipation. He looked very distressed, not a good sign. 

"Stygian and Fluttershy have returned. There is no living creature in Starlight's Folly," he stared down at the ground as he said it.

My heart dropped in my chest and I had to breath slowly to hold off the panic attack that was fighting to start. 

"So, they...purged it?" I managed to say. "They didn't even wait to see if there was something they could learn from me and Biblo to help?"

"You misunderstand me," he said while shaking his head. "They found the town empty. No ponies, no cocoons, no other creature, no guard, no sign of Tulip."

"Did the northern gate get breached?" I asked, grasping for meaning. "Undead or ice golems break into town?"

He shook his head to the negative again before continuing his explanation. "The northern gate was still secure. No sign of wendigos. Nothing for them to feed on, so no need for them to be there. No signs of the cocoons either, intact or remains. The town was just empty."

"So where did they all go? Were there signs of struggle?" I asked. This didn't make sense.

Hot Sticks gave a frustrated snort. "No signs of struggle. Nothing to give any clues. Stygian and Fluttershy took as long as they did because they went checking around the wastes, and the nearby mining encampments, for any sign of where the townsfolk went. There was nothing. They checked Yazyakistan to see if there had been any clue there. The residents didn't have any clue that Starlight's Folly had up and vanished!"

I tried to wrap my head around this. It took me a moment to even figure out what to ask next. "So, what happens now? What are the Alicorns going to do? Did they find nothing else of note?"

Hot Sticks sighed, his ears and face lowered. He looked lost. "They will have council on it, soon. The fact that they were already calling all the Alicorns back to Harmony, for that trial, will help speed that happening. The town still had all its supplies. The only object that seemed to be missing was the rod that Marble Shine had found. I can't be sure, and the Alicorns will make determination, but there seems to be an intelligence at work here."

"So what does that mean for us?" I asked.

"For now, nothing," he said. "They will want to do interviews with each of us to find more clues. See if there is anything we missed. They will want to study all of us, me included, for any additional clues. They likely won't start that until they have held council. We won't be going anywhere for the duration. If they learn nothing more from us, then we will be left to ourselves to decide what we will do, but returning to Starlight's Folly is likely not an option."

I didn't know what to say. I felt like crying. There was no panic attack involved. I just wanted to cry. I don't know why I wasn't.

"Do you think Tulip might have gotten away to someplace else?" I didn't get to know Tulip well, but he seemed a decent enough stallion. Called me batty which was a mild slur, but he never really got nasty with me.

"Doubtful," Hot Sticks responded. "They would have found him in one of the mining encampments. Yazyakistan was on guard for any pony coming down from Starlight's Folly. The mountain passes were searched thoroughly. He could have gone out in the wastes, but we both know ponies can't survive more than a day or two out there."

I did start crying now. Tulip was the final drop. I buried my muzzle in Hot Sticks mane and I sobbed. Hot Sticks didn't stop me, nor did he raise a hoof to comfort me. I don't know if it was to prevent a panic attack or because he had no comfort. It was likely both.

After a few moments I heard Biblo's voice, filled with concern and a dangerous edge. "What's going on?"

I glanced up at her. She was giving Hot Sticks an accusatory stare. Her muscles were tense. She seemed prepare to unleash her fury on the unicorn. She was being fully protective, and all she knew was I was crying. A quick glance at the training grounds showed all the Medical Guard was watching hesitantly. A few of them stood close, waiting to see if they would be needed to restrain the Crystal Pony.

"Hot Sticks didn't do anything wrong," I said. "We have word from Starlight's Folly. Biblo, it isn't good."

Her continence changed immediately. She sat down and spread her forelegs in offer of a hug. I removed myself from Hot Sticks' mane and went into her embrace and continued my crying. Feeling my emotions, she wept on my shoulder as she smoothed my mane.

Hot Sticks stood up and let out a tired breath as he started to walk away.

"I will let Pearl give you the details," he said as he departed. "Not much is going to happen for the next few days. Meadowbrook arrived back in the temple just minutes ago, and was made aware of what has transpired at the same time I found out. She will likely want to see both of you. Take what time you two need to dry your tears. I will be speaking with my former mistress to try to catch her up to date in the meantime."

We gave no response as Hot Sticks left. The Medical Guard went back to training with the exception of the captain, who likely went to attend his Alicorn's needs. Biblo and I just sat in shared sorrow.

It took a long time to begin telling Biblo the details I knew. By the time I had, we were able to glance up to the balcony of my room to see a blue Alicorn, with an orange-red mane, gazing down at us silently. It was time to meet Meadowbrook.


***


Biblo and I  entered my room to meet Meadowbrook. Upon entering Biblo immediately prostrated herself. Apparently, she had regained her need to show reverence to Alicorns since she assaulted Pinkie Pie. Maybe she was trying to show she was on good behavior. I did not make any sort of gesture. My little talk from before gave me the impression that Alicorns really weren't that interested in it.

She was sitting patiently on the balcony, back turned to us, looking out over the courtyard. She surprisingly wore a green dress over her flank, and had a large amount of jewelry about her shoulders and neck, making her the most thoroughly clothed Alicorn I had yet met. Her orange-red mane hung loosely about her neck and back. Though it didn't have the ethereal quality of Luna's mane, it still was of equally impressive size as she was.

Also surprising was the presence of three Crystal Pony mares that were in her room. Acolytes perhaps? One yellow, one white, and one orange furred. The had extremely similar cutie marks, a tri colored shield, differing only in the mark in the center. Something seemed extra odd about them. You could feel the power of an Alicorn in an Alicorn's presence no matter how magically skilled or unskilled you happened to be. These three weren't Alicorns but they gave off the same type of presence. They seemed giddy with excitement and that made me nervous. I had an image in my head of them laughingly dissecting me.

"It is good to meet you little ones," Meadowbrook spoke to us in a motherly tone as she turned to face us. "I have heard a good deal about you Pearlwort and Bibulous Bottom. I spoke to Hot Sticks about you, and he spoke highly of you both. I have always found him a unicorn with a good judge of character, and was saddened when he choose to leave my direct service. If he calls you friend I welcome you to my temple, though you both seem to have been freeloading here for some time."

Biblo, still prostrate on the ground, let out a whimper. Perhaps wondering if she was going to get in trouble for said freeloading. Meadowbrook noticed it and gave a soft chuckle.

"Bibulous Bottom, please rise and get your muzzle off the floor, it is unsanitary to have your nose where every pony has been walking." Meadowbrook laughed.

"Yes you Holiness," Biblo straightened herself to attention quickly.

"I noticed that you were training with the Medical Guard," Meadowbrook continued, trying to not laugh at Biblo's eagerness to obey. "Were you intending to join my guard?"

"No your Holiness. I just wanted to learn how to better defend myself and Pearl," Biblo turned a deeper shade of pink as she answered.

"Well, that is commendable. I don't typically sanction violence, but having ponies eager to defend others is worthwhile," Meadowbrook turned to me to continue questioning. "Pearlwort, I noticed Bibulous Bottom called you Pearl. Do you prefer Pearl?"

"Yes, your Holiness." I answered as respectfully as I could.

"And you, Bibulous Bottom?" Meadowbrook asked Biblo while continuing to smile.

"I prefer Pearl too!" Biblo replied quickly. Then had her eyes go wide as she brought both forehooves up to her muzzle to cover her ridiculously timed admission of affection.

The three Crystal Ponies who had been sitting silently, couldn't hold back their laughter.

"Yes Bibulous Bottom," Meadowbrook smiled as she spoke. "I guessed that already. I meant do you prefer to be addressed a different way?"

"Biblo, your Holiness," Biblo replied, red faced. "I like being called Biblo. Bibulous Bottom takes too long to say, and there is a lot to say sometimes."

"It is a rather fun name to say in my opinion," Meadowbrook said. "But I will address you as Biblo. Now that I am addressing you both more personally, please drop the your Holiness. If you aren't directly in my employment, and not worshipers of mine, then just address me as Meadowbrook. Don't worry about any formalities, you wouldn't believe how tiring they get."

Biblo let out a sigh. I told her about meeting Pinkie Pie, Starlight Glimmer, and Luna. She shouldn't have been so high strung. I walked over to her, and gave her a hug to comfort her. I might be the more high anxiety one as of late, but I still could comfort her when anxiety got the best of her. The three Crystal Ponies let off a collective "aww," which made the two of us blush.

"Now that introductions have been made," she paused and glanced at the three Crystal Ponies, before resuming, "for the moment. I wanted to look you both over with my magic. I promise it will only be a moment, and that it won't hurt."

Biblo and I looked at each other. This is why we came along on this trip. We were here to be studied. It was finally time for us to be useful. We nodded and stood at attention.

Meadowbrook horn lit up with a blue light and enveloped Biblo. "It tickles!" Biblo giggled.

Meadowbrook seemed focused and waves of different shades of blue rippled through the aura that had enveloped my marefriend. They increased in intensity for a few moments before Meadowbrook let the spell dissipate.

"Well, there is good news and bad news," Meadowbrook told Biblo. "The good news is I found no trace of anything that could possibly be the affliction that was described. You have a clean bill of health, minus a few welts on your flank which I assume came from your training.

"And the bad news?" Biblo asked worriedly.

"There is no trace of any of the affliction that was described to me," Meadowbrook sighed. "Which means I can't study it any further from you."

"It is your turn now. I will be checking for possible infection," Meadowbrook said as she turned to me. "As well as trying to get a feel for the passive magic I am told you possess." I nodded and stood ready.

Again, her horn lit up and a blue aura enveloped me now. It did tickle a bit.

Meadowbrook had a slightly puzzled look on her face as she focused her magic. The spell started doing the same ripples of magic as what she had done with Biblo. Meadowbrook started looking more and more confused. I started getting more and more nervous likewise.

Meadowbrook's horn grew brighter and the ripples intensified. It was starting to get uncomfortable now, like being deep underwater. Meadowbrook did not let up. She just kept channeling greater and greater amounts of magic.

The pressure kept building and I felt panic setting in. This was worse than claustrophobia, I really was getting crushed. I found it harder and harder to breath. It went from being merely uncomfortable to hurting and within seconds after that painful. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't get away. I was trapped, and I was in pain. I screamed.

"Meadowbrook stop! You are hurting her!" Some pony yelled. I didn't know who it was, I just wanted to get away. I was screaming and struggling. I couldn't escape.

Suddenly there was a loud smashing sound and it the spell ended. I was released.

I just lay where I was trying to breath. Trying to calm myself. The normal things weren't helping. Nothing was helping. I was crying. I was choking because I couldn't breathe.

"Pearl! Listen to my voice. It's Biblo. You are okay. It is over. No pony is going to hurt you anymore. I am right here. I am going to protect you. I am sorry that happened, but I stopped it. Please listen to my voice. Try to look at me."

I looked up from my forehooves. Biblo was right there. Her face coated in worry. I crawled over to her and wrapped my forehooves around her. I could feel her very carefully brush my mane with her hoof.

I don't know how long I kept crying, but I was able to get control of my breathing. My lungs and throat hurt from the lack of air and all the crying. Biblo kept soothing me.

Eventually I looked around the room. Meadowbrook was crumpled up on the floor, out like a light. The three strange Crystal Ponies seemed to be dividing their attention between looks of concern in my direction, and glares of animosity at Meadowbrook. Biblo kept all her attention focused on me.

"What happened?" I said after I could finally manage to speak.

"What happened?!" The orange Crystal Pony of the trio yelled. "Meadowbrook kept putting more and more power into her spell and it was literally crushing you is what happened! We told her to stop, but she was so caught up in it she wasn't aware of anything else, including the fact she was possibly killing you! Biblo acted first though. Gave Meadowbrook a solid blow to her horn. Great right hook by the way."

"I couldn't let her hurt you," Biblo said with pained voice. "I promised to keep you safe. I don't care if she is an Alicorn. She was hurting you."

"Why?" Was all that I could respond.

"She wasn't even aware of what she was doing," the yellow one said. "It wasn't her being cruel on purpose. She was just so caught up in her spell that she couldn't think of anything else any more. It happens sometimes when you push yourself to your limits. You forget everything else but the need to continue pushing. She is going to be out cold for a little bit. A blow from a normal pony normally wouldn't impact her at all, but it made that spell end abruptly and the push-back from that knocked her out."

"But why was she throwing so much power into that spell to begin with?" Asked Biblo in frustration.

"We were watching what she was doing carefully," said the last of the trio. "We had heard that Pearl's cutie mark was able to counter Starlight's magic. That is why we came here to start with, before we heard that we were going to be needed in Harmony for full council. We don't typically come here much, we keep a low profile. But anyway, Pearl's cutie mark was doing the same to Meadowbrook's magic, and the dummy kept trying to push through it!"

My thoughts were getting clearer. I still felt weak and didn't have the energy to talk. Biblo's brushing of my mane felt so good. But I did wonder who these three really were. They may be Crystal Ponies, but they felt like Alicorns, and they acted like they could see what magic was doing. Plus, did they say something about being summoned to full council? I was too tired to ask.

"We are going to take Meadowbrook to her chambers and see about getting her awake again," the yellow one said. "She is going to have a doozy of a headache, but she deserves it for being so careless. Biblo, take care of your marefriend. We unfortunately are not done with her. The three of us will be needing to examine her as well. Meadowbrook should have let us take over examining as soon as she realized she was having trouble. We are going to going to chew her out for that."

"Who are you three?" Biblo asked, she might have been reading my mind. She was an empath.

"We will give proper introductions later," the white one answered while looking at her compatriots. "We are lesser Alicorns. We aren't really lesser in terms of less powerful, lesser Alicorns have about the same power as the other Alicorns. We just don't involve ourselves with ruling, worshipers, temples, or any of that. We like to keep a low profile, keeping ourselves disguised as normal ponies, so we won't draw attention to ourselves. We will talk more later, just take care of your marefriend for now."

And with that the orange one grabbed up Meadowbrook in her magic, even though she had no visible horn. The three of them, plus Meadowbrook, just popped out of existence with a quick flash and a sound of magic.

Biblo kept petting me. I just snuggled into her and relaxed. After a while the world went dark again as I drifted off to sleep in Biblo's lap.
> Chapter 9: Biblo's Abominable Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke with panic. I didn't know where I was. There were hooves on me. Was some pony holding me down? I needed to get free. I started trying to get away.

"Calm down Pearl. It is okay. I am right here. It is Biblo. It is me touching you. You can trust me. No one is hurting you."

I paused and took a moment to register the voice. Yeah, that sounded like Biblo. I looked around and saw her face. She had her body curled around me.

"Are you calmer now?" She asked me while smoothing my mane. She looked like she just woke up. "Not exactly how I intended you to get back to sleeping with me, but it is good to have you up against me again. I told you I would be able to feel your attacks coming on and help you."

I looked around a little, it was night, the room was dark. When had I fallen asleep? I couldn't remember.

"Try to get back to sleep," she continued. "You had an exhausting time, and you need to get your rest. Tomorrow we get to deal with more Alicorns." She paused, and I could feel her quietly laugh. "Hopefully things will go better this time. I now have assaulted two different Alicorns. I don't really want to work my way through assaulting the rest of the pantheon. Ponies might start thinking I am a bad pony."

I was still hazy, but the thought of any pony thinking Biblo was a bad pony seemed hilarious for some reason. The thought of Biblo assaulting an Alicorn was funny too. I laughed quietly. Biblo smiled and gave me a quick smooch on the side of face before settling back down. I was asleep again as well within seconds.




***




I awoke again fully alert. There wasn't any panic, but I seemed to be missing Biblo. I stood up, looked around, and found her by full length mirror that was hanging on one of the walls. She was brushing her mane and admiring herself in the mirror. She caught sight of me in the mirror, and I could see her smile into the mirror.

Still looking herself over she spoke. "Hot Sticks came by a few minutes ago. I told him you were still sleeping, and that I would see to it you eat and were okay. Meadowbrook and those lesser Alicorns are still up in her chambers. You woke up on and off, but less frequently as it got later. How are you feeling?"

I felt alright all things considered. "I am feeling well. You look, and sound, like you are feeling well. I guess I didn't lash out in my sleep."

She kept on admiring herself, though she kept an eye on me in the reflection. "You tried once or twice early on. I was able to get you calmed down each time though. I am feeling great actually. I should still be grumbling about what happened yesterday, but I knew Meadowbrook wasn't thinking straight from when I..uh..interrupted her spell. I successfully defended you when you were in danger, which feels exhilarating. Lastly, I got to get back to being cuddled up with you for the night. I'm happy."

I smiled. "Well, you did good and were right. I guess you get bragging rights."

She gave me a mischievous grin. "Do you like what you see over here? This is the first time I have gotten to really look at myself in a mirror for a while, and I can't believe how toned and muscular I have gotten, “her eyes took on an excited look as she said this, then she launched into a hyper spree of sentences. "I was thinking of putting my hair in a braid, do you know how to braid manes and tails? I think I would look tougher with my mane in a braid. Please tell me you know how to braid! I am the warrior Crystal Mare, smiter of Alicorns, and defender of my princess! I need to look the part. Watch out world, the new and improved Biblo is here! Now with the new super-powerful punch action!"

I felt a little uncomfortable about her showing off her flank to me. But that entire realm of thought was difficult to think about. She did look very good, and it was good seeing her this confident and self-assured. Made up for the fact I really wasn't feeling so confident and self-assured lately.

Biblo noticed my discomfort and paused. "Can I get a hug?"

I nodded permission and offered up myself for a hug. She held me in her forehooves for a moment, getting a feel for my emotions. She broke it with a sigh. "I wish you could feel what I am feeling as easily sometimes. I could give you back your self-confidence by sharing some of mine...," she paused, and put a forehoof up to her muzzle. Something had occurred to her. She looked at my cutie mark for some reason and scrunched up her muzzle, then went back to thinking. She had an idea about something and was trying to work it out in her head.

"Want to talk to me about what you’re thinking?" I asked. "Maybe I can help you figure it out."

"I thought I might have something, but you being all super-resistant to magic makes it not work," she said with a huff of disappointment.

"Tell me about it anyway," I replied. " Maybe I can help figure out a way to make it work."

She started explaining. "Crystal Ponies can share whatever magic and feelings they have stored up in them to other ponies. When we do it gets stronger, like we powered it up. I can't on my own normally, I have tried before, but I need help to do it. I would need a focus stone. However, we might be able to get one of those from some pony here. I must believe it would be no problem for all these Alicorns to get me a focus stone. So, I was thinking I could share my confidence and feelings with you that way and you could feel better, but then I figured that it might not work with you because of your cutie mark. That it would end up getting blocked. If you blocked an Alicorn's magic being used on you then you definitely could block my magic being used on you."

"Maybe it would be different. You absorb from me fine. Perhaps my magic wouldn't stop it," I told her as I was thinking it over myself.

She shook her head. "I don't think so. What I absorb doesn't involve me doing anything to you. I just pick up what radiates out of you. This is different. This is me pushing what is in me into you," her ears dropped. "Plus, it is kind of a big deal to do what I really want to do. I want to not just share my feelings I want to take out your bad feelings and memories. Even if I could do it somehow with your cutie mark it isn't necessarily a good thing. There are a lot of rules to me being allowed to do it even if I can do it."

"Um, legal rules?" I asked. She nodded in response. There must be something that could be considered really bad about this. "So, what are ponies' concerns about this kind of spell."

She looked a bit ashamed. She looked down and rubbed her hooves together. "It kinda-sorta might be considered mind control. I would be taking something in your head and taking it away. I wouldn't ever think of doing something like that normally, but you have all this bad stuff there now. Stuff that is hurting you. I thought, maybe, I could just make it go away. But I am think I should be ashamed of thinking of asking you to do it. Ponies think of it like rape, except its your personality. Forget I thought about it. I was really desperate for something that could help. It was a bad idea."

I was a little stunned that she would think of doing something that ponies might think of that way. I trusted her though, she wouldn't do anything to hurt me further. I decided to ask a few more questions.

"You said there are rules. So, it is allowed sometimes?" I asked.

She gave me a look that indicated she really did want me to forget I brought it up, but she did answer. "Yes, it can be done with permission. There must be permission, it can't even be done to a criminal without their permission. With that permission it must be made completely clear what is being taken out of the pony's head. All of this must be witnessed by multiple ponies of authority, and they have to interview whoever is having their mind altered to confirm they are not being pressured or forced to do this. It is a big deal. If a Crystal Pony does this to another pony without following every rule then they face not just dungeons, but execution."

Execution? "Rapists don't even get executed. Most murderers don't even get executed. Why do they execute ponies for this?" I asked.

"It is considered a type of mind control," she said miserably. "Please, just forget I brought it up. It was a horrible thing for me to think of, please don't be mad at me. I was being stupid again. Worse than stupid, I was being a bad pony thinking of it. I'm sorry."

She was crying now. I should probably be horrified she had even suggested something like this, but I understood she was desperate for a way to make me better. I was desperate for a way too. It was tempting, really tempting. Something that could just make it all go away.

I finally came over and gave her a hug. "I am not mad at you. I am going to think about that. I might know a way to get around my cutie mark if I decide that is something I want you to do to me. I am not mad at you for thinking of it. If I choose to have you do it then it is by my choice. What happened to me wasn't my choice. How it has been impacting me since wasn't my choice. Let me learn more about it on my own, and let's keep trying other things in the meantime. I am not going to dismiss any option that might help me."

"Are you going to tell other ponies about it?" She asked with worry.

I gave her a kiss. "If you are worried about how ponies will think of you I will pass it off as my idea when asking questions. Don't worry."

She didn't look much less worried but she nodded. This was just a final option if nothing else worked. It had been just a few days. Hot Sticks said this would take a long while to get better. I grimaced and also recalled him saying it might never get better. I couldn't live like this forever.

A light knock at the door broke up that line of thought. Hot Sticks entered in. He looked us both over and said. "Well, you are looking healthy at least, Pearl. Any side new symptoms after what happened yesterday?"

I shook my head. "No, I have only been awake a few minutes though. All I have done so far is talk with Biblo, so it is hard to say for sure."

Hot Sticks looked at Biblo and spoke to her. "Is everything alright? You were in much higher spirit earlier when I came by. Is Pearl having problems you noticed?"

Biblo shook her head. "Nothing new. She woke up a few times in the night, but she is okay. I haven't gotten to get her food yet. I got caught up worrying about her. Um, do you think you could take Pearl to get something to eat without me. I need to take care of something in here."

Hot Sticks arched an eyebrow. "In here? You rarely give up time to be by Pearl's side. What do you need to do in here? Is something bothering you?"

She shook her head. "No, just need to take care of something private."

"If you need to just go to the bathroom we can wait for you, right outside. I wanted to talk with both of you about what happened yesterday," Hot Sticks replied.

Biblo turned a red with embarrassment. "No, I don't need to take care of that, not yet anyway. This is private things, that a mare might do, in her bedroom, when she is feeling certain ways."

Hot Sticks still looked confused. I was confused too. I spoke to her. "If you are feeling upset about something I could stay here a bit and comfort you."

Biblo was colored purple now. "No! No, don't need you to do that. It is really private," biting her lip she looked at Hot Sticks and rolled her eyes. She walked over to him and whispered something too low for me to hear in his ear. Hot Sticks turned a decidedly redder tint as well then too.

"Pearl," he said. "Biblo will catch up with us in a few minutes. Let's get you something to eat."

Okay. What was Biblo willing to tell Hot Sticks but not me? Did I upset her about something? Was she mad about me for something? I did as requested and followed Hot Sticks out of the room.

After putting a little distance between the room and us I asked Hot Sticks. "Did I do something to upset her?"

Hot Sticks turned red again. "No, upset is definitely not what she is feeling right now, or angry, or anything of that type."

"Then why did she tell you and not me what the issue was if it was a mare problem?" I asked.

He stopped and looked at me. "You take it to your grave that I told you if I tell you. Agree?" I nodded. "She just spent the night curled up with you. She has strong feelings about you she can't act on. What do you think she might be doing, with a few minutes safely to herself, right now?"

I had to think about it for a moment. It finally dawned on me what was being talked about, and why I was the one being left out of the loop. It was my turn to turn purple now.

"Oh."

The temple had a dining hall that was stocked at all times with various fruits and pastries. They also had staff available who would make specific orders, and were able to accommodate just about anything; hence I got sardines on request. The hall had many rectangular tables, with benches that could hold multiple ponies as seating. The Medical Guard had a few of its members eating, along with a few of the temple staff. Hot Sticks and I took an apple each and sat down at a table by ourselves.

Hot Sticks took a bite of his apple and talked about what was going to happen today. "Today you are going to be in the hooves of the Crusaders. Unfortunately, I don't know much about them. They are lesser Alicorns, and lesser Alicorns tend to be a bit of a mystery. Lesser Alicorns tend to be loners for the most part, and they don't involve themselves, unless called upon by the Twilight Princess, in the affairs of ruling the Twilight Realm. Lessers try to maintain normal pony lives despite being as powerful as the other Alicorns."

They seemed very different from the other Alicorns I had met so far. Talking to other Alicorns had a certain formality to it, even when they dropped the formalities, they were ponies used to being obeyed. Pinkie Pie had been a bit more casual, but still held a commanding presence. These Crusaders still had that sense of power about them, but felt more like normal ponies too.

Hot Sticks continued. "I do know that these three spend almost all their time together. They may be very different from the other Alicorns, but they are scarily similar to each other. Ponies personalities rub off on one another over time when they spend a great deal of time together. These three have spent thousands of years closer to each other than any of the greater Alicorns are with each other."

"So, they agree and disagree with each other on everything?" I asked.

"It's a bit more than that with them," Hot Sticks replied. "It is like dealing with one pony. If you address one, another will just as likely reply as if you addressed them. It is hard to explain, and I am doing a poor job of it. You will see for yourself."

I accepted that. "What will they be doing with me? I don't want any more pushing the limits of my cutie mark, no disrespect intended to your old mistress."

He looked saddened. "I do apologize for that. I told her about the effects of your cutie mark, but she apparently didn't comprehend how resistant to magic you are. Alicorns almost never encounter anything that can thwart their magic."

I could mentally forgive her. Psychologically I wasn't sure it would be so easy. "Biblo said Meadowbrook wasn't thinking. She already seems to have forgiven her somewhat."

Hot Sticks smiled at that and continued. "I am glad. As for what the Crusaders will do differently, I think they will do something like what Starlight Glimmer did to you when she worked magic on you."

"They are going to take my cutie mark off!?" I was horrified. When Starlight Glimmer did it, she only did it for a moment. I didn't really get time to think about what happened. Taking a cutie mark off seemed like ripping off a limb, or removing a major organ. It was part of you.

Secretly, I was also taken aback because it was part of the solution to how to make Biblo's idea work. The timing of having some pony doing it, this soon after I was wondering if I could have Starlight Glimmer do that again, was a little unnerving. I wasn't going to mention anything to Hot Sticks about that idea though. Biblo had indicated that her idea was not something most ponies would approve of, and I still needed to find out more about what it entailed. If I didn't find other options first.

"I am told they are the preeminent experts on all things cutie mark related," Hot Sticks assured me. "It would only be for a few minutes. Just for them to study it."

"Are we discussing some other Alicorn doing something to violate Pearl?!" Biblo could be heard growling. Hot Sticks and I both turned to see the pink pony walking up. She looked ready to enact further violence on Alicorns.

"Nothing she hasn't had done before without negative side effect," Hot Sticks addressed her. "This isn't like Meadowbrook. These ponies know what they are doing with cutie marks. Meadowbrook is the ultimate expert on healing, but her knowledge in this field is very limited. She was working against something she didn't understand. I am sad to admit Alicorn pride might have caused her to not admit leaving things to others."

Biblo calmed a little but still seemed ruffled. "They just better not hurt us again."

The wording struck me as odd. "Us?" I asked.

My asking that made caused her to look like she had just said something she shouldn't have revealed. With some resignation she answered me. "When I am touching you, a lot comes over. I don't get the memories or anything, but the emotion is there. When you were having your panic attacks last night I felt it like it was my own each time. I had to focus on calming you. As long as I did that it was alright. But if I didn't have that to do I think I might have reacted the same. It hurt me too."

I should have realized that would happen. She had seemed calm, extremely calm actually. I don't know how she could do that. Set the emotions aside like that and focus. Maybe it was because she was just used to feeling others’ emotions.

"Are you sure that you want to keep curled up with me?" I asked with concern. "I know you really want to, but I don't want you getting the full brunt of that out of nowhere in the night."

She would not give ground on that. "Being in contact with you is important to me. I want to know when you are hurting, so I can be there. I am going to be just as hurt seeing it happen, as feeling it happen. I am a better pony for my contact with you."

Her voice fell. "I think that if I just kept watching it would be far worse. I get angry a lot since what happened to you last week. I worry that it will consume me sometimes. I am not used to being so angry. Feeling what you feel about me, what you think of me keeps those things more who I am. I have really strong emotions, and when bad emotions start happening a lot, I need to fill myself with good things. Despite what has happened, you are still a really good pony, and me being in contact with you regularly keeps me a good pony too. It's like I am taking part of who you are and making it part of me."

"Biblo you are a good pony," I said. "I want you to be with me, but you don't need to be with me to be that."

"I do," she said. "It has been what, two weeks? Two weeks since I arrived in Starlight's Folly this clueless filly. I have gotten a lot from you since. I have never gotten so much emotions and feelings from a pony before, not in such little time anyway. And I got better for it. I got braver, more assertive, more aware in general, and more caring, all in a short period of time. All because I was taking in so much of you. It doesn't replace me, but it enhances me. I don't think it is normal. I don't know any other Crystal Ponies like me, so I can't ask. But it has made me better. Then stuff happened, and I got so angry. You don't understand how angry, and that anger is all me, not something I got from you. I don't like it. So, I focus it to protecting you, and I keep taking in all that good stuff from you."

Hot Sticks looked concerned as he spoke to Biblo. "This seems like it is unhealthy. Like you are using Pearl as a crutch for your own problems. It also seems like you are trying to lose your own identity and personality in favor of Pearl's."

She shook her head in denial. "It doesn't work like that, it is more an amalgamation," she paused as Hot Sticks and I raised an eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that! I have been reading, trying to get smarter. Anyway, I am not sure if how fast I develop changes is normal, but it isn't unnatural for this to happen to a pony like me. I am just combining what's me with Pearl's feelings and emotions and making something more. It might seem weird to you, but you aren't a pony that is largely defined by being an empath. I can't help but do this with other ponies no matter what. What I can help is who I gain the most from. I choose to be with Pearl."

A similarity popped into my mind. "It is kind of like with the Alicorns. They become more like each other because they have spent so much time together. Their personalities becoming a mix of each other."

Hot Sticks considered it. "I am not sure it is the same thing, that is a bond formed by long association. This is something more symbiotic."

"Well, aren't symbiotic bonds good?" Biblo asked defending herself. "Both parts helping the other. I am becoming a better pony and doing it in the direction I choose to, Pearl has me then protecting her. We both get to share affection for one another."

Hot Sticks still seemed doubtful. "I suppose. This is something unfamiliar to me. I would have to learn more about it from more sources, and through watching it. Don't think I am against your bond. I am just uncertain really what to make of it. I am skeptical, but that doesn't mean this is bad. You can check my feelings if you want to confirm it."

Biblo walked over and touched his foreleg with one of her hooves and held it there for a moment. Then she smiled and nodded while removing her hoof.

"No hug for Hot Sticks?" I asked.

She looked embarrassed. "I am trying to limit my hugs to other ponies. As I realized how much I was getting from you, I decided it might be a good idea to limit how much I was getting from every pony else," she got an even more embarrassed look. "Actually, I realized how much I was absorbing that way by accident with another pony. The nurse that first was taking care of me when I first got here got a good bit of hugs from me, and I am afraid I picked up some of her traits as a result. Well, one at least."

That was a bit of a tease. "So what trait is that?" I asked.

"Um, she had a lot of confidence and needs in one area. That combined with how I already felt about you..plus your feelings in that area mixed in," she took a deep breath. "Okay, I feel really sexy and really horny, and at the same time weird about feeling sexy and horny. Let's not talk about it, and please don't laugh at me for it."

I wasn't going to laugh at her. She said she had absorbed my insecurities too, which were legion now. Combine that with the complete opposite from this unnamed nurse likely added up to a muddled mess. Being a strong empath had its downsides.

Hot Sticks asked a question that hadn't occurred to me. "How did you manage not to absorb lots of personality traits from others before coming to Starlight's Folly?"

"My absorbing doesn't really work with other Crystal Ponies, I feel things still, but don't take it in the same. I did absorb a lot from my mom though. Most of her personality actually. I am exactly like my mom, or at least I was before I started absorbing from Pearl. My mom just took off one day from the hive without a care in the world to have an adventure somewhere she had only heard a little about. She is also very excitable and energetic. My dad knew about how things work with ponies like me, but I never really paid attention until I noticed things changing. If I am constantly around non-Crystal Ponies, this is going to happen to me no matter what. I can choose who I spend my time around though."

I gave her my support. "It is just like any pony. You become like the company you keep. Except the change happens faster in this case. I understand."

Hot Sticks nodded. "That feels like a more acceptable answer. I won't push you on the issue any further. We have other things to discuss, things pertinent to why we are here."

Biblo hopped up on the bench where she could have her flank touching mine, trusting I would have no objection to contact after our discussion. I had no objections, though I likely would be spending time worrying about what kinds of personality traits she might pick up from me with time. It was her choice, and she was still a mix of her and me, not some pony that would become my reflection.

We would be meeting with the Crusaders soon. That was the thing to focus on now.

 
> Chapter 10: Crusaders and the Dynamics of Immortality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We went to a private area at a higher the central part of the temple complex. There were a few acolytes about, but no temple staff. This was a place the public was not allowed.

We were let into a smaller room to the side by some of the acolytes who waited outside. Inside were plenty of cushions to sit in various colors, but little other decoration. There were no windows only the single door that we entered through. On three of the cushions sat three very clear Alicorns, one yellow, one orange, and one white. They had dropped their Crystal Pony disguises.

They gave us a chorus greeting as we entered. "Hello," before breaking into speaking individually.

"We are glad you are looking well after yesterday, Pearl," the white one said.

"We apologize we didn't act faster to put a stop to it," the orange one said right as the other finished speaking.

"We will make sure nothing like that happens with us. If something doesn't seem right we will stop immediately," the yellow finished.

I looked the three over. "Um, what are your names, or do I just call you yellow, orange, and white Crusaders?"

They laughed together, then they spoke up one at a time.

"We are very casual, unlike the Alicorns here in Harmony," the yellow one said. "Just call me Bloom."

"Call me Scoots," the orange one said.

"Call me Sweetie," the white one finished.

"She better not be calling you Sweetie," Biblo grumbled possessively. This got another laugh from the trio.

"It is just the shortened version of my name," Sweetie laughed. "I have no interest in Pearl that way."

"We understand you are a hybrid," Bloom said to Biblo. "If it makes you feel better you can touch us and confirm we mean what we say. We understand if you are a bit untrusting after yesterday."

"Again, we are really sorry that happened," Scoots said.

Biblo shook her head at the offer. She apparently had no interest in getting any further reads on Alicorns. I wondered what she felt when she punched Meadowbrook.

"If there aren't any more concerns we would like to get right to work," Sweetie said to me. "We have been really eager to look over your cutie mark since we heard about it."

"If you could just make yourself comfortable in front of us," Bloom said. It suddenly occurred to me that they always took the exact same turns speaking. It was kind of weird. They were informal, but the turn-based speech from the trio was weird.

I sat on a purple cushion in front of the three. Biblo and Hot Sticks sat on some cushions a short distance away. Time to get this over with.

"Can you turn to one of your sides, so we can get a clear look at your cutie mark?" Scoots asked.

I adjusted and the three of them stood up and got up close to examine. It made me nervous having three Alicorns so close. They were full Alicorn size now too, which made them each at least twice my height.

"Some sort of flower," Sweetie observed.

"I would assume that is what a pearlwort bloom looks like," Bloom replied. "We need a botany book."

Out of nowhere such a book popped into existence in front of Scoots. Said Alicorn promptly opened it with her magic, flipped through a few pages, and started reading. "It says here self-pollinating plant. Can survive in harsh climates without aid of insects or birds to carry seeds or pollen. Can spread at a rapid pace in less harsh environments giving it a reputation as a weed." I really didn't like being referred to as a weed.

"Well, survivability and resilience is the base talent, so that makes sense," Sweetie said.

"It doesn't explain the magic resistance though," Bloom said putting her muzzle extremely close to my mark while looking.

"Makes me wonder how she would do if ponies weren't so hostile to her though," Scoots added. "It says the plant spreads rapidly in less harsh environments."

"Unfortunately, not something we can test now," Sweetie said.

"Perhaps something we can follow up on in the future," Bloom said hopefully.

"Think it is time to make with the magic," Scoots announced. Then she made the botany book vanish from existence. She must be teleporting it to and from some other location. The other two nodded in agreement to her announcement.

Sweetie turned to Biblo and Hot Sticks. "I am going to explain what should happen here, so you don't get upset. We will be removing Pearl's cutie mark for about one minute. When we are done we will release it and it should go immediately back to her flank. While it is unattached from her she body will respond a certain way. It should not be painful. She will dim in color and seem more washed out. She will feel tired. She will also have a strong sense of loss while it is off. All of this will go away instantly when the cutie mark returns."

"If something goes unexpected we will immediately release the cutie mark to return to her," Bloom continued. "If we see any sign of pain or anything else that doesn't seem normal we will end this right away. There will not be a repeat of yesterday."

"Do you have any questions or objections?" Scoots finished asking.

Hot Sticks nodded his acceptance. Biblo took an extra second and looked unhappy when she nodded hers as well.

Sweetie turned to me. "Pearl, do you have any concerns, questions, or objections? If you are unwilling to do this, we understand. Having your cutie mark removed, even for a minute, can be an extremely scary experience. We understand you have been through a lot lately and we won't make you do this if you really don't want to. We can also put it off to a later date if you want."

I considered whether I wanted this delayed and couldn't see where waiting would make it any better. I did have a question though.

"Why do you need to even remove my cutie mark to study it?" I asked. "Can't you study it without removing it from my flank?"

Bloom gave me a reassuring smile as she answered. "Cutie marks disperse as much magic as needed through their owners’ bodies when attached. When they are removed they can't act, but they start pushing off magic at full strength in the immediate area around them, looking for their owner. It is when we can get a read on how much power a cutie mark actually has. It doesn't tell us exactly what it does, we have to learn that through observing you, but we can tell how powerfully it can do whatever that thing happens to be." I nodded my understanding to this.

Scoots picked up explaining. "We will divide up the workload. Bloom will be measuring the mark's power. I will be running a quick scan of you just to see what your body is doing in your mark's absence. Sweetie will be holding the mark still and keeping an eye for anything that might go wrong. We are experts at this and have done it hundreds, if not thousands, of times. We have encountered incredibly powerful marks before as well, so we are prepared for that. Only Starlight Glimmer, among the other Alicorns, knows how to do this and she can't do it as well since she would have to divide her attention doing operate things. The fact she has done so with you before with no problem should hopefully reassure you that this will be safe."

I just wanted to get this over with. "I am ready. Do what you need to do. If Biblo punches you, please don't throw her in a dungeon." Biblo gave me a flat look for my comment. Then she gave the Crusaders a look that said she would do it in an instant.

The Crusaders collectively rolled their eyes and settled in around me at equal distances. I could see Bloom and Sweetie, Scoots was behind me. Sweetie's horn lit up in a silvery glow showing that they were starting.

My mark glowed silver and then just popped off both flanks. The two Frank's marks seemed to fuse together and go in between Bloom and Sweetie. I could feel the symptoms they described would happen right away. I could also see Biblo shifting her weight from hoof to hoof nervously. Hot Sticks was right outside my field of vision, so I had no idea what his reaction to this was. I didn't know if it was okay to move or not, so I just focused on watching Bloom, Sweetie, and my mark. If I kept focused on them then I might not think of how wrong I felt.

Sweetie was focused on me watching for any trouble. She spoke to me. "You are doing great Pearl. Better than I expected. This will be over quick, don't worry. Just keep doing what you are doing."

Bloom was focused on the mark. I noticed a faint orange glow about me which I guessed was Scoots doing the body scan. I could see Biblo giving a glare to the area behind me which I assumed was directed at Scoots. I was tempted again to look behind me to see what was prompting her to be the main subject of Biblo's ire. I kept my focus ahead though.

After what felt like an eternity it all stopped. My mark snapped back like it was launched by a slingshot. When it reconnected, I felt recharged and renewed. I turned finally to just check my flanks. It was back in place like it had never been gone. I could see relief on Biblo's face.

Bloom was smiling happily. "We rate mark power level on a scale of zero to five. Zero being it is broken somehow and not functioning, two is around average, five being the strongest level. You are a nice high five! We don't get many fives, maybe one every few decades. Plus, you are the first five we have had in centuries who has a passive talent. Most fives are unicorns with a talent for some particular field of magic. You should be proud!"

Scoots walked up to the other two from behind me and addressed the other two. "Um, girls? I think we need to discuss some things amongst ourselves for a moment. I noticed some things that I wasn't expecting." The other two raised an eyebrow each at her, then nodded. Something unexpected seemed bad for some reason, and Scoots tone indicated it was something of concern. I felt some anxiety build up.

Sweetie turned to the three of us briefly and said. "Give us a moment to confer," and then the three of them walked to the far side of the room in a loose huddle to talk quietly together.

Biblo finally couldn't take it anymore and came up to me embracing me in a hug. Hot Sticks walked up to me as well and gave me a smile I assumed was meant to reassure me.

I kept my eyes on the Crusaders. One of them had conjured a new book into existence that the three were now consulting. I caught the title on the spine of the book as they shifted it between each other. The spine of the book read Cellular Biology. They were talking quietly one to another and taking turns pointing at things in the book. Was something wrong with the cells in my body? Worry rose some more and Biblo started brushing my mane with a forehoof.

The book the Crusaders were consulting disappeared and they nodded agreement to each other. Then Bloom turned to us, as the other two watched, to ask and asked a question. "Thank you for your patience. We unfortunately are going to have to be a few more minutes. We must consult about something with Meadowbrook."

"I don't want her doing anything to Pearl again," Biblo objected. "I understand she wasn't thinking, but I don't want her laying her magic on Pearl again still." Biblo was glaring challenge at the Crusaders.

Scoots responded. "We understand your feelings, and she is still unable to leave her chambers anyway. She is still recovering from the feedback of her spell collapsing. We will be going quickly to her ourselves and then back. We can show her what we found so she has no need to look herself, but we do need her opinion on what we found. She should have had us deal with things when she had trouble with your cutie mark, but we are not foolish enough to try to interpret what we observed in your body without consulting her."

Anxiety was still building, and I tried to focus my mind on the feel of Biblo's hoof moving through my mane trying to sooth me. "Is something wrong with me? Am I sick with something and my mark is just preventing any pony from seeing it?"

Sweetie smiled. "We don't think anything is wrong. What we are concerned about isn't really a bad thing, at least we don't think. Meadowbrook is getting consulted because she will be able to tell if we are right about what we are guessing or not, but we don't want to tell you about what we guess until we have confirmed with her that we aren't mistaken about how what we saw impacts you. It will take only a minute or two more, we are basically just asking her if we are right or not about our theory on how this works."

I wasn't happy, but I nodded that it was alright. Immediately after Scoots disappeared with a teleport out of the room.

I turned to Hot Sticks as we waited for the Crusader's return. Keeping my voice down I asked, "How did you determine I wasn't sick back in Starlight's Folly?"

"I was able to observe the blood cells of the infected using magic on samples," he began. "They behaved a particular way. I did the same tests on your blood after I drew it from you. Yours did not show that behavior."

"Do you think that I caught whatever it was every pony else got and my magic just kept it dormant?" I asked.

Hot Sticks shook his head. "I would have seen it in your blood after drawing it from you. Yours magic didn't carry over through your drawn blood remember? If it was there it would have gone active in your blood samples since they were separated from your body."

So, I wasn't a carrier for the ailment. I guess that was good news.

Scoots appeared again suddenly and began consulting excitedly with the other two. I couldn't make out what was being said, but they obviously thought it was big. After a moment the nodded agreement again and walked back over to us.

Bloom spoke up. "We are reasonably sure of what we discovered. It is not something we have seen outside of certain circumstances before, and never in a typical pony. It’s something that we would see in something like can Alicorn and some other things. Your cells are doing something unusual because of your cutie mark."

Scoots continued the explanation. "Cells are constantly dying and replicating. This is true of everything living, including Alicorns. When they do this over time, the new cells become less and less well replicated as you get older. That is why everything starts breaking down as it ages. Your cells don't show this cellular destabilization. Your cutie mark keeps them replicating without this happening. At least when your mark is on you, when we took it off we could see it start to happen the way it should. But there was no sign that it had been destabilizing normally before that. It is really remarkable seeing this in a normal pony."

Biblo looked confused, unable to follow the implications of the explanation. Hot Sticks apparently could follow it and looked shocked. I was more in the same camp with Biblo. So, I had healthy cells? That was good, but I didn't see what the big deal was.

Sweetie looked at me and finished the explanation. "Your cells aren't the same as our cells, but in this aspect, they are very similar. This is what keeps us from aging. In terms of getting older you aren't going to. Your cells are going to keep maintaining the same level of health. Pearl, in terms of growing old and dying, you are effectively immortal."


***


Biblo and I went out to the courtyard after leaving the Crusaders. Hot Sticks said he wanted to talk with Meadowbrook about a few things and went off to attend to that. I really didn't know how to feel about what I had just learned. How does any pony process being told you aren't ever going to die of old age? Strangely, it felt like being told that I only had a few months to live.

We sat silently watching the Medical Guard training. Every one of those ponies I was going to outlive if tragedy didn't kill me. That was another horrifying thing, I wasn't told I would live forever, I was told I would not die of old age. I would assuredly be killed by something else at some point. Being told you would meet be murdered, or have an accident that would kill you at some point was pretty scary. I wasn't having a panic attack, but I was having an existential crisis.

Biblo soothed me by running her hoof through my mane. She may be have been growing highly aggressive with others concerning me, but she was increasingly focused on trying to make me feel calm when we were alone. She was highly protective and highly possessive of me, not characteristics I would have ascribed to her a little over a week ago.

"I'm not upsetting you, am I?" Biblo asked after reading the stray emotions about her.

"I am not upset with you," I said. "Just a passing thought about how much you changed in a short period of time. But we both know all the reasons for that. More upset about the prospect of immortality. It seems like a pretty depressing existence."

"Maybe," she said. "I still haven't figured out how I feel about it. It could be fun seeing the world change over time, having the time to learn anything, do anything, or visit anywhere."

"It would also be lonely and sooner or later something is going to kill me," I replied back.

"You are forgetting something," she chuckled, "You'll have me. I will keep you safe and keep you from getting lonely."

Except I would outlive her. I would still be young when she was a forgotten memory.

"Biblo you are going to die someday," I said sadly. "So is Hot Sticks. So is every pony I ever met except the Alicorns. I guess I should make sure I am on good terms with them, only ponies who aren't going anywhere."

"You are forgetting," she replied, twisting up her muzzle and rolling her eyes. "Your magic is what is making you immortal. I absorb your magic constantly. So as long as I am with you, then I am immortal too, silly pony. I am surprised that didn't occur to you. I bet Hot Sticks realized it."

I gazed wide eyed at her. I hadn't thought of that, and it really should have occurred to me. It also meant that she literally lived off my love and affection. Not right now, but long term she needed it to survive. If I ever left her it would be a death sentence for her. I wasn't sure if I should be happy at the prospect of her company for eternity, or horrified that I held her life in my hooves.

"Hey! No worrying about me. I trust you to never leave me. You are a good pony," she booped me on the nose with one of her forehooves to punctuate her statement.

"What if I become a horrible pony?" I asked. "Ponies aren't meant to live forever, and ponies change over time. Forever is a really long time. A lot can change with me over all that time."

"Well then," she said, taking on a serious look. "I guess I will become a bad pony too. I am not leaving you, and I pick up your emotions and traits."

I didn't want to pursue that train of thought of becoming a pair of diabolical ponies over time right now. The thought I would not lose Biblo to old age was at least somewhat comforting. We would be two filly-fooler mares out in the world for the rest of time. I had taken on a bigger commitment with being Biblo's marefriend than I originally thought possible.

"I wonder if we will become like the Crusaders," I said. "Spending so much time together it is like you aren't dealing with separate ponies anymore."

"Maybe, I figure my personality would get to be an almost perfect mirror to yours eventually," she replied. Then a thought occurred to her and she paused in her brushing. She looked at me slyly and grinned. "We are going to be together till death parts us. Does this make you my wife instead of just marefriend?"

Okay, today had just pushed its weirdness level to the max. I wasn't prepared for any of this. My vision went fuzzy for a moment, I felt like I was burning, and it was getting hard to breath. Panic was setting in. Biblo embraced me right away and resumed petting my mane.

"Calm down, calm down, I was just joking," she pleaded as she soothed me. "Please don't be upset with me. I know this is all too much for you right now. I shouldn't have said that right now. It is all that nurse's stuff that I absorbed. She has such a naughty personality!"

It took her a few minutes to get me calmed down. I noticed that the Medical Guard made a point of ignoring what was going on with us, for which I was grateful. I let my mind drift to various subjects.

"Biblo," I began. "Do you think you sitting here comforting me this way is partly having that nurse's traits as well?"

"Maybe," she replied. Her ears were low. "It is hard to tell sometimes where things come from. Whether it was already part of me or not. Once it is part of me then it is completely part of me. It isn't them anymore, it is me. Some of it I can figure out where it came from, but other things it isn't so clear."

"Are there things about you that you have picked up lately that you don't like?" I asked in a low voice.

She thought about it for a moment. Giving a lot of consideration to the question before she answered.

"Again, it isn't easy for me to answer. It's me now. It is easy to say what I miss more. I feel like I am getting farther and farther from my mom's personality, and that makes me sad. I used to be bubblier, now I feel like I am serious a lot more often, and I am more grumpy. I didn't used to get so grumpy. I don't like thinking of myself as grumpy, but I would rather be grumpy if I need to be in order to protect you. Plus, I got some specific traits, for sure, from that nurse. I would like those traits, maybe, if it weren't for all the stuff I get from you about those same things, I just wish that was one way or another, and not so confused. I also worry I might be getting boring too."

"i worry you might be getting overly obsessed sometimes," I said. "Like you are completely lost in trying to be things for me."

"I'm sorry," she pouted. I gave her a hug to comfort her.

"When this trial thing is over I want to do that thing you suggested this morning," I told her.

She tensed up. She quickly looked around to see if any pony was in earshot, then she whispered back.

"Are you sure? I think the reason I even suggested it was wanting you better for selfish reasons. We can try to figure out a different way of helping you," she looked at me seriously. "This is a big deal. I would be taking away part of your memories, part of your personality, part of your feelings. It can't be put back."

"Why would I want to remember that?" I asked. "I have to keep it in my head until this trial is over. They might need me to testify or something, but once it is over with I want it out of my life. I don't want to keep feeling panicked and scared all the time. I don't want you feeling that when I am going through that. It isn't just impacting me, it is impacting you. I am surprised it hasn't started giving you the same panic attacks. It isn't fair to either of us that it is there."

"I don't have a good answer why," she groaned. "It is a big deal, with lots of rules, for a reason. I would be messing with your mind! It could have other side effects that we don't realize. I don't want to accidentally hurt you."

I brought a forehoof up to the side of her face and touched it gently. She looked at me with barely held back tears.

"I am already hurting," I said simply. "I want to stop hurting, and I want you to stop hurting as a result. I also don't want to have to be treated like I am made of glass indefinitely, or transfer the reasons why I get treated like I am fragile to you either. I want it all gone."

"Whatever you want me to do I will do," she said hugging me tightly. "We can talk to the Crusaders, or some other Alicorns, to make arrangements. I am going to need to study carefully what I need to do. I only know it is possible for me to do it, not how to do it. I am also going to need to get a focus stone, I can't actually do anything with magic without one."

"Maybe I won't even need to be the one to do it," she added as an afterthought. “Maybe one of them can do it. I am going to need one of them anyway to help, though I really don't want to have them do it. This isn't me absorbing after all, this is me actively doing something to you, I will need them to take your cutie mark off in order to do it..if they agree to help at all, as I said this is a big deal."

I just continued to lay against her. Trying to imagine what it would be like. It was a silly question. How do you imagine not being able to imagine monsters in your head? It seemed the silliest thing to not be able to imagine, but at the same time it was hard to do. Better than trying to imagine eternity.

"What are you two discussing?" Hot Sticks asked, startling the both of us.

"Stop doing that!" Biblo fussed as she regained her composure. "Why do you always sneak up on ponies!" Hot Sticks gave her a confused look in response.

"I am fairly certain I have never done that to you before, Biblo," Hot Sticks replied. Biblo turned an darker shade of pink realizing she was voicing frustrations that didn't originate from her.

"Consider it her speaking for me," I said while giving my own glare. "She absorbs my feelings after all. You do that way too much. Is your cutie mark somehow related to sneaking or do you just practice a lot."

"It's one-hundred percent practice," he said with a smile. "I can give you lessons sometime if you want." I made a mental note to add a few more bucks to his side whenever I finally got around to it.

He sat down to the side of us and pulled out his pipe and lit it. Triggering a craving in me for my own pipe.

"I was consulting Meadowbrook about what the Crusaders had said," he explained. "I was curious about what kind of implications that might have on you two in terms of how the Alicorns treated you. I didn't figure you two really wanted to deal with that discussion right then."

"You get some points back you hedonistic unicorn," Biblo said. Hot Sticks raised an eyebrow at her and she silently cursed at herself. "Bloody Tartarus! I just did it again, didn't I? How does Pearl think highly of you and so rudely of you at the same time!"

"I just have that effect on mares. I guess," Hot Sticks deadpanned.

Biblo looked at him a second before she burst out laughing. Then she rose a forehooves to him offering a hoof bump. Hot Sticks smiled and clapped a forehoof against hers. I was totally lost on what just transpired, and I figured I didn't want to know. I instead brought attention back to what Hot Sticks had been up to.

"So you are guessing the same thing we are guessing, about Biblo absorbing my magic?" I asked. "You said implications on the two of us. What did Meadowbrook think about it?"

"You won't age any further if you have a constant supply of Pearl's magic in you," he said addressing Biblo instead of me. "For periods where it has dissipated out, you will age normally. There wouldn't be any dramatic attempts by your body to catch up. So, if you suddenly got caught off from her magic permanently, after say a few centuries your aging would resume normal progression then, and you could expect to live still another fifty to one-hundred years, based on how well you take care of yourself. Periodic dissipation is what seems the most likely scenario, which would result in extreme slowing in age. You would age normally while the magic is not there, but cease where you are when it returns. So, you would eventually grow old and die, but it would take an exceptionally long time. That is the most likely scenario." Biblo took this in and silently considered the implications.

I asked the more pressing question while she did. "And did Meadowbrook say what kinds of intentions they might have for the two of us?"

Hot Sticks blew a plume before replying. "She said she couldn't be sure. She considers you two a curiosity, but not some ponies that need to be tightly watched or controlled. She imagined that the greater Alicorns would keep tabs on you, but likely not do much else. They give similar treatment to the lesser Alicorns. You two aren't super powerful beings, so you would likely be less strictly watched by the greater Alicorns, and less frequently asked for help in affairs. They might contact you if they think you have extensive experience, or familiarity, with something they need aid in. However, beyond that they would mostly leave you to your own lives--unless you do something to make a nuisance of yourselves. The lesser Alicorns might take more active interest in you, just as fellow immortals out and about in the world, that is not certain though. Lesser Alicorns are more solitary, the Crusaders being an exception, and are mainly concerned most of the time with just keeping themselves from being revealed as Alicorns in the community they currently take up residence. They may care about you, they may just avoid you, lesser Alicorns' thoughts are often less predictable than the greater."

That was a relief. We would be free to live our own lives. Yeah, we would likely be spied on for the rest of our lives, but if spying was all that was happening I could live with that. Not that I had much choice in the matter of living.

"I guess I am going to do a bit more training now, since I am down here anyway," Biblo said, apparently deciding she wasn't going to put more thought into this for now. She separated from me and got to her hooves.

"I am trying to avoid picking up any feelings, and other stuff that I don't want," she smiled at me. "Pearl, I love you, but you are yearning for that stinky pipe, and I would rather not pick up that particular trait up. I am going to either break you of that habit, or absorb it myself at some point. I am going try my best to do the first option rather than the second."

"Awe," Hot Sticks laughed, "but how am I supposed to keep my hometown from becoming destitute?" Biblo blew a raspberry at him in response, before hoping down to the grounds.

I guess she was right about addiction being in force, but didn't make any move to go get my stuff. It was up in my room, and I didn't really feel like leaving where I was right this second.

"You might want to start doing some of those training exercises too," Hot Sticks spoke to me. "It could be be good for you. Your wing is healed up now, and you could stand to work it out with some light flying. Exercise in general would do you good. I'm saying that as both a doctor and a friend. It isn't just getting your body back in shape, it is doing something other than mope about. Moping about isn't going to help with your other hurts."

He must not have gotten to listen in on our conversation earlier. If he did he wasn't letting on that he had heard. I wanted to talk to the Crusaders again before I discussed it with any pony but Biblo. For the moment I wasn't going to let Hot Sticks know we had a plan for dealing with my other hurts.

He was probably right about needing to get back in shape, my wings felt stiff not only from healing, but from disuse. I might have well been a very funny looking earth pony with the lack of flying I had done in the last week. Getting back in the air again would feel good.

"I am sure you are right," I replied. "I will talk to the Guard captain about it later. See if he will let me do what Biblo started off doing, and see about doing some light flying exercises. I think I will try flying up to my balcony in a minute or so."

"Keep yourself busy," he said, accepting my response. "It is going to be at least four days till the trial, according to Meadowbrook, another week or so for the council to convene. It takes them a while to gather all the Lessers back for council, you have to track them down first, plus they have to make their departure from their homes in a way that doesn't draw suspicion of their true nature."

"In the meantime, we are just sitting," he continued in frustration. "Sitting with no further answers about Starlight's Folly. All of today has been world shaking for you and Biblo, but it doesn't help us at all with why we came here. I am going to try to get Stygian or Fluttershy to talk to us, see if there is anything they might have overlooked. I don't like not having answers about what happened. It is bad enough that we seem to have failed to save our town, but we still don't know what even happened. To be honest, it has been causing me to cry in private." His final admission was said quietly.

I got up and gave the stallion a hug. I was becoming such a touchy-feely pony. It wasn't just me rubbing off on Biblo, she rubbed off on me too. I could feel light tears on my shoulder. I gave him a light stroke on his mane to soothe him.
> Chapter 11: Golden Sunset
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As the Medical Guard was finishing up for the day Biblo pulled me aside to meet the captain, a white furred Pegasus, with a purple mane, by the name of Comet Glider. He was an older Pegasus, and light scarring could be seen on his muzzle and legs. Either the Medical Guard did indeed see direct combat, or he had served in some other guard previously. He smiled in greeting to us as we approached him. 

"Biblo, your progress continues to be astounding," he said with pride. "Two days ago you were getting your flank whipped soundly in the weapon training, and while you might not have won your matches today, you stood your ground remarkably well. I have never seen such dramatic improvement in such a short period of time. You should be proud. I wish you actually would join, you have the makings of an elite. Meadowbrook has been even inquiring about your progress."

Biblo beamed at the praise. Her posture straighten a bit as she did. 

"Thank you Comet," she replied in an upbeat tone. "I appreciate hearing that, but still not interested in a soldier job. I did want to ask if you could make similar arrangements for Pearl as you have for me. She hasn't been doing much for activity lately, and she is getting a little plump." 

I gave Biblo a level look, I wasn't getting fat. I gave my flank a considering look. Maybe it was getting a little better insulated. I was just being sensitive, she had just said plump. 

"You aren't as out of shape as Biblo here was," Comet said as he looked me over. "We don't typically train with Thestrals though. I have no problem with your tribe, but I would worry about some of the other members of the guard taking issues. I am not refusing you training with us, just telling you that you may face some issues which I may not be able to protect you against."

And we were back to dealing with this. Comet Glider seemed nice enough. I took him at his word that he personally had no issues with me, though that could be a farce. I wasn't really ready to deal with soldiers taking cheap shots at me while doing this, if I did it at all. However, Comet Glider hadn't finished speaking.

"Before you get discouraged, let me tell you that Meadowbrook has already anticipated you might ask to do so. She told me to let you know she would arrange for a personal trainer, one who won't tolerate prejudice towards you. Unlike Biblo here, you will get a specific pony working with you, though you will be still training on our grounds. If this is acceptable for you of course."

Meadowbrook was still watching out for me. I half wondered if this was also the start of Alicorns spying on me, but seemed fairly pointless to do here. Every pony was an agent of Meadowbrook here. I would just be grateful that my needs had been considered. 

"So will I be able to meet this personal trainer tomorrow then? " I asked.

"Actually you can meet her in just a moment," Comet Glider laughed. "I was told to get her right away if you decided you wanted to do some training. She is in the temple waiting. She arrived earlier today. If you want to do training I can go fetch her right away."

This was some pony specifically called in for me then. Meadowbrook couldn't have been sure I would do this could she? Perhaps she put Hot Sticks up to pushing me to do it. I felt mildly manipulated, but it wasn't a major concern. I did need to get back into shape. I nodded to Comet Glider my desire to do the training.

"I was told to additionally warn you that she is a Thestral as well," Comet Glider said with caution. "She is a bit odd for a Thestral, as you'll see. She is aware of your circumstances, and has no hostility towards you."

My stomach sank, and every limb stiffened. It would take more than words to assure me of that. Besides my mother, about the best treatment a fellow Thestral had ever shown me was ignoring me. I could see the fur on Biblo's back rise as she took a more defensive stance. 

"I will give her a chance. The first time she taunts me, or anything else hateful, I am done with her though," I said looking him in the eye to measure he understood me.

Comet Glider nodded, and took off to a balcony well away from my own. He was gone less than a minute when he came flying back with my trainer close behind. I guessed she really was just waiting.

My trainer was definitely no Thestral I had ever met. She was huge, and muscular, with golden colored fur, red mane, and had on armor with no insignia, hiding her cutie mark. She looked like a particularly large Earth Pony had sprouted bat wings, fangs, and tufts on her ears. I would think I would have heard of a Thestral like this, word got around Thestral communities about any Thestral who was different. Between her coloring, and sheer size, she definitely would have been discussed. Despite her imposing size, I felt strangely calmer seeing her. We were both types of Thestrals that our fellow tribe members hated. There is a sense of kinship in being some pony labeled freak, meeting another pony who would also be labeled freak.

"Pearlwort, I take it?" The great golden behemoth of a pony greeted me. "Glad to meet you. I am called Golden Sunset. I have heard a good deal about you, and I volunteered my services to Meadowbrook when she was considering ponies to work with you."

Biblo took a brave stance in between me and Golden Sunset. It was actually mildly comical watching a Crystal Pony try to be intimidating versus this monster sized Thestral. Golden Sunset could likely crush Biblo's skull with one hoof.

"I am watching you miss Giant-Bat-Pony!" Biblo shouted at the mare. "If you do anything to hurt Pearl I am going to make you pay. I don't care how big and scary you look!"

Golden Sunset looked amused at the fact she was being challenged by a pony half her size.

"No need to worry about that," Sunset chuckled. "I know how to control my own strength. Pearl and I share a lot in common, you and I do too I think. You'll both likely be spending a lot of time with me, if Pearl wants my help. I'd like you two to consider me a friend. If any other pony decides to make trouble for her I will be quick to put a stop to it. Ponies don't typically pick fights when I am around, I am a little bit intimidating."

"I'm still watching you," Biblo said moving a forehoof to point first at her eye and then at the Thestral.

"Then you'll learn I mean what I said with time. I respect you being cautious." Golden Sunset said, still smiling.

I decided I needed to let Biblo know that I wanted to trust this Thestral. Easiest way to do that was to give Biblo a hug. Biblo loosened up her stance as I did. After releasing the hug she gave me a look of adoration, and then turned back to the newcomer to give one final cautious glance, before stepping out of the way.

"You can call me Sunset for short if you want. I would like to see where we are currently at with you. Think the best way to start is the same as any other pony, on the obstacle course. No using your wings though, we will work out them separately, for right now I just want to work out the rest of your body. I don't expect you to do it well yet, I just want to see you putting full effort into it."

Biblo seemed to approve of this, and gave me an encouraging look. I looked over the obstacle course again. I had known it was where this would start, and I wasn't looking forward to doing it for the first time. Biblo might be able to run it with ease now, but her first day running it definitely left an impression on me.

"I leave her in your care then Sunset," Comet Glider said. I had actually forgotten he was still here. "I hope you you do well, Pearl. I may allow you to train with my guard, eventually, as Biblo does. If it reaches a point Sunset thinks it is okay. I respect her judgement. Good luck to you," and with that he took back to the air and quickly out of sight.

"Biblo and I will sit up here and observe for right now," Sunset said. "After we have watched you enough, to see what you do on your own, I will come down to give you feedback, and suggestions, on areas you seem to be most struggling. But for right now, she and I will just watch and chat together."

I nodded and hopped down into the courtyard as I started making my way to the dreaded obstacle course. I mentally prepared myself for what was sure to be a frustrating experience. I was actually glad of my leathery wings, instead of feathered ones, for once. The thought of having to clean large amounts of mud out of feathers might have made me give up before I started. 


***


Ouch! I had just completely screwed up on trying to clear a wall that I was supposed to jump, and done a hard splat against it. This was only going slightly better than I expected. I could clear the balance beam section with ease, likely due to my better sense of gravity as a flyer, but the rest was more or less identical results to what Biblo had endured day one. I was glad Hot Sticks wasn't part if my audience to laugh at my attempts.

I took the time as I climbed to where the balance beam was to give a look at my audience. Biblo must have spotted me, because she gave me a wave. It didn't look like they were being hostile to one another, so that was a good sign. They also hadn't come down to give me any advice. That might mean I wasn't doing anything completely wrong, I just had to keep trying.

I cleared the balance beam again with ease, glad there was at least one thing on the course I wasn't embarrassing myself with right now, and headed straight down the other side for the next obstacle. The next obstacle were a string of small buckets I had to step in and out of, without tripping and falling, while moving at a brisk pace. So far I had fallen each time.  I focused myself, and started through, and I managed to do it this time. I lost my balance on the last bucket, but was able to correct myself before I could fall flat on my muzzle again. I grinned at my success as I continued on to the next section. 

I tried turning to glance at Biblo and Sunset to see if had seen my accomplishment. That turned out to be a bad decision though. Being a klutz kicked in, as I took my eyes off the path I was running, and I tripped. I tumbled like a kicked ball into the nearby wall of the courtyard, finally landing with my rump planted up in the air against the wall. 

Ouch.  Not sure which hurt more, my pride or my back.

I took advantage of my position to look up at Biblo and Sunset, first thing I noticed from my angle was actually the various balconies that were on the temple complex, and the ponies on many of them. I had an audience. Further I could make out two of them in particular, one had Hot Sticks watching me, and another had Meadowbrook. My pride was definitely the thing hurting more right now.

Glancing down to Biblo and Sunset I could see Biblo trying to signal encouragement. Sunset on the other hoof was following where I had been looking, and was looking the balconies over herself, she then looked back over to me. I hadn't made a move so far to right my position, as I was focusing on not having yet another panic attack at the attention.

Sunset signaled Biblo to follow her, and hopped down into the courtyard basin, walking over to me. I still was laying with my back against the wall when they came up to me.

"I think we can call this done for today," Sunset said. "It isn't likely I can make ponies stop looking out here, but I can spare your pride for the moment. You really did well for the first few runs. I think with just practice you should master reflexes, and build the muscle back up, to run this without trouble. I don't think I need to tell you where your one big mistake was this time. You don't have the reflexes yet to be trying to divide your attention like that--not yet anyway, we will work on that. You did well enough for today, be proud of yourself."

Biblo came over and gave me a hug. 

"You did better than I did," she said proudly. "So don't be embarrassed. We'll both be able to run this together with no problem soon, and get your flank looking all sexy!" 

Upon hearing this Sunset let of a small chuckle. I resisted the urge to blush and tried to do my best puppy dog eyes to Biblo. Between my pitiful position and the eyes I was sure to be effective. 

"Isn't my flank sexy already?" I asked with my most pathetic pout.

"It is plenty sexy, we should always strive for improvement thought," Biblo hugged me tighter and laughed.

"Well, your pride isn't that hurt," Sunset said while trying to resist laughing. "We will keep at this over the next few days, along with some other exercise. That is if you don't mind me working with you. I'd like too, I could stand to be around some different ponies than normal while I am in Harmony."

I gave Biblo a look considering Biblo was the one who had just spent the last hour or so sitting next to her talking. Sunset seemed to be friendly, but Biblo was the one who actually got to spend time with her so far.

"Sunset, do you mind if I give you a hug?" Biblo asked her, taking my hint.

Sunset paused, she must have been aware of Biblo's abilities. 

"You can hug me, but I need to warn you that your abilities won't work on me. Your welcome to try them on me, but you likely won't get any information that way."

Biblo gave Sunset a confused look, and stood up and wrapped her foreleg's around the massive Thestral. Sunset wrapped one foreleg around Biblo returning the hug. Biblo held on for a moment before releasing and bringing back to all four hooves on the ground. Biblo looked extremely puzzled. 

"How are you doing that?" Biblo asked with confusion. "I can tell there is something there, but I can't feel it like I normally would. It is like a pony is in another room with the door shut. I can hear them moving around so I know they are there, but I can't see who it is. Maybe that's a bad analogy, but it is the best I can think of right now."

"I told you I could help you too," Sunset said as Biblo continued to stare in confusion. "I'm an empath too. You might not have realized it, but I was getting a feel for what was going on in your head as we were hugging. I know how to shut things out though. You can't get in my head if I don't let you, and I can't get into your head without actually trying."

"But how?" Biblo seemed really uncomfortable that the tables had been turned. "You aren't a Crystal Pony. I doubt you are a changeling either. How do you have those abilities?"

"Just consider it part of my talent from my cutie mark," Sunset responded. "I would like to be able to teach you how to be able to do the same. Meadowbrook told me you can't help doing it with just about every pony you touch, and worse, unlike me you actually absorb in personality traits over time. That can't be good for you. I know how frustrating my empathic abilities became, before I mastered them, I can only imagine what you go through."

"I do want to be able to control it better, but I don't know how to trust a pony I can't tell the feelings from," Biblo said as she was torn between the two concepts.

"I can let you feel that I am sincere in wanting to help," Sunset replied. "I can't fake feelings. But I am only letting you in for that much. I don't like ponies in my head. Consider it me trying to help you learn how to trust without having to invade another pony's head."

Biblo nodded agreement, and went for another hug. They then embraced as before, only for a few seconds longer. When the released Biblo tilted her head as she typically did when thinking over what she just felt.

"So what do you think?" I asked Biblo.

Biblo looked at me and then looked again at Sunset for a second before looking back to me again. 

"I think she is being honest," she finally replied. "Sunset wants to help, and she does seem to like us. I want to trust her, it just feels weird not being able to feel everything that she might be feeling."

"Do you think she is a good pony?" I clarified.

Biblo nodded without hesitation. 

"Yes, I can't imagine those kinds of feelings from any pony that wanted to hurt you or me."

"I know I can help both of you." Sunset spoke up. "I also know you both have every reason to feel cautious of Thestrals after what you went through. I am not like the ones that hurt you. I want my privacy to be respected for right now, but I may open up a bit more in time. Right now I just want to do what I can to help."

I reached out a forehoof to her now knowing that she could easily read my feelings through contact if she wished. I was cautious about her, but I wanted to trust her as well. Part of trust was having faith in the good intention of a pony. 

"I accept," I said as Sunset and I gripped each others forehooves.
> Chapter 12: Threat Assessment
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three days past by, and it was now afternoon on the eve of the trial. I was not enjoying myself at all right at that moment. I was in the training courtyard, doing what Sunset demanded out of me. At the moment that involved crossing my forelegs across my torso, and trying to do push-ups with my wings. My poor little leathery wings had never endured such punishment. They burned with pain from being subjected to this use. I wondered if it would just be better if they fell off, and I could make it through the rest of my life on the ground.

"Why..am I..doing this..again?" I panted to Sunset. She was standing over me, literally over me, with all four hooves surrounding me.

I couldn't see her head from this angle, but I heard her reply. 

"We want to make you a good flyer, not just a passable flyer," she said without pity. "You need to build up strength in those wing muscles. If you are ever in a position where escape is needed you will need to be able to outfly whatever might pursue. You weren't going to do that before, and if I don't make you work on developing your strength, you won't be able to do it still."

"How long do I need to keep doing this daily?" I asked as my wings gave out, having me collapse down on the ground again. 

"Until I am satisfied that they are strong enough," she replied with tone that indicated this was obvious. "Which is however long it ends up taking. I am here to see you not only back in shape, but in shape to better defend yourself. Do you want to completely be reliant on Biblo to defend you? She can't defend you in the air, even if you do want to depend on her. Plus, you don't strike me as a mare who wants to put that much burden on another."

No, I didn't want to put that full burden on her. She should not have to be responsible for my safety, even if she seemed intent on being just that. It was too much of a burden, and it was an unfair burden. One that she should not feel guilt for if I got hurt from time to time.

I resumed the torturous exercise. I could hear Sunset counting the uninterrupted pushups, or wingups, as they might be better named. After a dozen more I collapsed down again, wings spasming with the exertion. 

Sunset stepped out from over me, and looked down to me. 

"That is enough of that for this second. Take a few minutes to drink something and let your muscles calm down. You'll be getting back on the obstacle course again after, running with use of wings."

Running the obstacle course with use of wings didn't allow me to really fly. But having my wings out helped a lot with balance, and I was allowed short flaps to make jumps. Sunset said that this simulated what it would be like as a flyer unable to take to the air. She also had me run it with no use of wings just as often. She said that helped me learn to use my tail for balance more when running, and helped more with my other muscles overall. Sunset would give feedback on how to move my tail or wings in certain situations to get better results. The last three days had been the same few things constantly repeated. Obstacle course, with and without use of wings, various other exercises aimed at different muscles, flying up and down from my balcony till my wings wouldn't allow me to fly any more, and running the perimeter of the courtyard. Sunset kept me working till she didn't think I could do any more, with short breaks to recover in between activities. 

I pulled myself up, and walked over to the edge of the courtyard. Hot Sticks was sitting on the edge waiting for me. When I got up next to him he started poking the muscles of my wings, and moving them about. This had become routine, he did this each time to check to see that I wasn't hurting myself. As was usual he ended his check with a short nod, affirming that I was still alright.

Sunset joined us, and pulled out some food she had sitting aside. She passed me a sardine sandwich, set a tumbler of water in front of me, passed a sandwich of some type of flower to Hot Sticks, another tumbler for him, and finally pulled out an odd set of wraps that seemed to contain white rice and fish for herself.

"What do you call that?" I asked her after quickly swallowing my sandwich in a few rapid bites, and pointing at her food.

She took a bite of one of the little wraps, chewed it, and swallowed before answering.

"Sushi," she said. "It is something I came to enjoy when I was much younger."

"That is a weird name for a food," I replied, looking at the little sushi wraps. "Where do they make those? Is it a griffin dish?"

She had a brief sad look on her face before smiling again at me, and answering.

"There isn't anywhere in the Realm this is normally made. I have to walk the chefs through how to prepare it. I worked at a restaurant a long time ago that made this, but that place has been gone for a long time. I'd rather not talk about it, if you don't mind. I like leaving the past in the past when I can."

I nodded, though I was a bit disappointed. Sunset hadn't said much about herself so far. Not where she came from, or what she normally did for work, not even who she had for a personal Alicorn. She was nice enough, but she wasn't forthcoming about much concerning herself. I could understand in part, if you grew up a freak it was likely not a pleasant past. I never had a real chance of being friends with another Thestral before now, and not being able to learn more about her was disappointing.

I had my life pack sitting to the side next to Hot Sticks, and after finishing my food I dug into it to find my pipe. I was getting a bit low on the pipe weed, and would need to obtain more soon. I guessed that I could ask Hot Sticks to get some more for me. I hadn't spent much of my own bits on this trip, so I could afford it. Everything in the temple was just provided free of charge. All those offerings ponies left Meadowbrook must pay for everything. I made a mental note to leave some myself, next time I happened upon one of her shrines.

After getting the pipe lit, I turned my attention to Biblo. Biblo actually had a fair number of spectators at the moment. She was dueling with a member of the guard again, actually the same guard that had left several welts on her flank the other day in this exact same exercise. The tables had turned dramatically though. The guard in question was now clearly outmatched. He wasn't even getting close to successfully landing a blow on her. Biblo on the other hoof was deflecting and dodging his attacks with ease, and landing a large number of blows on her opponent. It actually looked like she wasn't even putting full effort into it, and that she was only toying with her opponent.

"Her development really is unprecidented," Hot Sticks said, as he watched with me. "I have watched new recruits for the guards countless times. They don't get this good, this fast, none of them. She is performing better than a seasoned soldier in less than two weeks time, typically it takes most of a year to get them whipped into passable soldiers. She isn't just passable."

"It isn't just unprecedented," Sunset quietly spoke. "It is unnatural. My best guess is that it is somehow a combination of her empath ability and her cutie mark. It's enough to make her a pony of interest. Ponies like that can find special employment by the Greaters. There are always ponies that excell at tasks better than most ponies, and the Greaters pay attention," she glanced up to the temple and pointed a hoof to it indicating we should look up as well. "Ponies down in this courtyard aren't the only audience she has right now."

Hot Sticks and I looked up, and our gaze fell on Meadowbrook's balcony. Her personal balcony was larger than the others, and could likely host an entire party upon it alone. Upon it now sat Meadowbrook, beside her sat two other Alicorns I did not know. While looking up at them two more came out on the balcony from within, again Alicorns I did not recognize. Beside me Hot Sticks pointed up higher, and my eyes followed. On the roof of the temple sat three more, two of those being Starlight Glimmer and Pinkie Pie, the other yet another Alicorn I didn't recognize. Turning my gaze slightly, I could see Luna and another unknown Alicorn had taken up seats in another area. This wasn't some casual happenstance, they had to be gathering for a reason.

Biblo, and the medical guard, had not taken notice of their expanded audience as of yet. They were all to caught up watching her duel. The duel did end at that very moment, as the guard pony admitted defeat. Hoovestomps and hoofclaps went up from the guard, but abruptly came to a halt as one set of hooveclaps echoed from the opposite side of the courtyard.

All eyes turned to the source of the sound, and as they fell on its source ponies quickly prostrated themselves on the ground. Sitting at the end of the courtyard was an purple Alicorn, with a purple mane and tail, with a magenta stripe amongst the purple, the mane and tail blowing in an ethereal breeze, despite the complete lack of breeze here. On her flank was a cutie mark of a large pink six-point star upon a smaller six point star, with five smaller stars in white surrounding it--the standard of the Twilight Realm. This was the Twilight Princess herself.

"Please rise, I am here to watch," she said in what seemed a normal volume voice, but somehow it was still heard by all, despite the fact sound should not carry like that. "Bibulous Bottom, I have heard a great deal about your rapid training. You should be proud of yourself. I was wondering if you would care to show off your skill in front of me, please?"

Biblo nodded and looked to Comet Glider. Comet Glider nodded back, and called out the names of two guards, telling them to enter the dueling arena with Biblo. The end of the one guards name could be suddenly heard by all as the Twilight Princess cast a spell, making the sound from the courtyard carry the same as her voice.

Biblo took up a relaxed stance, versus the two guard's more ready stance. Comet Glider signaled the duel to begin, and the two guards, a mare and a stallion, moved in opposite directions in order to take her from either side.

Biblo glanced at each as they moved to position themselves, she didn't seem to be concerned. Suddenly they rushed her from both ends. Biblo pivoted and jumped, landing a two-legged buck to the stallion directly to his face. She bounced back from that buck and landed a strong blow to the mare's side using the training rod, causing the mare to go toppling over. It had been just a matter of seconds, and both her opponents yielded. Biblo hadn't played with her opponents this time, she had gone for swift victory.

The guard let out applause again, Hot Sticks and I did as well. Sunset sat silent, still watching Biblo. All applause again ceased as the Twilight Princess could again be heard giving her applause. All eyes returned to her.

"I am very impressed," she said. "Your skill at this point is nothing short of extraordinary. You were prompted to take on this training after an assault on you and your marefriend, correct?"

Biblo tensed up but answered with a bow and an even voice. "Yes, Most Holy." 

The Twilight Princess leaned in a bit.

"And how many of those did you need to deal with then?" She asked.

"Just one of them restrained me, Most Holy," Biblo's tone hardened as she replied.

The Twilight Princess shook her head slightly. 

"You misunderstand the question. How many did you need to deal with?"

Biblo looked down at her hooves and growled back an answer in anger. "Five, Most Holy. I needed to deal with five."

"Five it is then," Twilight nodded, before signaling Comet Glider. "Captain, send five of your guard into the dueling area,"

Comet Glider bowed and pointed to five soldiers in succession, directing them to enter the dueling arena against Biblo. I could see that the number of Alicorns in sitting in attendance across the temple had grown. I couldn't get a good count because they were so unevenly placed to confirm it, but I was sure that all the Greaters were here now. Spotting the Crusaders, again disguised as Crystal Ponies, on one of the balconies made me believe that there might be a fair number of the Lessers here as well.

"A good turnout for a fight," Sunset said quietly to me. "They would not do this normally, even if another pony was showing this kind of progress in fighting. But you and Biblo are effectively immortals, that changes things. They want to see for themselves what she can do, as she is going to be around a long time, not merely being a stray pony of interest who will die of old age in the seeming blink of an eye to them. A pony that learns that fast, that can live that long, is some pony that draws their immediate attention. You are of interest as well, of course, but you don't learn and change as fast. They are likely less concerned about you as a result. Though you know already you are being studied as well. Always be cautious of the Greaters, they like to feel there is no challenge to their control."

I missed the signal to start the duel while listening to Sunset and looking at the Alicorns. Biblo just went on the assault from the start, and was jaw dropping to watch. She moved with purpose, striking one guard then another, easily deflecting blows, and immediately attacking again after deflecting. Her blows, whether they be from her training weapon, or her hooves, ricocheted off one guard onto another. She moved with incredible speed, but seemed to be in no hurry, even as her opponents fell before her. It was a terrible, deadly dance. If she wore an actual blade it would be soaked in blood now. If this had been the Lunar guardponies she may have found a way to have it soaked in blood, despite it being a training weapon.

In seemingly no time at all, it was over again. Her opponents were on the ground, nursing their hurts, Biblo had not been gentle. A quiet hush descended on the courtyard with the end of the combat. No pony knew how to react. Biblo had just taken down five guardponies as if it were nothing. Comet Glider had said she had the makings of an elite, I was pretty sure this was elite. I didn't think he had thought that she would do so so soon.

The silence was broken by Pinkie Pie yelling out from her spot in the temple. "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED!" Which caused Sunset to smack a forehoof against her own face and shake her head sadly, before looking up and glaring at the pink Alicorn. I must have been missing something again.

"Astounding!" the Twilight Princess declared. "Color me impressed. I am sure I speak for all of us that we are all extremely impressed."

"I wish to duel Biblo if she will allow it," Sunset called out to the Twilight Princess. I was not sure what caused more gasps; that she interrupted the Twilight Princess, that she didn't address the Twilight Princess as Most Holy, or that she wanted to get in the dueling grounds with the pony that had in quick succession defeated eight different guardponies--five of those at once.

The Twilight Princess looked at Golden Sunset, silently considering. She then glanced to the various Alicorns, and then to Biblo, before returning her gaze to Sunset. 

"Is it really necessary to see her duel more?" She asked. "I see little that will accomplish."

"Twilight," Sunset began, causing more gasps--from me as well. One did not address the Twilight Princess in such a familiar way, I doubted even the other Alicorns did. "You know I am far more challenging an opponent than these guards," she turned her head in direction of Meadowbrook, "no offense intended," I couldn't tell from where I was if Meadowbrook acknowledged the apology. Turning back to Biblo, Sunset said. "I am here to help and train. There are lessons to be learned here. Especially with a pony of your skills, Biblo. Will you allow me to duel you?"

Biblo looked between Sunset and the Twilight Princess, unsure of what to do. The two just sat waiting along with the rest if us for her reply. Biblo finally turned to Sunset. 

"Um..I guess," Biblo said hesitantly. "If you think it is important."

"Very well," the Princess sighed. "Sunset please enter the dueling grounds." 

As she spoke there was a mighty sound, as all the Alicorns perched around Meadowbrook's temple launched themselves into the air, and quickly descended down to the perimeter of the courtyard, surrounding it.

Biblo looked around nervously, not knowing what to make of this audience. The Medical Guard did as well. Sunset didn't seem to care, she was getting ready to duel.

"Don't concern yourself with them," Sunset addressed Biblo. "It is needless distraction. You are going to have Alicorns keeping tabs on you for the rest of your very long life, learn to stop worrying about them watching you. It will drive you insane worrying about it."

Biblo straightened her posture and turned to Sunset. 

"Is that part of the lesson?" she asked.

"No," Sunset laughed. "Just advice from a friend who knows what she is talking about."

Biblo looked around the Alicorns again, and took a deep breath, and then nodded back to Sunset.

"Begin," instructed the Twilight Princess.

Biblo circled Sunset cautiously without attacking as Sunset stood still. Sunset raised an eyebrow at her. 

"No full on attack like you just did? Am I that intimidating that you change your entire strategy for me? I applaud your caution, but wonder if that's it."

Biblo kept circling. 

"I don't want to hurt you. I am trying to be more careful," she replied back.

"No need to worry about that," Sunset laughed. "I am anything but easy to hurt. But this leads us to lesson number one in this. You are hesitating because I am real to you, you have spent some time with me, and I am not just a face. Every pony you encounter isn't just a face either. If you had fought those ponies just now with actual steel it would have been a bloodbath. That is eight souls you would have ended the lives of, never lose track of that. Never let taking a life become a matter of course. Killing another pony is always something to be avoided." 

Sunset bared her fangs. 

"If you ever lose track of that, and start killing without consideration, I will put you down myself. I want to be your friend, and as your friend I would do what I must do. Do you understand me?" Sunset threatened.

Biblo gulped and nodded. Immediately after the nod, Sunset moved like a blur, and slammed Biblo on the side sending Biblo tumbling. Sunset had never equipped a training blade, she did her assault completely with pure brute force.

"If you need to take down an opponent don't hesitate so much," Sunset said as Biblo picked herself up from the ground. "You are just giving them more time to take you down. That is lesson two."

"How am I supposed to be careful about whether I could kill and not hesitate? That's contradictory!" Biblo growled angerly back. 

Sunset just smiled back, while again taking a relaxed stance. 

"Learn to take as much action as you need. It need not be the extremes of full force or inaction. Do something, even if it is only to get more information on how much you need to do."

Biblo charged full on at Sunset. She rained blows all over Sunset, and a huge crack could be heard as she brought her training rod down on Sunset's head, shattering the rod in the process. Sunset didn't budge at all, she didn't even seem to notice the blows. 

Biblo gaped at the ineffectiveness of her own assault, and while she was doing so Sunset moved again. Sunset quickly pinned Biblo to the ground with one blow of her hoof, and then held her there. Biblo struggled to try to free herself, but Sunset was simply too strong.

"Next lesson," Sunset said looking down. "Know your limits. You can't win every fight. There is always going to be some pony too strong, some pony too fast, some pony just too lucky, ponies you will just not be able to beat. Learn to count on others to help you overcome such challenges together. You can't win by yourself against every opponent, but if you have the right friends you can overcome."

Biblo kept trying to struggle free but wasn't getting anywhere. She had not yet yielded nor unconscious so technically the duel had not ended. Sunset looked down at her sympathetically.

"And the last lesson is something private, between you and me. Please feel what I am allowing you to feel right now and consider." Sunset said sadly to the struggling Crystal Pony.

Biblo held still a moment with a small tilt of her head, listening to emotions. Her eyes went wide, and she turned her gaze around to all the Alicorns watching. She then twisted her neck around so she could see Sunset. 

"Alright, I yield. I can't win this fight," Biblo said, and Sunset released her.

"Sunset," The Twilight Princess spoke again. "I shall speak to you later on this, in private. Expect a summon some point in the next week, once I have double checked where to schedule you."

"Of course, Twilight," Sunset said with a smile at the supreme ruler of the Realm.

The Twilight Princess gave a long suffering sigh. 

"And though I have addressed this in the past with you, it needs to be gone over again. Show some respect in public, please. Your passive-aggressive hostility towards the Greaters gets very tiresome. Do you understand me?" The princess asked. Sunset nodded back in response.


"That was very informative to watch," The princess addressed all the Alicorns now. "But we are behind schedule. We shall gather in the main chamber to discuss the matters for why we are all gathering. We have at least one of those matters that needs to be dealt with tomorrow, and I prefer every pony among you are well informed," for some reason this caused a few of the Alicorns to slump slightly. 

"All further training on these grounds is suspended for the rest of today. Enjoy the remainder of the day relaxing," The Twilight Princess then vanished in a flash of light, and all Greaters followed quickly afterward, the sound of twenty simultaneous teleports is an impossible sound to describe.

Biblo and Sunset made their way back over towards me and Hot Sticks. When Biblo hopped up out of the courtyard Hot Sticks floated a cloth over to her. She gratefully accepted it, and put it up to her muzzle. I hadn't noticed that it was bleeding. Sunset resumed her previous spot, and took a drink of water.

"So do Hot Sticks and I get to hear what the last lesson, or is it private from us too?" I asked.

Sunset looked to Biblo, and Biblo looked back to Sunset, then Biblo went over to me and gave me a tight hug. 

"If the Alicorns think I am dangerous they will take me away from you," Biblo whispered with the sound of tears in her voice. "I make them nervous, and they need to know my limits. Seeing Sunset beat me makes them less nervous."

"She may be effectively immortal if she stays with you, Pearl," Sunset continued the explanation. "She also develops at an astounding rate. Think of it from their perspective. What could a pony like that gain the ability to do with thousands of years of time? Immortals get watched, in part, because they have so much time to grow and advance. Biblo's abilities attached to an immortal makes her far more worrisome than you are. They would rather deal with a potential problem early, before it has a chance to grow into something major." 

"I don't want them to take me away from you," Biblo cried onto my shoulder. 

After a moment or two Biblo regained her composure and laid down on her belly to rest. We all sat in silence for a few minutes.

Biblo started tilting her head to the side. Went wide eyed, then buried her face in her forehooves where she could be heard cursing. 

"Bloody bucking ponyfeathers!"

We all looked at her with confusion. Had we all missed something else that had happened? Was she having a delayed reaction to the situation?

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Congratulations you heathen unicorn. You win. Guess I lost two fights today," she was still talking into her hooves, muffling the sound of her voice.

The remaining three of us looked at each other to see if any pony else had a clue what she was talking about. As Sunset and I turned to the only unicorn here, to ascertain what he might have done, a sly grin creeped onto Hot Sticks' face. He looked down to Biblo with that grin. 

"My poor destitute village will appreciate your ongoing patronage," he said with obvious mirth.

"Bloody ponyfeathers!" Biblo cursed again.

Sunset decided not to continue with training me for the day, taking the Twilight Princess's declaration to include me as well. The four of us sat together for a bit in the courtyard just talking about what was coming tomorrow with the trial. The discussion was not particularly interesting. Biblo and I would likely be called on to testify. The Lunar Guards were being charged separately, rape directly charged to the leader of the patrol, and accessory to rape to the remaining guards, all being charged with assault and battery as well. They would have a lawyer to represent them, and a prosecutor would be arguing for the harshest punishments he could against them. The Alicorns would ask occasional questions but would withhold sentencing until all arguments were given. The judgement of guilt was a given, and that section of the trial was merely a formality, the trial was mainly to see how severe the punishments should be, as well as make a public statement.

Most of the talking was done by Hot Sticks with me, and Biblo, asking occasional questions. Sunset listened on, but since this didn't involve her, she didn't contribute anything. We didn't mind her presence. She had been around us constantly, except when we were in our rooms, and we had more or less accepted her as part of the group in the last few days. Biblo did have a question that she needed an answer from Sunset about.

"Are you a spy for the Alicorns? Keeping tabs on us for them?" Biblo asked her. The question came out of nowhere, shocking both me and Hot Sticks with the audacity of it. I had my own suspiscions about whether Sunset was reporting to the Alicorns, she seemed to be on pretty casual grounds with at least two of them. However, she also seemed to have some sort of grudge with them. It was pointless to just ask though, as if a spy would just tell a pony that they were a spy.

"Yep," Sunset replied with a grin. Apparently spies did just announce they were spies. We all looked at her with shock. "I am not joking either. I offered to help you, and they wanted me to keep tabs on you as a condition of me doing so. They will find some pony, no matter what, to do it. Better a pony you know about, than one you have to wonder about, don't you think?"

"I guess so," Biblo replied. She didn't really seem hesitant despite her words. She had purpose in asking. "You seem like you have an idea how they might feel about things me and Pearl might do. Do you think you could help with something?"

"I can't promise I know exactly how they will react to anything," Sunset said with interest.  "I don't speak for them, but I can give you my best guess. Don't treat my best guess as anything more than that. What thing do you have in mind of doing that you are afraid is going to offend our holy rulers?" The last part of the question dripped with disdain. I wondered again what personal gripes Sunset had with the Alicorns, and again why she would work as their agent despite her obvious disdain.

I knew what Biblo was going to ask about, but Hot Sticks wasn't aware. He looked on Biblo with curiosity, while I looked towards Sunset to see what kind of reaction she would have to what Biblo was about to suggest doing with me.

Biblo took a deep breath before asking. Then looked Sunset in the eyes.

"Pearl needs my help. She hasn't been alright since the..stuff..happened. I know I can take all those memories and feelings she is dealing with out, make them go away forever. I also know doing that kind of thing is a really big deal. But I want to do what it takes to make her better. If we were to request permission for me to do it, do you think the Alicorns would be upset with us?"

Sunset stared at Biblo with a neutral expression. Then she glanced over to me. 

"Have you been informed about the extent of what she is proposing to do to you?" She asked in an even tone. "This isn't just having some specific memories go away. It is much more invasive. She would be going into your head and searching out those memories to remove them. She has full access to everything in your mind when she does that, not just what you want her to. She would have the ability to remove or alter anything in your head, and no pony would know that she had done it right then. She also has access to all your memories, and whether she intends to or not, she will get to see many of them. Not likely all of them, that would take some time, but she would see a good number while searching for the ones she wants and you won't have any control over what she sees. She will also have the ability to insert things into your thoughts, things again we would not be aware of until you demonstrated signs that it had happened. This is beyond invasion of privacy, this is an invasion of your soul."

"I hadn't had it explained to that full extent," I said with a full in nervousness. "But I still want her to do it. They make me a mess, I am always worried that I will break down at the drop of a feather. Further, while you might teach her how not to absorb things she doesn't want from me, for right now she still is, and that puts her at risk of absorbing all that as well. I don't want her to gain all that trauma because of me."

"Do you trust her not to do more than just remove those memories and their associated feelings?" Sunset pressed me. "She will have the power to do much more. She can shape your mind however she feels. Mind control is less a crime than what she is capable of doing to you."

"I trust Biblo to not do anything to hurt me," I said looking the larger Thestral in the eyes. "And I trust her not to do anything that I don't want her to do." 

I could see Biblo giving me a small, thankful smile in return for my confidence in her. I was not sure Sunset was satisfied. She sat appraising the Crystal Pony for a long moment. She then looked to Hot Sticks. 

"Did you know they were thinking about this? I have not known any of you long. What do you think of it?"

Hot Sticks had displayed shock at the earlier requests as well. When he replied, he replied as a doctor would when describing the outlook for an illness. 

"I did not know that they had this in mind. I can say that they both seem exceptionally comfortable with Biblo's abilities. I also know Biblo has no malicious intent against Pearl. I am more concerned, if anything, about Biblo's personal obsession with all things involving Pearl. If Biblo has not informed you, as of yet, she recently absorbed some traits from a nurse that was attending her over a week ago. Traits that led to further sexual obsession with Pearl. I would be concerned that she would have difficulties resisting the urge to insure that Pearl will return her advances, if she is given access to Pearl's mind. That is rape."

Biblo growled with rage. She walked right up to Hot Sticks, and keeping just enough space to ensure there would be no touching, began to shout in his face. 

"How dare you! I would never force Pearl to feel anything about me! Yes, I know she was uncomfortable about that kind of thing, even before all of this happened. Yes, it would be something that I would want her to suddenly feel comfortable doing with me. And yes, I know my desires in that area are more intense lately, thanks to what I absorbed on accident. But I will not, will not, do anything in Pearl's head she didn't explicitly give me permission to do. I want Pearl, not some puppet!"

"Again, you seem obsessed," Hot Sticks replied back at her calmly. "Pearl is a pony, not some thing to be obtained. You have known Pearl less than a month, and everything you do now focuses on her. It isn't healthy."

"It doesn't matter how long it has been," Biblo fired back angerly. "I am an empath; I know her better than any of you, better than any pony other than her. Better than her in some ways. I love her and will do anything for her."

I had to put an end to this before Biblo said or did something she might regret. I cleared my throat to get everypony's attention. All eyes fell on me. 

"I need to make it clear that I was the pony that wanted to have this done. Biblo told me about being able to do it during a moment of frustration, but she quickly suggested trying to do other things instead to help me.

"You have concerns about Biblo's mix of empath abilities and absorbing talent causing her to get unstable as she absorbs traits from others," I said as I turned to Sunset. "What if she accidently absorbs the impact of what was done to me? Is that fair to her? Do you think it would help me to bear that kind of guilt?"

"It is not a fault of yours if she does," Sunset answered me. "It was her choice to put herself in that position in the first place. She could avoid contact with you until she is better trained to deal with her own abilities."

Her reasoning walked right into the points I needed to make.

"Is what happens to her when she absorbs those things any less mind control than what you are suggesting she could do to me?" I asked. "She is altered, and she has no choice in the matter. You could tell her to have no contact with other ponies, but that is cruel as well. Further, I would likely be in much worse shape now without Biblo there trying to help me get through this. She leaves herself open every single day to the possibility that she could absorb my problems into herself, but she keeps doing it."

I turned now to Hot Sticks.

"As a person helping the sick, you know you face the risks of getting infected with what you are trying to treat, but you do it anyway. I am sick right now, not with any physical illness, but still sick. If you had a patient that you cared deeply about, would you do anything to make them better? Wouldn't you want your patient to do whatever they had to do to help themselves get better?"

I took a deep breath before I finished what I had to say.

"I have already decided I want Biblo to stay in my life, and it is going to be a long life. I must trust her to do right by me. She can't help if she has her mind altered by accidently absorbing something she might not have wanted. I do have a choice about this, and I make it fully trusting her," I gave a small grin and looked at Biblo. 

"I will even make an additional request to you, Biblo," I said, surprising her. "You already know I love you, but I realize I haven't said that out loud yet. I love you. Ponies are concerned you will force my feelings. Let's make it clear you aren't forcing anything. We are going to be together for a long, long time. Let's just formalize that now and save time."

Biblo's eyes welled up with happy tears. She waited silently and expectantly for me to clearly ask the question. Yes, this was fast. Two weeks of knowing a pony--even knowing your own sexuality for that matter--wasn't long enough to make this kind of decision, not typically. Biblo was right though, she did know me better than any pony, including myself in some cases, and I was closer to her than any pony other than my deceased mother. Closer than I thought it was possible for me to get to another pony. It was right, no matter how short a time we had known each other. It isn't how long you have known a pony, it is how well. She sees into my very soul and I know her to be a pony that would do anything for me, but one I would never abuse that commitment with.

I came up to her and took her forehooves in mine. I looked her into those tear-filled green eyes and asked the important question.

"Bibulous Bottom, would you be my wife, and take me as yours?"

Her tears overflowed. She lurched forward making us both fall over as she hugged me tight. Her color lit up brightly. She let of light like a little sun. She was a beautiful work of stained glass with the perfect ray of sunshine hitting it. She was beyond beautiful, she was the personification of all things beautiful, loving, and joyous. The light of her love, radiating off her translucent body, bathed everything around us. She gave me the deepest kiss I had ever had before sitting back up to answer out loud. Smiling down at me with pure love and adoration.

"Yes," she let out breathlessly, through happy tears. "You make me so happy. I don't think I have ever been so happy as I am right this second." Her radiating light bore unquestionable proof of what she said.

"As soon as this trial is over we will have one of the Alicorns make it official," I told my now fiancee with a smile. "I have one more thing to ask too. It is a special wedding present to both of us."

She looked at me curiously and I could tell that she was also trying to read my emotions to try to tell what it was. Maybe I would manage to catch her by surprise again with this one. I had only just now decided that I wanted it.

"If they let you take out those memories I do want you to do one additional bit of meddling. You absorb things from me all the time, I think it is only fair I absorb something from you. Do you think you could spare a bit of what you picked up from that nurse into me? No pony can wonder if you are forcing me to, if I asked for that myself." Biblo somehow managed to blush in response, despite being brightly lit translucent crystal.

Sunset cleared her throat then to get our attention. 

"Um..this is really sweet, and you did convince me about the mind altering. I even think you will convince the Alicorns. But, this is getting way too personal for me to be listening too. Hot Sticks, want to come with me and go find some food or something, and leave these two to their being sickeningly sweet?"

Hot Sticks had been caught up in the moment and had to shake his head to clear it. 

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea," he said trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. "I need to go down to the city briefly to consult about some last minute details concerning the trial, as well as pick up a few items. Do you want to accompany me Sunset? I know Thestrals are not typically treated well, but I find it hard to believe any pony will dare so much as cross an eye at you."

"They typically don't," Sunset agreed. "Having a pony able to crush you with ease tends to keep manners in line."

"Can you pick me up some more pipe weed?" I called over to Hot Sticks, with Biblo still planted on top of me. "I am running low. I will pay you back later, just can't get to my bits this second."

"Of course," Hot Sticks replied. "I wouldn't ask you to get up right now. You seem very comfortable after all. Think I will see if I can find a pipe made of crystal for my village's newest valued customer." He actually managed to say that with a straight face.

Biblo turned to give him a glare, but there wasn't any anger in it. 

"Heathen unicorn! You are still getting bucked! I am resisting that urge, just to give you no satisfaction," She took a second to briefly turn back and give me a quick peck of a kiss, before turning back to Hot Sticks. "If you do get one, please make sure it is pretty. If I am going to use the smelly thing, at least it can be pretty."

"I will get to helping you with your empathic abilities more starting tomorrow. Sorry I hadn't gotten to helping you fast enough to block that," Sunset said apologetically.

"Don't worry about failing to catch that," Biblo said, waving the apology away with a hoof. "It is part of me now, so I am not really upset. I was not wanting it to happen before, but that is water under the bridge. I just like giving the mutant duck a hard time. As long as we get to where I can block out really serious things, I am not concerned. I don't want to absorb anything really bad personality wise, and then feel alright with that."

"Well, I am concerned," Sunset smirked. "Now I have to deal with three ponies stinking things up."

Biblo blew a raspberry at her in response. She then turned back to Hot Sticks. 

"Do you think you could find some sort of perfume or something too? I won't have ponies calling my fiancee stinky."

"Didn't you call her stinky yourself?" Hot Sticks replied with confusion.

"Feelings changed on that," she replied curtly. "Plus she is going to be my wife. No pony better call my wife stinky. I'll dump a garbage can on them and see who is stinky." 

Sunset involuntarily looked around for any nearby trashcans as Biblo said this, likely hoping Biblo wasn't planning such action against her.

"Consider it my wedding gift then," Hot Sticks said with a roll of his eyes. "I doubt you will give me any bits to cover it. Sunset, let's get going, before they start asking us to go looking for wedding dresses for them too," Biblo's eyes lit up at that.

"No," Hot Sticks said firmly, before Biblo could open her mouth. Biblo closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, indignant. I resisted the urge to laugh. When the other two left, Biblo and I just cuddled up together where we were at, and silently enjoyed each other's presence, as we let the afternoon continue to go by. We were happy and content with the world.
> Chapter 13: Inner Demons
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up the morning of the trial missing Biblo's warm body cuddled up to me. I picked up my head and looked around the room sleepily, finding Biblo attempting to make a braid of her mane with little success by the mirror.

She spotted me in the mirror and with one final half-hearted attempt to get a braid started she gave up with a sigh. My pink fiancee turned to me and smiled. "You slept very well last night. No night terrors, panic attacks, or anything. I was going to wake you up if you slept too much longer, we have a big day ahead of us."

She came over and we exchanged a quick kiss. She smelled of daisies with the smallest hint of a smell of pipe weed. I guessed she had finally given into that urge sometime this morning already. I could taste her toothpaste as well. I wondered how long she had been awake. 

She hugged me feeling my emotions. Not sure what emotions there were to feel. I was enjoying her presence as usual, but I was still kind of half awake. With what was coming in a few hours I knew I should have a lot of strong emotions pulling at me, but my mind just wasn't alert enough for that yet.

"Come on my sleepy bride-to-be," she said giggling. "Up with you! We need to get you ready for the day. Time to get your mane brushed, teeth brushed, get some food into you. You need to look well groomed. You behave like a stallion with your grooming sometimes. We can't have that today."

The stallion comment cleared some of the fog. I knew she didn't mean anything by it, but it was still something that caused a reaction. Old habits die hard.

She felt it and gave me a sympathetic look. Then that look turned to slightly excited as she seemed to remember something."Now let's get you up and moving. Go stand on the balcony and let the cold air wake you the rest of the way up. I wanted to show you something I just learned I could do this morning."

Alright, I was curious. I got up and moved my way to the balcony. The sun was still not fully up and it was cool outside, but not uncomfortably so. I wondered if the temple had some sort of magic spell that regulated the temperature inside, because the temperature inside never really seemed to change, despite the fact the balconies typically were hanging open with just curtains as options for closing them.

Biblo came up beside me holding her new pipe. It was indeed a pretty thing made of some sort of pink and blue crystal. She was definitely excited about something, I doubt it was just having a smoke from the pipe though.

She spoke excitedly. "I was trying this out this morning when I first woke up. It is rather calming. I got to thinking while I was doing it. I was thinking--I am loaded up on Pearl's magic, does that mean I can do the cool shaping smoke thing too? It doesn't require a horn to do, maybe I can do it. So I focused really hard and I ended up doing it. I can't do it as well as you, yet, but that is really exciting! I can actually cast a spell from your magic!"

She grabbed up a match and lit up the pipe. She took a quick draw and blew out a plume. After letting it out she stared at the smoke. She was putting a lot of effort into what she was doing, and her tongue stuck out of her muzzle in the cutest way as she focused. Eventually I could see the definite signs of smoke shaping happening. The smoke pulled itself together in what looked like a poorly formed sponge shape that vaguely resembled her cutie mark. She let out a small gasp and took a deep breath as she lost her hold on it though. She didn't get everything perfect,, but it was still a very impressive feat considering she was trying to accomplish a Thestral ability.

"That is impressive," I complimented her. "I wonder if you can get things like cloud walking from a Pegasus, or whatever ability it is that make Earth Ponies grow plants so well. Unicorn stuff and flying seems like it would be out, you don't have a horn or wings, but it is cool you can do something that seems innately another tribe's abilities." I wasn't exaggerating either. I didn't think she was actually capable of using the magic she stored in her till now. Yeah, my magic from my cutie mark worked in her, but it was passive. This was actively doing something on command.

"It is so cool!" She exclaimed happily. "When I get better with controlling my empath abilities I want to experiment to see what else I can do. I am already getting some ideas on how I might do other things."

"Biblo, I think you might want to keep that you can do this private for now," I said. Dampening her mood a bit.

She gave me a puzzled look. "Why? It doesn't hurt anypony."

"Because the Alicorns are already concerned about you developing non-magical skill at the speed that you do,"I sighed as I responded. "They were already debating whether you were some sort of long term threat before, now just a day later, after getting at least a little soothed on that, you are suddenly able to cast spells that a Crystal Pony should not be able to do. How do you think think they are going to react?"

Biblo's face and ears fell, her posture losing its excitement. "Why do they have to worry about me? I am not a bad pony. Why do they have to be so concerned about what I can do?" She bit down on the pipe and crossed her forelegs and pouted. The position she was in was actually really cute and I had to put a forehoof up to my muzzle to hide the smile. I shouldn't be smiling, she was frustrated, but she was just too adorable.

She noticed my expression and put away her pipe after dousing it. She then came up to where she could rub her body against me and sat down. She focused on the emotions, and then looked up at me with a bemused expression. "I am glad you find me cute, but I am still grumpy about it. I shouldn't have to worry constantly about what the Alicorns are going to think of me."

I gave her a hug in sympathy and a kiss on her forehead. "I know Sweetie," she glowed a bit at me calling her by a pet name. "Things will get better though, we aren't going to be in Harmony forever. After we leave you will get more freedom to see what you can do."

She grunted slightly before responding. "Still doesn't feel fair," a thought came to her right then. "Do you think they are going to have Sunset follow with us when we finally do leave?"

"I have no idea," I said truthfully. "They are going to end up having some pony watching us, even if it is at a distance. I would assume it would be up to Sunset if she wishes to follow us or if they get some pony else."

"I wonder if she would come with us," Biblo said. "I like her. It still seems kind of strange not being able to tell what she is feeling, unless she lets me, but I still trust her still somehow. I have never met another empath like me before. Sure other Crystal Ponies can do it, somewhat, but it is nothing like what I can do, or Sunset can do."

There was an obvious issue. "You will have to talk to her," I said. "But I am not sure she is going to just uproot herself and follow us around. She has some sort of life outside of dealing with the two of us."

She gave me a duck lipped pout, again she was adorable. She could only hold it a moment, before breaking down into a giggle as she felt my reaction. Then she wrapped her forehooves around me for a hug, while giving me a smooch on the side of my face. She managed to speak to me through the giggles. "You aren't great at reassuring words, but thankfully you have me. You would be in so much trouble without an empath for a partner."

"Well, lucky for me I do," I said with a smile. "Even if she does make Alicorns nervous. I just make normal ponies nervous, you have to go and be extra special."

She was still smiling, but their was a hint of steel in her words as she replied. "If they ever try to separate me from you I will do everything I can to make them more than just nervous."

"Let's not add making threats against Alicorns to your list of heinous crimes against the divine," I chuckled nervously. "You already assaulted two without getting a slap on the flank. Only one of the two actually earned it. You should try to stay on good behavior, and not ruffle their feathers any more."

Her smile faded ,and she seemed lost in thought for a moment after. A moment later she gave me a look that told me she was about to be fully serious. "Am I turning into a bad pony?" I almost laughed at the idea but she cut me off. "Don't laugh! I can seriously hurt ponies now. You heard what Sunset said about what would have happened if I was actually armed yesterday. I am not joking about about the Alicorns either, not really."

I looked her in the eyes, and held her hooves in mine as I answered. "You are a good pony. You just want to protect me. We already know you can kick some serious flank if some pony tries to hurt me again. If you hurt those ponies you are just stopping them from doing harm. As for the Alicorns, it is okay to feel mad at them, you aren't going to be able to hurt them, even if you wanted to. You aren't going to do anything bad."

She looked deep in thought while she considered my words. She sighed finally, and got back to her hooves. "Thank you, I needed to hear that. Let's get you ready now."


***


The trial was set to be held at the ground floor of the tree. The base of the trunk had an entrance that led into where the court would be held. I had learned from Hot Sticks the day before that there were actually staircases that led all the way down into the court from the temple, with thousands of storage rooms, meeting halls, extra bedrooms, libraries. Some places not even Alicorns, other than the Twilight Princess, were allowed to go. The Twilight Guard patrolled those endless halls, with guard posts interspersed throughout the tree. A pony could get lost for weeks in the winding labyrinth of the tree, if they were not kicked out by the Twilight Guard first.

I thought of that as we rode an airship once again down to the surface, it gave me new appreciation for the service that the airship crews provided. I had considered the city of Harmony overwealming, but the thought of taking days to navigate those halls was incomprehensible. Claustrophobia set in just thinking about it, which led to the anxieties of what was going to happen shortly finally start to get to me.

Biblo was elsewhere on the ship, enjoying the view, when they set in. I was without my normal safety net without her on hoof immediately to help. My flight escape instinct was kicking in, and I had to do everything I could to restrain myself from just jumping ship to try to take to the air. I took myself away from the railing and hid myself in a lavrotory. Trying to find a place to regain my composure.

Within a few seconds of securing myself away came a knock on the door. "Pearl? Are you okay?" It was Sunset.

This room stank of pony waste and wasn't being helpful with that particular calming exercise. I tried taking a deep breath to try to help calm myself, but the stench overwealmed my already tight lungs, causing me to start hacking. I felt a wave of nausea right after.

Sunset opened the door without permission. She was rewarded for her breach of privacy with me vomiting right onto her hooves as I turned to the opening door. She looked down at the mess with a look of pure disgust, and took a few steps back, shaking off the filth from each hoove as she did. She then looked back at me with a look of concern. 

I shook a bit and tried to look up at Sunset. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that," I managed to say.

"I didn't assume you did it on purpose so don't apologize," she said with a raised eyebrow. "Do you need me to do something to help you?"

I shook my head. "No. Do you know where Biblo is at?" 

She sighed and shook her head. "You can't go running to Biblo every time your in trouble."

"I'm not in trouble," I lied. 

She looked down a the vomit and back to me shaking. "Sure, doesn't look like you are having any problem at all. Come on, don't lie to me with the evidence sitting right in front of me. Biblo is over at one of the railings talking and smoking with Hot Sticks. They are discussing what will be going on after your trial, so you will need to do without her as a crutch for the moment."

I thought about lying and saying I didn't need her to get me through this right now, but it took too much effort. I just sat there shaking and trying to breath through the stench of the room, not saying a word.

She let out an exaggerated breath and glared down at me. "Alright, get up out of there." she said sternly. "You need to actually breath some fresh air. Don't make me drag you out. I don't want to have to go stepping through your vomit anymore. You'll have to step through it, but you are well covered already." 

"I don't know if I can stand right now," I told her in a near whisper.

"You can if you tell yourself you can do it," she replied. "You were fine up to a few minutes ago. You are having an anxiety attack. The symptoms may be real, but the cause is all in your head. Now, get up and walk over to me. Don't think of anything but that for the moment."

I brought myself up on all fours despite the shaking, I felt ready to fall back down. I couldn't breathe right. Why couldn't she just help me out, or get Biblo? 

"Good," she said. "Now come over here so we can get you cleaned back up. You don't want to show up covered in vomit, and you don't want Biblo feeling worried right now, do you?"

No, I didn't want to upset Biblo. I could do this. Just one hoofstep at a time and I could make it, out of the stench into the fresh air.

After what felt like an eternity I finally tasted fresh air again. I looked back briefly and saw I had tracked right through the pool of vomit, I hadn't even noticed.

"Good, now sit and let some fresh air in your lungs," Sunset told me. "Let me tell you some things to focus on other than your current wretched state. I have already spoken with the Alicorns about your request concerning Biblo going into your mind. They are tentatively approving it. Starlight is going to supervise it, she actually insisted on it, not only is she personal Alicorn to both of you, but she is also an empath, and she will be checking Biblo's intentions before Biblo can do it. If she is satisfied that Biblo intends to do nothing, aside what you two outlined, then it will proceed right then and there. This will occur right after the trial is over."

I had my shaking under control and could breathe more easily now. I gave a disgruntled retort to Sunset. "If this misery is going to be taken away soon, why make me go through walking out of there through my own vomit?"

"Because there will always be something else in the future," she replied curtly. "You are going to live possibly thousands of years. Do you think for a moment that you aren't going to have a lot more serious horseshit happen to you over all that time? Likely worse things than what has already happened too. Thousands of years is a long time for bad things to happen. You start learning now, while you are young and malleable, how to cope with bad things happening. You need to do better than you have to this point in your life."

"Do you think I hadn't had really bad things happen to me before this?" I shot back angerly.

"Oh, getting angry now are we?" She mocked. "Well, that is better than basically hiding in an outhouse. I know you have had a lot happen, and you dealt with it poorly. Review with me how you have dealt well with things to this point. You ran from your home town and lived like a vagabond out in the countryside."

"I didn't have a choice," I interrupted. "You saw how bad the other Thestrals treat me. They would have done worse to me eventually."

"You are right," she replied with a nod. "But you also left with no plan, nowhere to go, and you barely made an attempt to settle at any other place. Yes, Thestrals get treated like trash in most places. It would have taken time, but you could have eventually found work. There are plenty of places in areas prone to monster attacks that would have taken on a Thestral for a night watchpony. They might not like you much, but they like things like Timberwolves sneaking into their towns at night less. You wouldn't have even been in much danger yourself either, all you would need to do is be on watch."

"I eventually found a town to settle in," I said defensively.

"Yeah, key word, eventually," she replied back. "How long were you wandering around the Realm? And you ended up in a slow suicide called Starlight's Folly. Scavenger life expectancy, even if they heal really well, is not that high. You are in your, what, later twenties, maybe older? You were sixteen when you fled your hometown. The likelihood of you having lived ten or more years as a scavenger in Starlight's Folly isn't likely. Immortality comes up a little short when something rips your head off. You weren't in Starlight's Folly more than three years if I had to guess."

"Does it matter?" I replied. I had been in Starlight's Folly just over a year, but wasn't telling her that information.

"Yes, it does," she replied, looking me in the eyes. "It means you spent all those years hiding from your problems, and when you finally stopped hiding it was to go somewhere that was just a delayed death sentence. You are not going to keep playing that game. It isn't fair to you, it isn't fair to your soon-to-be wife, and it isn't fair to those of us trying to help you. We have talked about this already. You are going to stand on your own four hooves and not break when life gets hard, because life isn't going to play nice."

I cried knowing she was right, I had been broken before the rape had even occurred. I don't even know why I was trying to defend myself on the fact. As Sunset watched me do so she grabbed a towel from somewhere close by and tossed it to me.

"You are going to fix yourself," she said, "Do you know why the Alicorns are so concerned about you and your fiancee? It is because immortals that are psychologically unfit pull the whole world down with them. You might not think you can, but you can be surprised what a pony can do with enough time. Your talent is surviving, surviving isn't living, you are scared of living. You have taken some positive steps, learning to trust at least a few ponies, and love one. But there is still a long way to go, and I am not going to just let you slip back into self destructive habits." She turned to walk away, but said just a little more before leaving. "We are back on the ground and the others are likely wondering what is going on. I will tell the others you need a moment. In a little while you are going to once again see those that assaulted you. You aren't going to hide yourself away to avoid it. There is a lot of joy to be found over thousands of years too, but only if you don't let you inner demons get the best of you. Time to confront another one of your demons," she gave her closing thoughts and finally trotted away.


***


We disembarked from the airship and started making our way towards the Tree's trunk. The city streets were as packed with ponies as when we were down in them last. The distance to the trunk was not going to be a short walk. The trial was scheduled for late afternoon. It was mid-morning now, but it would take us several hours of walking to reach our destination. The size of this place still boggled my mind.

There was not a lot of chatter among our group as we walked. Hot Sticks and Sunset led the way, though for this particular trip I think Biblo and I could figure out where to go. We were heading to the Tree's trunk, and there was no missing where that was. The two of us still allowed ourselves to be led, the other two likely knew the quickest paths after all.

There was a few notable differences in the city this time around. There were barkers announcing the trial, a new one every few streets. They were dressed in colorful capes, standing on podiums, displaying pictures of the Lunar Guard who had attacked us, pictures of me, and pictures of various Alicorns. They were actually selling tickets to the trial. Marketing it all at once as the greatest trial in a hundred moons, the chance to actually see the Alicorns, and the event you needed to witness to be able to have a conversation for the next week. Their shouts echoed throughout the streets, and as soon as you began to escape the sound of one you found yourself entering the sound radius of yet another.

Another notable difference was that because of the barkers there were a lot of ponies taking open notice of me. I wasn't just a Thestral anymore, I was a celebrity of sorts. As a result I had ponies openly staring at me, rather than glaring at me while pretending they weren't looking at me. There wasn't the same hostility as there was before, this was just ponies staring at the mare of the hour. Their gazes still made me want to just fly off. Can't they just not look at me? I didn't like all these ponies' eyes on me.

Biblo took notice of the staring, and the impact on me as well. She glared menacingly at every pony she could, even then, most ponies staring escaped her notice. When one Earth Pony mare pulled a rare camera out, and took my picture, I had to restrain Biblo from going after the foolhardy mare.

In short the entire walk was miserable, and I felt like some object on display. All these ponies could march themselves to Tartarus if I had my way.

Hot Sticks eventually dropped back to check on us, while Sunset continued to lead on. Sunset leading the way had the benefit of clearing a path through the masses. She was big and scary, and just about every pony moved to give her a wide area to walk.

Hot Sticks took assessment of our mood. He saw Bible glaring daggers at the city residents, and my wings fidgeting nervously at my sides. He gave us both concerned looks, but walked with us without saying a word. What was to say? I was beyond uncomfortable, and Biblo wanted to rage at the city which was making me feel that way. We were both doing remarkably well in my opinion. I wanted to either give into my flight instinct, or curl up into a ball and cry where I was at, I was resisting both those impulses. Biblo likewise hadn't done much worse than just glare, the one photographer aside.

We were passing through an intersection, one that was a bit larger than most of the rest, when things became more unbearable. This intersection, like many of the others, had a barker, a Pegasus stallion. In addition to the normal cape he had an absurd hat on that had multiple feathers of various colors, and an equal amount of fluffy balls of equally diverse colors mounted on springs. It looked ridiculous, and I couldn't imagine who would actually design such a hat, much less wear it. He was shouting loudly through a megaphone he dexterously held at the end of one wing.

"AND LOOK THERE GENTLEMARES AND GENTLESTALLIONS! EVEN NOW THE VICTIM OF THE VISCIOUS ACT MAKES HER WAY TO THE GREAT TREE! A VICTIM OF HER RACE'S VIOLENT INCLINATIONS. GIVE HER YOUR PITY THAT SHE WAS BORN TO SUCH A DEBASE A RACE THAT WOULD COMMIT SUCH ACTS AGAINST ITS OWN! BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW TO SEE THE TRIAL EVERY PONY WILL BE TALKING ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME!" His voice rang out.

I came to a halt and looked around, while trembling, at all the ponies gazing at me. The urge to just take take off and fly away was near overwealming now. Instead I just slumped down to the ground burying my face in my hooves and bringing my wings forward to cover my face. Why couldn't they just let me go in peace? I started crying as I lay there, face hidden from the world.

"Pearlwort, you need to get up," came Sunset's voice close by to me. "I know the attention might feel like it is too much right now, but you aren't avoiding it by laying in the street crying. Be brave, and keep moving forward."

I peeked out between my wings at her. She was standing right next to me, looking down. I looked around briefly, wings still covering my head, but spread enough to give me the ability to see. Biblo was being restrained by Hot Sticks' magic. She had murder in her eyes for the barker. Hot Sticks was visibly straining to keep her from getting free to attack the Pegasus. Ponies were staring and whispering to one another.

"Why can't they just leave me alone?" I wept the question to Sunset. "Always judging, it was bad before, but I can't take this."

"Do you think they aren't judging you any more with you doing this?" She responded with a hoof extended towards my pathetic position.

"I can't help it," I said back. "I am terrified right now. I am not a brave pony."

"If you aren't terrified you don't have the chance to be brave," Sunset said in a sympathetic tone. "Only fools are without fear. The bravest experience fear every single day. Bravery is doing what must be done, despite the fact you are scared. You know you have to get where you need to be, despite the fact you are going to have ponies watching you. Let them, don't let thier staring stop you. Feel the fear, let it remind you that there are things to be wary of, but don't let it cripple you. You are the only pony who can allow fear to do that."

I looked to the Tree. I just had to make it to the tree, that was all I had to do, for now anyway. Still shaking, I stood up, and the street quieted as I did with anticipation. Biblo was still intent on doing serious harm to the barker for drawing such attention to me. I walked towards her, ignoring all the ponies watching.

The street was hushed, not even the barker was making a sound. I could hear the twinkling sounds of Hot Sticks' magic straining to hold Biblo. I came up to her and put a hoof on her shoulder. She jumped in surprise at my touch, and turned to look at me. With a small shake of my head, and a nod back to the path we were walking, I let her know to just let it go.

She gave the barker another glare before turning back to me. She smiled and wrapped her foreleg around me for a brief hug. When she released she took the opportunity to give me a quick kiss, before smiling and nodding. We turned to continue our walk to the Tree, with a final seething glare from Biblo at the barker. The silence persisted as we left the intersection. I could still feel all eyes on me, I just kept mine locked on the Tree.


***


When we finally reached the Tree there was a circus of activity there. Since the actual hall could only hold so many ponies, despite the massive size of the Great Tree itself, there was seating set up outside. What happened on the outside was a paid for event, even though entrance into the hall itself was not. Large screens had been errected and unicorns prepared spells to transmit the images of what would be happening inside to the massive screens for all in attendance to see. It would be like watching a film, except what was happening was actually happening right then, and not some recording on film. That was enough of a marvel to attract ponies even if the trial had not been so thoroughly hyped.

The crowd parted for us as we made our way towards the entrance. An occasional cheer could be heard by ponies excited to see one of the players in this event, me in this case, finally arriving. The area was packed with ponies standing shoulder to shoulder and I wondered how long some of these ponies had been here waiting.

At the entrance stood a dozen guard ponies, members of the Twilight Guard judging by their insignia. They spotted us and a guard came out to meet us. She was a unicorn with light cream colored fur, a blue mane, and a pleasant disposition.

"I am Icy Moon, lieutenant in her Most Holy's Twilight Guard. I will be escorting you to where you shall await the beginning of the trial. My guards shall be at your disposal if you need anything once I have you there, but from this moment on you go no where without one of my guards. The wait before the trial should be brief, as you were the last to arrive. I would expect less than an hour. Their Holinesses are eager to start soon, and with the time only vaguely being set for mid afternoon we qualify meet the requirements to commence with haste."

There wasn't much to say to that. We all just nodded and allowed the lieutenant to lead us into the Tree.

Entering into the Tree we found ourselves in a massive room split into two levels with many doors lining it. The entire place seemed to be made of blue crystal, a pair of staircases on opposite sides of the room led to the second level of the room. The entire room was packed with ponies. The majority seemed to be members of the press, and camera flashes went off frequently. Biblo managed not to lose her temper, or go searching out the ponies who took out picture, but she wore a sour expression that did not slip for a moment.

Icy Moon escorted us through the throng of ponies to a normal sized door a few pony lengths adjacent to a set of massive double doors directly in the center wall of the room on the first level, below the split section of the room. A pair of similarly dressed ponies stood at attention outside the door and opened it while saluting their superior officer. Icy Moon nodded to them and motioned for the other four of us to enter first.

We entered single file into the room as directed and found a comfortable sitting room within. The room was not extremely large, but it was of comparable size to my room in the temple. There were a number of couches, floor cushions, and small benches spread around the room to sit on. There was a glass cabinet that contained cups of many sizes, and another next to it that seemed to contain a large variety of drinks. There was also a large unlit fireplace, which seemed puzzling as it seemed impossible for any chimney to reach this far through the Tree. Two additional doors on separate walls could be seen, one of which was marked as a bathroom, the other had yet another Twilight Guard standing duty next to it.

"I will inform the Most Holy of your arrival," Icy Touch said as she moved towards the second door. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. You are free to drink from the bar provided, or whatever else you like in here. I would not recommend napping, as the court will start soon, I expect to be returning to summon you within minutes."

She quickly exited through the other door and the guard closed it behind her.

Sunset went and sat opposite a large couch and motioned the other three of us to take a seat on the couch. We complied with her request. I took the center, I was flanked by Biblo on my left, and Hot Sticks on my right.

"I am going to explain some details of what is about to happen that weren't previously disclosed to you," Sunset began. "Some of this might be distressing for you and I recommend doing whatever you need to do to help maintain calm. I don't want to have to deal with ponies having panic attacks, trying to attack Alicorns, or doing anything else to embarrass themselves in front of the whole of the Alicorns and the city of Harmony."

I didn't know what she could say to put me more on edge, but she certainly wasn't doing a good job at not causing anxiety to well up. I started doing breathing exercises on impulse. Biblo had brought her saddle bag and pulled from it her pipe, along with mine, with haste, counting on the drug to help keep us calm. She quickly lit her own and then lit mine for me. She then nuzzled closer to me while laying down with her forehooves hanging off the couch grasping her source of drug induced calm. I decided to match her position. Hot Sticks just sat in moving where he was, he hasn't brought his life pack.

Sunset waited for us to settle before she began again. "The prosecutor for this trial will not be a normal prosecutor. Starlight Glimmer is refusing herself from sitting in judgement to argue on your behalf for justove to be done. She is claiming the right based on being your Alicorn. This isn't often done, but it is allowable. The main reason for this is because this entire trial is more spectacle than anything. They intend to leave a strong impression on ponies about how they feel not only about the guards who assaulted and raped you, but all the bigotry that you have endured. Other ponies endure similar every day and an example must be made to not only protect you, but to help make those ponies lives better."

Sunset took a deep breath, then gave the smoke of the pipes a disgusted glance upon realizing she couldn't take a deep breath without getting a strong whiff of their smoke. She instead looked me in the eyes and began speaking again.

"Starlight is going to put your memories on display for all to see," she continued. "She will be removing your cutie mark temporarily in order to do so. I don't know everything she intends to put on display. I can assume that the assault and rape will be played out as one of those things."

It was bad enough that I would have to hear about those things again, but having my memory played out in front of every pony including me seemed a bit much. Sunset waited while I took a few deep breathes and another draw or two from the pipe. I said nothing.

"I know this is going to be very upsetting for you," she continued. "That is why I have been harder than usual on you today about keeping yourself in check. Don't mistake me, I meant every last word of those discussions, but I may not have come on so strongly if we didn't need you to be brave today. I will be out there as well, making sure you don't attempt to bolt under pressure. Please don't make me have to restrain you. You can cry like a foal out there if you want, no pony will blame you, but you will not leave until what needs to be done is finished."

She now looked Biblo in the eye.

"To make myself clear to you," Sunset addressed her. "I will not tolerate you making a spectacle of yourself either. I don't want you racing out to defend Pearl because Pearl is extremely upset. This is something Pearl has to get through on her own. Take solace in the fact that after this trial is done you will be able to take away the terrible memory of that rape, and that this trial will be the last time she has to experience that particular memory. Biblo, please don't make me have to drag you out of the court by your tail. I will do it in a second if I have to, but I really rather not."

Biblo glared back at Sunset in response, but finally nodded. She then turned to me and nuzzled her head against me.

"Hot Sticks you will likely have to give a medical review at some point," Sunset said to the unicorn. "You already knew that, of course. There should not be anything else required of you than that. You three shall sit at a table they have set aside for you, I will stand close by. All of the Lunar Guard that assaulted you will be sitting a few ponylengths away at a separate table. Please, keep civil, whatever they say or do. They are going to be found guilty already, don't embarrass yourselves by trying to take justice into your own hooves with them so close."

I wasn't comfortable with them being that close, but this would all be over soon. I nodded, Biblo hesitantly followed my example.

Just then the door reopened and Icy Moon re-entered the room.

"Mares and stallion, it is time," she said, bowing slightly as she spoke. "Please follow me to the court of the Greater Alicorns."
> Chapter 14: Not So Open and Shut
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The courtroom was massive, the size of a stadium. Two massive sets of seating arched around a central area that was open floor. In that open area were two tables, each with a single bench. At the head of the room sat a large number of thrones, most of which were currently occupied by Alicorns. The occupied thrones bore the markings of their owners, the unoccupied had no markings. The center-most throne was larger, there sat the Twilight Princess.

Icy Moon escorted us past the seating to the central area and indicated we should occupy the table on the left. We quickly took our seats at that table, with the exception of Sunset who stood beside the table. Icy Moon then turned and bowed low to the Alicorns, before leaving the way she entered.

"This court recognizes that the plaintiffs have arrived to face the accused," the Twilight Princess spoke, again her voice magically carrying throughout the room,despite seemingly not raising it. "The accused my now enter so they may be present to defend themselves."

While the Twilight Princess spoke there was no other sound in the room but her voice. When she ceased speaking the roar of the masses was near deafening. The four of us didn't turn to see if the Thestrals had entered the room, but we could hear jeers and insults being yelled from the crowd that indicated they were walking towards us. A moment later we saw them taking their seats at the table. They were under guard by two guards of the Twilight Guard, they were no longer armored, and most of them looked nervous..all but one. One of the stallions sat looking defiant. His face was one I would be glad to forget when this was over. He led that patrol, and it was he who raped me. Just looking at him made me shiver and feel dirty.

"The court recognizes that the accused have arrived to defend themselves," said the Twilight Princess. "Who shall defend the accused? Let them present themselves to us."

A few moments passed and a white unicorn stallion, with a red mane, came forward and bowed. He had a plain looking set of saddle bags on, which I guessed contained his notes on the case.

"I am public defender Hard Case your Most Holy," he said. "I have been appointed to defend the accused to the best of my ability, and shall do as my duty commands."

A parchment and quill appeared in front of the Twilight Princess, and a note was quickly made. The parchment and quill continued to levitate in place after the quill stopped moving.

"You are noted now as their defender," she responded. "Take position near your clients. You may speak to them in whisper, but keep the sound low."

He bowed and did as he was instructed. Going behind his clients, lowering his head close to them, and instructing them on some matter or another.

"Who shall prosecute this case on the part of the plaintiffs?" The Twilight Princess asked the room. "Let them present themselves to us."

Starlight Glimmer then hopped down from her throne and walked defiantly to the center area. The sounds of shocked gasps and whispering echoed throughout the chamber. Hard Case and the Thestrals paled noticeably at the sight. Apparently the fact she would be the prosecutor was not a known fact to most ponies.

"I am Starlight Glimmer, Alicorn of Empathy, and Patron to the Unwanted." Starlight recited. "I recuse myself from passing judgement so that I may seek justice for these ponies. I claim this right as their Alicorn whom they worship, and qualify my recusal in saying I am incapable of unbiased judgement for the same such reason."

The Twilight Princess did not pretend to be shocked that Starlight took this action. She was well aware of it before this after all. She simply leviated her parchment and quill closer to herself.

"Are there any objections from the court to the Alicorn of Empathy's request to recuse herself from judgement?" She asked out loud, no Alicorn raised any.

"It is noted that no objections were raised, and it is so allowed," she continued. "Does any member of this court raise any objection to the Alicorn of Empathy claiming her right to defend her worshipers in court?"

There was a mix of reaction from among the Alicorns. Some had no visible reaction, some seemed to be unhappy with the idea, and some seemed to be giving those who were unhappy sly smiles. There was something going on with this, but I had no idea what it might be.

"Since no objection was raised you shall serve as prosecutor, Starlight Glimmer," the Twilight Princess said, and then quickly made another note on her parchment.

"Prosecutor, please name who you represent, and what crimes are alleged to have been committed against them," she continued.

"My little ponies are named Pearlwort of the Thestral tribe, and Bibulous Bottom of the Crystal Pony tribe," Starlight began. "Both of them charge that the members of the Lunar Guard sitting at the other table did willfully commit assault and battery against both of them, and behaved in ways unbecoming of a guard meant to protect ponies. Pearlwort charges the leader of said guard with rape, and the others with assessory to that rape."

The crowd let out cries of anger and disgust in a deafening chorus. Whatever they may have felt about me personally, they definitely had much more hate for the Lunar Guard members. It felt kind of hypocritical, as I doubted any of these ponies would have given the smallest care about it happening if this trial had not been so heavily promoted.

The Twilight Princess just took some more notes on her parchment, and then turned to address the other table.

"Public defender," she began. "Please name who you represent, and how they plea to these charges."

"Yes, Most Holy, the ponies I have been charged to defend are named Rose Thorn, Dusk Breaker, Thistle Bottom, Brush Fire, and Somber Song," Hard Case replied. "Dusk Breaker, Thistle Bottom, and Somber Song plead guilty to all charges against them. These charges being assault and battery, behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, and assessory to rape. Brush Fire pleads innocent to assessory to rape and to behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, but pleads guilty to assault and battery. Rose Thorn pleads innocent to all charges. These charges being assault and battery, behaving in a manner unbecoming of a guard, and rape. I request that these ponies be handled in separate trials as they have separate pleas."

Shocked gasps echoed around the courtroom. The bloody Tartarus-be-damned bastard claimed innocence on everything, I was so angry I wanted to charge him right then and there, and end him myself. How dare he claim innocence for what he did to me, the unrepentant bastard! I just stared at the table and breathed to try to control myself, remembering Sunset's warnings. Biblo gripped one of my hooves in her one of her fetlocs. Again the Twilight Princess added the notes to her parchment.

"Your pleas are noted," the Twilight Princess said. "For those that plead guilty, we shall consider your open confession should a guilty verdict be reached, for those who plead innocent, we shall also consider that plea if a guilty verdict is reached. They shall be tried together rather than seperately. The prosecutor and public defender may now present their opening arguement to the court, prosecution first."

"Thank you, Twilight," Starlight said with a slight bow of her head. "There is little to debate here. My worshipers were attacked, without reason, by these Thestrals. They cornered my worshipers in an alley, where Rose Thorn made threats. The accused, Brush Fire, held Bibulous Bottom against a wall, and gave her several blows to the stomach area. The remaining accused physically assaulted Pearlwort, and then held her still while Rose Thorn raped her. These former guards are unquestionably guilty, and Rose Thorn in particular deserves harsh punishment befitting his crimes. The case for justice is clear and unquestionable."

Again gasps, jeers, and insults rang out from the crowd. The Twilight Princess made some more notes. She then motioned silently for Hard Case to present his argument. He bowed his head and stepped forward.

"Most Holy, the plaintiffs' accusation is not so cut and dry as they make it out to be. We will argue that the Thestral mare Pearlwort was subject to the guidelines of Thestral communities, and it is the right of those communities to take actions against her for violating those guidelines. The Thestrals are a proud tribe, with a far more defined culture and values than most other pony tribes. As such they have a right to police their own. The rest of the Twilight Realm may not fully understand their reasons, but they shall respect them, and will not interfere. The same policies are taken often with the non-pony races within their communities, we do not interfere with them policing their own, using their own cultural standards and laws. The plaintiff, Pearlwort, broke those standards, and was subject to the consequences. The plaintiff, Bibulous Bottom, interfered with Thestral matters, and is subject to the consequences of that as well. The defendants are guilty only of upholding their own cultural rules within their own tribe, this is not a crime. To say it is a crime is to spit on the diverse cultures of our great land. I will prove my clients' innocence, not only for their sake, but for the sake of others that maintain independent cultures within the Twilight Realm."

I squeezed hard on Biblo's fetlock, if she were less muscular than she was I might have hurt her. As such she said nothing, only letting her eyes mirror my own rage. I hadn't known what they could concoct as a defense for their actions, hadn't put any thought into considering how they might defend themselves, to be honest. But here they were, saying that they had a right to do what they did to me. There was no terror in me anymore, just white-hot rage.

The Twilight Princess once again made notes with the same look on her face as she had from the start. She examined them for a moment before addressing Hard Case again.

"You are well named," she said to him. She then turn to Starlight and questioned her. "Prosecutor, what do you wish to present as evidence of the crimes accused?"

"I will be more than happy to," Starlight said with a sneer directed towards the Thestrals. "I will present the actual memories of my little pony, Pearlwort. I can project them before the court for all to see."

"Objection!" Hard Case shouted. "The holy prosecutor has already stated that she is biased. She could alter the memory projection to falsify evidence."

"I assure the court that I will do no such thing," Starlight responded. "What I show will be unaltered, nor presented out of context."

"Objection overruled," said an orange Alicorn with a blonde mane. "There is no falsehood in Starlight's claims. So says the Alicorn of Honesty, who no pony can successfully lie to."

"The memories shall be permitted as evidence," the Twilight Princess declared. She made a few more notes and then addressed Hard case again. "You have permission to call upon any memory from Pearlwort you feel is pertinent to your case as well, if the prosecutor refuses to present them then she will cease to have permission to use the plaintiffs memories as evidence. Do you bring any evidence for the accused' defense?"

"I submit to the court an omnibus of cases handled by non-pony races," Hard Case answered. "They show that we have to this point maintained the rights for these races to maintain their own justice standards."

"No Thestral rulings within their communities?" Luna spoke up from her throne. "And on a side note, do you mean to suggest that Thestrals are not ponies and should be treated as a different race?" There was a dangerous tone to her voice as she asked.

"No, your Holiness," Hard Case replied. "Thestral rulings within their communities are few and far between. They tend to take more direct action. We do still assert that since they are such a segregated tribe, that they should be treated with the same respect we give non-ponies to conduct their own views of justice."

Luna said nothing more, leaning back into her throne to consider. The Twilight Princess continued to make notes.

"The rulings shall be permitted as evidence," she said. "Again the prosecution may reference them as well, for any information they feel is pertinent to their case. If the defense refuses access to any parts of this omnibus then they cease to be able to use it as evidence. Starlight, you may begin presenting your evidence."

Starlight walked up in front of the table. and looked me in the eye. I knew what she wanted, she wanted my permission to do what needed to be done. I gulped and then nodded an affirmation to her. She nodded back before materializing a floating jar next to her horn.

"To explain my actions," Starlight addressed the court. "I will be removing Pearlwort's cutie mark for the duration of this, it can cause..complications, due to its nature. I have received her permission to do so, and will return it back to her when no more memories must be seen."

No pony raised any objections. I doubt most ponies even had a clue about any details of any of Starlight's magic. The Alicorns had permitted it, so who was any other pony to object? She lit her horn and quickly removed my marks from my flank, sealing them in the jar. She then set the jar down on the table, with my mark floating serenely within.

"I will show the memory of the crime," Starlight announced to the court. "However, I will be displaying all that happened in the hour before to give full..context," she lingered on the word, glancing around the ponies in audience, "of what transpired to Pearlwort that day."

She started casting the spell and her magic enveloped me. It felt disturbing to say the least. I could imagine her flipping through my memories trying to find the right one. This was likely the preview of what it would feel like when Biblo went and removed the memory from my head for good. I wondered what all Starlight was seeing, and how much she was able to actually learn just searching for the right one.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for. An image materialized high in the air of the room for all to see. It was me and Biblo looking at books in the bookstore. What Starlight was doing was obvious, she was going to not only present the crime commited by the Lunar Guard, she also was going to shame the ponies of Harmony for their treatment of me and Biblo.

The events played out in real time as all watched. Biblo and I sharing an embarrassed blush at the book that she wanted to buy, the shopkeeper insulting us and turning us out of his shop, me following as Biblo led us blindly through the streets, Biblo crying in the alleyway. It was all there again. My throat tightened as I watched, and tears formed in my eyes.

Sunset came over and separated Biblo from touching me as we watched. We both glared at her, offended at being seperated. She shook her head silently and touched a hoof to Biblo's head. We got the message. She was concerned about Biblo absorbing my feelings from this memory. Biblo nodded grudgingly and put a little distance between herself and me on the bench. We turned our attention back to the memory on display.

I had spotted the Lunar Guard by this point in the memory, and was trying to lead Biblo away from them. Now Biblo had seen them and had signaled them. Beside me in the present, Biblo's ears dropped in shame seeing her past self commit the horrible mistake. My breathing meanwhile was getting more labored as I watched events unfold once again.

I started shaking as events neared the climax. Our past selves were trapped in the alleyway. The Thestral I now knew as Rose Thorn was taunting me. We watched as Brush Fire held Biblo against the wall, and punched her in the stomach. I could not turn my eyes away from what was happening to see Biblo's reaction to this memory. The beating had commenced, and now I could barely breathe as I watched, my body shook violently, and tears rolled down my face in steady streams.

Now came the final moments, they had me positioned to be mounted. Blows still rained down on me as I struggled, and then it came. The silence that had held the courtroom as they watched my memory was broken as I screamed in chorus with my past self, and hid under the table in panic.

"We shall pause a few minutes while the plaintiff pulls herself back together," I could hear the Twilight Princess declare. "This court is still in session, we are not in recess."

I saw Starlight's face looking under the table with concern. She reached a hoof out to touch me, but I pulled away from it. I didn't want to be touched. Why did she make me have to relive that? I wanted to run away, but I was too frozen with fear. 

I heard Sunset let out a sigh somewhere behind me, then hoovesteps. I saw her face as she looked under the table for a moment judging me.

"Biblo, do what you need to do to get Pearl calmed down," Sunset said unhappily. "I don't like it, but you are the only pony who might have some success right now. Starlight, you and I are going to have words later--loud, angry words."

"What's a visit from you without that?" I could hear Starlight reply. "You know that this was necessary, we both agreed on it, so don't lecture me on it. Pearl will be free from this soon enough."

Biblo crawled down under the table with me. I tried to push away from her and tried to beat at her with my hooves to keep her from touching me. Biblo wasn't having it though. She pulled herself close and grasped me. She ignored my hoof blows, I was unsure if they hurt her or not, only that she refused to get beaten back.

She held on to me, and began again to pet my mane, attempting to soothe me. I stopped struggling against her, and just started sobbing into her fur again. Her fur started becoming extremely damp. 

"It seems you didn't forget your lesson weed," I heard called out from somewhere. 

My sobbing ceased immediately, replaced again by rage. Both Biblo and I struggled to get ourselves quickly out from under the table to go confront the speaker. 

"Mister Thorn," the Twilight Princess called out. "That was unacceptable behavior in this court. You will not be warned again before I have you locked away for contempt of court. Starlight, please restrain your worshipers, before they do something unacceptable as well. I will not have an open brawl break out."

Starlight did indeed quickly wrap us in her magic, and deposited us back on the bench. We struggled briefly, but eventually just settled for glaring menacingly at Rose Thorn. The bastard was just laughing away in his seat.

"Now that we are resettled," the Twilight Princess continued. "I ask the public defender to respond to the evidence that was just presented to the court."

Hard Case was busy looking through notes on his case. He knew that the actual crime being played out for all the world to see was almost impossible to defend. He couldn't have anticipated that it was even a possibility that our memories of the event could be put on display before coming to court. He looked at a single smaller scrap of parchment that seemed to have been tossed into his notes for a long moment, and then smiled like he had just been thrown a lifeline.

"Mister Hard Case," the Twilight Princess addressed him again with a hint of annoyance. "Please, present your counter to this evidence."

"My apologies, Most Holy," he responded, turning back to face her. "I had to consult my notes. Miss Pearlwort's testimony may seem to paint her as a helpless victim, but I would like to present to the court that she is a pony worthy of having harsh justice from these gentlestalions visited upon her. Their methods might have been a bit cruel, but it is no less than she deserves for her own crimes."

"And what crimes would these be, defender?" The Twilight Princess replied. "This court saw no crimes committed by her in the evidence."

"The crime in question happened over a year previously," Hard Case replied. "I call on her memory to be accessed to replay the event in question. An event involving a certain diamond dog in Starlight's Folly. I tell the court now, Pearlwort is a murderer who escaped justice, and was worthy of vigilante justice being taken upon her."

My heart sank as I heard him speak. No one knew the full details of what had happened back then but me. Hard Case was grasping for straws, but he might have just found one that could damn me. I began to shake and tremble again. Starlight took notice.

"The prosecution requests a recess before calling on any further memories from my worshiper," Starlight said to the Twilight Princess. "She is still not recovered from the last memory, and has need to regain her composure before anything else may be brought before the court in such a manner."

"Permission for recess is granted," the Twilight Princess agreed. "This court shall readjourn in one hour. I expect her ready to provide what has been requested at that time. Court is adjourned for now."

Starlight didn't even wait a second. She gathered me in her magic. and quickly marched back to the room we had waited in previously, with the other three following quickly behind. She placed me on a floor cushion and looked me in the eyes as the remainder of our group finished entering the room.

"What is in this memory that they are calling on?" she demanded an answer. "What did you do?"

I was still shaking. Trying to control my breathing. It took me a minute or two to be  able to answer. The others waited for me to calm down. Concern for me was painted on Biblo's face.

"You shouldn't be concerned about the incident with the diamond dog," Hot Sticks spoke up. "Every pony knew that was self-defense back then, and the court will not fault you for doing what you needed to defend yourself."

"There is more to it," I confessed, still crying. "I made the conscious choice to kill her when I didn't have to do that," I looked up to the shocked faces of my friends.

"Hard Case is right, I am a cold-blooded murderer."

I didn't want to talk about what I had done, not in front of my Alicorn, not in front of Sunset, not in front of Hot Sticks, and definitely not in front of my fiancee. It would all be put in front of every pony to see anyway. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it.

"Starlight," I finally said having come to a decision. "Can you just look at the memory now, and not say anything about it. So you can bring it up quickly out there, and know what is coming? I will talk about it later with every pony else, I just can't right now. You will all see what I did. All I can say is I am deeply ashamed of what happened, but you will all get to make your own opinions."

Hot Sticks looked like he wanted to say something. His mouth moved as if to speak more than once, but he caught himself each time. Sunset gave no emotional response. I had just accused myself of murder, and told her she would see the whole event happen again shortly. Biblo just grabbed onto me with a hug, feeling my shame, and my fear.

"Let me touch you as the memory is being shown," Biblo said. "I know what you are feeling now, I want to know what you were feeling then."

"That is not a good idea, and you know why," Sunset told her. I had to agree.

"Biblo," I spoke to my fiancee softly. "You know Sunset is right. I made a conscious decision back then to end another's life in cold-blood. Do you want to expose yourself to what I was feeling back then? Do you want to risk absorbing that into yourself?"

"Maybe I don't care," she responded back in a grim tone. "Maybe I actually want to absorb it," that part made us all look at her in shock. She looked back at all of us with a steadfast expression. "I don't know what you were feeling then, but I know what you are feeling now. You are afraid, you are also ashamed, but guess what? You do not have one hint of regret about it still. You felt justified then, and you feel justified now. I will know where you draw the line in the sand, on whether another deserves to live or die, and hopefully I will take that into me too. I am committed to you, and I will make that line my own."

"Biblo," Starlight said softly. "No pony should be able to make a decision like that."

"And have you never had to make such a decision in your lifetime?" Biblo asked her Alicorn back. She turned to Sunset. "And since you threatened to put me down yourself, you must have your own line as well. You said it yourself, I can become dangerous. The Alicorns are afraid of me," she glared briefly back at Starlight, before returning her glare to Sunset, "and you worry I will get where I will kill indiscriminately."

"I will not be taken from Pearl," she continued, while looking now at me. "I am going to be around a long time as a result. There will be times I will have to have to do terrible things, thousands of years is too long to not have that happen. Let me decide where my line is drawn. I trust Pearl completely, she is a good pony, and I will share her judgement."

"You aren't going to dissuade her," Hot Sticks said in support of Biblo. "I think it is foolishness, but I know a lost cause when I see one. Biblo is going to fight for this kicking and screaming if it comes to that. I would rather not have her get us held in contempt of court. We can call it stupid, because it is, but we can't stop her without sabotaging ourselves."

He paused and took a deep breath.

"I agree with her on one thing," he continued. "I trust Pearl, and I knew of the diamond dog that she killed. That one killed many a pony, and sent many more to my infirmary. I don't know the circumstances, yet, but I am not sorry she is gone from this world."

"Let me see what we are dealing with," Starlight said with a resigned sigh. I just realized my cutie mark was still sitting in a jar out on our table as she spoke. "Hold still, while I search out the memory and review it."

Magic enveloped me again, along with the strange sensation in my head, but no projection this time. Starlight just sat concentrating for several minutes. I had no idea if she was still searching for the memory, found it and was reviewing it, or what. After a few minutes she stopped and looked back at us.

"It will be bad showing this," she finally said, "but I think I can make a good arguement defending your actions. Ironically, the defense's trying to justify vigilante justice actually plays in our favor here, which could also defuse any political sentiment they hope to use as well. Though I will have to make further arguments about how you did not deserve such vigilante justice yourself as a result. We must make our way back to the court, the recess is nearly over."


***


"Court is re-adjourned," the Twilight Princess declared. "Picking up where we left off; Starlight, are you prepared to show the memories that were requested?"

"Yes, Twilight," Starlight replied. "I will show the entire incident in question, as requested."

"Then let's not waste any further time," the Twilight Princess replied.

Starlight bowed her head slightly to our almighty ruler, then she turned to me. Biblo gripped me tightly, which ellicited a grimmace from Starlight, but she didn't put a stop to it. Starlight's horn lit, and we began once again.

The image came into focus for all to see and I found myself getting lost in the memory.

I was there again, in the wastes. I had just recently started scavenging. The wastes were very hard for me to navigate safely, as I had yet to even purchase a compass at this point. I had followed the cliffs and found a rock out cropping that I could fly to the top of and search for crystals. I would then be able to follow the cliff wall safely back to Starlight's Folly.

I was searching around the rocks, and found some rocks that looked promising to possibly have crystals hidden within. With several strong bucks and stomps of my hooves I found I was right. This was indeed a less scavenged area and I was due to bring in, what I at the time considered to be, a large haul.

As I was gathering the precious crystals into my saddle bag, I heard a scratching noise behind me. With a start I whirled around expecting some monster of the wastes. What was there was an entirely different sort of monster though.

A large diamond dog female pulled herself up onto the cliff face with me. Diamond dogs were natural climbers of rock, with claws that easily dug out their own grips in the stone. I didn't know her name, but I knew her reputation. I had heard things spoken in whispers about her, and I had seen ponies come back hurt, or not at all when she followed them. Now she stood alone in the wastes with me.

"Magic-born girl gets pretty high up cliffs," she said to me, half growling as she spoke. "Magic-born should be more careful, she might fall and hurt herself."

I knew that was a veiled threat, but I tried to pretend I was not intimidated.

"I have been called a lot of names, but never magic-born," I replied. "What do you mean by that?"

She laughed at me like I was stupid. It came out as a sort of heckle.

"Stupid magic-born doesn't know what magic-born is," she growled. "All like you are magic-born. All you things that are not dog or Klugian. Vile things, full of magic, that try to pretend they better than us. Pony, griffin, hypogriff, dragon, all the same, all magic-born, all need to be put into correct place."

"I have done nothing to you or any other diamond dog," I replied back. "I might have some grudge with Klugians, but I have never personally met any. I have done nothing to bother you. I just want to be left in peace."

"Magic-born bothers dog by living. Magic-born needs to know that dog is better. Dog needs to teach magic-born that dog is better," and without warning she pounced, knocking me on my back and pinning me to the ground with her massive clawed arms.

"Don't struggle magic-born," she growled. "Be good and this be over quickly, and dog  will know magic-born know her place."

She kept holding me down with one clawed arm, and began reaching down with the other. I had seen enough other ponies return bloody to know what she was intending. I wouldn't let it happen. I threw my head forward and sank my fangs deep into the arm holding me down.

She yelped in pain and released me. When she did I took my hind legs and bucked straight up at her head, fazing her briefly. I rolled and got right side up and ran for the cliff side. I jumped and did a clumsy glide back down to the ground, landing in a tumble. I was hurting from landing wrong, and I had a great deal of scratches from where I had rolled through rocks, but I was away. Now I just had to make my way back to town and report to the guard what happened. I had a clear path to return, and she would take time getting back down to the ground to follow.

"Ow! Magic-born has a strong bite," I heard her call down to me, heckling again. "Dog will leave magic-born alone. Dog respect strong bite, strong bite does not need soft magic. Magic-born lucky they not hurt from fall. Last magic-born who fell down that way not so lucky."

Something about what she had just said prompted me to look around. I just saw lumps of rock sitting around. I looked closer and scraped at the ground with a hoof, I recoiled from what I saw. Beneath the snow there were mangled bones, some of them still had meat on them, frozen-solid by the snow. There were also strips of cloth that I recognized as the remains of a saddle bag. She must have seen me from above because she heckled like mad.

I needed to get back to town and report her. She had tried to assault me, and she all but admitted to having thrown another pony off the cliff here. I could easily find this place again, and show them the bones for proof. They would either lock her away, or banish her from the town. I started walking.

I made it a good distance when I came to a halt. Was there any place to lock her away in town? Would any pony actually take action about her. Every pony in town knew what she had done already, plenty of the ponies in town were her more fortunate victims. I thought of the blood on those ponies, and the bones I had just seen, and then something primal woke up inside me.

My birthright as a Thestral was calling me back to the diamond dog. It was in my blood, it was my duty to protect ponies from the monsters in the night, and I would not walk away from this one.

I quickly moved back the way I came, moving low to the ground as I did. Adrenaline and instinct pushed me, and I would never be able to move like this normally. The wolf in me was fully awake, and the wolf was on the hunt.

I saw her trying to climb down the side of the cliff. My bite had actually injured her enough that she was struggling with using that claw, which slowed her progress significantly. The wind was at a rare extreme low, the weather favored me and allowed me access to fly, I obliged.

I took to the air silently and circled her from above, she didn't look up and notice me. I could still let her be, return to town and seek justice, but every instinct said no. She was a monster that hurt ponies, she was guilty, she needed to be put down. I gave into my bloodlust and dove at her.

I hit her hard, and she went tumbling down to the ground as she lost her grip on the rock. She bounced off several rocks below, before coming to a stop in the snow. Suprisingly she started pulling herself back to her feet. She was now severely injured, dripping blood from cuts all over her body.

I came back down to the ground just a few pony lengths away. She spotted me and let out her heckling laugh again.

"Magic-born asserts its dominance," she heckled. "This magic-born not so soft. Dog recognizes magic-born's strength, dog submits to that strength. Does magic-born wish dog to leave magic-born's territory? Dog will do so after dog get back. Dog recognize strongest and make home elsewhere."

Again, I had the chance to just let her go. She had accepted leaving the town. I didn't need to do this, but the scent of her blood and my drive to punish the guilty that had hurt my town was too strong, it would not accept giving mercy.

I was on her again in a minute, diving at her through the air. I knocked her back as she had knocked me earlier. I bit down into her throat and she tried to scream, but couldn't get it out. She flailed about with her clawed arms and knocked me away, and when I was knocked away I took the flesh of her throat with me.

She stopped moving quickly after, no longer able to breathe with her throat ripped out. She was dead.

Biblo had a death grip on me and was breathing hard, caught up in my emotions. From here in my memory I should be walking back to town, where every pony would realize what had occurred, but never confront me about it. However, my memory played on and showed something else still.

I stood over my kill, the scent of blood filling my muzzle. Bloodlust was still raging in me. There was still one thing my wolf instinct demanded. I began to tear into the flesh of my kill and devour it

In the present I recoiled from this suppressed memory. I didn't recall doing this until now. I don't know if I had been so caught up in bloodlust that the memory just suppressed itself, or so horrified after that I suppressed it then, but I knew this was real. I could hear sounds of horror and disgust echo throughout the chamber. Many of the Alicorns looked a bit pale at my final actions. Hard Case looked ready to be sick, he had not anticipated this final part either. Suprisingly the former members of the Lunar Guard, and Luna as well, were all looking on at me with something almost akin to respect. I didn't know how to begin to feel about that.

"This court shall take another hour recess to compose ourselves and let us digest what we have just seen," after she spoke the Twilight Princess's eyes went wide, realizing what she had just said in a slip. It was the most animated I had seen her face. I could hear some ponies with a sick sense of humor laughing in the audience. Luna and Pinkie Pie apparently had sick senses of humor as well, and broke out into unceromonious laughter.

Starlight didn't say anything, simply motioning us to retreat back to our waiting room. We all quickly complied with her unspoken order. I could see ponies giving me disgusted looks and looks of fear as we passed. I was disgusted by myself right now as well, and could not blame them.

We made our way into the room and I plopped myself down on the floor with my legs extended in four different directions. Most of the others kept a distance from me, no doubt feeling the same horror for those final moments. Biblo didn't keep her distance, she just sat quietly beside me, tilting her head as she processed what she had felt.

I looked over at my fiancee wondering what was going on in her head. Did she still think me a good pony after that? I hadn't just done murder, I had gone bestial and cannibalized the corpse of the one I murdered. It was impossible to just accept that.

"Well?" Sunset asked Biblo. "How do you feel about what you just witnessed and felt?" We all turned to Biblo to see what her response would be.

She continued to sit still, head tilted, sorting through the feelings. Then she looked to me, lifting up one of her forehooves and gently running it across my mane. She was smiling now, and the fact that she was smiling somehow disturbed me.

"You are still mine," she said. "and I find no fault with you. I told you that I would make your line my own, and I have," her eyes hardened and the same bloodlust that I imagined my eyes held during the events of the memory entered into Biblo's.

"The dog was dangerous," Biblo continued. "She was a monster, she was guilty of hurting and killing ponies, Pearl was right to kill her. I would do the same in her position, now," her voice became increasingly more vicious as she said each word.

"And the final bits of the memory?" Sunset asked. "The part where Pearl ate the dog?"

Biblo's ears fell. She wasn't as okay with that part it seemed.

"No, I wouldn't do that part," she replied back.

Sunset seemed satisfied and turned to Starlight to start addressing her.

"I wouldn't do that, because I obviously don't have the teeth for it," Biblo finished her halted reply with a toothy grin.


***


"Hopefully every pony that needed to empty their stomachs has done so," the Twilight Princess declared. "Court is now back in session. The defense has the floor to discuss..what we just saw."

I looked nervously at Starlight. I hoped she was right and she could actually use that memory to further the case, because now ponies were thinking I was some sort of monster. The defense's case was weak before, now I was not so sure. I felt monstrous myself after seeing what I had blocked out from my memory. 

The only pony that didn't seem appalled was Biblo, and the reasons for that were even more disturbing. She no longer found anything wrong with the concept of cannibalizing a corpse, she took the full feeling I had in the memory, not my current feelings. For the first time I actually considered whether Biblo was a pony the Alicorns should be nervous about.

"I think that the images speak for themselves," Hard Case said to the court. "Pearlwort killed a diamond dog in cold-blood when she had ample opportunity to report her to the authorities instead. She also feasted on her victim. The plaintiff is a monster."

"Objection!" Starlight called out. "Pearlwort is not one of the ponies on trial."

"But she did demonstrate she is a pony worthy of justice being visited upon her," Hard Case rebuked.

"Objection overruled," the Princess intoned. "While it is true that Pearlwort is not on trial, the defense may argue the claim she was a pony worthy of harsh actions taken upon her."

Starlight sneered and grumbled silently to herself. The Twilight Princess meanwhile made some more notes.

"Now," the Princess continued after finishing her notes. "Please explain miss Pearlwort's actions to the best of your ability, prosecutor."

"Glady," Starlight said with a hint of anger. "The defense wishes to defend vigilante justice, but is quick to condemn it being done by the plaintiff. I will agree with the defense that some tribes and races should be allowed to make their own justice within their own communities. I would also argue that this should extend to settlements that operate beyond where Realm laws are enforceable. The settlement she was living in had no effective civil government that could deal easily with criminals and murders within its own borders. They had no prison or police force. The closest such authority was two days travel away."

"This particular diamond dog was a known threat within the community," she continued. "As you may have deduced from her broken speech, she had a penchant for abusing and murdering ponies. You could see in the memory the remains of a pony that the dog heavily implied she murdered," Starlight turned her attention to the former Lunar Guard members.

"I wonder what any self respecting Thestral would do when faced with a monster hurting and killing the ponies of their town," Starlight said with a hint of mockery and sarcasm. "Oh, I know this one! They take the monster down. The dog would have continued as she had been doing, due to the lack of means to properly deal with her, so something needed be done. Pearl did her duty as a Thestral and protected her town from a monster."

"And the cannibalism of the corpse?" The princess interjected. "What part of duty did that involve?"

"I assume most in this courtroom are not familiar with Thestrals," Starlight said. "They can be overcome with instinct for a moment, just as any other pony can. A large part of their instincts are deeply predatory. The same drive that had Pearlwort ready to kill in order to defend her town, also drove her to feast on her kill. Thestrals are predators, when they kill something they eat it. If any of these other Thestrals has ever fought and killed a dangerous beast, they likely did similar with that beast as well. It is raw instinct, and we cannot blame a civilian giving into them in a highly stressful situation, not when she has never received any training to help keep instinct in check."

I had a sudden horrible thought about whether I had done this many times before, and simply blocked it out of memory each time. I had killed more than just the diamond dog in the wastes, I had killed undead more than once, I had even killed one the day I met Hot Sticks. I wondered if I had chowed down on undead flesh right after, and repressed the memory much as I had with this. I was not sure if I even wanted to know if I had done so or not. The thought of having eaten one of those things made me want to vomit.

"I can confirm this," Luna spoke up. "Further, I can say that this compulsion helps keep ponies safe. When beasts happen upon the partially devoured remains of others like them, they are dissuaded from being in the area. Killing a hydra and leaving a half eaten corpse behind sends a clear message to any other predator that there is something threatening to them in the area and it they should go elsewhere. It is brutal, but effective, and many a town would be swallowed up by dangerous wildlife if Thestrals didn't do this."

"As I said," Starlight said with smug assurance, "most ponies may not understand it, but it is perfectly natural behavior. Behavior that keeps our ponies safe from threats. Pearlwort was confronting a threat to her town, and she did what her heritage as a Thestral compelled her."

"And also to make clear," Starlight prepared to close her statements on my behavior. "This matter with the diamond dog was not what motivated these former members of the Lunar Guard to do what they did. I actually think it is unlikely that they even knew about the incident. This entire display of Pearlwort doing her duty as a Thestral, and then trying to misrepresent that as her being a monster, is just a distraction. One that is not just discriminatory towards her, but towards the entire Thestral race as well. Let us move on from this to what motivated the assailants in truth. My worshipers are not on trial here, the defendants are, for a rape and assault that occurred in this very city, in case any pony has forgotten."

The Twilight Princess made more notes on her parchment. I wondered if she had already known all this or not. It would seem likely she did, she was the Holy Twilight Princess, it was part of her job to know details of all the pony tribes. This was all just for show. They were as upset with the prejudice shown towards Thestrals in general, and this trial was to make a statement. I was not sure pointing out that we made a meal out of those we killed was exactly the most enduring thing they could be putting on display. But they did seem to be trying to remind ponies that Thestrals were an important part of pony society.

Brush Fire, the one who had assaulted Biblo, was signaling Hard Case to come talk to him. The two began having a very animated discussion. I assumed there was some sort of magic in place to suppress us hearing it, just as there was magic in place so any called upon by the princess could be heard clearly. They both seemed angry with one another, and there seemed to be clear sides among the others between those that supported Hard Case and those that supported Brush Fire. It wasn't an even division, only Rose Thorn seemed to be siding with Hard Case, the rest seemed to support Brush Fire. They may not have been Lunar Guard any longer, but there was a definite mutiny in the ranks happening. Hard Case eventually took a defeated look knowing he was completely outvoted on whatever the issue happened to be.

"Most Holy," Hard Case addressed the princess. "We have no further interest in this bit of evidence. Also, Brush Fire wishes to change his plea to guilty on all counts."

"Your representation of all of them despite different pleas was already questionable at best," the Twilight Princess replied, ignoring the fact she had been the one to cause that sort of representation. "It is now only one client of yours seeking defense. I would recommend mister Rose Thorn being temporarily removed from court, and finding other councel while the others give testimony of their actions and we can determine appropriate sentencing. There is a severe conflict of interest here for him, and we shall now have to rule guilty on all charges except that of rape. The confessions of all the others pretty much confirms he is guilty of the same crimes they were. His sentencing on those crimes shall be determined at a later date after we have independently held court in regards to the rape charge. Unless he wants to confess to that as well now, given this whole court watched him do it."

Hard Case went to check with Rose Thorn and more animated, silent, angry words began to be exchanged between them. I was in shock, they never even got to bring up why my fellow Thestrals actually hated me, and now it looked like there would be an end to the trial suddenly. Ironically this would be a political failure for the Alicorns who wanted to address all the prejudices and one important one was still not even mentioned.

As we were watching the continued arguement I noticed that the ones who had all pleaded guilty were watching me instead.  As one, they dipped their heads towards me in a small show of respect. Had watching me kill that diamond dog actually change their opinions about me to favorable? Was that why Brush Fire had changed his plea? 

Beside me Biblo looked torn by emotion. I could only imagine what was going on in her head. She had a fierce protective nature for me, one that demanded retribution for what had happened, perhaps more than ever after absorbing my Thestral blood lust. However, the majority of the ponies that had attacked us were suddenly showing signs of respect towards me and submitting to justice. It was a circumstance that produced very conflicted emotions in me, it had to be as strange of one for her as well.

"This is going to be a political coup for Starlight," Sunset said from behind me. "She is going to be very pleased with herself, despite not achieving all our goals."

"Why is this going to be a political coup?" Biblo asked curiously.

"Because it will earn her a fair number of converts," Hot Sticks answered for Sunset.

"Yes," Sunset confirmed. "She just stood up and prosecuted a case successfully on the part of her worshipers. She also managed to take what the defense hoped to use to be politically divisive, and turned it to her favor. Ponies will notice and she will gain many worshipers as a result. That is why she made some of the Alicorns uneasy about her prosecuting this case. They knew she would come out gaining more influence."

"So this is just a big political game to her?" I asked disappointedly.

"No," Sunset replied back to me. "She honestly does care deeply about her ponies. She would have done this if there were no gains to be made, but she always takes advantage of any opportunity she can to gain more influence. She has been at this so long she can't help herself."

There wasn't much to say about that, not that I could think of anyway. Alicorns were all secretly crazy from what I had seen so far.

"Since Rose Thorn is still arguing after this many minutes," the princess spoke. "I will assume he is not dropping his plea of innocent on all counts. With that in mind, let us do as I said, and have him taken away for now to focus on the guilty pleas."

Several members of the Twilight Guard came from somewhere in the courtroom to the defense table. Rose Thorn looked like he wanted to argue further, glared at his compatriots, and then gave me a murderous glare as well. He did give in and allow himself to be escorted away though. Hard Case began to consult with the remaining four quietly. The princess waited silently as they did.

"We will still be able to demand certain penalties for your attackers," Starlight began speaking to me and Biblo. "There is no promise that those demands will be carried out, and they will still be testifying about their actions. Ultimately, the court will decide together on what they feel is just punishment. The fact that they confessed typically will lessen what the court will hand down, provided they are cooperative with the details. Often they may agree to act as witnesses for any further proceedings that may need to be done, in exchange for further lessening of punishment, so there is a good chance they will testify against Rose Thorn when the time comes."

"Rose Thorn was the ringleader, and he is the one we want to get nailed to the wall," Sunset added in. "His court hearing will be in a few more days. He must first find new counsel, and that new defender has to have time to gather information to argue Rose Thorn's case."

"Does this mean I will have to go through showing all that again?" I asked. "And that I won't be able to have these memories purged out of my head for days more?"

Starlight and Sunset looked at one another, then the two looked at Biblo. Biblo was giving a death glare of her own in the direction that Rose Thorn had been led out, and not giving the rest of us much attention. The two larger ponies seemed to be debating silently what to do. 

"I think that it may be avoided," Starlight finally said. "At least, I will be able to have your memory still removed from your head and still be usable in any further court proceedings. I know a way of having it stored once it is taken out. That way it can be accessed at any time when needed, and we don't have to have it stay with you. Mind you may have to see it again on the playback, but it will be like watching something happening to some pony else, horrific, but not as horrific as remembering it yourself."

"Will you show me how?" Biblo finally spoke, turning her attention to Starlight. "I know I had said it could be an Alicorn that did it before, but I want to be the one to do it. This is my gift to Pearl, and she already is going to be taking feelings from me. I want to be the one that stores that memory away."

"Biblo," Starlight sighed, "you seem to go out of your way to make yourself troublesome. It is extremely hard to keep anxieties rising about you when you keep insisting on further pushing your boundaries. I already have damage control to do with your absorbing Pearl's more savage instincts. Are you going to add to those anxieties by having us worrying you now have the knowledge to take away, and store the memories of others? You are far removed from the pony you were a month ago, and we have to worry what we are going to be dealing with a century or millennia from now."

"I will handle the storing the memory myself, as well as the entire memory removal," she concluded. "I will even give in with your request to transfer the traits you both wanted to her. We are not going to have any further escalation at this time of things to worry about with you. You know this isn't happening unless it is on my terms, you need to have that cutie mark removed to do it. I am the only pony living who can both do what needs to be done on an empathic level, and has the magic to have the cutie mark temporarily removed. I am also sure you don't want any mistakes to happen because you are trying to do something you aren't familiar with doing."

Biblo glared back at her Alicorn for a moment, but then nodded, before slumping into a sulk. I was just glad it was still going to be happening, even if Biblo wouldn't be the one doing it. I gave my fiancee a little hug to let her feel what I was feeling. She gave me a little smile, but was still clearly unhappy with the fact she wasn't going to be the one doing the deed.

As we were doing this, Hard Case seemed to be done discussing what was going to happen and what kind of deals they wished to try to make for their cooperation. He went to stand before the Twilight Princess again and made a bow. The court went back to a hush.

"My clients are willing to provide full testimony against Rose Thorn," he said. "What they are seeking for their cooperation is the right to rejoin the guard within five years time, public service instead of prison sentences, they also wish the right to make public declaration of repentance. They also wish to say that if any pony should have issue with Pearlwort's actions in the wastes, that they will make any testimony asked of them in order to defend her."

They really did respect what I did with the diamond dog. I felt like crying, this was the first time my tribe had ever shown me any respect for anything.  Sunset did as well, but she was a bit of an outcast like me, so she didn't count. This was finally validation, after years of torment and fear, that I was not a complete embarrassment to my tribe. I didn't even care if they still hated me for everything else, this was a victory I had never thought would happen.

"Are all four of these clients in like mind in their reasoning?" the Twilight Princess asked Hard Case. The public defender nodded the affirmative back. "Then rather than hearing four separate repentance speeches I would have them pick a speaker from among them who will do it for them all. After we have heard what is said we shall discuss their fate."

It seemed that Hard Case had already briefed them about what would be happening and they had already come to a group conclusion on who would speak. Brush Fire came forward and prostrated himself low before the princess, prepared to declare repentance.

"Our tribe is very familiar with pony known as Pearlwort," he began. "We are a very conservative tribe, and those that break with our values dramatically become well known and scorned. Pearlwort, was born a colt, and through means we are not sure of became a mare. We don't approve of what Pearlwort did, it isn't natural, it is against whatever destiny Pearlwort should have been born to do. If Pearlwort was meant to be a female, then Pearlwort would have been born a female. It is the natural order, Pearlwort violated the natural order, and earned our animosity."

"So far your declaration of repentance doesn't sound very repentive," the Twilight Princess observed cooly.

"We wish to only give some backstory, Most Holy," Brush Fire replied. "We are also very proud of our bloodlines, and Pearlwort had a Pegasus father. When Pearlwort began asserting that they were female we combined that with the fact there had been a non-Thestral father and quickly identified Pearlwort as a blight on our tribe, incapable of being a worthwhile Thestral, and a pony that brought shame on all Thestrals by existing."

"Still not seeing that repentance," Biblo whispered with a low growl beside me.

"However, a Thestral's first duty is to defend others from the monsters that would harm them. What we strive to be is protectors that do what others cannot to keep ponies safe. We were born with Luna's blessing to hunt the things that would hunt ponies. Pearlwort demonstrated this in exemplary fashion when she faced that diamond dog, he.." Brush Fire briefly had a verbal stumble as he corrected himself, "..she did her duty as a Thestral and she did it well. We feel pride in seeing dangers put down, and pride in those who put those dangers down. We are still not comfortable with her, but we shall admit she is a Thestral that does not shame her heritage. It is we who shamed our heritage by attacking her, and in hindsight we see the poor nature of what we based our judgement on. We submit ourselves for judgement before you Most Holy, before Holy Luna, before the rest of the Alicorns of this court, and before Pearlwort. We also issue apology to Bibulous Bottom for any harm we may have done her, she was right to stand her ground for her friend, and even though she is not a Thestral, we recognize her steadfast nature to her duty."

I did cry then. I wasn't going to have them recognize me as natural, but I was getting their recognition as a good Thestral. That was more than enough.

"Maybe, that is why I feel so protective of you," Biblo whispered to me with a smile. She was feeling my joy at what was happening and sharing in it. "I am probably as much a Thestral in my head as you are, thanks to how much I have absorbed from you. I need to protect my pony." Starlight noticed our exchange and took on a considering look.

"Since you two seemed pleased, can I assume you accept their pleas and apologies with requests for leniency?" She asked us. "We are still going to get our justice done on Rose Thorn, are we concerned any more with these four? It would go a long way towards mending fences with your tribe to accept this."

That was a surprisingly hard question. I still wanted them punished harshly for what they did, they had hurt me, and they had hurt Biblo. Under normal circumstances I would never stop thinking about it, but this was all going to be going away shortly. If I didn't remember anymore then I couldn't feel a need for retribution. 

"I am never going to forgive," Biblo fiercely said in response. "Pearl may, as she will be forgetting this soon, but I won't be forgetting or forgiving," her face softened after saying that. "But I also want what is best for Pearl. If this will help her, then I can accept it," I nodded silently as she finished speaking, and then hugged her tightly. Starlight and Sunset looked to one another and nodded to one another as well.

"My worshipers accept the criminal's pleas for mercy," Starlight said to the other Alicorns. "We leave it to your judgement what shall be done. We shall pursue our justice against Rose Thorn at a later date, for now we are satisfied."

The Twilight Princess made yet more notes on her parchment. I wondered how small the writing must be to fit all the notes she had made on one parchment. She then signaled Luna, along with the orange Alicorn that had spoken up earlier, to come speak to her quietly. After the three spoke for several minutes the two who had come to the princess went out among the other Alicorns, speaking to each, one at a time. This progressed for some time, and I was getting bored despite my earlier mood. Finally Luna and the other Alicorn returned to the princess and spoke with her again. The Twilight Princess nodded, made even more notes, and signaled the other two back to their seats.

"We have come to our decision for what justice shall be done," she addressed every pony. "For the request that the criminals be allowed back in the Lunar Guard in five years time, we deny. We shall commit such decisions to Luna as to when, or if, they are fit to serve. For the request that prison sentence be substituted by community service we accept such arrangements. Rarity has gracefully agreed to make use of the defendants in her various charities and philanthropic endeavors. However, if she is not satisfied with their efforts a prison sentence of no less than ten years shall be put in place."

"Now a final warning," she said darkly. "This court has been merciful. Our mercy shall not be abused. If there are repeat offenses from these ponies, we shall not only imprison those offenders, we shall commit them to Tartarus, where they will have a very long time to consider their misdeeds."

Shocked gasps rang out across the room, one coming from me as well. The Alicorns said they wanted to make an example, that was an extreme way of making an example. No pony returned from Tartarus, only the worst threats were imprisoned there. It was said that in Tartarus you lived forever, but you lived forever chained away in the dark, with only the three-headed-demon-dog Cerburus to keep you company.

"Justice is served," the Twilight Princess declared, and with that she and the other Alicorns, minus Starlight Glimmer, teleported out of the court.
> Chapter 15: Archives and Alicorns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We returned yet again to the waiting room after the Alicorns left. Shock was still my overall feeling. I was shocked that it had ended so abruptly, shocked that I was suddenly subject to some level of respect from my tribe, and shocked by the revelations about my own nature. Starlight Glimmer didn't seem shocked by the events, she seemed smug.

"That played out beautifully. I impressed myself with that performance," she congratulated herself. "Everything went according to plan."

"According to plan?" Sunset snapped at her. "How was that all according to plan? You brought on a panic attack for Pearl, and you also put her eating a corpse on display for the world to see."

"Pfft," Starlight waved off the questioning. "I didn't fully plan for the eating part, but the rest was planned, and that one unplanned item likely only made things better on the Thestral front."

"Do you mean you knew that they were going to bring up the incident with the diamond dog?" Hot Sticks asked her.

"Of course," Starlight smiled. "Where do you think they even found out about it? I made some arrangements for that information to find its way to Hard Case, minus any details other than Pearl killed a diamond dog that she didn't technically have to kill. His case was so weak he jumped at the one thing that he felt could demonize Pearl."

"And you don't think it did?" Sunset asked her crossly.

"No," Starlight said simply. "Yes, she is still a scary Thestral to the public, but she is one that can be exonerated for defending ponies, which earns at least grudging respect. Further the display of the incident is just the push we needed to get Brush Fire to repent. I knew I tagged him correctly as the pony who would do it. And the word will spread out to all the Thestral communities as well. Pearl should have no further problems from her tribe. This entire thing played out by script."

"And making Pearl break down in a panic attack in the middle of court?" Biblo demanded with anger.

"Regretable, but necessary," Starlight said while looking Biblo in the eyes. "I did not enjoy that, but it accomplished two things. First, we had to show the memory to make this an unquestionable case. We would have had to do something completely off script otherwise. The second reason is it earned her sympathy from the ponies of Harmony. You can't watch a pony get raped, and then watch that pony still going through trauma, and not feel at least a little kinder towords her, not if you have any heart at all," she paused for a moment and looked us all over.

"Let me tell you something," she continued. "This whole trial? It was a farce, it was nothing but a stunt. It was a public relation campaign on Pearl's behalf, and for those like her. If it wasn't for Twilight sitting up there presiding over the trial, some pony would have called us out for how much of a farce it was. The only question going in was whether Brush Fire would do as I thought he would."

"It was also a power grab," Sunset said with annoyance. "You stand to gain a lot personally from this. New followers from ponies who see you as actively helping ponies, after they have seen you defend your worshipers. Possibly more Thestrals as well, you did put on a good show of defense of the Thestral tribe. You Greater Alicorns and your constant need to turn everything into a power struggle."

Starlight was not pleased with having been called out. She gritted her teeth and glared at Sunset. She seemed to forget the rest of us were there for the moment, the only other pony in the room as far as she seemed concerned was Sunset.

"I care about my little ponies," she growled at Sunset. "Yes, I do try to further my position, it helps me better support the ponies who look to me. I have responsibilities to them, something you have never cared about."

"I help ponies all the time, and I do it without having to worry about how much influence I will gain or lose in the process, Greater," Sunset growled back.

"Oh, it must be nice!" Starlight picked up her forehooves and shook them mockingly at Sunset. "You have no idea what kinds of pressure my job puts me under. Do you think I like playing this game? Of course not! But I need to do what I can to advance the needs of the ponies that look up to me. But a Lesser wouldn't understand that.." Starlight's eyes went wide as she realized what she had just said, and she brought her forehooves up to cover her mouth.

Sunset just facehooved, and shook her head. Sunset was yet another lesser Alicorn in disguise. Add that to my list of surprises for the day. I actually felt betrayed, this meant the whole outcast Thestral look was a disguise, likely one to play to my sympathy. Biblo and I looked on in shock, Hot Sticks looked surprised, but not shocked. He must have suspected it, but not been certain.

"You just can't help saying and doing things impulsively can you?" Sunset said sadly to her. "Six thousand years and you are still as much an impulsive mess as you were when you were just another Unicorn."

"I'll take your word on it. I don't spend much time learning about my past from Pinkie Pie," Starlight replied, looking a little crestfallen. "Sorry to have blown your cover, for what it is worth."

"Done is done," Sunset sighed with lowered ears. "Not the worst thing you have ever done to me."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Starlight said with full innocence. "I have never done anything to you."

"You once tricked me into taking your place for fifty years," Sunset glared as she spoke. "You said that it would be fun to try to pretend to be one another for a day, then you took off, leaving me having to pretend to be you for half a century. I had to have your own guard hunt you down so I could drag you back by your tail." 

Okay, I thought it before, but Alicorns are crazy.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Starlight said, sounding like she was happily reminiscing. "That was a good few years."

"Not to interrupt," Hot Sticks interrupted. "But the rest of us are still sitting here, and while the conversation is fascinating. We would like some personal explanation." Hot Sticks had just stood up to a pair of Alicorns, he was getting braver. 

"You have my apologies," Sunset said to the three of us. "I rarely take my Alicorn form and prefer to be treated as just another pony. I admit I chose this form, in part, to gain a little bit of trust, and that was duplicitous of me. The other reason I chose this form was it just felt like it would be a fun form to have for a while, and I hadn't gone Thestral in a long time."

"So is Sunset even your real name?" Biblo questioned her. 

"Sunset is really my name," Sunset said with a smile. "However, it is Sunset Shimmer, not Golden Sunset. I have always preferred to go by Sunset."

"And what kind of specialty do you have?" I asked, still trying to figure out how I should feel about this, or if I should be treating her differently. 

"Glad you asked," Sunset smiled. "Glimglam here," Starlight rolled her eyes in response to the nickname, "and I are kind of representative of the same main thing, we are both empathy driven. We might not have the exact same powers, and we have very different personalities, but we ultimately are both driven by empathy. She has more than once tried to drop the job of Alicorn of Empathy on me."

"I'd only be taking a vacation," Starlight whined. Having an Alicorn actually whining was another thing that I would add to the list of weird things I never thought I would see for today. "Every pony needs a break now and then."

"As I already pointed out, you took off for fifty years last time, Miss I-Have-Responsibilities," Sunset said flatly.

"What is fifty years when you live as long as we have lived?" Starlight justified herself.

"And as I also already pointed out, I had to drag you back by your tail," Sunset said with the same flat voice.

The fact these two were squabbling like foals was kind of surreal. This is not how a pony imagined Alicorns to behave. I wondered if they were putting on an act now to put us at ease, as putting on acts seemed to be a common Alicorn occurance, or if I was just seeing what Alicorns were like when they weren't acting.

"You are really behaving differently than when I met you, Starlight," I commented. 

"Well, you are more or less a member of our immortal club now," Starlight replied. "Partial members at least, you two aren't Alicorns. We are all going to be around until the planet someday just goes POOF so might as well get used to being casual with one another. I am not going to try to act like a divine being in private with another immortal. I have to play that game enough with normal ponies."

"I suppose no real harm is done in you revealing me," Sunset confessed with a sigh. "I would have had to reveal what I was sooner or later. I would have preferred to do it on my own terms, but what's done is done," Sunset then lowered her head as she looked towards the three of us who were not Alicorns. "I do want to be your friend, and to help you as I said. I hope you still want to have me with you. I was hoping to stick around you for a few years."

"A few years?" I asked with surprise. "So, you were intending on keeping with us after we leave Harmony?"

"If you let me," Sunset replied earnestly. "I am in need of another identity again, and I like this one, and I haven't set down new roots yet. Traveling with all of you would be fun, I would get to introduce you around to some of the Lessers, and there are a few other immortal beings out there who aren't Alicorns either. Plus, we really do need to work on Biblo's control of her empathic abilities, and getting you more emotionally fortified."

Biblo jumped several pony lengths and grabbed Sunset up in a massive hug, taking the disguised Alicorn completely off guard. Sunset just sat and blinked for a moment as the Crystal Pony squeezed her, then she smiled and hugged her in return. Biblo had already wanted her to come with us, and it didn't seem like the fact that Sunset was actually an Alicorn upset her much. She had already made herself clear she wanted to get me and Biblo trained so we didn't worry Alicorns. There was one detail of what she said that caught my ear though.

"Other immortals who aren't Alicorns?" I asked, feeling a little less unique. "There are other immortal ponies running around who aren't Alicorns?"

"Well, ponies and other races," Sunset said. "I know most of them personally, though there are a few who are so secluded I haven't ever met them."

"There are always some that will end up immortal," Starlight rejoined the conversation. "Alicorns have no monopoly on immortality. There are different reasons for each of them having immortality, random magic accidents for the most part. We rarely have any problems with any of them, but we keep watch on them. There have been incidents one would go off the deep end, and would have to be dealt with, but they are rare. I don't know the exact number of immortals there are off the top of my head, but there are a lot of them, dozens."

"Actually, you will likely be meeting one of them very soon," Sunset injected. "If we are going to be storing that memory away for later use, it is going to end up in the archives, which means we are giving it over into Patina's care."

"I'm not looking forward to that," Starlight muttered. "Patina is likely going to yell at me as much as Paleo already did concerning Expedition, and I won't have any answers for her. She'll blame me for it just like her clone did, mark my words. Maybe I will get lucky and she will be too focused on her wedding plans to have heard."

"She is getting married again?" Sunset asked with astonishment. "It has only been about a century since the last time. She still has direct offspring still living from the last husband."

"Um, who is Patina?" I interjected before they got caught up in conversation again.

"Paleo's other half," Sunset replied. 

"Wait, so she is married to Paleo, and she is getting married again?" Biblo asked with confusion.

"No," Starlight laughed. "Patina and Paleo are kind of the same pony, except they aren't. Patina Paleo was an Earth Pony paleontologist and archaeologist thousands of years ago. She stumbled upon a magic mirror in one of her digs, and it brought her reflection to life. They started off perfect duplicates of one another, would say everything at the same time, mirror each other's every action, and there was no telling them apart. We never really did figure out which of the two was original and which was the reflection. Anyway, they eventually got to where they lived different lives, each took one half of their name. Paleo eventually ascended to Alicorn, Patina didn't, but when Paleo ascended Patina became immortal too, as a result."

"The only other odd thing about Patina is she has no reflection, neither does Paleo," Sunset added. "Don't ever bring a mirror around Patina, it really annoys her."

"So, can we go meet her now?" Biblo said excitedly, practically bouncing in place. "The trial is over, so we can get to helping Pearl. Let's go meet her so we can give her the bad memory!"

Starlight and Sunset exchanged an unreadable look. Sunset gave a shrug of her hooves.

"Are we that eager?" Starlight asked. "Pearl, are you really ready to have me in your head again so soon after the trial? You can take a day or two to recover."

It had been an exhausting day, but I was as eager as Biblo. I wanted this done and over with. If I was barely able to stand, and in extreme physical pain, I would still be eager to get this done as soon as possible. No sane pony would agree to hold on to such memories one moment longer than they had to.

"I want to get on with my life," I replied earnestly. "If you are willing to get this over with now, I'm ready. Make it all go away, please."

"Just remember that I have told you before about things not fixing all your problems," Starlight replied with a firm gaze fixed upon me.

"I don't regret my decision then, and I won't regret my decision now," I replied with a steady voice. Biblo came up and hugged me tightly as I spoke.

"Alright then," Starlight replied, "Let's go to the archive and meet with Patina. The archive will give us some privacy for this." 

"The archives are highly restricted," she said to Hot Sticks. "They can go in, but that is more what you would call a perk from being immortals. I can't justify your presence to Patina, so you will need to wait elsewhere."

"I am a little disappointed," Hot Sticks replied back while getting back to his hooves, and started making his way to the door."You won't hear me complain too much though. I still don't entirely agree with what is going to happen, but haven't come up with any good objections. I will head back to Meadowbrook's temple and await every pony there. Please be careful with them."

"See you soon Ducky!" Biblo cheerfully waved goodbye to him.

He ignored Biblo's latest nickname for him and waved us all goodbye, before exiting out the door and shutting it behind him.

"Alright," Starlight said, bringing attention back to herself as she went towards the other door. "Let's get to moving then. There are a lot of hallways and doors to go through to get to the archive. It really isn't that far, but there isn't a straight path to it through the Tree, so we will be walking for about an hour. I'll teleport us part of the way once we exit this room, but can only take us so far due to the warding throughout the Tree."

We filed out of the room in a line with Starlight at the lead and Sunset at the rear. Starlight led us back out into the now empty courtroom, and when we all reached the center she removed my cutie mark again, placing it in the now familiar jar, and initiated a teleport.

When the flash of the teleport ended we were in a long hallway that curved off in each direction. The walls were a smooth blue for the most part, punctuated with pillars of the same bluish-purple crystals rising from floor to ceiling along the walls. The floor was carpeted in one seemingly never ending red carpet. Massive green doors, all identical, were placed every few pony lengths along the hallway on each side. Both directions down the hall looked identical. It was strangely creepy, and made me feel claustrophobic.

As we took a moment to orient ourselves from the teleport, Biblo gave me another hug and brushed my mane with a hoof. She likely knew, before touching me, how this place made me feel.

"This way," Starlight motioned towards one of our two possible directions, not counting the untold number of doors. She set off at a light trot, with my cutie mark still floating in a jar along with her as she walked, and the rest of us followed after.

"How do you even know which way is which?" I asked, trying to keep my nervousness from my voice.

"Six thousand years of living here," Starlight gave reply back. "I have had time to learn my way around."

"She likely doesn't remember it," Sunset chimed in. "But from what Pinkie Pie says, Starlight got lost here a lot back in the early days, and this place was only a small fraction of its current size then. There are buildings out in the city now that are bigger than it was then."

"Does this place actually grow like a tree?" Biblo asked curiously.

"Not steadily," Starlight replied back to her, eyes still focussed on the path ahead as she trotted. "It has gone through growth spurts, none in a long time, but when it did, it increased in size suddenly. It grows to meet its needs. If some more of the Lessers decided to join us here, then I would guess it would grow more to give them branches. Couldn't tell you for sure, Twilight might, but I don't really know the details of how it works."

She then stopped and opened one of the green doors, inside was no room, but instead a spiral staircase. The stairs spiraled upwards to the right, and downward to the left. Starlight led us down the stairs to the left. 

"How far down does the Tree go?" I asked. Having it just now occur to me that the Tree might have a root system. 

"Suprisingly, not far," Starlight replied back as she passed a landing for the next floor and continued on to the next. "We aren't actually going down into the underground though. I teleported us more than halfway up the trunk. Many of these central floors of the Tree are warded against teleportation, so I just took us to the closest one to where we want to go."

The staircase ended on the next floor with another of the green doors. Starlight led us through into a hallway that looked exactly the same as the hallway we started in. 

We continued in silence for a while after that. Down seemingly identical hallways and staircases. Occasionally, Starlight would go up a staircase instead of down, but that was the only variation in our journey. There wasn't any decoration anywhere. The claustrophobia this place induced kept getting worse for me, and I could tell it was starting to get to Biblo as well. Starlight and Sunset seemed unperturbed by the endless sameness of the inner Tree.

Starlight finally brought us to a halt in the middle of one of the hallways. I had no idea how much time had passed since we started walking, it might have been an hour, it could have been multiple, my sense of time was as disoriented as my sense of direction.

"We are here," Starlight said. "We will do some quick introductions with Patina, and then do what we need to do. Thankfully we won't have to walk all the way back. The teleport block only blocks ponies from teleporting into, or near, the archive, not ponies teleporting out."

That was a relief, I really didn't want to deal with that walk again.

Starlight opened up one of the green doors and led us within. As we followed her in we were beheld a thankfully massive room. The room abandoned the blues and purples of the rest of the tree, in favor of golds and reds. There were shelves made of wood and stone two stories high stretching in all directions, all stuffed with books, scrolls, and various objects. The dimensions of the room were massive, and while I could see the walls far to the right and left of us, I couldn't see where the room ended going forward. It was also several stories high. The door that we entered was the only door visible, but the room extended far enough to the sides that it seemed that the other doors of the hall should certainly lead into this room as well. Either they were fake doors, or the Tree had rooms that defied basic rules of physical space.

Directly in front of us was an area with three tables, all covered with books and scrolls. The center most of those tables sat a teal earth pony mare, with a darker teal mane. She was reading a book rather intently, and appeared no older than me, despite a set of reading glasses on her muzzle. She didn't show any signs she had taken notice of our entrance. In a section further back was Pinkie Pie digging through books.

"Petunia, you have guests," Starlight spoke to the pony as a mother might when waking her foal playfully.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that," the pony said looking up from her reading with a hint of annoyance. "I haven't used that name since I was a filly. I don't even like that kind of flower, they taste disgusting. Call me Patina, not Petunia."

"I have to have some way of having fun with you," Starlight replied with a smile. "You can be such a crotchety old mare."

"I am sixteen years younger than you," Patina replied flatly. "If I am old and crotchety, what does that make you?"

"Old and crazy," Sunset chimed in, earning a laugh from Patina, and a grimace from Starlight. Sunset took the lead, and motioned towards me and Biblo. "We have some new additions to our list of immortals for you to meet, Patina."

"More than one?" Patina looked at us with interest, noticing the two of us for the first time. "That is unusual. It is usually a new one every few centuries, or even millennia, two at once hasn't happened since the early days."

She came forward from around her table to meet us. She definitely didn't look old, she could have been any earth pony mare my age. She was no taller than me, and didn't give off the strong magical presence that an Alicorn would. The only thing that stood out about her appearance was her cutie mark, the same bones that represented Paleo. She was what Paleo had looked like before becoming an Alicorn, and her mundane appearance was somehow disappointing.

"A Thestral and a Crystal Pony," she observed. "Night Shine and Day Shade will be thrilled they aren't the only immortals of their respective tribes anymore. Though I hope you two don't have similar circumstances as those two, vampires make me nervous. I am Patina, if you hadn't caught that, and who are you two?"

"I'm Bibulous Bottom, Biblo for short, Bibulous Bottom takes too long to say," Biblo said gleefully, taking the lead in introductions. She gestured to me and continued. "And this is my fiancee Pearlwort, but everypony calls her Pearl. I am pretty sure we aren't vampires, I didn't even know that vampires are a real thing."

"My cutie mark causes me to heal fast," I said, pointing a hoof at my mark still suspended in Starlight's magic. "It apparently makes me immortal too. Biblo absorbs my magic like a sponge and she gains the same abilities."

"So why do you have it unattached?" Patina asked dubviously. "I doubt it is doing that floating along in Starlight's magic."

"That brings us to why we came here," Starlight said, retaking control of the conversation. "Pearl's cutie mark also blocks magic being used directly on her, for some reason Biblo, thankfully, doesn't absorb that trait as well. We need to do some mind magic on these two, and we will be removing, and storing away here, a memory from Pearl. Consentually of course."

"Okay, I see," Patina said as she looked closely at my mark. "Let's get you something to store it away in then."

"Yeah, a focus stone should do," Starlight said with a nods.

"Excuse me, but what is Pinkie Pie doing?" I asked curiously as I watched the Pink Alicorn toss another book aside in obvious frustration.

"Oh her? Researching ancient contract law of all things. Been muttering on and off about some rotten contract she signed way back. Some goat is calling her on it from what I gathered," Patina tisked.

"Goats are notorious for getting nasty about contracts, I don't envy her. Maybe I can help her out with it," Starlight said.

"She made it clear to me that she really doesn't want any help or advice. My best guess is she is embarrassed to have a goat have her by the tail. I signed a contract with a Goat once for letting her have tourist trade rights on a site I was excavating. I needed the money to keep digging, the damn nanny had tourists stepping all over my dig site while I still had work to do. I'll never work with a Goat again, Minotaurs are almost as bad, and they tend to work side by side with Goats. I am glad that Goats even get on Pinkie's nerves to tell the truth," Patina laughed.

"Well, good luck to her with that I guess. Can you get that stone for us now?" Starlight asked with a bemused glance at the clearly unhappy Element of Laughter, who was completely engrossed in her search.

"Fusey!" Patina called out loudly towards the endless bookshelves. "Bring Mommy a focus stone, please!"

"I think I will stand a few steps back, if you don't mind," Sunset nickered. "That thing makes me nervous to be around."

"There is nothing wrong with Fusey," Patina said defensively. "My late husband, Gear Spin, made Fusey for me, and I tell you again that I am not getting rid of him."

"That thing is a automated fusion bomb," Sunset growled back. "If you knew what that actually meant, you wouldn't want it around you either."

What looked like an extremely shiny trashcan, with arms and wheels, came out from among the bookshelves. It was carrying a round grey and white striped stone. It rolled up to Patina and offered her the stone, which she took in her teeth. She then patted the rolling cylinder affectionately, before the thing took off again to wherever it came from. Sunset shivered nervously as it went.

"One focus stone perfect for storing a few hours of memory," Patina said after giving the little stone over to Starlight with a smile, as Starlight grabbed it with her magic. 

"Let's get this done then," Starlight said as she motioned me and Biblo to come over to her. "I would actually recommend snuggling up close to one another. The two of you touching will make it easier for me to transfer over the traits you asked to be shared."

Biblo and I did as directed. We both laid down and curled up close to one another, resting our heads on each other's flanks.

"I am starting now," Starlight informed us. "You shouldn't feel a thing."

Starlight's horn lit up and got extremely bright. Then suddenly the light just vanished.

"All done!" Starlight said happily. "That went smoothly. How are you two feeling?"

All done? Nothing had happened. She had just lit her horn up and then unlit it. I didn't feel any different. 

"Um, that was kind of quick wasn't it?" Biblo said, echoing my thoughts.

"No," Sunset said, she had somehow gotten over to one of the tables in that little bit of time. Patina and Pinkie Pie had vanished as well. "Starlight was at that for an hour, it was kind of boring to watch really. Be thankful you were in a trance for all of it."

An hour? I didn't remember blacking out or anything. It felt like only a few seconds had passed. Only one way to find out if it had worked though. I took a deep breath and tried to remember the day that I was supposed to forget. I remembered wanting to forget it, and I remembered all the panic that I had about it afterward, but I couldn't recall what had happened. It was like someone had told me about it, not something I had experienced. I could remember that day up to the point that I first spotted the Lunar Guard in the sky, but the next thing after that was waking up in Meadowbrook's temple. I couldn't even remember seeing it played back again during the trial. I knew it happened, but the memory of it wasn't there.

"Is it gone?" Biblo asked me hopefully. I nodded the affirmative, it certainly seemed so. Then she got an extremely lusty look on her face as she looked at me. It made me feel hot in my nether regions.

"Just one other thing to check on then," she said playfully as she advanced her muzzle towards me. The warmth became a burning ache.

Sunset cleared her throat to distract us towards her.

"From the look on your face, and the way you are quivering in your hindquarters let's assume that worked," Sunset said with amusement. "You two can explore all of those feelings when you get privacy. I am not a lecher, and prefer not to see all that. Wait and get a room."

"Oh poo!" Biblo huffed with disappointment, crossing her foreleg in front of her. I felt like doing the same.
> Chapter 16: Making Friends and Concerns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Biblo and I retired to our room early that night. We didn't do much sleeping though. Starlight had been completely successful in transferring over the traits to me that Biblo had picked up from her nurse. 

I had wondered what it was going to be like to just gain new aspects to myself, all at once, from somepony else. Biblo did this all the time, but for me it was a new experience. Would it be weird? Would it feel disorienting suddenly feeling completely differently about something? Turns out it felt natural, it was part of me now, and I couldn't imagine not feeling that way. The old me would have been very uncomfortable with these types of feelings, the new me was an entirely different creature, and I couldn't be happier.

The feeling in this case was a strong desire to have lots and lots of sex with my fiancee. A feeling that Biblo had in equal measure for me. There was no shyness or discomfort to the feeling, it was bold and demanded satisfaction. We both gave that shared feeling satisfaction at length for most of the evening, until we finally passed out from exhaustion. It had been the first time for both of us, or at least the first time I would remember, and I lost count of how many times we added to that first before sleep finally claimed us.


***


I awoke the next morning before the sun was up. Biblo was snuggled asleep against me with a contented smile on her face. She was still glowing brightly from hours before, and I wondered how I managed to fall asleep at all with her giving off so much light. Maybe investing in a sleep mask would be a good idea.

The odor of sex was still heavy on us, and there were dried juices in each of our coats. Baths were definitely in order before we left our room for the day. The prospect of just spending the day together in the room was an attractive one, but there were things that needed doing. 

I didn't disturb her from her sleep, or move from my position, for some time. I didn't want to break the peaceful look on her face, and I enjoyed the feeling of her beside me. I laid there just enjoying her presence for around an hour before deciding that we were going to have to get motivated for the day.

I gave her nuzzles against her neck and head to wake her. She giggled a bit and wrapped her foreleg around my neck, not bothering to open her eyes. She found my ear with her muzzle and nibbled lightly on it. This was not helping motivate us to get up out of bed at all.

"Sweetie, we need to get up," I nickered to her, returning a quick nibble to her neck, which ellicited another giggle from her. "We can't just be lazy ponies in bed all day."

"Who said anything about being lazy," she said with a michievious smirk, as she finally opened her eyes. "I think we can be very active while in bed. Didn't we demonstrate that last night? We could have another workout now if you forgot about it already, I certainly don't mind."

"I would love to," I admitted with a smile, but then sighed. "But Sunset is going to insist on me doing more exercise, and I need to save energy for that, and we also have something else that needs to be done."

"Sunset can stuff it for a day," she snorted, then took on a confused look. "What else do we need to be doing today? I really am drawing a blank on that."

"We do want to be married, right?" I grinned at her. "That usually involves a ceremony or something, we might want to make some arrangements for that."

She sat up quickly and blinked several times. She looked at me, then looked at herself. I saw her taking a few sniffs as well. She was starting to take in that we weren't exactly decent at the moment.

"Pony feathers!" She cursed. "I can't believe I let that, of all things, slip my mind. I was so caught up in enjoying finally getting to physically have you, that I forgot about everything else."

"Well, I won't complain to much about you being distracted," I said as I nuzzled her neck again. She turned her head and gave me a kiss. I was enjoying this new touchy-feely aspect of myself.

"But I suppose we need to do some planning," she said resignedly. "Lets go out on the balcony to watch the sun rise. We can talk about what we want to do for the wedding. We haven't talked together about that yet."

We pulled ourselves from the bed and made our way to the balcony. Biblo produced each of our pipes which we lit up in hopes that the drug would help calm at least some of our sexual energy for the time being. We could just make out the early light of the sun in the distance.

"I wonder what my parents will say when they see me again," Biblo mused beside me, shaping her smoke into the vague shapes of a changling and a stallion. She was getting better at the shaping, and the forms were much more defined than they had been when she first showed me. 

"I would assume you would want to invite them to the wedding," I replied back. I shaped out my cutie mark and Biblo's cutie mark next to one another with my own smoke.

"I want to, but I don't think I want to wait long enough for them to arrive," she said as she considered. "I want this wedding to happen as soon as possible. There is no point in waiting, we both are sure we want to spend our lives together."

"Is that going to make things awkward with them later?" I asked her.

"Everything is going to be awkward when I see them again later," Biblo lamented. "It isn't going to be just that I got married without telling them. I am not the same mare I was when I left home. I am trying to imagine how the conversation will go. Hi mom and dad, I am back for a visit. By the way I got married, I am capable of killing whole groups of trained guards, started smoking, and I am perfectly fine with the idea of eating a fallen opponent. Oh, and did I mention I almost died at the first place I went, but that is okay because I am immortal now. How are you two doing? Awkward doesn't begin to describe how that is going to go," she took a long draw from her pipe in an attempt to relieve stress.

"Well, it could be worse," I replied. She looked at me like I sprouted a second head.

"How could it be worse?" She asked crossly.

"You could tell them about how you assaulted three different Alicorns," I replied jokingly.

"Oh yeah! How could I forget that?" She rolled her eyes and snorted. "But it was only two, so I guess that's better."

"No, it was three," I replied back. "You are forgetting Sunset. She beat you soundly, but you still tried to assault her."

Biblo looked at me with a growing look of horror. Then she turned her head, and laid it down on the railing of the balcony, letting off a long sigh.

"I am so screwed," she said miserably.

"Yes," I said with a purr. "We made sure of that at length last night."

She smacked my side with one of her hooves, but let out a laugh.

"You are so incorrigible right now," she chortled. "You got all those naughty feelings without having to try to learn to keep them in check, like I had to do. I am trying very hard to be serious right now, and you are making that really difficult. Can you try to be serious with me? What are we going to have to do to get you to behave?"

"It is an interesting roll reversal," I mused. "I have a lot more sympathy for your older more bubbly self now. It's hard keeping myself in check."

"Are you saying I have gotten boring?" She asked in an overdramatic pouty whine. She gave me a duck lip pout and puppy dog eyes.

"You are anything but boring Sweetie," I replied back with a grin. "I would say more mature, more adult, occasionally more scary, and a lot more sexy."

She tried to restrain a laugh while taking a draw from her pipe, and ended up choking on her smoke.  She cleared herself of the fumes and kept laughing. Then she gave me a hug and kiss.

"You are getting better at the compliments my precious Pearl," she laughed with a smile. "We will figure out how to deal with my parents when the time comes. I have you, and that is all that matters. But let's get to talking about the wedding, like we are supposed to be doing. Listen to your mature, adult, and sexy wife-to-be, before she is forced to get scary."

"Alright," I said with a resigned laugh. "So who are we inviting? It isn't like we have a lot of friends, at least I don't. And I don't have any family to invite so we will be going without any family from either side."

"Well, we are immortals, we should probably invite all the Alicorns," Biblo said after consideration. "And that Patina mare too. Hot Sticks is without question. That seems like a pretty good guest list."

"All the Alicorns?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit presumptuous? We haven't even met most of them yet."

"We will get around to it," she replied dismissively. "But if we are going to be around all that time do you want to hear for several centuries about how you snubbed a pony from being invited? It is just good sense to invite them."

Her eyes got a little wide.

"Um, I think I might have absorbed something from Starlight Glimmer," she gasped. "I am not sure when or how, but that felt like something she would think. I was thinking about the politics of it, that whole time I was giving that list."

"We really need to get you trained with Sunset," I groaned. "Next thing you know you will be absorbing things from Hot Sticks."

She blushed, turned to hide her face, and took another long draw. 

"What did you absorb?" I asked with a groan. Dreading what the answer would turn out to be.

"Nothing bad," she replied innocently, turning to look out at the now rising sun.

"We know how this works," I said sternly to her. "You don't think anything you absorb is bad after you absorb it."

She gave a huff and turned back to me.

"Well, it wasn't bad at all in this case," she said defensively, crossing her forelegs against the railing, with her pipe held in the grip of one her fetlocks.  "I think I just picked up some of his vocabulary, so now I am a little more verbose."

"Okay, you are right," I said with a bit of relief. "That doesn't seem like such a bad thing. It's funny, I was worried you were going to gain his incessant drive to get every pony hooked on his pipe weed."

"Probably not," she answered back cryptically, again looking away.

"Biblo!" I exclaimed with frustration. 

"I don't know for sure," she replied again defensively. "It hasn't really come up. So I have no idea. Plus, would it be so bad if I did? I would be helping some poor village's economy."

"We are definitely setting you up with a schedule of training ,with Sunset, starting today," I said as I banged my head softly, but repeatedly, against the balcony rail.


***


I was searching around the temple for Hot Sticks and eventually found him in the dining hall. I went over to talk to him without grabbing any food. I had just eaten here with Biblo about an hour before.

"You look like a mare on a mission," Hot Sticks observed as I came up and took a seat opposite him. "Where is Biblo? I figured you two would be inseparable today. Actually, I expected you two to keep sequestered to your room for the full day, given how intimate you were getting in public yesterday."

"It was a temptation," I admitted. "There was plenty of activity with us last night. However, we have things that we need to get done, so any more of that will have to wait for later."

"By the way," I continued. "This might make me sound like a jealous partner, but please keep from touching my fiancee. At least until she has control of her absorbing ability."

"Did she absorb something from me?" Hot Sticks inquired.

"She definitely picked up a lot of your vocabulary," I replied back. "Which I didn't think she could do. That isn't a feeling or a personality trait. She might have picked up some other things, I'm not sure."

He looked at me for a long moment considering what I had told him. Maybe he was debating asking what else I suspected she might have absorbed.

"Are you sure she picked up vocabulary from me, and she didn't just already know it before?" He asked me in a serious tone. "She has been doing a great deal of reading, she could have picked it up there"

"She was fairly certain she absorbed it from you," I answered him. "She seemed to be embarrassed that she had done it. If she had picked it up on her own, reading, I would think she would have been more proud of it."

"That is extremely troubling," he said with a sigh. "Perhaps you two should talk to the Crusaders about her absorbing talent, and bring Sunset or Starlight Glimmer with you. That is not just absorbing personality traits, that is absorbing knowledge. Her empathic ability and absorbing talent might be harmless independently of one another, but combined they seem to be adding up to abilities far greater than the sum of their parts. For her own sake I would recommend she start taking seriously the Alicorns concerns about her, and have some concerns herself. Hopefully between the Crusaders and a powerful empath they can figure out the extent of what those abilities are capable of, and help her limit their use."

"Well, she is with Sunset right now, trying to start training on control," I said. "I kind of insisted when I realized this morning that she had been absorbing more than I thought from others."

"I would still go have a talk to the Crusaders, they are still here in the temple," Hot Sticks insisted. "This is more than just empathic ability, even the enhanced ability that Crystal Ponies of her type don't do this. It will take more than just another empath to figure out what is going on with her."

"I needed to talk to some Alicorns anyway," I said, getting back to my hooves. "We are trying to plan out for the wedding. We want it to happen soon, and getting a guest list together. Yes, you are invited."

"I would hope I would be," Hot Sticks laughed. "You are moving really fast. Not even a month of knowing one another and planning out your wedding? How soon are you planning this wedding to be?"

"Um, soon," I replied unsure how to answer. "As soon as we can is really the best answer I can give for right now. We do want to have a ceremony, I am not sure what all we have to do. I never really expected to ever get married. It has been fast, but we are sure we want to do this."

"Well, I have never gotten married, so I won't be much help to you," Hot Sticks said wistfully. "All I suppose you technically need is someone official to conduct the ceremony, and some witnesses. Beyond that you likely want to have something nice to wear, and a small party afterward for your guests. Talk to the Crusaders or Sunset about it, Alicorns have to have lots of experience officiating weddings."

I looked myself over. I had never worn anything but my life pack or a saddle bag. I guessed that a dress would be appropriate, but I had no clue about what to even look for in a dress. Thestrals rarely wore clothes even on formal occasions, with the exception of those in the Lunar Guard, and even those were just their uniforms. I hadn't ever seen Biblo wear anything than a saddle bag either, but maybe she had more experience with clothes than me.

"I'll ask the Crusaders for suggestions on that when I go to talk to them," I finally replied back. "I'll catch up with you again later, it is going to be a busy day."  

I waved goodbye and left the dining hall.


***


I was escorted to the Crusaders room by some of Meadowbrook's acolytes. Still the same room as before, but it was in an area of the temple that you weren't allowed to just wander in. My immortal status didn't give me a free pass to do so, and I doubt that any of these ponies actually knew of my status anyway.

When I entered into the room I found the Crusaders, only this time they were Thestrals, same coloring as always.

"Can you...um, change to different forms than that? Please." I asked with a shiver. Having them all being Thestrals was just creepy for some reason.

They all looked at each other and shrugged. They glowed brightly for a moment and the next moment three Pegasus mares, again of the same colors, sat in the room.

"We didn't mean to upset you," the yellow Pegasus who was clearly Bloom said to me.

"We were just wanting to try out The steam forms for a while," Scoots continued.

"We were kind of inspired by the whole trial," Sweetie finished the apology.

That ordered speaking would continue to be weird no matter what. I sincerely hoped Biblo and I never started doing that.

"That's okay," I replied with a sigh. "It is just kind of weird still dealing with Thestrals, even ones that aren't real Thestrals."

They exchanged concerned glances between each other before turning back to me. I looked to Bloom, knowing she would be the one to speak next.

"Did the memory removal not work properly?" She asked, voice filled with concern.

"No, it worked fine. I just think other Thestrals will always make me a little nervous. I didn't have the best dealings with my tribe growing up," I explained, and then turned to Scoots. I could adjust to their speaking.

"That's sad to hear," Bloom decided to continue. I guess she wasn't done talking.

"We will try to be more considerate in the future," Sweetie picked up the thought. 

Alright, I either I had imagined the pattern before, or they were deliberately messing with me. I looked at them one at a time and hung my head in frustration at my failure to figure out the trio. 

"So what do we owe the honor of the visit?" Bloom started speaking again, continuing to do away with the pattern.

"Was I imagining the fact you three were talking in a particular order last time I talked to you, or are you just playing a game on me now?" I blurted out, ignoring the question.

"We have no idea what you are talking about," the three said in chorus. My eye twitched, and I just stared for a moment. 

They watched me for a moment and then all of them just broke down laughing.

"You weren't imagining things," Scoots finally spoke up, still laughing at my expense.

"We do that on purpose when trying to act all mighty and powerful," Bloom continued the explaination. 

"And we can fall into doing it automatically sometimes, without thinking," Sweetie kept the explanation going.

"But there is no real order to how we speak," Scoots said with a smile.

"You should see your face though, it is hilarious," laughed Bloom. 

I decided not to push them on the fact they still seemed to be continuing one another's thoughts and sentences.

"So again," Scoots spoke up, "What can we help you with? We doubt this is a social visit."

"Two things actually," I replied, deciding to get straight to the point. "First, Biblo might need to have you help her figure out her cutie mark and what it is doing. I know you are all concerned about her. I am starting to get concerned as well about her absorbing. Sunset is going to help her on the empath end of things, but we might want some help figuring out the cutie mark end. Hot Sticks seems to think it is a combination of the cutie mark plus being an empath that makes her absorb as much as she does."

"We thought that was already understood with her," Sweetie replied back to me with a hint of confusion. "Why do you need us to confirm what you already know?"

"Because she seems to be absorbing more types of things now," I said with frustration. "She literally expanded her vocabulary by absorbing it from Hot Sticks, that is not what she has been doing to this point."

They looked at each other again. I didn't know if they were somehow silently communicating with one another, or if this was just the same silent body language any other pony would do.

"We can look into it," Sweetie finally replied to me. "Whenever she wants to meet with us, just let us know. You said you had two reasons for coming by. What's the other reason?"

I blushed a bit, not knowing how to ask.

"Well, you see, Biblo and I are planning to get married. She is off training with Sunset right now, and I am supposed to be making arrangements for that. Except I really don't have a clue what I am doing. Could you three possibly help me figure out what to do?" 

They smiled as one. Again, creepy.

"Sure thing," Bloom answered. "What have you decided on so far?"

"Well, I we came up with a tentative guest list. That is about it," I said with some embarassment.

They looked at one another again, raising eyebrows at one another as they did.

"Okay..that's a start we suppose," Scoots said with some apprehension. "How about what is the date for the wedding, where do you want it held, who you want officiating it, what tribal style, where are you wanting the after party, what are your vows, what will you be wearing, will you be planning a honeymoon, what kind of music do you want played, who do you want making the wedding cake, how are you inviting your guests, when are you meeting her family, who is going to do your makeup, who is going to do your manes and tails, how are you paying for all this, and will there be a wedding contract?"

My eyes got larger with each thing she listed off. There was much more than I imagined involved with a wedding. What in the world was a wedding contract? There were different styles of weddings, based on tribe? How much was all this going to end up costing? I needed to have my mane, tail, and makeup done--and I needed separate ponies for each of those? I had never worn makeup in my life, just as I hadn't worn any clothes. I might be free of what was causing me to be a nervous wreck before, but I think I might have just been introduced to something new to take its place.

I just laid down on the floor in a fetal position and cried. It was the only reasonable reaction as far as I was concerned.

I heard the Crusaders collectively sigh, followed by hoovesteps over to my location.

"I am guessing that is a sign you haven't considered any of this," I heard Bloom say above me. "There there, it isn't that bad. We will do you a favor and help you figure this out."

I looked up at the orange Alicorn-Pegasus with hopeful eyes. 

"Now," she began. "How long is your guest list?"

"We were going to invite all of the Alicorns, Patina, and Hot Sticks," I replied back quickly. Proud to have that answer ready to give.

"Alright," she smiled back. "We can definitely help with that. Normally it would be silly to be inviting Alicorns to a wedding, but you and Biblo get a free pass on that since you are immortals. We will get the word out to them. I think since you are inviting all of them it would be proper to have Twilight officiate the wedding."

"I am not sure," I said timidly. "Having the Twilight Princess officiate seems kind of overdoing it don't you think?"

"And inviting every Alicorn to the wedding isn't?" She asked me back with mirth. "And you should probably get used to referring to her as Twilight, I highly doubt she is going to want you being all formal with her, any more than the rest of us do."

"Okay."

"Now," she continued. "We are going to need somewhere large and private since you have such an exclusive, and important, guest list. I am sure there is somewhere appropriate for holding a wedding inside the Tree, and I am sure Twilight will oblige you using it. So, that knocks another thing off the list."

I nodded, starting to feel better.

"As for food," she kept going. "Pinkie Pie will be overjoyed to take care of that, as well as decorations, and she will likely also figure out the music and any other entertainment for you. Parties are kind of her thing, and she almost never attends a party that she didn't plan herself. She will likely even cover all the costs."

This was looking to be easier and easier by the moment. I found myself starting to smile.

"Next thing we can do to help is with the dresses," Scoots said, only to be cut off by Sweetie swelling.

"Oh! I need to get Rarity right away!" Sweetie said and promptly vanished into thin air.

"Oh no you don't!" Scoots said towards the vacant spot Sweetie had just occupied. Then Scoots vanished as well.

Bloom just sat there, shaking her head sadly.

"I am sorry for this," she said sighing. "Those two are very attached to two different designers, and those designers are very..well you'll see in a minute."

A moment later there were several flashes as several ponies teleported into the room. The other two Crusaders were back and with them came Pinkie Pie and two Alicorns I didn't know the names for. The one that was next to Sweetie was Suprisingly plain looking, white furred, with purple mane done up in a bun. The one that showed up with Scoots was dressed a blue furred, with a mane that was literally a rainbow of color done in very complicated curls, wearing a fair amount of makeup, and a very sheer black dress which you could actually see through. The white one held a proud posture, the blue one looked like she was strutting. The cutie marks on them consisted of three gems of some sort on the white one's flank, and blue had a cloud with a lightning bolt done in rainbow colors.

"Allow me to introduce my sister, Rarity," Sweetie said, proudly gesturing to the white Alicorn. Rarity smiled and gave a light bow of her head.

"And let me introduce to you the most beautiful of all ponis, Rainbow Dash!" Scoots excitedly gestured to the blue. Rainbow Dash just posed as she was introduced. Rarity gave the rainbow named Alicorn a disparaging look and then rolled her eyes.

"Charmed, I am pleased to meet you darling," Rainbow Dash said with a voice that spoke of high sophistication. She gave me a warm smile.

"We are pleased to get to finally meet you face to face dear," Rarity said softly after her. She had a more businesslike tone to her. See also smiled pleasantly at me.

"You already know me, I am just here for the show," Pinkie announced. "And because you were talking about me helping you with setting up a party! I would love too!"

The Crusaders all looked to one another and as a chorus spoke. "Did you go get Pinkie?" They asked each other all at once. They then went a little wide eyed and shook their heads resignedly, with mutters among them about not questioning it. 

"I would be happy to design wedding dresses for you and you bride to be," Rarity said to me cheerfully. She then extended a foreleg to me for a hoofshake "We haven't been properly introduced, we know each others' names, but a proper introduction is still preferable. I am Rarity, Alicorn of Generosity, Patron of Charity, and clothing designer."

"I'm Pearlwort, but you can call me Pearl," I smiled as I extended my own foreleg and shook hooves with her. "I don't have any titles."

"We will have to come up with some for you darling," Rainbow Dash chimed in, offering her own hoof in greeting. "How you present yourself is very important. You want ponies to know they are dealing with an exceptional mare when they meet you, that is how you get ahead in life. Pleased to make your acquaintance at last. I am Rainbow Dash, Alicorn of Loyalty, Patron of Competition, and always the best looking pony in the room, but just Rainbow will do."

"Preening peacock," Rarity muttered.

"Glad to meet you Rainbow," I said, picking up a bit more of the friction between the two.

"You aren't going to offer your services as well?" Rarity asked Rainbow with a raised eyebrow.

"I will let you handle Pearl's dress and overall appearance happily dear," Rainbow replied back to her coyly. "And I will take care of Bibulous Bottom myself. I am sure you will do a breathtaking job with her, and it will make the fact I have made our Crystal Pony friend so much more a wonder to behold all the sweeter."

"Not everything has to be a competition!" Rarity scolded Rainbow.

"Of course it does," Rainbow laughed back at her with a smile. "Everything in life is another opportunity to prove to the world your the best, or at least great, as I clearly am the best."

"You are a strutting diva peacock!" Rarity snapped back in response.

They devolved quickly into insults for one another while every other pony just watched. I was startled when Pinkie teleported herself next to me with a box of popcorn in one of her fetlocks. She offered me a piece with a smile.

"I'll tell you a secret," Pinkie whispered to me, as I accepted the popcorn. "Rarity used to be the one that always dressed up, and acted more diva-like, a long time ago. And Rainbow was a bit of a tomboy, who barely bothered with her appearance. When they both ascended to Alicorns Rainbow got depressed, she had always thrived on showing off her physical prowess and speed, but as an Alicorn she couldn't compete in activities against regular ponies anymore. Rarity got Rainbow into showing off her beauty, in an attempt to help her friend find a new outlet, all the while Rarity became less concerned about her own beauty as she focused on others. Rainbow over time became the big diva instead. Rarity gave Rainbow a way to shine, and Rainbow is Rarity's greatest accomplishment in bringing out the beauty of another. So, don't let their squabbling fool you, they actually care about each other a lot."

I looked at the two arguing Alicorns, they didn't look like they cared too much for one another, of course Alicorns are all crazy, so who could really tell. Maybe I was going crazy too, I was sitting there with a pink Alicorn, eating popcorn as I watched. At the very least, the wedding arrangements seemed like they could fall into place quickly, now that we had muliple Alicorns eager to help out. 

I contentedly tossed another piece of popcorn into my mouth.
> Chapter 17: The Eve of the Rest of Your Life.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next few days were a bustle of activity as we prepped for the wedding. Over the course of five days I learned more than I ever wanted to learn about different cake frosting, fabrics, and wedding traditions. I was also exposed to more types of music than I knew existed, many of which I questioned whether they were simply incoherent noise. I learned the names and tastes of over two dozen types of alcohol, and discovered in the process that I was as immune to getting drunk as I was to getting ill.

Biblo was not particularly active in any of the planning. We would typically discuss each night before bed what I had suggested to me over the course of the day. She would sometimes show some preferences to certain things, but she left the majority of decisions in my hooves, insisting that she would love whatever decisions I made.

I was also introduced to Alicorn after Alicorn. Most of whom just reconfirmed the fact that all Alicorns were insane.

I met Cadance, the Alicorn of Love, and found that she wanted to go very much in depth with describing what I should be doing in bed. Her advice was actually very insightful, and I put a good deal of it into practice, much to Biblo's delight. Still, if I hadn't been given the extra sexual confidence, directly from Biblo's mind, I think I would have run away from her talks bright red.

I met Luna's older sister, Celestia, who I was told was the oldest of the Alicorns. Being the oldest apparently meant very little, as I was warned repeatedly by others that I should avoid doing anything she says to do. She was a notorious trickster who would deliberately engineer disasters and drama to happen, out of pure boredom, really mature. She was the Alicorn that directed the sun, and I was told how she would sometimes alter its positioning at random just to cause random havoc, or send ponies off on quests, that were more or less wild goose chases. All to get some perverse amusement.

Some were more or less normal seeming, with no signs of insanity. Somnabula was a pleasant enough Alicorn, who made small talk, and no Alicorn had anything bad to say about her. Mistmane, was also fairly pleasant to deal with, though she did tend to fuss a lot about how I should do more to accent my natural beauty more often. Paleo was a decent enough pony too, who I could easily pick out the similarity in personality to her counterpart, in addition to her appearance.

I met a good number of the lesser Alicorns as well, though trying to remember them proved difficult. They liked to change up what races they were disguised as on a regular basis, and did more drastic alteration to their features than what the Crusaders did,  which made them unfamiliar with each new encounter. I couldn't manage to learn many of their names, and I could have sworn that sometimes I had encountered the same pony giving me a different name than before. 

The only lesser Alicorn I got down for sure was a rather shy mare named Water Shadow, who maintained an blue earth pony form, with slightly darker blue mane. Water Shadow shared a love for the taste of fish, and took meals with me and Biblo several times, after she learned of our preferred meal. She had a love for sailing and fishing from what we learned, and was regularly pressured by the greater Alicorns to take up a spot as a Greater, and become the official Alicorn of such things. She didn't talk a lot, but we picked up she clearly was unhappy with the regular pressure. She just wanted to be a normal pony, and sail her boats.

While I met with various Alicorns, and tried to make decisions concerning the wedding, Biblo focused on training with Sunset. Rainbow would occassionally drop in on her as well to check some sizing, or compare a color of fabric against her fur. Biblo was also still doing her physical training in the courtyard, and tried to make time to read as we'll. So, she wasn't doing nothing over the course of this time.

Rainbow Dash was exceptionally impressed with her from what I could tell. Striving to be the best was something that the rainbow maned Alicorn held in high regard. Biblo's displays of physical prowess, and continuing  push herself to master her own abilities, as well as expanding her education led to a great deal of praise from Rainbow. I half suspected that the Alicorn of Loyalty was flirting with my fiancee on more than one occasion, and the only thing that disqualified any concerns was the fact she was the embodiment of loyalty.

I was still leary of Rainbow. I had heard stories from her fellow Alicorns about her keeping her own personal harem, of both mares and stallions, at Skyhall, her primary home away from the Tree.

Aside from concerns about Rainbow Dash, my primary worry with Biblo was her continued struggle with mastering her empathic abilities. I knew it would take time, but her control was only getting marginally better. She could now shut them down for a few moments, but it wasn't something she could maintain. Trying to have them not operate for more than a minute or two caused her a great deal of strain, and she had to focus to do it, it was not something she could do quickly as needed. Sunset said that she would get better at it with time, as long as she kept practicing, but for the moment it left the concerns about her accidental absorbing an active concern. Fortunately she was taking great care not to have physical contact with any ponies other than me or Sunset.

And so things were progressing, as I sat in a private room, while waiting on Rarity.

The room was slightly smaller than the bedroom I shared with Biblo, carpeted in a lush green that reminded me of summer grass. The room had six different mirrors set up which endlessly reflected me between them. 

I had never really paid my reflection much attention before or really looked myself over well in a mirror. Sure I had done so years before, when I first was transformed by Starlight Glimmer, but I was still a teen at the time. The years after I had not really had the luxury of having a mirror, and acquiring one was very low priority. So it was kind of shocking, seeing the mare in the reflection and knowing that she was me. 

I had never been as well washed as I was now when I had looked in a mirror before. I had known of course that my fur was white, but had never noticed that it had a pinkish tint to it before due to the grime. My mane was a bit of a wild pink mess in desperate need of grooming. I looked like I was younger than I was, likely due to my cutie mark freezing my aging once I reached full maturity. My fangs were noticeable, and my ear tufts were not as disheveled as I thought they would be due to my past attempts at clipping them. My tail was large and full. I was rather slim, with just a tiny bit of plumpness to the flanks. I guessed the mare in the reflection was pretty, it was still a little weird connecting my reflection to myself.

After several minutes of waiting Rarity eventually teleported into the room. She had two bags held aloft in her magic in to the left of her head, and a bundle of some sort held aloft in her magic to the right. 

"Oh, there you are. Sorry I am running late, but I wanted to make some last minute adjustments," she smiled as she spoke apologetically to me. "I hope you are eager to see how you will look tomorrow. I will make any final alterations that might need to be made here, after I see how it looks on you."

"I am a little nervous," I confessed, looking apprehensively at the items she had brought. "I have never done this before, getting dressed up I mean. I haven't gotten married either, obviously. All of this is happening so fast, it is a lot to take in."

"Don't worry, we will have you looking your best in no time," Rarity said kindly. "You have a wonderful coat and mane, and an excellent figure. You should embrace showing off your femininity more often."

"Growing up embracing my femininity got me beaten," I said sadly. "I kind of started avoiding doing so, even after I was transformed. After I was transformed, I was too concerned with just figuring out how to live to be bothered to care about my appearance."

"Well, that is all in the past my dear," Rarity bubbled happily as she undid the ties on her bundle and opened her bags. "It might have been for the best that you didn't take time to show off your appearance during those desperate times."

"Why is that?" I asked curiously.

"Oh," Rarity stopped short, trying to consider how to answer my question. "Let's just say that pretty young mares who are in facing such obstacles sometimes are forced to turn to doing certain activities to survive, prostitution to be blunt. They aren't bad mares, they just are doing what they need to do to survive. I have tried to work with, and help, more mares like that than I can count over the course of my years.  Ponies shouldn't have to be reduced to selling their bodies so they can eat. it's an ongoing tragedy, one I have not been able to solve, despite my best efforts."

I hadn't even considered doing that back then. Of course, I hadn't really considered that ponies would be interested in using me in that way. There were certainly plenty of ponies that would consider a Thestral an exotic tryst. I don't know what I would have done if I had considered it then, I was certainly hungry enough back then to do just about anything. It was a scary concept that I was glad that I never fell into doing.

"Those unhappy matters are not what we are going to be concerned about right now," Rarity said, moving on from the unpleasant subject. "For now lets get this dress on you. I rarely get to make dresses for Thestrals, but your tribe has some very interesting design concepts."

The dress that she pulled out was very shear, and black. It had lines of solid white crisscrossing the entire dress. She moved the dress with her magic, putting it on me, tightening sections and moving my limbs like a doll using her hooves. Finally she stepped back, and seemed very pleased with herself. She gestured for me to look at myself in the mirror.

Now wearing the dress, I saw those lines of white imitated spiderwebs, and there was a clasp around my neck that had the design of a spider. Rarity also added several clips, that matched the clasp, into my mane while I looked myself over. She worked quickly on the mane and it took on an elegant style. 

As she finished the mane she immediately started pulling articles of makeup from her other bag, and went to work on my face, telling me to close my eyes occasionally as she worked near them. She went at this for several minutes and I didn't get to get a good look at myself as she did her work, as she constantly was having me either move my head, close my eyes, or just standing between me and the mirrors herself.

"Spiders are such misunderstood creatures," she explained as she worked. "They are predatory, but they keep away pests from invading ponies' homes, much like your own tribe. And they create such exquisite designs in their webs. Thestrals have always had an uncommon fondness of spiders, and incorporate designs inspired by them in much of their fashion. I was happy to have an opportunity to work with such designs for you. It is so rare to work on dresses for Thestrals, and make something that embraces that artistic heritage. It was a special treat indeed."

Finally she was satisfied with her work, with the final addition of a pulled back veil, of the same fabric as the dress, only white. Now I was able to see what the final result was from Rarity's efforts. 

I didn't have words for what I saw. I was gorgeous, not just pretty, simply gorgeous. I had always just been happy to be a mare, to be able to be viewed as female, without having to be questioned, but my reflection displayed not just a pony that was clearly a mare, it showed a pony that took my breath away with her beauty. I don't know why, but I broke down crying, it was just all so much. I was just so happy to be seeing this, it was like I was getting validation, even though I had no need of it.

Rarity was an old pro at recognizing the reactions of her dresses, and she expressed her own joy at seeing me so happy with a simple happy smile, though her eyes seemed like there were somewhat misty. She came and gave me a consolatory hug.

"I am glad you like it, dear," she said quietly, as she patted me on the back. "It always makes me so happy to see ponies seeing how wonderful and beautiful they really are. I hope it inspires you to do the same for others in the future."

I looked at my reflection and felt a swell of pride for myself. I was going to make Biblo's jaw drop tomorrow.


***


I was a little sad that I had to get undressed, and have my makeup taken off. Rarity had to do some scolding, insisting that I shouldn't mess up the dress, and that it was bad luck for the spouse to see her bride in her dress before the wedding ceremony. 

Rarity had made a few minor alterations, tightening a few areas and letting a few others out, but I left with the dress done and ready for tomorrow. I was cleaned of my makeup, and Rarity took the dress with her as she vanished to wherever it would be awaiting me tomorrow.

I went to search out Biblo, and had little luck. When I finally found where she was, I had a very angry Rainbow Dash slam a door in my face, again scolding me about how it was not proper to see a bride in her dress before the wedding ceremony. I was to make myself scarce for the time being, while Biblo was to have her own fitting. 

This left me looking around for other things to make last minute checks on, despite the fact that the Alicorns clearly had this all in order. I was still very nervous, and was only getting more nervous as time crept forwards. I had to repeat to myself that I was going to be a married mare after noon tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I had little I could even check. The wedding would be happening deep within the Tree. Biblo and I would not be sleeping together tonight, instead being housed in bedrooms deep within the Tree, near where the wedding would take place. There was a Twilight Guard member, Icy Moon again, who was standing by at the temple to escort us to our rooms. I simply was waiting for Biblo to finish, before we were escorted into the bowels of the trunk. Leaving me still with the problem of what to do with my time for the moment.

I decided to go to the dining hall and work on my vows, as I wanted them to be perfect. I had one of the staff fetch me a pencil and parchment, and tried writing them out from memory. 

For any non-Unicorn writing anything down was a massive chore. It required you to have a pencil in you mouth and manipulate it with your tongue. It was tiring if you were used to doing it, and most non-Unicorns rarely wrote much beyond simple lists, single sentence messages, and their signatures as a result--at least once their schooling was over. This was going to be the longest thing I had ever written.

I was agonizing over it, with a tongue that was getting increasingly sore, when Hot Sticks came up to the table and sat across from me.

"Would you like some help with that?" He asked looking at my discomfort.

I spit out the pencil onto the table and put my hooves up to the sides of my head. "Please, if you would," I sighed with exasperation.

He grabbed the parchment and pencil up in his magic, and looked at what I had written over. He quickly started crossing out things and writing things in.

"Your spelling is atrocious," he said with bemusement. "As is your penmanship. I am pretty good at reading sloppy writing, but this is a real mess."

"Well, you have certain advantages, so don't judge me," I replied, more crossly than I intended.

He took my additude in stride, and simply grabbed another sheet of parchment from near me. The staff had been kind enough to bring multiple for me to use.

"There is a Thestrals technique for writing I have seen involving dipping the ends of one of the fingers of your wing in ink and writing with that," Hot Sticks explained. "Thestrals wings are much more dexterous than Pegasus wings, and it has always surprised me that not many of you make more use of that. Thestrals seem to make less use if their wings than Pegasi do, when it seems they should make make more. They are essentially just big webbed hands."

I spread my wings and looked at them. I never really used them for much other than flying. I knew some others who would use them to help with their grip on trees and rocks when climbing, but that wasn't really an activity I ever did. I suppose they did look a bit like hands, like a diamond dog would have, or a Klugian, or dragon, from what I was told. But I would assume that if they were really that useful we would all be trained from birth to use them that way. Then again, I knew my tribe's stubborn nature about doing things a set way.

"Maybe," I finally replied, still somehow doubtful I had been underestimating the use of my wings. "I will try adding some sort of exercises to my routine to develop using them that way, but I doubt I could produce anything legible trying that, right now."

"Just musing," Hot Sticks replied back. "Let's just ignore what your actual vows will be for the moment, and just focus on what you definitely want to convey. Just to make sure you know you are covering all of it."

"Okay," I said. "That doesn't seem to hard. I want to first convey I love her with all my heart. I want to let her know she brightens up my life, and makes me feel special in ways no other pony ever has. I want her to know I trust her. I want to also tell her that I want to protect her, just as much as she wants to protect me. And I also want to tell her that the idea of living forever is far less lonely an idea knowing I will have her with me. I would do anything to make her happy and safe."

"See that wasn't too hard," Hot Sticks laughed. "You can word it differently when you actually give your vows, but what I'm you just said is all you need to say."

"But that is so informal, and doesn't sound like I put lots of thought into it," I asserted.

"It is better for you to be sincere," he replied back with a smile. "Are you a mare that typically will speak with flowery formal language? No? Then why would you present yourself to your bride trying to do so? She loves you for who you are, and you need to present your vows to her as yourself. Say what comes naturally and quickly, not something you had to dig for, and say it the way you would say it. She wants you, so give her you."

"I just don't want her to feel like I don't take this seriously," I replied back dejectedly.

"I will tell you a secret," he said. Hot Sticks was good with telling others secrets. "Biblo was out in the courtyard earlier doing the same thing you are now, and stressing about it just as much. I told her the same thing I am telling you now. Would you be disappointed with her if she just spoke vows that weren't flowery or formal, and instead just spoke to you as she would always?"

I blinked. I hadn't really even considered she was stressing about the same kinds of things right now. The fact that she had left most of the wedding preparations to me made me had made me think she would be low anxiety. I felt abashed that I hadn't considered she may be just as stressed and anxious. Perhaps she had avoided the wedding preparation to avoid additional stress.

"No, I would be happy with whatever she ended up saying, because I know she means it," I replied back with a growing sense of relief.

"Then don't think she desires any more from you," he concluded.

"Pearl!" I heard Biblo call to me excitedly from across the dining hall.

I spotted my bride to be and rose from the table to go out to meet her. After just a few steps I was knocked to my back as she barreled into me with an excited hug, and lay atop me giggling after.

"You are going to have your jaw fall right off your head when you see me tomorrow," she sqealled with excitement. "I never felt so pretty in my life as when Rainbow put me in that dress with all my mane and makeup done. You always look so beautiful, but I think I might be able to be as beautiful for you this time."

"You are wrong," I replied, getting a strange look from her in response. "You are always the one that is more beautiful. You could show up in a burlap sack and still be the most beautiful pony in the room."

She blushed, and gave me a kiss in response, resuming her happy giggling.

"You are getting much better with those compliments, my precious," she managed to get out around her happy sounds. "Rainbow seems to think I will outshine you, she is just so competitive about everything, but no matter how bright I might glow, you are still the brightest light to me."

"Okay, you two can stop that now," Hot Sticks interjected with a playful tone. "I warn you both about flowery language today, and you then both proceed to start spewing it out at first opportunity. It is enough to make me gag from all the sweetness."

Biblo and I just continued to giggle together as we lay in a mass of pony limbs on the floor of the dining hall.

After a while the three of us finally exited out of the hall. We then sat out in the courtyard together, and enjoyed our pipes  as we told jokes. It was just simple time shared not worrying about anything at all. No stresses, just good company, and high spirits. Biblo and I were ready for the day to come and there wasn't anything to worry about.
> Chapter 18: Newlywed and New Plans.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the morning of the wedding day and I was restless. I wasn't sure if the sun was up or not, as there were no windows to the room that I spent the night in. The room was opulent, with a large feather bed, a fireplace, two full body mirrors, abstract painting decorated the walls, and bowls of small berries of various types. There was also a connecting room which contained a full pool for baths, two sinks, a separate shower, a proper toilet, and a small waterfall of all things that poured steadily into the pool. This was a room meant for the rich and powerful. I was neither of these things. Yeah, I was immortal, but that didn't make me powerful, and I certainly wasn't rich.

I say spent the night in the room because I had only been able to sleep for a few minutes at a time, before waking again. In a few more hours and I would be a married mare. Strange anxieties had kept me up through much of the night. I kept fretting about the fact Biblo wasn't next to me through the night, soaking in my magic. What if she ran out of my magic over the course of the night? She would then start aging for that little bit of time. A few hours of regular aging didn't seem like much, but with enough times without it she would grow physically older than me, and eventually die of old age. It really was silly worrying about it, tonight was a special circumstance, but understanding the conditions of Biblo's immortality made me fret about every minute she might not have my magic. Maybe we could figure out some way to make her leak magic slower. She likely still had my magic still in her, as near as we could tell, she didn't completely leak out my magic until almost a full day apart had passed, but my mind kept me fretting about it all the same.

I had been just laying in bed awake for some time, and it was clear I wasn't getting back to sleep. I should likely just inform whomever the guard was outside that i was up, and needed to start getting ready for the day. It wasn't a good idea to be a lazy pony on your wedding day. 

I got to my hooves and walked over to the door. The guard standing at attention was a familiar face, Icy Moon. I told her that she could tell any pony that needed to know that I was up and that I needed a proper breakfast. I had been informed by Hot Sticks that I needed to make sure I didn't miss breakfast under any circumstances today, he had actually given a good bit of advice to both me and Biblo the night before, about what I needed to do to manage stress today.

I wandered around the room with nothing to do while I awaited Rarity. I snacked on the berries, used my pipe, found a cabinet with various drinks and sampled from that, but time felt like it was crawling. I looked at my clock, only thirty minutes had passed, it felt like hours. I tossed myself back on the plush bed in frustration, wondering how long I would be waiting. 

Finally a knock came at the door announcing Rarity's arrival. I looked at my clock again, I had been laying in the bed for an additional ten minutes. Rarity let herself in, and was followed by another Alicorn who was clearly Water Shadow, despite some additional white stripes in her mane and tail--and the increased height, wings, and horn, of course.

"What are you doing in bed dear?" Rarity said as she entered and saw me on the bed. "I was told you were up. We need to get you to your dressing area and get you ready. Shadow here will be helping, I have a tendency to try to do everything with magic, but that doesn't work well with you, it just fails at inopportune times if I gets contact with you. Water Shadow here is much more used to using her hooves for detailed work, her help will be invaluable for getting you prepared."

Water Shadow just smiled at me in greeting. Despite the fact she was an Alicorn, who could just teleport whatever she wanted to herself, or at least levitate it with her magic, she was carrying a tray of various small fish on her back. She didn't raise her wings to help keep it balanced. She may be an Alicorn, but she carried things like an Earth Pony.

"You really would have an easier time if you would just use your magic,"Rarity scolded her about it as Water Shadow gently set the tray down manually with a hoof. "I understand you keep to your Earth Pony form almost all the time, but it is undignified for an Alicorn to be carrying things around on their back."

"You know how I feel Rarity," Water Shadow replied back to her calmly. "I am only in Alicorn form today because it is a special occasion. I will never be comfortable with using magic that way, or flying, or anything else that an Earth Pony wouldn't normally be able to do. I may technically be an Alicorn, but I will forever see myself as the same Earth Pony I was before I ascended. Let's not fuss about this again, not when we are supposed to be focusing on one of the brides."

"You are right," Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. "It isn't something that we should be discussing right now. But mark my words, at some point you are going to accept what you are."

"It has been six-thousand years, good luck with that," Water Shadow replied with slight annoyance. She then grabbed up a fish from the tray in one of her fetlocks and tossed it in her mouth, chewing loudly.

"Why do you not want to be an Alicorn," I asked curiously.

She looked at me stricken. 

"It is a story not meant for happy times," Water Shadow replied glumly. "Most of us don't remember the War of the Alicorns, the Time of Madness as it is better called. I myself only remember but a small part, but what happened back then deeply hurt me. I have wanted as little to do with what I am since. I will tell you about it some other time, but not on what is supposed to be a day of celebration, okay?"

I nodded back to her. Whatever it was happened a long time in the past and it was something horrible. Today I was getting married, and it should be one of the happiest days of my life, not a day to hear about old hurts.


***


I sat waiting to enter where the ceremony would be held. It was a small room, and cramped between me and the two Alicorns who had gotten me ready. Hot Sticks had been here, but he had rushed across the hall in a hurry.

I could hear outside, across the small hall, the sounds of Biblo's muffled yelling. When it had first started I had to be restrained by Rarity from rushing out of the room to help her. Water Shadow had gone to check, and returned only a moment later to explain that Biblo's nerves were getting to her, and this was just typical wedding day anxiety. Rainbow Dash, Sunset, and Hot Sticks were all doing their best to calm her, and I shouldn't worry. This was normal I was assured. I still had every fiber of my body screaming at me to go rush to my fiancee.

"When she gets out there and sees you again she will be happy as a clam," Rarity assured me. "I am very impressed that we aren't having to deal with an equally distressed bride over here. I had been under the impression you were the one with a higher likelihood of having such a breakdown. She will get herself pulled together soon enough."

"Are you absolutely sure I can't go over there?" I pleaded, eager to soothe Biblo.

"Not happening," Water Shadow asserted. "You may be doing well now, all things considered, but the two of you together would just escalate the stress for each of you. I have dealt with enough brides to know she just needs to cry and scream, to get it out of her system, and then she will be as fine as a smooth sea on a summer day."

"If you say so," I said, looking longingly towards the door, as Biblo's incoherent yelling continued.

Eventually her yelling did cease, and Hot Sticks returned over to my room. He looked tired and stressed himself.

"I am never getting involved with a wedding again," he said with exasperation. "My ears are still ringing, but I think she is good now. All of it was nonsense, and I doubt she even knew half of what she was going on about. She never completed a thought before trying to move on to the next. Sunset just did some sort of empathic thing that made Biblo focus. Once Biblo was able to focus she calmed down quickly. Rainbow Dash is redoing Biblo's makeup and then we shall begin."

A sudden thought occurred to me. "Why are Alicorns able to work magic on Biblo when she has my magic in her?" I asked the two Alicorns. "I would think she would be immune as I am to magic."

"We are of two minds on that," Rarity answered. "One, your magical resistance is not something that she can absorb, as her magic can't touch it. The other possibility is that her own absorbing magic counteracts any magical resistance she may have otherwise gained. We don't have a consensus on which of the two it is, it requires more study. This is again something we won't concern ourselves with today."

"I am just surprised it is just now occurring to me to ask," I admitted.

"It has been on our minds," Rarity assured me. "We will figure it out eventually. We have plenty of time."

A knock came at the door and I stiffened. The door opened to reveal Icy Moon, who had been standing at attention between the two rooms.

"They are ready on the other side now," she said to us with a smile. "In a moment or two you will hear the first wave of the wedding music start up. That is your signal to exit the room and advance to your location."

I gulped and shook myself to try to loosen my muscles. Then I nodded before taking position in front of the door. Hot Sticks took position beside me as my escort, since he was best stallion, Sunset would be serving the same roll for Biblo as best mare. Rarity and Water Shadow would follow behind me. I was due out first since I was the one to propose, Biblo would come after as a sign of her acceptance of my proposal.

The music started, a Thestrals tune with drums and recorders. I took one last deep breath and walked out the door that Icy Moon held open with her magic. 

After coming out into the hall we turned right towards a large chamber filled with our guests. When I reached the entrance into the chamber I paused as Icy Moon announced my presence to all.

"Stand and acknowledge the proposing bride, Pearlwort of the Thestral tribe, and formerly the town of Starlight's Folly, only daughter of the late Night Flower of the Thestral tribe, who made her home in the town of Hallow Shades," Icy Moon's declaration rang out.

I started walking forward slowly, which was necessary not simply ceremonial, I would have tripped over my own dress if I had tried to hurry. I was supposed to keep my eyes ahead, but couldn't help but take small, hopefully imperceptible, glances to the side.

The room was packed with Alicorns, I could recognize all the greater Alicorns and put names to them. Many of the other Alicorns were a mystery as they had never appeared to me in their Alicorn forms previously, with the exception of the Crusaders. I spotted a few non-Alicorn ponies as well. Comet Glider was present in support of Biblo, and I saw Patina as well. Next to Patina sat an ordinary looking Earth Pony stallion with brown coat and mane, who I could only guess to be her own fiancee. At the end of the walkway was the Twilight Princess herself, Twilight Sparkle, de amicitia principis. As for decorations in the hall I couldn't be bothered to pay attention, I noticed ponies and I noticed the place I needed to get too.

I eventually reached where I was standing in front of the princess, as the music came to an end. She smiled down to me, and covering a laugh with a hoof, gestured that I should be standing to her left, as I had clearly forgotten. I blushed with embarassment, and quickly as I could took up my position and turned my gaze towards the entrance of the room. I then held my breath in anticipation.

The music began, the best way to describe it was crystal like, it had a strange otherworldly quality to it. I knew this to be a more traditional wedding song from the Old Crystal Imperial District and the sound came from running your hooves lightly across certain types of crystals. It set the perfect mood for the entrance of Biblo.

And then there she was, standing at the entrance of the room more beautiful than I thought a pony could be. The dress she was wearing reminded me of stained glass panels and I knew somehow that when she lit up it would reflect her light brightly all around her. She had her mane styled in a complicated mass of curls, and in those curls were several clips that were shaped like pearlwort blossoms in honor of me. There was one other callout to her marrying me as well in her dress, like me it's clasp was a traditional Thestral spider. Rainbow Dash had managed to incorporate both Crystal Pony designs and Thestral designs in one stunning work of art.

"Continue standing and acknowledge the proposed to bride, Bibulous Bottom of the Crystal Pony tribe, formally of the city of Crystal Heart, daughter of Tibia the changeling and Diamond Glow of the Crystal Pony tribe, both of the city of Crystal Heart, sister to Peridot Glow of the Crystal Pony tribe, of the city of Crystal Heart," Icy Moon declared.

Biblo began walking down the isle, and didn't seem to be nervous at all. She looked cool and confident, and there was no sign whatsoever that just minutes before she had been a yelling, crying mess. I didn't know how any other pony was reacting to her, as I couldn't focus on anything but her.

She came up in front of the Twilight Princess, bowed her head--something I had forgotten to do altogether, and moved to take her place on the princess's other side. She locked her eyes on me and a smile played on her features, and tears began to form in eyes.

"Gentle stallions and gentle mares," the princess called out. "We are brought here today to celebrate the union of these two mares as wives to one another. Pearlwort and Bibulous Bottom expect to live an untold number of lifetimes, and they have declared their intention to live them together. Is there any among the congregation of witnesses who objects to this union?"

She paused for a brief moment to allow for an a reply. Then she continued when no reply came.

"As there are no objections, I will allow Pearlwort to say her vows, and then give opportunity for all who are here to declare objection again. Pearlwort, please tell your fiancee what you vow to her."

I took a deep breath and looked Biblo in the eyes.

"Biblo, I promise never to abandon you, or stop loving you. I promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe. I promise to do everything in my power to keep you happy. I promise to defend you from any slander against you. And I promise to always be there for you through your hardest times. I offer you my love, my magic, my life, whatever worldly possessions I might gain, and my bed. Please accept my vows and my eternal love."

Biblo looked like she was struggling hard to hold back tears now, and she was openly grinning wide now.

"We have heard her vows," the princess declared, "I offer now the second opportunity for the congregation of witnesses to voice objection."

There was a moment of silence when I paused as the princess gave the second of three opportunities to object. 

"As there are no objections, I will allow Bibulous Bottom to say her vows, and then give opportunity for all who are here to declare objection again. Bibulous Bottom, please tell your fiancee what you vow to her."

Biblo had to take a moment to wipe her eyes and sniffle, then to take a breath of her own. Then she began to speak.

"My precious Pearl, I promise you that you will always be the pony at the center of my world. I shall never abandon you, never condemn you, and never stop loving you. I promise to love you always. I promise to do all I can to protect you, and to see justice dealt on those who would harm you. Everything I own, or shall ever own, is yours as well. I will stay with you in happy and sad times. I will comfort you when you are hurting, and I will share your joy when you are glad. I offer my love, all my worldly possessions, my service, and my bed to you. Please accept my vows and eternal love."

"We have heard her vows," the princess declared again, "I now offer this final opportunity for the congregation of witnesses to voice objection."

I held my breath, it was unheard of for any pony to actually object, but it only took one objection. Several seconds passed and the room remained silent.

"As all opportunities to object have now passed, it is with great pleasure that I, Twilight Sparkle, highest authority in this realm, declare you committed in your vows, and so married. You may now kiss each other as wives."

Biblo and I launched ourselves at each other into an embrace, and deep kiss, as soon as the last word was said. Cheering erupted from throughout the hall. All the cheering didn't matter as I could only think of one pony at the moment. 

As we ended our kiss, and stepped back to look at each other in the eye, I could see that Biblo was glowing as brightly as I had ever seen. She was glowing even more brightly than the day I had proposed to her. I could also see that the dress had the exact effect that I had expected.

"I think Rainbow Dash and I were right," I said smiling at my wife. "There is no way I could match you for beauty. I am lucky to have you as a wife."

"I still differ in opinion on who is the prettiest pony here," she giggled as she put one forehoof up against me, and gave me another quick kiss, as well as some bedroom eyes. "But I am glad I was able to make your breath catch. We will have to disagree on who is luckier to have who as a wife too, my precious wife."

"It feels good hearing you call me that," I said contentedly. 

"It feels wonderful being able to say that and know it is true," she hummed back at me. "And it also fills me with warmth hearing you call me your wife. I promise to make you happy, because you make me happy all the time."

"I suppose we need to mingle with our guests now," I said sadly.

"It would be the the wise thing to do, we will have to be dealing with these ponies for a thousand lifetimes," she looked them over, and said with a sad voice. "Best to make sure we have plenty of friends. I am still tempted to just say screw it, and just head to bed with you for some actual screwing, but that isn't in our best interests right now."

"What you absorbed from Starlight seems to have settled in," I said with bemusement. "Just married and thinking of how to position us."

"Don't be upset with me," she pleaded. "It is just good sense, and I need to look out for your best interests. I have a responsibility to you to do what is best for you."

"Best for us," I reminded her. "We are a team, forever, don't forget that. Don't get so focused on me you forget yourself."

She hugged and kissed me again. "I will try not to forget. Now it is time to get to business and go talk with our guests."

"There is one more thing I wanted to do first," I said, halting her from turning to head out to mingle. 

"And what is that?" She asked quizzically. 

"It is a common tradition for a bride to take a new name in addition to her original after marrying, in honor of her spouse," I explained. "I want to take up a new name in addition to being also Pearlwort. I want to also be Pearl Bottom."

Biblo looked like she was going to tear up again and gave me another kiss. Then she gave me a lighthearted hoove-punch on the shoulder.

"I wish you had told me!" She fussed at me goodnaturedly. "I could have taken the time to think of a new second name for myself as well. I feel honored, Pearl Bottom, but you should have told me."

"I didn't want to make you feel pressured to do the same," I explained.

"But I think it is a wonderful idea," she replied back with a smile. "And Pearl Bottom has a nice ring to it. I will take another name in addition to my original as well, but I need time to think about it. Maybe something more Thestral like for a name, something more intimidating than my current name. I think I would like a name for when I need to be scary. I will come up with something, just need to research what fits me best."

"Don't stress over it," I told her. "I didn't want you to feel pressured to do the same, if you can't think of a good fit, then you shouldn't feel the need to do it."

She kissed me again. "I will think of something perfect, I am not on a time limit to come up with anything," she laughed. "And I should thank you for not adding to things to cause me anxiety before the wedding. Now again, time to focus on guests."

We walked out into the throng of guests together, and were greeted by smiles and congratulations from each pony as we came near them. The first pony we spoke to was Sunset Shimmer, she was easy to pick out, despite the fact I had never seen her in her Alicorn form. She looked exactly the same as she ever did, except she changed out her Thestral wings for feathered ones, had more normal ears, a longer mane, and had a horn. She was also unarmored, which allowed me to finally see her cutie mark, a red and gold sun.

"You know Sunset, your Thestral disguise is remarkably lazy," I chided her. 

"I can do better," she said with a smile. "I didn't really feel the need to do much with my disguise since my most recent disguise I kept on for sixty-four years, aging my appearance slowly as I went. Coming up with whole new identities is difficult on the spot and I don't expect to have to maintain this for more than a few years, so not putting much effort into it. You will see in a few decades when you need to do it."

"Um, we can't shapeshift, so we won't be doing that." Biblo replied to her with confusion. 

"You can't shapeshift yourself, but you can be shapeshifted by one of us," Sunset explained. "It isn't like the non-Alicorn immortals are any less in need of doing the same thing, even Patina has us alter the appearance of her age over time to match her current spouse, at least until they die and she has us put her back to normal. You'll likely need to do similar at some point in the future when ponies start to notice you never age and die. Typically another form of your own tribe, since you don't gain the abilities of that tribe, you are still your own, just in a different shape. It is completely your form, but magic types don't shift with it. It is a variation of what Starlight did for you, Pearl."

"So if I took a Thestral form, would I still be able absorb like I do currently then?" Biblo asked with eagerness.

"I see where you are going, and I don't know how that would work out, yes you would be able to absorb her magic as you normally would, but I don't know if you would be able to have fully functional Thestral abilities or not with her magic in you," Sunset replied carefully. "We can try it out at some point for a few minutes, I am sure all the Alicorns would be interested in knowing if you would be able to function as a Thestral, given your abilities, but I wouldn't recommend any permanent changes, not until you get to the point you need to do it."

"Aww, but I am more Thestral than Crystal Pony in my head at this point," Biblo pouted.

"We still need to go meet your family," I reminded her, covering a smile with one hoof. "Showing up with bat wings, tufty ears, and fangs might be difficult to explain."

"Okay," she pouted again, sitting and crossing her forelegs. "I still want a chance to try it out sometime soon, if only for an hour or two."

"I will see what we can arrange, sometime soon," Sunset said, with a laugh at Biblo's pouting. "Just don't complain at me if you try to fly, and end up planting your muzzle in the dirt."

"I'll live if that happens, I will be disappointed, but I will live," she said nonchalantly. "I figure we aren't going to have a good chance to try something like that for a while. We are still stuck here until that second trial, and whatever needs to be done with us concerning Starlight's Folly."

"About that.." Sunset said hesitantly. "We didn't want to bother either of you, since you were both very busy, but you might not be waiting very long until you are free to leave Harmony."

"Have you discovered something about what happened?" I asked eagerly. It had been forever since we had any news, we were just sitting around waiting constantly for the Alicorns to do anything.

"No," Sunset stated. Then she looked down sheepishly. "However, Starlight took advantage of the time she was looking through your memories to store your magic away in a focus stone, and to store copies of all your memories from the time around when the ailment broke out."

"We are not angry," I answered for us, with a level voice. I was annoyed, that felt like a violation of trust. She hadn't asked to do that, or told us at the time that she had done it. Biblo looked like she wanted to protest the fact we weren't angry, but she kept silent and just rubbed her body up close to me, as she gave a small glare towards Starlight across the room. Starlight had the good sense to look ashamed of herself, no doubt guessing what was being discussed. 

At this point I think Biblo and I were both done with the idea of patron Alicorns. They were extremely fallible, at times petty, and all seemed to possess some psychosis or another. Alicorns were just another tribe. A very powerful tribe, but just another tribe none the less.

"We have already met in council about what to do about the town," Sunset went on. "We are planning resettlement of the town, though it will take time. We are also planning precautions for any further outbreaks. As to the fate of the townsfolk, we are still at a loss. We have eyes and ears out in force throughout the north for any signs of their whereabouts, and may do an expedition further into the Lost Lands to find clues. I am sorry we still have no better answers to what happened, and we are deeply concerned about what it might mean. 

"You no longer need to wait around while we study you. What is required of you is your magic, as it seems the only actual cure. In order to store away some more of your magic, if we find further outbreaks, they will be tasking Biblo with storing as much in focus stones as she can, over time. Biblo, you are the only pony that can actually accomplish this. When Starlight stored away what she did, she had to take it from you, not Pearl. I apologize that you two will be treated as assets to be used, but you will be free to go and do as you please as long as they can acquire what they want from you."

There was an unspoken warning that if the greater Alicorns didn't get what they wanted from us willingly, then they would do something to force us to give them what they want. Beside me, Biblo was deep in thought. Thanks to whatever she absorbed from Starlight, she likely would be better able to judge how to handle this than I could. 

"I have a question on an unrelated note," I informed Sunset. "Do you know if Starlight touched Biblo when she was working on us?"

"Yes," Sunset replied curiously. Then realization dawned on her face about why I would be asking, and she facehoofed. "Damn, Starlight didn't put up an empathic block around her mind when she was working. I apologize for whatever you might have absorbed, Biblo. I can only hope it wasn't her less pleasant traits."

"Just some politicking," Biblo replied distractedly as she appeared to still deeply engrossed in whatever she was thinking about. She actually seemed completely unconcerned about the fact that she had just been told that she was to be used indefinitely as a magic syphoner. After a moment's more thought she seemed to come to some sort of conclusion, and smiled to herself.

"I think that arrangement actually meets our needs," she said to us. "We already had concerns about me needing an alternative way of storing Pearl's magic, in case I was separated from her for too long. If I am supposed to be storing her magic away in focus stones, keeping a few filled ones on me for such occasions solves that problem. I assume the Greaters will want to ensure I will get a steady supply of the stones. I can procure them myself as long as I have the bits for it. It would be easiest if we were just given a well funded account in the Imperial Bank for us to pull on as we need. I can promise we won't go crazy pulling funds, but not having to worry about it we can afford food, supplies, or housing would be nice. Consider it payment for services rendered, and our products. I know you want Pearl's magic for more than just this ailment, It would be considered essentially an all around miracle drug, we produce it, and the Greaters distribute or store it as they wish, but we get paid for what we produce."

"Yeah, I can see where you absorbed from Starlight," Sunset groaned. "I can't fault your reasoning though, it does seem a fair arrangement, not that the Greaters are always concerned about fairness. I do think they will agree, if only to keep you happy and compliant. I will discuss it with Twilight, on your behalf."

"What about Rose Thorn's trial," I spoke up. "We are still stuck in Harmony until that is complete aren't we?"

Sunset grimaced, and took a moment to decide how to respond.

"You don't need to worry about staying around for that," she finally answered. "If you really want the details of why, talk to Luna. I had no part in it, and won't voice my opinion about what occurred. If you do talk to her, take it as a lesson on Greater mindsets, and take it to heart for your own well being."

Sunset excused herself to go speak to Twilight on our behalf. At some point while we were talking a wait staff had entered in and was offering up food and drinks to every pony in the room. We were greeted with pleasantries from each Alicorn we passed, and pulled into multiple conversations. The most interesting of which was with Patina when we found her away from her fiancee.

"So, you have had foals from each of your husbands over the course of six thousand years," Biblo said in the middle of the conversation. "How do you avoid marrying some pony descended from you?"

"It is almost impossible to keep track of that kind of thing," Patina replied with a lack of concern in her voice. "After enough generations it cannot be rightly be considered incest anyway. It is best just not to think about it. Please don't mention anything to Box Car about it. I don't want him stressing he might very well be screwing his, some number of greats, grandmare." 

She definitely had the right idea that it was best not to think about it. I privately vowed never to ask another immortal about their sex life with a mortal again. That led to areas of thought that no pony wanted to consider.

We finally found Luna alone in one of the corners of the chamber. She greeted us with the normal congratulations on being newlywed, and we made small talk for a while.

"We were told we wouldn't need to stay around for Rose Thorn's trial," I finally brought into the conversation. "Do you know anything about why."

"Oh, that is simple," she replied nonchalantly. "There isn't going to be a trial, so there isn't anything to stay around for."

"Why?" I asked. "Did you simply sentence him after it became obvious that he was guilty?"

"That is one way of putting it," she said slyly. "I said I was going to make sure your fellow tribe ponies understood that what he did displeased me, and would not be tolerated. An example needed to be made, every Thestral other than you got to see exactly how I feel about such blasphemy. I gave them all very vivid dreams of what happens to ponies that dare to commit such offences against me."

"So you gave him a bad dream, and he repented?" I asked confused.

"No," she replied back happily. "His fate played out was the bad dream displayed for others. He is completely incapable of repenting anything at this point. Last I saw of him it was impossible to tell who he was. Who can tell one blood platter on the wall from another? I left his corpse mutilated beyond all recognition, and didn't give it the dignity of being fed upon. I even ordered the guards to not clean his cell afterwards. I want any pony being held there in the future to be very aware of the fate of that resident after that resident dared to displeased me to that extent."

I learned then that Thestrals' bloodlust was nothing compared to the bloodlust of an Alicorn. Sunset herself had at one point even said she herself would murder Biblo if she felt the need. The Realm might have laws and courts, but when an Alicorn decided that they wanted you dead they abandoned all of that. It was an important lesson to take to heart.
> Chapter 19: Prep for Departure
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We eventually retired from the celebration. A contrite Starlight Glimmer was gracious enough to get us teleported to our room back at the temple, with a brief removal of my cutie mark. We didn't give her too hard a time, though Biblo did make it very clear there was too be no more doing anything without our knowledge and consent. 

We were told that there were a fair number of wedding gifts, and they would be sent up to us by the morning. We were also given the contract for our services, which had been drawn up with remarkable speed. We didn't look it over right away, but were told that the terms were very generous. If we had any issue we should contact Twilight--she had insisted we just call her Twilight rather than her title when not dealing with mortal ponies, following the policy as the rest of the Alicorns with us.

After undressing and washing up, we spent the evening doing what we had been doing together since our trip to the archives. Being married didn't change anything up with that.

Also unchanged was our morning routine right after waking. One or the other of us would wake first, lay around a bit watching the other sleep peacefully, and then playfully wake the other up with nuzzles, kisses, and little bubbles. Biblo was the happy initiator on this morning. 

Our happy little make out session after we woke as usual gave way to us making our way over to the balcony to watch the sun rise, have our pipes, and talk. This had become a special time for us each day, just quietly talking, relaxing, and making plans for the day.

"You never told me you had a sibling," I said to my wife as I remembered how she was announced the day before.

"My little sister, Peridot," Biblo smiled as she shaped her smoke into the form of a filly. "She is a lot like I was when you first met me, bouncy and excitable. She has the brightest green coat you have ever seen and a yellow mane, slightly darker than mine. She was still a blank flank when I left home. She is just short of eleven years old, a little old to not have her cutie mark, but not too old for it to be odd. She may have one now for all I know, I have been gone for a few months."

"I was thinking that now that we are free to go where we want we could visit your old home," I said as I made shapes that were supposed to be me and Biblo meeting her family, didn't turn out right though as I hadn't made sure I had enough smoke for all of them. "I want to meet your family."

"Our family," Biblo corrected with a grin. "My sister is your sister now, and you have parents-in-law now. They will love you, once the shock that I ran off and got married wears off anyway. Though we should probably keep you from touching Peridot, I don't know if she has similar abilities to me, and we don't want her picking up any bad habits as a filly. Mommy and Daddy would be very angry with us if that happened."

"Do you think she has similar abilities?" I asked curiously. 

"I am not really sure," Biblo replied with a hoof held to her chin in thought. "She should definitely have the same ability to tell what you are feeling about things, since she is half changeling too, but I have a strong magic absorbing talent that is added into it. Sunset seems to think it is a combination of the two traits that make me absorb others traits. If she has a talent in something else, then we shouldn't have to worry about it, but if she has a similar talent we need to take care. Until she has a cutie mark on her flank, in something that has nothing to do with absorbing, we need to treat her like she might have the same abilities as me, just to be safe."

"How do you think me first meeting them will go?" I asked uncertainty.

"I have no idea," her ears dropped as she replied. "Honestly, no clue at all. It is going to be a shock, and there are going to be a lot of shocks for them. It is going to be overwhelming for them, I am sure. I have been trying to plan out how to do it, but I am open to any suggestions. My parents are not even aware I am a filly-fooler. I never really opened up about that kind of thing to them, and never went on dates or anything that would give that information away. They won't have any problem with that fact, obviously, but it is more for them to take in, in addition to everything else. And no, I was a filly-fooler before I met you, before you start worrying I absorbed that from you."

"Well, we could rent a hotel room when we first get to the city. After that you can go and visit them by yourself, let them know you are back in the city, and invite them to dinner, just them, not Peridot. Say you want them to meet some pony. That should give them the idea that you are introducing them to a special somepony at least. You can even say mare to let it drop that you are a filly-fooler without actually saying it. That will give them time at least to process that, and that feels normal enough."

"I suppose so," she said doubtfully. "But that just means we will be in a public place when we drop the news on them that you aren't just my marefriend, but instead my wife," she smiled blissfully as she said the last part.

"We can play up the fact we have a contract from the Alicorns right after to impress them," I said slyly. "Show off the fact that we have a successful business that deals directly with the Alicorns themselves. That should add a new perspective on the marriage for the better. They can't help but feel proud you are serving the Alicorns directly."

"Hey!" She laughed and continued giggling. ""I am the one who is supposed to be the manipulator between the two of us, since I absorbed from Starlight. You are infringing on my territory. But I think you are right, that might be the best way to play this."

She took one last draw of her pipe and then doused it, before turning back into the room.

"Speaking of that contract," she said as she walked back inside. "We should probably read it, to find out what we have gotten ourselves into, and how much we are actually going to end up making in bits."

I doused my own pipe and followed her in. Biblo grabbed up the contract, and plopped down on a cushion, before unrolling the scroll. After a few moments of reading her eyes got wife, and her mouth began to hang open.

"Is that bad shocked or good shocked?" I asked her calmly as I curled up beside her to look along with her.

"Good shocked," she breathed, before taking a deep breath. She passed the contract over to me to read, and continued speaking. "They will pay us three thousand bits a month, with a ten thousand bit starting bonus, most ponies don't make more than three thousand bits in a year. We of course would be responsible for obtaining our own focus stones to store your magic, but even with those costs, this is enough to make us very well to do. Plus they only want us to provide them with a small quota of stones per moon, and they shall arrange pick up for those on their own. We don't even have to start providing those filled stones to them for another two moons, but they will still be paying us in the meantime."

"I see they do want a higher amount of stones for the first shipment though," I said as I looked over the details of the contract. "Says they want twenty-five on the first shipment, compared to five every other one. How much do focus stones cost usually?"

"Depends on who you get them from, but no more than two hundred bits each. Not something most ponies can afford to buy in bulk, but if we are going to have over sixteen thousand bits before the first shipment is due we will barely notice the costs. If we can find a regular supplier we could likely work out a lower price for the stones. Pearl, we are going to be rich."

Just then a knock came at our door. I looked at Biblo motioned that I would be the one to go answer, she nodded and went back to looking over the contract. When I opened the door I found Icy Moon, and a few other Unicorn members of the Twilight Guard, carrying various packages in their magic. 

"Hello Pearl Bottom, we are here to deliver your wedding gifts," Icy Moon greeted me happily. 

I had to wonder how she knew to call me Pearl Bottom instead of Pearlwort, even though Pearlwort would have been correct as well. I just hadn't really made a point of announcing my new name yet. My best guess was that our conversation had been overheard and the information had been passed on to the guards.

"Thank you," I replied with a smile. Then looked at her curiously. "We see you a lot, Icy Moon. Do you volunteer for these jobs or get assigned to them for some reason in particular?"

"A bit of both," Icy Moon replied without any trace of resentment at her task. "The princess prefers to use me as a contact with immortals, so I volunteer for the tasks that will put me in contact with immortals. Regular contact makes for better relations. When I was asked if I would like to have an opportunity to get to know two new members of the immortal rank and file I volunteered right away."

"Why does she prefer you?" 

"I managed to make friends with a few of the more difficult to be friendly with immortals on my own," Icy explained. "When the princess found out she started having me deal with others on her behalf. Since then it has become my unofficial job. I know I haven't talked to you two much, but I hope to get to know you each better. I'm told I am supposed to start picking up deliveries from you soon, which is going to come with a significant raise for me, so I am not complaining. I have a stallionfriend I would like to make my husband, and he is a bit of a starving artist, so anything that helps make me be able to support both of us before the question gets popped is welcome."

"Well, I look forward to working with you then," I said pleasantly. "Bring everything in and set it down wherever you want, it looks like Biblo and I will be busy for a while."

Icy Moon signaled all the guards to start taking the packages in, and they responded to her immediately.

"I have a gift for you from myself, miss Biblo," Icy said as she came into the room. "I was informed you are not in possession of a life pack of your own. I would like to make one for you while I am here, looking at all these gifts, it looks like you will be in need of it soon."

Biblo had been studying the packages with intense interest after they had been brought in, but her ears went erect and looked to Icy with excitement at the offer. It was funny that after finding out she was going to be rich, and then receiving a large collection of gifts from Alicorns, that the thing that sparked the most giddiness was getting a life pack.

"I will be transforming your own saddlebag to a life pack. It is best to use bags that already have a strong connection to you," Icy Moon explained. "If you could get it, and empty it of it's contents, I can get this done for you quickly. Make sure everything is out of it. If any object is in the bag during the enchanting process that object will be lost permanently. 

Biblo nodded and hopped to go get her saddlebag. Then she just upended it, and began to shake out its contents on the floor, rather than removing each item carefully. Every pony in the room just watched as she made a mess on the floor.

"What?" She asked, looking at every pony watching her. "This place is already going to be extremely cluttered until we get everything put away. What's a little more mess going to hurt?"

We couldn't really argue with her logic, as she felt around in the bafmg with a hoof to see if anything else remained in the bag. Then she nodded to Icy that she was done clearing it.

"Okay, all you need to do is put it on, and I will cast the enchantment that binds you as the owner and lets it contain as much as you choose to shove in," Icy said with a smile.

Biblo quickly put the pack on and waited expectantly after. Icy nodded back and then lit her horn up. A faint blue glow that matched the glow of the horn enveloped Biblo and then faded. A second later Biblo's cutie mark appeared on the side of her new life pack. Biblo looked at it, quickly stomped her hooves in excitement, and then printed over to Icy Moon giving the Unicorn a big hug.

"Biblo," I warned. "You know you aren't supposed to be touching ponies until you have you abilities under control."

Biblo broke contact with the Unicorn instantly and backed up a few steps, red faced with embarrassment. She did do her quick listen as she felt Icy's emotions right after, and then turned and smiled to me.

"I think I am fine," she said. "Nothing new absorbed, or if I did absorb anything it just reinforced feelings I already had rather than introduce anything new. Thank you, Icy Moon, I really do appreciate the life pack. I have always wanted one for myself."

"Glad I can make you happy," Icy replied warmly. "And just Icy will do, we are going to be seeing each other at least once a moon, once you start producing whatever the Alicorns have you making. Any idea where you are setting up shop by the way? I kind of want to know where I will be having to make trips to."

"Probably Crystal Heart," Biblo replied, after a quick thought. "But we haven't decided on anything yet. We still haven't gotten to discussing details about where we want to settle in yet. We will make sure you know when we do."

"I will be looking forward to hearing when you do," Icy said as she signaled the guards back towards the door, and started walking towards it herself. "We will leave you to opening your presents together, have fun."

After the group of Unicorns left, I turned and gave Biblo a quizzical look. 

"I thought you were interested in staying here in the temple for a while," I said.

"I was before," she replied, looking about the room. "But I also advanced at my training much faster than I expected, and being essentially right under the greater Alicorns hooves really doesn't sound appealing. I know you had expressed interest in Crystal Heart before, and it makes sense for a lot of reasons. Our family is there, it is the easiest location to find a regular supplier of focus stones, and I don't absorb traits from Crystal Ponies. If you have any other place you would prefer us go, I will agree to that in a second, but Crystal Heart seems like the best choice for now."

"I just want you happy," I said as I came over and nuzzled her neck. "Whatever you decide, I am good with."

Biblo smiled, then paused and took a deep breath, taking a step away from me.

"Sunset and I were talking about you the other day," she said with some hesitation. "She was saying you really need to assert yourself more, she called you a doormat; which I would have boxed her for calling you, if I was actually capable of taking her down. It did get me to thinking though, after I calmed down anyway. You do tend to just fall in line with whatever I say, and I know you do it even when you don't agree with me. I also know parts of being a Thestral bother you, and you shouldn't feel ashamed of what you are. I absorbed a lot of your tribal traits in their purest form from you, without the shame. I worry about you feeling ashamed of being who you are, or never asserting yourself, and I want to help you see you don't have to feel that way."

I didn't think it was that bad. I took the lead in plenty of conversations. And there were things I should be ashamed of as well.

"Shouldn't I feel ashamed of killing and then eating the corpse of another intelligent being? That is monstrous," I defended myself.

"No," Biblo said flatly. "You should not. You defended your town from a real monster when you killed that dog, and you also had a right to eat her as well. It is what you would have done with any other predator. You heard what Starlight said, it warns away others. I also know you were upset by what Luna did to Rose Thorn. Would you be upset with me if I did the same thing? Because I was sorely tempted to do it myself. He was a monster who hurt you, and could have killed you, all with no remorse. He deserved to die, and to be made an example, if Luna hadn't done it, I likely would have. Would you have been ashamed of me?"

"Is it really so easy for you to just decide to end another's life?" I asked shakily.

"It is easy for me to end the life of an irredeemable monster that hurts and kills others for nothing but pleasure and cruelty," she said back with steel in her voice. "And when push comes to shove it is for you too, you just feel guilty for it afterward. You shouldn't, you are doing what needs to be done."

I didn't know how to respond to that. This was the scary side of Biblo, and the scary side to me. Her logic seemed right, but at the same time it felt wrong.

"What would you have us do to make me more comfortable with that aspect of being a Thestral?" I asked quietly with head lowered.

"We need to make you feel stronger, and we need to make you realize that killing monsters is a good thing," she replied with a sympathetic voice. "If we go to Crystal Heart, then there is a lot of countryside and small villages between here and there. We can find one that has actual monsters nearby, and we can let you do what your tribal instincts demand you do. I will be right there the whole time, making sure you know I am proud of you. Heck, if Sunset is willing to test out the transformation spell on me, then I will join you in doing it, that way you can see me doing it, and feel less insecure about you doing it."

"If you think that will help," I said doubtfully.

"I do," she said back. "But we will worry about that after we leave Harmony. Let's look at what we got for presents for now, and then go see Sunset about making plans to leave. We should probably figure out what Hot Sticks is going to do now, see if he wants to come with us or not."

Opening presents sounded like a good idea. Hard to get stressed about gifts. I decided to try out using my wings a bit as hands and attempt to pick things up with them. It was as awkward as I had imagined it would be, and Biblo was visibly trying to restrain laughing at my efforts. I decided to keep trying though. It did seem like I could actually get to where using them this way could work. I just needed to practice. It was my own personal thing to try to work on my own.

"Comet Glider gave use a set of actual hoof blades and practice ones too." Biblo said excitedly. "A set for each of us. He included a card, for an elite fighter and her bride on their wedding day, that was nice of him."

"Patina gave us a pair of books," I said as I looked at another package. "One on Crystal Pony names and another on Thestral names. The card says it will come in use in the future, and to be open to the idea of having foals."

"I am not so sure about having foals," Biblo replied sadly. "It would be nice yeah, but the idea of outliving our own foals, grandfoals, and great-grandfoals, is kind of depressing. I don't know how that mare does it. I get sad just thinking about it."

"She likely made her peace with it a long time ago," I said back. "It must get easier to deal with, over time. It isn't something we need to really think about any time soon.I am sure we will get to be aunts, and then grand aunts, and so on. Outliving each generation, we will get our opportunities to get used to it no matter what."

Biblo's composure dropped further. She started wiping away tears with a hoof. I came over, and wrapped a wing and foreleg around her. She leaned into me and buried her face into my mane, now openly crying.

"I'm sorry," she said after crying for a while. "It is just starting to sink in for me. How many funerals for loved ones I will have to attend. That my little sister, who is currently a filly, will get to where she is an old mare and pass away, and we will still be unchanged by time."

"At least we will have each other," I comforted her. "All ponies die in the end. Even we will, somehow, someday. Chances are most will live to ripe old ages, and we will be used to the idea that they will be passing soon, before it happens. We can enjoy their presence in our lives for as long as it lasts. We have to learn to live life for the moment, because thinking about the future is just too much to think about, and eventually the past will be too much as well."

"We both have things we need to make peace with," Biblo said as she let out a breath and broke contact. "Let's look through the rest of this, get it all cleaned up, and get to making plans to leave. Hopefully if nothing is stopping us we can leave Harmony tomorrow. Can I keep a hold of those name books? I still want to come up with a Thestral style name for myself to match the Crystal Pony style name you picked out for yourself. I really don't know much about Thestral names though, and I want to find something appropriate."

I passed her the books, which she promptly put into her life pack. We continued through looking through the gifts. Most the Alicorns gave us gifts reflective of what they were the Alicorn of and most of it was pretty useless. There were some interesting gifts here and there though. Water Shadow gave us fishing poles and supplies, Meadowbrook had given us samplings of various other things that we could put in our pipes, Rockhoof had given us some unmarked chain-mail armor, Sunset had given us paints and paintbrushes, we were given new dresses from both Rarity and Rainbow Dash, an dragon flame lamp from Twilight, Pinkie Pie gave us some scarves, Celestia got us bananas of all things, Luna gave us Pearlwort seeds, while Starlight gave us kites, jewelry was common, and there were many other books that reflected subjects their presenter put a lot of value in.

One gift we found very nice was a set of silver collars, with our cutie marks engraved on them. The gift was from a lesser Alicorn named Silver Smith, an appropriate name. We decided to each wear the collar the corresponded with the other's cutie mark, as a sign of our marriage. We put those on right away, and were pleased to note that they didn't rub at all and were comfortable to wear.

Also included was a note detailing instructions about how we were being paid. We now had an account in the Central Imperial Bank and need only state our name and show our cutie mark at the bank to be allowed to make a withdrawal. The starting bonus had already been deposited. There were locations for the bank in all the major cities, as well as a few towns, and we we could access our account from any of them. A fresh deposit would be put in each moon, as long as we upheld our end of the contract.

It took us most of the morning to go through everything. We eventually deposited everything in our life packs. We found Sunset and Hot Sticks both in the dining hall. After having the staff find us some sardines we sat down to talk with the two.

"How does your first day of married life feel?" Hot Sticks asked as we sat down. He was drinking some tea, and eating a small salad.

"It feels much the same, really," Biblo answered with a smile. "At least for me it does. I do feel all giddy each time I think about it though. Say the word wife, and I get all warm inside."

"I agree," I said, giving my own answer. "Though I am trying to get into the mindset of introducing myself as Pearl Bottom instead of Pearlwort. We are eager to get moving to where we can settle down, and actually start living our married life. We are actually hoping to leave as soon as tomorrow if we can. That is why we wanted to see you two as soon as we could, tomorrow if possible. We know you wanted to come with us, Sunset, and we were trying to find out what your plans are, Hot Sticks."

"Seems like you two rush at everything," Hot Sticks observed as he finished a sip of his tea.

"Well, we want to tell Biblo's side of the family about the fact we are married sooner rather than later," I explained. Then I continued in a lower voice. "Plus we want to get away from dealing with the greater Alicorns day to day as quickly as possible too. They aren't bad, but they are all crazy."

"I don't disagree about that, though some are worse than others," Sunset said with a smile. "I don't like spending more time than I have to here either. They are all old friends, but they try to make use of you when they have you readily available, typically without asking. I can make arrangements for our departure tomorrow if you like. Crystal Heart is where you intend to go?"

"Yes, but we were hoping to do cross country travel, preferably through some more dangerous areas," Biblo added in.

"For the reasons we discussed before?" Sunset asked her while looking thoughtful.

"Why are you actually looking for danger?" Hot Sticks asked with confusion.

"The idea is for me to get more opportunities to behave like a Thestral, and fight some monsters," I explained with a slight roll of my eyes. "I am obviously uncomfortable with certain things about myself and these two seem to think it will help if I just do it more without feeling judged. I am not sure if it will work, but I am willing to try. Plus I am pretty sure Biblo is looking for an opportunity to get to full blood-lust herself."

Biblo boxed me on the side playfully with one of her hooves. She gave a face of mock indignation. I gave her a flat stare back. We held this position for about five seconds, before we both broke down giggling.

"Pearl isn't wrong," Biblo said. "I have all the Thestral instincts and am perfectly happy with them. The idea of hunting down some monster sounds great to me. I wanted adventure when I left home, monster hunting qualifies. I know we have had a lot happen, but it would be a shame if I returned to Crystal Heart without having done something personally exciting."

"Adventure is overrated," Sunset said with a huff. "Trust me. Save the world a few dozen times, and then you just start wishing for a century or two of nothing notable happening."

"I suppose I will come along to Crystal Heart," Hot Sticks said after another sip of tea. "Adventuring gets you hurt, so you will need a doctor, and I don't know where I want to go from here. I know I don't want to get pulled back into the politics here. I will come with you to Crystal Heart, and think more on what I want to do, and where."

Biblo almost went and gave him a hug, then she caught herself, realizing she wasn't suppose to be touching ponies. It made her frustrated and she just crossed her forelegs and scrunched up her muzzle in frustration. We all gave her a shared look of sympathy.

"We will keep working on your training," Sunset said as she came and patted Biblo on the shoulder. Sunset was the only pony other than me who was really allowed to touch Biblo, thanks to being able to block Biblo out of her mind. "As for the path to take, I think we can hug the Foal Mountains through the pass between them and the Canterhorn Peak. From there is a lot of woodlands before reaching the Old Crystal Imperial District. That entire region is wild, and the villages that can be found frequently have to post watches at nights to keep out timberwolves, dire wolves, hydra, chimeras, and the stray cockatrice. I am comfortable with you two fighting any of those creatures, save for the cockatrices. I might keep an eye on you from a distance for some, but will let you deal with them yourselves. And yes, Biblo, I will let you play at being disguised as a Thestral, once we are on the road."

Biblo gave an excited hug to Sunset upon hearing about the Thestral disguise. 

"Thank you!" Biblo shouted with joy as she squeezed the larger Alicorn in Thestral form. "You have no idea how much I am looking forward to that."

"I think I have a good idea how much you are," Sunset laughed. "You might be able to feel what I am feeling, but I have I can get into your head just fine. Just don't be disappointed if you can't use your wings, I have no idea if Pearl's magic will be able to make them work or not. Even if it does make them usable I am not sure if you are going to be able to make much use of them with so little time to get used to them."

"I am pretty sure they will work," Biblo replied still joyous. "Pearl's smoke shaping magic already works for me, so this should too."

The three of us stared at Biblo. Sunset and Hot Sticks looked at her with shock, I on the other hoof looked on with exasperation. After a moment Biblo realized that she just gave away some information she wasn't supposed to give out, and looked slightly mortified.

"Um, oops" She said sheepishly.

"I am going to pretend I heard nothing," Sunset said as facehooved. Hot Sticks just nodded, and went back to drinking his tea.
> Chapter 20: Transformations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We arose the next day before the sun yet again. And for the last time we went through our morning routine since we began sharing a room together in Harmony. There wasn't much for deep thoughts, just relief that we would finally be on our way from Harmony. 

We left our room only a few minutes after the rise of the sun. Sunset and Hot Sticks were waiting for us at the airship back to the surface. Pleasant greetings were exchanged, and quick checking with the others to see if anything was going to be left behind. We didn't bother to announce that we would be leaving to any pony, Alicorn or otherwise. Apparently, they would know where we were at based on where our bank account was accessed.

We weren't going to simply walk out of the city, it would take us most of the day just to walk beyond its borders. An airship would have defeated our purpose in wanting to travel cross country, so it wasn't an option either. What we were going to do instead was sail out, as there was a river that flowed north along the path that we wished to take. The plan was to take a boat out of Harmony and be dropped off at a town just beyond where the Foal Mountains and Canterhorn Peak made a valley.

However, when we made it to the dock within the city we were greeted by a familiar face, though slightly different form.

"Planning on a little sailing?" Water Shadow said with a small sheaf of wheat sticking out of the side of her mouth. She was back in earth pony form, and just casually standing on her hind legs with her back against the wall of a building. She looked much more relaxed than I had previously seen her.

"Are you offering a lift out?" I asked in behalf of the group. Water Shadow was an Alicorn, but she was a lesser Alicorn, which made her much more bearable to deal with. She was the least Alicorn-y Alicorn I had met to this point actually.

"I was guessing you would be taking this route out of the city. My ship is ready to sail," she replied, getting a little more upbeat towards the end. "You aren't the only ones eager to get away from this place. I won't be leaving my ship, but I am willing to sail you where you want to go, before I head back towards ocean harbors and the open sea. I don't like coming this far inland, I might have been born an Earth Pony, but I can't stand too much dry land."

"I think we would enjoy your company for a while Shadow," Sunset smiled at her. "You and I rarely see one another anymore. It has been, what? Forty years since we last saw each other, before we were all summoned her again this time. And spending time here, with the Greaters close at hoof, is not exactly the best of places to catch up."

"The Greaters can go to Tartarus," Water Shadow said, spitting out her bit of wheat to the ground. "They know I want nothing to do with this place. Yet every time I am here they try to reel me into staying."

She looked at me and Biblo apologetically.

"No offense to either of you," she pardoned herself. "It was a nice wedding, and you have nothing to do with me not wanting to be here. I couldn't really talk to you at your wedding, but I hoped to get a chance to get to know you two better, and give my own advice as an immortal just trying to keep her sanity."

"You are a bit more snappy now that we are away from the Greaters," Hot Sticks observed.

"Because if you put one hoof in the wrong place with them they will find some way of making you pay for it," she said with frustration, glaring up at the Tree."I behave myself, and try to just quietly refuse their suggestions when they are standing right there, but I won't hold my tongue about them when I am free from them."

"Well, your assistance in getting out of this city will be appreciated, Shadow," Sunset said while still smiling. "And I am sure we all will be glad to put some more distance between them and us."

"But never free of them," Water Shadow said with regret. "They always keep a hook in you, and you can never snap that line, no matter how you fight and pull."

She turned and gestured us towards her ship. It looked simple enough at first glance, but showed some oddities as you looked harder. It looked to be made of metal, which wasn't uncommon. It had places for teams of rowers, two sails, and I was pretty sure there was an engine on the thing as well. Having all three of those options available at once was kind of strange, this thing would definitely move one way or another though. There were what looked like large fishing poles fastened to various areas around the deck. There was a simple looking wheel for steering, which was flanked by a console of some sort. I guessed the console operated the engine. The ship was about eight ponylengths wide at the widest point and perhaps twenty-five pony lengths long from bow to stern. There were also large mounted guns at both the bow and the stern. I had never actually seen guns outside diagrams in books.

"Welcome to the Sea Lion," Water Shadow told us happily. "She can navigate either ocean or rivers with ease, and she is my home. I can take you as far as the Foal Canterhorn strait, but not any further, she isn't built to navigate the river beyond that point, gets too narrow and has hidden mud banks. She can move pretty fast, and we should have you there by sometime late tomorrow."

"Why do you have guns on your ship?" I said looking over the strange weapons. 

"When you get out in the ocean there are pirates, visible guns are a deterant," she explained looking at the weapons. "There isn't much to steal from me, I don't keep a lot of wealth on hoof. I have an account at the bank if I really need bits for something. I have no clue how much is in it, I don't really care either. But pirates will still make attempts on other sailing vessels that don't look like they have much for cargo if they are in a lean streak. Occassionally I will scare some off from attacking others as well."

"Can't you just do all that with magic?" Biblo asked apprehensively. "No gun can match what you are capable of lashing out."

"I don't like using magic except as a last resort," Water Shadow replied. "I have never been comfortable with Alicorn powers, as far as I am concerned I am still an Earth Pony. So I only unleash those powers when I am in a particularly dire strait. Plus, it is kind of hard to be low key, and not notable, when you are doing magic as an Earth Pony. Please, don't push me about it. I'll dump you into the drink if you do."

We all got aboard, and Water Shadow started up the engine, as well as pulled up the anchor, from the console. Then she took to the wheel, standing on her hind legs and using her forelegs to manipulate it. The engine ran silently, and you had to listen extremely closely to hear its soft hum.

The remaining four of us simple watched as the city moved by on the bank. The ship moved quickly, as Water Shadow had said it would. The quick movement of the ship seemed to cause Hot Sticks a great deal of trouble. He had difficulty walking without tripping, and finally just laid down on the deck, looking ill. I had no problem with the the movement below our hooves, ponies with wings had a higher natural since of balance. Sunset seemed equally unbothered. Biblo was fine as well, perhaps because of my magic still coursing through her, granting that same sense of balance.

We didn't speak much as the ship went through the city. Biblo and I eventually took to the railings, with our pipes, watching the city zoom by. Sunset sat by Water Shadow quietly, observing as well. Hot Sticks eventually excused himself and went down an opening into the hull below, hoping that not seeing the world move by would calm his stomach.

It still took us nearly two hours to clear the city, even moving as quickly as we were. It was a relief to be able to look up and not seeing the looming branches of the Great Tree over our heads. There was still scattered signs of civilization on the banks of the river, farm houses here and there, as well as other ships and boats moving about the river. In the far distance, in front of us, Canterhorn Peak loomed. Behind us the Great Tree still took up much of the horizon.

Eventually Water Shadow turned the engine off, and instead unfurled the sails. She would make frequent trips back to the wheel, but no longer stood constantly at it. 

"It feels good to be back out on the water, and away from that Discord-be-damned city," Water Shadow said happily, breaking the long silence. "We will sail a few more hours till the sun starts to set, then I will throw anchor for the night. Maybe see about a bit of fishing. There are plenty of sturgeon in this river, and I wouldn't mind something a bit larger than sardines and salad for food."

"How big is a sturgeon typically?" Biblo asked with curiosity.

"Typical ones are about half as long as a pony, and weigh about as much as a year old foal," Water Shadow replied, making gestures to indicate their size with her hooves. "They can get massive though, several pony lengths and ponyweights. The biggest I ever encountered was nearly the size and weight of this ship."

"What do you do with fish that big?" I asked with astonishment. I was used to eating fish I could easily pick up and eat with my hooves. What she described was well beyond that.

"For the really massive ones, nothing, I leave those be," the blue pony replied. "The more typical ones I will eat over time, carve off parts and cook them. One such fish is good for several meals. I will occasionally trade them to griffins, dragons, Klugians, and others. I just trade for supplies I need to keep my ship shipshape. I don't like having to go inland to go find a bank, so I try to stay self sufficient."

"And you have been doing this your whole life?" Biblo asked. "Do you ever take on a crew? I see you have places for rowers."

"Yes, to both questions," Water Shadow replied. "I was a fisherpony before all this Alicorn nonsense, I will be a fisherpony until the day I finally go mad, or there is no sea left to sail, whichever comes first."

"I hope that we all will have passed on before the day there is no more sea," Sunset said morbidly as she looked off in the distance. "And let's hope your day of madness is a long way yet to come."

Biblo and I looked at each other sadly as Sunset finished speaking. Would that be our fate in the end? You either outlive the world, or become a monster that needs to be put down, if something else doesn't kill you first. This conversation was not one that we wanted to be a part of right now. We were already trying to figure out how we were going to cope with eternity. Water Shadow seemed to notice our discomfort and looked at us sympathetically. 

"He might be courteous, and not looking through my cargo, but there is medicine down below that might help your friend with his seasickness," Water Shadow said, finding something to change the conversation. "On the far end of the hull below there is a box with Meadowbrook's symbol on it, in it there is a tincture marked as amplified ginger, give him that, it will help."

We thanked her, and made our way down below. Below deck was poorly lit, but my night vision made it easy to find my way around. Suprisingly it seemed that Biblo had even better night vision than I did, and was able to move about as if the cargo hold was brightly lit. It gave me a strange theory about myself, perhaps my own abilities were hindered by my anti-magic ability in some way. Biblo on the other hoof would be absorbing my abilities that were inherient to Thestrals without having that same anti-magic interfering with them. Which would make her functionally more Thestral than I was, since she could actually use the abilities to their full extent. I wondered if she would be capable of dream walking, something that all members of my tribe were supposed to be able to do with training, but I had never been able to accomplish.

Hot Sticks was too miserable for conversation, and had also vomited more than once while down here. We found the amplified ginger where it was supposed to be and had him swallow it. Over the course of a few minutes he seemed to be doing better, but was exhausted from feeling ill, and soon fell asleep. We had no reason to wake him, and let him recover with some rest.

Dark confined places like this were naturally soothing to Thestrals. Some primal tie back to when our ancestors made their homes in caves for the day as they slept. Yes, I had some issues with claustrophobia in the past month, but the reasons for those were gone now. Despite the fact I spent most daylight hours awake, my own circadian rhythm still wanted me to be nocturnal, and being in a place that was an ideal nesting spot made me drowsy, a response that was also shared by my wife, being Thestral minded herself. 

We opted then to obey our bodies' demands, and take a nap. There wasn't any need for us to be awake right now, and while we could be looking at the view over the railing of the ship, that had long gotten dull. We nestled up close together, and laid down to sleep while we awaited the setting of the sun.


***


We awoke together, ears erect, to an unusual sound. We both silently looked about the cargo hold to determine its source. We didn't see anything that might have caused it, and there wasn't any sign of Hot Sticks.

"What do you think that was?" Biblo asked me.

I stood up and noticed that the ship was no longer moving other than with the waves. 

"I think that was the sound of the motor for the anchor," I relaxing my body with a smile, as I realized the likely source. "It must sound much louder below deck than above. That must mean that it is now sundown."

Biblo relaxed as well then. She then stood up and gave me a playful nibble on my neck, which made me giggle. Then she pulled back her head with a sigh.

"I suppose we don't have enough privacy to do any exercise right now," she pouted. "Guess we should go up above and see what every pony is up to right now."

I nodded my head in agreement, but did take a quick playful nibble in return to her neck, which elicited a giggle from her as well, perking up her mood. We then made our way back up the stairs into the early evening air.

"Welcome back, sleepyheads," Sunset called to us as we got on deck. "I had to go check to make sure you were both alright when you stayed down below. It had completely slipped my mind that you are supposed to be nocturnal, or at least Pearl is supposed to be, which I guess makes you both."

"I always found that odd myself," Hot Sticks chimed in from where he was sitting by the railing. He seemed to be in better health than earlier, and was now smoking his pipe. "It always seemed strange to see a Thestral up during daylight hours consistently, but I never asked about it."

"I live exclusively around day dwellers, that makes it necessary. It isn't my natural preference, but it is what I must do " I explained. "I kept fairly nocturnal hours up to the point that I reached Starlight's Folly, when I got there I started trying to stay awake during the day more."

"I hadn't even realized until today that my eternal clock had inverted," Biblo said as she looked up at the fading light with a smile. "Or how much better my vision in low light had gotten. Maybe we can start switching to a more nocturnal schedule after we get settled in at Crystal Heart. There are still plenty of ponies awake before midnight, and plenty of shops that stay open fairly late. We could function, especially since we wouldn't be concerned about reporting to any employer in the morning for work."

Biblo tilted her head in thought then, as she continued to look up at the sky. She then looked around at what was on the banks of the river. We were in the middle of a particularly wide stretch of the river, and the banks, while visible, were much further away then when we had gone to sleep.

"We are pretty isolated right now," she said to Sunset cautiously. "Do you think now is a good time to try out the transformation disguise on me? No pony but us would see you do it here, and I would like to spend as much time as I can in that form, before I have to go back to this one."

"Still extremely eager I see," Sunset said with a laugh. "I suppose you are right about this being a good place to do it. How about you, Pearl? Ready to see your wife in a form more reflective of her mindset?"

I actually didn't know how I would feel about seeing Biblo as a Thestral. I had conflicted feelings about my own tribe. But Biblo wanted to do this a lot, and had been excited about doing it since she learned about it. 

"It will make her happy, which makes me happy," I said with a smile. "Go ahead and make with the magic."

"Alright then," Sunset said to Biblo. "Stand in the center of the deck, and every other pony give her space. This will take but a second for me to do."

Biblo hurried to where she was told and the rest if us migrated to the railing at the bow of the ship. Once every pony was in place Sunset took a step towards Biblo, and a light lit up around Sunset despite her current lack of a horn. That same light then enveloped Biblo as well. Then there was a quick blinding flash that made all of us have to close our eyes.

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times to clear the spots from my vision, then turned my gaze to where my wife had been. My breath caught in my throat as I did so.

Where once a pink Crystal Pony stood now stood a Thestral of grey fur. Her mane had become more bleached out, paler, though still yellow. Her wings were a dark black, and standing erect with her excitement. The green of her eyes had been substituted with a bright yellow which caught the light at times, making them seem to glow. Her facial features were still recognizable, despite the changes to her coat and eyes, along with a new pair of fangs. Her ears had developed tufts, and were standing straight up.

She took herself in as best she could. Looking at each foreleg and examining the fur. She turned her head to see her wings and laughed with joy as she saw them. She tried to move them, and the unfamiliar limbs responded stiffly. She frowned slightly at their stiffness, and touched one at the base of the wing, which caused a shiver to go through her body, and a look of bliss to come on her face.

"I hadn't realized how sensitive wings were in that spot," she giggled to us bashfully. "I will have to remember that for the next time we are exercising, Pearl. Sunset, why is my fur grey? I don't mind at all, I actually like it, but why grey?"

"Bright pink is not a common color for Thestrals," Sunset explained. "Grey is an extremely common color though. The idea of a disguise is to blend in with the tribe, my current form ignoring all this, I know. So grey being the most common color makes it the best choice. Pearl's coloration is actually fairly uncommon among Thestrals as well, if you didn't know. It is not an unheard of color though, bright pink is an unheard of color."

Biblo nodded, accepting the explanation, and went back to trying to make her wings behave. They were still standing erect and she was only getting twitches out of them.

"You are too excited," I told her. "Your wings go erect when you are excited, it is called a wing boner. If you aren't used to your wings it is going to be near impossible to get them to relax and behave until you calm down a little. It is a normal thing, don't worry."

"Oh," Biblo replied with another deep red blush appearing on her now grey fur. The change in her form was not disconcerting to me as I worried it might be. She was still clearly Biblo to me, and her joy made me feel warm inside.

She then walked over to me, and very deliberately put a hoof up on the base of my wing, causing a shiver of pleasure to pass through me. She smiled at me flirtatiously as she did it, knowing exactly what she had just done.

"And what do you think of this form?" She asked as she touched her nose to mine, causing another ripple of pleasure.

"It definitely has its own charm," I said taking a breath to calm the feelings of pleasure she was causing on purpose. "I love you in any form. Though I admit, I am looking forward to showing you how sensitive those wings are," the last of what I said caused her to blush again. She might look more a vicious predator of the night, but she was still adorable when she blushed.

"Do you two need to go down below and have some privacy?" Water Shadow finally spoke up with a laugh. "I have no objections to you two bumping fuzzies on my deck, but I don't think your other companions want to see that." 

Biblo and I both pulled back from one another, wings erect, blushing fiercely then. 

"Maybe in a while, not yet though," I managed to get out. Biblo actually looked disappointed as I said it, no modesty about it at all. She was bursting with sexual energy right now, and I second guessed myself as I looked at her.

"I suppose I could stand to relax a little," Biblo said with a sigh, glancing at her erect wings. "I want to be able to move these as I choose after all, and see if I am capable of using them to get airborne."

"If you fall into the drink, trying to fly, I hope you can swim, I am not fishing you out," Water Shadow told her. 

"At least it won't hurt as much," Biblo replied back, with a glance towards the river. She then went over to the railing near Hot Sticks, and began looking through her life pack, pulling out her pipe a moment later. I went over and joined her in the same activity.

Water Shadow decided to start setting her fishing lines after that, she had a pail of small fish ready, and began attaching them to various poles as bait for the larger fish she hoped to catch. We silently watched her with curiosity. I had never seen a pony actually fish before, the fish I caught myself I had to catch in small streams with my mouth. So I was curious about how it was done with much larger fish, in larger bodies of water.

"I am going to set four different poles," Water Shadow said as she worked. "I will have Hot Sticks, myself, and Sunset each watch different ones, our two Thestrals can stand at the last. I doubt Thestrals will have the strength to pull a large struggling fish out of the water. It takes either a lot of strength or magic to get them out of the water, at least with poles like these ones. If the line goes tight, just call some pony else over to help bring the fish in."

We all took our assigned positions, and began to wait. This was not the most exciting activity. Between the boredom, and the drug, Biblo's wings did relax and settle down to her sides. She noticed it, and tried again to move them about, this time with much greater success. She moved her wings tentatively, moving them in arcs, flexing them, and moving them forward to look at the webbing. She stared with rapt fascination at them.

"It is weird," she said as she continued to play with her wings. "They feel like they are just a natural part of me, but at the same time they are these other limbs that I never had before. It is really hard to describe. It is completely natural, and alien at the same time. It is like this is what I am meant to be, but I just completely unused to being me. As I said, I don't know how to phrase it right."

"I think I felt something like that when I first was transformed by Starlight," I said as I watched her play with her wings. "It felt right, like everything was the way things were suppose to be, but at the same time it was different than what I had known up to that point. I about had a panic attack the first time I realized I was dealing with an estrus cycle."

Biblo and the rest broke out laughing at that snippet of information. I blushed with embarrassment, I hadn't been that much older than I normally would have started having estrus the first time. Every mare had to deal with estrus, I just had no parent there to explain to me what was going on. 

"I am sorry Precious," Biblo apologized, still laughing. "That isn't really funny, estrus is rough. I started estrus earlier than most of my classmates, and they made fun of me. They called me Bimbo Bottom, because I was so ready to raise my tail for whoever wanted to sample. I never actually did anything back then though. It is going to be so good this time around to actually be able to satisfy myself."

"Bimbo Bottom," Sunset choked out laughing. "Oh my, that is so mean. I was a school bully once, and that would have been mean for me."

"It was probably appropriate, unfortunately," Biblo said grinning. "I was allowed to be home schooled through my estrus periods. My parents were terrified I would get pregnant if I was out and about during my estrus periods. I even kept secluded at home after I was done with schooling during those times. Actually, with that in mind, they might still be terrified I am going to come home pregnant."

"I thought you got your enhanced drive from that nurse," I said looking at her suspiciously. 

"I did," Biblo confirmed. "I used to only be this way during my estrus periods, now I am all the time, estrus or not. I can only imagine what the actual estrus is going to be like. And you picked up the same drive as me, Wifey. You and I are going to be really busy in less than two moons, so don't make any other plans."

"Well, don't go having foals," Water Shadow said with bitterness. "Patina might be able to deal with outliving her progeny, but for most of us, it is too painful to deal with."

"If I am not aggravating any old wounds, can I ask if either of you two Alicorns had foals in the past?" Hot Sticks asked Sunset and Water Shadow. Biblo and I turned our eyes to the two ponies in question, eager to hear the answer.

"I never did," Sunset said as she mournfully turned her eyes to Water Shadow.

Water Shadow sat still for a moment. She was visibly upset. She looked like she was about to have an anxiety attack, she was breathing long steady breaths and had her eyes shut tight. She opened them after about a minute of steady breathing, and the rest of of silent, and took one last deep breath.

"I said I would tell you about why I don't like Alicorns," she finally said. "I suppose this is as good a time as any. Just don't tell me it is all in the past, and I should let it go. I have made my peace with it as best I can, but some hurts never go away."

All of us simply nodded, save Sunset, who just continued to look sadly on her old friend.

"The past is blurry, most of it I can barely remember, or not remember at all. It is a blessing, and a curse, that time makes memories fade away. You two young immortals will discover someday you can't remember your foalhoods anymore, or when you first discovered your own immortality. It will take time, but these memories will fade. Ponies, even immortal ones, aren't supposed to hold on to all their memories as time passes on. I doubt you can remember now much of what occurred in your early foalhood. But sometimes there is a memory you can't stop thinking about, something so intense it won't go away. For me that is the memory of how I lost my family.

"I don't know what brought me to ascend to Alicornhood, it seems like that would be important enough to remember, but apparently not. But I do remember that I was a happily married mare when it happened. 

"I remember their names; there was Shadow Trick, who was my mother. She shared the same blue fur with me, but was a unicorn. My grandmother had been a good friend of Starlight Glimmer's before Starlight's own ascension, and Starlight treated my mother as a neice, calling her baby Lulamoon. There was my husband, Sea Foam. He was a Pegasus sailor, and he was always good to me. He taught me to love the sea in my youth. I can still, somehow, remember the day I got my cutie mark, a wave, when I realized I wanted to spend my life with him on the sea. We had a daughter, Sea Star. She was the most precious little Pegasus filly. I remember I was so stressed when she started flying, and I felt so helpless because I couldn't fly to keep up with her."

Water Shadow paused to wipe away a tear, and kept silent for several seconds to steady her breathing.

"I am sorry," she apologized. "This is still hard for me, after all this time. I still remember them so vividly, despite forgetting almost everything else about that time."

She took another deep breath and continued.

"As I said, I don't remember what caused me to ascend to being an Alicorn, but I know that I kept with my family after that, still in our little fishing village. I was so happy at first, I could fly with my husband and daughter, I could fight back storms that threatened our village, and I could calm the seas when they got too rough. I thought I could do anything for my family and my village.

"But then the Time of Madness came. There had been many, many ponies that had ascended to Alicorn in the decades leading up to that. Many more than there are Alicorns now. Such power, and immortality, is not something most ponies can really cope with well. Most went neglected as they slowly slipped into madness. Mind you, they weren't bad ponies, but they were saddled with a heavy burden, and they were not given the aid to cope with it. Madness spread like a plague among the Alicorn ranks, and the more who went mad the more who dispaired, causing more to fall to madness. 

"So, the world was devastated by these mad gods and goddesses among ponies. Those of us who kept ahold of our sanity were the only ones who could confront them. That would be those Alicorns who still live today. The ones who would later form the Greaters were the ones who took the lead, those of us who simply followed as directed became the Lessers. I was no great leader, I just did as I was directed to try to help. 

"The conflict spread out across not only our own land, which was named Equestria back then, but to the neighboring ones as well. Klugia, the Griffin Kingdom, the Dragon Lands, all of them faced threat of our insane tribe, and all of them needed us to help drive them back.

"I was out defending one of those foreign lands, when word reached me that my own village was in the path of a mad Alicorn named Flame Star. I dropped everything I was doing and hurried back, but when I got there it was too late.

"I came home to find my village burned to the ground. I searched frantically for survivors. Most of the bodies I found were burned so badly I couldn't even identify who they were, even though I knew every pony in town by name. Finally I found one body that wasn't burned, but was still dead."

Water Shadow broke down sobbing then, unable to continue for the moment. Sunset got up and calmly walked over to her and laid down beside her, wrapping a wing around the miserable Earth Pony-Alicorn. We all sat in silence with shared sorrow as she cried. After several minutes she finally stopped crying, and quietly thanked Sunset, before she looked at the rest of us, continuing as if the interruption had not occurred.

"My little filly, Sea Star, she had been crushed by a collapsing building. She seemed like she was sleeping, but there was no life in her. I had made my peace that I would likely outlive her, but not like this. She had a whole future that was ahead of her, getting her cutie mark, reaching marehood, starting her own career, finding her special some pony, starting a family. She should have lived a long, good, safe life, with me there to protect her. But I failed her, I failed all the ponies of my family, and my village. I was supposed to be this great and powerful Alicorn who would make everything alright, and in the time of greatest need I was not there, and they were cut down in some other Alicorn's madness.

"I screamed like no creature should be capable of screaming. A great wave of magical power exploded in all directions away from me, as I held my poor filly's broken body. The remains of the town were blown away from me, and a great tidal wave went out and then back from the sea. The entire region was devastated again by my sorrow.

"And I just stayed there. I eventually got up and dug a grave by hoof for my poor Sea Star. After I placed her in it, I just stayed and wept at the grave. I have no idea how long I stayed, years, decades, I can't remember. I just stayed there crying at her grave, not sleeping and not eating.

"Eventually other Alicorns came to check on me. They had managed to contain all the mad Alicorns in Tartarus, and they came to me wondering if I was one more that needed to be contained. I told them to just leave me alone with my daughter. I didn't want to hurt any pony, but I didn't want to leave my daughter's side. That I just wanted to bind myself to that spot for all time.

"And they let me stay. For years I just stayed there, long after I had run out of tears to shed. Random ponies would stop to gaze at me cautiously in the distance, but never dared approach. From time to time another Alicorn would stand at a distance, and watch me for a day or two, before departing. I just continued to stay there, for who knows how many years.

"One day, Sunset here, and another Alicorn, I think it was Starlight, but I am not sure, came and stood near me. They just watched me silently for a time, and then the other Alicorn left, leaving Sunset behind. She just  laid down across from me, on the other side of my daughter's grave. She said nothing, she just laid there as I did, and watched the grave along with me. 

"And so we remained, just laying there, for I don't know how long, years at least. Finally, one day Sunset stood up and walked away, again not saying anything. She came back a few minutes later, and had a bouquet of flowers in her mouth. She set the bouquet down on my daughters grave, and then sat back down.

"I just looked at the flowers that she had laid on my daughters grave for several minutes. Then I broke down crying again. I didn't think I had any tears left, but I was wrong. Sunset came over to me to lay down, and just held me as I wept again.  I gripped her tightly and cried into her fur. For the first time in years I spoke, and I begged her to tell me why my daughter had to die. She just kept silently holding me, she didn't have an answer for me. I just kept crying until I ran out of tears again.

"Finally she told me that she never knew my daughter, but she could see how much I loved her. She said she was sure that Sea Star must have loved me very much as well. She told me that Sea Star must have been so proud of me the day I became an Alicorn, the day I showed that the sea was my domain, and that I became part of the thing I loved so much. Sunset told me she couldn't begin to understand what I was going through, but there was at least one thing left that I loved, and I was neglecting it. If I loved the sea anything like I loved my daughter, then the sea must love me back just as much, and I was turning my back on it. Nothing would ever make anything better about who I had lost, but there was still the sea, and it needed me.

"I placed a monument stone to my daughter, and my village that day. Carved an inscription so deep into the stone that nothing would ever wear it away. Then I finally departed that place, and have never returned. I fear that if I ever go back, I will stay there forever. It is still so tempting."

She hung her head in sorrow for a long moment, while all the rest of us looked on her in sharing her sorrow. Then she looked up, first at the fishing lines, then to us.

"It is getting late, and it doesn't look like any fish are biting tonight," she said resignedly. "I am going to lay down for the night, down below. I will see all of you in the morning."

With that said, she retreated down the steps to the cargo hold below.

Sunset looked to each of us as we sat in silence still.

"Hot Sticks, you knew about Water Shadow's history, didn't you?" Sunset asked the Unicorn.

"Yes," he answered her simply.

"What possessed you to prompt her into talking about it then?" She asked accusingly.

"Why did you stay with her, saying nothing all that time?" He questioned in response.

"Because she needed someone to grieve with her, to feel what she was feeling," Sunset replied back quickly. "I couldn't possibly understand, but I could be there as she grieved."

"And she got a little better," Hot Sticks pointed out. "I don't claim to have accomplished anything by doing that, but she needs to share her grief with others. Her wounds are never going to go away, but she can still get better than she is now. But she has to keep opening up, and she won't do that right now if she isn't prompted. My duty is to do what I can to heal, and just because she is an immortal Alicorn doesn't mean I shouldn't treat her the same as any other pony suffering. You can be angry at me if you want, but I will do what I can to try to heal the hurting, even if I don't live to see the wound healed."

Sunset just gave him a long considering look, before finally turning and walking to the other side of the ship. Biblo and I had no words. We simply held one another, and silently hoped that we would never have to face such hurts ourselves.
> Chapter 21: Many Parts.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Biblo and I stayed awake through the evening as each of our companions went below deck to go to sleep. There was plenty we could talk about quietly to pass the time, and a few activities. 

Biblo did make small attempts at flying, hovering anyway. I demonstrated how to hover for her, hovering about three pony lengths above the deck, and she excitedly made her own attempt. She had to try for some time before she managed to get herself off the ground, but eventually she got herself up to hovering beside me, at least she did for a brief moment. She had closed her eyes as she had made the successful attempt, and when she opened them she became so excited her wings bonered, and she dropped like a rock back on the deck. We decided to hold off on any further attempts for then, lest we wake our companions. We could still be happy knowing she was capable of flight.

Deep into the night Biblo pulled out our books that Patina had given us, and started trying to work on coming up with her additional name. I sat nearby stargazing, with a small telescope that we had received as a wedding gift as well.

I would pause on and off to just to watch my intently reading wife. She seemed very happy and content with a Thestral form still. She had actually expressed that she had full intention of taking up a Thestral form permanently, once she could get away with it, and had speculated on whether she could undergo a permanent change once she had gotten family used to the idea. Just like Water Shadow considered herself an Earth Pony, despite being an Alicorn in truth, Biblo likewise embraced the idea she was a Thestral, despite actually being a Crystal Pony. As she saw it her mind was that of a Thestral, and she should be considered what her mind reflected, not what she was born as.

"I think I have something I like," Biblo announced excitedly. "So, there is just no good way to incorporate my current name into my new name, it just doesn't work with Thestral names in any way. Thestrals tend to have names centered around certain types of plants, typically plants with spines or thorns, various night themes, the types of monsters they might hunt, spiders, caves, fungi, or fruits. I want something fiercer and also something that reflects my bond to you. I had also wanted something that reflected my abilities in some way. So I came up with this, Chimera Wort."

"I understand the Wort part as tying back to me, it would be odd having us both called Pearl, but why Chimera?" I asked as I considered the odd name.

"Chimera has two meanings," Biblo explained. "There is of course the monster, which is a fierce type. But the second is a being made up of multiple distinctive parts, or two separate genetic types. I absorb things into myself all the time, which makes me kind of made up of multiple different ponies, and I am distinctly both Crystal Pony in one way and Thestral in another. So Chimera would be an appropriate name for me."

"I think the logic works, but it is still an odd sounding name," I replied back.

"No more odd sounding than Bibulous Bottom," she said. "And just like Bibulous Bottom I can do a shortened nickname, one that I like a lot. I could go by Mera."

"That is a lot more natural sounding, I can probably get used to that nickname, though it will take time," I smiled as I accepted the option. 

"I want to start using that name then," Biblo-Mera said excitedly. "I won't fault you for any slips of the tongue, I know it is going to be an adjustment. Bibulous Bottom is still my name too, just like Pearlwort is still yours, but Pearl Bottom and Chimera Wort represent us as a married couple."

"I will do my best to adjust, Mera," I said, as I came over and hugged her tightly.


***


We sat together for most the rest of the evening just talking, still trying to plan out how to handle meeting Mera's parents. As it got close to sunrise we took up positions at the railing, and continued our typical ritual for sunrises. Mera had enough control over her wings now that she wrapped a wing around me, as we sat and watched the sun come into view over the horizon. 

The first of our companions awoke soon after. Hot Sticks came up on deck, and sat down beside us, joining us in satisfying our shared addiction. He looked us over briefly, taking an extra second to see Mera's wing wrapped around me in embrace.

"I see you have some more control over your wings now," he said to her. "I was awoken by a loud noise last night. That wouldn't have been you planting your muzzle on the deck trying to fly, would it?"

"I didn't smash my face into anything last night," Mera giggled. "And I did manage to fly, or at least hover, for a little bit. I got so excited I was doing it that I lost control of these things again though. I almost miss my cushy bottom, coming down on your rump like that hurts."

"Bibulous is not really descriptive of it any more, in less you have a tendency to get drunk that you haven't displayed yet," Hot Sticks laughed jokingly.

"Actually, she came up with a new name for herself last night," I informed him. "You are now talking to Chimera Wort."

"I don't believe I have ever heard of any such plant," Hot Sticks said with bemusement. "And I am familiar with a lot of obscure plants."

"Well, it isn't a name after a plant," Mera explained. "Wort is me just sharing part of my name with Pearl, and Chimera seemed an appropriate thing to call me. You can call me just Mera for short."

"I can see where you could call yourself that," Hot Sticks replied. "Mera it is then, just remember my name is Hot Sticks, just Hot Sticks, not anything related to ducks. You get my name right, and I will get yours right as well."

"If you insist," Mera said with a smile and a roll of her eyes. She shaped some smoke into the form of Hot Sticks' mask. "You haven't worn your mask in a long time anyway."

"Thank you, Miss Mera," Hot Sticks said gratefully, as he took another draw of his pipe.

"Do you know anything about where we will be getting off?" I asked the Unicorn curiously.

"There is a small harbor town near the straits, I don't recall the name, but I would assume we are being dropped off there," Hot Sticks replied back, looking out towards the north.

"Anything we should be aware of with the town?" I continued questioning.

"Not really, they likely aren't too friendly to Thestrals so the three of you will likely get a fair amount of hostility," Hot Sticks said sadly. "Mera, you are about to get a crash course in prejudice when we get there. Pearl is used to it, and knows how to keep her cool, but please try to keep your temper in check. Hopefully me traveling with you will curb some of what you would normally have to deal with."

"You are not going to pressure me to have Sunset change me back to a Crystal Pony?" Mera asked him suspiciously.

"I know you saw Pearl experience some of that prejudice in Harmony, and received some yourself by association, but it is worthwhile to have to get as well rounded an idea about how Thestrals are treated," Hot Sticks explained. "When we get into the more wooded settlements north of the strait between Canterhorn Peak and Crystal Heart you will notice a shift where there will be more acceptance, and even eagerness to have Thestrals in villages. The lands are just too wild, and Thestrals mean safety to those villages."

"So why aren't there Thestrals already in them if those villages are so eager to have Thestrals living there?" Mera asked both of us with confusion.

"Part of the reason is that Thestrals are isolationist," Hot Sticks explained. "They tend to keep to their own communities. Bad experiences with the other tribes have pushed them out of most towns. These villages are particularly isolated though, and don't always appear on maps, making them less likely to have any pony coming to them. You will find stray Thestrals who will take up residence in some of them, and that village will do much better than others in the region. But sooner or later that Thestral mare or stallion will subdue all threats in the immediate area, and as the village gets complacent about the dangers it faces without that protection, the prejudice starts again, driving the Thestral out. Soon after that same village will find themselves again at the mercy of the creatures of the forest, losing both grown ponies and foals to the woods. It is a tragedy on all sides."

"That's horrible!" Mera protested angerly. "How can those villages be so short sighted? How can the Thestrals just leave them to their fate like that? Thestrals are suppose to protect ponies."

"When you have all your neighbors treating you like garbage, refusing to do business with you, and at times getting violent, you feel you have no other choice but to leave," I said mournfully, remembering my own experiences traveling across the land. "They drive you out, it isn't really all your choice. If you stay you will either get hurt, or have to hurt ponies defending yourself, and if you hurt ponies you will get that much more hatred directed at you."

Mera looked at me mournfully, not knowing what else to say. Then she just wrapped me up in a tight foreleg and wing hug.

"We aren't bad ponies," she finally asserted, head still held against me. She really did think of herself completely as a Thestral when including herself among Thestrals. "Good ponies shouldn't be treated that way. I want to be able to help ponies. We shouldn't be driven out if we are trying to help. It isn't fair."

"Prejudice is never fair," Hot Sticks told her, still puffing away at his pipe. "It is reality though, and something that you will have to learn to accept one way or another. Even if you don't maintain a Thestral form, Pearl almost certainly will need to, and that means you are going to have to deal with that reality. You have potentially thousands of years of having to deal with that fear and prejudice ahead of you, best you start learning how to cope with it now. Just because you aren't an Alicorn doesn't mean you aren't still subject to be driven mad by the world. And while you might not be able to devastate a region in one blast of rage, you can be dangerous in your own right if you fall to despair. I tell you this because I know you don't want to hurt any pony, and you need to know how to learn to deal with these things earlier rather than later. We don't need another Water Shadow either, crying for an untold number of years about how the world has betrayed them, making every pony on edge that they are going to snap at any moment."  

"Well, we would starve to death if we did what she did. We are still subject to needing food at least," I quipped badly to try to lift the mood.

"Precious, you were getting better at consoling words, but think you just nose-dived back down again with that one," Mera scolded me, she kept holding me tightly though. "And it isn't helping much that you are worried about the same things. I don't know how we are going to cope with this forever."

"Find what matters to you most, and latch on to it for dear life, hoping it will keep you afloat," we all turned to see Water Shadow come up to us. "And if you are curious I did hear just about everything that you said, including the lines about me."

Hot Sticks gulped in fear, but Water Shadow waved his fear off.

"Don't worry, I am not going to vent my rage on you for it," she reassured him. "I also heard what you and Sunset had for an exchange after I went below last night. Sunset seems to forget I have excellent hearing. You don't need to regret what you said, because you are likely right. I will be considering what you said for some time. You were a brave little pony to try to manipulate me, even if it was to help me. The Greaters try to manipulate me, but not in that manner, and not for those reasons. They are too scared of setting me off to try that, afraid digging up my past will drive me mad. So it was a bold move on your part, one that I have to give respect, both for guile and intention. Just don't try to be clever like that again, with me at least. Clever ponies end up in the drink."

"Yes ma'am," Hot Sticks said, still nervously. Water Shadow actually laughed and put a smile on her face. Mera, happy that the Earth Pony-Alicorn was not angry, went up and hugged Water Shadow. 

"Mera, you can still absorb in this form, no touching ponies," I warned her. Mera quickly detached herself from the blue pony, abashed.

"Why are we calling her Mera now?" Water Shadow inquired, looking at my wife. My wife was sitting still processing what she had felt. I dreaded what she might possibly have absorbed.

"It is my new married name," Mera said after a second, having finished processing. "Chimera Wort, Mera for short. Pearl is now Pearl Bottom in addition to Pearlwort, I am taking a second name as well."

"Oh, I am familiar with that tradition," Water Shadow smiled. "It is sweet. I'll do my best to call you by your new name. For right now I am going to get the anchor up, and get us moving again. I promised to get you to the strait by the middle of the day. I intend to do so."

We all watched her walk over and start to work at the ship's wheel and consol, caught up in her task. After a moment we heard the soft hum of the engine again and the ship began to move.

"I am going to go find more of that ginger," Hot Sticks said with a sigh. "It does a remarkable job at keeping the seasickness away. I will be back in a few minutes," and with that he departed back below deck, leaving Mera and I sitting by ourselves at the railing, with Water Shadow off in her own world at the wheel.

"Did you absorb anything?" I cautiously asked Mera in as low a whisper as I could manage, hoping that Water Shadow wouldn't be able to hear. "Be honest with me, she isn't a pony you want to be absorbing the mental state of."

"No," Mera whispered back with a relieved sigh. "But she was feeling some odd things directed at Hot Sticks. I almost want to say she likes him, and not in a let's be friends way. But it is weird, it is hard to explain. She was actually happy with him saying what he did, not angry," she paused in thought, considering the feelings some more. "I think we should get Hot Sticks to spend more time just talking to her."

"We are not playing matchmakers with Hot Sticks and a depressed Alicorn," I asserted. Hoping against hope that Water Shadow's hearing wasn't good enough to hear what we were saying. 

"It could be good for both of them," Mera insisted, still whispering. "And it isn't necessarily match making, it is just getting them to talk more. I think he can help her. We are supposed to help ponies, this might not be fighting some monster, but this is still helping ponies, and Hot Sticks wants to help her. He doesn't have any other plans right now that we would be interrupting."

"She has been this way since before most of our ancestors were even conceived of, what makes you think he can help her?" I asked. 

"Because he got through to her a little, which is more than any other pony has done since Sunset," Mera said levelly still whispering. "I felt it, she hasn't had any pony do that since Sunset. She needs companionship and a shoulder to cry on. I can't be sure, but I think she is open to letting Hot Sticks be there."

I looked up at the Earth Pony commanding the ship. This was a bad idea, this was such a bad idea. This was the kind of bad idea that caused big disasters. Water Shadow had said it herself, Alicorns that despaired went crazy, and not the same kind of crazy that all the Alicorns had, the kind of crazy that involved wanting to tear the world asunder, and with the power to do just that. If Water Shadow went off the deep end..ponies would die, lots of ponies. The other Alicorns would be forced to bind her in Tartarus for all time. There was too much possible death and destruction involved to risk it.

"She is going to go mad on her own if nothing is done," Mera said sadly. She continued pleading her case in the same low whisper. "I felt that too, she is so sad, and so angry, even after all this time. I don't know how she is functioning at all. We can't do nothing. If we do something and it fails, it is just coming sooner. If we do something and it works, then it might stop it from happening altogether."

"This feels like a really bad idea," I replied back again, my resolve starting to break. I was such a doormat, and this time being a doormat might put lots of ponies in peril. Water Shadow had held herself together this long. Was it being neglectful to think that she could keep holding it together, if we just let her keep doing what she was doing? Was it crazier to try to do something that may or may not work, even if she would eventually break down if nothing was done?

"Hi Hot Sticks, hi Sunset!" Mera called out. I turned my head and saw the Unicorn and Thestral-Alicorn come up the stairs from below deck.

"Hello," Sunset answered back, voice dripping with suspicion. "That was a more excited greeting than normal. What did you do? And what is this about I should be calling you Mera now?"

"Chimera Wort, Mera for short, my new married name," my Crystal Pony turned Thestral wife replied back. "Do you like it?"

"Not any worse than being essentially named Drunk Butt I suppose," Sunset said evenly. "You didn't answer the other question. Let me rephrase it for you. What do I need to worry about now?" 

"I haven't done anything," Mera replied back with a pout. "And it means spongy bottom, not drunk."

"Pearl, what do I need to worry about from your wife?" Sunset resorted to questioning me instead. I felt like sweating, but I realized I had was saved by one glorious fact, we would be getting off this ship in a few hours and Mera's plan couldn't actually be followed through.

"I am not going to out her," I told Sunset as bravely as I could. "But just to soothe your fears, what she had in mind to do isn't going to happen. She overlooked an important detail. So don't worry about it."

Sunset appraised us, while Mera looked at me. Mera then touched my side with a hoof and listened. After a few seconds she ended the touch and pouted.

"I will consider that confirmation you are right," Sunset said, looking at Mera's pout. "Excellent job by the way, Pearl. I was counting on you being a doormat, and buckling under me putting you on the spot. Good job defending your spouse."

Mera did brighten up a little at the thought that I had stood my ground defending her, and gave me a hug.

"Well, now that every other pony is awake I think it is our time to sleep," Mera said, moving away from the previous subject. "We would like our privacy now, so keep out of the cargo hold for the time being."

"Do try to keep the sound down," Water Shadow called over to us, "I hear everything on this ship, everything. Please keep that in mind, my bold little cave dwellers. I actually need to get something from the hold, so I will walk down with you just for a moment. Sunset, do you mind watching the wheel and making sure we don't go crashing into the shallows or the riverbank while I am away from it?"

Pony feathers, she had heard us! We were about to get personally confronted by her about it too. Sunset gave a sly smile to is as she walked over to the wheel, she knew her fellow Alicorn knew what was up. Mera and I fidgited for a moment as we nodded affirmation that it was alright to walk down with us.

After the three of us walked down Mera and I huddled close together, prepping ourselves for the water pony's wrath.

"I must apologize," Water Shadow said quietly, shocking us. "I am sorry you were exposed to what goes on in my head. I was actually thinking over what you two were discussing the entire time night. You were almost thrown in the drink last night, but I heard what you said about what would eventually happen. I have had so many bold ponies on my ship this trip. It has been a unique experience. I have come to a decision. Once I drop you ponies off at the strait I will be doing something that I can't believe I am I going to do. I am going to head back to Harmony, and there I intend on having a long talk with Patina."

"Why Patina?" Mera asked with confusion, I was a little confused myself, this was not the response I thought we would get.

"Perhaps I need to talk to another mare who might understand how I feel, but has dealt with grief better," Water Shadow replied in a near whisper. "I can't open up to just any pony, but perhaps she can understand me enough that maybe I can do better. I don't want to become a monster like Flame Star did, I don't want to cause that same type of sorrow in other ponies. I have a responsibility to find ways of coping, and I can't just keep sailing through life trying to ignore how I feel."

"So you aren't mad at us for thinking of trying to hook you up with some pony?" Mera said hopefully. 

"It was not an idea that was buoyant right now," Water Shadow said sadly. "I appreciate you thinking it, and I admit that your friend left an impression on me. But, I don't think that is going to be something I can pursue, not any time soon. If Patina can help me, maybe sometime in the future. A part of me wants to have the joys of family again, which is why I am going to talk to the one pony who has the most experience. At the very least, I don't want to go mad.

"I also wanted to tell you something. I only suspect this, I am not sure. But something doesn't feel right about you, not you two specifically, but the circumstances surrounding you. It stinks of Greater meddling. Too much had to line up right for you two to come together with the abilities you have. I believe in chance and destiny to some extent, but this fish smells rotten. Some Greater is playing a game. They always play their games, but this isn't the same. I am going to look into it more when I am in Harmony. I know you have been told before, but be wary of the Greaters, their is at least one of them that is willing to go and destroy your village if I am right, and that is not normal. They don't normally hurt ponies like that, at least not more than single targeted individuals."

"You think that the Greaters were responsible for what happened at Starlight's Folly?" I asked in disbelief and anger. 

"I think one Greater might be responsible," she corrected. "I can't imagine all of them being involved in something like that, I can't even confirm it really isn't just blind chance. But it seems too much to me, and a Greater is the only pony that could pull it off."

"Why, do you think it is too much to be chance?" Mera asked, looking worriedly at both me and Water Shadow. We were both very distressed. She was implying that our entire relationship had been arranged.

"It needed both of you to have your unique abilities, it needed both of you living at the same time, it needed both of you to end up at the same place, and it needed both of you to come together in that place, and then you needed to bond," Water Shadow said. "It could be random chance, but there are a lot of things that had to come together that were low chance of occurring. After more than two occur it starts to look suspicious."

"So our lives were arranged?" I asked quietly. 

"If what I suspect is true, then yes," Water Shadow said sympathetically. "Your love for one another might be legitimate, but you were pushed into a position it could happen."

"For what possible reason?" Mera demanded, now getting angry that she might have been manipulated, and ponies possibly died in the manipulation process.

"I have no clue," Water Shadow admitted. "I can't imagine what the endgame of this could be. The final intention could be a long way off, Greaters can plot things over centuries. Just be on your guard, whatever the plan happens to end up being, and whoever is responsible, they are doing something big if they are willing to wipe out a town to accomplish it."

We all sat silently for a moment. I was trying to determine how to feel. She admitted that this could just all be freak chance, and I wanted to believe that, but she was also right. A lot has to happen just right. So, what did that mean for me and Mera? 

My wife had been sitting and considering the same things. She got up and gave me a big hug after the long silence.

"You are still the pony I love," she said to me in a faint whisper. "Whether I met you by design or by chance, you are still the center of my life. I will never turn away from you. If some Greater has some plan then we will find some way to stop it, whatever it is."

That settled my thoughts for me. No matter what we were in this together, and it didn't change the fact I loved her, no matter what. The fact it might have been arranged didn't change that. What had changed is we could be more on guard for further manipulation, and try to find out who and why. We had twenty possible suspects.

"I am sorry to cause you distress," Water Shadow said with head held low. "Hopefully I am wrong, that is still a possibility. I really do hope I am. Perhaps it is only an early sign of madness that I even suspect such a thing. But if I am right I felt I had the responsibility to tell you. I will leave you two be now. Think happier thoughts if you can, whatever this is, it does not impact today."
> Chapter 22: The Town of Tadpole
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mera and I couldn't get to sleep. We had too much to think about after talking with Water Shadow. Sex wasn't something we were in a mood for right then either. So we just sat in the darkened cargo hold and discussed the who, what, where, and why of our existence.

"What do you think could be gained from having the two of us together?" I asked my wife.

"Well, we are producing a one of a kind medicine for treating what happened in Starlight's Folly. But that assumes whoever did this needs it, and the only insurance of that illness might well have been caused directly by them. So, not sure if that makes any sense," she said as she tried to figure out the possibility.

"Unless they were intending to unleash it on a wider scale and needed a cure ready to control it," I expanded on the idea.

"Meadowbrook is the Alicorn of Medicine," Mera continued our chain of thought. "Having lots of ponies calling on her for help and then swooping in with the cure to save the day would get her a lot of followers."

"Except that doesn't work," I replied. "We are giving what we make to all the Alicorns, she wouldn't get the credit for it."

"Well, I can't think of any Alicorn that has anything to gain from this then," she complained. "Starlight has a lot of personal interest in us and did things to you without your permission. She also was the first Alicorn to have direct contact with either of us. She has no possible motive that I can think of though. Unless she was just personally vindictive against a town named Starlight's Folly."

"The Twilight Princess herself showed direct interest in you," I added. "Again, I can't think of a motive. You could see how bloodthirsty Luna was, so you could imagine her capable of it, but no motive there either. Rarity, no motive, doesn't seem the type either. Same thing with Rainbow Dash, no motive, not the type. Pinkie Pie doing something like this is just an absurd idea. Stygian and Fluttershy both went to Starlight's Folly, and conveniently found nothing, but that would need them to be in league with one another, and again no motive. Most of the others we have had next to no dealings with, that doesn't mean it can't be any of them, but we have no idea what to even guess at with them."

"Okay, so trying to figure out Starlight's Folly is a dead end," Mera conceded with a snort. "What about before Starlight's Folly? They had to make sure we made it to the same place. Which means whoever is responsible needed me out of Crystal Heart and you out of Hallow Shades."

"Me leaving Hallow Shades was a given. There was no way I could stay there. So, that part was easy," I quickly summed up. 

"It was once your mother died anyway," Mera said grimly. "Maybe she was deliberately killed. Who would have caught a murder in all the death that was going on? And then Starlight conviently shows up, instead of Luna, to a Thestral town, and she is the only Greater that could transform you."

I sat back and considered it. Why had Starlight been the one to come to Hallow Shades, instead of Luna? And though the Crusaders could also remove my cutie mark, Starlight was the only Greater than I knew of who could do it. If any other Greater had shown up there I would likely still be there, in a male body, likely doing the most miserable jobs imaginable. I would never have met my wife. But the fact remained that Starlight was key to making that happen. That shot her to the top of suspects.

"What about you?" I asked Mera. "What prompted you to go to Starlight's Folly specially? There were lots of places you could have gone, or you could have just stayed in Crystal Heart. What happened?"

She blushed for some reason at my questioning. I didn't think there was anything to possibly be embarrassed about. Her original answer from when I questioned her back when she was suffering from the illness had been fairly vague, but she had said that she wasn't running from anything.

"There was this Pegasus stallion I met who started talking to me when I visited his shop," Mera explained after her brief pause of embarrassment. "I never learned his name. You don't really learn ponies' names in those kinds of shops, they dealt with certain types of toys, magazines, and had theaters for certain types of films."

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look," she grumbled. "Estrus periods were hard for me. I did what I could to manage them."

"You had said you didn't have a clue what to do with that kind of activity," I said, eyebrow still raised.

"Seeing it done and doing it yourself are two entirely different things," she asserted. "Anyway I would visit that shop on and off as I was coming up to my times. He had seen me enough to know about my tastes, and he started telling me about how adventurers really appealed to a lot of mares of our persuasion. Started showing me content of adventuring mares and got me worked up on the idea, over time. Then the last time he starts talking to me about Starlight's Folly, where I could get to be an adventurous mare myself, and meet other adventurous mares. He made it sound so appealing, and I had never really settled into any type of career path, much to my daddy's displeasure. I thought, why not?"

"So, you got sold on the idea of coming to Starlight's Folly by a sex shop clerk?" I asked, trying to restrain myself from laughing at her. Mera looked indignant about my mirth. 

"Okay, I was a naive and stupid pony," she huffed. "I was very sheltered growing up."

"But it is also extremely suspicious," I added on. "I have never heard any pony talk about Starlight's Folly that way. It is mainly a place to make a life when you have no where else left to go. The fact he was trying to convince you to go there is just as suspicious as the stuff involving Starlight with me. You said you didn't get his name, but what did he look like?"

"Well, he was hard to place an age to, older than me, but I couldn't tell if that is ten or twenty something years older. I never saw his cutie mark because he always wearing his clerk uniform over it. His coat and mane.." she cut off as she looked at me, her eyes going wide. She didn't say anything else for a moment. Did she recognize his coat and mane as a good match for an Alicorn or other pony in Harmony?

"He had the same coat and mane as you, Pearl," she finally said. Causing my eyes to go wide now. "I know your color combination isn't common among other Thestrals, but I don't think it is common among ponies in general. You said your father was a Pegasus right? You had to inherit that from somewhere. Do you know what he looked like?"

I shook my head. No, I didn't know what he looked like, my mother never told me. This again could just be really weird coincidence, but as Water Shadow had said, a lot of weird coincidences together started to feel like some pony was manipulating things. 

A pony that could have been my father had been the one who had encouraged the idea of having Mera go to Starlight's Folly. That was too much of a coincidence. This left little doubt some pony was pulling strings somewhere. Top of the list of possible ponies was Starlight, but that was far from certain yet. 

"I think we need to go have a chat with that shopkeeper when we get to Crystal Heart," I said with a growl.

"That is our only good lead," Mera nodded in agreement. "We could question Starlight as well, but if she is really the pony behind everything that might not go well. It would alert her we are onto her."

"If this Pegasus is working for whoever is behind this, he might alert them as well," I reminded her. "We have to be careful how we approach him. No accusations, nothing that will make him go running. The fact you have shopped at his store before is a good enough excuse for being there. It isn't impossible to get information from him while pretending we are just being friendly."

"We have a plan then," Mera said with a grin, which turned more mischievous after a second. She started giving me bedroom eyes. "There is nothing else to concern ourselves about with that subject until we approach him, so let's not worry about it anymore right now. But I do need to say that seeing you growling is a big turn on. Maybe we could do what we originally intended before sleeping, and then get a nap in still."

She brushed her body along mine like a cat, and made a point of rubbing her wing base against mine. Marital activities seemed much more appealing after that. She was right, there was nothing more to worry about for the moment, it was time to unwind in the best way possible.


***


"Wakey wakey little bats," Water Shadow's voice roused us from our nap. "We are now docked at Tadpole, this is where you get off."

I looked up the stairs at her. It was still light out, and it was still bright. I wanted to sleep some more. 

"It's too early to get up," Mera mumbled sleepily beside me. We had both fallen in with our nocturnal clock in a very short time. We were creatures of the night after all. It only took one day of obeying instinct. Unfortunately it likely would take a week or more to get us back on a day schedule, and feel comfortable with it, if we needed to switch our sleeping habits again.

I got up from laying down beside her, with caused a small whine of protest from my wife at losing my body heat beside her.

"Get up sweetie, we have a nice town of ponies eager to hiss and spit at us to walk through," I nudged her.

"You aren't exactly motivating me to get up," Mera grumbled while looking at me with one eye open.

"Well, if you want to go monster hunting we have to go through this town," I informed her gently.

She grumbled again, but opened up both eyes. She looked up at Water Shadow and then at me, sighed, then got to her hooves. I gave her a hug which made her smile slightly.

Water Shadow exited back up the way she came and we followed after. We blinked a little as we stepped back into daylight. Once we cleared our vision we were able to see the harbor town of Tadpole. 

The best way to describe the area was marshy. Long reeds grew up by the banks from the water. The town was nestled right up into the trees, which all had hanging green moss on them. The dock we were parked at was fairly large and had three other ships in dock as well. Ponies with carts stood ready at the other three ships, some with crates being taken from the ships to the carts, and others with crates being transferred from the carts to the ships. All the ponies on land seemed to be either Earth Ponies or Unicorns, but the ponies on the ships seemed to be exclusively Pegasi. I guessed Pegasi made better sailors because of the same reason I didn't get seasick, heightened natural balance, though being able to make the wind for the sails likely helped greatly too.

Water Shadow was already down on the dock talking to a Unicorn stallion with a floating clipboard, whom I assumed to be the dock-master. Some bits were given over to the dock-master for parking the ship. He made a few quick notes, and he trotted back to inspecting the other ships without any further concern for ours. Water Shadow then walked back up onto ours. Sometime in all of that Sunset and Hot Sticks had come beside me and Mera, and the four of us waited to be told we were free to disembark.

"There is an inn on the far side of town that will accept Thestrals," she told us. " They charge fairly, they will rent rooms to you, and provide meals. The owner's daughter was saved from a manticore by a Thestral a few years back, and he has been more welcoming than most other ponies to that tribe since then. Hot Sticks should have no problem with the town himself, and should be able to shop freely for supplies. Keep close to him when walking through town and you shouldn't get more than dirty looks."

Mera gave the town a dirty look of her own. Sunset and I just shrugged. Hot Sticks gave the other three of us a sympathetic look. It could have been worse, at least there was one place here that would take us without complaint.

We got down on the dock and Water Shadow did her goodbyes to us.

"Though the our trip together was short, it was much more impactful for me than I would have thought possible," Water Shadow told us. "Keep that boldness, there aren't enough ponies in the world who dare to be bold. I will meet with you all again sometime. For right now I need to sail back into the center of the storm and see what I can find. Safe travels for now."

"I can hear well too when ponies don't bother to whisper," Sunset said as she went up to Water Shadow and hugged her, causing the rest of us to blink at the out of character display of affection. "I hope you find what you are looking for Shadow. It still pains me to see you hurting, I hope Patina can do for you what I could not."

"You have always been my truest friend Sunset," Water Shadow said softly as she returned the embrace. "You have done more than enough. If Patina can help me, she will only be able to thanks to what you have already done. Keep the little Thestrals safe for me, I think they are going to need a good friend like you."

"I will," Sunset said as she released her embrace and took a step back, smiling. Water Shadow waved her final goodbye, then boarded her ship. Within a moment the docking plank was pulled back to the ship and we could hear the engine start. 

We watched the ship leave quietly. When it was a good distance away Mera started looking cautiously at Sunset.

"So, you heard everything that we talked about in the cargo hold?" Mera asked the larger pony hesitantly.

"Yep," came Sunset's short response back. The larger pony looked down on the small grey furred Thestral with one eye and an eyebrow raised. Her expression unreadable.

"So, am I in trouble?" Mera squeaked. Cowering a little as she did.

"Feeling a bit of cowardliness now are we?" Sunset replied with the same unreadable expression. She looked down on my wife for a moment before letting off a sigh. "No, you aren't in trouble with me. You actually did good. I still want to throttle you, but I can't argue with results. But please, at least consult with me before considering doing something outrageously stupid again."

Mera nodded and let out a breath that she had been holding. I let my own go in relief as well. Hot Sticks looked at the three of us with a look of confusion on his face.

"Since I am the only pony that isn't in on whatever occurred, would some pony mind telling me about it?" Hot Sticks asked us.

Sunset and Mera bit their lower lips, something that caused Mera to yelp in pain, as she was not used to having fangs. I giggled at my wife's expense and then decided to be the bold one. It would be worth it just to see Hot Sticks' reaction, now that the matter was settled.

"How do you feel about blue Earth Pony sailors?" I asked him casually. Mera and Sunset couldn't contain themselves and broke out laughing, attracting disdainful looks of the dockworkers.

"What are you talking about?" He asked me, looking at me as if I had sprouted a second head.

"Mera thought it would be a good idea to try to play matchmaker between you and Water Shadow," I told him in the same casual tone, though now grinning. His reaction was excellent. 

"Wha-" he started, then shook his head to try to clear it. "What made you think, in this or any other world, that was a remote possibility."

"I touched her, and it seemed like she might find you attractive," Mera said through a laugh. Hot Sticks mouth dropped, and he just stared at Mera, with wide eyes and his mouth agape. It was priceless.

"She also said that she might follow up on the idea in the future," I said to give one last push. 

He just stood there, with his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide, though they occasionally did twitch.

"I think we broke Hot Sticks," I said with a laugh to the other two mares. "What's wrong, Hot Sticks? The thought of settling down with a mare who could, literally, buck you to the moon, if you made her mad, too much for you?" 

"Wait, she likes me?!" Hot Sticks exclaimed in shock. The other three of us again broke down in hysterical laughter. This was a well earned retribution for all the times he earned getting bucked.

"Not something to worry about now," Sunset finally said, as she quit laughing, her no nonsense tone bringing us out of our revelry. "We need to get to that inn so Mera and I can work on her empathic control. We could have had a problem if Mera had absorbed anything from Water Shadow. Mera, your training is going to get more focused from here on out."

I had to agree. The idea of her absorbing personality traits from a depressed Alicorn scared the crap out of me too. I would have had no idea how to help her cope with it if it happened, or if it could be diluted with enough contact with me. Mera had a distressed look as well, knowing how dangerous that could have been for her.

We had Hot Sticks take the lead, following close behind. The town was more a trading post than anything. Buildings were all one story, simply made of stone and wood, there was no murals of any type on anything. There were occasional flower beds, but they were small and simple. Shops had simple signs out front, with just the name of the owner and what type of shop it happened to be. There were large numbers of storage buildings, and they were the largest of the buildings. This town was here to move goods between the north and the south in the east, town life centered around that economy. There was no sign of farms, all food must come through shipping, if the shipping stopped, this town would starve in short order.

The towns ponies all watched us warily as we passed through the streets. Mothers would pull their foals close to them when we went by them. Ponies would duck inside their houses. If they didn't look at us with hatred they hid from us in fear. I understood how this went, and Sunset seemed unfazed, but Mera didn't take it well. While she was defiant against the glares she practically wilted at the signs of fear. If a mother pulled her filly close to herself to try to guard it Mera's head and ears would drop. She could deal with bigotry she could confront, but she was helpless against ponies being clearly terrified of her.

I walked over to her and draped one of my wings over her back. She rose her head to look at me and gave a sad smile, but she had tears in her eyes. This was an unhappy lesson in what it was like to be a Thestral in an average pony town. Ponies looked at you and saw a monster. Perhaps it would dissuade her from trying to go with Thestral as her regular form.

We reached our destination relatively quickly. The town was not that large, and reaching the outer edge of it took only about twenty minutes of walking. The inn was one story like all the other buildings, and looked cobbled together from what had been previously four or five single family homes. It had a sign hanging by it's door that read Old Reed's Inn, All Welcome.

We walked into the inn and found a brightly lit common room and bar. There had been a great deal of noise inside before we walked in, but after entering the building it went dead quiet. There were about twenty ponies spread about the room at different tables, a single waitress, and an older Unicorn behind the bar who I took to be Old Reed. As we came fully into the building the ponies at the tables began to make exodus out of the building. A few stray ones stayed, huddled at tables in the corners, watching us carefully. 

The waitress, also a Unicorn, looked briefly at the older Unicorn and we could see her give a small sigh at the departing of the guests. Then she turned to us, put on her best smile, and moved to greet us.

"Welcome to our inn. Are you looking for rooms, food, or both? We have an excellent Mushroom soup tonight at two bit a bowl, and plenty of cider at two mugs per bit. We have rooms for rent at three bits a bed per night, and can provide water for baths at one bit for cold and two bits for hot, per wash tub of course. If you spend the night with us we have eggs and juice for breakfast at a flat rate of a bit per guest, with up to four refills on juice, and a second serving of eggs on the house if you choose to eat with us."

The prices seemed better than what they would run at Starlight's Folly so the claim they prices fairly ran true. I couldn't say much about the guests, but the staff was at least pleasant. I wondered if this waitress was the one who had been saved from a manticore. She was grey furred, with a green mane, and looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, with a fireplace as a cutie mark.

"Thank you miss," Hot Sticks replied warmly to the waitress. "We will be renting three rooms with one bed a piece. I will take your offer on the soup and cider, and breakfast too. I will pay for whatever my companions choose to get. We will only be spending one night, as we are just passing through."

He passed some bits from his life pack to the waitress who collected them up on a tray. I couldn't help but notice that he deliberately overpaid by a large margin, even if we all decided to eat.  He must have been trying to make up for the lost business the inn had suffered on our arrival. The mare looked at how much he had paid and looked ready to say something, but Hot Sticks just silently shook his head. 

"Well, thank you for your gratuity," she said with a smile. "I am Cozy Hearth and the stallion behind the bar is my father Old Reed. This is our home and business, and we hope to make you all feel at home during your visit. Please, take some seats at our bar, and my father will be happy to get your drinks."

We did as we were bade and took seats at the bar. Old Reed was the same coloration as his daughter, with a cutie mark of three reeds growing out of some water. He looked at us apologetically as we sat down before him.

"Please forgive the townsfolk," he said with a sad smile to me, Mera, and Sunset. "They are good ponies, but they are an ignorant lot. I confess I was an ignorant fool too in my youth. Tried to drive out a Thestral that insisted there was a manticore nearby. We wouldn't listen to him. Then my daughter over there, she was playing out near the edge of town, she weren't more than five years old, my little filly. Damn manticore made his way into our settlement and would have had my daughter for lunch. 

"That Thestral kept close by though, even though we forced him out," the old Unicorn said we a smile. "He took that manticore down and saved my sweet little filly. Town still treated him bad, but I learned my lesson. I owe your kind my family, her mother died in childbirth, Cozy was all the family I had. You should have more ponies that appreciate you, but at least you won't have to fear judgement here."

"Thank you, from all of us," Sunset told him with a grateful smile. It was ironic that she would be the one to answer for the three of us, being the least Thestral of us all. "I think we will all try your soup, and some of your cider."

"I will get that for you gladly," Old Reed said with a pleasant smile. "I didn't catch your names. I like to know the names of my guests, just as a general policy. Best not have a pony sleeping under your roof you can't put a name to, my pappy taught me when I was little."

"Of course," Sunset continued to smile. "I am Golden Sunset, the Unicorn who is graciously paying for everything is doctor Hot Sticks, my companion in the pinkish-white is Pearl Bottom, and my grey companion is Chimera Wort."

"Pleased to serve you all tonight," he smiled. "Let me head to the kitchen for a minute, to help my daughter bring out the food, we will be out in just a minute." He quickly went through a door to a back room.

"Well, they seem nice at least," I said with a grin. 

"I am glad," Mera said quietly. "There was so much distrust, hatred, and fear in the air as we walked through town that I could feel it without having to touch any pony."

I reached out and gripped her closest her fetlock with my own. She gave me a smile. 

"Your wings look weird," came a voice from the floor.

We all looked down and there sat a young Pegasus filly gazing up at Mera. The filly couldn't have been more than six years old, shared the same grey fur as Old Reed and Cozy Hearth, but had a dark purple mane. Her coloration would have fit right in with most Thestrals, if she had the accompanying features. Looking at both Mera and the filly you could imagine them close relatives. She didn't seem to be afraid, just intensely curious about Mera's wings.

"Why do your wings have no feathers?" The filly continued her questioning. "Did some pony pluck them all out? Is that what wings look like when you pluck out all the feathers?"

"Cozy Care! Don't be rude to our guests," We heard Cozy Hearth call out, as she walked out of the back and set a drink covered tray down on a nearby table. She gave us all an apologetic smile. "I am sorry about that. My daughter is at the stage she just says what she is thinking as it comes to mind. The last time Thestrals past through here she was too young to remember, so you are very new to her."

"What's a Thestral?" Cozy Care said with confusion, still staring up at Mera. "You look like me and mommy, are you an aunt or something? My friend Bull Frog has an aunt that lives with him, but she doesn't have weird wings," he face then took on an excited look. "Are you here to teach me to fly? Mommy says she doesn't know how to teach me to fly, but I am sure I can do it."

The adorable little filly beat her wings like a hummingbird. Definitely not the ideal way of getting airborne. She hovered for a brief second before her wings tired out from the inappropriate use and she dropped back down to the ground panting. She looked up to Mera again with pleading eyes.

Mera looked very unsure what to do. She couldn't fly much better than this little filly. Her mechanics were better, but her excitement at flying always got the better of her and locked her wings up. She looked at the rest of us for help and we didn't have a quick response ready.

"Can I touch your wings?" The excited filly asked. "I want to know what they feel like."

Mera's face brightened up at the request since it was something she could do for the little filly. She looked at one of her wings and made as if she would extend it to the filly to touch. Mera's face and ears fell as she looked past her wing to her cutie mark. She sighed with regret, and then turned back to the expectant filly.

"I am sorry honey, but I can't have most ponies touch me," Mera told the filly sadly. "But I am sure one of my friends would be happy to let you touch their wings," she turned to Old Reed. "I'm sorry, but can I see my room. I do want to eat, but I need a few minutes," every pony could hear that she was trying to hold back tears.

The film's mother and grandfather exchanged a concerned look between each other. They looked over at Hot Sticks trying to put the pieces together.

"If you would like I can," Old Reed told her. "Are you sick with something really contagious? We don't mind. We just want to know so we know if we have to replace the sheets. It is no burden, you have more than compensated us."

"No, I am not sick," Mera said sadly. "My magic is just problematic. I am more worried she will accidentally hurt me, and a little filly shouldn't be put in a position she can accidentally hurt some pony. I just need a few minutes to compose myself, if you don't mind."

"I will be coming with you," I said bringing myself to a low hover from my seat, which caused Cozy Care to gasp excitedly, and clap her hooves. I landed myself next to my wife a moment later, much to the disappointment of the filly who wanted to see me continue flying.

"I can give you pointers on how to fly," Sunset told the little filly, getting a look of wide eyes wonder in return. "My friends will be back in a few minutes and if you do really good you can show them how much better you are going to be."

The little filly squealed with excitement. Her mother gave Sunset a concerned look.

"You aren't getting her hopes up for nothing are you?" The protective mother whispered. "She wants this so much, I don't want to have her feelings hurt if she doesn't do much better."

"Her wings are perfectly healthy, she just needs a change in perspective. I won't be doing what Pegasi parents do. They just toss their foals off clouds and let instinct take hold. I won't do anything so traumatic," Sunset said with a smile. Cozy Hearth's eyes had gone wide at hearing the typical Pegasus method, and gave a look of massive relief when Sunset said that would not be doing that.

Old Reed led Mera and me through a side hallway and quickly to a room. Inside was a simple little room with a simple straw mattress with white sheets, and a simple round rope-weave area rug. There really wasn't anything else in the room.

"I know the accommodations are scarce and simple," Old Reed told us as he looked over the room. "But we do try our best. We try out best to make up for the simple rooms with good food and good company."

"Thank you," I told him with a grateful smile. "This room is perfectly fine. We will probably be out again in a little while to eat, Mera just needs some time."

"Did my grandfoal do something wrong?" He asked. "She didn't intend to, the little filly doesn't have a mean bone in her body. I don't understand what might have upset you, but I do want to apologize on her behalf."

"She did nothing wrong," Mera said mournfully. "And I can see she is a good little filly. I just have some personal issues right now. I just hope I didn't upset her by refusing to let her touch me."

"Fillies are resilient," the old Unicorn responded. "I am sure she will forget all about it quickly. I will leave you two alone for right now. I will keep some soup hot for you and some cider ready to serve, for whenever you are feeling more up for it."

After the old Unicorn left us alone in the room Mera looked at me with tears in her eyes and lurched into a hug with me. I smoothed her mane as she sobbed into my fur. She sobbed for several minutes before they began to subside.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her, putting all the love and concern I could into the question.

"It isn't just one thing," she said back, tears holding back sobs. "All those ponies in town that were just so scared had gotten to me. Then that filly looks at me like I am the greatest creature she has ever seen, but when she asks to touch me, I realize I can't let her do that, because who knows what I might absorb. It was just too much, to get that full acceptance right after all that distrust, and be forced to just brush it away because I can't control my abilities."

"You will get better at controlling them with practice," I consoled her, still brushing her mane. "I know today was a lot of emotion going in every different direction. It is okay to say you need time to recover and refocus. And soon we will be in Crystal Heart, where you won't need to be on constant guard about touching ponies anymore."

"Do you think I am being a stupid pony with trying to be a Thestral?" She asked me in a quieter voice. "You don't have to say it out loud. Just think about it and I will be able to feel it."

How did I feel about my wife taking on this unfamiliar form? No matter what she was still my wife, in any form, was the first thing that came to mind. Next up I considered her mindset. She had absorbed enough from me that her own sense of being had changed. I wasn't sure I had done her any favors with that. But regardless that was what she was now. It was just like me, my sense of being insisted I was a female, even if I had been born with a male body. That sense of self drove me to beg Starlight to change me even though it would bring down the condemnation of my tribe upon me. Tribes with ponies were a big deal, there was a big difference in being a Pegasus or an Earth Pony. There were different instincts, different magic, a different sense of who you were in the world. Mera's sense of being told her she was a Thestral, even if it had not always said that. You can't deny what you know you are. And every pony had this essential sense of self, Mera could not deny her own. 

I realized I was guilty of denying who she was to some extent. I hadn't really taken to heart she was a Thestral, not a Crystal Pony. She was born a Crystal Pony, and she had Crystal Pony abilities, but that wasn't who she was now. Even after she took back a Crystal Pony shape she would still be a Thestral. That was what she knew herself to be, and it needed to be how I thought of her too. I could not deny her eagerness to live as what she truly was.

"Thank you," she said to me gratefully, smiling up to me as she did. "And don't go feeling guilty about how you changed me. I choose to let that happen. It was my choice, and my consequences to accept, and I don't regret it for a moment. You are such a good pony, a better pony than me, if I am being honest. I aspired to be more like you. I became something similar, but different, and I am okay with that."

"I just want you happy," I told her as I griped her tightly.

"And you make me happy," she said with a smile. "You give such good hugs. I think I am ready to go back out now. I just needed you holding me for a few minutes."

We exited the room and were greeted by the sounds of the joyous cries of a filly. As we went out into the common room we saw the reason for them. Hovering steadily near the ceiling was a very happy Cozy Care. Her mother was looking up at her daughter with happy tears, and a hint of worry for her now airborne filly. Cozy Care just giggled and cheered and called down to the adults asking if they saw her, as if any of the adults could miss the happy little Pegasus. All the other patrons even looked up at her with pride and happiness.

"Thank you," Cozy Hearth said through happy tears, as she wrapped her forelegs around Sunset in a tight embrace. "You don't know how much it means to me that you could do this for her. I felt so helpless not knowing how to teach her."

"It was my pleasure," the large Alicorn in disguise replied. "I would invest in a set of tracer necklaces. In fact I will give you the bits for them myself as a gift. She is airborne now, and it will be hard to keep her out of the air. Being able to track where she is at a times will help ease your mind when she takes to the air outside. Set her some clear boundaries, but big enough to give her some freedom. Pegasi are very independent ponies, and you can't let them feel caged in, or they will resent you for it. So your new Pegasus foal challenge is learning to balance her freedom with her safety."

"I had hoped I was past what I couldn't understand with her learning to fly," Cozy Hearth said wistfully.

"She is a Pegasus, there is always going to be Pegasus instinct there that might not coincide with Unicorn instinct," Sunset said sympathetically. "But you are doing an excellent job. You care about what her specific needs are, even when you don't fully understand them yourself. Just remember that in the end you are raising a filly to eventually be a mare, and if you raise her to be kindhearted, responsible, and you keep caring about what her needs are, she will turn out alright."

Cozy Hearth nodded, as looked up at her still happy daughter. Mera and I could not help but be caught up in the joy of the moment, and we nuzzled close together draping our wings over one another. We watched the little Pegasus continue to radiate joy to the room as she started trying to do more than simply hover, flying and giggling. 

"Cozy Care!" Her mother shouted. "We can't have you flying around like that indoors, you might accidentally break something. Come down here and we will go outside for a little while, and you can fly more outside. Just keep in my sight for right now, okay?"

"Okay mommy," the little filly said as she pulled herself back into a hover. Then she got a confused look on her face as she realized she didn't know how to land. After a moment of trying to figure out the problem she simply stopped flapping her wings, and dropped like a rock to the ground. 

Her mother rushed over to her concerned, but the little filly got up as if nothing had happened. Flyers were very good at getting up from crashes typically. 

"Oh yeah," Sunset said sheepishly. "Get used to that, crashing is going to be a thing for a while. She will be able to walk most of them off fine. Expect her to go tumbling on the ground, smashing into trees, into buildings, into you, and any other large thing happens to be around. Just as long as she doesn't ram into anything at full speed it won't hurt her. Cozy Care, next time you try to land do what you just did, just do it when you are already as low to the ground as you can get yourself, and have your legs spread to brace for a landing," the little filly giggled and nodded enthusiastically at her teacher.

"How about we eat and have a nap," I said to my wife. "And we can get back up later tonight and work on your flying out under the stars. We aren't Pegasi with a desperate need to keep to the air as often as we possibly can, but flying is part of who we are too."

Mera giggled and hugged me close, and we returned to the bar to get some much needed food.
> Chapter 23: Paranoia
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We ate and talked with Old Reed for a while before turning back into bed. I set my alarm clock to get us up again shortly before midnight, hoping it would not wake any other guests. I had already told the innkeeper about our intention to head out for a while during the night so as to not alarm him about our late night exit and entrance. He seemed to accept it, saying every pony has their own special needs, and to just try not to wake any pony when we took care of ours.

We got up with ease despite not sleeping much. It was nighttime, our instincts already told us we needed to be up. We through on our life packs, and we carefully made our way out of our room and outside, doing our best to make no noise as we went. The inn was dark, but that made little difference to us. We were more concerned about floorboards and squeaky doors. Mera's wings were erect again, showing her excitement for what we were going to be doing.

When we got outside we found a perfectly clear night. This town gave off no light pollution and we could see the stars in perfect clarity. It was peaceful and a little romantic.  Mera was still much too stiff in the wings due to her excitement though, and we took out our calming drug to try to soothe her a bit, she wouldn't be doing any flying with stiff wings. We shaped vague images and I talked to help her visualize what she needed to do.

"Alright, just like that little Pegasus filly you need to stop thinking about your wings as what are lifting you," I explained. "Your wings are just what you channel your magic into, or my magic in your case. It is like a Unicorn and their horn, they are just the conduit for the magic that makes you able to fly. If they were responsible for actually having to lift you up by pure physics it would never happen, they are too small for our bodies to do it that way. What you are doing when you flap your wings is making your own personal magic field."

"If that is how it works, then why does it work for you?" Mera asked curiously. "Shouldn't your anti-magic cancel it out? It seems kind of like a Unicorn levitation, which doesn't work on you. Plus why should it matter how strong your wings are then?"

"I really don't have an answer on how it works for me," I told her honestly. "I think it is because it impacts the air around you  instead of trying to move you, if that makes any sense. It isn't working on me, it is working on the air. As to why the wing muscles matter, the stronger the wing muscles, the more magic they can exert on the air."

"Okay, so why do I not shoot up out of control when I flap my wings as hard as I can?" Mera said, as she moved her now more relaxed wings up and down with fast beats.

"Because what you are doing is just a confused mess of magic then," I informed her, waving away some dust she had kicked up with her wing-beats. "You have to make sure you have your wings work in tandem with one another, and make a steady field of magic in the air around you. When beating them as hard as you can you aren't controlling what they are doing to the air. Once you actually get yourself into the right rhythm instinct will take hold and you should be able to direct the flows to allow you to move around in the air as you wish, within limits. We can't fly as well as Pegasi, and we are more at the mercy of the wind. You have to learn how to make the wind and the magic work for you together."

She continued to look at her wings as she slowly moved them up and down, trying to visualize how they were supposed to work. She eventually sighed and doused and put away her pipe, before standing to her hooves. I quickly did likewise.

"Let's see if I can figure this out," she said, with a defeatist tone. "I don't really understand it, but hopefully instinct will kick in like you said."

"Just close your eyes for this time," I instructed her. "Outstretch your wings, and just feel the air around them. Try to imagine that air as an extension of yourself, the air around your wings as part of your wings."

"Okay..I will try," Mera muttered. "It still is hard to imagine."

"We will get there," I assured her. "Now keep trying to focus on that and slowly, in sync, move your wings up and down, slow steady flaps. Feel how the air moves when you flap them. It moves, and you can feel it move. Focus on that."

She kept her eyes closed and looked to be concentrating. After a minute or two her expression changed as she started to get a feel for the air, and her she started to grin excitedly.

"Keep yourself calm, don't get overexcited again," I told her. "Now, feel that air and make it go straight down. Don't make your wings push it down, you push it down. The air is part of you and you need to to all go down."

She kept her eyes shut, and didn't notice as her hooves left the ground. She was now hovering steadily two pony lengths up in the air. I spread my wings and took to the air a short distance from her. The wind was low and it was a good night for flying. It was time to get her to actually fly instead of just hover.

"Keep your eyes shut and keep listening to my voice," I instructed her. "Keep that air down but see if you can get additional air to push you towards my voice."

Her let out a gasp realizing for just now that she was hovering, but she did as she was instructed and kept her eyes shut. Her face scrunched up in thought for a moment and she adjusted the flap of her wings slightly and pointed herself towards me, and started moving.

"Now go back to just keeping the air under you," I said as she came up close to me, eyes still shut. As she pulled herself into a stop and resumed her hover I smiled. "Good, now keep yourself calm, and open your eyes."

She opened her eyes and looked down. Her wings didn't go erect, but she did bring her forehooves up to her muzzle to suppress a giggle. I flew a little bit further away again.

"Now, just as before, fly to me," I told her. This was the moment of truth. "Don't think about how to do it, just do what you already did, your instinct should be kicking in, let it guide you."

She looked over at me and took a breath. Then she began moving at a steady pace towards me. When she reached me she giggled again. 

"Now to work on your ability to maneuver in the air," I grinned as I spoke. "I am going to do a little circle, you follow behind me as close to my path as best you can. Just give me a two second head start so we don't accidentally collide in the air.This should feel more and more natural to you the longer you are in the air, at this point I doubt you ate putting any thought into hovering, you are just doing it."

Her eyes went slightly wider as she realized I was right, that she wasn't thinking out what she needed to do to hover.I began making my circle, she watched me move and went to emulate me. Her motion through the air was as good as mine, not flawless, but I was only a passable flyer, not a good one. After we did our little circle I brought myself to a halt, and was pleased she was able to pull herself into a steady hover, without warning.

"So, how do you feel?" I asked my wife, as we hovered at least four stories above the ground.

"I feel wonderful," she beamed. Then added with mild concern. "A little tired though. Should I feel this tired this quickly from flying? That little Pegasus filly didn't seem to get winded this quickly."

"She is a Pegasus, and you are a Thestral," I said simply. "Pegasi are better at channeling the magic to keep them in the air. We don't have the same level of magical muscle for it naturally. We have to work twice as hard for the same result in the air. I am personally not a great flyer and you get your magic from me, and you are trying to get your body to do something new. We will keep working on it over time. You will eventually be able to cover some decent distance without tiring out too much."

"I am just glad to be able to do it at all for the moment," she said as she let out a laugh. Then she looked down to the ground. "Um..how do I get down safely?"

"The same slow beats of your wings, just gradually keep less and less air under you. You can try to be brave and just fly down and try to land, but that will likely end in a crash since you are not practiced at it. When you get near the ground just have your legs spread to land on all four hooves, and stop your wings when you are close enough to the ground to feel safe about the drop," I then demonstrated the technique for the slow hovering landing, coming to an easy landing on the ground. She observed me and then followed after with no major problems. She did stop her wings a little higher than I would have advised, and came down the fairly hard to her hooves. She wasn't hurt though.

I gave her a quick embrace to replenish whatever magic she might have expended. Another reason to keep this lesson short was I wasn't sure how fast she was expending the magic she absorbed from me. The major drawback of her current grey coat was it gave no indication of how much magic she was holding. I didn't want to discover the hard way that she expended all the magic quickly, and then fell helpless out of the sky from several stories up.

"I hadn't thought of that," she said as she felt my worries. "I am not sure if I would notice either, not with how tired I was anyway. I could easily mistake being magically expended for physically tired. There always seems to be some new rub with my abilities. Why do they have to be so complicated?"

"We will work on sorting those out when we care in Crystal Heart and you don't have to be on guard as much about them misbehaving," I reassured her before gesturing that we needed to start walking back to the inn. We had actually moved a good distance down the street from the inn while flying.

When we reached the inn we found Cozy Hearth indulging herself on our shared addiction as she sat outside the inn. I was starting to think Hot Sticks' village was no so poor and destitute, they certainly had customers everywhere.

"Please, don't mind me," she said sheepishly. "I get a bit stressed sometimes, and prefer to keep my methods of soothing it secret from my father and daughter. Which takes me out here late at night sometimes. At least I don't drown myself in alcohol, like some mares do. I didn't mean to spy on you two. Just thinking about how to handle Care's needs."

"We don't mind, we are guilty of the same escape regularly," Mera said with a smile. 

"Are you rehabilitating from an injury?" Cozy Hearth asked Mera curiously, as she puffed away. "You didn't want to have Care touching your wing, and it looked like you were being taken through flying exercises just now. Did you hurt your wing?"

"No," Mera shook her head. "It's complicated. I don't know a good way of explaining it, or whether I am even allowed to explain it. I have a lot of magic that reacts erratically with being touched. Hopefully I will learn how to better control it in the future, but for right now I have a very short list of ponies that can touch me."

"Must make having a special some pony difficult," Cozy Hearth said glumly.

"Lucky for me my wife is one of the two ponies that it is okay to have touching me," Mera said as she rubbed up against me. Cozy Hearth did a double take as Mera did.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize you two were a couple," Cozy said apologetically. "We don't have many same-sex couples in this area. There is a lot of pressure to have foals,  so we can expand our community. I am actually shocked my father doesn't get on me more about finding a good stallion and having more foals," there was a touch of bitterness in her voice over the proposition.

"What happened to Care's father?" I asked as I fished out my own pipe again, Mera went into her own pack as well.

"That whole thing was a big mistake," Cozy said mournfully, then jerked her head up and looked at us. "Not having Care, mind you. I love my daughter. But I have always been..like you two, but there was all this pressure to settle down with a stallion. You don't understand how much pressure. So, I got it in my mind that I just had to have sex with some stallions, and then I would feel more attracted to stallions. I ended up having some quick flings with some of the sailors, figuring it was better than trying to do that with the town ponies. I am not even sure which one got me with foal. I was young and stupid. Didn't work either, still not attracted to stallions," she went back to grumpily puffing at her pipe, with her ears lowered.

Mera and I looked at one another. We wanted to help the mare, but were not sure how to make her feel better, or do anything for her problems.

"Well, don't try to get involved with any more stallions. It isn't right trying to force yourself into a relationship that won't make you happy," Mera told the Unicorn. "It wouldn't be fair to you daughter or any future foals to have a loveless marriage. Plus there are temporary enchantments that can cause you to have foals with another mare, I don't know why getting with a stallion has to be done, not when there are alternative methods of having foals."

"You must come from a very well off family," Cozy Hearth replied glumly. "Yes, there are enchantments you can buy to do that kind of thing, but they are expensive. Most Unicorns in this town know very little magic aside from levitation, and maybe one or two other spells tied to their cutie marks. All I can do beyond levitating things is a simple light spell and start a small fire. Unicorns that can cast the kind of spells for mares to have foals with other mares cost lots of bits, more than almost any pony here could save in years. We don't produce much of any food on our own here, which leaves us having to buy food from the outside, along with most supplies. There just isn't any way to come up with the bits for really expensive things."

"Is there a post office here?" Mera asked. 

"Yes there is, out by docks. Why?" Cozy Hearth asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"We are going to be in Crystal Heart for a while, years most likely." Mera explained. "If you find a marefriend that you want the ability to have foals with, then we will purchase the enchantment for you. Just send a letter to us in Crystal Heart and we will send you train tickets to take you and your marefriend from Canterlot to Crystal Heart and back."

"I..couldn't possibly..ask that from you two," the Unicorn stammered with shock and disbelief. "That is far too kind a gesture. You must be very well off if you can offer something like that, but I would feel so guilty accepting such a generous gift."

"We make more than we will ever need," Mera smiled. "It is only fair that we use all that to help out other ponies. And you have been kind to us. You deserve to be shown kindness in return."

"Thank you," the mare cried happily, and moved to hug Mera, which Mera quickly dodged. The unicorn realized what she had done and looked embarrassed. Before she could feel bad about almost touching Mera I came and embraced the Unicorn instead. She smiled with joy as I did.

"I'm sorry, I forgot about the no touching," Cozy said to Mera while still smiling. "I am just so happy. I promise to always make sure Thestrals are welcome in this inn just as my father has, and promise to teach my daughter, and any other foals I might have to always be welcoming to you too. Thestrals have done so much for me. They saved me from being eaten as a fully, taught my daughter how to fly, and given me hope for expanding my family. I can never do enough to repay that kindness."

"Being kind is its own reward," I told her as I released her from the hug. "And it is a pony thing, not a Thestral thing. There are good and bad Thestrals just like any other type of pony. Every pony should want to be kind to their fellow ponies. You may not be perfect, but you are a good pony."

"If you ever come by here again your rooms and baths are free. I can give that as a gift at least. I wish I could offer the same for food, but it costs us too much," she said with happy tears still in her eyes.

"Whatever is not a burden on you," Mera told her, accepting the offer. It would be rude to refuse it. Cozy wanted some way of feeling she was repaying us, and we couldn't take that away from her. "I think we should head inside. If Pearl and I don't try to force ourselves to sleep, then tomorrow is going to be miserable trying to travel in the day, and you likely are going to be dealing with an eager bundle of feathers and fur as soon as she wakes up."

"Yeah, and I likely need to make sure I give her a thorough preening too, if she wants to fly," Cozy grimaced. "I am going to have to get her in the habit of doing it for herself. I love my daughter, but I don't love feathers in my mouth. If she is going to fly then daily preening is going to need be a new morning routine for her. Best to start that tomorrow. Part of independence is being able to take care of your own hygiene needs after all."

Mera and I giggled as we all went back in the inn for the remainder of the night.


***


We were woken up by Sunset shortly after dawn. I was pretty sure she was making fun of us when she did it, but was too tired to really pay it attention. After a hot bath and food we were ready to get back to traveling. We said our goodbyes to Old Reed, Cozy Hearth, and Cozy Care. I was not sure how much attention the last two paid us, as Care was very happily flying around the roof of the inn and Hearth was trying her best not to chew on her hooves nervously as she watched her daughter. Cozy Hearth would surely get more comfortable with it in time, but for right now the mother was worrying about her filly falling from the air.

There was a dirt road that headed north out if the town, with wagon ruts worn well into it. It cut straight through the woods, but seemed to be well maintained. Sunset explained to us that this would take us to Sire's Hallow which was the last town of significant size before we reached Crystal Heart. After that would come scattered small walled villages. It would take a few hours to reach Sire's Hallow, and perhaps two more days after that to reach Crystal Heart.

We were told Sire's Hallow was a unique town due to it's population. It had equal parts Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and Thestrals; making it one of the few places you could find a fair number of Thestrals living alongside the other tribes. This was due to a Lunar Guard garrison at the location. Sunset assured us that we should have no further problems with our tribe, as Luna had made it abundantly clear by broadcasting Rose Thorn's fate to the dreams of all our fellow Thestrals. Even if any pony among them didn't care for us they wouldn't dare do anything to make the Alicorn of the Night angry.

"Sunset, I have been meaning to ask you if you had anything to say about what Water Shadow told us," I spoke with the larger pony privately as we walked. "The stuff that pertains to me and Mera. We have tried to figure out anything we can about it, but you are more familiar with all the Greaters than us."

"She might have been on to something, but I can't guess who or why," Sunset said sadly. "The Greaters and I have our differences, but I still consider them friends. I don't want to think of one of them doing something so despicable, but I do have to admit it is possible. You would be surprised how much ponies change over thousands of years. My memory is as bad as the rest, but I know that we would all be unrecognizable to our younger selves. The ponies we were are long gone, and I cannot be sure who wouldn't do anything to further a goal. I don't even have a guess at what the goal might be. I hope it is just all random chance, but I have give have to admit Shadow makes an excellent case."

"So no idea on who to look at or what kinds of things to look for in clues?" I said with disappointment.

"Not much," Sunset said regretfully. "I heard you discussing Starlight as an option. I know her better than most of the Greaters, and I don't think she would do something like this. I think it would horrify her. But the fact that she has been deeply involved with you is worth looking into. Whether she is responsible, which I don't think she is, or some pony else, there might be leads in exploring why she was where she was, when she was."

"So you think we should dismiss her as a suspect?" I asked, hoping that I could get some more direction.

"No, she is still a possibility," Sunset said with lowered ears. "I might be blinded by my friendship to her. I wouldn't even rule out the Lessers and other immortals. The Lessers are still just as dangerous as the Greaters, and immortals can get up to some major mischief with enough time. There are a few immortals that are extremely dangerous even if they decide to do something spur of the moment."

"Any particularly dangerous immortals you can think of?" I asked, getting frustrated that the list of possible suspects was growing instead of shrinking. I couldn't even put names to most the Leaders, and the list of other immortals I had met barely made up a fraction of them. 

"Grogar comes to mind first " Sunset said as she looked off in the distance. "He has the desire to do something like what happened in Starlight's Folly, and that settlement is closest to where he makes his lair. Discord is a possibility, but it is impossible to figure out what he is thinking, and he almost never has actual plans. Grogar is likewise bound to a certain area and is if he could leave that area he would have done it a very long time ago. So I don't think either of them are probable. There just isn't enough information to point hooves at any possible suspect. The lead you two came up with is the best option to follow for now."

"Just how well do you hear?" I asked out of curiosity, changing the subject.

"If I am trying to listen in I can hear conversations from hundreds of pony lengths away clearly," she said with a smile. "If I am not deliberately paying attention then it is all just background noise I tune out. Alicorn hearing is extremely heightened. The Greaters can actually hear prayers through special focus stones. They have to be focusing on a particular pony while touching the stone to do it, and the pony has to be praying right then, but they are capable of hearing prayers. The system for doing it is just not a very effective one."

"So you deliberately eavesdropped on us," I said with annoyance, ears going flat.

"Originally I wanted to make sure that Mera wasn't going to get herself in trouble, and neither of you were forthcoming," Sunset replied. "And you forget that I am a spy for Twilight."

I suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. This brought two horrifying options to mind. The first was that the Twilight princess herself was the one manipulating events, she was the Alicorn who wanted to know what we were doing, and the one with the most power to influence events. The other possibility was just as scary, and that was Sunset herself. Sunset had volunteered to be put close to us. Perhaps it was just paranoia playing at my mind, she was also the one who had suggested that it could be a Lesser as well. That could all be just to make us not suspect her. ARGH! Why did this have to make me look cross eyed at every single pony?

"I am sorry Sunset, I have to ask. Why did you want to be the one keeping tabs on us?" I asked her, not knowing any better way of saying it. I just wanted to clear her at least as a suspect.

"Biblo, mainly," Sunset replied with honesty. "Well, Mera now. There has always been just me and Starlight who were strong immortal empaths, and now we find another strong immortal empath. Being an empath is difficult, and I wanted to be able to help her out. Not that I was disinterested in you, but you were of secondary interest."

"I guess that is a believable answer," I sighed. "This paranoia is going to drive me insane."

"Just follow up on that Pegasus lead and see if that gives any more information. You aren't going to make any progress on figuring this out until you do that. Until then just relax about it, unless something else comes up that could tie in. I can deny I am involved, because I know I am not, but that won't settle your mind at all," she told me sympathetically.

"I will try my best," I said halfheartedly.
> Chapter 24: Sire's Hallow
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We arrived in Sire's Hallow in the early afternoon. The town was focused mainly on shipping, much like Tadpole had been. This meant lots of warehouses all around. Unlike Tadpole the town had a large commercial district, with many hotels and businesses. There was a massive train station with multiple lines going in different directions, situated near all the warehouses. A enormous statue of Starlight Glimmer stood in the center of town looking down the road we had just come, and a large shrine to her stood near it. The last significant landmark was a large fortress on the edge of town, which I assumed to be the Lunar Guard garrison.

"We can get checked in a hotel quickly, and let Pearl and Mera get some sleep," Sunset announced. "Hot Sticks, you and I can see the sights while they are sleeping, but we don't need to worry about having to shop for every pony here. Because of the large population of Thestrals here businesses typically never actually close, they just change shifts."

As we looked at the town's ponies, there definitely were Thestrals among them, but Earth Ponies and Unicorns were the majority. Of course it was early afternoon also, which was to Thestrals what an hour or two past midnight was to other ponies. So most of the Thestrals were likely sleeping. None of the Unicorns or Earth Ponies spared us a second glance. The few Thestrals that were about didn't seem to pay much attention to Mera and Hot Sticks, but snuck glances at me and Sunset. Thankfully, sneaking glances was all they did. Luna had given them a nightmare that would keep them from doing any more than that.

Sunset seemed to know her way around, even though there were no looks of recognition among the town ponies. She likely had been disguised as something else last time she was here, and disguised better as well. She led us at a brisk walk through the streets. I gave the statue of Starlight a long look as we passed it by. It had her rearing on her hind legs, looking like she was getting ready to crush something beneath her hooves.

"Why is there a giant statue of Starlight here?" Mera asked Sunset, as she also stared at the sculpture.

"This is her birthplace," Sunset said as she glanced up at the thing. "The town actually started trying to commercialize on that fact before she ascended to Alicorn. She was a hero of note when she was a Unicorn, and Twilight's most devoted follower and student. I didn't know her well back then, we met a few times I am told, but the memory really isn't there."

"Who tells you about these things if every one of you has such poor memory from back that far?" Mera inquired further.

"Pinkie Pie does," Sunset replied back. "Pinkie Pie is the one Alicorn who never loses any memory. She can remember everything going back to when she was a filly herself. She might have to sit down and think about specific details sometimes, but she has it all still tucked away in her memory. The only Alicorns she couldn't tell you about the youth of are Celestia and Luna, who are both older than the rest of us."

"How much older?" I decided to ask.

"About eleven hundred years from my understanding," Sunset said as she kept walking. "It feels less significantly older when the have seen sixty centuries yourself. There are a few immortals older than them actually, though the ones who are tend to be ones you want to avoid at all costs."

"And who are they?" Mera kept questioning.

"Discord, Grogar, Tirek, Lavan, Hydia, and a few others" Sunset nearly spit out each name. "Each is extremely powerful, and the only one that isn't certain to try to kill you if you meet them is Discord..mainly because he thinks dead things are no fun."

Suddenly, there was a bright flash which brought us all to a halt. We were all temporarily blinded by the unexpected light and when we cleared our vision we found that everything had been halted. Ponies who had been trotting were frozen in mid air, birds were stationary in the sky. The world , aside from the four of us, was frozen in time.

"Sunset, I am so glad you are thinking of me. You mentioned my name multiple times today. My ears are burning," a unknown male voice crackled with laughter.

"Pony feathers," Sunset groaned. "Okay Discord, go ahead and show yourself. So they can actually see the Lord of Chaos.. in all his glory."

There was another quick flash, like that of a teleport. Standing before us now was..something hard to describe. It was tall, had a long serpentine body, brown furred, with a tail that looked reptilian. It had two wings, that did not match each other, and were both far too small for the body. Each of his legs was completely different from the others; one was with a cloven hoof, one looked like it belonged to a dragon, one looked like it might belong to a griffin, the last was a paw that belonged on some large cat. I didn't have a clue what his head belonged to. It was grey furred, had two mismatched horns--actually it looked like one antler and one large crystal horn. He had large yellow eyes with small red pupils, had a scraggly white beard, and a single large fang sticking out of his mouth. He was just a mess of mismatched parts.

"Ta-da!" The patchwork creature shouted spreading his fore..limbs. "Be in awe of me. Have you ever seen such a wondrous creature?"

"Depends on how you define wondrous," Sunset said flatly.

Another quick flash happened, and a book now floated before the creature, clearly labeled Dictionary. He opened it up, and a pair of reading glasses appeared on his face.

"Wondrous, inspiring a feeling of wonder or delight; marvelous," the creature read.

"Definitely inspiring me to wonder," Sunset deadpanned. "Alright fillies and colt, meet Discord. Say hi Discord, we are all in wonder of you. You can go now."

"Sunset, Sunset," Discord chided. "You hurt me. We barely ever see each other, and now that we have a chance to catch up on old times you seem like you don't want to see me. Is this how friends are supposed to treat one another?"

Sunset just gave him a flat look. I really didn't know how to think about this, it didn't seem like Mera or Hot Sticks were doing much better.

"Okay Discord, you win," Sunset said in a long suffering voice. "Let me introduce to you Pearl Bottom, Chimera Wort, and Hot Sticks. All of you, this is the Spirit of Chaos, and master of making himself a nuisance, Discord. Is there something that you would like some help with Discord? Something we can do quickly."

"Aww, Pudgy Bottom, Has Worts, and Harry, so nice to meet you all," he said excitedly. "Such unfortunate names, but we can't all be perfect. Hmm, you the Worty one, something seems a bit off with you."

He stared at Mera for a moment, then a literal light bulb appeared over his head. He grabbed the lightbulb and smiled happily.

"Idea!" He shouted enthusiastically. Then snapped his fingers, which caused a brief flash again, though with no noticeable effect. "There we go. I know I think mismatched parts are great, but ponies don't like them that much for some reason. So I fixed you Worty!"

"I feel different," Mera said  uncertainly as she looked herself over. "What did you do to me?"

"Well, you had all this stuff from those shiny, glittery ponies in you, and you didn't seem to really want it. So I did you a favor and took it away. One hundred percent of the more interesting bat pony now."

Mera's face lit up with happiness for just a moment, then suddenly switched to one of horror as the full implications of that sank in.

"Please, put it back!" She pleaded with panic. "I need that! I can't absorb Pearl's magic to keep me alive as long as her without it!"

"Oh, very well," he snapped his claws with annoyance, causing another flash of light. "I like you better this way anyway. But I was just trying to do you a favor. Don't come crying to me when you want it gone again. I did my best to help you, and this was a one time thing."

"I appreciate the attempt," Mera said apologetically, but still visibly flustered.. "But if I lose that then I won't be able to be immortal anymore."

"Immortality is overrated," Discord sighed. "You would think that creatures would be more interesting without the fear of death hanging over them, but no, they just get increasingly dull with the passage of time. Things don't really get better with age, except for me of course. But if that is what you want, then I'll be a nice guy and leave you with it. I think you might come to regret keeping your crystally powers though."

"Two of us are very tired right now Discord," Sunset said firmly. "Perhaps you could continue this later. We could all sit down for tea at some future date and you can tell my companions of your..exploits."

"I do like tea parties and talking about myself," his claw detached from his foreleg and stroked his beard. "Alright, have it your way. I want a well rested audience after all. Before I go though I think I have a present that you might like."

He snapped his claw again causing another flash to happen. After the flash cleared there was a small gift wrapped box, in green and red wrapping paper, floating in front of him. A note and bow was attached.

"Take this Harry," Discord said happily. "But don't open it until the present says to. Actually, it won't let you anyway if you try, so feel free to try."

He floated the gift over to Hot Sticks. Hot Sticks looked at the tag, and the rest of us looked on. The tag was actually counting down time, and the countdown was for fifteen years from now.

"Um, thank you," Hot Sticks said as he stuffed it into his life pack. "I'll try not to forget it."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Discord said with a dismissive gesture. "It won't let you do that either. I am sure you will like it, and that it will make you very happy when you see what it is. I so enjoy being helpful. I don't know what you ponies would do without my help. There is a particular individual who I can't wait to see the shock on his face when you open that up."

"I can only imagine," Sunset muttered under her breath.

"But it is time for me to let you go and rest, and I really should get the world moving again. Being frozen solid as a statue is just boring, believe me, I have experience. Ta-ta for now, remember we have a date coming up. I'll bring the cucumber sandwiches!" And with another snap of his claw he disappeared and the world started moving again. Leaving us trying to figure out what in bloody Tartarus had just happened exactly.

"Should I be concerned about whatever is in that package?" Hot Sticks asked. As he held the gift wrapped box in his magic, treating it like a snake.

"Yes," Sunset said, though her head shake indicated no. "Discord has a history of doing things like that. It likely will be very important at the time you open it, and that's the problem. He is giving you an out to a major problem, and gave us a countdown to when that problem will come to its most critical point. The very existence of that present indicates a problem of some sort. The fact he put a fifteen year timer on it at least means it isn't an immediate concern, but I will let Twilight know he is up to some sort of mischief. Don't lose whatever that is in that package in the meantime."

"Where did he come from? Has he been following us?" I asked with concern.

"He likely wasn't following us around, so don't worry about that," Sunset said dismissively. "Discord just appears where he wants to appear, and I really don't know where he is, or want to know, when he isn't around. He typically isn't malicious, and I didn't pick up anything about him this time that makes me think he is going to be now. Just expect him to show up at some inappropriate time asking for a tea party, because he likes to pull that crap."

"Did he really do what he said to me, each time? Change me and change me back?" Mera asked with worry. "I didn't even know that was possible. If it was I am sure Water Shadow would have done it to herself."

"Discord has unimaginable power, the power to do whatever he wants, but he only does things on impulse. You can't actually get him to do anything specific most of the time, so you were lucky he did change you back. He is a trickster and a jokester. Everything he does is for his personal amusement. Thankfully he isn't usually amused by anything that actually hurts any pony. Dead ponies are boring ponies to him." Sunset explained to us. "Let's just continue doing what we were doing, and pretend we didn't have the interruption by the Lord of Nuisance."

She started walking again and we followed. The town didn't show any signs that they were aware that anything had just occurred. It was frightening to think there were beings out there that could just bring reality to a halt, alter it however they wished, and not a single pony would be aware of it. I wondered what Discord did with his free time. Did he just use those abilities to run around doing practical jokes? Maybe every time you had a ridiculous turn of bad luck it was him messing with you. 

We arrived at the hotel that Sunset wanted a moment later, it had a sigh hanging over its door labeling it the Sunrise-Sunset Inn. I could see the appeal of the name to her. The building was a two-story building with many balconies, with a red painted trimming on a cream colored stone. There were a few flower beds around the lower floor windows. It was rather plain looking overall, aside from the balconies, but it was did manage to look inviting. 

Inside was a small lobby, but no common room. A middle aged purple Unicorn mare sat at the front desk reading as we entered. She looked up as we walked in and put a smile on her face. 

"Welcome to the Sunrise-Sunset Inn, the best inn for travelers in Sire's Hallow. We have plenty of balcony rooms for our Thestral guests available right now, complimentary hot baths for all our rooms, and flexible check out times. How may I help you all?" She said with an upbeat tone to the four of us.

We all looked at Hot Sticks, while Hot Sticks looked at Sunset for direction. Sunset took the hint from him and stepped up to the desk.

"Hello, we will be in need of three rooms, all one bed each, two of those with balconies, the third can be ground floor. Guest names are Golden Sunset, Hot Sticks, and put the last room under Chimera Wort and one other," Sunset told her. I was a little curious as to why she didn't give my name over to the Unicorn. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Sunset passed some bits from her life pack to the Unicorn clerk and received a listing of rooms in exchange.

"Go ahead and get some sleep you two. I know you haven't slept well the last two days, and we are going to be pushing you again tomorrow during the day again. Though after tonight we want to start getting you back in a day schedule again, otherwise you are going to be having difficulties when we get to Crystal Heart. Honestly, I should have insisted on you keeping on a day schedule from the start," Sunset told me and Mera in a slightly lecturing tone. "I will be up early, two hours till dawn, and I want you, Mera, to be available for me to work with you on your empathic abilities for an hour. We have been slacking off on that, and we need to make that a priority."

Mera's ears drooped as she thought about how she hadn't made much on that. I decided that I would sit in with her as she trained, perhaps I could find ways of helping her with exercises if I knew what needed to be done. 

Sunset gave us the room number and we made our way up the stairs and found the room we were assigned. Nothing was locked in the hotel, showing a fair amount of trust. Perhaps the threat of the Lunar Guard being so close kept ponies on good behavior. The room was simple again, with a straw mattress covered by plain white sheets, and small balcony. The big draw was that there was a large area with a shower with it's own drain and hot water facet, a rare luxury.

We washed together, happy to get off the dirt and grime from the road. We had taken baths that morning, but we had been walking for a few hours, which made us very dirty from the road. Plus a shower gave us the opportunity to shower together, which involved a lot of rubbing bodies together, which led to other things soon after. We had our fun for about half an hour and then cuddled up together for a nap on the bed.


***


We awoke shortly after midnight, well rested. We left by way of the balcony to see what Sire's Hallow had to offer for food at night. The town was actually fairly well lit with street lights, all lit by magic. There were now a large number of Thestrals about on the streets, and a smaller number of Unicorns and Earth Ponies moving about the streets. Thestral fillies and colts could be seen playing in both the streets and the air. It was the first time I had been around this many other Thestrals since leaving Hallow Shades. 

We glided down to the streets and began looking around. I continued to get cautious looks from Thestrals as I went about, but Mera was occasionally greeted warmly by ponies passing by. I wasn't too upset about the reception, they weren't being hostile to me at least, and they seemed to accept Mera as just an unfamiliar face. Fillies and colts seemed to have no issue with me whatsoever, as one filly ran straight into me while playing. She gave a quick excited apology before getting right back to playing, but right after she left a grey coated Thestral mare with a red mane came hurrying over to me. 

"I am very sorry, Honored One. She didn't mean to run into you. Please don't be angry with her," the mare actually seemed to be fearful, I could see her slightly trembling, and she looked like she was trying to hold back tears. I knew that Luna had terrified them with the consequences of treating ponies like me cruelly, but this was too much. This mare was terrified that my displeasure would bring Luna's wrath upon her daughter.

"It is alright, she was just being a rambunctious little filly. There was no harm done," I tried to placate the poor mother. She looked moderately relieved at my response, but still tense.

"I assure you, Honored One, she won't do that again," the mare assured me. She then continued to try to placate me more. "She just didn't have the vision from Holy Luna. She didn't understand."

"And what exactly did you get from that vision?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer. 

"Is this a test, Honored One?" She asked as if she was being put on the spot. "I understand of course that Holy Luna would have us respect you, that to do wrong by you is punishable by death. The entire tribe owes penance to you."

"Luna said all that to you?" I asked incredulously. That was way beyond overboard. I didn't want these ponies terrified of doing the slightest offense to me. Something had to be off.

"The elders interpreted the dream for us," she said. "We all saw the punishment, and we all know it was for what the Cast Out One did to you."

Mera looked at me in confusion. She didn't know about the Thestral elders. Thestrals tended to take their devotion to Luna to extraordinary lengths, and the elders acted as priests espousing Luna's will. Alicorns were crazy, but we Thestrals had our own special brand of crazy too, in the form of a culture of religious zealotry. I needed to curb this as much as I could.

"Do you know exactly what the pony who was punished did?" I asked her. She shook her head no in response. "He attacked me for being different, and he raped me. He was supposed to defend ponies, and he harmed me instead. He betrayed not only what it is to be a Thestral, but to be a pony."

"I did not know, Honored One," the mare said with bowed head. She was still being supplicant. "I will take your words to heart. I am glad that you find no offense in my daughter. I will tell the elders what you have said."

She was still terrified of offending me. She was also bowing and behaving like I was some religious figure. I didn't want this, but I had no idea how to stop it from happening. There were other Thestrals watching this exchange as well, likely also taking what I said as some holy decree. Why did I have to have such a superstitious tribe?

"Just be a good mother and pony," I said, unsure what else to do. "Do you happen to know a good restaurant to eat at? We are just looking for a meal right now."

"My sister, Willow Brier, runs the night shift at The Banana and Pig. She would be happy to have you eat there, Honored One," the mare said brightly. It seemed like we were going to get more of this silliness when we got there. Matters were made worse because if we went somewhere else our tribe would end up thinking we scorned the place and scorn it in turn. I knew how their minds worked. What kind of name was The Banana and Pig anyway?

We were directed by the mare to her sister's restaurant. The sign had no writing on it, just the picture of a pig hugging a banana, which looked as silly as the name sounded. When we walked in we were greeted by the place coming to a hush, just like Old Reed's Inn had done the other day. The entire clientele were Thestrals, Thestrals of all ages. Looking at the number of families seated I assumed this was a family oriented restaurant. Talk quickly picked up again after a moment, but again I was subject to ponies watching me from the corner of their eyes.

The pony behind the main bar, who could have been the mare we just dealt with's twin, quickly rushed out to greet us, shooing away the wait staff as she went. She came before us, and gave a too large smile, rubbing her wings together nervously.

"Hello, I am Willow Brier, and I will attend you personally for your visit. We are grateful for your patronage of our humble restaurant, Honored One. If you allow me I will escort you to our best table, and then get you some of our best cider," she said with nervous energy, figiting in place. I wanted to sigh, or roll my eyes at the behavior, but I was afraid of making the mare or any of her patrons think she offended me. 

We were escorted to a table far too large for two ponies that was nestled away in a corner. Hopefully the fact it was a little more secluded meant we wouldn't have to worry about ponies hearing our meal conversation. We took our seats and were assured by Willow Brier that she would be back quickly with the cider, as she hurried away quickly.

"Am I going to have to walk on eggshells with every Thestral?" I whispered to Mera as low as I could. "I am afraid of the consequences to any of them if any pony thinks I am even slightly offended. They have gone from hateful to me to terrified of me."

"Do you think it would help if I did the talking for us?" Mera asked as she glanced towards the other patrons.

"Probably not," I sighed, hoping that some observer didn't misinterpret the action. "They would just start treating you the same way. They likely are already spreading word around trying to figure out who you are since you have been seen in my company. Thestrals might be generally isolated from other pony tribes, but they are extremely gossipy amongst themselves. I am sure that within a month what you order here will be discussed back in Hallow Shades."

"You don't think it will be that bad do you?" She said with a raised skeptical eyebrow. 

"Mera, I was well known to every Thestral community, despite the fact I hadn't lived in more than one, and hadn't lived in that one for over a decade. Word gets around," I bemoaned our plight.

"We will just have to be extra nice to every Thestral until we figure something out, or they get used to the idea you aren't going to call judgement down on them for for the smallest thing," she said matter-of-factly. "After enough instances of you not taking retribution they have to figure out they don't need to be terrified of you."

"I suppose that is makes sense," I said looking around. "I just hope I don't say or do something to accidentally cause some pony misery."

Willow Brier arrived back then, with tray holding two mugs of cider on her back. She laid it carefully on the table and looked to us expectantly.

"Are you ready to place your order?" She asked us. She had no means of writing it down available. She must be intending to remember it. I wondered if it was the typical way she did this, or if she was just too flustered and forgot her notepad and pencil. We hadn't even looked at the menu, but I wasn't sure I wanted to stress her further with additional trips to our table to check.

"What would you suggest?" I asked trying to be friendly and show we cared about others opinions. It didn't work, she started sweating. I realized I just put her in a position where she had to decide my food and worry if she chose something I wouldn't like.

"Our unique house specialty perhaps," she almost squeaked when she spoke. "Pork chops with caramelized bananas, made exclusively here, it is my grandmare's special recipe."

Pony feathers, she didn't just work here as the night shift, this was her family business. Further it must cater to Thestrals in particular if the house specialty involved pork. 

"That sounds interesting, we will each have that," I said with a smile that I hoped was pleasant. Mera nodded agreement to my order.

"Thank you, I will have that to you soon. It will be a few minutes wait while the cook prepares it," she quickly departed after speaking. She didn't pass along the order to whatever pony was in the kitchen, she rushed back to the kitchen herself. Likely intending on supervising the preparation to make sure it was perfect. If not cook it herself.

We sat in silence, just looking at around the restaurant. At one point when we were looking at a table with a Thestral stallion, mare, and two little colts one of their colts noticed us looking and waved enthusiastically. Mera went to wave back, but the colt's anxious parents had already stopped him. Mera's ears went limp with disappointment which caused the parents to become more anxious, fearing that they might have offended her, and by extension me. Maybe I could talk to them before we left, and try to fix it.

We also noticed a few other oddities. No pony was making any attempt to actually leave the restaurant, though several tables were clearly done eating. Any new guests that came in didn't end up placing any orders from what we could see either. The staff would seat them, bring them cider, but then would just go back to standing to the side of the room. The new patrons didn't seem to be upset that their orders weren't being taken either. It occurred to me after a few minutes they were waiting for our order to arrive and see if we approved. 

Willow Brier returned escorting a Unicorn waiter to our table. The Unicorn stallion carried our plates in his magic, setting them down in front of us. He kept looking at Willow Brier. He was likely confused as to what the big deal was. He was the only member of the night shift we had seen who wasn't a Thestral. 

"The house specialty," Willow Brier said with a hint of pride, despite her still nervous posture. "Please try it, and let us know if you like it."

We looked down at the food. It did look good. There was a large cut of pork for each of us, and it was covered in sliced up bananas which looked to have been baked along with the meat. The entire thing was covered in some sort of clear-yellowish sauce. We were going to get our hooves gooey trying to eat this with our hooves, but that wasn't a big problem. Bananas were considered a sweet delicacy, and I never ate pig before.

I took a bite out of one of the banana slices. Oh, that was good! It was so sweet and tasty, and it had gained a slight crunchiness in the baking process. I licked the yellow sauce off my hoof and couldn't place the taste exactly. Something with lemon and cinnamon maybe?

Mera took a different route with her food. She just lifted the whole pork chop up in her hooves and took a bite. If she was in her Crystal Pony form she wouldn't have been able to rip off a bite with her teeth, but with her Thestral ones it was easy for her. She chewed it making happy sounds as she did, clearly enjoying the pig flesh. 

"This is really good!" She said happily after swallowing. "Where do you fish for pork fish? I have never heard of pork."

Willow Brier looked mortified, while her Unicorn staff member seemed to be trying to contain a laugh. I on the other hoof just facehoofed myself. 

"What?" Mera said looking between us all with slightly downcast ears. "What did I say?"

"Mera, pork is a term for pig. It isn't fish, it is pig," I explained to her. Then I looked at the very upset Willow Brier. "Please forgive her ignorance she grew up around Crystal Ponies, and the only meats she has ever eaten are fish."

"Oh," Mera said looking down at her food. Seemingly unsure about the fact she was eating something that had once been hooved. Then she just shrugged to herself and took another bite, as we all watched her. She then smiled back at Willow Brier after she finished chewing and swallowing.

"Well, this might be the first pig I have ever eaten, but it is really good," she affirmed again. "My compliments to the chef, this might be my new favorite food."

I took the opportunity to try the pork then. It was really good as my wife said. Not something I could commonly get, but definitely something I wouldn't mind eating again.

"She is right, this is really good. Take my compliments as well, and thank you for suggesting this," I told our hostess.

Willow Brier seemed to finally relax then, letting out a breath I wasn't sure any pony knew she was holding. 

"Thank you very much," she said with a truly honest smile now. Her first honest smile since we had arrived. "It is a family recipe. A few generations ago we signed a contract that required us to buy regular amounts of bananas and pigs from two different suppliers. It was a condition on the loan from them that was used to open this restaurant. We started using both as much as we could though, even though they don't normally go together. The town Thestrals like it, but we have some trouble interesting visiting Thestrals to try unfamiliar food. Your enjoying it means a lot to all of us here."

"Well, they should definitely try it," I confirmed after taking another bite. I knew I was likely earning her customers strictly through my endorsement, but at least I was doing something positive with the situation. Having ponies honestly grateful for what I did was better than ponies quaking in terror.

"Forgive me for asking, ma'am," Willow Brier spoke to Mera after having gained more confidence. "Is there a Thestral settlement in the far north I am not aware of? The Honored One said you were raised around Crystal Ponies is the only reason I ask. Most Thestral settlements are very close to the Foal Mountains, or at least within an hour or two flight of them."

"Um, no. None that I know of," Mera said hesitantly, hoping she didn't blunder and say something that would raise more questions. "I was just raised by Crystal Ponies, they were always good to me, but my education as a Thestral is kind of limited as a result."

"An orphan? Likely from one of those Klugian rebellions wasn't it?" Willow Brier asked, seeming to forget her earlier fear. "My father died in one of those. My mother was never the same afterwards."

"I lost my mother and my aunt to those as well, and I never knew my father," I said darkly. "I try not to hate any creature, but I have to admit I if I ever found the Klugian who killed either one I would rip his or her throat out."

Willow looked at me, and then gave a brief nod of agreement. When it came to those who hurt our loved ones and other ponies we were a bloodthirsty tribe. Willow and I shared that desire for vengeance on those who killed those close to us. Perhaps it wasn't the best thing to have a bond over, but it was something I could bond over with this pony. Making bonds meant I was less scary, and less strange. 

"I will leave you two to eat in peace. I have taken enough of your time," Willow said with a small bow. "If you need anything feel free to signal any of our staff and they will do everything they can to accommodate you."

As she walked away, with a renewed confidence to her gait, the staff of the restaurant seemed to relax and start caring about the other guests again. Ponies that had long since finished their meals happily called for their bills. It felt all around as if a shadow had been lifted, and with it passing every pony was now in exceptionally good spirits. This felt much better, in fact it felt about as relaxed an atmosphere I have ever shared with my own tribe.

We ate our meal in peace. Occasionally one of the wait staff would come near us to ask if we wished any refills to our cider, or if there was anything else we needed. The requests were no more frequent than I would expect at a restaurant normally though. I was happy and they were happy as a result. 

When we asked for out bill the staff seemed flabbergasted. They were very insistent that they couldn't charge The Honored One, but it felt like I was taking advantage of these ponies if I didn't pay. Mera came to my rescue though, she was the one with the political mind after all.

"If you won't charge us we won't refuse your generosity," she told them with a smile. "But we must insist you accept our gratuity to all the staff here."

I took her hint and piled a hefty sum of bits on the table in thanks. I was giving far more than I expected the meal would have cost, or even ten like it. However, we did have a considerable amount in the bank, and I had not spent much of my own bits in the last month. I had already been letting other ponies cover my expenses far more often than I should, and I needed to make sure I didn't make it a habit to expect others to.

The staff accepted the gratuity, and we left with a final wave to the staff and remaining patrons.
> Chapter 25: The Couple that Slays Together, Stays Together.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

We were back in our room two hours to sunrise when Sunset casually made her way in through the balcony.

"Good morning," she said. "I hope you two are ready to work. We are going to get as much training we can fit in one hour as possible."

"Me too?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Yep, wing exercise for you while Mera and I work. Get to doing some stretches, because I want you on the ground giving me one-hundred as Mera and I work." She smiled at my discomfort.

Sunset turned to Mera as I was groaning to myself. 

"Now for you," she said to Mera, "I want to start as we have. Focus on your own emotions and thoughts, block out awareness of anything else around you."

"I still don't know how this is practical," Mera complained. "How am I supposed to function if I am not able to pay attention to what's going on around me?"

"We will get to that," Sunset assured her. "For right now we need to be able to get you to maintain that through distractions first. Now sit down and start focusing. Pearl, start your wing-ups."

I hated wing-ups with a passion. It always left me feeling at least a little sore and uncomfortable for hours after. With a sigh I laid down, put my wings in position, lifted myself with them, and then crossed my forelegs. After that I began the awkward lowering and lifting myself wing my wings.

"Can you hear me Mera?" Sunset asked her.

"Yes," Mera replied.

"Then focus harder," Sunset snapped at her. Sunset was in full drill sergeant mode right now. She looked towards me, but I was doing my wing-ups as told, so she didn't say anything to me.

After about five minutes of silence my wings gave out on me, and I collapsed down to the ground. 

"That is only ninety-five,Pearl" Sunset said simply. "You can get the other five done. Push through, you are doing better than when you first started doing these."

I looked at her pathetically, but only earned myself a stern look back. I sighed and pushed myself up again with my wings.

"And how are we doing Mera?" Sunset asked turning back towards my wife. When she got no response Sunset got up and waved a hoof in front of her face, also getting no response. Sunset smiled and then lightly touched Mera in the shoulder. Mera again didn't react. Sunset held her hoof on the shoulder for about half a minute and seemed to be focusing on something. Then she broke contact with a smile.

"She has me successfully blocked out," she said with pride. I finished my last signup as she made the declaration and gave a smile for my wife and for finally being done with the torturous exercise. 

"Now the trick is for her to be able to do that without putting herself in a trance like state," Sunset continued. "The more often she can do this, the easier it will be for her. After a while she will be able to do it on command without thinking about it. When she can do it without thinking about it she can do it while still functioning. Blocking another out means she also isn't getting into another's head to absorb any thoughts or feelings."

"Will it block her from absorbing magic when she is doing that?" I asked. 

"I am not actually sure," Sunset admitted. "I don't think so. Magic absorption is a separate ability than her empathic abilities. The absorbing talent she has simply strengthens both her natural Crystal Pony absorbing abilities and her Half-breed empathic abilities. This training is all about bringing that second set of abilities to where she can control them. In theory she might be able to actually choose points to deliberately absorb with enough control. I think she might already have some instinctual ability for absorbing on purpose, she certainly absorbed that Thestral blood-thirst from you on demand."

Sunset gave Mera a good shake, which startled Mera back into awareness. 

"I am not going to sit with you every day doing this," Sunset said to her, "but I want you still doing these exercises daily with your wife. When it has gotten to where you can do what you have been doing the last five minutes on demand we will start onto the next phase of getting your abilities controlled. Good job for right now, you are making progress."

"It doesn't feel like I am." Mera lowered her ears. 

"You managed to block me from casually entering into your mind," Sunset told her. "I likely could have pushed through, but that would have been by force and might hurt you. I also wasn't blocking my emotions off from you. Did you feel anything from me?" 

Mera sat and did her listening thing for a moment, then her face brightened up a moment when she shook her head that she hadn't felt anything.

"You see, progress," Sunset assured her. "Just keep working at this. It isn't something you learn in a few sessions. It is something that takes a lot of work to get down." Sunset looked sympathetically at Mera. "Believe me, I went through this too. When I was your age I couldn't touch any creature without getting a full dose of what they were thinking. Sometimes it got so bad I didn't even need to be touching them, and I could hear their thoughts if they were nearby. It was maddening."

"I didn't think Alicorns could remember back that far," I interjected. I had been told constantly that Alicorn memory from back that far was blurry to non existent.

"There is a section of my life from back then that is still fresh after all these years," Sunset replied back with a sad tone. "I can't remember before it at all, and a lot of what came after is hard to remember anything from, but I remember a few years from back then like they happened yesterday. Some things just stay with you because you keep thinking about them. There isn't a year that goes by that I don't think of that section of my life. They were some of the best years of my life. Back before I was an Alicorn."

"Why do they make you seem sad if they were such a happy time?" Mera asked with concern for her friend.

"It is a long story." Sunset shook her head. "I might tell you some other time. The place where those years was spent is now gone forever, and my resentment for the Greaters stems from the fact they were the ones that made it cease to be. It is an old wound for me, but one that never really will heal. They had their reasons, and they were probably right, but I am still angry after all this time."

We weren't going to push her for details. This was the most that Sunset had opened up to either of us. To this point the full extent of what we knew about her past was Starlight had once tried to trick her into taking Starlight's position, and that was it for her history. It was just nice that she opened up at all. 

"Anyway, I am satisfied with each of your progress for now. Please try to make this daily routine for each of you, whether I am standing over you watching or not. You have to take some personal responsibility for you to improve, and you have each other to encourage one another on," Sunset said with a smile. "I will check in on your progress every few days, and give guidance on what I want you to adjust.

"For now we have a long day ahead of us and I will leave you two to yourselves until we are ready to leave," she finished. She then waved us goodbye and took out in the air from the balcony.

This left us with some time to just relax, so we went out on the balcony to just sit and talk. Sex was good, but the most enjoyable part of being together was being able to just spend quiet time together talking and enjoying one another's company.

"I really should kick this habit," I said as I lit up my pipe. 

"Not likely," Mera giggled as she lit her own. "I would get you hooked again as soon as possible. I am not my giving up my smoking buddy."

"Heathen Thestral," I grumbled playfully to her. "I am going to have to give Hot Sticks a good wing slap for corrupting you."

"Well, technically you corrupted me, not him. What I absorbed from him just reinforced it." She let off a contented sigh as she released her draw. "I don't think this can hurt us anyway. Your healing likely overrides any negative health effects. So since we aren't capable of getting drunk might as well enjoy what little sinful pleasures that we can enjoy."

"Any further thought about how we are going to deal with meeting your parents?" I asked, changing the subject.

"I have been thinking about it," she admitted with a sigh. "I don't think talking to them in a public place is a great idea. I want to be open and honest with them about everything. I can't do that where we have to worry about other ponies hearing.  There is a lot of things about us that I don't think it would be good to have many ponies knowing about; our individual abilities, our immortality, the fact I am instinctually more a Thestral than a Crystal Pony, the fact we are paid to produce super cures for the Alicorns. Plus we have Sunset who has her own privacy that we need to respect. And last, but not least, we have a mystery that we need to figure out too."

"So you are just going to be up front from the start?" I asked.

"Looks like it. I guess we will leave Sunset and Hot Sticks in a hotel and go together to my parents' house. I will introduce you, and then just start explaining. I don't know how it will go, but it is the right way to deal with it." She sighed again and took another calming draw. 

She was still very nervous about doing this. I tried to put myself in her position. What if my mother were still alive and I had to sit down and explain my life since I last saw her. I am fairly sure she would be understanding, she had already known how I felt about gender issues, and never called me a colt. She would be horrified at the fact that I had been raped, likely worried upon hearing about my time in Starlight's Folly, and I couldn't imagine what her reaction to the fact I was immortal would have been. I think she would have been happy to hear I found a wife, it might have seemed extremely unlikely to her that I would ever marry any pony, it would have made her happy I had found love after all.

"Tell me about each of them so I can know more about them than names. What do they look like? What do they do for jobs? What's are their personalities like? All of that information will help me not put my hoof in my mouth when trying to talk with them," I said with a push for information. 

She blinked a few times after my line of questions. Then she smiled and giggled.

"Okay, I apologize for anytime I ever overwhelmed you, or any pony else, with a string questions all at once," she said, still giggling. 

"Well, I already told you about my little sister," she began. "My father, Diamond Glow, is white coated and blue maned. He has a spear and shield for a cutie mark. He is a retired Crystal Guard pony, that's the guard that serves Flurry Heart. He gets a pension from the guard, and he will help my mom out with her work sometimes. He also has a love of pipes, and the rest of would always pick on him for being stinky. He is likely not going to let me live down the fact I use a pipe now too. I can feel the teasing coming already.

"My mother, Tibia, works in a flower shop. She typically is in the form of Crystal Pony mare that looks a lot like I do, or at least like I did..or will..--okay, that's confusing. Anyway, she looks like that, only older looking. Just imagine my Crystal Pony form in her forties, that would be the splitting image. Her cutie mark is a yellow tulip blossom. I used to run deliveries for her for work, I never really developed a career of my own. I think she kind of wanted me to inherit her shop, but I just never had the interest. Maybe Peridot will have the interest, but I never noticed her have any either. Peridot is still a filly, so who knows, maybe she will develop an interest in it."

Mera shaped her smoke into her parent's cutie marks for me to see. 

"I was always a lot more like my mom," she continued in a sad tone. "But now it seems like I am more like my dad. I don't know how my mom will take that. I was always this little version of her, minus the interest in the flower shop. Now I am coming home this completely changed mare. She will still love me, but I wonder if there is going to be a gulf between us that wasn't there before."

"How did they react to you deciding to take off on an adventure?" I asked her.

"They started placing bets on how long it would take me to come running back home." She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Neither one of them thought I could deal with it. They weren't too worried because they were both convinced I would turn tail at the first sign of danger, and be right back in Crystal Heart." She then took on a slightly downcast look. "I guess they weren't entirely wrong. I wasn't cut out for it when I left home, and the first sign of danger left me hiding in a cave in Starlight's Folly. I am not that scared, incapable, little mare anymore though. I can't help feeling they are worried about me, worried something bad happened to me. Something bad did happen, but it put you in my life, so I have no regrets." She smiled at me as she finished saying the last part.

"So how do I avoid doing the wrong thing?" I asked. "I want to make a good first impression. I had my mother, and I have you now, I never have had any extended family. I don't want them to get a bad first impression of me."

"You are a good pony, Pearl, just be yourself and they will like you." She came over and gave me a kiss. "Just let me be the one to be the one to tell them anything that might be upsetting, that way it was me that upset them, not you."

"One more day after today before we meet them, I will be glad when it is done." I sighed.

"I am hoping we find something to hunt together between today and tomorrow," Mera grumbled. "The whole point of this trip on foot instead of by airship or train was to run into something dangerous. I am going to be very disappointed if we don't end up killing something along the way."

"Bloodthirsty much?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow and trying to suppress a giggle on my own part.

"Okay, I admit that sounds bad," she said with a roll of her eyes, as she blew out another plume. "Maybe I am more than a bit bloodthirsty at the prospect of taking down monsters. But it is part of who I am, and it is part of who you are too, and I want us to embrace it together. We should take down the monsters that would hurt ponies." Then she looked down and sighed. "I also admit I also feel kind of denied with Luna killing Rose Thorn, like she stole my kill. That sounds extremely bad, and it probably is extremely bad, but I just feel the need to take out all that unreleased aggression somewhere else. A monster in the wilds felt like the best possible option."

"You never said anything about that before," I said taken aback. This was her getting to be scary again. 

"I didn't want to upset you, or scare you. I just have all this rage still about what happened to you, and I have no where to direct it. I made it so I wouldn't feel helpless like that again, but I am still so angry. And that is all me, nothing absorbed from any other pony. I just want something I don't have to feel guilty taking all that rage out on," she said dejectedly. "It is why I was so determined to absorb your willingness to kill when needed. I wanted to have the drive to actually put down the pony that hurt you. Despite all that training I didn't think I could bring myself to do something like that. Now I can, but I have no target for it. I just want this anger to go away."

I came over to her and held her. She started crying into my fur. I couldn't remember the event anymore, but it was burned into her memory, and it haunted her. I remembered how brutal and efficient she had been on the dueling grounds. She had been fueled by pure rage at what had happened to me, and Twilight had actually goaded her on. I wish I had an answer for her, something to make this better like they had for me, but I had nothing.

"We had better start getting ready to leave," she finally said after her tears subsided. I nodded my agreement.

"And let's agree not to tell your parents about the fact that you gained blood-lust from me. For some reason I don't think they would be happy with me for that," I joked. She slapped me with her wing, but she laughed about it too.


***


Our party left Sire's Hallow shortly after sunrise. The road north cut through a vast forest that ran all the way to the Old Crystal Imperial District. It would take all of today and into tomorrow, with a break to sleep to traverse the forest.

The road narrowed considerably about two hours out of town. It also ceased to paved stone, and was instead dirt. The road wasn't overgrown as it was well traveled, but we saw few other travelers along the way. The few that we did see were merchants transporting goods south, primarily timber and other other supplies that the few villages of the region produced. The forest was extremely dense to either side, and it was impossible to make out much in the distance within it. The path, and the forest itself, were under a perpetual shade from the canopy above, with only a little bit of sunlight peaking through here and there. For me and Mera this was actually very pleasant, but I had a feeling the place proved creepy for our other companions.

Occasional side paths would run into the main road. Paths to small villages, or more often than not paths leading to where small village once stood. This was not a hospitable region for ponies. If the ponies of the region were more hospitable to Thestrals then it might have been better. But prejudice overrides good sense. My tribe was also not numerous enough to properly settle the region themselves, though the Foal Mountains were not that far away.

We traveled for all the morning into the early afternoon with little talk. Eventually though Sunset brought us to a halt with a raised hoof. She sat silent for a long moment just listening. The remaining three of us strained our ears and looked about to try to determine what she had heard. 

"We make camp here for a few hours," she said in a tone that brokered no argument. "I will stand watch, Mera and Pearl should each have a nap, as you two have been up long enough. Hot Sticks you may stay awake or nap as you please. We keep silent. There is a chimera, the actual beast, about in these woods somewhere, and it has killed a pony recently. I have a much more highly developed sense of smell as an Alicorn as well, and I can smell it and the pony blood."

Mera and I both bristled our coats and growled involuntarily. It was only Sunset's orders that kept us from running out into the woods to go hunt the thing. It wasn't even a conscious desire, it was instinct. Knowledge that there was one of our tribe's natural enemies nearby, and that it had killed, awoke primal instincts in both of us. 

"Then why are we making camp instead of going out and finding the monster?" Mera growled at Sunset. Wolf instinct was overriding pony instinct, and the only thing that kept her, or me, in check was the fact that same instinct recognized Sunset as the pack leader. 

"Thestral instinct that strong in both of you?" She asked us with a knowing smile. "The chimera won't go far, and will be busy feeding for at least a day on its victim. The unfortunate soul it caught is already dead, so we aren't racing to any pony's rescue. If you two are going to go on the hunt I want you both well rested and working in the night. Chimera's aren't nocturnal, so it won't be at its best at night, and will be slower from gorging itself in the meantime. I don't intend to see either of you end up a victim either, but I am giving you what you wanted out of this trip. You will do it with every advantage on your side though. Now get some sleep, when night falls you get to hunt."


***


We had trouble getting to sleep, but eventually managed to get to sleep, curled up in a single ball between the two of us. We were awoken by Sunset shortly after, well, sunset. 

"I can tell you that the chimera is somewhere in that direction," she told us as she pointed a hoof out to the far left of the road. "It can't be too far out or I wouldn't be able to smell it through all the smells of the forest, no more than the twice the radius of Sire's Hallow. Move as silently as you can, and keep together. When you get close enough you will start to smell the blood too, and you will be able to quickly track wherever the beast is at then. Chimera's are formidable monsters, each of the heads can spot you independently of the others. It has three minds, but there is a certain level of hive mind to it as well. Anything one is aware of the other two heads will be aware of in short order. I recommend incapacitating the snake head quickly, it takes away a great deal of its field of vision and its most agile weapon. Once you take that head down make the other two heads focus independently on each of you. It may see both of you, but it can only focus on fighting one or the other. It is strong, and either the ram head or the cat head are capable of inflicting lethal bites. You don't survive having have your side ripped from you, do you understand?"

We nodded to her silently, eager to be on our way. The chimera had killed a pony and ever inch of our beings were crying for blood. We should have been afraid, but we were in full Thestral blood thirst. All it took was the knowledge that it was nearby and what it had done and we were reduced to our primal needs.

"Off with you two then, and don't you dare die on me," Sunset ordered.

We took off immediately, but not on the ground. We flew into the branches of the trees, and moved quickly with short leaps and glides from one tree to another. Just as Pegasi had their cloud walking Thestrals could move silently from branch to branch through the woods, without disturbing our perches. It wasn't something you thought about as you did it, trying to think about it likely would make it fail actually. We just had to do it and let our magic do its work, instinct was all we needed.

We went a large distance quickly and silently. After about five minutes we caught the scent of blood and diverted our course to head towards it. The scent of pony blood just made the bloodthirst somehow more intense. I hadn't even felt this with the diamond dog, perhaps it was the knowledge one of the natural enemies of my tribe was out here, combined with the scent of blood.

We came to a sudden halt as we spotted our prey. It was napping, all three heads asleep. There was a mutilated carcass near it that had once been a pony, likely a foal from the size, now it was an unidentifiable mass of blood, meat, and bones. Seeing it made my vision briefly go red.

We circled in opposite directions through the tree branches, silently directing each other through small glances and shifts if our ears. There was an unspoken language to this, you just knew it, you didn't learn it. We didn't need to talk to one another to plan, we could do it all through the smallest gestures. I was going to do the first strike, and I moved to get in the ideal position, while Mera moved to get in the perfect position to follow it up.

I pounced from my tree branch and brought my two forehooves down hard on the snake head that served as the tail. There was a very satisfying crunch as the head collapsed under my hooves, the beasts other two heads shot awake with a blood curdling scream. One head down in short order, two to go.

I jumped back away from the monster as the other two heads whipped towards me in rage. After they both turned to focus on me Mera made her move and came down on their back, sinking her fangs into the back of the ram's neck. The neck of the thing was far too big for her to sever the spinal cord that led up it, but it did cause a lot of pain, and panic. The chimera tried to buck, an odd site for something that was half feline, but there was no loosening a Thestral once the Thestral had a good bite on it.

As it bucked I darted towards the foreleg closest to the cat head. The head roared in rage and panic and tried to lift the paw to take a swipe at me. Unfortunately for the chimera this was a very stupid idea, as lifting the paw put it on just one leg, since the two hind legs were in the air bucking. It was incapable of standing on one leg alone for even a moment, and the awkward attempt to swipe at me just caused the beast to fall down on its side. As it was falling Mera released herself and bounded off the thing's back.

As soon as it hit the ground we moved again. Its underside was fully exposed, the the underside of it was far less bony and muscular, this was flesh that could easily be ripped and have chunks bitten away. I darted in and quickly took a bite from one of the sides of its stomach area, taking a large chunk of flesh with it he bite. It screamed again in agony and panic. It was flailing about now, the two heads desperately giving separate orders to the body out of sync with one another. It was losing blood rapidly, the tail had far more blood pumping into it than other creatures would, due to the fact it had previously had one of its three brains at the end of it. Now it just had a massive ball of gore at the end of the tail that was gushing out blood. The place where I had taken a chunk of it was bleeding severely as well, not to mention it was losing blood where Mera had bit it. All this flailing about in panic was just pumping more blood out those wounds. If we did nothing else at this point the monster would likely quickly succumb to death by severe blood loss.

We didn't stop though. Mera and I took turns darting in and away from it, taking bites as we went, keeping the beast panicked and increasing the rate of blood loss with new wounds. Eventually the blood loss took its toll and the flailing slowly came to and end. The thing was not dead yet, very shallow breathing could be seen, but it was no longer capable of putting up resistance. Mera and I both pounced up on the torso, knocking what little breath the thing had out of it. It was still letting out a terrified whimper somehow. 

We each went for a separate throat to end it; I had the cat throat, Mera the ram throat. With a bite and a rip from each of us the monster was put out if its misery. We had no injuries, this had been easy for us. Thestrals had proven once again to be the apex predator of this world.

I suddenly found myself looking Mera in the eyes. I didn't remember changing position, there was meat in my mouth. She held my gaze and smiled at me. I glanced down and realized that I had done it again and had shut my mind down as I went to feed on my kill, and had been in the process of that when my wife had caught my gaze. I now noticed as well that gore covered her muzzle from where she had been feeding on the beast as well.

"Don't block this off from your memory," she said, as she licked some of the blood and flesh from her muzzle. "You have no reason to, there is nothing to be ashamed of. This is what you were born to do, to make sure than creatures like this, things that would hurt our fellow ponies, die by your teeth. Being able to dine on it afterwards is a reward for a job well done, and a warning to any other such creature that thinks it can make an easy meal of ponies. I might not have been born to this, but I have pride in it. Don't force this from your memory in shame, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Now, eat with me, and let's celebrate the fact that this thing won't be killing any foals ever again."

She was right. All that she said came from me originally. These were things that I knew deep inside of me. I needed to make peace with myself and learn to enjoy being what I was. I thought of Water Shadow who tried spending her life in denial of what she was, but ever so slowly creeping towards madness. There was more to it of course with her, but it stood out to me. 

I stepped over and gave my wife a blood coated kiss. She happily returned the kiss with a small sound of pleasure. When we broke the kiss I smiled at her, before going back to eating our grisly meal, and she quickly joined back in with the victory feast herself.
> Chapter 26: Out of the Woods
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The adrenaline of the fight with the chimera had gotten us both somewhat aroused. After eating for a few minutes we fell into physical flirting, growling, and nipping at one another before progressing into full scale sex. In retrospect it was rather morbid. We were having sex while coated in gore, with the corpse of a chimera and a pony within sight of us. None of this registered as critical details at the time. 

After rolling around in the leaves and underbrush enjoying our marital activities for several minutes we took a few minutes to just relax, cuddling up next to each other on the forest floor. 

"We really should be heading back to the others," I said as I nuzzled my wife. "They are going to start worrying at some point."

"I am sure they are fine," Mera replied back, with returned muzzle and small nip at my neck. "If Sunset can smell and hear at this distance, then I am sure she can smell and hear us."

The idea that Sunset could smell us having sex was mildly unsettling. I wondered if she smelled it each and every time Mera and I had sex, it felt like having an audience, and I wasn't sure I was comfortable with that. Mera felt what I was thinking about and giggled.

"Oh hush that line of thinking," Mera said through a giggle. "So what if she knows when we are having sex. She likely smells sex everywhere she goes when she is going through a town. I wonder if Alicorns have to deal with estrus. Smelling all that sex, while dealing with estrus, can you imagine trying to deal with that? That would be torture."

"Luckily I don't haven't had to deal with estrus in millennia," came Sunset's voice from a short distance away.

"Hi Sunset! Hi Hot Sticks!" Mera waved at them happily. I buried my face into Mera's fur in embarrassment. 

Hot Sticks looked around the area and looked ready to be ill. Sunset looked more than a little disturbed by the sight of the remains of the foal, along with the half eaten chimera. The fact both Mera and I were both drenched in the chimera's blood and stank of sex likely didn't help matters. 

"You seem to be in a good mood," Sunset said to Mera. "How are you feeling, Pearl? Any injuries to either of you? It is hard to tell if you are fine or if you are bleeding. I can't make heads or tails of the scents here, not between all this carnage and the little after party you two had."

"We aren't hurt," I replied to her. "Can we just pretend you didn't hear or smell anything?"

"Don't be a prude, Pearl," Sunset scolded me. "You two are free to do that when your out of sight all you want. As Mera said, I am very much used to hearing and smelling that constantly, I don't give it much thought. I tune most of it out. I am not a pervert."

"Not to interrupt, but shouldn't we be taking time to bury the foal?" Hot Sticks asked, still looking green.

We all turned our eyes to the remains that were barely identifiable as a pony. Our ears all drooped down. Mera and I had avoided looking at the body and put it out of mind to this point, no pony wanted to think about it. Our blood-lust about it was over with, now there was grief for the foal.

"I will deal with it unless one of the three of you have a shovel packed away in your packs," Sunset said with a sigh. "You three head back to the road and I will join you shortly. There is a side path to a village a short distance down the road. When we get to it I will go to it by myself, and explain the fate of the foal. There should be a small stream near there, Mera and Pearl, please take the opportunity to wash yourselves when we get there."

Hot Sticks led us back to the road, which was good because we had lost any real sense of what direction it was in our frenzied state. It only took us a few minutes of quiet travel to find ourselves back on it.

"There is a lot of blood on both of you," Hot Sticks observed with concern. "Are you sure neither of you took any serious injury?"

"We are fine, the thing never landed managed to strike or bite either of us. The entire thing happened quickly and efficiently. It was a completely lopsided fight, the chimera never stood a chance." I scrunched up my muzzle in thought. "Honestly I don't understand why a group of armed ponies couldn't have just as easily done the same thing."

"Without proper training most non-Thestral ponies would hesitate. We have a natural timid nature towards danger. That hesitation can mean a lot in a fight. A group of such ponies would likely fail at sneaking up on the monster. They might win the fight in the end, but not without withstanding severe injury and casualties," Hot Sticks explained. I guessed the explanation made sense.

We continued to wait in silence for Sunset to return. When she finally arrived back we could tell that she had been crying. I looked to Mera and she gazed back to me silently. Mera was right, being what we were was a good thing. We protected ponies from having this happen. We had the drive and will to do what they could not, and if there had been Thestrals out here before we came along there would be one more foal that would grow up someday. We had no reason to be ashamed of what we do, and should in fact celebrate that we could do.

Sunset motioned us to resume walking without a word. We resumed our silent procession down the road with heavy hearts. The earlier exhilaration that Mera and I had felt was now gone, replaced with the sorrow for what we arrived a day or two too late to stop.

After walking for a short while Sunset came to a halt again, looking sadly at a less overgrown than normal side path on our left. She let out a sigh and turned to us.

"The stream is about a minute or two in that direction." She pointed a hoof slightly off to the right of the side path. "I will only be a few minutes. When I return I will be doing the transformation spell on you again, Mera. We want you arriving back in Crystal Heart in a form your family will recognize. I intend to keep pushing on without rest till we get there. This place gets to me, and I am ready to leave it behind."

Mera and I quietly nodded and started making our way towards where Sunset had indicated as she started walking the path towards the village. It didn't take long for us to find a small stream that could easily be forded without even swimming.

We were washing away the dried blood in our coats when we were startled by a loud scream. It took us only a moment to realize that it hadn't been a scream of fear or physical pain. Our ears were lowered as far as they could go as we gazed towards the direction the village must be, which was where the scream originated from. It had been a scream of anguish, likely from the foal's mother. I couldn't imagine trying to face her. How do you tell a mother their foal is dead? We could tell her that we massacred the beast that was responsible, but that wouldn't bring any comfort, that didn't change the fact the foal was dead.

Satisfied that our coats were clean of blood we made our way back to the road, shaking off the water as we walked so we didn't end up replacing the blood in our coats with mud. When we arrived back at the road we found Hot Sticks crying, the wails of the mare had brought him to tears. I embraced the stallion in a hug. Mera looked to do the same and then hesitated with a look to her cutie mark. Then she shook her head and cursed under her breath before joining us in a group hug of comfort. No one chided her or tried to stop her from joining in. After a minute had passed we broke the hug and all stared back towards the path, waiting for Sunset to return. 

When she finally returned she was crying openly, and the three of us went and embraced her in a hug for comfort. She accepted the hug and sobbed onto our heads. 

"I have had to tell ponies that their loved ones are gone more times than I can count," she sobbed. "You would think it would somehow get easier, the span of a pony's life is seemingly over in the blink of an eye to me, but it never gets easier. Telling parents that their foal is gone forever, that is the worst of them. There is nothing you can do or say to comfort them, it would be inappropriate to even try. There is nothing you can do to make it better, and can only watch helplessly as you see a pony lose the light in their world."

"Is there an afterlife?" Mera asked Sunset looking for some comfort about the fate the foal.

"I don't know," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "It is a nice pleasantry to think that when you die you go off to some better place, that our loved ones persist in some way other than just our memories. But I honestly don't know, six-thousand years of life and all I can tell you about is life. What comes after, if anything comes after, is a mystery to me. I want to think there is."

We all looked at each other with sorrow at her words. There had always been superstitions about an afterlife, and how there was a perfect world you went to when you died, or others that said that you were reborn again and again. There seemed to be no consensus about it, but every pony had their own beliefs.  If an Alicorn didn't know for sure then it was impossible to say anything for sure. Sunset seemed doubtful about it, which was disheartening. However, It did put a new perspective on the prospect of immortality.

Sunset pulled out of the hug with a sigh. She glanced unhappily back towards the side path that led to the village one more time, and then turned her attention to Mera.

"Let's just get back to traveling, but first I have to get you changed back. We allowed your hunt, and you did well, but you need to show up properly presentable," Sunset told Mera.

"Do you think you can change me back to Thestral again after I have explained things to my family?" Mera asked hopefully.

"I don't personally advise it, but will do it if you really want me too," Sunset replied. "I will even let them watch if they can be trusted not to reveal me as an Alicorn. Seeing it happen might make it easier for them. I wouldn't normally allow that, but I am feeling sentimental about parents losing their offspring at the moment."

"I do want it," Mera insisted. "I intend to settle down as a Thestral and it is better if I get transformed before we start making moves to move in long term than after. My family will keep quiet about it, I am sure."

"You realize you won't be able to a acknowledge them as family in public after you go full time as a Thestral, right?" Sunset asked her with a raised eyebrow. "It brings up a lot of questions from onlookers, you will have to get used to calling them all by name in public. In private as well would be a good idea, it makes it so you are less likely to have a slip of the tongue."

"That will feel weird, but if that has to happen I can do it," Mera said with discomfort.

"Alright, just let me know when you are in need of the spell again. For right now just hold still, and everypony else please back away from her so I don't accidentally catch any of you in the spell," Sunset instructed.

We all did as instructed. When Hot Sticks and I were clear of Mera a golden glow appeared where Sunset's non existent horn would have been and it enveloped my wife quickly. With a quick flash it was over. Sitting on the ground was once again a pink Crystal Pony with a bright yellow mane.

Mera got up and looked herself over with displeasure, before finally sighing with acceptance.

"This feels weird now, actually it feels flat out wrong," Mera complained. "I want to move my wings and they aren't there. It seems like they should still be there."

She looked at her wingless sides and developed a curious look on her face. A moment later she looked like she was trying to concentrate on something. What happened was completely unexpected; she briefly shot up into the air without having appeared to jump, and then came down with a hard crash back to the ground.

We all rushed over to her to see if she was alright. She seemed to be, with only her pride hurt.

"Yeah, you aren't going to fly properly without wings," Sunset said. "I am impressed you were able to move the air, but without the wings to control how you move it you are just firing yourself in one direction."

"Oh well, was worth a try," Mera said dejectedly as she got back up again from where she had fallen. I came over and nuzzled her affectionately.

"You are still cute and sexy in either form," I told her with a smile. 

"I appreciate it, Pearl, but it doesn't make me feel better," Mera said sadly to me. "I'd likely still find you attractive if you were turned into a stallion, since it is still you, but I doubt you would be content at all. It isn't exactly the same, but I imagine it is kind of like that."

"I understand," I said with a hug and kiss. She nuzzled me back in turn. "Just a few days and you won't have to worry about this form any more. I will miss you lighting up and glowing, but your Thestral form brings a lot of fun things with it, making you happy being number one on that list."

"Mmm, I love you," Mera said as she rubbed her head against my neck.

"Alright," Sunset said, drawing attention back to her. "Enough of the sickening sweetness for now. We have a lot of walking to do before today is out if we are going to make it to Crystal Heart. We should be out of these woods on about five hours if we keep up a good pace, and after that we will have a paved road that follows straighter again which should help increase our pace dramatically. I am aiming for an early afternoon arrival to the city outskirts. I don't need as much sleep as any of you, but I do need sleep, and I have been up since early yesterday morning. I am looking forward to getting tucked into a bed at a hotel."

So, we began our walk again. Again there wasn't much talk between us as we walked through the woods. We again from time to time passed where the road would have a side connecting path, most of which seemed to be overgrown, but a few well maintained ones. At one point we passed a stretch that had a fair amount of cherry trees, with cherries ripe for the picking, overhanging into the road. I flew up and grabbed a few of the cherries for each of us, with Mera looking on sadly as I did. She really was taking the lack of wings hard. She did gratefully accept the small fruits from me with a smile though.

The density of the trees began to lessen around us as it approached noon. Far more light came in from above, and the overhanging canopy eventually vanished. The temperature began to drop despite the fact that the sun was high in the air. The climate was getting cooler, and I wondered if the previous density of the forest had somehow insulated us against dropping temperatures.

The path abruptly shifted from dirt road to paved stone a few minutes after noon. Embedded in the road we could see the same types of crystals as you would see in the roads leading to Starlight's Folly from Yazyakistan, the ones that kept the snow from covering the road.  Mera had told me the much of the Old Crystal Imperial District had snow year round, and the snows were only held at bay by the magical heart in the center of the city, which also kept the city warm year round. I imagined the heart to be something like one of the crystals that lined the road, only exponentially stronger. 

The shift in climate was emphasized an hour after noon as the tree types changed to primarily evergreens, and snow began to lightly fall in the forest. I didn't notice the snow at first, as it didn't fall on the road, but Hot Sticks pointed it out to me. We were definitely now in Mera's home region. 

The forest came to an abrupt end soon after, and we paused to look at the tundra of the Old Crystal Imperial District. The first thing that you noticed in the distance was what I assumed to be the Crystal Spire. It didn't stand as tall as the Great Tree, but it could still be seen despite us not being able to see the city that surrounded it. Snowfall obscured out vision of much of the rest of the area, but the spire glowed with its own light that pierced through the snow, like a beacon to Crystal Heart. 

"There is home," Mera said with a more upbeat tone than she had in hours. She waved a hoof at the rest of the area after. "And here is boring old Ocid."

"Ocid?" I asked curiously.

"Old Crystal Imperial District takes too long to say, so most of us here just call it Ocid for short," she explained. Crystal Ponies seemed to have a tendency for giving things long names, and then nicknaming them from what little experience I had so far. Perhaps it was just a fluke, I didn't have a lot of experience beyond Mera with Crystal Ponies.

"We should be in Crystal Heart with about another hour's walk," Sunset said. "Let's keep moving. I really am looking forward to a bed, food, and the warmth of the city."

And so we began our final stretch of the walk to Crystal Heart.
> Chapter 27: Meet the Parents
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crystal Heart was a very different city than Harmony. Most of the buildings were one or two stories, rather than the large massive structures of Harmony, though a few would rise to four or five stories tall.  They were all made of crystal rather than stone or wood, and the colors were light blue, yellow, and violet. Some of the structures were uniquely shaped structures that looked to be strange works of art despite clearly being buildings still. The streets were of the same ornate blue crystal, and had designs carved throughout them. The Crystal Spire, and the castle associated with it, stood at least one hundred stories high in the center of the city, no where near as tall as the Great Tree, but still the largest structure by far. I could imagine that there were tens of thousands of ponies in this city, which was an astronomical number, but far easier to contemplate than the legions of ponies in Harmony. The feeling this city gave off was one of art and beauty, in contrast to the feeling of power that Harmony displayed.

"Hot Sticks and I will be heading to the Heart's Desire Hotel, do you know of it?" Sunset asked Mera.

"Yeah, I know where that one is, it is up near the center of the city, up near Flurry Heart's personal estate," Mera replied looking off in one direction.

"Good," Sunset said, "then we will leave you two to go do what you need to do, while we go check ourselves in. When you need us just go there and ask for me. Do you want us to reserve you a room as well, or do are you planning on staying with your parents for right now?"

"I don't think we know yet," Mera replied hesitantly. "I would hold off on reserving us a room for now. If we need one we will rent our own. Now that we are here we can find a bank and get what we need to cover our own expenses. Don't worry about waiting around for us, I don't know how long we are going to be with my parents."

"Alright then, well, good luck to you two with the parents. I don't envy you trying to explain everything to them," Sunset said sympathetically to the two of us.

"Good luck," Hot Sticks said as well. "I remember when I told my parents that I was going off to Harmony to study under Meadowbrook . They were convinced that I had gone insane and was talking nonsense. I can only imagine that yours might think much the same of you."

"Hopefully it won't be too bad," I told him. Mera looked at me with a doubtful expression. She would be the expert out of all of us on how her parents would react, and she didn't look thrilled at the prospect at all.

We waved goodbye to our friends as they walked off towards the center of the city. When they were out of sight I turned to Mera awaiting her direction. She was still just sitting down in the street with her ears lowered, not eager at all to get moving.

"We can't really put this off, but if you wanted to give me a tour of the city to give yourself more time it would be okay," I told her.

She looked at me with her ears half perked up, sensing a chance to delay the meeting. She then looked around the area and lowered her head and ears again.

"No," she said, as she got to her hooves. "We had best just go do this. Procrastinating isn't going to make this any easier. I still have no clue how to even go about talking to them about everything, but we will have to wing it."

"It will be okay," I assured her, and gave her a hug.

"I know it will," she said to me with a sad smile. "It is just going to be an extremely difficult conversation. Come on, let's go get this over with."

She led me down many streets, going at a brisk trot that seemed far more determined than she actually was. The city seemed to have clearly defined residential and business districts and it took us several turns through streets to reach regular family dwellings. After about twenty minutes of making our way through the many streets she came to a halt before a simple two story abode made of purple crystal. It had a few flower patches planted in the front, and some flowers growing in pots sitting on windowsills. A small staircase led up to the front door, and the elevation of the first floor, along with a few windows near the ground, suggested there was a basement as well.

"Home sweet home," she said nervously as she looked at the dwelling. 

"It looks like a nice place," I said as I looked over the flowers. It actually did look inviting, a place well taken care of, that you could imagine a happy family living in.

"It is," she responded. "My parents are really nice, I am half surprised I don't see Peridot running around out here, she should be done with school for the day, and she likes being outdoors."

"We will find out in a minute," I replied, then gave my wife a muzzle to the face. "Go on up and knock. I am right here behind you."

She gulped and slowly made her way up the steps. She looked back at me for reassurance again and I gave her another smile. She turned back to the door, took a deep breath, and then knocked three times with a forehoof.

A few seconds later the door opened revealing a pink mare that clearly matched the description of Mera's mother, Tibia. The resemblance between the two was unquestionable. Tibia's eyes lit up as she looked at her daughter and she let out a happy gasp as she immediately grabbed Mera up in a large hug.

"Bibulous! I can't tell you how worried I was about you," the mare cried with joy. "I know it isn't fair to think it, but we didn't think you would be gone anywhere near this long. We have been so stressed the last two months and dealing with all the changes with your sister. Diamond! Get out here, your eldest daughter is back!"

"It is good to see you too, Mommy," Mera said happily, with much of her earlier nervousness evaporating in her mother's embrace. 

A white stallion quickly came to the door and took Mera from her mothers embrace into his own.

"Biblo, it is so good to see you safe and sound," Diamond said as he hugged her. He released her and gave her a look over. "And you seem to be in excellent health as well. Actually, you look more much more muscular than when you left. I take it whatever you have been doing, you have not been lazy. Is that a life pack?"

"Yes daddy, its my own life pack, and yeah, I have had a very busy two months," Mera told him with a smile.

Tibia was the first of the parents to take notice of me standing a few pony lengths behind her daughter. She looked at me quizzically for a moment then back to her daughter.

"Who is your friend? Did you finally decide to bring a marefriend home to meet your parents?" She questioned her daughter. Diamond looked over to me with curiosity noticing me now as well.

"Um, that's Pearl, and what do you mean finally bringing a marefriend home? I never told you I was into mares," Mera said with apprehension, looking at her mother accusingly.

"Biblo dear, you might not have told us out loud, but it was impossible to miss how you looked at mares. Your parents aren't completely oblivious," Tibia said with a smile. She then blushed. "Plus we went through your room when you were gone and found some of your magazines. They made your tastes very obvious." I couldn't help myself, I covered my muzzle with a wing to hide a giggle. Mera gave me a stern one-eyed glare for a brief second, which I smiled back to. She dropped the glare and smiled back.

"And why were you going through my things?" Mera said to her mother, as she decided to glare at her instead.

"Well, you see.."Diamond began to answer for Tibia, rubbing a hoof against the back of his head in embarrassment. "We weren't trying to be nosy, but about two weeks after you left Peridot started her first estrus. She is a little young for her first one, and after what we dealt with dealing with you and your estrus periods, we kind of panicked and looked to see if we could find any of your toys to help her deal with it."

"Daddy that's so wrong!" Mera shouted with horror. "You do not give something that has been in my private areas to Peridot to put in her private areas! You didn't actually give her any of those to use did you?"

"We made sure it was properly and thoroughly cleaned first," Tibia assured her daughter.

"Mommy no! Just no!" Mera said breaking loose from the embrace of her parents. She looked completely mortified."That has had my juices on it, and now it has had Peridot's. It is like an incestuous relationship in an object." I wasn't sure it worked that way, but Mera certainly felt it did.

"I told you we washed it thoroughly dear, but if you feel that way we can find something else for her next time," Tibia replied back. "We were just very stressed when she started so soon, and we were already stressing about you being gone. We apologize if we ended up doing something inappropriate. Changelings don't get estrus, and your father certainly has no clue about dealing with it. We just tried to find what worked with you."

"Let's just not speak of it again," Mera said with a shiver. "So was her estrus bad too?"

"Actually, she seemed to do much better than you ever did," Diamond responded happily. "She took to watching the Crystal Guard train, and they are used to fillies and mares dealing with estrus staring at them training. I was very comfortable with her spending her time watching them, a pony showing off their physical prowess while in uniform has always been an attraction getter, and those ponies are kept in line about not taking advantage of females not entirely in their right minds when it comes to sex."

"Thing that became a stress for me was she kept on watching them train after estrus passed," Tibia said mournfully. "You'll be happy to know your sister has her cutie mark now too, looks like she has a career as a guard pony in her future. I'm two for two on daughters who don't seem interested in my work." Tibia's eyes wandered back to me, and they settled on my cutie mark. I could almost see the wheels turning in her mind as she did so. I didn't actually know anything about keeping flowers, but my pearlwort bloom must suddenly look very intriguing to my mother-in-law. Even if my mother-in-law didn't know yet that I wasn't just her daughter's marefriend.

Mera gave a sigh of relief at hearing the news about her sister's cutie mark. There was no absorbing talent with Peridot, so there was no fear about Peridot touching me. Her parents gave her a curious look at the sigh.

"Can we come in?" Mera finally asked. "Pearl and I walked here through the forest to the south, and we started today just a little after midnight. We would really like to sit down for a while. Plus, we have a lot to talk to you about."

"Of course dear," Tibia said as she made room for Mera to pass her, and signaled me to come in as well. "What were you doing in the south? From what we heard you were going northwest somewhere."

Mera and I entered into the house into a nice comfortable living room. The decorations were simple, paintings of flowers, a few bookcases with knick-nacks and books on them, a few potted plants, two large overstuffed couches, and a small table. Mera motioned me to follow her over on to one of the couches. After hopping up on it and sitting she placed herself so we were physically touching. Her parents didn't say a word about our physical closeness, and took up a similar position on the other couch facing us.

"I don't know how to explain everything that has gone on in the last two months," Mera began. "I do know what I need to make known first though. This is Pearl Bottom, and she isn't my marefriend, she is my wife."

Her parents gave off a shocked gasp and went wide eyed as they looked me over. I gave them a wary smile and wave.

"Um..hi?" I said timidly, fearing judgement.

They both just continued staring for a moment, as they tried to process in their minds the fact I was their new daughter-in-law. Tibia seemed to come out of her shock first with a shake of her head to clear it. 

"This..is..sudden," she said simply. "I am pleased to meet you Pearl. I am sorry if I am not coming off right, but this has me shocked. I am sure you are a wonderful mare if my daughter chose to elope with you without ever telling us about anything, it is going to take a few minutes to have this settle in."

"We did have a proper wedding," Mera assured her mother. "The Twilight Princess herself was the one who married us, and most of the guests were Alicorns."

"You don't need to invent tall tails to impress us, Bibulous," Tibia said with frustration.

"She isn't making up stories," I defended my wife. "A lot has happened, and the Alicorns have direct interest in both of us. We even have a contract signed by the Twilight Princess herself that we can show you later, once we have told you about everything."

"A contract from the Twilight Princess?" Diamond said with interest. "So you two have a job that will earn you a livable wage?"

"More than livable," Mera said with a proud smile. "It actually will likely make us fairly wealthy. We already have over sixteen-thousand bits in the bank that the Twilight Princess ordered deposited herself, and we expect to earn an additional three-thousand every month for the rest of our lives, provided we keep to our end of the contract."

"What in the Realm could you be doing that she would be paying you so well?" Tibia said with renewed shock.

Mera and I looked at one another. Mera reached around into her life pack and pulled out the rolled up contract. She looked at the document without unrolling it and set it down between the two of us.

"We'll explain it and let you read the contract in a little while, we have a lot of things to still get to before we can explain that and have it make sense," Mera said, as she looked back to her parents.

"Well, I guess it is at least safe to say that you didn't marry a mare with no future," Diamond said with pride at our contract. "Tell us more about yourself, Pearl. Don't let Biblo do all the talking for you. I want to hear it about my new daughter-in-law from my new daughter-in-law."

Mera looked at me with a pleading look that said please take over this conversation for me. I gulped and obliged.

"Well, my original name is Pearlwort. I took the name Pearl Bottom when I married Mera here," her parents gave another confused look at Mera as I mentioned her newer name. "Biblo took the name Chimera Wort, or Mera for short, trying to have a Thestral name since I took a more Crystal Pony name. She spent a while trying to decide on it."

"Okay, it seems kind of weird but I can accept that name," Tibia replied looking at her daughter, before looking back at me. "Please continue, Pearl."

"I was orphaned when I was sixteen years old and eventually moved to Starlight's Folly to live," I continued. "That is the farthest northern town in the realm, and sits right on the edge of the Lost Lands. Creatures of that town made a living scavenging the wastes for rare crystals that could be found there, and I was a fairly decent scavenger. The wastes are a dangerous place, and live expectancy for scavengers is not very high. There are lots of ways to die in the wastes, wendigoes, undead, ice golems, freezing to death, and more."

"Wait," Tibia interrupted, and she looked at Mera sternly. "That is where you went?! I had no idea it was that dangerous! What were you thinking? If I had known that I would have gone off and hauled you back home."

"I am a grown mare mommy," Mera asserted. "But I didn't know it was that bad either."

"You could have been killed!" Tibia said with a half sob.

"Dear, she clearly wasn't," Diamond said to her quietly. "We need to listen to the whole story." He turned back to me and smiled apologetically. "I am sorry for the interruption, please go on."

"Yes sir," I replied, before continuing. "Anyway, one day after scavenging I went to the doctor of our town, Hot Sticks. I had been in a fight with an undead that day while scavenging, and I wanted to make sure my wounds wouldn't fester." Tibia gave Mera another nervous glance at me saying this, but didn't interrupt. "We got to talking and he offered to take me on as an apprentice. Unfortunately the first day on the job the town had an epidemic break out, and that training went undone as I was put on duty maintaining the quarantine on the town. There were only three of us in town who weren't sick after a day; me, Hot Sticks, and a Pegasus stallion. 

"Hot Sticks found Mera in a cave that the town used for storage. She was as sick as the rest of the town. We figured out that she had just gotten into town right before the quarantine happened, and soon came down with the same illness." Tibia let out a whimper for her daughter, but again didn't interrupt. "We had been failing at every attempt to cure the illness and we were losing hope. I have a special magic to me that keeps me from getting sick, and Hot Sticks had tried to find ways of transmitting that magic from me to patients, but with no success. But since Mera was a Crystal Pony we hoped that maybe she could absorb it better. 

"This might sound silly, but he had me hug her and think positive thoughts. To my shock it worked."

"My first words to Pearl were me telling her she gave good hugs," Mera said with a giggle, then she gave me a kiss on the side of my face. "And you do give the best hugs."

"So you saved my daughter from dying to some terrible epidemic?" Tibia asked me with a quivering voice. I nodded back, and found that Tibia could move very quickly, as before I could blink I found her in front of me and myself caught up in a tight embrace. "Thank you," she sobbed into my fur. Mera petted her mother's back gently as Tibia cried on my shoulder.

"Come back over here dear and sit by me again," Diamond said gently to Tibia. "Our new daughter will never get to the end of the tale if you keep interrupting her." My heart swelled at being called a daughter, and I had a few tears start to form in my eyes.

"Hot Sticks wanted to see if I could transfer Pearl's magic to the other townsfolk, but I couldn't do it without focus stones, and there were none in Starlight's Folly," Mera said sadly.

"So, me, Mera, and Hot Sticks decided to go to Harmony to seek the help of the Alicorns," I continued on, not letting Mera brood over her inability to help back then. "Mera and I got increasingly close, and we were always together. At first it was just to make sure that she could keep absorbing my magic, but it got to be more than that. We officially had our first date as we passed through Yazyakistan on our way to Harmony."

"Remember how we talked before about how I would know what you were thinking and pick up on your habits suddenly, Mommy?" Mera asked Tibia. Tibia nodded back slowly. "Well, apparently I can do that with any pony that isn't a Crystal Pony. With how much time I spent hugging Pearl I really got to know her feelings about everything well. I fell in love with her, and I could tell Pearl liked me too, even before Pearl realized it. We were trying to deal with a tragedy, but I couldn't help being happy because I had the most wonderful mare I had ever met with me."

"Um..did you pick up any habits from Pearl like you picked up from me?" Tibia asked uncertainly, worried she might offend me. Both Mera and I blushed at the question, which was an answer in itself.

"We will get to that," I said, sparing Mera having to explain that. "She actually picked up things from several different ponies, one of whom was an Alicorn, but we will get to each of those later." Tibia and Diamond's faces paled a bit at the thought of what Mera might have picked up from others.

"When we got to Harmony some bad things happened to the two of us," I said, unsure if I wanted to discuss the specifics. Mera took on a very downcast expression and rubbed her head against my neck and let out a small sob. "Should I tell them the details or not right now?" I asked my wife. "I can talk about this now without trouble after what Starlight did, but you are still struggling with it. We can skip the details right now if you want to."

"Just tell them Pearl," she said quietly. "It's upsetting, and I am never going to get over it, but they should know." Tibia and Diamond gave me a fearful look, wondering what could upset Mera so much.

"Alright," I sighed. "We were in the city together and it was late. We got lost and couldn't find our way back to where we were staying. Mera spotted some Lunar Guards and signaled them. She didn't know at the time that the rest of my tribe hated me, extreme hatred. The reasons for that are a long story, it is old prejudices, nothing I did wrong. But those guard ponies came down and beat both of us."

"They did more than that," Mera growled. "They raped you and made me watch!" Tibia and Diamond gasped again and were left speechless. "I am likely going to be angry about that to my dying day. No pony is ever going to do something like that to you again, I will make sure of it."

"It was a turning point for each of us," I continued again. "For me I was a broken mess of a pony for a while, breaking down in panic attacks without warning. Mera was the only pony that could get near me without me feeling nervous, and the only pony I would let touch me for some time. Mera in the meantime started training with the Medical Guard, not to join, just so she wouldn't feel so helpless in the future."

Tibia and Diamond had tears in their eyes as they looked at both of us. They looked like they wanted to say something but had no idea what to say to all that. 

"We stayed in the Temple of Meadowbrook as I recovered and Mera trained," I continued again. "The Alicorns caught the guards responsible. They were eventually tried and sentenced." I decided to skip all the details of the trial and the fate of my rapist. "While at the temple tests were done on me and Mera to find out how to better combat the illness that had hit Starlight's Folly. That's when we learned that my magic wasn't just helping me not get sick, and heal faster, it was effectively making me immortal." This brought another round of shocked gasps from the parents.

"And I am absorbing it constantly from Pearl, making me effectively immortal too," Mera added in. "As long as I keep absorbing from Pearl anyway. I don't intend on ever leaving her."

"Our daughter..is immortal, because of you?" Tibia asked me, voice quivering. Mera and I just nodded back. Tibia broke down crying, there was no way of telling if she was happy or upset. She was likely just overwhelmed. Mera hopped down from beside me and went over and embraced her parents. 

"We soon after decided to get married," I continued when Tibia was able to pay attention again. Mera kept by her mother, hugging her as I talked. "We wanted to get it done as soon as possible, we didn't think there was much point in delaying. After the wedding the Alicorns made a deal with us, they would pay us to regularly get them focus stones with my magic in them. Mera is the only pony that can actually transfer my magic reliably to focus stones. It can act as a magical cure, not only for the affliction that struck Starlight's Folly, but just about anything. So it is exceptionally valuable, and we are the only ponies who can produce it."

"So your job is to produce batches of this magic super cure for the Alicorns?" Diamond asked. Mera nodded to him with a smile. He pulled her and Tibia into a tight embrace. "Do you hear that Tibia? Our daughter and daughter-in-law are important ponies who are helping cure sicknesses that no other pony can. I don't think I could be more proud!"

"Yes," Tibia said with a happy gasp. "I can't even be upset about not being invited to the wedding right now. I am a little disappointed that I lost my last chance to get one of my daughters to inherit my shop, but that seems rather petty."

"I might try learning about it, if you don't mind teaching me," I told her. "I don't know much about flowers right now, but our work is mainly done by Mera. I need something to keep myself busy, and I wouldn't mind learning about how to tend to flowers and run a shop."

"I'd like that very much," Tibia told me with a grateful smile. 

"I think we need a break before we continue, let you two have some time to let this all sink in before we shock you further," Mera told her parents.

"There is more?" Diamond asked her in disbelief. "What more shocking news could you possibly have at this point?"

"A few things, at least one I am sure you won't be happy about," Mera said with lowered ears. "Can we just take a few minutes? This next part is really important to me personally, and I am terrified of how you will react. I need a few more minutes to work up the courage to talk to you about it, and I want you two to be braced for it. Please, just a few minutes."

"There is nothing so bad you can't tell us about it dear," Tibia said to her. "We are your parents, we love you no matter what."

"I know Mommy," Mera said sadly. "But this last part just feels like it will be more difficult for you to accept. I know that sounds crazy with everything else we have told you, but it extremely important to me and I am still afraid you won't understand. Just a few minutes, please, just to let me gather my courage."

"I think I am going to have to have a smoke then if it is something that is bothering you that much," Diamond said as he grabbed up a pipe from a nearby end table.

"Diamond, please take that outside," Tibia complained. "I have long gotten used to your habit, but I am sure they don't want to have to smell that."

"Actually.." Mera interjected, blushing as she did. "I ended up picking up that habit as well in the last two months, and Pearl did too. Right now a smoke sounds like a very good idea." She looked at her father who was gaping at her, and she sighed. "Go ahead, I know you are going to be dying to rub it in. Let's hear it, I know you can't resist the irony."

"I don't know what you mean," he replied innocently. "It is just my biggest taunter about my smoking habit has a smoking habit herself now. It isn't like I want to laugh my head off at the fact that the filly that grew up calling me Stinky suddenly is one of those stinky ponies herself." By the end he was clearly trying to restrain himself from laughing.

"Mera I am surprised at you," Tibia chided her daughter. "I know you are a grown mare and can do as you want, but it really is a bad habit."

"I know, but I enjoy it. And the healing magic from Pearl makes me immune to any health problems from it," Mera said as she began pulling out her pipe. "Did you know I can't get drunk anymore? Alcohol does nothing for me. I take my little pleasures where I can, because I am going to be around way too long not to enjoy things."

"You make immortality seem so depressing," her father said as he watched with fascination as Mera lit her pipe. 

"Everything we have heard makes us think so," I said in reply. "Did you know after a few thousand years you start forgetting everything about the earlier years of your life? Where you were born, your family, all of that? Ponies aren't supposed to hold onto memories forever, there is just too much to remember after thousands of years. That doesn't even take into account the fact you get to see every pony around you grow old and die, over and over again, generation after generation. It is hard not to feel like it is a curse instead of a blessing. If we didn't have each other, we would probably go insane eventually."

Mera began shaping her smoke as I was talking, making images of ponies being born, growing up, getting old, and then dying. She looked up at her creation sadly, as her parents looked up at the images with renewed shock.

"How are you doing that?" Tibia asked her daughter with awe. 

"Thestral magic, the same magic I absorb from Pearl allows me to use Thestral abilities. One of those is shaping smoke," Mera explained. "There are some weird interactions between me being half changeling and having an absorbing talent. It really concerned the Alicorns a lot. They worry about what I could come to do with time. There is an Lesser Alicorn who traveled with us who is staying at a hotel in the city now. She says she will help me learn how to control my abilities so they don't get out of control. It is part of why we want to live here, I don't absorb from Crystal Ponies like I do from every other type of pony. It gives me a place to learn to control myself safely."

"There is an Alicorn here specifically because of you?" Diamond asked.

"We will introduce you to her eventually," I told my in-laws. "She is disguised so ponies don't realize she is an Alicorn, and you have to promise not to reveal to any pony you know she is an Alicorn. She doesn't like ponies knowing she is an Alicorn, and she doesn't want to be treated any different than any other pony." Diamond and Tibia nodded silently. 

We sat silently for several minutes. Diamond and I both lit our own pipes, and Diamond and Tibia watched in fascination as Mera and I both shaped our smoke into different things. Diamond actually looked envious of our abilities. Our quiet few minutes were brought to an abrupt end as the front door opened and a green filly came into the house in a rush and stopped dead still as she surveyed the room.

"Biblo! Your home! Wait, why are you smoking? You know that is stinky!" The filly who was no doubt Peridot said as she tossed her saddle bag to a corner.

Mera laughed and doused her pipe, then got up and rushed to embrace her little sister, who happily jumped into being embraced by her sibling. I got to get a look at Peridot's cutie mark as they pulled each other into a hug. Her mark was very similar to her father's, only her's was a set of the silver hoof blades over a purple shield. 

"Let me see your mark," Mera said with excitement. "Mommy and Daddy told me you got your mark, but they didn't describe it to me." 

They released the hug and Peridot turned so she could proudly show off her mark to her older sister. Mera clapped her forehooves together happily.

"Those are hoof blades. Are you good with hoof blades?" Mera asked. Peridot quickly nodded.

"I am still learning about how to use them, but they just feel right when I have the practice ones on. When I tried them for the first time I just knew I wanted to get really good with them, and that's when I got my cutie mark!" Peridot said with pride. "Do you like my mark? Dad was happy when he saw it, but mom kind of freaked out at first. She was worried I was going to get hurt."

"I think it is a great mark," Mera told her warmly. "I am very happy for you. So you intend to go into the Crystal Guard when you grow up?"

Peridot nodded enthusiastically. 

"They have this after school program for fillies and colts who have a predisposition for guard training that I have been going to every day after I am done with classes," Peridot explained with the same continued excitement. "They have us run obstacle courses, teach us about responsible weapon usage, and teach us all about the history and duties of the Crystal Guard. It is a lot of work, but it is really great. They told me if I stick to doing it up to when I am seventeen I am guaranteed a spot in the Crystal Guard then, and a spot in the officer training program. I am doing everything I can to do my very best at it."

"Well, I am very glad you found what you want to do with your life, and very proud of you." Mera hugged her again.

"I am just glad you are back, I really missed you," Peridot said as she hugged her sister back.

"I will be around for a long while to come," Mera said as she looked down to her sister. Then her ears dropped a little. "There are going to be some changes with me now that I am back though. How about you go sit on the couch with Mommy and Daddy so I can tell you along with them. I have already been telling them a lot, and you will need to be brought up to speed on some things later. For now, I am going to get this part over with before explaining everything again for you, which I will do."

Peridot picked up her sister's mood and nodded, before heading over to the couch with her parents. She looked at me curiously, not knowing what to make of me, as I doused my pipe and gave her a small wave and smile.

"That's your sister's new wife Pearl," Tibia whispered to Peridot, causing Peridot to gasp. "You will get to ask everything about that later, but for now your sister has something she wants to talk to us all about that is really bothering her. Just be a good sister and try to be supportive of whatever she has to say, okay?" Peridot nodded to her mother, and then gazed at me again. If she was like Mera she never saw a Thestral before now.

I got up and walked over to Mera and gave her a full kiss on the mouth, before wrapping a wing around her in comfort. I tried to think positive and reassuring thoughts to help her feel more confident. She looked at me gratefully. With a sigh she turned her attention back to her family.

"I have gone through a lot of changes the last two months," she began, "and one of the biggest changes was to my sense of who and what I am. I have been absorbing things from Pearl constantly, and not just magic. I absorb instincts, thought processes, feelings, and I absorb those willingly. But I am not the same pony I was before as a result, and one of the changes that I need to address is the fact I feel more like a Thestral than a Crystal Pony now. My Alicorn friend has already transformed me for a few days when we were making our way back here from Harmony, and let me experience the world as a Thestral in form, instead of just in mind. I had to be changed back when I came here so you would know me, but I don't intend on keeping this form. It feels wrong now, and I can't begin to explain how wrong it feels to try to move my wings, only to realize again I don't have them. As soon as I can I will be turned back into a Thestral."

The three ponies on the couch looked at each other with confusion. 

"If that is what you want dear," Tibia said. "Compared to the rest of what you have told us today it doesn't seem as big a deal as you make it out to be."

"My Alicorn friend set conditions," Mera explained. "I don't have to avoid all you, but I can't be acknowledged as family in public, she says it causes too many ponies to ask questions. She told me that I need to start learning to address you by name instead of calling you Mommy and Daddy, and that part hurts. She says I need to do it even in private because I might end up slipping in public if I don't. It will be like we are going to pretend to forget there ever was a Bibulous Bottom, and you just have this new friend of the family named Chimera Wort. I am not cutting myself out of your life, but our relationship as a family is going to have to change. Being a Thestral is extremely important to me though, I just feel incomplete without being one."

"What's a Thestral?" Peridot asked, completely lost.

"A pony like Pearl here," Mera said, gesturing to me. "I wouldn't look exactly like Pearl of course, my facial features would be largely the same as they are now, with the exception of a set of fangs. My fur in my Thestral form is grey rather than pink, and my mane color is more bleached out. I would have the same tufted ears, and leathery wings."

"You aren't cutting us out of your life though?" Diamond asked for reassurance. 

"No, even if I can't acknowledge that your family, you are still my family. No matter what you are still my Mommy, my Daddy, and my little sis. That can never change, even if I am not allowed to say those titles anymore. And I am still your daughter, and your sister Peridot, even if we can't say it."

"I can't say I am happy about that," Tibia said sadly. "We will make it work, though. If this is really that important to you. It is going to hurt, not hearing you call me Mommy anymore. I was always so happy you never gave up calling me that in favor of Mom or Mother as you got older, like most foals do when they get older. Even Peridot started just calling me Mom since you've been gone. I can handle it though."

"I can go back to Mommy if you like," Peridot said as she gave her mother a hug. "I was just trying to act more mature, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"I think caring about another point's feelings is one of the most mature things you can do sis...I mean Peridot," Mera said sadly, and then sighed. "This name thing is going to be hard to get used to."

"We will help keep you on track with it," Diamond told her. "We aren't just your parents, we are your friends too. So, go ahead and use our names. It will be weird for us too, at least at first, but we will all get used to it. As long as we still have you in our lives we can make that small sacrifice."

"Thank you..Diamond" Mera said, clearly uncomfortable with calling her father by name. "Is my room still the way I left it? Pearl and I could really use some sleep, it has been a really long day. Just a short nap so we can get some rest. When we get up I can take you all to meet Sunset, our Alicorn friend, and you can meet me as a Thestral for the first time."

"Yes..Mera," Tibia said, having the same difficulty with the change of names. "You and your wife go up and get some sleep, while Diamond and I explain to Peridot what she missed in the conversation. I am sure she has a lot of questions."

"Thank you Tibia," I said, saving Mera from another uncomfortable use of names. "It has been wonderful meeting you. I have had no family since I was sixteen and I am really looking forward to getting to know my new one better, even if we can't say we are family. I know we are, and I hope you accept me as family too."

"You have no need to thank me, Pearl," Tibia said with a smile. "Mera would be dead now without you, and you have given her direction and happiness. Words cannot express how much I appreciate you, and I am looking forward to getting to know you better, and hope you are serious about apprenticing at my flower shop. I really do want to be able to pass it on to family when I finally retire."

"I will definitely make an effort to learn, it would be nice if the flowers on my flank meant something more than survival." I gestured to my cutie mark. 

"Get to sleep you two," Diamond ordered. "If you don't you'll be too exhausted to have us meet your friend, and I am eager to meet an actual Alicorn. I have only ever seen Flurry Heart at a distance, so I never have gotten to speak with one before."

We smiled and made our way up the stairs.
> Chapter 28: Dinner and a Show
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up after a brief two hour nap, with Mera still sound asleep. Her old bedroom was actually fairly large, but the bed was really meant for only one pony. We had nuzzled close together to make it work. 

I had been so tired when we had gotten into the room I hadn't even bothered to actually examine the room my wife had spent most of her life in. Looking around the room now I tried to get a feel for what her life had been like. The room didn't provide much for clues. There was the bed, a simple dresser, a small desk with a chair, and a little table by her bed for furniture. Her bedding had simple white sheets and a plain pink quilt. On the dresser sat a few stuffed animals and dolls with smiling faces. There were a few drawings plastered up on the wall, but they looked to be pictures of her family for the most part, and not particularly well drawn ones. There was a single framed picture, and it was of balloons that matched Pinkie Pie's cutie mark. I saw a few books by the dresser as well, with titles that made me think they might be trashy romance novels. A neglected delivery bag and uniform sat crumpled in a corner. On one wall was painted a simple smiling face.

Mera seemed to have had a simple but pleasant life here. But nothing in the room indicated she had much in the way of direction with her life, just simple enjoyment. There was an innocence to the room. A call back to the mare she had been when I first met her. I was not sure it matched her any longer though. Mera had done away with her innocence when she had seen me raped. It was sad to think that this room was a testament to a mare who no longer existed.

"Taking in the sights?" Mera was awake after all. She nuzzled herself closer to me. "I know it isn't much to look at, but I always liked it. I wouldn't mind moving back in, we can claim my paren...Diamond and Tibia are renting the room to us to earn some extra bits. We need to buy a bigger bed though. This one is great for nuzzling close together, but it we tried to have sex in this thing we would end up on the floor."

"Just trying to get a feel for what your life was like before you left here," I replied, still looking around the room. "I was wondering if the room still suited you or not."

She opened her eyes up and sat up next to me. She looked around the room herself then, trying to get a feel for it. 

"There would definitely need to be some changes," she said after looking around. "I like my old stuffed animals and dolls, but think I could stand some new additions. I think I wouldn't mind a stuffed spider, and my dolls are all Crystal Ponies, I think I would like a Thestral or two in there. Pinkie Pie's cutie mark would need to go, that pony is crazy. I think I am done worshiping Alicorns, consider me an atheist, or at least an agnostic. I am not sure pink is my color anymore either. We would definitely need some thick curtains for the window to keep the daylight out while we sleep. I am not sure romance novels are my thing anymore either, maybe something a bit more academic. The drawings I would like to keep, but are pretty questionable if any pony ever saw them hanging up, I am not supposed to be family after all."

"So pretty much everything would need to change to match you now," I said flatly. 

"I guess so," she said with her ears lowered in sadness. "Home might still be the same, but I am not. It doesn't mean we can't make this a place that represents who we are now. Our family is in this house, and I want to keep close to them. They are going through changes too. Peridot is taking her first steps from being a filly to becoming a mare. My parents are dealing with having to completely change what they thought about both their daughters."

"You are supposed to be using their names," I reminded her. "But I get what you are saying. No pony stays the same forever."

"Not even you, my precious Pearl. You are far stronger than you were before, emotionally I mean. I was so proud of you when you accepted what you are back with that chimera. I also appreciate you dealing with so much with my..with Diamond and Tibia today. You weren't afraid at all. You used to be so scared of what every pony thought of you. Lately it has been you supporting me, instead of me supporting you."

That caused me to pause and think. Had I really changed that much without me realizing it? Had it been gradual or all at once? And if it was all at once what had brought it on? Mera listened to my feelings as I thought, but let me continue thinking in quiet, simply making happy contented sounds as she rested her head back down on me.

When was the last time I really worried about what a pony thought of me? The trial day seemed to be the last I could remember, that was also the day I had those memories removed. Not only did I have those memories removed, I had those extra feelings put into my head. Were they why I was so much less concerned about what other ponies thought of me? Was this something I hadn't come to on my own, but was given to me? If it was given to me why didn't Mera show the same certainty in all situations as I did? She had been the source after all. 

"You know," Mera said, " nuzzled up close to you like this I can almost hear exactly what you are thinking and not just the feelings. Maybe it is just familiarity with you filling in the gaps, but I can swear I can hear your thoughts."

"And what do you think about what I am thinking?" I asked her.

"I think you might be on to something. That's if I am reading what I think you are thinking right anyway," she said with a sigh. "Are you thinking it was that mind altering?" I nodded the affirmative. "It could be I suppose. It wasn't just sex drive that I got from that nurse, it was confidence. If you got what I got, then you would have gained confidence too. If you are confident you are less concerned with what ponies think of you."

"So why are you having more trouble lately?" I asked, following up on that.

"Most of what we have had to deal with the last few days is not new to you. A lot of these stresses are completely new to me. It takes time to adjust." She nibbled at my neck now. "And I have had you here to help me with that." 

"We should go back downstairs," I said, causing Mera to pout that I hadn't given in to her physical flirting. It was tempting, but she was right about the bed. "Time to gather up the family and go see Sunset, I know you are eager to get back to being Thestral."

"Definitely," she replied, as she hoped down from the bed. 

We exited her old room and made our way back downstairs. Diamond, Tibia, and Peridot were all waiting patiently for us. Peridot gave Mera a strange look.

"Did you really train with the Medical Guard, Sis?" The filly questioned.

"Remember you can't call me that, you should call me Mera," Mera reminded her sister. "But yes, I did. I am a pretty accomplished fighter."

"That is putting it lightly," I added in. "You beat the flanks of eight guard ponies in quick succession, five of those at once, and they couldn't land a blow on you. It took an Alicorn getting into the dueling grounds with you to get a pony that you couldn't beat."

"Hold on," Diamond interjected. "You didn't tell us that earlier. That is elite level fighting. I served twenty years in the guard and never came close to that."

"We gave you the brief summary," Mera replied. "A lot of details we kind of skipped over."

"How did you get that good, that fast though?" Diamond asked with disbelief. 

"I am not entirely sure," Mera said with a sigh. "Learning new things just comes easy to me, I am guessing it has something to do with my absorbing talent. We are still trying to figure out all the details of how it works. That is part of why we are here, as I said, I need to figure out what I can do and how to control it."

"Do you think you could help train me?" Peridot said excitedly. 

"I am not sure if I could, as I am not sure how I learned it all in the first place," Mera told her sister. Peridot's ears lowered sadly. "When you get better with the hoof blades I would love to have a duel with you, just to see what you can do. Mind you, I will likely leave your flank covered in welts, but that's just something that comes from stepping into the dueling area. Since you actually have a talent in that kind of thing, maybe you will get better than me eventually."

"Just wait and see, I am going to be the best fighter the Crystal Guard has ever seen!" Peridot said proudly. "And someday I will be able to beat you in a duel with ease."

"I look forward to seeing that," Mera said with a warm smile. Diamond seemed to take pride in their exchange. Tibia seemed uncomfortable with it, but tried to look supportive.

"Is there anything else any of you wanted to ask about before we go meet Sunset?" Mera asked. 

"Nothing pressing," Tibia said. "There are plenty of things we want to know about still, but they can wait. We know this is important to you Mera, and that you have a friend waiting for you to arrive."

"Thank you Mommy, and yes I know I shouldn't have called you that, but I wanted one last time, before I have to do a lifetime of Tibia," Mera said with her eyes tearing up. "You too Daddy, and you Sis. This is my final time, and I don't want to say I missed my last chance."

They gathered around her and hugged her. I stood slightly away. This was their moment.

"You'll always be our little filly," Tibia cried onto Mera's shoulder. "Our little Biblo who would make us laugh, and always wanted every pony around her to be happy."

"It feels like a goodbye," Peridot said. "Like Biblo is going away forever and I have to get to know this new pony named Mera."

"I'll be getting to know who Peridot is too," Mera reminded her. "You are just starting to turn into a mare, and you aren't the same filly I left here two months ago. I am still your sister, even if we can't say it. Some pony has to make sure these other two don't go crazy with you on your estrus cycle next time, I intend on that being me."

"I don't think they were that bad," Peridot replied. "They gave me this thing.."

"We are not discussing what they did, they made a boo-boo," Mera cut her off.

"But it helped a lot," Peridot insisted.

"It is where they got it that was the problem," Mera said with a low growl.

Peridot was silent a moment and I could see her trying to reason this out. Her parents looked extremely nervous. After a few seconds realization and horror dawned on Peridot's face.

"That is so gross!" Peridot yelled. 

"That's what I told them! They just don't get it. Don't worry, I'll get you a replacement that hasn't been in some other mare's slit already," Mera confirmed.

"I feel the need to wash my coochy now," Peridot whined. The most amazing thing about this entire exchange was the family was still in a tight group hug through the entire thing. I couldn't help but laugh out loud at it. It was just too absurd a conversation to be having during a touching family moment. Mera gave me a non-threatening glare, it was actually somehow warm despite being a glare.

"We are never going to get moving if we keep getting all sentimental," Diamond said, though he didn't break from the embrace.

"Yes, we do," Mera said, as she finally broke from her family's embrace. "We need to go to the Heart's Desire Hotel, she is staying there."

We all made our way out of the house and back into the streets. It was now after sunset, but the streets still had a fair number of ponies moving about on them. I did get a few odd looks from ponies, but nothing that showed any hostility. These ponies were just not used to seeing a Thestral, they didn't seem to have any animosity. The Crystal Ponies seemed to live up to the reputation of being extremely tolerant of others. It seemed like it could be a nice place to live. 

Getting to the center of city took us about half an hour of walking, nothing compared to the hours we would have spent walking in Harmony. The Heart's Desire Hotel was one of the larger buildings I had seen in the city, standing four stories high and taking up a great deal of ground space. Balconies seemed to be a rarity in most buildings, but the top floor of this building was lined with them. The entire building was made of a pink crystal and had a heart shape carved above the entrance way.

When we entered we found that it was a clearly a very expensive place, though I was likely the only pony not aware of it beforehoof. There were crystal chandeliers, and the furniture looked like it was made out of gold. A very well to do looking violet Crystal Pony mare sitting at the front desk greeted us as we entered.

"Welcome to the Heart's Desire, the most luxurious, and most exclusive, hotel in all of Ocid. Pearl Bottom, Chimera Wort, Diamond Glow, Tibia, and Peridot Glow I presume?" She listed off our names in quick succession, causing us all to nod back in surprise. "Very good! Her Holiness Sunset Shimmer has been awaiting your arrival. I will have a bellhop ready to escort you to her suite in just a moment. If I may inquire, her Holiness was uncertain if you would be spending the night with us when she checked in. Would you happen to be ready to tell us that at this time?"

We were all still in shock at the greeting. Mera looked to me for an answer. It was up to me to make the decision it seemed.

"I think we will be spending the night with family, but thank you for the consideration," I replied, hoping I was being properly polite.

"We understand completely," she replied back with the same happy tone. "Just be aware that we have taken the liberty of adding both you and your wife to our list of very important ponies should you ever choose to stay with us at a future date. This hotel prides itself on its exceptionally exclusive clientele and are always here to serve."

We could only nod back. This was a little mind-boggling. Exceptionally exclusive clientele? There was only one thing she could mean by that from what clues she had given. This place served only immortals and the most important ponies of the realm. They knew who Sunset Shimmer was, and they knew who we were, it made me wonder who else was currently staying in this hotel.

The bellhop appeared soon after, a young light yellow unicorn mare, who also was smiling happily at us as she arrived.

"Please follow me your graces, and family," she said with a bow. "We have already informed her Holiness of your arrival and she has ordered dinner for you all in her suite. If you have any requests whatsoever feel free to but ask and we shall see that you are accommodated with the utmost haste."

"Mera," Tibia said to her daughter. "I am feeling really under-dressed suddenly. I knew this place was really unbelievably high class, but I had no idea it was like this."

"If you would like we could have a dress made for you and ready in time for dinner if you like ma'am," our bellhop told Tibia happily. "We made sure to learn all your measurements upon arrival and could quickly have something ready for you post haste if you wish it. You need only ask."

"Um, that won't be necessary dear," Tibia said, her eyes getting even wider than before. 

She led us to an elevator near the end of one of the hallways. It was already standing open with an elevator operator standing at the ready. The size of the elevator could have been a small room into itself. We all boarded the elevator and the operator put it into motion, not bothering to ask where we needed to go, he simply knew. After leaving the elevator we were walked down another hall to a large set of double doors. Our bellhop opened them wide with her magic and bowed to us all, motioning us to enter.

Inside was a large dinning table, and seated at the head of the table was Sunset herself, in her Alicorn form again. Sitting next to her was Hot Sticks. 

"Hello," Sunset said with a smile to all of us. "Has the staff worn you out yet? I know I can only take so many times being addressed as Holiness before I am ready to go run and hide. They tend to be a bit much for me when I come here, but I do have to admit they definitely make a strong impression and know their stuff. Pinkie Pie technically owns this place, so a staff that knows too much about you isn't really that shocking, given it is her hotel."

"It is a lot to take in," Mera said as she looked around the dining hall. 

"I can definitely agree with that," Sunset laughed back. "Come on and sit so they can get to serving food. I know they are all waiting to descend on us with the dinner, but are just waiting to see who sits where."

Mera and I decided to sit to the opposite side of Hot Sticks near Sunset, with me being the closer to Sunset. Diamond took up a seat next to the unicorn, and Tibia next to Mera. Peridot took the remaining seat next to her father. Almost immediately upon Peridot taking her seat the staff came briskly out from a side entrance, one staff member for each of us, each carrying only a single drink which they deposited in front of their respective owners. And quickly again they all hurried back out of the room again.

We all eyes our drinks, every pony seemed to be given something separate. Peridot broke the short silence with a squeal of glee.

"This is apple cider!" Peridot announced happily as she tried her drink. "Mommy, I know I am not normally allowed to have this, but it is alright? The one time you let me have some it was the best thing I ever had."

"I think it is okay this time," Tibia replied as she looked her own drink over. "This definitely counts as a special occasion, but no refills. I will not have my filly getting drunk, you are far too young to be having more than one of those. So take your time drinking that."

"Yes Mommy," Peridot said happily, taking another tiny sip of the cider. 

"If I know the staff they have somehow already determined what your favorite drinks and foods are, and will be serving those to you," Sunset explained. "Don't ask me how they do that, I have no clue."

As she finished speaking the wait staff came out again, each with a covered dish. They quickly set each dish in front of their respective owners, uncovered the dish, and hurried out again. They did this all with incredible speed, and they were all on and out within twenty seconds.

Before me sat a baked trout, with sardines and caramelized bananas on the side. It looked extremely good, and my mouth watered just looking at it. In front of Mera sat a pork chop, with banana slices and a honey sauce. Each of the others were brought specially made salads, with the lone exception of Tibia who had a large vase shaped flower placed in front of her.

"I haven't had one of these in ages!" Tibia exclaimed as she looked at her meal. "Not since I lived at the Hive. I didn't know ponies ever served this."

"They can accommodate just about anything here," Sunset said, as she lifted what I noticed to be her sushi wraps up to look at. 

"What in the world is that?" Peridot asked Mera as she gazed at Mera's plate. 

"Pork chops and bananas," Mera said happily. The staff had already cut the pork chops into small pieces to aid in her chewing with non-Thestral teeth.

"What are pork chops?" Peridot said with confusion, still looking at it. 

"Pig meat," Mera said, as she happily began munching on a piece. Peridot turned a slightly different shade of green at this bit of information, and Diamond looked a little ill as well. Tibia seemed unconcerned Mera was eating pigs. Perhaps changelings were more open to carnivorous diets?

"Oh don't look at me like that," Mera chided her sister and father. "There is nothing wrong with eating meat, and Thestrals eat meat all the time. You should try one of Pearl's sardines, they are really good too."

"You seemed to have no problem with them, but it might be best if we didn't risk getting any pony a stomach ache trying to digest things they shouldn't," I told my wife. I looked at my new family and gave an apologetic smile, hoping this wasn't leaving a bad impression. "We do eat a lot of meat though, whenever we can. It is just in our nature. Bananas though, are like candy to Thestrals." Mera happily took a chomp of one of her banana slices as I said it. "And even though Sunset hasn't given Mera her Thestral form again, she does think and act just like a Thestral. So don't be too worried about what she is eating."

"I definitely enjoyed eating that chimera when we were traveling here," Mera said wistfully. "I wonder if the rest of it is still rotting out on the woods where we killed it."

"You killed a chimera? To eat it?" Diamond asked in disbelief.

"No," Mera said with a saddened tone, but with steel in her voice. "We killed a chimera because it killed a foal, and we ate it to give warning to any other chimera that entered that area that ponies are not easy food. If we had come upon the monster a day or two sooner we would have done the same, and we would not have had to listen to some poor mother crying because her foal was never going to come home."

Tibia gasped in horror at what Mera said. And looked at Peridot and Mera each in turn, as if imagining the same fate happening to one of them. She then turned in her chair and reached around to hug Mera tightly.

"When we were traveled up through the woods to the south together, I was able to smell it in the woods," Sunset said sadly. "When I told Mera and Pearl what it was, and what it had done, they wanted to rush into the woods immediately to go hunt it down. I made them rest to be in peak condition, the chimera had already killed, and I didn't want to add two Thestrals to its kill list. After they had their rest they quickly found it and slaughtered it, with no trouble. It likely would have killed again in a few days if they hadn't. Be proud of them, they saved pony lives."

Peridot and Diamond looked at Mera with an odd expression. They had no presumptions about me, so me going and killing a chimera quickly wasn't something to shock them. With Mera they knew the happy bubbly version of her from before, and she could still be like that at times, but she was also now a pony that could and did kill when needed. That was an alien version of her that was likely hard for them to fathom. Biblo of old was too innocent and sweet to do that, but Mera was capable of pure blood lust. Tibia seemed to be unconcerned about the fact her daughter was now capable of doing such things, she just knew her daughter was safe and living, and that her daughter was hurt that she had failed to be there in time to save another.

"You may not be the mare I raised you to be, but that's good because you are better than that," Tibia said softly to Mera. "No matter how different you seem now, I am proud of you."

Mera barely restrained tears as she hugged her mother back.

We ate the remainder of the meal in silence. When we were all done the staff came in without being called and took away all the dishes from the table, and came and refilled all the drinks. They even refilled Peridot's drink, but no pony raised an objection to it.

"Alright, Mera, are you ready to do this again? Be sure, I am not going to just keep changing you back in forth. I don't intend to do any more transformations for you until your sister has grandfoals." Sunset looked down at Mera. 

"You know I am sure," Mera stated firmly.

"Just making my position clear," Sunset replied. "Please stand a few pony lengths away from the table. Pearl and Hot Sticks know this drill, but for the rest of you please keep your distance from her as I do this. I hate dealing with magical mishaps. This happens extremely quickly, so don't expect much of a show."

Mera took up a position where directed as every pony watched. Sunset once again lit up her horn in a golden aura which quickly enveloped Mera, again came the bright flash, and again when my vision cleared sat Mera the Thestral.

Mera immediately stretched her wings and gave them a brief flap, letting off a happy giggle as she did. Did a quick inventory of herself to make sure everything was the same as the last time, and sighed with contentment when she realized it was.

"You aren't pink," Peridot said accusingly.

"Thestrals don't come in pink, Peridot," Mera told her matter-of-factly. "I happen to like the grey."

"You look so different," Diamond said as he stared at her. "If I didn't know it was you I wouldn't have a clue. It's hard to line up what I know with what I see."

"Well, this is how I see myself, and think of myself," Mera assured him. Her face softened, and there was a slight pleading look. "You are still okay with this, right? I know it is a shock, but I want you to accept me like this. I might look more conscious, and I admit I can be, but I am no monster."

"I know I am not supposed to say it, but I am saying it one last time just so you know. You are still my little filly Mera, and still my daughter, and I accept you in any form," Tibia said as she smiled at Mera. "Whatever makes you happy dear." Diamond and Peridot nodded agreement seconds later.

"Pearl and I were wondering we could rent my...I mean Biblo's old room..okay referring to things that way is going to really take some getting used to," Mera said with frustration.

"You don't have to pay us to stay there Mera, you know you are welcome," Diamond told her.

"We can afford to pay, you could use the extra bits, and it would look strange if you were just letting out a room to a pair of Thestrals for free," Mera insisted. "Even then it only gets less weird because Pearl is going to try to apprentice at the flower shop. We plan on moving out eventually, but for right now it is where we want to be, but we have to keep up our act."

"We will work something out," Tibia said. "I have a condition for you two staying though."

"What is that?" Mera asked with a tilt of her head. 

"You are going to install a sound dampening crystal on your room. Peridot's room is right next to yours and I don't want her listening to you two having sex, the walls aren't that thick! She is at far too an impressionable age to be listening to that in her sleep."

Hot Sticks and Sunset broke out laughing at that. Diamond gave off a light chuckle for his own part. Mera and I both blushed brightly. Peridot had a very different reaction.

"Really Mommy? You do realize I am already used to the sound of her in her room when she is on estrus, right? What do you think she sounded like through all those times?" Peridot told her mother with annoyance. Mera blushed even brighter, and I joined in the chorus of laughter.

Family was a wonderful thing.
> Chapter 29: Family Matters
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As we left the Heart's Desire we were given a crystal for putting a sound buffer around a small room. The staff member who gave it over to Mera even took to time to compliment Mera's Thestral form. This hotel was definitely on an entirely different level of service. 

It was fairly late in the evening as we made our way back to the residence. The streets had a few ponies going about, but not many. The streets were brightly lit with streetlamps that on close observation seemed to be electrical. The soft light of the lamps hitting the soft colors of the crystal buildings was soothing to look at, and gave the entire city an extra peaceful feel. Crystal Heart really was the most beautiful village, town, or city that I had ever seen. It didn't take that beauty in a direction that teamed of wealth, there was a sense of goodness and innocence about Crystal Heart that was hard to describe. It was hard to imagine that Mera had ever longed to be away from this place.

Our path took a slightly different route than we had taken going to the hotel. I didn't question why, I was just enjoying my surroundings. Mera came and rubbed up against me in a nuzzle, and she smiled as she felt my enjoyment of the place we were going to make our home for at least the current average pony lifetime. We hadn't discussed how long we were planning on staying here, but the proximity to family told us that being here would be best, at least through the current generation. 

We came upon a strange statue in the middle of one square. It was made of a blue crystal and seemed strangely out of place. It was worn and weathered to where it had no more of the fine edges that most the crystal here had, which indicated it had great age. The statue was of some creature standing on two legs, holding up a heart in the air. It was impossible with the weathering to tell what kind of creature it had once been. Planted around the statue were many neatly kept flower beds. I stopped to gaze at the statue and the others stopped to let me.

"That is the statue of Spike the Brave and Glorious," Mera told me. "I know it is hard to tell, but he is a baby dragon. The heart he is holding up is the heart of the city. I can show you pictures of what the statue looked like long ago sometime."

"This is the only statue I have seen. What is so special about this Spike?" I asked, gazing up at it.

"Spike was a hero to this city a very long time ago," Diamond explained. "It was he who freed this city from the rule of a dark lord who enslaved all and brought darkness and fear to every Crystal Pony. He was raised by the Twilight Princess herself as if he were her own child, despite being a dragon. They say that it was even she who hatched his egg. We keep this statue in memory of him."

"It is hard to imagine there was ever any darkness here," I said as I looked around again. 

"Darkness can find a hold anywhere, it is up to the brave to push it back. Spike pushed back that darkness while still a young whelp. If a mere infant can fight back the darkness with bravery and commitment to good, it gives us hope any creature is capable of making a difference," Diamond said with pride as he looked up at the statue. 

I looked up at the statue again and couldn't help feeling a small amount of inspiration and pride myself. It was a reminder that every pony was important and any pony could make a difference. For a pony like me, who had lived most their life as an outcast it meant a lot. Mera and I had special opportunities to make a difference too. I intended to do the best I could.

We started walking again and within a few minutes were back to the residence. Tibia ordered Peridot to bed, despite the protests of the filly. Tibia reminded her that she had school in the morning still, and practice with the guard after, and she needed to be mindful of her sleep schedule. This led Peridot to relent, her desire to prove herself to the guard was just too strong. 

The four of us adults sat and talked on the living room for a while. A combination of small talk and making plans. Mera and I would go to the bank and go bed shopping tomorrow in the late afternoon. I would begin my apprenticeship with Tibia in a week after I was well settled in. The fact that Thestrals tended to be nocturnal posed some problems with that, but we agreed we could figure something out that wouldn't be inconvenient to either Tibia or myself. We also discussed what was a fair rent payment, with Mera and I insisting on higher amounts and Tibia and Diamond lower. It was nice to be making plans for domestic life. It was something I had long ago lost any hope for having, and this felt like I was being given a reward for something, though I couldn't say what.

Eventually Tibia and Diamond retired for the night as well, with a final reminder to not forget to install that crystal to our room. Mera even took a few minutes immediately after to go put the crystal in place on our door, the magical artifact embedded itself in the door. We tested it out, with Mera going inside the room and speaking with ever increasing volume to see if I could hear it beyond the door. Even when she got to shouting no sound escaped the room. We were free to be as loud as we wanted in that room.

Mera took me on a tour around the house. There wasn't much to see, we were the first room upstairs, followed by Peridot's, and finally Tibia and Diamond's. There was a nice sized bathroom upstairs, with running hot and cold water in both the sink and shower. The bottom floor had the now familiar living room, a kitchen, a small room for washing linens, and a small dining room. There was a door the exited to a patio in the back with a small yard, and a paved walkway to an outhouse at the corner of the yard. The whole place wasn't that large, but it was enough to for a family to live in comfort.

We sat out on the back patio for a while, just enjoying the night air and talking about our plans together. Mera spent a while talking about how much Peridot had changed since she left home, there was both wistfulness and pride in her voice as she did so. She told me childhood stories about her misadventures that had at times led to her parents ire. I shared a few of my own early childhood stories, from when my mother was still alive. Not everything from my childhood was an unhappy memory, my mother had always found ways of bringing me joy.

We eventually went back to our room. When we entered Mera gave the bed a look and then went and pulled her quilt down into the middle of the floor. She laid down on it and motioned me to come join her.

"I am not tired but not sure what to do right now," she said to me. "I guess that is the downside of being nocturnal. Being wide awake and having most other ponies sleeping soundly."

"We will have to pick up some new hobbies it seems," I said as I nuzzled her. "We can definitely spend time teaching you to fly. Once you are a fully competent flutter we can do flights at night. I know we have to do Sunset's exercises. We have been slacking off on those already, which might make her mad at us."

"We can do those in a while, there is still a lot of night left," Mera replied. "I hope Tibia and Diamond let us sleep until early afternoon. I am worried they will not get what it means to be nocturnal early on, and end up waking us up before it is even noon."

"You act like they will treat us like fillies. They haven't treated us that way at all to this point," I replied back.

Mera sat up and I could tell that she was thinking about something. I wondered what I had said.

"They haven't have they?" She asked, though it was more statement than question. "They treated me like a filly up to the day I left home. They never really treated me like a grown mare."

"Well, they treat you like one now," I pointed out.

"I guess they do," she said with wonder. "I suppose I can understand why they treated me like a filly before. I had no real direction in life."

"And now you return with a hefty contract from the Alicorns showing you have made something of yourself," I said with a nuzzle. "Not to mention you have had to deal with horrible things, watching me get raped, hearing that poor mare wail for her foal. And you are a pony who ripped apart a monster with her bare teeth. That isn't a pony you treat like a foal."

"You are right," she said returning my nuzzle. Then she got a small frown and got up, and walked over to her dresser. She pulled open the bottom drawer and began rummaging around in it. Whatever was in it wasn't linens or clothing. I could hear hard objects being jostled.

"What are you doing?" I asked her curiously.

"Trying to figure out what in Tartarus they pilfered for Peridot. Whatever it ends up being is getting thrown away, but I want to be able to replace it for her with a new one from the store," Mera said as she kept searching through the drawer. 

Unable to restrain my curiosity about her stash I went to go look inside it as well. The drawer was packed with all manner of odd items, and magazines. I reached in and grabbed one of the magazines and flipped through it. The magazine had page after page of pictures of mares in very compromising positions. A few of them were very openly just displaying their slits, and a few others were pictures of two mares very clearly getting intimate with one another. Strangely a lot of them were wearing leggings, which for some reason made my nether regions get damp just looking at them. 

Mera looked at me looking at the magazine and gave a smile that bared her fangs.

"You are free to look at other mares precious, I'll even look right along with you, but remember you are mine. I don't think you would ever cheat on me, but just a warning to be clear," she said menacingly. 

"I wouldn't dream of cheating on you," I said slightly defensively, and glanced back at the smutty magazine. "This does give other ideas though. I think I would love to see you in leggings."

"We can definitely do a little dress up," she said as she kept searching the drawer. "I have some ideas of things I would love to see you in as well. Plus, while I can't stand the idea that Peridot was using any of the toys that I used, I think it would be arousing just watching you use one."

"We are being really dirty," I said with a laugh.

"No, we are being a happily married couple," she said with a short. "Plus being sexual isn't dirty. If it was I wouldn't be comfortable simply replacing the toy for Peridot. We have needs, and it is completely natural and right."

After a little more shifting around of objects in the drawer she seemed satisfied.

"Alright I am certain I know what it is," Mera said at last. "It is easy enough to replace. Actually, the shop that sells this kind of stuff is one of the ones that operates at all hours. We can head over there now and get that done. That should at least give us something else to do for a little while." She got up and began walking to the door.

"Is it the same shop that the Pegasus works at?" I asked carefully, not following right away.

Mera stopped, turned, and looked at me. 

"I had forgotten that we were going to track him down with everything else going on," she replied. "Yes it is. It doesn't mean for sure he is working right now, but if some pony else is working we can ask about when he will be in. We can wait, and do something else for right now if you want to."

"Why do you think I would want to not do this right now?" I asked her with surprise.

She gave me a sympathetic look. She walked over and sat back down next to me, draping one of her wings around me.

"This Pegasus might be your father," she replied back quietly. "That is a big deal, and your scared of meeting him. You can't hide your emotions from me. You might not be having a panic attack right now, but you are terrified."

There was no denying that fact to her. She could tell my emotions better than I could.  I tried to get an idea what I could possibly say to him when I confronted him. We needed answers, he was the one link that tied Mera and I together before Starlight's Folly, but there were a lot of emotions balled together about him. He was the reason my mother endured such misery at the mercy of our tribe. He had used her and left her with the consequences. I wouldn't have been born, but maybe my mother might have ended up living, instead of being eager to go back into war because it was the only respectable thing she could do. Her life had been ruined because of me, and lost because of me.

Mera withdrew her wing and gave me a hard smack with it. She glared at me with anger and hurt in her eyes.

"Don't you ever think that!" She yelled at me, as I cringed back. "You are not to blame for what happened to your mother. You are the most special pony in the world to me, and you are not going to think that you are some sort of mistake. Yes, it was tragic what happened, but you are not to blame."

"it is hard not to think that," I said in a whisper. "We struggled so much, and I am sure she took off to war because no pony would give her decent work. I know she loved me, but at the same time she might have had no reason to go off to war again if it weren't for me."

"It wasn't about you or the circumstances you two lived," Mera replied back, as she embraced me again in her wing. "She was angry about what happened to her sister. I can understand what she was feeling. Something had killed her sister and she had that same blood lust that you and I both have experienced ourselves. If some pony killed me what would you do it you had a chance to take retribution? Don't you still want retribution on those that killed her? I know how you feel about Klugians."

I would have been lying if I said no, and Mera would know I was lying as well. I knew that if there was an opportunity to fight Klugians I would take it in a heartbeat. I knew that was what my mother felt when she re-enlisted and left me I my own. 

"Maybe it is some pony else you are angry at," Mera said as she felt my emotions. "Maybe the pony you are angry at, and don't want to admit to being angry at, is your mother."

"That doesn't make sense." I replied back quietly.

"Who said anything about making sense?" Mera said. "You feel something, it doesn't need to have a perfect reason. She went off to fight and she left you on your own to do it. Her blood lust must have seemed more important to her than you did. Afterwards you spent years suffering and alone. Tell me you aren't angry at all."

"I shouldn't be angry at my mother. She loved me, and she supported me no matter what." I was holding back tears.

"You can be angry, it doesn't mean you don't love her, and didn't appreciate her," Mera replied, as she hugged me tightly with a leg in addition to her wing now. "I am angry with you right now, because of what you thought of yourself. It hurt me to even feel you think that you were some sort of mistake. But I am angry because I love you. I don't know if it was wrong or right what your mother did, but it was something she felt she needed to do, and I don't doubt for a moment she worried what impact it would have on you. It is okay to be angry, and it is okay to forgive her."

I just cried into Mera's fur. So much for me being the emotionally strong one lately. She didn't push me any more on it. She just held me and let me cry. 

"I think we should go see about this Pegasus," I finally said. "We know we need to no matter what. I don't know what my reaction will be if he turns out to be my father. If he is there is likely something bigger going on with him anyway. We need to find out what. We won't find out putting things off."

"And he might not even be there right now, and we will end up having to check again another time," Mera reminded me. "Come on, let's wash your face and get going."

When we made our way to the bathroom we nearly ran into Peridot who was exiting it at that very moment. The poor filly nearly jumped to the ceiling with how startled she was to have ponies nearly walking into her this time of night. When she realized it was just us she gave an aggravated look at us for startling her.

"I was just getting something to drink from the sink real fast," Peridot explained. "What are you doing up so late?"

"We are nocturnal, we tend to be awake all night and sleep most of the day. It's a Thestral thing," Mera explained to her sister. "Sorry about startling you, we weren't expecting any other pony up."

"It's okay, I am just being a scaredy filly," Peridot said, accepting the apology. "I am kind of feeling sick. My head hurts and my stomach feels funny."

"You shouldn't have had that refill," Mera chided. "You are too small still to handle alcohol. Even something light like apple cider. You will just have to pretend you aren't feeling this way, or you will get fussed at. Take it as a lesson for when you are older."

"I will try," Peridot said, grateful she wasn't getting an earful now.

"By the way, do you like stallions or mares?" Mera asked.

"What?" Peridot said, blushing brightly. 

"You just had estrus last month, do you know if you are attracted to stallions or mares?" Mera continued to question her little sister.

"That is kind of embarrassing to talk about," Peridot said, shuffling from hoof to hoof, still blushing fiercely.

"Well, I was just asking because I was going to go replace that toy for you, and I figured you might want to have a magazine to look at when you felt the need to use it," Mera said coyly.

"Oh," Peridot said, realizing that her sister was essentially offering to buy her a porn magazine. She still was blushing fiercely, but her newly awakened hormones could be seen winning out. "Um, stallions. Definitely stallions."

"No accounting for taste," Mera sighed. "I'll find you something to look at, our secret."

"Thanks sis," Peridot said bashfully.

"Remember, it is Mera. No calling me sis, pipsqueak," Mera replied. "I am just a mare who your parents rent a room to, who happens to sneak you porn."

"Alright, Mera," Peridot giggled. 

After Peridot hurried back to her bedroom I gave a lighthearted punch of a hoof on her shoulder.

"Bribing your sister?" I asked.

"What's the fun of being an older sibling if you can't do things for your younger?" She defended herself. "Plus this is still going to be a weird transition for her. I make it easier if I am on her good side."

"I guess it makes sense, mildly manipulative though," I replied back.

"Whatever makes her happy," Mera said, seeming happy with herself. She ushered me into the bathroom and quickly scrubbed my face with a towel.

We were soon back on the streets. There were very few out at all at this hour, aside from a few members of the Crystal Guard that were patrolling the streets, and a few stray ponies who looked like they may be returning from parties that they had a bit much to drink. The Crystal Guard members would watch us as we walked by, but didn't question us, aside from one that just asked if we were having a pleasant evening. The calmness, and serene nature of the city again soothed my nerves.

A few streets into the business district we came to our destination. A simple looking shop of red crystal, that had no displays in the windows, with red curtains blocking the view into the shop. I could tell their were lights on inside, and there was a small sign hanging near the door that said always open, age restricted access. The name of the shop hung over the door, Cadance's Special Closet. I wonder what the Alicorn of Love would have thought of her name being attached to this kind of shop, based on what little I knew of her she likely would approve.

We let ourselves in. Inside was a strange shop that was part bookstore, part clothing store, and the rest with shelves displaying items much like the ones in Mera's drawer. The sales counter had a dark pink Crystal Pony mare with a red mane cut extremely short who was reading a book. She looked up as we entered, and she did a double take at seeing two Thestrals entering into the store. She quickly recovered upon realizing we were potential customers and came around her counter to meet us.

"Good evening, you two gave me a bit of a shock. I have only ever seen Thestrals in the exotic magazines, so forgive me if you catch me staring. I am guessing you are vacationing here, I hope you are enjoying the city, and you can find some things to make your visit more fun in our shop." She smiled at us, and she was definitely not hiding the fact she was looking over all our Thestral features. "I am Kitten Purr, and I would be more than happy to help you find anything you might be interested in."

"Thank you," Mera said as she took a quick glance around, pretending she was not already familiar with the shop. "We aren't vacationing though. My wife and I just moved to Crystal Heart."

"Oh my, that is interesting," the mare said as her face lit up with excitement. "This city must be so much different from your old home. I try not to gossip, but I am sure that within a week every pony in the city will be talking about how we have new Thestral residents. Please don't get driven away by all the talk though, it is just so interesting to hear about. Most ponies in this city are really very nice."

I could already guess that this mare would be one of the first ones spreading gossip. It was probably a good idea to make a good first impression with her so it was positive gossip. I didn't have to be a political mastermind to figure that out.

"I am taking up an apprenticeship at a flower shop in the city," I explained. "It's owner is going to be renting us a room until we find our own place. Do you have any suggestions on where we might find a good house available?"

"I don't know for sure off the top of my head, but I would be happy to ask around for you," she replied. "What flower shop are you going to be apprenticing at? I shop at a lot of them, maybe if I knew where you would be working I could asks some friends if there are any available properties nearby it."

"Do you know the shop run by Tibia?" I asked.

"Oh, I know Tibia! Or at least I am familiar with her." Kitten said happily. "She has been so distraught since her daughter moved away. I admit we were a little sad to have Biblo move away too, she was a regular customer." She looked over to Mera and her eyes fell on her cutie mark. "Oh, and you have the same cutie mark as Biblo! No wonder Tibia took a liking to you two."

"She did mention that," Mera replied back with a smile. Kitten apparently didn't notice the same voice as well. "We heard there was a Pegasus that worked here, we were hoping to meet him. There aren't a lot of ponies that have wings in this city that we have seen, we figured he might know some houses better suited for flyers."

"Fig Leaf? He stopped working here about two months ago, he only worked here maybe about a year," she said trying to recall the whens of his employment. "He just up and vanished one day, was a model employee when he was here, but no pony really knows what happened to him. He didn't really talk to any pony outside of work." 

I tried to keep it from showing on my face, but my mind was racing. He vanished almost as soon as Mera took off to Starlight's Folly, and he started working at this shop not long after I moved to Starlight's Folly. We were supposed to be on guard for any more extremely strange coincidences, that definitely counted. If there was some Alicorn plot he was definitely involved somehow. I had a name now to put to him, Fig Leaf.

"That's too bad," Mera said with disappointment, and I knew she wasn't faking disappointment. "Well, we are picking up some things for a friend right now. Smaller towns don't typically have shops like this, and we figured we could find some things she could have some fun with. Neither one of us has much interest in stallions, but she does, so we will happily take what you suggest. Perhaps a toy to help her with her dealing with estrus without a special somepony, and a magazine with plenty of pictures to encourage her as she uses it, if you know what I mean. Crystal Ponies being the subjects might be nice, just to mark where we got them for her."

"Oh I can definitely find just the things for your friend," Kitten said happily. "Nothing I can interest you in for yourselves tonight? We have plenty of things for married mare couples to enjoy. Everything from regular toys to enchantments to let you temporarily have stallion parts."

"Not tonight, but we will almost certainly be back in the future, we were thinking of trying a little dress-up soon," Mera said with a sly smile. "Maybe after we have settled into our own place first though. We have to be considerate of our hosts after all, and I don't think they want to hear us getting too excited. They have a younger daughter we don't want to be a bad influence on."

"Well, we look forward to seeing you in the future then..I apologize, I didn't get your names," Kitten said pleasantly.

"I'm Mera and that's Pearl," Mera replied back. "It has been good to meet you Kitten."

The shop clerk quickly selected some items to fit what Mera asked for. I paid for them since we still hadn't been by the bank. We thanked Kitten Purr and left the shop.

"So we are at a dead end," I said to my wife after we were well out of earshot of the shop. "We definitely need to talk to Sunset about this Fig Leaf though. That timing with his starting employment and taking off is way too conspicuous. I wouldn't be surprised if he took off the day after you did."

"Like the only reason he was here at all was to get me to go to Starlight's Folly," Mera said with a nod. "Which likely means he knows about you too."

"If he turns out to be my father I am going to seriously hurt him," I said through a snarl. "He never made any attempt to meet me or help my mother, but he knew about me. If he is my father, he is a bastard for that."

Mera nuzzled me without a word as we continued to walk back. She didn't have any way of soothing me about Fig Leaf, and there was nothing more we could do about him for right now. We would tell Sunset about him, and see if she had any further ideas, but that could wait for right now. 

We took the scenic route back home and it was nearly dawn by the time we reached it. When we entered back in we found Tibia was awake and sitting on one of the couches, drinking tea and flipping through a book. She looked up at us as we entered.

"You are up early," Mera said to her.

"I had trouble sleeping all night," Tibia replied. "I finally just came down and made myself some tea. I figure I will make a nice big breakfast for every pony in a little while since I am up already." She glanced back down at her book with a sad look.

"Is something bothering you?" Mera said with worry. "I know it has been a lot to take in all at once yesterday."

"Nothing you two dears did," Tibia assured us. "Just being nostalgic about how things used to be. Everything has changed lately, all the stuff with you, and Peridot too. It is like my daughters have become completely different ponies in the last few months, and I am mourning the loss of their foalhood. And I worry about my fillies too. It used to be I just worried if yo...if Biblo would ever find some direction in her life, and whether Peridot was getting enough to eat and if she had enough friends. Now both have directions in life suddenly, and I worry one will be eaten by some monster while defending foals, and whether the other is ever going to be called off to war and die in some battle."

"I don't know what to say to that," Mera confessed as she looked sadly to me for a way to comfort her mother. As a pony who had lost loved ones to conflict I didn't have any comfort to give though. Tibia's fears could come true, there was no denying that. 

"I also worry I won't be able to connect as well with either off my daughters," Tibia said sadly still. "I love them, and I know they love me, but we don't have much in common anymore."

"Maybe you just need to find new things to bond over," I suggested.

"Like what?" Tibia asked as she flipped a page of what I now realized was a family photo album.

"Well, maybe you and I can learn to connect on flying," Mera suggested with a smile. "I know you almost never take your changeling form, but I know you have to miss flying. I am still learning to fly, and I would love to have you there to fly with me."

Tibia looked at Mera for a moment and with a flash of white magical flame, that was hallmark of a changeling shifting shape, took on her true form. The same coloring all around, but clearly more insect like than pony like now, with large green eyes with no whites or pupils to them, and a pair of dainty insect like wings. She looked at Mera hopefully.

"Are you not embarrassed by me at all like this?" Tibia asked with a quivering voice, that had just the smallest bit of a gravelly sound to it. "I know every pony knows I am a changeling, but I always worried you would feel weird with seeing me like this."

"Why would I feel weird about it?" Mera questioned with a tilt of her head. "It is what you are. And you seem to be the one taking my own transformation the best out of the family." 

"Physical transformations aren't much of a big deal to changelings, it is part of what we are after all," Tibia replied. "If anything it makes me feel a little closer to you because of that." Tibia fluttered her wings, lifting herself off the couch into the air for a moment, before lowering herself back down to the couch again. "I do miss flying I admit. If you want me to go flying with you, I would be overjoyed to be able to fly with you. Maybe it is about time I stopped trying to hide what I am all the time." 

"I would like that very much," Mera replied back with a happy tear in one of her eyes.
> Chapter 30: Secret of The Heart's Desire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mera and I were relaxing in sitting in the kitchen, giving help to Tibia as the changeling prepared breakfast. We weren't really needed, but it was the considerate thing to do. Halfway through finishing Diamond wandered into the kitchen. He did a quick survey of us, and Tibia seemed to tense up. Diamond just wordlessly walked over to her and gave her a kiss.

"Morning love," he told her. "You are looking lovely this morning." Tibia smiled back at him as she released her tension. 

"Thank you dear," Tibia said back to him lovingly. "You look wonderful as ever to. We are going to have a big breakfast this morning. Can you do me a favor and rouse your youngest daughter. I have a feeling she is going to attempt to sleep in. I know she was in and out of the bathroom all night. Serves her right for having a refill of that cider. She isn't getting out of school though, and she is going to have breakfast with the rest of us."

"No problem," Diamond said with a suppressed chuckle. "If she intends on being a soldier someday I can give her a taste of a drill sergeant's wake up call."

"Don't overdo it dear," Tibia cautioned. "She is still just a filly."

"A filly with a hangover," I muttered with mirth. Mera suppressed a chuckle beside me. 

"Hopefully she will listen to her mother next time she is told not to do something then," Tibia sighed. 

"Don't worry, I won't intensify her headache too much," Diamond replied back. Then he walked back out of the kitchen to go terrorize Peridot to a wakeful state.

A few minutes later a clearly grumpy and half awake Peridot wandered into the kitchen. She gave Mera and I a tired wave of her hoof in greeting before noticing her mother. Peridot's eyes popped open wide as she noticed her mother wasn't in her Crystal Pony form. Tibia noticed her daughter's reaction and I could notice that tenderness return to her movements again.

"Mommy, you are in your changeling form!" Peridot shouted in shock.

"Yes dear, I think I might be aware of that already," Tibia replied back in an even tone. "Does it bother you seeing me in my true form?"

"No," Peridot said, with a voice that indicated she realized she might have just offended her mother. "I am just suprised. You almost never do that. Its fine though."

"I felt it might be nice to change things up a bit," Tibia said simply. "You don't need me standing around watching over you any more, and I can't keep worrying about whether foals will make fun of you for having a bug for a mother. You are a big girl, and I trust you to be able to deal with such things."

"You aren't a bug! You're a changeling, and any filly or colt that calls you a bug I will give a black eye!" Peridot said menacingly. She then hurried over and gave her mother a hug to show her commitment to her.

"I appreciate the sentiment Peridot, but do please try to find a better way of dealing with them if that comes up, okay?"  Tibia said as she stroked her daughter's mane. "I know you have a heart of a fighter, and I am proud of you for that, but please don't get into fights that are going to have me worry about you. I would hate to have you mess up your future because you can't restrain your temper."

"I will do my best Mommy. I love you, and I want you to be proud of me," Peridot said to her mother.

"That's a good young mare," Tibia said with a final nuzzle to her daughter. "Now go take a seat at the dining room table, and I will bring you some coffee to drink. I think you are old enough to start drinking some in the morning to help wake you up, and it will help a little with the headache I know you have. I heard you telling Mera and Pearl about it last night."

"You did?" Peridot said, blushing with worry as she realized that Tibia was aware of the fact Mera was going to get her a piece of underage contraband.

"I did," Tibia confirmed as she looked down on her daughter with a serious look. "If you agree not to get into any fights, I will agree I don't know anything about things you might end up having hidden in your room. Agreed?"

"Yes Mommy, no fights," Peridot said with relief. Mera let out a sigh of relief beside me as well. 

Peridot hurried to the dining table in the other room while Tibia prepared some coffee. She brought a hot steaming cup over to the filly, and quickly went and brought in sugar and milk as well. The filly gazed at the grownup drink steaming in front of her apprehensively. After looking at it for a minute it for a moment she lifted it up the cup in her hooves and took a tentative sip of the drink. Her face scrunched up at the bitter taste.

"It tastes weird," Peridot observed, trying not to sound like she was complaining. 

"You can add some sugar in milk to it a little at a time," Tibia told her. "Just do a little bit of each, don't overdo it. I promise you that eventually you will get to where you can happily drink it without them in the morning."

Diamond took his own cup and sat down next to Peridot and began to sip at his own coffee, not adding anything to it. Peridot watched her father as he drank the bitter drink and looked at her own again. She took a final glance at the sugar and milk and then back to her cup again. She again tentively took a sip from it, not adding anything to it.

"Are you sure you don't want any milk or sugar?" Mera asked her sister.

"Daddy isn't having any," Peridot said with a shake of her head. She took another small sip and managed not to recoil this time at the taste. "I just have to get used to it." She took another slightly longer sip after that, determined to prove that she could drink coffee just like the grownups.

After Tibia was done preparing food she sat out plates for each of us, and we all sat down to eat together. There was nothing meat based among the dishes, but that was okay. I wouldn't expect they would have anything, except maybe some eggs that would even begin to fit that description. Nor would I expect Tibia to be comfortable preparing anything like that. 

"I was thinking," Tibia said to Mera, "ponies saw Biblo come into the city yesterday. While not ever pony knew Biblo there definitely had to be ponies that recognized her. I also noticed that your cutie mark didn't change with that transformation. I am worried ponies are going to put two and two together and blow your secrecy."

"I was worried about that last night when Pearl and I went out shopping," Mera confessed. "I knew that particular clerk, and was terrified she was going to figure out Biblo and I are one in the same. She even pointed out the cutie mark being the same."

"I was thinking that I could help you out with ponies thinking that," Tibia continued. "What if you and Biblo were seen at together at a few public places and by a few of the bigger gossips? I can easily impersonate Biblo for a few hours. I think it would be actually be fun fooling every pony for a day. I could even make up some story about how I was leaving town again to go off to somewhere on the other side of the realm."

"That actually sounds like a good idea," Mera said. "And easy enough to do."

"You can make yourself look like Biblo?" Peridot asked her mother with a disbelieving voice.

Tibia smiled at her youngest, and with a flash of changeling fire Peridot was suddenly looking at a pony that was a perfect reflection of herself.

"Mommy can change to look like any pony," Tibia responded to her daughter using her daughter's voice. She then went to s a series of rapid changeling flame changes to each of the ponies around the table, before ending looking exactly like Mera looked as a Crystal Pony. 

"It is easy," Tibia said with Mera's voice. "The hard part is behaving like them in a believable way. But I am pretty sure I knew what Biblo was like before she went on her adventure well enough to fool any pony I am her." Tibia did her change one last time, returning to her true form.

"Mommy, that's so cool!" Peridot exclaimed with wonder. Then she looked around the table at the rest of us with a thoughtful expression, before her gaze settled on her father.

"Daddy, do you have super powers too? Mommy does, Pearl does, and Mera does, what do you do?" The filly looked at her father expectantly.

"I'm just a regular Crystal Pony, so I drew the story straw in this family," Diamond said with a laugh. "Even you can do more cool things than I can."

"What? I can't do anything special, I am just a regular Crystal Pony too," Peridot said with confusion. 

"You are half changeling, like me," Mera said to her sister. "That makes you a strong empath."

"What's an empath?" Peridot asked with more confusion. 

"It means you can tell what other ponies are feeling when you touch them," Mera explained. "Sometimes detailed information about what they are feeling. Can't you tell what Tibia is feeling when you hug her?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Peridot said dismissively. "But I can't do that with you, or Daddy, or any pony else."

"It doesn't work on Crystal Ponies for some reason," Mera explained. "Come over here and touch Pearl, she isn't a Crystal Pony." Mera looked at me. "Pearl, can you try thinking of some things as I mention them without showing any outward emotion?"

"I can do that I am pretty sure," I said with a nod back to my wife.

Peridot looked at me with an uncertain look and hopped down from her chair. She walked over to me and glanced up at me, before putting a hoof up on my leg.

"Pearl, think about eating sardines and bananas," Mera instructed.

Peridot kept her hoof in place and went wide eyed for a moment, before doing the same head turn Mera did when she was listening to emotions. 

"Pearl, think about how you felt when you saw me in my wedding dress," Mera said.

Peridot kept up on listening. A smile of wonder started to form on her face.

"Pearl, think about Fig Leaf," Mera said to finish off the demonstration.

Peridot took on a confused expression, which quickly changed to one of horror as she pulled her hoof away. 

"You hate him," Peridot said breathlessly as she looked up at me with frightened eyes. "What did he do to you?"

"That's private information," Mera told her sister, saving me from having to explain. "He is a pony that hurt Pearl a lot, that's all I will tell you. You were able to tell it was a him without even being told. Do you understand what it is to be an empath now?"

"I guess so," Peridot responded, and she gave me one last look. "I am not sure if I like it or not. It was nice when Pearl was thinking about things that made her happy, but it was scary when she thought about something bad. How do you deal with that?"

"For me it is worse," Mera said sadly. "Because of my absorbing talent I actually take all those feelings into myself and make them part of me. It is part of why I moved back here, so I wouldn't be surrounded by lots of ponies that I could absorb who knows what emotions and traits from. I need time to learn how to control it better in a place like this. I was so relieved when I found out you didn't have a talent like mine. I didn't want you to have to deal with the same thing."

"I thought it was odd you looked so relieved when we told you Peridot got her cutie mark in something that made us think she would end up as a guard pony," Tibia said with realization. "It didn't occur to me that you would have been worrying about that."

"So that's why you felt you needed to be a Thestral too?" Peridot said as she tried to figure out the implications herself. "You keep absorbing from Pearl and because Pearl feels like a Thestral you feel like a Thestral too?" Mera nodded in confirmation.

Peridot looked back to me again with an uncertain expression. I looked back down at her, worried about what she might be thinking about me.

"Can I hug you?" Peridot finally asked me. I nodded to her that it was alright. The filly reached up with both forelegs and wrapped them around me as best she could. I decided to go ahead and bend down and wrapped my own foreleg around her as well. So we stayed for a long moment, as I knew that she was feeling out who I was.

She finally broke from the embrace and sat back. She tilted her head and listened to the various thoughts and feelings that she had felt. It was amazing how like her sister she was in her gestures and body language. She finally looked back up to me.

"You are worried I won't like you, and worried about the Mommy and Daddy liking you," she said. "You are scared that we won't and that we are mad at you because of how much Mera has changed because of you. You really want us to love you though, and you love Mera very much."

I looked down with tears starting to form in my eyes, and nodded to the little empath. She looked up at me as she kept her head tilted in listening. 

"You are a good pony," Peridot said with a smile. "And you give good hugs. I am glad my sister found you."

"Pearl, does give the best hugs," Mera said with a smile. "That's the first thing I ever told her, did you know that, Peridot? I woke from a dreamless sleep, and found this wonderful mare giving me the most wonderful hug I had ever felt. It filled me with so much joy and happiness. Between that, and the magic I absorbed from her, I lit up brightly. Bright like we do during the fair, or a crystaling. I knew I loved you right then and there, Pearl."

Peridot got another confused look on her face. I worried for a moment that she was going to add some sort of but to what she had just said about me.

"Mera, why can't we let ponies know who you are?" Peridot asked, coming to the question seemingly out of nowhere.

"I am not entirely sure, it was one one of Sunset's conditions for changing me," Mera explained. "I know with the Lesser Alicorns and other immortals that are out there they have to completely change their identities from time to time so ponies don't realize what they are."

"But, that doesn't really make sense with your situation dear," Tibia joined in. "You haven't lived so long that ponies would realize you are not growing old like normal ponies. Yes, it is definitely unusual that you were turned into a Thestral. I had not known that a pony could have such a thing done. I don't actually turn into any of the ponies I transform into, it is just a shape, if I turned into a unicorn I wouldn't be able to use my horn, and if I turned into one of you I wouldn't be able to use any of your abilities. I take the form of a Crystal Pony most of the time and I can't store any magic at all like a Crystal Pony can from the Heart of the City."

"I can only use Thestral abilities because I absorb Pearl's magic," Mera explained. "I don't have any Thestral magic of my own. So I am not really that different than what you do. I can't even change shape at will like you can, so I am less in that regard than you are. I really don't have an answer other than Sunset said so. I can ask her about why, but I trust she has a good reason."

"Please do," Tibia pleaded. "It feels like such an unfair condition. We are doing well enough following our instructions, but I dearly want to be a mother to my daughter."

"You are a mother to your daughter no matter what," Mera reminded her.

"Yeah, but having to pretend I am not still hurts," Tibia pouted. "Maybe I am just being selfish, but I know I want an explanation about why we have to pretend to be only friends."

"I will make sure to ask Sunset next time I see her," Mera assured her mother. It occurred to me that I didn't really understand the order either. There was definitely something we were missing. Sunset wouldn't tell Mera to do that for no reason.

"Mera and I probably need to get to bed," I said. "And I know Peridot likely is supposed to be getting ready for school. We will talk to Sunset tonight about all of this, we need to see her about some other things as well."

"I am getting a little sleepy," Mera confessed. "I am not quite used to when we should be going to bed and when we should be getting up yet. Just that we should definitely be asleep most of the day and up all night. I am still learning about being a proper Thestral."

"I don't think bed time is well defined by instinct, just that after the sun is up means it is getting late," I confessed to my wife. "We will figure out our own schedule soon enough."

"We should probably get to bed right after sunrise," Mera said. "That gives us more time awake in the late afternoon when most businesses are open still. That at least would seem to make sense."

"Sounds like a good plan," I confirmed. "Which just reconfirms we need to get to bed now."

"Um, good day, you two. Sleep tight," Diamond said, trying to figure out the appreciate thing to say. Peridot giggled at her father's clumsy wording.

"Good day to you all too," Mera said to the family with a giggle. We waved our goodbyes and made our way back to the bedroom.


***


Mera, Tibia, and I made our way back to The Heart's Desire that afternoon. Tibia took up the earlier discussed disguise, and even made a point of waving to and greeting ponies she knew would be familiar with Biblo in the street. This actually started right away out of the front door of the house as she immediately went to greeting the next door neighbor and taking time to introduce both Mera and I to them. Her constant need to greet ponies certainly slowed our progress towards going to hotel, but it definitely served its purpose of making sure every pony was seeing both Mera and Biblo at the same time.

Ultimately it took us nearly two hours to actually make it to the hotel due to the frequent stops. When we did get there we were met with the same pony who had greeted us last time.

"Welcome back to The Heart's Desire Hotel!" We were greeted by the pony. "Miss Tibia, that is a very fetching look for you. Your Graces are looking as well as ever too. We shall inform her Holiness if your arrival immediately, and have you escorted to her right away."

"That won't be needed, we can find our own way after last time," I told her with a smile. The reaction to me saying that was very odd though.

"I am sorry," the pony said, with an uncomfortablely large toothy grin. Even though I couldn't tell how or why, there was suddenly a sense of menace in the air. "But all guests must be escorted through the hotel, no exceptions. It is one of the rules, and we never break the rules here."

"Um, okay, we will wait to be escorted then," I replied back. Immediately the sense of menace lessened, but didn't go away. 

"Thank you for your cooperation your Grace," the pony said back happily, though she didn't drop her smile. That smile just made me feel extremely uncomfortable. 

The same bellhop as before came and escorted us happily to our destination. The same elevator operator took us up to the next floor. We were taken to a different door than last time, one that I was fairly certain hadn't been there previously. 

When we went into the room Sunset was on a large bed and seemed to be listening to something carefully. She didn't greet us as we entered and we didn't interupt her. She finally shook her head with a sigh and looked at us.

"I think today is a good day for both me and Hot Sticks to check out of the hotel," Sunset said sadly. She then looked at us with concern. "You didn't do anything to upset the staff did you?"

"We had said we could find our own way here, and we were told that was against the rules, so we waited to be escorted instead," I told her. 

She shook her head again with another sigh. 

"Well, that explains it I guess," she said sadly. "I suppose it could have been worse, you could have ended up breaking one of their rules. Still a good idea to for me to check out though. Once you agitate them it just starts slowly gets worse from there and it takes years for them to calm down completely again. It is my mistake for not warning you, just let the staff do their jobs or things start going bad here."

"I am sorry, I didn't realize that they even had any rules to break," I said gmfeeling guilty.

"They have all kinds of rules, and they don't have them listed anywhere. One of the rules that I know of is actually you do not ask what the rules are. Learning the rules is kind of a trial and error thing, and considering this place takes years to settle down after you break one, only immortals ever get to where they can actually start to learn them. Don't feel guilty, this always ends up happening in the end."

"What exactly ends up happening in the end?" Mera asked with concern. 

"I'll tell you later," Sunset said quickly. She then rang a bell that was sitting nearby with her magic. The bellhop quickly entered through the door with a happy smile.

"What service can I provide you your Holiness?" The pony asked happily.

"Inform Hot Sticks that I will be checking out now, and I would appreciate him coming with me," Sunset told the bellhop with a pleasant smile. "The service has been excellent as always, but it is time for us to get going."

"We are sad to see you go your Holiness, but we shall do as you ask," the pony replied quickly. "I will return to help you to the front door in just a moment after I have completed my task." The bellhop quickly exited the room.

Sunset got up from the bed and quickly did a transformation spell on herself in preparation for her departure. Her new form was a creame colored Crystal Pony with a red mane, this time of average mare size, which actually seemed to look just different enough from her Alicorn or Thestral form that I wouldn't have realized it was her if I met her on the street until I got a look at her cutie mark. Sunset was capable of going inconspicuous after all it seemed.

Sunset looked herself over in a nearby mirror and then quickly fixed her mane into a complicated bit of curls. She then applied some eyeshadow, lipstick, and a few other bits of makeup to her face. Gave herself another look over and smiled.

"I think I will call this identity, Shimmering Sunset," she said with a slightly haughty tone. "Not the most original name I know, but very few ponies even know who Sunset Shimmer happens to be. Playing a rich Crystal Pony snob for a while could be a nice change of pace. I want to be less notable while I am still in the city."

"It definitely seems different," Mera said as she looked at Sunset's current form. "We came by to ask to just talk about some things, do you have a few minutes before you check out?"

"Of course, I am not in a rush. This place isn't in danger of going full Shinning on us right now," Sunset said.

"Um, what's full Shinning?" Mera asked with confusion.

"Old reference to something from elsewhere, nothing you need to worry about right now," Sunset said quickly. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

Mera and I looked to one another, and took a quick glance at Tibia who didn't have any clue about our original reason for wanting to talk to Sunset.

"We checked in on that Pegasus we had discussed last night," I finally said to Sunset. "He skipped town right after Mera left, no word to any pony, and so far seems no pony knows where he went."

"Well, that screams guilty," Sunset said with a sigh. "Did you get any information at all about him?"

"His name is Fig Leaf, and he started working in Crystal Heart about the same time I started living in Starlight's Folly," I replied. Sunset narrowed her eyes, but then shook her head.

"The name Fig Leaf makes me think that is not his real name," Sunset said. "Fig Leaf is an old slang term for disguise. More worrying, it is an old slang term from a place that should not have transmitted any of it's slang terms to here under any circumstances. Only certain Alicorns would even be aware of the term, every one of them is a Greater, except for me, which narrows down the list. Well, the Greaters, me, and probably Discord anyway would know it. I can think of no other Lessers that would, and no other immortals."

"So you are saying Fig Leaf is a Greater Alicorn in disguise?" Mera asked. "So we are looking at a male Greater Alicorn then?"

"Um, you two should be well aware gender is easily switchable when changing forms," Sunset reminded us. "It is just as easily a female as a male Greater. But it could also be just a close servant of one of them under an assigned name, though the reference makes me think it is one of them."

I was sitting in shock at the news. That was as big a shock as finding out that I was immortal. The idea that I could have an Alicorn as a father, if this was an Alicorn in disguise, and it was the same pony that had gotten my mother pregnant with me. Only two of the Greater Alicorns were male, so it was a little odd that one of the others could be considered my father, but considering my own circumstances that wasn't nearly as weird for me as some other ponies might have felt about it. The fact that it was possibly an Alicorn at all was more than enough to have an existential crisis. It wasn't confirmed to be true yet, but Sunset seemed to feel certain.

"Unfortunately it doesn't give much more lead than that," Sunset said. "If you found out no more information than that we are at a dead end unless Water Shadow uncovers some information in Harmony. I will contact her with the new information soon and see if it helps her with her search, but we will have to wait on her for any further developments. Was there anything else you wanted to discuss with me?"

"Why does my daughter have to hide who she actually is?" Tibia spoke up. The changeling didn't know anything about our first matter of business, but she wasn't going to let that deter her from asking about what was important to her. Sunset looked at her with sympathy.

"This might be hard for a changeling to understand," Sunset began. "But ponies don't change tribes. I know that seems obvious, but there is more to it than that. When ponies start thinking they can change tribes, ponies start thinking about whether they can become Alicorns. That is a dangerous line of thought."

"I thought you all made it so there would be no more Alicorns," I said, not understanding the concern.

"We sealed off the most common ways of becoming an Alicorn, it isn't a guarantee we overlooked some other method," Sunset replied. "And if ponies at large are trying to figure out methods to become an Alicorn, sooner or later some pony will find one. We are not going to go down the road that led us to having an army of insane Alicorns terrorizing the world again."

"It seems like a major overreaction to me," Tibia complained. "She is half changeling surely that can be used to explain it away."

"I will discuss it with Twilight," Sunset said with a sigh. "But I can't promise you that there will be any change in decision, and expect the decision to stand. This might seem extreme to you, but there are good reasons for this kind of action. It is to protect ponies. Perhaps another arrangement can be made to make this easier for you."

"Like what?" Tibia asked with frustration, crossing her hooves in front of her and pouting. It was a perfect imitation of what Mera's body language when she was frustrated. Actually considering Tibia was her mother it might not be an imitation, it might just be where Mera picked it up.

"You could formally adopt Mera as a daughter, it isn't a completely uncommon practice to adopt a full grown pony into a family," Sunset replied, offering up the suggestion. "It isn't extremely common, but it does happen from time to time. I realize it might seem redundant to adopt your own daughter as a daughter, but other ponies wouldn't be realizing she was already your daughter. You would still be denying she is Bibulous Bottom, but you would be able to acknowledge her as family. Would that make you feel better?"

"I suppose that could work," Tibia grumbled. "It seems strange, and unnecessary, but if it will allow me and Diamond to at least be able to call her my daughter in public, and Peridot be able to call her a sister, I could live with it. I'll talk to Diamond about it. I assume there are all kinds of regulations we have to meet, just like there is with adopting a foal."

"Not really," Sunset replied back. "With adults it is different, as we aren't concerned about the welfare of a foal. All that needs to be confirmed is Mera renounces any previous inheritances she may have been in line for from other family with a signed form, and you both sign some forms consenting to the arrangement.  A notice is posted about it in the local papers after that, and you are done."

Just then the bellhop let Hot Sticks into the room. He was wearing his life pack, and he looked around at us all, doing a slight double take at Mera and Tibia, and then another double take a Sunset, before looking at her cutie mark.

"I am ready to check out, I assume there is a reason we are leaving on such short notice?" Hot Sticks asked, looking again at Mera and Tibia with confusion, no doubt wondering about the why Mera had a doppelganger. 

"I'll explain after we leave," Sunset said to him as she grabbed up her life pack. "We are ready to go," she said to the bellhop.

We were escorted back down to the lobby. The pony at the front desk was still just sitting there saying nothing with that same disconcerting smile on her face. Something about that smile made me feel extremely the need to just start running, not to even mention the fact she was just sitting there motionless staring at us. The others gave her a nervous look, except for Sunset, Sunset just waved goodbye pleasantly. After we got out of the hotel I realized that a sense of dread that I had been feeling suddenly lifted.

"So what did you mean by what you said about the hotel shinning or whatever?" I asked Sunset.

"The hotel is haunted," Sunset said with little concern. "It is fine most of the time, but when you start upsetting it things start going downhill. You really don't want to know what happens when you actually end up breaking the rules. Once it gets unhappy it is best that no pony be in it. It takes it years to calm down once it gets itself worked up."

"So are all the staff in the hotel going to end up having to leave it?" Mera asked with concern looking back at the building.

"Mera, there is no staff at that hotel," Sunset told her in a serious tone. "Every pony that works there has been dead for centuries. If you come back in a hundred years the exact same staff would greet you, not aged a day, because they are spirits."

"How did it end up that way?" she asked with lowered ears.

"I am not clear on the details, you would have to ask Flurry Heart about it," Sunset replied. "Some sort of tragedy that happened, but I was elsewhere at the time when it occurred. After Flurry Heart started giving me the details I told her to stop, it was particularly unpleasant. Make sure you haven't eaten anything first if you ever ask. Personally I wouldn't recommend even asking."

"Isn't there anything that can be done for them?" I asked looking back at the hotel.

"No," Sunset said, finally looking back herself with lowered ears. "We wish there was, believe me. We have tried demolishing the place in the past. It puts itself back up soon after. If you try to demolish it and build something else over it, whatever you end up building tends to have something bad happen to it, and to any ponies that might be inside that new structure. We have learned just to try to work with it. That is why only immortals and Alicorns are typically guests of the hotel, though. The hotel can't really hurt us as easily if things get bad, and they live long enough to actually start getting a feel for what is and isn't alright to say or do with the hotel."

"Wait, so the Alicorns have no idea how to fix this place so the spirits and the hotel go away?" Mera said with shock. "Aren't you all supposed to be do pretty much anything you want?"

"We have a lot of power, but it isn't just doing whatever we want," Sunset explained levelly. "We don't understand this place well enough to actually do anything about it, and to date no pony has made any real progress on figuring it out. The hotel isn't really doing anything bad being here, so we just leave it be, and take advantage of the amenities when it is in an amicable mood. Actually, going without guests at all for extended periods of time seems to be one of the things that makes it unhappy."

"It feels unsettling that there is something like this here in Crystal Heart," Tibia said with a shiver.

"You would be surprised at the number of unsettling things that you can find in any of the older cities that ponies don't realize are there," Sunset said with a shrug. "This isn't even the only unsettling thing in Crystal Heart. I really need to introduce you two to the twins here, they give most ponies the shivers when they realize that what they are dealing with."

"The twins?" I asked. 

"I think Patina mentioned them to you when she first saw you two," Sunset said back with a smile. "The vampires, they aren't really all that bad, they are actually kind of nice. They creep out some ponies, like Patina, but I don't really feel nervous around them."

"Um, anything else in Crystal Heart we should be aware of?" I asked.

Sunset gave me a mirth filled look. 

"Do you really want a full list? Or maybe you would just prefer to enjoy your day instead. Whether it is Harmony, Crystal Heart, Hatten, Klugestown, Ourton, Canterlot, Yazyakistan, even your old home back in Hallow Shades there are things most ponies would prefer not to know about. You'll learn about many of these things over time, but if ponies live happy lives within a short walking distance of many horrors without ever knowing. There are plenty of towns and villages that have much more overtly threatening things near them. Starlight's Folly you could go out run into undead, we just recently walked through a region where the villages live in fear of monsters coming for their foals in the night. I wouldn't worry too much over what is here in Crystal Heart, it is fairly tame in comparison. 

"For now I need to go find different lodging because you managed to upset the spirits of the dead at the place I was staying comfortably, and I don't particularly feel like waking up at night to find some spirit of a screaming dismembered pony in my room or find the walls of my room bleeding. It just ruins the entire stay."
> Chapter 31: Seven Years of Happiness Part 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

One week after moving to Crystal Heart

It was early afternoon and I was ready to run back to bed. Not because I hadn't gotten enough sleep, which I hadn't, but because today was the day I started my apprenticeship with Tibia in her flower shop.

"Are you alright dear? You seem tense," Tibia said to me as we walked through the shop. 

There were a few customers browsing the flowers. The flowers were all growing from various baskets and planters all throughout the shop, sometimes there were flowers cut and placed in vases. They came in all different kinds and shapes.

"First day jitters," I replied nervously. "My last apprenticeship didn't end up turning out so well."

"Well, there were some extraordinary circumstances involved with that dear," Tibia said understanding. "Nothing like that could possibly happen here. I don't expect you to know what you are doing here yet, so we are going to take this nice and slow."

"I will do my best," I assured her. "I really do want to learn a good honest trade."

"Don't be so hard on your past experiences," Tibia said chidingly, with a smile. "The work you did in your old home might not have been a typical pony trade, but it was honest work, and the other work you do on the side with Mera is among the best work a pony can do, even if it isn't a trade."

Tibia was still referring to Mera by name for the moment because paperwork for the adoption had to be finalized still. It required a formal signature from Flurry Heart who still had yet to return from Harmony. We had been assured that she should be back within a week, and would be happy to sign the paperwork quickly once she returned.

The few customers in the shop gave me sidelong looks as I passed by them. They weren't hostile looks, just curious ones. A Thestral was not a common sight in Crystal Heart and for these ponies this was their first real opportunity to see one up close. I wondered if they were deliberately delaying making their selections just so they could spend more time looking at me. Despite them not being hostile, it still raised the old nervousness about being other from my teenaged years and early twenties.

It wasn't just me who they were sneaking glances at though. Tibia was in her true changeling form. While the patrons of her shop had long known that she was a changeling, Tibia was definite changeling name and Tibia never had denied what she was to any who had asked, her walking around in her changeling form was a very recent development. Even though Tibia was doing her best to calm me, she had signs of nervousness about her as well when she caught a pony glancing her way. She was my mother-in-law, which brought natural kinship, but more than that she was another who had to struggle with the feeling of being something somehow apart from those around her, and that brought an extra bond between us that I was quickly coming to appreciate.

"Today we will start off simple, something you don't need to know anything about flowers to do," she said to me. "The most basic part of shopping, making the sales. I am going to just have you sit behind the counter and collect bits for the purchases. You don't have to know all the prices, as I have set out a price list for you. All you need is some basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and be able to count. The list has pictures of each of the different flowers and their names, so you can start identifying them. Just collect payment, give change where appropriate, and be friendly to our customers. I will close at hoof if you have questions, or can't answer a question, so don't be embarrassed if you don't know something. Just ask me. I'll be introducing regular customers to you as they are ready to check out so you can get to know the regulars."

"Yes ma'am," I responded. That did actually seem simple enough. 

Tibia took me to the counter and showed me a small drawer that was used for storing bits and gemstones. Gemstones were used in place of large amounts of bits, this was my first problem; I had no idea how many bits individual gemstones were worth. 

"Um, I have never dealt with gemstones before, Tibia," I told her as I looked the stones over. 

She gave me an odd look as I told her that, and looked back in the drawer.

"How do you carry around large sums of money then? You can't possibly carry around hundreds and hundreds of bits on you," she said with confusion. "I was under the impression you earned a fair amount doing scavenging."

"I did carry around all my bits," I said, and pointed to my life pack. "We have a bank account now, but I really could just carry everything on me."

"What if you ended up losing that life pack?" Tibia said with concern, looking at my pack.

"I guess I am just out of bits?" I said with a shrug. "At least I would have been. I suppose I can get more from the bank now."

"Dear, that seems very risky," Tibia said with continued concern. "If you had transferred them to crystals you could store the crystals elsewhere for safe keeping. I know a life pack is convenient, but you are putting a lot of risk having everything you own in that. Further, most of us can't afford something like that to carry our bits around in. This is Crystal Heart and the prices for unicorn services are fairly high. That just isn't practical for most ponies. Don't worry though, I will walk you through gem values."

I nodded and tried to shore up my courage. This should be simple, but I couldn't help being stressed. I was going to be dealing with ponies face to face, something that scared me even though I knew the Crystal Ponies were generally friendly to Thestrals. Add to that the fact I had never held down a job dealing with others more than a day, if you consider my job as a nurse a one day job, and the stress became even worse.

I sat down behind the counter and started looking over the lists and pictures of various flowers and plants, hoping that I could try to start recognizing them. I was familiar with a few of them, tulips, roses, daisies, sunflowers, and my own pearlwort. Many of the others were completely new to me, not to mention the variety of different colors and types that each of them were subdivided into.

After a moment or two of looking everything over one of the customers decided to be the first to deal with me. She was a orange colored mare with a red colored mane, and her selection I was thankful looked to be something I easily recognized, some yellow tulips. 

"I think I will just go with these today," the mare said. She turned to my mother-in-law. "Tibia you are certainly making your shop one that is talked about lately. First you start coming to work in your true form, which I dare say gave many of us such a shock the other day, I mean we knew what you were, but we never had to really deal with it. Not that there is anything wrong with being a changeling mind you, but it just isn't normal for us. Now you hire on a Bat Pony for help. If we knew you were hiring I am sure you would have found many normal applicants who would have been eager for work." She turned back to me and looked mildly apologetic. "Not that there is anything wrong we you ma'am. I am sure work must be so hard to come by for some pony like you, especially if you took such an unusual job from what you are used to doing. It is good that you are doing good respectable work."

I don't know which of us tensed up more, me or Tibia. The mare wasn't being rude per we, but I really didn't like the way she said things. Was she implying I wasn't normal? Was she implying Tibia wasn't normal? I didn't want to say anything about it, so I just forced a smile and started counting up her flowers and checking the price chart that Tibia had given me.

"Pearl here is the wife to the mare I am planning on adopting," Tibia explained to the mare. "Alas for me neither Biblo nor Peridot seem to want to take on my shop, and I am determined to keep it in family. Pearl may not have any experience in this business, but she is eager to learn. If I can get a daughter-in-law who is interested in my shop I want to give her every opportunity."

"Wait, you are adopting a full grown mare?" The customer said in shock. "What prompted this? Have we met this mare?"

"Mera hasn't been by the shop either as if her," Tibia went on with a smile. "She is a relative without any family but mine." Not a lie I guessed. "Seeing as we are her only family, and she was moving to Crystal Heart to live near us I am taking her in as my own. She is a lot like Biblo in some ways, even has the same cutie mark, and is eager to reconnect with family."

"Is she that other Thestral we have heard word about? Or is she another changeling as well?" The mare said, looking between the two of us. Other customers in the store seemed to have somehow decided, all at the same time, to look at flowers closer to the counter. This was juicy gossip.

"Mera is a Thestral like me," I said, deciding to speak up. "We really do enjoy it here. We have been to a lot of places, Yazyakistan, Harmony, and lots of towns in the wilds south of Ocid. Crystal Heart is definitely the nicest place we have been. We have been outsiders everywhere we have gone, and it has been hard to feel at home anywhere. We are hoping that will change here. I have heard so much about how nice the Crystal Ponies of Crystal Heart are." Hopefully if I was just really accommodating and flattering they would stop looking at me like some curiosity. The lack of hostility was a vast improvement, but this pony showed there were still going to be ponies looking at me like I wasn't just another pony.

"Oh, you flatter us all." The mare gave me a smile at the compliments to Crystal Heart and its residents. "We really are the friendliest city in all the realm, and the most beautiful. I hope that you and your wife enjoy all we have to offer here. And I hope to meet miss Mera soon." I had a feeling that Mera want to punch this mare in the face, though I couldn't say for sure, best to have her avoid the shop for the time being.

I completed the mare's purchase and she left the shop. Her visit to the counter opened up the floodgates of ponies who were ready to make their purchases. Between them all I found myself having to answer many Thestral related questions, and trying to correct misconceptions. Will I light up like the Crystal Ponies during the height of the fair? I didn't think so. Did my ever have to wear anything over my wings so they didn't get cold? They got cold sometimes, but I had never heard of any clothing specific for them. Why was I working in a flower shop if I was a meat eater, and where did I get my food? I had to explain I could eat flowers just like any other pony, and though I can eat meat too I hadn't found any good source of it yet in Crystal Heart. Don't Thestrals only come out a night? I explained that we could function in the day fine, we just preferred nighttime hours, and that I would be only working in the afternoons and early evenings as a result. Was it true Thestrals ate manticores? A Thestral would definitely kill and eat a manticore if it was in close proximity to a pony village, it kept manticores from hurting ponies. Would I be making a cloudhouse for myself? No, I was a Thestral not a Pegasus. I wasn't sure if I could even make a cloudhouse, and if I tried to stand on a cloud I would fall right through like any non-Pegasus would. 

And so the never ending questions went on as I just tried to do my job. There were a few times after finishing collecting a ponies bits for their purchase that I had to remind them politely that there were other ponies waiting in line. Tibia had to field her own string of customer questions. I didn't pay as much attention to those since I wasn't being spoken to, and I really was just focused on trying to move the line while making sure I was doing everything right. 

Finally, after hours of this, the shop was clear and Tibia turned her sign to say it was closed. After locking the door she sighed and laid down on the ground. 

"I am very sorry about all that. I should have expected that coming. They did something similar to me earlier this week when I first dropped my Crystal Pony form. They weren't this bad, maybe because they were already used to the idea I was a changeling. I can understand if you don't want to continue with this, it doesn't feel fair to you at all." She seemed exhausted as she spoke, and extremely disappointed. I could tell that she had a lot of hope in me wanting to work here, and that she felt that the ponies shopping had ruined that.

"I am not intending on quitting," I told her. Her ears perked up as I said it and she looked up at me. "Yeah, that was uncomfortable, really uncomfortable, but Sunset has gotten on me more than once about me giving up because things are rough. I can learn this, and I want to learn this. Crystal Ponies will get used to me, eventually, and things will settle down. Plus, I want to prove that I am not be given this job out of pity. A lot of them seemed to imply that I wasn't capable of doing normal pony work, because I am a Thestral. I am a normal pony, except for the whole immortality thing, and I want to be treated as one. I won't be treated as one of I don't make myself part of the community though. If I keep myself apart I'll keep being treated as something apart."

"You're a brave pony, Pearl," Tibia replied with a smile.

"Really? Do you feel brave when you have customers gawking at you for being a changeling?" I asked.

"No," Tibia said with her ears lowered. "I feel like I am a fool for thinking that they will accept me for what I really am."

"Do you want to go back to just hiding it?" I asked her.

"No," she replied again, with a shake of her head. "I am afraid to tell Diamond or any other pony, but it feels suffocating. Like I am just going through life pretending, that I am not being valued as me. Just the character I am playing. Changing forms is part of who I am as a changeling, yes, but staying confined to one because I am terrified of what ponies will think of what I really am isn't right or fair."

"So you aren't being brave, you are just doing what you need to do so you don't feel like you have to be ashamed of yourself then. All the hiding, worried about what other ponies will think of you, makes you think shameful things about yourself, and at a certain point it comes down to you having to either say you shouldn't have to be ashamed or hating yourself," I confirmed. She thought for a moment about what I said and nodded sadly.

"Mera fusses at me that I act like I am ashamed to be a Thestral," I continued. "And I need to start having pride in what I am. I have been making some real progress, but it can be lost if I let other ponies make me feel ashamed. I need to keep them from doing that to me, and that means I have to keep facing them rather than running away. I am not quitting."

"Pearl, I am still getting to know you, but I am glad my daughter found a pony like you, and I am proud to have you as my daughter-in-law," Tibia said as she walked over and embraced me in a hug.


***


One year after moving to Crystal Heart

The program that Peridot was part of was doing a dueling competition among its best students. There were more than two dozen fillies and colts who were going to duel with their preferred weapons, wooden training versions of them of course, to get the honor of claiming they were the best young fighter. Peridot was thrilled when she was allowed to be one of the combatants, she wasn't the youngest among the contestants, but she was among the youngest. 

The entire family had come out to cheer her on. Diamond, Mera, and I were having a hard time soothing Tibia's worries over her youngest's well being though. Peridot was already in the Crystal Stadium getting ready for her first match. The rest of us were all outside the stadium trying to get Tibia to relax. The actual event wasn't going to start for another hour yet. 

"Mom, she is going to be fine. She might get a few bruises, but that is to be expected," Mera tried to reassure the changeling. They were both hovering in the air about a pony length off the ground. Tibia, in her changeling form, was stress hovering. Mera was hovering so she could talk directly to her mother without having to keep looking up.  Diamond and I were just sitting a few pony lengths away having a smoke of our pipes as we watched Mera try to reason with Tibia. Occasional passers by would look up at the two hovering creatures, some would look at Tibia with sympathy, others would try to stifle chuckles.

"They are using training weapons and she will be armored. I have done this myself, and without armor. She will be fine," Mera continued to try to reassure Tibia. "You know this is really important to her."

"She will be fighting colts and fillies that are basically full grown stallions and mares," Tibia whined from her spot. "They are so much bigger than her."

"She is very muscular, Mom, much more muscular than just about any other filly her age. She is in the same strength class as most adults, and stronger than many of them. Please, come down and stop worrying," Mera continued to plead. "She could probably kick Pearl's flank with ease."

"Hey!" I shouted in consternation at my wife. 

"I'm sorry Precious but it is true," Mera called back to me apologetically. "You are definitely not as strong as her, and since biting and flying are against the rules she would leave welts all over your flank. You just aren't that kind of fighter."

"I'm not weak," I defended myself.

"I didn't say you were," Mera said with frustration. "I am just saying that I had to match you versus Peridot in a hoof wrestling match or a leg race Peridot would almost certainly win. You are definitely the strongest flyer out of you, me, and Mom, and if you were intending to rip out Peri's throat you likely would be able to do it. Since this isn't about flying, and you have no intention of ripping our sister's throat out, that's a moot point."

Discussion of the possibility of Peridot's throat getting ripped out had a pronounced negative impact on Tibia's nerves. She began bawling like a foal. This caused more onlookers to stare. Mera gave a frustrated huff, and pulled her mother down to the ground and gave her a hug and started petting her on the back.

"Mom, do you think you can take a form for a few minutes that doesn't have wings? I don't want to have to pull you out of the air again. You draw way too much attention to us in the air," Mera pleaded with the changeling. "Take your Crystal Pony form and come sit and calm down. You'll upset Peri if she sees you this upset when she is trying to duel. You don't want to upset her do you?"

Tibia kept crying, but gave a small nod of her head. A second later she was in the form of a middle aged pink Crystal Pony mare. 

Mera shepherded her mother to come sit by us. Once her mother was sitting next to Diamond Mera came and sat down next to me with a frustrated sigh. She dug her pipe out of her badly and took a deep inhale off it after lighting it up. 

"I am glad that you have gotten to where you can block out absorbing unwanted things," I said to my wife. "I don't think I could personally deal with trying to do that with you."

"I can only keep things out so long," Mera reminded me. "If she gets bad again you and Dad are going to have to be the ones to deal with it. It is exhausting and unnerving keeping that up that long."

"I'm sorry," Tibia said through held back sobs. "I just can't help it. I used to get so scared when Diamond had to go off and do anything with the guard. When he retired I felt like I was free to stop worrying about that kind of thing. Pinkie Pie decided to play a trick on me, and give me foals who all have such dangerous lives."

"We are all going to be fine, Mom," Mera said with another frustrated sigh. "Peridot is really strong and capable now, when she grows up she is going to be the kind of pony other ponies lose their bladders even thinking about fighting. Pearl and I are the things that give wild monsters nightmares, we aren't in danger either."

"She is right, Hon," Diamond assured his wife. "I think Peridot has the makings of being being a far more capable guard than I was in my day, and while I have never seen our other daughters in action, I have heard enough details to know they know how to keep themselves from getting too hurt."

"I know, in my head anyway, but it is hard to convince my nerves," Tibia said mournfully. She looked over to Diamond and snatched his pipe away from him and took a draw off it, which led to her choking on the smoke a moment later.

"Oh sweet Twilight! How do you three breathe with that stuff!" She said, still coughing.

"Well, first time we all did we typically ended up choking too," I said over to her. "You get used to it after a few tries, and then addiction starts setting in. I keep meaning to quit, but Mera wants her smoking buddy. Now that she has seen you try it she is likely going to try to push you into addiction. Mera is a regular heathen like that."

"You shouldn't say such uncomplimentary things about your wife," Diamond said, which earned him a smile from Mera. "Even if they are completely true." Mera's smile turned into a small frown and she gave her father a playful smack with her wing. Tibia actually let off a small giggle at this exchange, which was a definite improvement.

"It is true, you try to push that stuff like Hot Sticks does," I told my wife. "Remember what happened when you tried pushing it on Sunset?"

"Precious..I thought we agreed that we would never speak of that debacle again," Mera growled.

"What happened?" Tibia asked curiously.

"It really isn't that interesting," Mera said dismissively.

"Then you should have no reason not to tell us," Diamond chimed in. Mera gave her father a dirty look.

"Sunset lost her temper with Mera and set. Mera's tail on fire," I said, which caused Mera to groan with embarrassment. "Then when Mera was running around in a panic, due to the flames on her tail, Sunset threw her in a fountain. Mera hasn't tried pushing pipe weed on Sunset since then."

"And we are definitely never speaking of that again after this time," Mera said with an angry huff. "I heal fast, so the main thing that was hurt was my dignity."

"I would have never believed it, before this last year, if you told me that was something you would get in trouble doing," Diamond said with a laugh.

"Not the best hobby, but I enjoy myself," Mera asserted. "Gets a bit pricey up here though. I am guessing because it gets imported from elsewhere. I am actually tempted to just figure out how to grow the stuff myself."

"Oh, and take business away from Hot Sticks's poor destitute village?" I said with a laugh. 

"I actually looked into it," Mera said. "Hot Sticks' village? That place is anything but poor. It is one of the most wealthy towns in its region, especially given its size."

We all paused as we noticed that Tibia was staring intently at Mera. 

"Is something wrong, Mom?" Mera asked her mother hesitantly.

"Do you actually mean that?" Tibia asked hesitantly to her daughter.

"Mean what? That Hot Sticks' village is filthy rich? Yeah, that's true," Mera replied.

"No l, not that," Tibia said with a small shake of her head. "That you are tempted to grow the pipe weed yourself."

"I suppose," Mera said tentatively. "I hadn't given it serious thought, but it has passed through my mind."

"Hmm," Tibia grunted, then she took another careful puff of her husband's pipe. At least she wasn't panicking about Peridot anymore, but she definitely was thinking about something.

"What's on your mind, Hun?" Diamond asked her. "And can I have my pipe back now?"

"You can have it back when I am done with it, Dearest," Tibia said. "As for what I am thinking about; I am thinking about what I would need to do to get that kind of crop to grow."

"You are really focused on it," Diamond observed. 

"I have been trying to get our daughter to take an interest in my business since she was a filly, and now she is expressing interest in growing this pipe weed," Tibia said. "Now she is expressing interest in growing something. I don't care that it isn't flowers, she is interested in growing plants, which is something I can bond with her over. I will help her, happily. Plus she says prices here are much higher than in the south, if we can produce it here we would be able to sell it without the middle merchants and make a sizable profit. It is a potential large expansion of my business, and one that I can leave to Mera in addition to Pearl. This shop is what I have to pass on to my daughters, if I can make it more successful I will take it."

"Well, you seem calmer now," Diamond observed. "So, can I have my pipe back?"

"Not yet, I am getting used to it," Tibia chided, and took another draw. "I have to have some clue about any product I am going to produce. I have to be able to judge the quality for myself, which means I have to use it."

"You really are serious?" Mera asked her mother with disbelief. "You want to start a pipe weed crop here?"

"I want us to start a pipe weed crop here," Tibia corrected. "I know you have had no interest in the same things I have do. But if this is something I can do with you, and leave as a legacy for you, a mother wants to feel she left something for her daughter."

"Well, if you really want to do this I will gladly do it with you, Mom," Mera said, as she came over and hugged her mother.

After this we finally went inside the stadium and took our seats. Tibia did have some of her earlier nervousness return as we watched the matches. The matches that Peridot was involved in caused the changeling to grip onto her husband tightly. Peridot for her part did exceptionally well, eventually placing third by the end of the day, which was an enormous source of pride considering she was one of the younger contestants. When she finally left the stadium to come greet us she was extremely pleased with herself, despite some minor bruising.

"Did you see me?" Peridot asked us all excitedly. 

"Yes Dear," Tibia said as she gathered her youngest up in a hug. "We are all very proud of you."

"I know you were worried, Mommy, you don't have to pretend for me. I don't mind," Peridot assured her mother.

"I was worried about you, but that doesn't mean I am not proud of you," Tibia told her while hugging tightly. "And I am sure next time you will do even better."

"When you get bigger you can practice against me," Mera told her sister. "You'll get your flank kicked of course, but if you are used to fighting some pony like me these other ponies should become pushovers."

"Are you really that good, Sis, or are you just trying to impress me?" Peridot asked her sister with a sound of disbelief. "You never did any fighting when I was little."

"You are still little," Mera reminded her. "And yes, I am not exaggerating. I can neat multiple trained guards at once. The last pony I actually had trouble against was an Alicorn, but there was no winning that fight. She ended up bloodying my muzzle for trying."

"You fought an Alicorn?" Peridot asked in wonder, she looked to me for confirmation and I nodded my head.

"I didn't know she was an Alicorn at the time to be fair. I initially was worried that I was going to hurt her. It wasn't a fair fight at all though. Alicorns don't care about you hitting them, it doesn't do anything, and they hit way harder than you can."

"You did take down Meadowbrook with one blow," I reminded her. Peridot gasped in shock.

"I got lucky with her," Mera said. "I made her spell backfire on her. She ended up knocking herself out. And I am pretty sure the only thing I hurt on Pinkie Pie were her feelings."

"You attacked Pinkie Pie! Your own Alicorn!" Tibia gasped with dismay.

"She isn't my Alicorn anymore," Mera replied. "I don't have a personal Alicorn anymore. But Pinkie Pie is okay with me, we were on good terms last I saw her."

"Peridot, I am not going to worry about you as much anymore. Your sister causes me enough worry for both of you," Tibia said with a sigh. "Whatever you do can't possibly be as much trouble as all that Mera does."
> Chapter 32: Seven Years of Happiness Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two Years After Moving to Crystal Heart

It was early evening when I got back home from work. Tibia had gone to the bank to deposit the daily sales. I came in to find Diamond and Mera sitting on the couch having a discussion. I was surprised to find Mera already downstairs, as she tended to be in our room reading until I got home usually.  Her crop of pipe weed wasn't ready to be planted yet, as a special greenhouse had to be built and enchanted. We had paid the extra bits to pay for construction ourselves, and would pay for the enchantments as well. Construction was underway, but would still take time. Until then Mera tended to just lay around while I worked.

"Anything interesting going on? I am not used to you being down already," I said to my wife.

"There is something interesting going on, but that isn't the reason I needed to get out of the room. Peridot is in her estrus cycle and she is loud enough I can hear her through the wall. I swear she gets louder each time. I don't think I ever got that loud when I was taking care of..things.," Mera said with a disgruntled huff. 

"Can we not talk about her masturbation habits, please," Diamond said pleasingly. "I prefer not to think about my little filly being hyped up on sexual energy."

"Well, let us get a noise suppressing spell on her room, and then we won't have to talk about it," Mera complained, with an aggravated glance at the stairs. "She isn't so little anymore either. She is nearly as tall as me, at a distance you could mistake her for a full grown mare."

"Which is why we aren't putting a noise suppression spell on her room," Diamond replied with a sad exhale of breath. "We worry some stallion is going to take her for being an adult instead of a filly. We want to be sure she is the only pony in her room. She is developing faster than most fillies her age, which isn't surprising considering her early onset of estrus."

"She is going to big mare when she finishes growing," I observed. "Are you sure you don't have some close Earth Pony relatives? She is going to have a body like a large Earth Pony when she grows up."

"Would you believe me when I tell you I actually pulled out the family tree to double check?" Diamond laughed. "Most recent Earth Pony is six generations back. All Crystal Ponies on my side, aside from that one Earth Pony, and another pony who was a Unicorn two generations before that. Tibia's side is obviously all changelings. Not counting you two of course."

"Anyway, getting back to the interesting news, and away from the fact Peri's going to grow up to have a body to revival Sunset's Thestral form," Mera said, as she steered the conversation back to the other subject. "You know how we noticed Thestrals coming and going back and forth between the palace and the south the last few months? Flurry Heart is going to be making some big public announcement tomorrow night, and we are pretty sure it has to do with them. The word is Luna has been seen in the palace as well."

"I heard some ponies talking about that at the shop, but didn't get to listen in much. Mom has me tending the plants in the nursery and that keeps me mainly out of the front for the moment," I replied. I was actually really enjoying working with the plants in the nursery, now that I had some clue what I was doing. There was something rewarding about tending a plant from seed to full grown plant. "All the shops are supposed to shut down early for the speech tomorrow, I got that much from Mom."

"What's going on?" Came a voice from the stairs. Peridot was apparently done with her private activities and coming down the stairs. Her voice still had a filly pitch to it, but it was getting more mature sounding as well. I would have guessed her to be two or three years older than she was if I didn't know otherwise.

"There is going to be a speech from Flurry Heart tomorrow we are all going to see," Mera said to her sister, as Peridot came to the ground floor. I noticed that Peridot was wearing a small amount of eye-shadow and mascara, that was definitely new. I didn't even know she had any makeup, or knew how to apply it. Her father definitely took note of it as well.

"Peridot Glow, what are you wearing on your eyes?" Diamond said sternly.

"It is just a little makeup. Aunt Sunset gave it to me and showed me how to put it on. I like it," Peridot said defensively, with a glare at her father. Diamond considered it for a moment and decided not to push the issue.

"I guess if Sunset gave it to you it is alright. Don't think for a moment that you are going on any dates though, not until you are older," he finally said to her.

"Yes Daddy, and thank you." Peridot came over and kissed her father on the side of the face, happy with his grudging approval.

"Pearl and I will come by your practice tomorrow to watch, and the three of us can meet up with Mom and Dad outside the palace for the speech," Mera told her sister. "There have been Thestrals going back and forth to the palace for weeks and we think this has something to do with that. Everything is shutting down for a few hours for the speech, so it is kind of a big deal."

"Will you duel me this time?" Peridot pleaded. "I am almost as big as you, and none of the other fillies and colts there can put up a challenge to me any more. The teachers won't even let me duel ponies my own age any more, because they are worried I might hurt them by accident. Only the teachers are able to put up a decent fight any more against me, and even they lose most of the time now."

"I'll think about it," Mera replied calmly. "I don't want to accidentally hurt you. Fighting me is a whole other world than fighting your classmates or teachers."

"Please Mera," Peridot begged. "I want to be the best. I won't be the best if I don't get challenged. I understand some bruises and cuts might happen. I have dealt with those before."

"I said I would think about it Peri," Mera reasserted herself with a glare. "Mom and Dad wouldn't be happy with me if I knocked you senseless either. Even if you are fine with the idea I might do that to you, I have to explain myself to them."

"Tibia would have a heart attack, but honestly I am fine with it to tell the truth," Diamond said. "Peridot is going to get an ego if some pony doesn't knock her down a few pegs on the dueling grounds, Mera. I don't want her to get to thinking she is invincible in a fight. That is me as a father and an old soldier talking."

"See Daddy is fine with it!" Peridot insisted.

"I have never seen a pony so eager to get knocked out before," I laughed. Mera rolled her eyes at my remark. Peridot just kept looking pleasingly at Mera.

"If your teachers are okay with it, then I'll beat the snot out of you like you want," Mera finally conceded. "Don't go complaining if you feel sore and in pain afterwards. I can't believe I am being pressured into doing this, you little masochist. And not a word about this to Mom, she worries enough about you. I'll do my best not to break anything on you."

"You'll avoid doing what now?" Tibia said with shock as she entered into the house.

"Peridot pressured Mera into fighting her in a duel," I told my mother-in-law as I began my recap. "Diamond thinks it will be a good character building moment or something, and Mera promised not to break any of Peridot's bones. Peridot seems thrilled by the whole thing." 

"Okay," Tibia said with wide eyes. She then closed them and took a deep breath. "If your father thinks it is worthwhile I will not object. I think I am still going to go out on the back patio for a few minutes while I process this."

"You don't have to go outside Mom," Mera said with bemusement.

"There is enough of us dropping the air quality in this house as it is, and doing that in front of Peridot sets a bad example," Tibia asserted. She then made her way to out the back door.

"I think it is a good time for us to get some fresh air too, Sweetie," I said to my wife. "Want to do a quick flight around the Spire? We can also check the progress on your greenhouse while we are at it."

"I would like that," Mera said as she gave me a kiss. "Maybe we can run into one of these clandestine Thestrals that are going about and get some information about what's going on. If they are still going on with that Honored One stuff they will likely tell you anything you ask."

I hoped not. I was still glad that my tribe no longer seemed to hate me, but getting treated that way was still really uncomfortable.


***


Tibia gave me the day off from work so I could go with Mera to Peridot's training session. The sessions were held at a location that flanked the main Crystal Guard headquarters, and it possessed a trading ground that reminded me very much of the one the Medical Guard trained on, only much bigger. The entire training area was big enough to hold ten of the Medical Guard training grounds. The younger trainees, who were not yet officially old enough to enlist, used only a small segment of the area. That smaller area was still equal in size to the grounds at Meadowbrook's temple.

When we got there we saw fillies and colts of varying ages going through the same familiar exercises that I had come to expect to see. Peridot could be seen in the dueling grounds facing off against an older colt who was likely soon to be old enough to enlist. Despite the age difference the fight seemed to be favoring Peridot, as she seemed to be regularly on the offensive and the colt was doing everything in his power just to try to dodge and parry blows from Peridot's training weapon, and looked to be struggling at it. 

After we watched this for about a minute the colt eventually conceded to Peridot, having not been able to mount any sort of counterattack and receiving several hard blows to his flank despite his complete focus on defense. Peridot's skill and ferocity I had already seen in the two large public competitions she had been involved in previously, the last one she ended up taking first place. She was the pride of the underage ponies when it came to her combat skill. 

Peridot spotted us, and waved to us with enthusiasm. She then ran to one of the instructors, a teal crystal pony stallion with a blue mane, and spoke excitedly to him while gesturing at us. The stallion looked over to us and considered us for a moment, while Peridot continued to speak to him excitedly. We could see him sigh and then gesture to us to come down to meet with them.

We hopped down into the training grounds and made our way towards them. I could see many of the students and instructors watching us with curiosity. When we reached them the stallion raised a hoof to shake fetlocks with, we each did in turn, as he spoke to us.

"Peridot Glow here has had a lot to say about her sister Mera," he said as he looked to Mera. "Forgive me for saying this, but I don't see the family resemblance. She left out the fact that you are a Thestral, adopted I assume?"

"Yes, I was formally adopted by our parents," Mera said. "I still love my sister as blood though. I am curious about what she might have said about me."

"She told some very unbelievable tales about your combat prowess," he replied. "Did you serve time in the Lunar Guard? I have seen the Lunar Guard in action, they have a reputation for their ability to inflict carnage on enemy ranks."

"I actually never served in any guard, but did train alongside the Medical Guard for some time," Mera told him. He looked back at her in disbelief.

"The Medical Guard? No offense intended to your training, I know they are competent soldiers, but not the source I would have expected a fighter of the prowess your sister describes," he said questioningly.

"When I left them there were none among them who could adequately put up a fight against me." Her reply was an understatement. 

"Well then, your sister has been begging the opportunity to face off against you in a duel. I can attest to her abilities, and think she could definitely win against a trained member of the Medical Guard, again no offense intended to the Medical Guard, she is just that good. I would be willing to allow the duel, it might be good for our students to see a fighter of a different type in action. I expect that you don't intend to seriously injure your own sister," he said.

"She says she understands that when she fights me she may well get pretty banged up," Mera replied. "I will not do anything that will lead to any hospital visits for her. She would be unhappy with me if I took it too easy on her, and our father thinks it could be character building."

"Bruises and some occasional cuts and scrapes are expected in this kind of thing," he confirmed. "I will provide you with some training weapons and we can see this much anticipated duel. I hope you don't mind the audience."

"I have my own training blades, and don't mind the audience. I have had much more intimidating audiences than some fillies and colts," Mera said with a smile.

"As you say then," he said with a slight inclination of his head. He then looked around the courtyard and called out to the students. "Gather round! Our own Peridot Glow is about to face off against a pony who has been said is a much more formidable opponent than any you are used to. Observe and see what you can learn from this duel. I will expect you all to be able to discuss with me tomorrow what you observe."

"Don't go easy on me, Sis," Peridot said as she moved into position. 

"I do intend to go easy on you, but that doesn't mean you aren't about to get your flank handed to you. You just fight like you have never fought before, you want me to fight harder, force me to do so," Mera replied as she slipped her training weapons on and passed me her life pack. "Just don't get your pride too hurt when you lose, just take it as incentive to train harder."

"I think I might surprise you, I am about as strong as you are I think," Peridot said confidently. 

"Strength isn't everything," Mera replied as she got into position. "You don't have close to my dexterity or agility yet. You might want to spend some more time developing those."

"I'll keep that in mind," Peridot said. She was still smiling eagerly though.

"Hold one more moment," Mera said to the trainer before he could order the duel to start. "Some pony help me bind my wings, I don't want it said I was flying and had an unfair advantage from that."

"Um, I am sure we can all tell if you are not flying, Sis," Peridot said with confusion.

"Mera is really agile, you might be surprised how agile. I could see you mistaking some of her moves as flying," I said, as I pulled out some rope from my life pack and went to bind my wife's wings. "We Thestrals tend to be the most agile tribe on average, along with Pegasi, but Mera really kicks it up a notch."

I finished binding my wife's wings and she gave me a kiss in thanks. I then returned to my spot outside the dueling ring. The ring itself was an area sunken into the ground with an outer wall. This kept the combatants from being knocked out of the ring and allowed for spectators who didn't have to worry about either if the combatants getting knocked into them.

"If we are all ready now you may begin," the instructor called into the ring.

Peridot didn't have to be told twice. She went full on assault against her sister, throwing caution to the wind. This wasn't unusual for her, from what I had observed previously. Peridot liked to try to overwhelm her opponent early on and force them to stay on the defensive. She would rain hard blows down on her opponents in rapid succession, and often all her opponents could do is keep trying to guard, dodge, and parry until eventually one of those failed. 

This tactic was not going to be useful against her sister though. Mera easily parried the first blow and flipped forward, bouncing off Peridot's back, while landing a blow with her training weapon to her sister's flank that could be heard loudly through the arena. She came down easily on her hooves behind her sister and landed another blow quickly on the other flank that sounded just as painful.

"You'll have to do better than that, little Sis," Mera said in a bored tone as she stepped back from her staggering sister.

"You weren't exaggerating when you said you could really move," Peridot said as she turned herself back around. "I won't let you pull that kind of move again."

"Good luck on that. I was warned by a good friend that there would always be some pony that would just get too damned lucky. Maybe that will be you," Mera taunted. 

Peridot readjusted her stance and took a more cautious approach now. Mera as usual during a fight looked utterly unconcerned about her opponent. Mera turned to me and gave me a wave as if Peridot was not standing there waiting for an opening. 

Peridot wasted no time with trying to take advantage of the opening moving quickly into her sister's blind spot and trying to do a quick strike. However, this failed miserably. Mera quickly lowered her forehooves to the ground and gave her sister a hard buck to her face, causing Peridot to get knocked down to the ground. Mera added insult to injury by quickly doing quick weapon strikes to each of her sister's flanks, before retreating back again.

Peridot pulled herself back to her hooves with a dazed groan. Her muzzle was now bleeding, and there was a large bruise on one of her flanks.

"Imagine if I wasn't taking it easy on you," Mera said to her sister.

"I am not giving up yet," Peridot said as she shook her head to clear it. "I deserved that. It was stupid of me to think you weren't going to be ready for me to strike with such an obvious bait."

"You said that, not me," Mera snickered. She gave her sister a concerned look. "I didn't loosen any teeth with that kick did I?"

"No," Peridot said as she could be seen feeling around with her tongue. "Just a bloody muzzle and some embarrassment. I've had worse."

"Well, would you prefer I be the one to go on the offensive now? It doesn't seem to be working out too well for you when I am on the defense," Mera asked politely.

"Go for it," Peridot replied. "I need to know what you are capable of if I ever want to beat you. I don't think I have ever had an opponent ask my permission to attack me before."

"Giving you every opportunity to succeed I can, what kind of big sister would I be if I didn't give you chances?" Mera said with a toothy grin.

As soon as Peridot pulled herself into a defensive stance Mera moved forward quickly. Peridot moved her training weapon to try to guard against her sister's strike and was shocked when Mera readjusted her strike to be aimed at the weapon held in defense. The blow on the weapon brought it down out of where it could block the foreleg that Mera next brought down on Peridot's head, and as Peridot fell again Mera quickly brought up her training weapon again and gave Peridot a hard smack on the base of her tail, causing the young Crystal Pony to cry out in pain. Mera then danced away on her hind legs before setting all four hooves back on the ground a pony length away.

"Do you yield for now?" Mera asked her sister.

"I yield, for now," Peridot said while still laying sprawled out on the ground. "That was embarrassing. You aren't even breathing harder than you normally would."

"Don't be embarrassed, Peri," Mera said consolingly. "I could probably take on all your instructors at once and not put much effort into it to beat them. I was pretty much playing with you through that all. If I had tried my hardest you would have been unconscious in the first few seconds."

"You use your hooves and forelegs a lot I noticed," Peridot said, still not getting up. 

"I am less likely to kill an opponent with my legs and hooves," Mera explained. "My goal in combat is to incapacitate, not kill, if at all possible. In real combat weapon blows can kill. I can do that if need be, but it should be avoided if possible when fighting ponies. You are going to be impressively strong one day, your blows should easily end up knocking a pony senseless."

"I'll keep that in mind," Peridot said, as she finally picked herself up. "You will have to teach me how to move like you do, I've never seen an opponent move like that."

"Glad I lived up to expectation," Mera laughed. "Let's do something about that bloody muzzle, before you end up freaking out Mom. I'll try to teach you how to move more like me, though I am not sure you will be capable of that when you get full grown. You will be too large for those kinds of acrobatics."

"You think so?" Peridot said as she walked over to her sister.

"Peri, you are nearly my size now at thirteen years old," Mera said with amusement. "You are going to tower over just about every pony by the time you can actually enlist. I will likely have to take an entirely different strategy to take you down then, you will be too large and muscled for what I just did to work well."

"Something to look forward to I guess," Peridot said with a sigh. 

"A very impressive performance," the instructor said to Mera. "The Crystal Guard typically only has Crystal Ponies, but I am sure an exception could be made if you were interested in a position."

"Thanks, but that's more Peri's thing," Mera said with a smile. "I have no desire to join any guard."

"Perhaps I could convince you to take on an instructor job with us at least," he said. "We want to be able to train the best soldiers and you could definitely be an aid in that. Your fighting technique is unorthodox, but the results are unquestionable. Further you seem to have sound moral judgement on what the goals in combat should be that we definitely want to pass on to our recruits."

"I'll consider it," Mera said with a nod. "I am planning on helping with the family business more soon, but I could possibly divide my time."

"I hope you decide you will," the instructor replied back. "But I won't pressure you on the issue."

After getting Mera's wings unbound and a cloth applied to Peridot's muzzle until the bleeding stopped we left the trading area and made our way together to the area outside the palace where Flurry Heart would be making her speech. We eventually spotted Diamond and Tibia waiting for us. When Tibia, currently in her natural form, spotted Peridot and bruises she sighed and pulled her pipe from her saddle bags, determined not to make a fuss about Peridot's injuries.

"I take it you didn't win," Diamond said as he looked Peridot over.

"Didn't even land a blow," Peridot said with a sigh. "I'm sore all over. I got struck hard repeatedly on my flanks, bucked to the face, and she gave me completely unnecessary blow on the base of my bloody damned tail."

"Language, Peridot Glow," Tibia scolded.

"Sorry, Mommy. Still hurt a lot though," Peridot replied to her mother.

"It was necessary," Mera insisted. "It doesn't do much real damage to hit you there, it is a very resilient spot, but it hurt enough to force you to concede."

"I think I might have conceded on my own after you made me eat dirt for the second time right before that," Peridot said with a raised eyebrow at her sister. "But I am on my estrus cycle right now, I am extra sensitive in that area right now."

"Oh, sorry about that then," Mera said with a blush. "I actually forgot about that."

"Thanks for thinking I was up to still fighting after that point though," Peridot said. "I'd hug you, but I bloody hurt too much."

"Peridot Glow!" Tibia scolded again.

"Sorry again, Mommy," Peridot said with a wince as she sat down.

"I don't know where you have picked up the bad language, but please watch it," Tibia said sternly.

"Soldiers do tend to have rather filthy language among one another," Diamond told his wife. "What she is saying is very tame compared to some curses I have heard soldiers say. I have said worse myself. Between the fact she is having her hormonal time and the pain I think she can be excused a little."

"Don't defend her language, Dear," Tibia said as she gave him a cross look.

"Yes ma'am," Diamond said with held back mirth. Tibia rolled her eyes, but didn't press the issue further, and instead just went back to puffing away on her pipe.

The crowd grew and swelled across the square in front of the palace as the time approached for Flurry Heart's appearance. Finally shortly after sundown she made her way out to the front steps of the palace to address the crowd.

"Citizens of Crystal Heart, today will be a historic day for us," Flurry Heart began. "For far too long the Crystal Ponies of Ocid have had to take the leftovers from the Earth Ponies, the Unicorns, and the Pegasi. Our goods don't get the prices they deserve in other districts, we have to pay higher fees to bring goods into our district, and we are restricted by the radius of the Heart on how far we can settle our ponies. Today that changes."

Sounds of curiosity and excitement greeted her opening words. They were all truths, Crystal Ponies needed to stay near the Heart to utilize their full magical potential typically, and Ocid did seem to get the short end of the stick in trade. A side effect of Flurry Heart not being able to leverage more worshipers outside of Ocid. She wasn't the lowest on the Alicorn pecking order, but she was far enough down that she wasn't able to always get the trade deals that most benefited the Crystal Ponies, whom she was patron of the tribe.

"My Crystal Ponies, we are not the only tribe that has to lurk in the shadows of the big three," she continued, including herself as a Crystal Pony despite the fact she was an Alicorn. "The Thestrals to the south of us in the Foal Mountain region are also often neglected as much or more than we are. I have been in negotiations with Luna and the Thestral Elders. They too grow tired of their needs falling on the wayside in favor of the Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. Things are changing in their leaders mindsets now, and we feel we can help one another throw off the yoke of tyranny that has been put upon each of our tribes, and claim the respect and influence we deserve alongside the big three."

Cheers went out among the crowd. Flurry Heart waited while the cheering subsided to continue.

"You may wonder what our tribes can accomplish together to achieve this," she said, once the cheering subsided. "With the help of Luna I have managed to create a second Heart, one that will be placed in a new spire, to be built between the Southern and Northern Foal Mountain ranges. With the power of the two Hearts the Crystal Ponies will be able to properly spread into that region. The Thestrals will give us access to the resources that can be mined from the Foal Mountains, and we in turn will use the power of the Hearts to make land ideal for the crops that the Thestrals prefer, as well as being able to open new ports for trade and fishing."

Gasps of wonder and excited cheering went up from the crowd again. This was big news. This would create a lot of economic power for the combined regions, enough to match the areas to the far south and west.

"The Thestrals wish to no longer be isolated from the world, in fear of ponies driving them from towns that they only wish to live in peacefully," Flurry continued. "We shall open ourselves to them, and encourage their settlement here in the north, even as Crystal Pony settlers move into the south. We shall be two tribes working side by side for the betterment of both. The Crystal Ponies of the sunlight shall work side by side with the Thestrals of the moonlight, and we shall create a new era for our combined tribes. There shall no longer be an Old Crystal Imperial District. There shall only be Ocid, stretching from the Crystal Mountains of the north to the Southern Foal Mountains. We are the ponies of the east, we are the ponies of Ocid!"

Cheers rang out again, with chants of Ocid reverberating across the square. 

"In six months the first wave of Thestral settlers shall arrive here in Crystal Heart," Flurry continued again. "With them shall come new businesses, new trade opportunities, and increased security for our outlining villages. Also in six months the foundations for the spire of Night's Heart will be laid in the south. Even now the Thestrals work to clear the area for the work to begin on construction. In the years to come we will be building new ports so we may ship our goods south, bypassing the middle ponies that drive up the costs of goods. Luna and I will also be in negotiation for the turning over of Sire's Hallow to Ocid, with the hopes of having a new university for Unicorns built there to aid us in our magical needs at reasonable prices for Ocid citizens. With our joint influence, and the expanded borders of our region, the Canterlot district will give it over to us."

That might bring the animosity of Celestia, who I had learned was the Alicorn who more or less governed Canterlot. Celestia didn't have large amounts of influence, but she controlled the sun. I hoped she didn't use the sun to take some sort of retribution.

The idea that there would be Thestral settlers was a surprising one. Thestrals were very isolationist. What had changed? Was this just Luna taking a more active roll in the tribe she was patron? They would do whatever she said, with eagerness. Was what happened to me an impetus of change?

"Looks like you aren't going to be the only Thestrals in the city any more," Diamond said to us. 

"Likely means we will have more ponies trying to find out everything they can about us until those settlers arrive," Mera said with a sigh. "It's going to be a long six months of dealing with ponies." She sat and thought for a moment. "Unless they are sending out an enormous amount of settlers here they are going to have to interbreed with Crystal Ponies to sustain their numbers, that was previously frowned upon. I wonder if they have changed their minds about that."

"A Thestral colt might make an interesting stallionfriend," Peridot said, and I couldn't help but noticed she wiggled her but against the ground, with her tail raised, as she said it. She was definitely letting estrus direct her thinking. 

"You won't be finding out until you are graduated from school and done with your officer training," Diamond told her sternly. "When you grow up we will be happy to meet any stallion you want, but until then no colts and definitely no stallions."

"You didn't get so fussy with Biblo when she was my age," Peridot said with a pout.

"If Biblo managed to sneak a fillyfriend around us she couldn't get pregnant," Tibia said. "We figured out early on which way her barn door swung."

"Wait..Biblo..could have gotten away with having fillyfriends as a teen?" Mera eyed her mother suspiciously. "I feel like I had a lot of missed opportunities."

"Oh we would have paddled..Biblo's..backside if we caught her doing anything of the sort, don't mistake us," Tibia said with a laugh. "But we were less concerned with trying to catch her. If something happened without our knowledge it wouldn't be the end of the world. Are you saying Biblo really didn't sneak any fillies behind our backs, with as horny as that filly was? I actually find that hard to believe. We aren't stupid."

"No she didn't," Mera said with a grumble. 

"Well, I am pleasantly surprised then," Tibia laughed. "See Peridot, if Biblo could stand to keep her hooves off fillies until she grew up, you can stand to do the same with colts. Learning to control your urges is part of becoming a mare."

Peridot did some grumbling and mumbling that couldn't be made out clearly. What I could make out generally amounted to it being not fair. She would feel better once her current estrus ended.

"That is a lot of changes coming," I said, deciding to move attention back to the announcement. "I hope the whole Honored One has died down a bit. I am dreading having ponies treat me like some sort of divine figure in the streets."

"Honored One?" Diamond asked with confusion.

"When we were traveling near the Foal Mountains and through Sire's Hallow we found out that Thestrals had decided that Pearl had some sort of special favor with Luna. Thestrals can be very religious. The two of us are not really the best ponies to get an idea about Thestral culture from," Mera explained. "I expect one of the first things they will be building when they get here is a shrine to Luna. The culture might be changing, but I doubt it is going to suddenly stop being fervently devoted to Luna." I nodded in agreement.

"I am sure it will work out fine dears," Tibia said with a smile. "There are worse things than being extremely respected."

Yeah, there definitely was indeed. I also couldn't help but feel the weight of immortality again at that moment. So much had changed in so little time. How much more would it change in the centuries to come. Would the world even be recognizable a thousand years from now?

I looked over at Mera and was reminded of one pony at least that would remain. I gave her a nuzzle and a kiss which she happily returned to me. As long as I had Mera things would be alright.
> Chapter 33: Seven Years of Happiness Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Two and a half years after moving to Crystal Heart

It was sundown in Crystal Heart and I, along with most of the city, including our whole family, were waiting in expectation for the first wave Thestral settlers to appear. Technically Mera and I could be counted as the first wave, but we were unplanned. This wave, from what we had heard, would involve ten couples, four of those with foals, and six younger adults looking for spouses. All in all it would be thirty-three more Thestrals coming into the city today to live, bringing our total to thirty-five. Another wave would arrive in six more months that was supposed to be bigger. I hoped that some of the second wave would include some older ponies, as it stood I was going to be the oldest Thestral in town already.

"Aww, is someone feeling old," Mera laughed as she leaned against me. "Might as well get used to it, but you'll always be young to me."

"I'm older than you," I replied back. 

"Which just means I will be young forever too," she giggled back to me, and then came over and planted a kiss on my lips, quickly followed by another.

"You two are disgusting when you get like this," Peridot sighed beside us. 

"Oh hush," Mera scolded her sister. "You are likely going to be just as bad when you find a special somepony, Miss-I'm-Not-That-Loud-When-I'm-Masturbating."

"I haven't made a peep in months," Peridot said defensively.

"You aren't on your estrus cycle right now either," I pointed out.

"Who's side are you on Pearl?" Peridot said with a huff.

"Um, my wife's side," I giggled, stating the obvious.

"Twilight preserve me from my sexually minded foals," Tibia sighed from off to the side.

Just then a gasp went out from the crowd. I could see what the commotion was, off in the distance I could spot the settlers in the air. They had a number of sky wagons with them as well. I couldn't see any settler in armor, indicating most likely that they were all civilians. My breath caught as I spotted one that was definitely familiar though. Mera tensed up next to me as she too noticed the particular stallion.

It was Brush Fire, there was no mistaking it being him. I had forgiven him at the trial, but there were a lot of emotions still caught up in the incident, despite me not remembering it any more. Mera had even more emotion caught up in it, and I wondered what was going through her mind right now. This was the pony that had personally attacked her, and the one that had kept her from helping me. 

"Keep calm Mera, we don't need to get hostile," I said to her.

"I will restrain myself, but I am not happy. How dare he come here. Knowing he will be here makes me want to..let's just leave it with I will restrain myself," she growled.

"Um, Sis? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" Peridot said cautiously. She was looking at her sister with concern. 

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with, Peri," Mera told her sister.

"But you seem really.." Peridot began.

"I said nothing you need to concern yourself about! Now don't make me repeat myself again," Mera snapped at her sister. Peridot visibly shrank back.

"Mera! There is no need to treat your sister that way!" Diamond scolded.

"Well then she needs to know when to not ask questions when told not to," Mera growled back at her father. There were a lot of ponies staring at us all now. 

"I am going to go back home for now. I have lost my interest in this. I am not talking about it anymore either. If you want answers talk to Pearl." And with that final declaration she quickly took to the air and darted off back towards the house. 

We all watched her fly off. I was extremely tempted to go flying after her to try to calm her down, but got the sense she needed to have some time alone. The others turned their taxes to me looking for explanation.

"She'll be okay. She just needs some time to calm down," I tried assuring them.

"What has her so angry? Mera never gets angry like that. She looked like she was ready to kill some pony," Peridot said, stepping hoof to hoof anxiously.

"I was raped back in Harmony, we don't like talking about it. She was attacked as well, and was forced to watch as I was raped. She changed a lot after that, it is what drove her to learn to fight. One of the settlers is the pony that attacked her and held her against a wall while I was raped," I explained in a quiet voice, head held low.

The others gave me a sad look and Tibia came over and gave me a hug. Peri looked up at the settlers and I swear I could hear her growling. Peridot might still be a filly but she definitely had a protective streak in her just like her sister.

The settlers descended from the sky and landed in front of the excited throng of Crystal Ponies. I tried to put a positive smile on, but the presence of Brush Fire had dampened my mood. My mood went down further when he seemed to spot me, and I could see him speaking briefly to the pony I assumed to be his wife. After consulting with her a moment he started walking over towards me, and I could see his mate giving a worried look at us as he approached.

"Hail, Pearlwort, honored of her holiness Luna," he greeted me as he got close. 

"Brush Fire, forgive me for not being more friendly, but there are still some hard feelings," I responded. My family tensed up around me.

"I understand, and you are right to feel that way. I have some hope though that I might make a better impression for myself this time around. My previous actions were disgraceful to our tribe and to holy Luna," he said with lowered ears and a submissive posture.

"It won't be hard to do that I suppose. I would avoid my wife if you value your well being," I said with a smile that only reached my muzzle.

"I was informed by holy Luna and holy Rarity about her current status. I was told to keep the information private from other ponies at large, but I have informed my own wife about yours. I admit, I was a little shocked when I learned about her current form. Having her fighting spirit counted among our tribe is a bit of an honor to tell the truth. Stories have leaked from the Medical Guard about the prowess she developed in such a short time, and the holy Alicorns have confirmed those stories. If you would, I would ask you to pass on my apologies to her once again," Brush Fire explained. 

I was a little annoyed that he knew that Mera was now a Thestral, and that he had been told that by Luna and Rarity. It felt like a violation of privacy. I was also suspicious as to why he was told and why he was even here.

When I didn't answer he continued. "I needed to talk to you, both for personal reasons and official reasons, otherwise I wouldn't bother you. Personally I needed to reiterate my apologies, and try to make you see that I have nothing but regret. On official reasons I needed to talk to you because I am overseeing the settlers on orders from Luna and Rarity. A lot of them have high opinion of you, and will no doubt seek you out. The younger generation is much different in what they were taught to believe than you or me, and I wanted to make sure they don't bother you too much while keeping you alert. If any of them get too much for you just let me know and I will do what I can to curtail them a bit. They are good ponies though, and you might be better than me with helping them integrate into living side by side with another tribe. I would like your advice as well, if you are willing, because this is very new to me as well and I want to do right by every pony."

I considered what he said. There wasn't anything really bad in anything that he said, it was all very reasonable and cordial actually. It was going to take a lot of time for me not to look at him and know he was the pony that assaulted my wife, but I could give him a chance.

"I will try to work with you. I know that this is important, and yes, the treatment I have gotten from other Thestrals since the trial has been a bit overwhelming, and I will welcome some pony to step in when I need a break from it. Just don't try to approach my wife, and only refer to her as Mera. She will talk to you only when, and if, she is ready," I said with as much command as I thought should be expected from the Homered One, which wasn't much.

"I can accept all of that. If it will make it easier for you to deal with me my wife has volunteered to act as a go-between. She doesn't know what she is going to do for work in this new place, a concern many of us have. She would be grateful for something to do and has been wanting to aid me," Brush Fire suggested with a gesture to his still worried looking wife, standing in the distance.

I looked over at her and could see her gulp as I did. Hopefully this pony wasn't going to be like one of the ones in Sire's Hollow that were falling all over themselves trying to please me. I motioned for her to come over and she slowly made her way over to us.

"Greetings Honored One. Forgive me, I am just really concerned about my husband's well being. I beg whatever mercy you might have for him. He is a good pony who made a mistake and has become an even better pony while trying to atone for it," the mare said, after joining us.

"I have no intention of doing anything to your husband..um..what's your name?" I asked.

"Star Water," the mare supplied.

"Star Water," I finished my original sentence. Then continued. "He should be wary of getting near my wife for the time being. Brush Fire had suggested you as a go between for contact if you felt the need to be in touch with us. I am fine with that, and I am pretty sure Mera holds no animosity towards you, so it should be alright with her as well. I'll give you the address we can be reached at if you need anything. I don't know what help we can be for the newcomers here, but we are willing to help."

"Thank you, Honored One," Star Water said with relief, bowing her head.

"Um, please don't do that. I can be called either Pearl or Pearl Bottom, not Honored One. I can see where this gets on the Alicorns' nerves with all the titles and overdone signs of respect. As far as you need to be concerned I am just another Thestral who has a little more experience with the city than the new settlers, okay?" I requested in the most polite voice I could manage, given I was still a bit on edge about Brush Fire's presence.

"Of course, Pearl Bottom," Star Water said quickly, apparently deciding that my full name was better than trying to address me in a more personal manner.

"Is there anything I can do to help right now? I don't know what arrangements were already made," I asked, hoping that everything was already taken care of and this only needed to be a polite question.

"Our housing has already been arranged by Flurry Heart, so we are good on that. But little else has actually been arranged. We have many that will be in need of work in short order, and we would be grateful on any suggestions," Star Water said. She seemed ready to slip into this new troll right away. I gave Brush Fire a quick look and got a nod from him confirming he agreed with his wife on what they felt priorities were.

"I know Mera will be in need of workers for her new farm as soon as it is ready, that can likely employee several ponies at that point, but done just yet. I am aware the Crystal Guard is open to the idea of recruiting Thestrals into its ranks, and has been asking Mera to take a position in the guard or an instructor position. A lot of companies would be more than eager to get delivery ponies who could fly, and I am sure your compatriots only need apply around to those to hear back multiple offers quickly. If any pony has any expertise in teaching I am sure that some of the local schools would be eager to have more non-Crystal Pony teachers, they seem to believe it makes them better if they have a more diverse teaching staff. I don't think the Crystal Ponies will be that hard to find work with, just keep tempers under control if any of them have any misinterpretations about us. A lot of the city has already gotten most of these myths dispelled by interacting with me and Mera, but there are a few holdouts," I explained.

"This is all very helpful information, Pearl Bottom. We are glad you have made it so this transition can go much more smoothly. I will try to seek you out once a week only so not to be too much of a bother, though I might come more if there is something urgent we need help with. We will pass all that you said onto the others," Stat Water said. She almost bowed again, but seemed to catch herself before she did it.

"Whatever I can do to help. I think you should see to getting your ponies to where they are going to be housed for the time being. I am sure they are tired, and the Crystal Ponies will wear them out further with questions if you let them. They need to socialize, but they need to see where they are going to be calling home too," I said as I looked at the swarms of ponies crowding around some of the settlers.

"That is very good advice, Pearl Bottom," Star Water said. It seemed like something obvious that she and Brush Fire would have known to do on there own. I was just looking for a way of ending the conversation. Her supplicating attitude was making me uncomfortable. I hoped that she would get better as time went on, and that the rest weren't this bad. 

"We'll leave you be then," Brush Fire said, with a polite, but more natural, bow of his head. They then went back towards the settlers, and began shouting out instructions about getting the sky wagons to wherever the housing was supposed to be.

"I think that Mera will be very happy to hear how you held yourself through that," Diamond said after they left.

"I didn't really do anything," I replied.

"You conducted yourself with dignity, and gave them direction," Diamond pointed out.

"I told them what they could already have figured out on their own. It wasn't much for direction," I said with a raised eyebrow at my father-in-law.

"But they wanted to hear it from you. Like it or not these ponies have a great deal of respect for you. Being cordial and speaking to them as if you have their best interest at heart is good for your position in the community. Crystal Ponies were watching that exchange too you know, and now they understand you are a pony of some importance," Diamond said with a smile.

I looked around at the nearby Crystal Ponies and saw them looking at me and whispering among themselves. Just great, I had finally gotten them more or less used to me, and now they were going to start up again with going to me with every outlandish thought they might have about Thestrals. I wanted to take off right then and there and join Mera in just hiding out.

"It won't be so bad, Sweetie," Tibia said sympathetically. "Since the locals are used to you it just means they are going to be more receptive about anything you say involving the newcomers. You can do a lot of good for every pony."

"I don't like being in the spotlight that much, and given my unique..um..life circumstances it is kind of a bad idea for me and Mera to be in the spotlight. Ponies like us should keep as low a profile as we can," I explained.

"Says the the ponies who were up to today the only Thestrals in Crystal Heart, and stood out big time for that," Peri laughed.

I glared at my young sister-in-law, and she just looked at me smugly. The snide teenager was right though, Mera and I had stood out. Perhaps when more settlers came and had less need of us we could finally slip into obscurity.

"I am going to go find Mera, and let her know we sort of had a new job dumped on us. I need to see if she really will be okay with dealing with Star Water, given who Star Water's husband happens to be," I announced. "I'll see you all back home."


***


Seven years after moving to Crystal Heart

Mera, Tibia, Diamond, and I sat patiently waiting in our seats of the small auditorium. A few of Peridot's fellow recruits were also present to cheer their comrade on. Today was a special day. Today was Peridot's eighteenth birthday, and the day she graduated her officer training, today my sister-in-law was officially a grown mare. 

Tibia had been very emotional all day, and Mera, surprisingly, wasn't much better. Diamond had been doing nothing but boasting about his pride as a father and wasn't much use in calming either his wife or daughter. So the task fell on me to try to calm the two.

"Mera, I can see why Mom is getting so worked up, but what's gotten into you?" I asked my wife.

"My sister is all grown up, next thing you know she'll be getting married, and having foals, having grandfoals. It is all just happening so fast," Mera sobbed.

"Um, I understand time with family is precious, but I think you are thinking a little too far ahead for the moment," I said with a bemused expression.

"She has had her eyes on that one young buck for a while, and next thing you know she'll be going after him. I can feel it, it is going to feel like a blink of an eye," Mera continued to sob.

"Well, we will take our time with that blink.  She might take her time with doing all that too, you never know. She might just want to focus completely on her career in the guard for now," I tried to soothe.

"Maybe, but then..," Mera began before I cut off the thought.

"Mera, stop over thinking it and come over here and cuddle me. It will help calm you down," I interrupted her. If she cuddled with me she could balance out her mood with what she absorbed from me.

Mera nodded while still crying, and left her mother's side to come cuddle. A moment later Tibia did the same with Diamond. Changelings had the same kinds of emotional empathic traits Mera had, and she was likely looking for the same calm. It wasn't something Tibia did much, which I always wondered why considering her high strung nature.

"Mom, why don't you seep emotions off others more often?" I decided to ask.

"It is a little different for me and Peridot than it is for Mera. We don't copy the emotion into ourselves like Mera does, we are just aware of it. Plus if I am very upset absorbing other's emotions can make me feel a bit ill, like I eat something that disagreed with me. I am feeding after all when I do it, unlike my daughters. Diamond helps me with giving me a good feed a few times a week in our bedroom," Tibia explained. Having to stop and explain did seem to calm her down some, which I was grateful for.

"Mom! We don't need to hear about that!" Mera protested at the thought of her parents sexual exploits.

"Oh? My sex crazed daughter is uncomfortable that her mother still gets it on?" Tibia smirked, now distracted from her earlier crying. 

"No, I am glad you do, but..I just don't want to picture it," Mera said sheepishly.

"Well, I hope Peridot doesn't wait too long. I am flat out of luck when it comes to getting grandfoals from you. Which I am not mad at you about, mind you. I am not getting any younger and I want to see the next generation before I get too old," Tibia said.

Mera looked at her mother and started tearing up again. Now she was likely getting upset because she was thinking of her mother getting old and passing on. I put a leg around Mera and snuggled her closer to try to mitigate Tibia's unfortunate reminder to Mera. Mera rubbed in against me as I did and managed to keep herself under control.

"Actually, Peri talked to me about her planes not long ago," I decided to spoil.

"Really? She didn't talk to me," Mera said. She tilted her head to listen into my feelings, verifying I wasn't fibbing. My parents-in-law looked at me with interest.

"Yeah, she plans on serving steady for a few years, and in about five or so taking a break for a few years to start a family. She wants to help Mera with the pipe weed business while the foals are really young. She wants to be involved for when she eventually retired and is in need of something to do. When they get old enough she doesn't have to watch them every moment she will re-enlist," I explained.

"Wait, she is interested in Mera's part of the business, but not my flowers?" Tibia said with disappointment. 

"Um, she may have possibly, maybe, perhaps sneaking some pipe weed for a good part of the last year when she thought no pony would notice. You didn't hear that from me if she finds out you know," I said with a scratch of my wing against my ear. I didn't like be a tattletale, but Tibia was bound to find out sooner or later anyway. I was actually kind of surprised Peridot hadn't been caught by any other family.

Tibia looked like she was going to get angry with her youngest for a moment for the bad behavior, but deflated with a sigh.

"Not even going to fuss about it. She is a grown mare as of today anyway, so not going to treat her like a foal. At least she has a plan. Since I am involved with both sides of the business I guess this counts as her being interested in something of mine. I'll take it as a little victory that I didn't think I would have with trying to bond with her better. Plus I have something to pretend to be an all knowing mother about, which is always fun," Tibia said with a halfhearted laugh.

"I had no idea she had been doing that behind our backs. She is getting better at being sneaky. How did you catch her?" Mera asked. She sounded almost proud that her sister was sneaking a drug. Likely more for the sneaking part than the drug part, though this being Mera that was hard to tell. Peri had a reputation for failing to do anything with stealth.

"Saw the edge of the pipe sticking out of her bag one day and then spied on her for a while until I caught her in the act, she really doesn't pay attention to what is going on in the air. Confronted her about it and she agreed to help run some errands on and off to keep me quiet," I said.

"You blackmailed her?" Mera laughed.

"Blackmail is a really dirty word. She spends a lot more time looking up now when walking around though," I said with a smile. Mera laughed hard in response, attracting the attention of the other ponies in attendance.

"Attention all!" A Crystal Pony stallion in dress armor said loudly, bringing all conversation to a hush. "I am here to proudly honor our newest graduate of the officer training program, Peridot Glow. Private Glow has dedicated her life to the guard from before she reached her teen years, and enlisted immediately upon completion of primary school. Since her enlistment she has spent an additional year in officer training and it has been deemed that she is now worthy of taking the her first rank as an officer in Her Holiness Flurry Heart's Crystal Guard."

A small cheer went up as the officer paused.

"Private Peridot Glow, please come forward and present yourself before these witnesses," the stallion instructed towards an out of sight alcove.

Peridot walked forward from the alcove that was hidden from view. She had her dress uniform on, and even in the dress uniform she had an intimidating figure. When she presented herself in front of the officer she easily towered over him, and would easily tower over any pony in Crystal Heart save for Flurry Heart and any visiting Alicorn. I knew Peridot was not just big, she was strong, and capable off literally smashing through the wooden walls that obstacle courses typically put up to climb over. At eighteen years old she was the most physically imposing pony that I had ever met that wasn't an Alicorn. 

Mera could kick her flank any day of the week though, and had demonstrated it time and time again. If this ceremony had been a week earlier Peridot would be walking in with a swollen muzzle and black eye. To Peridot's credit she never seemed to develop any resentment that she couldn't beat her sister. She just heaped that much more praise film Mera. It was enough for her that basically no pony other than her sister or an Alicorn could stand in a fight against her.

"Private Glow, your successful completion of the officer training program, and your continual impressive combat prowess has earned you today a promotion. As of this moment I promote you to the rank of corporal. May you continue to serve well and do the Crystal Guard proud," her superior officer said loudly. He then put a pin on her uniform showing her new rank.

"Yes, Sir!" Peridot said loudly and saluted him once he finished pinning the rank on her dress uniform.

"You are now Corporal Peridot Glow, you are given a week of leave and will be given orders on where you will be assigned sometime within that week. Enjoy your week of leave as you will be will be working hard once you return. Once again congratulations on your promotion. You may now be at ease, and your leave starts now," the superior officer said, and then shook hooves with her.


***


We waited outside for Peridot to exit out, collectively making use of our pipes and just quietly chatting. Conversation was small chit chat about military uniforms, speculation on where Peridot would be assigned, and if we should make any final changes to our plans for our celebration that we planned for her.

Peridot eventually exited out, now simply wearing a saddle bag, her uniform likely packed away inside. She gave us all a big smile as she spotted us and hurried over. She was assaulted by a hug from Tibia as she walked over.

"My little filly is all grown up. You looked the perfect guard pony today. I am so proud of you. Congratulations on becoming an officer and happy birthday," Tibia said happily as she nuzzled her head against Peridot's much larger form.

"She definitely isn't little anymore. She makes you look like a little filly with the size difference, Mom," Mera laughed as she blew out some smoke and shaped it so it showed a little filly standing next to a Changling and then having that filly rapidly grow so it towered over the Changling in an extreme exaggeration of how much bigger Peridot was.

"Since you are adult now I guess we can start charging you rent," Diamond said with a smile smile.

"Nice one Dad, but that's not funny," Peridot said with a smile as she continued to give hug her mother.

"Who said I am joking? Mera and Pearl pay rent. It is only fair you pay rent too now. You get a salary from the guard, you can afford it. If you don't want to pay rent you are welcome to go find your own place. I'll even help you look," Diamond said. At this point I, myself, wasn't sure if he was really pushing a joke or if he was being serious.

"Um, how much rent?" Peridot said with lowered ears. She had apparently decided that he was being serious. 

"I am sure we can figure out a fair price, and we need to set some new ground rules now that you are a guest of the household," Diamond said, still smiling.

"New rules? I am officially an adult and I get more rules now?" Peridot said, slightly indignant.

"Well, a noise suppression spell is definitely going on your door now. If you decide to have companionship I don't want to be listening to it. Mera is right, you are loud enough masturbating, I don't want to even guess what kind of noise would come if you actually have a stallion in your bed," Diamond said impassively. Peridot somehow managed to go from green furred to bright red with embarrassment. Mera and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Rule two is no stallion sleeps under our roof without our knowledge, and we reserve the right to kick anyone out of the house, including you if need be," Diamond continued.

Peridot gave a small nod, still bright red.

"Also, any previous rules are lifted, aside from we expect you to respect the privacy of every pony's rooms and property. Beyond that, what you do is your business. If you are going to not return home for the night we would like to be informed, just so we don't have to wonder if anything happened to you, but you don't need to tell us where you might be if you don't feel like it. Is this all acceptable to you, or do we need to go house hunting?" Diamond finished.

"I can agree to all of that. That was all very surprising. I didn't expect you to just suddenly treat me like an adult the second I turned eighteen," Peridot said breathlessly.

"Oh we'll probably still needle you on and off, we do with Mera, but our job was to see you safely to marehood. From here on in and is all on you," Diamond said with a the same smile.

"Oh, and another thing," Tibia said with a giggle 

"What?" Peridot said suspiciously. 

"Doing one other change as well. You know how we made sure you wouldn't get pregnant all up to now? Completely scrap that, now I want to know when I am getting a grandfoal. I am out of foals to snuggle and love, and you dear daughter are the one responsible for giving me some," Tibia said in a dead serious tone.

There were no words to describe the color Peridot turned at that point.
> Chapter 34: The Epidemic Returns
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eight years after coming to Crystal Heart


Tibia, with a large funding from me and Mera, had bought out the businesses next to her and had her shop expanded so it was now one of the larger shops in town. While a large portion of the shop was still dedicated to flowers the types of goods had been expanded as well. There was the pipe weed and accessories from Mera of course, but there was another new section that had been my contribution.

About two years back the newly opened port, lazily named Tidewater, had started its own fishing industry. While the primary market for these fish were Griffins that worked throughout the northern mountain range there was a growing number of Thestrals in Crystal Heart that had a desire for meat in their diets. I had suggested we be one of the first shops to capitalize on this and as a result our business was now a strange combination of flower shop, smoke shop, and fish market. 

We had to invest in some strong spells to keep the smells of the two newer sections from carrying over into the flower shop. Even had to actually hire a Unicorn from the university at Canterlot to come and do the spells himself, but it had been a good investment. Now Tibia's flower shop was named The Happy Changeling's Consumables Emporium, and business was booming. The shop employed more than twenty ponies, and we were considering opening new locations in Sire's Hollow and the newly founded town of Night's Heart.

There was a lot of activity and growth throughout all the region that was now known as Ocid. Construction of roads to link together many of the previously more isolated villages, housing for Crystal Ponies in many of the areas outside of Crystal Heart that they were now migrating into, the same likewise for Thestrals who were spreading out across the region. There was a massive boom of foal births, and Flurry Heart actually gave incentives to couples that had large amounts of foals. Both Crystal Ponies and Thestrals had kept small families in the past, but now they were encouraged to breed like Earth Ponies. Flurry Heart clearly had a vision of developing Ocid into a high population, high industry region despite the area being one of the least densely populated areas of the Twilight Realm previously. With the way things were going Crystal Ponies and Thestrals might very well start to have similar numbers to the three primary tribes, with the exception of Earth Ponies-because outbreeding Earth Ponies was a near impossibility.

With the influx of new workers the three of us didn't do much collecting of payments much anymore. A lot of what we did was supervising others, making arrangements for incoming shipments, paperwork, and walking the floor to talk with customers. Technically we had employees who we trusted to do the same, but we liked to be involved.

I was working the floor as I typically did. Moving back and forth between the flower section and the fish section, making small talk with customers, giving guidance to the employees on shift, and just being generally managerial, when Peridot came into the front door.

"Hi Pearl, are Mom and Mera here right now?" Peridot asked as she spotted me.

"Mera is in the greenhouses in the back, Mom is off talking to some pony about possible sites for a second shop. Why? Is something up?" I asked, as I finished checking a flower for wilting.

"Just got orders, I have to do an emergency deployment over to Tidewater. They aren't giving any pony much time to prepare. They want us in Tidewater tonight. Not sure how long I will be away. I wanted to let you all know before I left," Peridot said hurriedly.

"Emergency? What kind of emergency?" I asked with concern.

"They got ponies acting really strange and a lot of the town has pretty much shut down. Ponies are just sitting around non-responsive in mass, and the ones that aren't acting strange are panicking about the one that are acting funny. We are being sent in to keep the peace," Peridot explained.

I froze where I was, and my blood ran cold. It was too familiar what was being described. It sounded exactly like Starlight's Folly. The same ailment had risen again in another small outlying area. I needed to go speak with Flurry Heart immediately and see if there was anything Mera and I could do. We hadn't sent our most recent shipment of crystals out yet for the month, so we had those ready to go. It wouldn't take much effort to make more in a hurry.

"Make sure that you recommend doctor's masks being dispensed to all the troops. You don't want to all get sick as well. I might be seeing you there soon. This is the thing the Alicorns pay me and Mera to combat," I said quickly, as I planned out what needed to be done quickly.

"Will do Pearl, but I need to get going now. General is made it clear that there wasn't any time to waste and almost didn't allow for us to even go home at all to prepare. I will see Yyou again soon," Peridot said, and then quickly departed at a near gallop.

I gave a quick few instructions to the most senior of the employees on shift, told them I was leaving for the day and not sure when I would return to work, and that I would leave a note for Tibia in the office. I then raced to the back to go find my wife.

"Mera, we need to hurry to Flurry Heart. The epidemic from Starlight's Folly, it has started again, this time in Tidewater," I said as I burst into the greenhouse area.

Mera had been overseeing some workers who were tending to the pipe weed crop. When she heard me she gasped and put a hoof up to her mouth to cover the gasp, and her eyes went wide with fear. She was quick to take action after that though. Within a second or two she was giving final instructions to the workers and telling them that she would be leaving just as I had. 

While she was doing that I quickly write out a note to my mother-in-law explaining the situation. I put the note on her desk and reconstructed the workers to make sure she got read that note promptly when she returned. On a passing thought I told them that they would all be receiving bonuses and I expected them to go by the medical supply store and get doctor's masks for them and their families. I would compensate them for the costs. It might have been a bad idea to do that as it might start a panic in Crystal Heart, but I would rather they kept themselves safe than sorry about any potential panic.

"I have our current stock of stones in my life pack so we don't need to stop to fmgo get it. We can get to making more as soon as we are done talking to Flurry Heart. Maybe she will give us a room in the Spire to work in," Mera said as she rushed over to me. She gave me a strong hug as she reached me, not only for comfort, but to fill herself more on my magic.

I wasn't sure if we would be able to fill many more stones under the circumstances. Our typical method involved filling the stone when Mera was at her most full of my magic. That time was usually right after sex and only filled one stone each time. We had a surplus beyond what we were due to deliver, but this was not the time when we would be in the mood for sex. Trying to do it other ways would either make lower quality stones, or leave Mera depleted of my magic, the second option I wasn't going to risk.

On the plus side the majority of ponies in the area were Crystal Ponies, that made them more naturally able to absorb magic from the stones directed straight into them. Not as well as Mera could, but better than any other tribe would be able to. Any Thestrals or other tribes that were present would be another story. It would take Unicorns or Crystal Ponies that were trained in the use of the focus stones to help those unfortunate. Hopefully there would be enough who knew what they were doing available, and hopefully the Alicorns in Harmony could get the stocks to Tidewater quickly.

We took to the air immediately after leaving the shop, and flew as fast as we could towards the Spire. It only took us a few minutes to reach it. When we arrived there was already a bustle if activity going on as the Crystal Guard was preparing here to leave for Tidewater. We spotted Peridot among the ponies, but didn't take the time to go greet her. She had her job to do and we had ours.

Thankfully we were on the list of ponies that were allowed immediate admittance into the Spire. This was by virtue of being immortals in truth, but the guards likely thought it by virtue of our position within the Thestral community, since our immortality was a state secret. When we got inside we were quickly met by two other immortals, Night Shine and Day Shade, that made their home in Crystal Heart as well as Sunset, who was still in her Crystal Pony disguise for the moment.

"I see you heard there is some sort of epidemic, glad that you have come to help," Day Shade said as she spotted us. Day Shade was a very dark silver Crystal Pony mare. She and her Thestral sister had the distinction of being vampires. Their bites for sucking blood also injected a unique venom that caused rapid healing. They tended to frequent areas that had frequent outbreaks of illnesses, but had recently settled in Crystal Heart after the sight of Thestrals became more common. They were a little creepy, as they would spend most conversations staring at your neck, but they did a lot of good for ponies, and were generally kind hearted. They would go into hospitals at night to feed, and suddenly the next day the doctors would be shocked to find many ponies were suddenly showing marked improvement in their conditions. It was a symbiotic arrangement they had with their food.

"I am assuming that the rush over here was because you heard the symptoms," Sunset said. "Word has already been sent back to Harmony, but I think Flurry Heart has an additional plan on how to utilize you two."

"What is that? We are willing to help in any way we can," I replied. Did they come up with a new method to utilize my magic?

"I think she intends to have you do with the Heart itself what you already do with focus stones. The Heart is an extremely powerful focus stone in its own way. If it works you can purge this illness from just about every Crystal Pony in the region at once. We will still need to dispense your stored stones out for use on the Thestrals and others, but that is a far more manageable task. Ocid is probably the safest place for the sickness to resurface. If it had been elsewhere in the Realm we might have a crisis to deal with, but here it will be dealt with easily as long as we are quick. This won't be another Starlight's Folly," Sunset explained with a reassuring smile.  

She seemed confident that all that was needed was quick action and this time it would be dealt with. I couldn't help feeling a little reassured myself, but still had a lingering fear after having dealt with this before. We had learned so little about the cause, the transmission, and the final fate of the victims.

"Where is Flurry Heart?" Mera asked as looked around.

"In a meeting with Alicorns that arrived from Harmony not long ago, they are planning out how to to utilize resources," Night Shine said. "If what Sunset says is true, then my sister and I are likely not needed. I don't know if I should be happy or disappointed. It is good that this seems like you can deal with it quickly, but it means we are out a lot of potential feeding."

"We get to feed often enough, Night. There is never a shortage of sick or injured ponies, but I admit I would have liked to really have a feast as well," Day Shade said with a wistful sigh.

"She and the others will be out in a few minutes. They only just arrived ahead of you, via teleport," Sunset said.

"Who all came from Harmony?" I asked curiously.

"Starlight, Paleo, Pinkie, Meadowbrook, and Luna are the ones that arrived. Starlight and Paleo said they want to see the illness that wiped away Starlight's Folly up close. Meadowbrook goes wherever there is an epidemic. Tidewater is part of Luna's agreement for resetting Thestrals in lands typically held by Crystal Ponies, so she has a vested interest in the what happens. Pinkie said she came to try to keep ponies spirits up, and try to keep any panic from starting," Sunset explained.

"Um, if they want me to channel Pearl's magic into the Heart I am going to probably need to be filled up more. A normal focus stone I am filled to the brink on her magic before I send it into the stone. I would think the Heart would take even more magic than that. I am not sure how this is going to work," Mera said as she shuffled on her hooves.

"It won't take more, it will magnify the power and make it stronger while spreading it out," Sunset said. And sat and made gestures with her forehooves to illustrate the point.

"And if it somehow gets the element of the magic that cancels out other magic what happens?" I asked as the concern suddenly came into my mind.

"To date there hasn't been any sign Mera is able to channel that aspect of your magic, so it likely won't happen. If it does then it will disappate in a short period of time, since it won't have constant production. Yeah, it would shut down everything magical for a day or two, but that isn't the end of the world, and worth the risk to stop this ailment from getting any traction. I will talk with Flurry about double checking to make sure nothing incredibly bad happens if magic goes down for a period," Sunset assured me, though she did look thoughtful.

So we waited a few minutes in silence. It felt like an eternity, but it couldn't have been more than five minutes before Flurry Heart and the other Greater Alicorns emerged from the meeting room.

"Good, you are all here already. I was thinking I would have to have some pony go fetch some of you. I am glad we will save time as the infection rates seem to be high. I don't have exact numbers yet, but if I had to put a guess on it we are be looking at a region wide pandemic within three days if we don't stop this now. I am shutting down on movement through Ocid until we care certain this hasn't already spread beyond Tidewater. Additional soldiers from the Luna Guard, Star Guard, Medical Guard, Preservationists, and Birthday Party Brigade..seriously Pinkie, you need a different name for your guard..are going to be assisting," Flurry Heart informed us.

"I already told Mera and Pearl what they would likely be doing, if you haven't changed plans. What do you want the rest of us doing?" Sunset asked.

"I will be getting you all doctor's masks and have you search the area for the cause of the outbreak. It is unknown if this can impact Alicorns or immortals yet, and I prefer you be protected. We know from the previous time that it was speculated a strange rod was the cause of the outbreak. If a similar object is in Tidewater somewhere I want it found and everything possible done to determine where it came from. This isn't the edge of the Lost Lands and there shouldn't be random artifacts from that far back turning up here. Some pony or some creature had to have brought it there dilibrately and I intend to find out who. And can you please drop the disguise, Sunset, it is distracting," Flurry Heart said with a grunt at the end as she looked at Sunset.

"Um, if you want me and Pearl to work with the Heart I am going to need to recharge some more," Mera said sheepishly as Sunset transformed back to her Alicorn form.

"What do you need to do to recharge? I thought you absorbed her magic by just touching," Flurry Heart said with confusion.

"I absorb a little bit that way, but it is kind of like taking small sips from a drink over time. To get really well charged we kinda-sorta have to have..personal time in bed," Mera said with a little bit of a blush.

"You need to go screw? Seriously?" Flurry Heart said with raised eyebrows. I couldn't tell if it she had disbelief or if she was trying not to laugh.

"Pretty much," I said so Mera didn't have to feel embarrassed further in telling a Greater Alicorn that the fate of her ponies depending on two ponies have a wild time in bed. I tried my hardest not to blush myself, and didn't succeed.

Flurry Heart definitely had some disbelief as she looked at us. She did a quick glance at both Sunset and Starlight who nodded confirmation that it was true, before rolling her eyes and sighing.

"Fine, I'll get you two into a bedroom quickly then. It is one of the dumbest things to have to wait on in the middle of a crisis, but whatever. How long will you need to get ready?" Flurry Heart said with an exasperated groan.

"Not really sure, we are typically ready to take a go anytime, but crisis kind of kills the mood," Mera said as she figeted in place.

"I can fix that!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "A good party planner is always prepared to help make sure any type of party has what it needs to go on. I've got this stuff called lustwort that will make it so you can't help but want to do bedtime party things!"

"I thought I banned the use and sale of that drug. It is completely immoral, it is borderline mind control," Meadowbrook growled at Pinkie. 

"I see nothing wrong with its use between two consenting adult ponies," Pinkie said with a huff.

"The issue is when they aren't consenting, and it forces them to suddenly be consenting. A full dose of that stuff and any pony would happily let any pony or any thing have their way with them, no matter how opposed to the action they were before. It is the ultimate rape drug, and shouldn't be available to any pony because of that," Meadowbrook snarled.

"We can discuss Pinkie possessing illicit drugs at length later. If it will get these two to do what they need to get done, then it can be used," Flurry Heart said as she covered her face with a hoof in frustration. When she uncovered her face she looked back to me and Mera. 

"Down the left hall, up one staircase, third door on the right, you'll find a bedroom. I'll have Pinkie send some of her guard.." Flurry began.

"Birthday Party Brigade!" Pinkie shouted.

"..to watch over you. I don't anticipate any threats to you, but there is definitely some pony behind this outbreak, and I want you two protected at all times since you are our best weapons against it," Flurry Heart finished. "Pinkie how soon can you get that drug for them?"

"Always prepared, remember!" Pinkie shouted happily, and then reached into her mane and pulled out a small sealed vial of liquid, and then floated it over to us. "Each of you take half of that and you'll be in the mood to rub some kitties in no time!"

"I'm so done with you for today, Pinkie," Flurry Heart muttered loudly, and then looked at us. "Anyway, just go do that and once you are charged up let her ponies know you need to be escorted to the Heart to get to work. Just channel the magic into the Heart and it will do the rest."

I took the foal from the air and put it in my life pack, before nodding. Sensing that we were dismissed to go do our duties, Mera and I trotted off to go find the bedroom.
> Chapter 35: Bedtime Musings
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whatever Pinkie had said that drug was, it was good stuff. We really didn't want to have to stop and go to the Heart, but managed to force ourselves to do so. We gave each other a promise to get back to our fun time after we were done though. 

The Birthday Party Brigade was a very odd guard, but I supposed that was to be expected of Pinkie Pie's guard. They were of course all clad in bright pink and had streamers of all things attached to their uniforms in multiple different locations. Rank insignia's seemed to be marked with different types of cupcakes. They were also the seemingly least disciplined guards I had ever encountered. They openly asked us if we had a good time in the bedroom, gave suggestions on positions, reminisced about their own bedroom exploits, and asked us when we were going to put a bun in an oven. They were quick to laugh and joke, and never seemed to stop smiling or giggling. I guess the were completely appropriate guards for the Alicorn of Laughter, but I questioned whether I really wanted this batch of guards being responsible for our safety.

Of course Mera and I were barely behaving ourselves either. We were still very much under the drug's effects, and we were being far more flirty with one another than we typically would be in public. We brushed up our wings against each other's wing bases, kept giving each other little kisses, sniffing each others personal areas, and being generally indecent all around. Mera even laughingly asked one of the female guards if she would be interested in a threesome later, and I was so hyped up on sex drive I actually considered this a good idea. The mare, thankfully, said to get back to her on that when we weren't in the midst of drug induced lust and then she would consider it. She laughed about it, and made it clear she was pretty sure that we wouldn't feel the same way later. She most likely was right, but that was hard to imagine at the moment.

When we finally made outer way into the Heart's chamber we found Starligh waiting for us.

"I advised Flurry that it would probably be wise to have me watching over you two in case there were any mishaps with Pearl's magic," Starlight explained as she gave out flirting an bemused look.

"Shouldn't be a problem, I do this all the time with regular focus stones, and Flurry Heart sad it would be pretty much the same thing," Mera said, and then stole another kiss from me with a giggle.

"I haven't actually seen you before today in a Thestral form Biblo. Sunset let me know about it, but it is a little surprising seeing it still. I kind of figured you were going to go for that by things you had said previously. Are you taking to it well?" Starlight asked casually.

"Loving it, it was only a little annoying when I am supposed to know about something in Thestral culture and have to shrug my wings, but now I am kind of a trendsetter for Thestral culture so it isn't too bad on that front anymore. Everything works too, thanks to Pearl's magic. I am a Thestral with Thestral and Crystal Pony magic," Mera said happily.

"It's good to hear you are enjoying yourself. Pearl, have you noticed any side effects of the adjustments to your mind?" Starlight inquired.

"Nothing I can think of exactly. I have more confidence than I did before on most things, but don't see that as a bad thing," I said with a smile before nipping at my wife's neck, making her giggle more.

"And I see that whatever Pinkie gave you is definitely working. Meadowbrook said it lasts about a day, but can cause you to be far mmore reckless with sexual activity. Try to get somewhere private away from other poniescwhen you are done here, okay?" Starlight said with a barely concealed smirk.

"Yeah, we might have propositioned one of Pinkie's guards for a three some, not sure if that was the drug talking or not. She is pretty cute," Mera said.

"Very cute," I agreed.

"Yeah, that is probably the drug talking. I would avoid following up on that if I were you. For now, Biblo, you need to get to work, and Pearl, just stand by in case you are needed," Starlight instructed.

"Alright, let me get this over with so I can get back to doing a very close inspection of what goes on under my wife's tail," Mera said with yet another giggle. We really should have been more serious and focused on the situation, and likely were going to feel very bad about acting like this in the middle of a crisis once the drug wore off. I think I was going to blame Pinkie. Pinkie had given us that drug. It occurred to me then Pinkie had a nice flank too, maybe Mera and I could get creative in making her pay.

Okay, I really needed to get this drug out of my system if that was where my mind was going.

Mera went over to the Heart. The chamber was pretty plain, just plain bluish crystal walls all around, there was a long cylinder of crystal that extended down just above the Heart, and a smaller cylinder of the same crystal below it. The Heart itself was just a large heart shaped crystal that kind of hovered in place. It was maybe the size of a large pillow, and perfectly white. Mera just stared at it for a long moment.

"So do I just treat it like it is a focus stone completely? I normally have to grip those, and I am afraid of doing that with this, it looks so delicate," she said as she stared at the Heart.

"Yeah just grab on and channel. Don't worry about breaking it. It was once pretty fragile, but we have long since added enchantmentss to it that make it so it would take something pretty extreme to break it. Believe me when I say you don't want to have to deal with that thing when it shatters, it is an extreme hassle getting it back together before the city is encased in snow. We have had to do that more than once, and have since made sure it won't break for less than a hundred tons of force coming down on it," Starlight explained, grumbling towards the end.

"Whatever you say. If I break it by accident I am pointing my hoof at you to blame," Mera said with a shrug, before standing up on her hind legs and gripping the Heart with her forelegs.

It was interesting watching Mera work. If she were in her Crystal Pony form right now she would be brightly lit with magic, but in Thestral form what could be seen instead was waves of magic seem to pulse out of her hooves into the Heart. This continued for several seconds, then without any warning the Herlart gave off a bright flash.

"Gah!" I heard Mera shout, before hearing her fall down. I couldn't actually see this, as I was temporarily blinded by the flash. And it took a moment of me blinking to clear the spots from my vision enough to look around.

Mera was all crystally as if she was in her Crystal Pony form, but still retained her Thestral form. It was a very attractive combination that made her look like a piece of smokey quartz. Starlight also had the same effect as well, and I swear if I looked from just the right angle I could actually see through her. I looked down at myself, no such effect happened to me. 

"I feel jealous," I said out loud as I looked at the other two.

"I guess your anti-magic doesn't let it happen to you, Precious, but don't fret; you are still the sexiest pony around," Mera said with a inviting smile.

"It has been a while since I have had this happen. I actually forgot the Heart did that. It is a shame it only lasts a day or so," Starlight chuckled as she looked herself over.

"I have seen the Heart do that before when I was a filly. Well, I didn't actually see the Heart do it, but we were all caught in the effect. It was the day I got my cutie mark, and I stayed all bright and shiny for almost a week after every pony else went back to normal. I wonder if it will last a week again this time," Mera said as she admired herself. 

"Is every pony in Crystal Heart like this right now?" I asked curiously.

"Well, with the exception of you, I would expect every pony from here to the southern Foal Mountains is right now. There are two Hearts now, and they are linked. The Heart in Night's Heart likely did the same thing. I am guessing there are a lot of confused Thestrals right now down there. Hopefully Flurry took the time to make sure some pony down there is ready to explain what just happened to them," Starlight mused. "Actually, I had better go check with Flurry about that. She might have been so focused on getting it done fast she didn't have a plan ready for any questions that might arise down south. We don't want a panic starting down there by accident."

"So what do Mera and I do now? Do we just go back to trying to fill more focus stones for backup?" I asked.

"My guess is that Flurry will want you to do this again when the effect starts to fade, at least until we have become certain that the crisis is past. If we are lucky it purged any non-Crystal Ponies as well of the ailment. In theory it should, but we are only planning on the Crystal Ponies getting cured with this until we are sure. If it does work on all ponies we won't need any of the focus stones to be used. If this outbreak had happened beyond the Heart's reach we would have, but Tidewater is well within the reach of the Heart," Starlight explained.

"So our job is basically have lots of sex to be ready to give the Heart another magic infusion," I said with a laugh.

"I suppose we can commit ourselves to such a sacrifice," Mera followed my comment up with an overdramatic sigh and hoof held to her head.

"I am sure it will be very trying," Starlight said in a sarcastic tone. "I'll see that Pinkie gets you more of that stuff that makes you two behave like rabbits."

"Oh, we behaved like rabbits before that, now we are like..I am not sure what we are like..but it is hornier than a rabbit," Mera said thoughtfully.

"Swans, dolphins, chimpanzees, certain types of gerbils would fit the bill," Starlight suggested.

"Eh, swans or dolphins maybe. I don't like having my sex drive compared to that of a weird looking monkey, and definitely don't want want to be compared to a gerbil," Mera grimaced.

"You a squeak like a gerbil sometimes when we are going at it," I said slyly.

"You are mistaking me and you. Let's get back to that big bed and I will show you," Mera said with a brush of her wing tip across my face.

"Okay you two, get out of here before you give me a headache with all your flirting. I will be sure to take time to tease you both about this at some later date when you are thinking clearly," Starlight said with a hoof pointed at the door.

We didn't need any more direction than that, we were eager to get back to doing what we had been doing after all. Out in the hall we were greeted by the still snickering Birthday Party Brigade, who were now all crystally as well. We re-propositioned the one mare again, but got the same response. Oh well, we could have plenty of fun by ourselves.


***


It turned out that the Heart did work on non-Crystal Ponies which meant it was just our job to keep giving the Heart a recharge of magic on and off. Pinkie Pie returned to Crystal Heart while Starlight went out to Tidewater to conduct the search for whatever the cause of the outbreak was. We spent time either in the bedroom set aside for us or in the Heart's chamber. We even got free room service for our stay. 

After two days of searching there hadnt been any luck in finding the cause. What was found instead was bad news. There had been an isolated mining village a little further north of Tidewater that had only made occasional deliveries to Crystal Heart, I wasn't even sure the village had a proper name since no pony ever said a name, but it was much like Starlight's Folly had been, every pony gone.

The discovery of this prompted a search of other outlining communities and many others were found to be empty as well. No residents, no bodies, no signs any pony had fled, just empty. The epidemic had been in full swing already and Tidewater had just been the first community that we had gotten notice about. It was extremely disheartening news, and caused a large degree of panic in Crystal Heart.

Mera and I didn't get to witness any of this panic due to our seclusion, but the guards and Pinkie would pass along news. Pinkie actually had to up our dose of the drug to keep us in the mood despite the strong effects before. 

"Time for the little Thestrals to get their medicine," the voice of the pink Alicorn said as the door to our room opened. We hadn't been doing anything that moment, but I don't think Pinkie Pie would have cared if she walked in on us in the act.

"Is there any sort of side effect to this stuff that we should be concerned about?" I asked as I took my personal vial that was floated to me.

"Not really. You can get addicted, but you have to take way more than this daily for weeks at a time. Even then getting over the addiction just makes you feel kind of icky for a few more weeks," Pinkie said while giving a short bounce. 

"If you say so," I said as I downed my daily dose of lustwort. 

"Anything new to tell us about?" Mera said as she rolled over in bed. She didn't face Pinkie Pie, she was still busy admiring my flank, likely debating doing more with me with Pinkie Pie still standing there.

"Nopesies, still no cause, but no new sick ponies either. They might have you stop in a day or so and just wait and see if a new outbreak starts to try to figure out where. At least that's what Flurry said. I am thinking of throwing you a big Congratulations for Making Ponies Better Party!"

"I think we are having plenty of party time now," I said as I got back in bed and cuddled up against Mera, making sure to brush against her wing pits just so.

"Yeah, but it is a special Pinkie Pie prepared party. I can make it extra special," Pinkie giggled.

"Unless you are talking about a massive filly fooler orgy I think we will we will pass, we like our privacy," Mera said before letting out a moan of pleasure as I found just the right spot.

"No massive kitty cuddle, just typical party. I can keep it private though, over at the Heart's Desire," Pinkie said happily.

"Um, that place gives me the creeps. I really didn't like the way that one..pony..smiled at me there. Plus, Sunset said that hotel behaved really strange when the staff got upset," I said, shivering from fear rather than pleasure this time.

"Oh you just have to have me talk to them. They would do anything for me, they love me," Pinkie said with a massive grin.

"If you say so. I guess a quick party after all this is over won't hurt any pony," I said. I really only said it to make her drop the subject, Pinkie had a one track mind when it came to any sort of party I had figured out from hearsay and observation. If you didn't agree she would just keep hounding you about it, or just have one as a suprise party.

"Will do, when this is all over we will have a party at the Heart's Desire that you will never forget," Pinkie said with another happy bounce.

"Whatever you say, but can we have a bit of privacy. We need to get back to..work," Mera said, lingering on the last word.

"I thought you just had to have sex," Pinkie said with confusion. Seriously? This pony was one of the most powerful beings in the world?

"Out!" Mera shouted.

Pinkie giggled, which might indicate she had just been messing with us, or not; she giggled no matter what. But she did teleport out of the room after that.

"So, she used to be your personal Alicorn?" I said questioningly to my wife.

"Call it a phase if you like. She can't be too bad. I was a lot like her years ago and you fell for me, plus I still have my moments," Mera said with a smile.

"Well, you also matured well. I think Pinkie is still stuck in foalhood," I grimaced.

Mera got a serious look on her face. I was a little concerned I had somehow offended her, though I had no idea how. I was about to ask if I had said something wrong when she took a deep breath.

"Pearl, I have been kind of thinking. You know how Patina has foals every hundred years or so? I know we were both very uncomfortable with the idea before, and we haven't thought about the concept really since we were in Harmony, but do you think you feel any different now?" Mera asked in a low voice.

"You would know how I was felt about that before me," I said with as honest an answer as I could give.

"I would know if you were giving it any thought, but you haven't. I have though, and I think I might feel a little more comfortable with the idea," Mera said quietly, looking at me softly.

I didn't really know what to say about that. I hadn't given it any thought, that was true. Patina did that thing all the time, at least in terms of what all the time could be considered for an immortal, and Water Shadow had seemed to be opening up to the idea again. I wasn't really sure even of the mechanics of how we would do it.

"You are uncertain. That's fair I guess. You know I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do, but maybe think about it some," Mera said.

"How long have you been thinking about this?" I asked. This subject really had taken me off guard.

"Well, the seeds for it have been there since Harmony, but it is only maybe in the last year that I have really seriously started thinking about it more. I had been wanting to wait to feel something from you about it before bringing it up, but you really haven't thought about it," Mera said in an embarrassed tone.

"Just to give me things to think on, how would we go about it?" I asked.

"Well, there are special enchantments for couples like us," she started explaining. "Normally both mares would have enchantment. One mare would have an enchantment that makes her extra fertile and receptive to impregnating, the other would have a temporary genitalia altering spell that would give her..well a working cock. Magic doesn't work on you unless Starlight takes your cutie mark off, and I know how you would feel about having anything altered temporarily that way on you. So I figured that I could use the one to give me the ability to get you pregnant, and just hope for the best with a bunch of tries. The spell is expensive, and only lasts a few hours, but we can afford multiple applications of it."

"So I would be the mother and you the father?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Depends on how you look at it. I prefer to look at it as us both being mommies. Just you would be the one who goes through the pregnancy. There is the option of just getting a stallion to knock one or both of us up too, but I would prefer the foal to be all us," Mera said, sounding more uncomfortable with this part of the discussion.

"I really don't know yet. I feel like we need to talk some more with Patina to get perspective. That would mean a visit back to Harmony, unless we could convince her to come visit us here. We can write her a letter about it as soon as the crisis passes here," I said with an encouraging hug to my wife.

Mera smiled and then nibbled at my neck gently. We were still feeling very frisky, and only getting friskier as the drug re-kicked in. So a strong wave of pleasure went through me.

"Well, no rush. I just want you to think about it. I am just glad you don't feel horrified by the idea," Mera said contentedly.

"Did anything get you thinking about it more?" I asked, giving a nuzzle.

I" am not even sure what got me thinking about it more, maybe it was just my mother's insistence that only Peridot would ever get her grandfoals. I am not angry she says that, she is just stating what she thinks are facts, maybe they are. It makes me think about it though," Mera said, again in a lowered voice.

"I'll think on it. Once we get to talking to Patina and get to know how she deals with it I can give you a better answer," I said. Having a foal was still a big insecurity, but there was at least one pony that was immortal that regularly had foals. Maybe there were others and I just hadn't heard about it, I would need to ask.

There was already the start of the feeling of watching the world age while we stayed young, at least for me. I was thirty-five years old now, but still looked not a day older than I had at twenty-one. If I had started a family around seventeen or eighteen, as was common, my foals from such a relationship they would only be a little bit younger than Peridot. Mera had aged mentally a great deal, but she too was physically unchanged in the past eight years. Maybe watching fillies and colts turn into stallions and mares was what was promoting her to start thinking about foals.

My wife seemed to pick up on my thoughts and gave me a long considering look.

"Do you miss me being more innocent?" She asked. "I know I have asked before, but I can't help feeling insecure sometimes. I am not the same naive little pony who sat staring at fish in confusion back in Yazyakistan. And back then I was looking to you for protection, now I do my best to protect you. I worry sometimes you will lose interest in me in favor of some pony more like the pony I was."

"You are probably just thinking this because we are drugged up to the point we are looking at every pony like a potential sex partner. We both know we don't go looking at other ponies normally. Yes, you have changed from the original silly little Crystal Pony, but that was only my initial attraction to you. Your mother hasn't been bubbly and bouncy since I met her, which is how you described her being when you were a foal, but your father is still very much still in love with her. We grow together, and so does our love for one another," I said with another nuzzle to her.

"Mom has changed from when I was a foal hasn't she. I never really paid it a lot of attention until you just mentioned it," Mera said thoughtfully.

"She probably changed because she started worrying about you and Peridot more. Both your safety and how to bond with you, just like you changed a lot when you developed a big concern for my safety. That change is a sign of love though, you two are still very much alike, having changed due to concern for your loved ones," I said.

Mera sat and considered. Since she was still nuzzled up close to me she could still feel what I was feeling. I could swear that her abilities to read that were actually getting stronger to the point she could actually read thoughts. If she was reading mine she would know I was being completely honest with her.

"I think mom and I need to have a night out together," Mera said after a long moment. "I hadn't really considered how similar we still were, and how we had responded to similar things with dramatic change. She wants to bond, that is something to bond over. Once everything is in the.."

"You two are going to want to hear about this!" Pinkie interrupted as she dasjmhed into the room. Mera looked annoyed for an instant, but the two of us looked at Pinkie expectantly.

"What? What's happened?" I asked, not sure if were being given good or bad news.

"We are being invaded right now. Tidewater is under attack!"
> Chapter 36: Invasion
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Invaded?! Invaded by who? There aren't any foreign nations anywhere near us," I exclaimed.

"I just got the messenger about it and he only said that they were attacking from the air in really big airships. Only these airships had no balloons like our airships. They are raining bombs down on the troops in Tidewater now," Pinkie explained, clearly upset. She looked ready to cry.

"Peridot.." Mera said, springing off the bed. "I have to go protect my sister."

Pinkie got a stern look on her face, which looked very unnatural and scary coming from her. She lit up her horn and enveloped Mera in a telekinetic field, and lifted my wife back onto the bed.

"No, you need to stay here," Pinkie said harshly. It was shocking enough that it even stunned Mera into being still. "You two are important, and can't be risked. Plus we still need you making sure ponies don't get sick."

"But Peridot is out there in all that. I can't stay here when she could be killed. You need to let me go protect my sister," Mera pleaded. 

"Your little sister needs to be with the other guards trying to fight back the invaders, and protecting the citizens out there. This is what she signed up to do when she became a guard," Pinkie said in more sympathetic voice. "I know it is scary thinking that she can get hurt, but she has a job to do and so do you. Your sister is really tough, like really tough, she can take care of herself out there. You need to keep helping by keeping ponies from getting sick, and let her do what she is trained to do."

"How am I supposed to do that when I am worried about her? Drug or no drug I can't do what I need to keep charging the Heart when she might die in some bomb blast," Mera said, now crying.

"You'll just have to do the best you can do. A lot of ponies are depending on you, even your sister when you think about it. If you stop keeping the Heart charged up they might start getting sick again, and that includes your sister. She is out in the area that was getting sick. If you stop she might get sick and go all blank stared too. If she does that she will get hurt, because she won't try to get out of the way of a bomb. She'll be a sitting duck," Pinkie explained further.

What Pinkie was saying made sense, but that wasn't going to soothe Mera, or me for that matter. Every fiber of my bean told me to run off and protect. Mera might be feeling it even more intensely. I agreed with my wife that it would be near impossible for us to do what we needed here when a loved one was in perilous danger. There had to be something else that could be done.

"Pinkie, can the Heart be powered by just the focus stones we have stored away?" I asked as the idea came to me.

"Yes, it could, but if you die there aren't going to be any more of those. We can't let that happen," Pinkie answered.

There had to be an answer. I looked at Mera and saw worry and defiance warring with one another on her face. Another idea came to me, one that I didn't like, but one that might work.

"What if just Mera goes to protect Peridot and I stay here?" I asked in a low voice. It hurt just to suggest it, but might be the only way for one of us at least to go. Mera looked at me with confusion and hurt.

"How is that any better? How are they going to get your magic without me?" Mera asked. 

"They can get my magic, they have done it before, or at least Starlight has," I answered. "You can go protect Peridot and fight because there are other ways that can replace you harvesting my magic. At least then one of us can be doing something."

Mera looked conflicted. The idea of leaving me without her while she went off to fight had to be as bad as the idea of her leaving Peridot to fend for herself. I was just as upset at the idea that I had proposed. Mera could get seriously hurt, or die doing this. 

"Why is it so important that you go anyway? What is one more Thestral even going to accomplish?" Pinkie demanded.

"I am among the best fighters there are in all the Realm. If there is fighting going on near my home I should be there in the thick of it. I need to try to make a difference there, not sit around here," Mera said as quietly as I had spoken. Then , she looked at me. "Pearl are you sure? I don't like the idea of being separated from you. I can bring a few stones with me to keep me charged with your magic, but the bigger issue is I am not going to be close by to protect you."

I gave Mera a hug and a kiss. Trying to let my feelings be reassuring, but I felt torn myself.

"I will be okay, it is safe here. You need to do what you feel is right. There aren't any good choices. It is probably best if we both stay here, but you won't be able to accomplish much here worrying. Out there you might help some ponies," I said, I was crying at the thought that she might also get hurt. Thoughts of how my mother went off to war and didn't return couldn't stop entering my mind. 

Mera undoubtly picked up on all this and gave me a hug back. 

"I will return to you. Nothing is going to stop me from getting back to you. I will see to it Peridot is safe, and when this is all over we will have Pinkie's stupid party together," she said from my shoulder as she gripped me.

"Hey! Parties aren't stupid! This coming from a pony that used to pray to me? That hurts," Pinkie exclaimed angerly.

"Forgive me Pinkie, I am just really stressed right now. I am sure it will be a great party and we will all have fun. We will need something to cheer us up after this is done," Mera said as she glanced at the Pink Alicorn. 

"It will be a great party. I am already planning a big suprise. You better not get hurt though, otherwise you'll ruin the party before it starts," Pinkie huffed.

"If any pony can keep themselves safe it is Mera," I asserted, hugging my wife. Mera smiled at me as we released.

Mera hopped down from the bed again, and then went over to the corner of the room where we had our life packs setting aside. She began digging out focus stones that she had filled with magic previously. I was actually surprised at how many she still had despite regular shipments and giving more over to Starlight before the Alicorn of Empathy had left. I had always been casually aware of her filling more stones than she was required, but only now did I wonder exactly how many of the things she had stockpiled at this point.

After leaving out a sizeable pile, that I stoped counting around fifty, she finally stopped pulling more out. She then closed her life pack again and slung it over her back, before turning back to me.

"Here is enough to last over two moons. I am pretty sure that I won't be gone that long, but just in case I have a lot here until some pony can get to making more without me," Mera explained with a gesture at the pile.

"What about for yourself? What are you going to do if you run out of my magic? You need those to keep yourself healed, and to recover from injuries faster. Even if you keep safe you need them to maintain your immortality," I said with horror as I looked at the pile.

"Pearl, I know you have always just let me take care of all aspects of producing these, so I understand that you don't realize I have more than enough still. Even with what I gave the Alicorns and these here I have hundreds of filled stones still. I am not going to run out," Mera said with a smile.

"How?" I asked in astonishment. She definitely had time to fill them all, but based on what she had told me in the past about costs of stones that kind of thing would strain even our finances.

"I worked out a deal a long time ago with a regulator supplier. We have been buying stones at a small fraction of the usual cost. Being a regular customer who buys in bulk has cut the cost of them tremendously and I have been stockpiling for years, as you see," Mera explained.

When Mera got back I really needed to go over what she had been doing in full. She hadn't been hiding this from me, but she hadn't been telling me about it either. Not knowing was my fault for never really taking any direct involvement. Now was not the time to figure out the extent of what she had been up to in the background. I at least could be satisfied that she wasn't going to run out of my magic.

"I'll keep Peridot safe and be back before you know it. You keep yourself safe. I expect extra snuggles and kisses to make up for the ones I'll be missing out on when I return," Mera said after walking back near the bed. She gave me a quick kiss.

"My Birthday Party Brigade will keep her safe, don't you worry," Pinkie said confidently. My own fears spiked a bit at that statement. No offense intended to Pinkie Pie, but her guard seemed completely unguardlike.

Mera didn't look so certain either, and fresh doubt appeared on her face. She shook her head and gave me another final kiss before heading out the door.

I watched her exit and felt nothing but worry. She didn't even know what she was going out to fight. She was among the best there was, but without knowing what she was fighting there was no knowing if that made any difference. I didn't know what I would do if I lost her.

"Don't have such a long face. Well, do have a long face, because you are a pony, but don't look so sad. I am certain she will be alright," Pinkie said with a quick few bounces in place.

I looked at the pink Alicorn with confusion. Just a few minutes ago she had been complaining that we couldn't go because it was too risky and we could get killed, now she was saying that Mera would be alright with confidence?  She was probably just trying to lift my spirits a bit, that was her thing afterall. It was kind of ineffective after she had just gone through the effort of warning us not to do something like this. The sudden change just took away all credibility.

"I am going to go make some early party arrangements now. The Birthday Party Brigade will be outside ready to help you with anything you ask," Pinkie said. Then she looked at the stones, and grabbed one up in her magic. "I should probably take one of these and go give the Heart another charge first. Never know when something might delay it. I'll see you soon, Pearl."

And with that the pink Alicorn departed. I didn't really care that she left me alone. The only pony I wanted to see again soon was Mera, safe and sound. Until she returned I didn't think I would have the interest to talk to any other pony unless it was news about Mera.

I rolled over in bed and pulled the covers over myself, intending to just sleep as much as possible in Mera's absence. Hopefully it would make the time seem to go by faster.

It took a while, but after several hours of laying there alone, clutching a pillow close to me, I fell asleep.
> Chapter 37: Hunted
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke with a start in the dead of night. It was one of those moments when you feel like you have woken from a nightmare, but are still in it, a night terror I think they were called. It could also have just been a panic attack in my sleep. I hadn't had one in years, but I was certainly under a great deal of stress so it was possible.

It was strange trying to reason how I felt even as I was panicking. It didn't seem like it should work out like that, but that was indeed what I was doing. It was like part of my mind had separated off and decided to try to function rationally while the rest quakes in fear. I would have to ask a psychologist how exactly that worked out.

There wasn't any immediate signs for concern around me. The room was empty of any other pony. It was dark, but as a Thestral that was more a comfort normally than something to incite fear. There wasn't any sound of anything either. Nothing to be afraid of seemed to be here. 

I slowed my breathing and counted slowly under my breath, trying to vcalm myself. It was likely just a bad dream, a side effect of knowing Mera was going into a dangerous situation without me, easily explainable. I was able to get my breathing under control, but my heart was still pumping hard, my wings were still errect, and my fur was still fluffed defensively. No matter how much I tried to reason that everything was fine my instincts still said the complete opposite.

I looked around and listened for anything that might be causing my instincts to warn me something was wrong again. After listening hard for a moment I realized I couldn't hear the guards outside the door. With any typical guards this wouldn't be an issue, but this was the Birthday Party Brigade, and the Birthday Party Brigade had more a tendency to be animated and talkative. Most of the time they could be heard out in the hallway talking together if you listened hard enough. No such talking was happening right now. That was not to say something was definitely wrong, but it was enough to make me wonder.

I got out of bed and walked over to the door. The obvious thing to do was just check with them to see if everything was alright. Maybe they had just gotten drowsy, or just being silent for a change. They could be trying to keep the noise down out of respect to me sleeping, even though through the door it only came off as low background noise typically. There were perfectly reasonable explanations for them being quiet.

I opened the door and a great deal of other sound that the room had been insulated from greeted me. There was something going on outside the spire that was making a lot of noise, I just hadn't been able to hear it within the bedroom. The room was so well insulated from sound that I was apparently only able to hear sounds directly on the the other side of the door.

The next thing I noticed was there were no guards standing outside the door, there was no sign of any pony besides myself in the hallway. My fur fluffed more as I realized that the guards had abandoned their posts. They must be either elsewhere in the spire our outside dealing with whatever was making that noise. If they had been vmcalled away shouldn't they have at least woken me up to let me know? If there was something urgent going on why had I been left to just sleep unguarded? Something was definitely up outside by the noise, but something was seriously wrong in here as well.

I went back into the bedroom and pulled my hoofblade from my life pack. I wasn't sure if it made any difference as I was not really trained in its use, but being armed made me feel a little better. I looked at the pile of stones Mera had left and decided to stash several of them away in my pack just in case. I didn't like leaving them unattended, but also didn't want them all gone if something happened to me. Grabbing a dozen of them into my pack seemed a fair compromise. After getting them stored away, and myself equipped, I slung the pack over my back.

First thing first was to try to find another pony in the Spire. It might not endear me to others to be walking around with a weapon, but something was definitely up and I needed to be concerned with my safety. If it was bad enough for the guards to abandon post it was bad enough for me to walk around with a weapon ready.

I went out of the room and looked around the immediate hallway again. Still noise coming from the outside, and still no sign of another pony. I wished there were windows along the halls here so I could at least look outside, but there were only the other doors of the hallway. 

There didn't seem to be signs of any struggle along the hallway, not that I would know what to look for if there had been. There wasn't anything that seemed out of place other the absence of the guards and the noise. Maybe some other pony could have picked up on something else, but I wasn't a tracker or a guard; I had no such training.

I debated with myself whether it would be better to go check the other sections of the Spire first, or check the immediate rooms around me. I didn't know anything about what was supposed to be in the other rooms. I guessed they were other guest rooms as well, but couldn't be sure. I didn't even know if they were supposed to be occupied or not. If they were occupied then I probably owed their occupants to tell them something wasn't right. Also, some of those rooms might have windows so I could at least look outside to find out what was making that noise. It was a noise so different than anything I ever heard before and I couldn't even take a wild guess to what it was other than not normal.

Checking each of the other rooms turned out to be a complete waste of time though. Every single last one was locked. I tried knocking on a few and calling out, but no pony answered any of them, nor did I hear any sound of movement inside them. It had been the right thing to check, but it was frustrating that it didn't get me any closer to an answer.

I decided the next thing to do was head towards the Heart's chamber. It had to be guarded at all times and even if the guards abandoned their post near me I couldn't imagine anything making them abandon their posts near the Heart. It was the most important single object in all of Ocid, and was probably the second most powerful magical object outside of The Great Tree. There would be some pony near it to give me answers.

The doors that connected the hallways were thankfully unlocked as usual. I wondered why you even needed doors separating sections of a hallway, it seemed pointless. Maybe it was just for subdividing the large structure into smaller parts. She supposed it would be easier to say the fifth section of a hallway third door on the left, than having people wandering aimlessly down the hallway trying to count out the many many doors a pony might have to pass normally, hoping they kept their count correct. It might make sense in that aspect. Or perhaps it was meant to give extra privacy to areas. Who knew? All I knew was it was annoying to open a hallway door only to find only more hallway.

I went quickly through the hallways, still not encountering any pony along the way. After a short time walking I got to the entrance of the Heart's chamber, and found no guard outside it.

Was the entire Spire deserted? Where was the staff? Where were the guards? Why were they all gone and I was still here? If they had evacuated the Spire for some reason shouldn't some pony have gotten me too?

I walked into the chamber and it was the same as it ever was. The Heart was still in place, but there was still no sign of any other pony. If the Spire had been attacked shouldn't the Heart be gone one way or another? If every pony had fled they would have taken the Heart with them. If something had taken every pony away it would surely have taken the Heart too. None of this made any sense.

The next logical step was to head outside and find out what was going on out there. There was all that noise so something was going on outside. I turned to leave the chamber and when I did I stopped in my tracks.

Standing down the hallway that I had just walked were two tall no-pedal creatures. They were both completely encased in armor of some sort, and they were silently walking my way. They had arms like younger dragons did and in those claws were what were definitely smaller, portable versions of guns. 

Panic that I had been trying to hold in check finally took hold, though a small part of me also wanted to go on the attack. Reason tipped the scales towards panic as I realized that if those were guns I wasn't going to even get a chance to get close enough to attack. I had to run and find another way out of the Spire.

There was another door in the Heart's chamber, but it led deeper into the Spire rather than towards the way out. I had little choice in direction though. There was no where to safely take cover in the chamber, and there was no way of moving back towards the entrance of the Spire. So I went the only direction I had a choice of going.

I turned and ran, making quick leaps through the air with my wings. Behind me shots rang out, thankfully missing, but also making me panic further. I quickly made it to the other side of the chamber and through the opposite door, straight into another hallway.

I could find somewhere to hide and try to let them pass me by and then make a break for the entrance. My hunting and limited fighting abilities wouldn't do anything for fighting these foes. They were armored on every section of their body, there was no where for me to bite or stab. I could possibly knock them down with a dive bomb from the air, but I was indoors, and had likely just left the only room that I could have gotten airborne in high enough for such a strike. I should have stayed in the chamber and tried such a strike as the entered in, but it was too late for that now. Finding a hiding place was now the top priority.

Maybe there was another way out. The Spire had a balcony that overlooked the outside plaza. If I could make it to that I could escape. I just had to find that balcony, which meant getting to the correct floor. I had never been in that room so it was going to take a lot of searching, and if the room was locked like the others I was in even more trouble.

I could hear them coming still behind me, so I bolted through the hallways, only pausing to open, and then reclose behind me, the doors of the hallways. I wished the things had some sort of locks on them, but doubted that mattered in the long run. The closed doors at least put up some small obstacles to slow my hunters down.

I kept a close eye out for any signs of a staircase, or any door that might lead somewhere other than the next hallway. There had to be something soon, as this could only continue, even with a curve, for so long. There were still no windows, and I silently cursed the architect of this place for his or her insistence of smooth crystal walls.

My pursuers were not being very silent as they followed. I could hear them simply blasting the doors away rather than stopping to open them. They had to be moving at a full run, and I hoped that they couldn't run on two legs each as fast as I could run one four with leaps assisted by my wings. I gave off a silent thanks that I had to learn how to run like this back in Harmony, or I might have been caught already.

My heart and lungs felt like they were going to explode when I went through the next door and found myself in a chamber instead of another hallway. I took a quick glance around at my surroundings. There was a massive staircase that led up which looked like it might put me where I needed to be to find that balcony. There was another door at the end of this chamber in this floor that might lead to yet another hallway. The chamber was also large enough that I could attempt to do that Dove bombing maneuver, and head back the way I came.

All three options I considered quickly. Going up and finding that balcony seemed the most appealing. Hopefully climbing those stairs would slow my attackers down. The drawback was if the correct room was locked I was just trapping myself more. The next option was the next hallway. They might not expect me to keep going on and bypassing the stairs, which would give me a chance to double back behind them. There were two of them though and they might decide to just split and go in both directions, and I knew there couldn't be much farther to run on this floor. I couldn't even be sure that wasn't just the door to another locked room and would only lose more valuable time pursuing that path. The final option was to try to take them by suprise with a dive bomb and run past them. I didn't know enough about them to know if that would even work, and if they weren't caught off guard I was making myself an easy target.

I decided quickly on an option. All my options were risky, but this felt like the one with the best chances of success. If I got out of this alive Mera was going to give me an earful about the risk I was taking. 

I quickly flew up the stairs into the upper hallway, and not a moment too soon. The sound of the door I had just passed could be heard being blasted off its hinges. I gave the next door that I could try to make may way to a quick glance and took a deep breath. It was time to take my gamble.

The door opened easily revealing yet another hallway. I gave the hallway a quick glance of disappointment, wishing it had simply led out to that balcony. Instead I shut the door with a loud creak that my pursuers could almost certainly hear. Then I crept to the edge of the where the staircase was, trying my best to stay out of sight.

Their heavily armored steps could be heard coming up the stairs, I listened carefully making sure I could judge their position perfectly. I would either get this right or I would get shot, there was no room for error. They weren't moving as quickly up the steps as they had through the halls, which was a mild relief.

As they reached the proper position, just a few steps short of the top, I sprang into action. I took to the air and shot through it. In the tightest dive I had ever attempted I went down the stairs. The sudden assault did catch them off guard and I clipped both of their helmets as I zipped by them, causing them to tumble backwards down the stairs. They hadn't managed to get a shot off at me. 

Unfortunately the attack had caused me to lose control of my dive and I went down hard against the wall of the lower floor. Everything hurt, and I was pretty sure my head was bleeding from the impact. My vision was blurred, and I felt nauseous. It was hard to focus as I pulled myself to my hooves again. There was a very real chance I might have a concussion, at the very least a contusion. Hopefully my healing powers would help me carry through getting away.

It took me a moment to figure out which direction I needed to go now. A quick glance showed that the two attackers were still recovering from the attack and hadn't gotten back up yet. Hopefully they were knocked senseless, but I couldn't wait around to find out. This was my opportunity to get back to the main entranance and out of the Spire. 

My balance was off as I made my way back down the halls. It was hard to keep from tripping, and I feebly flapped my wings to try to keep balance as I ran. Luckily I didn't have to open any doors as the two had destroyed them in their wake. It was also helpful for keeping me on track on where to go, as right now simple things like recognizing which door was directly down the hall didn't feel simple at all. I was hurt,l. I was hurt bad enough that if anything else came upon me then I was pretty much dead on the spot. If there were more of those things somewhere in front of me they would have no problem taking me out quickly. 

It felt like an eternity to get back through the halls, back through the Heart chamber, and back into the next set of halls. I heard no pursuit, but that meant nothing, because my ears were ringing so much I couldn't hear anything. I had to keep moving. I was a fool not to try to escape out of the Spire to start and instead deciding to go deep into it. 

It briefly entered into my mind that Mera was going to be upset that I had been hurt this badly. Where was Mera anyway? It seemed like she should be here, but it also seemed like I should know where she was. I was having so much trouble thinking. I just had to focus on getting out. Everything would be alright if I just got out of here. For some reason I started thinking that my head would be better if I just washed it. Something else told me that was nonsense. I really didn't know which was right. I had to get outside to wash my head, that felt like it made more sense.

Eventually I made it to the next staircase, which headed downstairs. I tried walking down the stairs, but after a few steps I just tumbled down them. More pain shot through my body as I hit stair after stair, and landed hard on the floor below. My right wing was burning with pain, and wasn't responding right. I think I may have broken it in the fall. 

I forced myself back to my hooves and fought through the pain. I tried running again, but couldn't manage it. Everything just hurt so much right now. I had never felt so much pain in my life. Why did I have to be so damn clumsy? If I got out of here and recovered I swore I would focus years of my life to becoming the most graceful damn Thestral there ever was.

There was no pony or any other creature down here, and the entrance was in sight. I hobbled along towards it, taking forever to clear the distance towards the opening. I was almost there. I was almost out.

I got to the entrance and finally got to look outside. What I saw made me just lay down and cry rather than try to go out.

There was some sort of shield spell all around the Spire and it was the source of that noise. Standing not far from the entrance to the Spire was at least a dozen more of those creatures. I had never had any chance of escape, I was sealed in.

Something struck me, causing my entire body to convulse with pain, and then the world went black.
> Chapter 38: Imprisioned
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world was still filled with pain as I came back awake. I wished I could fall back to sleep to escape the pain. I kept my eyes shut and held still hoping that I would fall back asleep, but it did no good. I was awake, and it seemed I would stay awake for the time being.

I opened my eyes and squinted, the light hurt my eyes. I had a brief flashback to when I woke up in the Temple of Meadowbrook. This time was different though. This time I was in a lot more pain, and this time I was not waking up with any friendly face nearby. 

I tried to move my wings and screamed. My one wing was still broken. There wouldn't be any flying for a while. It would be painful just moving about with a broken wing that wasn't even put in a sling. Worry that it was not properly put in place for proper healing entered my mind. It would heal with my magic, but if it wasn't set right it could heal wrong and become useless for flying.

There was no more dizziness or any of the symptoms I had right after hitting my head. That had either healed on its own already or someone had treated it for me. That was at at least one thing I had going for me. 

My surroundings were not much to speak of, for flat grey metal walls, and some sort of artificial light high above me. I saw no door, so wasn't sure how I was put in here, but it was obviously a cell of some kind. With no door, and me unable to fly up and look around where that light was there was no way to escape.

Something beyond the physical injurires didn't feel right about myself. I looked back at my body and gasped as I saw my cutie mark was gone. I would be healing slowly then, at least my wing would take more time to heal wrong, that meant there was time to save it to being workable again.

My thoughts focused on my lack of cutie mark. I started adding things up in my mind. This attack came right after the epidemic had restarted. We had already figured out that some pony had deliberately started the epidemic in Starlight's Folly. That led to reason some pony had started it here too. Right after the attacks started they had gone and captured me. Then some pony had taken my cutie mark away. There were only four ponies that had the power to take away a cutie mark, and only one of them had definitely been near Crystal Heart, Starlight Glimmer. Starlight Glimmer had had direct interest in both me and Mera. Starlight Glimmer was a known manipulator. Starlight had to be the pony behind all this, it all fit too perfectly.

Betrayal was always something that hurt, but this felt even more hurtful. Starlight had been the first pony, other than my mother, who had shown me compassion. The pony that had changed my body to make me feel whole. The pony who had fought for me in court. The pony who had removed hurtful memories from me.

Why would she do all this? Was everything that she had done with me just some act and manipulation? Again, to what end? There didn't seem to be any reason at all for it. Even if she was planning some hostile takeover of the Realm, what was the point of anything she did with me in that? It didn't make sense.

"Subject, Thestral Pearlwort, has regained consciousness. Noting time unconscious, six hours thirty-eight minutes and four seconds. Subject is alert ahead of projections," a voice sounded from..well..everywhere. I winced as the voice rang out.

"Subject is displaying sensitivity to sound. Consistent with symptoms of severe head trauma."

Screw you! You are just loud! I thought in response. The sound of the voice made me want to vomit.

"Subject appears to be in physical distress, consistent when the signs off nausea. Second symptom of severe head trauma documented."

Okay, it had to be just mocking me.

"Alright, where in bloody Tarturus are you! Show yourself! Are you too cowardly to come face me yourself!" I shouted. I regretted it instantly because it made my head feel ready to explode. 

"Subject shows signs of hostility. Undetermined if this is symptom of injury or of confinement. Further observation required." 

"Confinement! I don't like being hunted, I don't like being held in a cell, and I don't like things that can't bother to show themselves when talking!" I shouted out. 

I did vomit immediately after saying that. Why did sound have to make feel so sick? It likely was still that head injury in all honesty. If I had my cutie mark this would be healing, but without it I had to be at least a little bit worried about it. It might not matter though. I was a prisoner in a strange place, being held by strange creatures, who knew how long I was actually going to survive?

"Tell Starlight to come on out and face me herself. I want to know why she is doing all this," I said in a low voice. Even that made me feel sick to do, but not as bad.

"Subject is inquiring about Alicorn designated Starlight Glimmer. Querrying location of requested target. Target location is in primary combat area. Determined to be unobtainable at this moment. Subject's question is Starlight is currently resisting assault. Self preservation is determined cause of action."

Self preservation? How in the world was hatching this whole..whatever it was..plan an act of self preservation? I wished I could think more clearly. 

"Hey, how about instead off just diagnosing the fact I am hurt you do something about it, maybe? I figure if you wanted me dead you would have killed me already. It is kind of a waste to let me potentially die now from bleeding in my head," I said to the faceless voice.

"Subject presents proposition for self preservation. Proposition is considered acceptable."

Well, seems all I had to do was ask. I would have felt better about it, but that voice was still making my ears ring, and I had little energy left after vomiting.

I realized then that something had changed in the cell. Something smelled incredibly bad..other than me and my vomit. Looking up for a moment made me realize that the cell was filling with smoke. I tried to push it away with my Thestral magic, but that didn't seem to work either without my cutie mark. All my magic was gone, I was just a husk of a pony; a husk that was about to be suffocated with smoke.

I tried to back into a corner, it hurt to even move, but I was desperate. I hid my head in the corner, covered my muzzle with my one working wing to try to preserve some air. I don't know why I bothered, there was no way out, and it didn't seem likely there would be a rescue in time, if ever. I didn't want to die.

My eyes burned from the smoke and the tears. I couldn't breathe. The room was filled with the strange smelling smoke, and nothing I did could stop it from getting into my lungs. I was getting even more lightheaded. My vision was blurry, and I didn't know if it was because I was fighting to maintain consciousness, the tears, or both. 

It got harder and harder to see or think. I released my muzzle from my wing. It was just too hard to keep holding it there. It shouldn't be, but I just felt so tired that even such a simple gesture seemed too much. It wasn't being effective anyway. 

My headache numbed as everything else did as well. The room felt like it was dimming. I couldn't keep my fight up. 

My last thoughts before the world went black were sorrow that I wouldn't see my wife again, and that she was going to be devastated.

I'm sorry Mera. I am going to have to go now.



***


I woke up. That was suprising. I wasn't supposed to wake up, I was supposed to be dead. Still more surprising was I wasn't hurting any more now. Maybe I was dead and this was the afterlife.

As I opened my eyes and looked around I realized that if this was the afterlife it definitely wasn't any afterlife I ever envisioned.

I was in a room made of the same metal that my cell had been made of, laying on a metal table. My wing was set and bandaged, and I could feel bandages on my head. Some pony or some thing had treated my wounds, and did a good enough job I wasn't dealing with a concussion any more. I was stiff, but that was a definite improvement over being in pain.

My body stiffened further when realized too I was not alone in the room.

In the room with me was a massive, bipedal, armores figure. It was totally invaded in metal to the point I could have sworn it was a being of metal. The metal was pitch black, and had tubes running throughout it. The armored helmet was a flattened dome, with a single glowing red eye that was looking at me. I saw no mouth or any other adornment. It just stood watching me, with no signs of hostility.

"What are you?" I asked. I had been torn between that question and asking where I was. This question won out.

"I am Tesla. More accurately this entire ship is Tesla and this is an avatar of Tesla," the strange being replied. The single red eye flashed with each word.

"What do you want?" I asked. Unsure if I had learned anything by the previous question.

"To fulfill my program directives. First program directive is to assimilate all intelligent life on this planet into Tesla. Second directive is to follow orders of the designer even if they violate the first directive. Third directive is not to take action against the designer even if that violates the first directive," the thing, Tesla, recieted off.

"Is Starlight Glimmer the designer?" I demanded. 

"Giving information on the designer may constiturlte a violation of the third directive, and cannot be processed at this time without an order from the designer," Tesla said.

"Yes or no," I hissed.

"Invalid request," Tesla answered.

"Okay, fine, don't tell me. Why did you capture me?" I asked in frustration. 

"Invalid request. Possible violation of third directive," Tesla intoned.

Possible violation of third directive? Why would that be a violation? It seemed obvious it was to remove me from powering the Heart, but they could have killed me and accomplished that. Instead they were holding me prisoner and had treated my injuries. If I was an obstacle why weren't they killing me? 

"Where are we?" I tried going back to my original other option for first question.

"Lead ship one," Tesla answered. That really didn't tell me anything though.

I wracked my brain for any questions that Tesla might answer. Telsa still had not moved and seemed content to just answer questions, or deny answers to questions. 

"Are you going to put me back on my cell now?" I tried as a question.

"There is no productive need. You are unable to escape from any part of this ship, nor are you able to interfere with the operation of this vessel. You are securely held in all places on this ship," Tesla answered in the same monotone as always.

I looked around the room. There was a do it leading out of the room. There were also many glass panels on the walls hat didn't seem to be windows. There was me, the cot, Tesla, and not much else. If I was not being held in this spot that meant I could go looking around. 

The ships that the invaders had come on had been described as aircraft, which meant we were likely in the air. With a broken wing I was still stuck here even if I found an exit. I could only fall to my death if I wasn't able to fly.

"So I am free to just walk around the ship?" I asked just to get clarification. It was clear I wasn't going to be told anything, but maybe I could find something out by looking around. If the invaders intended to kill me they likely would have by now.

"You may go anywhere on this ship. You will be unable to leave it. Being on this ship is sufficient confinement," Tesla answered.

Okay then, I guess that is what I'll do.  I thought to myself. This was definitely not how I expected being held by a hostile invading force to be, but I wasn't going to complain.

I tried hopping off the cot and took a tumble as I did. My body was still extremely weak. Luckily my wing's splint wasn't damaged in the fall. I pulled myself back to my hooves without any offered assistance from Tesla.

"Do I get my cutie mark back? I would heal a lot better if I had it you know. It isn't like it gives me any power to escape," I grumbled at the armored figure.

"Cutie mark location is unknown," Tesla said plainly.

That caused me to blink. He hadn't said that it was against his directives that he couldn't return my vmcutie mark, he claimed instead he didn't have it. He could be lying, there was no reason to believe anything that was being told to me, but to this point I had been either answered directly, or told I wasn't getting an answer. This was the first response of him saying he didn't know something.

"Would you return my mark to me if you knew where it was?" I tested.

"Affirmative," Tesla responded.

"Why?" I asked, hoping it would get some useful response.

"Invalid request," Tesla answered. It made me want to scream. So much for that chain of questions.

There wasn't any point in just hanging around this room any longer if there was nothing holding me here. I turned towards the door and went out it, leaving Tesla still motionless in the room behind me. Beyond was a hallway, lined from one end to the other with more of the glass panes that were on some of the wall in the other room. Again they looked out at nothing, and I wasn't even sure they were see through, only mildly reflective. I couldn't begin to figure out their purpose. Perhaps the invaders had a really strange concept of decoration? It wasn't a particularly attractive one. 

There were a a few side doors, or better said, a few side entrance-ways as they had no doors. I passed several without entering. Inside most were just several of the creatures, always armored, and always unmoving. I had considered once or twice going in to check them, but didn't want to risk they might be hostile like the ones that had hunted me. Just because Tesla was not being hostile didn't mean these wouldn't, even if they seemed to be ignoring me for now.

So I wandered aimlessly through the ship for some time. It was really big, and had multiple decks. I wondered how something this big kept up in the air. It seemed an impossibility without some really strong magic. I would occasionally find sealed containers about the ship, but wasn't able to get any of them open. Nothing came to stop me from trying though. For being a prisoner they really didn't seem concerned at all about anything I did. It wasn't something to complain about, but it was still weirdly disconcerting.

After a long time wandering I came upon a room very different from the rest of the rooms that make me gasp in shock. The room was filled with cocoons just like the one I had seen back in Starlight's Folly. There were two of the invaders walking around the room checking the cocoons, and many sets of their armor that sat empty in a corner. I didn't like the implications of that empty armor. 

I took a step inside and froze. It had just occurred to me that I was without my cutie mark, and that made me vulnerable to whatever had caused this to happen to other ponies. I had no intention of being turned into whatever these invaders were. 

"Um, can I ask you two a question?" I said to the two invaders that were in the room. 

The two of them looked at me, but said nothing. A no would have sufficed, but the silence made me nervous. Had I finally found a place in this ship that they didn't want me to be at?

"You may direct inquiries to me," Tesla's voice answered after a moment.

I actually jumped at the sound of the voice. I looked around hurriedly trying to figure out where Tesla was at. The voice seemed to have come from everywhere.

"Where are you?" I demanded with my voice shaking. 

"I am not in any singular location on this ship. I am the primary operating system system. I am present in all operating areas," Tesla informed me. The answer didn't make much sense to me. I dearly wished Sunset was here to explain it. 

"So you are some sort of golem?" I asked. That was the closest concept I could think of. I didn't know much about golems, but I knew they were like spells that animated objects and let them think.

"That is not an accurate description, but it is similar to what I am," Tesla answered.

Okay so I wasn't dealing with an actual creature, just a complex spell. That would explain why it showed no hostility, it only did what the spell instructed. If it didn't give orders to hurt me it wouldn't do so. Of course that also meant that it had some sort of order to keep me Imprisioned on the ship.

"Alright then, um, could you give me something to face when talking to you? It is really weird talking to a disembodied voice," I said as I kept looking around.

A red light lit up on the far wall that reminded me of Tesla's avatar's glowing eye. 

"Is this acceptable for your needs?" Tesla asked. 

"I guess that will work," I replied. It was still weird, but at least I had something to talk at now.

"Are there any other inquiries at this time?" Tesla asked.

"Am I going to come down with the affliction that turns ponies into those cocoons?" I asked.

"Insufficent data for full answer. For current time period there are no nanobots working beyond the cocoons to cause such metamorphic response," Tesla answered.

I had to stop and try to figure out what that answer even meant. Metamorpic response I would guess would be Tesla's way of describing the affliction, I guessed anyway. The fact that he said insufficient data For full answer might mean that he just didn't know if that was going to change since he did qualify it with currently.

"So it is safe for me to walk around this room? Nothing wmwill try to change me from what I am?" I tried to clarify the question.

"That is an accurate statement," Tesla answered.

Alright, that was a good enough response for now. That seemed to say that it was safe for me to investigate this room.

I walked fully in and started looking around. The two others in the room ignored me completely, and I really didn't want to look at them; I didn't want to think too hard about them at all. 

I started off looking at the cocoons. They were exactly like the one Marble Shine had been in. They were so much alike there wasn't much new I could learn about them while looking.

Next I went to inspect the empty armor. It looked like it was designed to seal up completely. There were bits of wire inside and a bunch of other weird things I couldn't determine the use for. I looked around the armor for any obvious weak points, just so I would know how to exploit them later, but found nothing. Again the two invaders didn't seem to care about me doing so.

Then suddenly one of the cocoons began to stir. I stepped back from it, afraid to see what would emerge. The two invaders went into action. They grabbed up one of the suits of armor and brought it over by the wobbling cocoon. It was clear that they didn't waste any time suiting up new arrivals.

The cocoon split open, and I suppressed a scream. Out of the cocoon fell a hairless creature with tan skin. I think it was female. It sounded female as it screamed. The scream was one of panic. 

"Where am I?! What is this place? What is wrong with me?" The thing screamed. It was flailing about, like it didn't know how to use it's limbs. I realized that it was still very much a pony in its mind. I remember it being a bit disconcerting at first when I simply had some minor physical changes, not panic inducing, but disconcerting. It had been something I wanted though, this was something forced.

The two others quickly grabbed her and started stuffing her into the armor. I watched helplessly as she struggled, feeling like I should be doing something. The two others attached the wires of the armor directly into her flesh, which caused more screams of pain. She went silent though as helmet came over her head, not just silent, but completely still. My first impression was that she had either passed out or was dead, but I saw that she was not cooperating with being armored up. That helmet was some form of mind control. 

I had already been horrified when I guessed what was going on based on the suits of armor and the cocoons, but this made it bad enough to make me cry. We were fighting ponies that had been transformed against their wills with no control of their actions. I remember back to when others had been deeply concerned about what was being done to me when they removed the memories from me, but this was nothing like that; this was evil. 

"Why are you doing this to ponies?" I demanded an answer from the glowing red light.

"It is my program to do so," Tesla responded.

"Are you a transformed pony too?" I asked.

"I am a program, I am not alive," Tesla answered.

"Are you going to keep them like this forever?" I asked. I was still crying. They might as well be dead in this state, they didn't have their minds, and they didn't have their bodies. There wasn't any reason for this other than cruelty to make them fight friends and family. I hoped that they weren't aware of anything anymore, being aware would be too much.

"Insufficient information to answer inquiry," Tesla responded back in the same standard monotone.

The newly emerged being from the cocoon was now completely encased in armor now and was getting to her feet. She got up and walked out of the room in a completely normal pace as if she knew where she was going. She was just another mindless golem now. 

"I am coming back to the room with the cot. I want to go back to bed. I don't want to see any more of this place," I said, not even really directly to Tesla, just speaking my mind out loud.
> Chapter 39: Rescue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I awoke as the entire world around me lurched. If I didn't know that we were in the air I would have thought it was an earthquake. The shaking knocked me to the floor from my resting spot on the cot.

"What's going on?" I demanded from Tesla's avatar as I picked myself up to my hooves.

"This ship is under attack," Tesla answered back in the same monotone as ever. 

Under attack? That could be really bad for me. If this ship crashed and burned I was almost certain to die. Panic welled up inside me as I considered these might be my final moments alive.

"Are you going to try to escape?" I asked, hoping that fiery death was not something assured.

"Escape is impossible, the ship has been breached and boarded," Tesla answered.

My ears perked up at that news. That meant possible rescue. That seemed the only reason to actually board the ship rather than take it down completely, though I could be wrong.

I started moving towards the exit to the room only to have a massive metal do it come down in closing the entrance. It seemed that Tesla wasn't going to simply let me go to my rescuers. Whoever told him to do things apparently considered the possibility of denying me rescue. It hadn't been a legitimate hope that he would just let me go.

"You will not be allowed to leave this specific location until the boarders are subdued," Tesla said

Boarders plural was an interesting bit of news. I had figured that it might have been one lone Alicorn making an attack on the ship, but it seemed there was a full rescue party. A little bit of dread started again when I realized that Mera would not let herself be left out of such a rescue party and was possibly in danger now. Not that she wasn't already in danger out on the battlefields, but this was going straight into the belly of the beast. She was among the best fighters, but these things had guns, and that was an entirely different type of combat. For all her ability to fight in close quarters she was as helpless as I would be against an opponent that could shoot her at range.

There wasn't much to do but sit and hope that they got to me, and that they were able to get to me without losing any pony. I felt a strange bit of empathy for stories of pony princesses locked in towers waiting for rescuers. I was officially the damsel in distress right now, and being a damsel in distress was both nerve wracking as well as boring all at the same time. As a damsel is distress meant you got to stare at walls, helpless to do anything, while your hero was out there risking life and limb to save you.

So I sat and waited, with Tesla's unmoving golem standing guard over me. Minutes dragged by, and I had no sense of time. It felt like hours as I waited, with each moment causing me to visualize any number of ways Mera could be getting hurt right now trying to save me. I also spent time imagining that door coming down and her rushing in and grabbing me up in her embrace. The images of her getting hurt or killed wafted with the images of her saving me, and after some time with no door getting knocked down I began to get more and more of the images of her getting hurt or killed.

My breath caught as I started to hear gun blasts. My rescue, and hopefully Mera as part of that, was getting close to my room. They hadn't been defeated by all the invaders on the ship, at least not yet.

I stood, staring at the door. All I had to do was wait, and in a few moments they would be breaking down that door and then we would all escape out. We would all go and confront Starlight after that, get my cuttie mark back, and find out why she had done this. 

Suddenly a loud clang rang out, as something struck the door. With a few more loud clang the door began to bulge, and Tesla's golem took up a defensive position. 

Seeing Tesla take up that position started a new panic for me, as I imaged the golem killing Mera as she came through the door. I decided to take action. I turned and charged the golem, unsure what I could actually do against the thing. I was still hurting, as I was far from actually completely healed, but I had to do something. I raised a hoof and struck the thing as hard as I could, crying out in pain as I impacted it.

My blow didn't do a damned thing to it. It didn't even bother to acknowledge that I had attacked it. I didn't get any time to reflect on my useless attack, as right then the door was knocked into the room. Immediately after a huge concussive blast of magic hit the token and sent it flying against the wall and breaking like a fragile doll.

Sunset walked into the room. She had a violent magical aura, but was actually in her Thestral form. It wasn't disguising anything about her being an Alicorn with her throwing magic about like that, so I had to briefly wonder why she even bothered with it. Perhaps she Just wanted to look fiercer when on the warpath? Her eyes fell on me and widened, before a large smile split her muzzle. 

"Pearl, we found you! Hot Sticks, get in here now! Pearl is here and she looks like she has been hurt," Sunset called to first me and then to presumably Hot Sticks.

Hot Sticks started walking into the room, but was promptly knocked to the side as Mera charged past him into the room. She spotted me and let out a happy gasp, before rushing over to me and tacking me with a hug and kiss.

I did my best to muffle a cry of pain as she hugged me too tightly, but was unsuccessful. She jumped off me like I was a snake and looked at me with wide, frightened eyes; terrified that she had accidently hurt me further. He gave drifted to my currently blank flank and now she gave off a frightened gasp.

"Pearl, what happened to your cutie mark?" She exclaimed as she looked at my flank in disbelief.

"My best guess is Starlight took it before giving me over to these things," I said with lowered ears.

"Starlight?! Did you actually see her do this? She has been out on the front lines fighting constantly. I don't know when she would have gotten an opportunity, and she is frightening to the point of exhaustion," Sunset said with concern and a hint of disbelief.

"Who else could have done it? Only Starlight and the Crusaders know how to remove a cutie mark. We have the epidemic start again here, and then I get captured and my cutie mark removed. All with Starlight close by. She has always been more involved with my life than makes sense as well. It has to be her," I said accusingly.

"I can follow your logic, but the fact remains she has had no opportunity to do any such thing. As I said, she hasn't left the battlefield," Sunset said.

"Well, she could have taught some other pony how to do it," I suggested, not willing to concede the point. It just made too much sense that it was Starlight.

"That is a possibility," Sunset conceded unhappily. "There is still the possibility of the Crusaders as well, though I don't see where that makes much sense either. Another possibility is that it is none of them and instead something unknown to us. These humans might have learned how to do it on their own."

"Humans? Is that what you call these things?" I ask, never having heard the term before.

"After looking at what they are under the armor they seem to be humans, or something closely related anyway. I am very familiar with humans, as I lived among them in another world for decades in my youth. We have no idea how they got here. They were more technologically advanced than us six thousand years ago, I can only imagine that at this point what they are capable of with their technology," Sunset said with lowered ears.

"But they are ponies," I protested. "I have seen it here. They are what come out of those cocoons. I think they still have their pony minds too, before they put them in that armor. That armor controls them somehow, like puppets. Tesla is the one controlling all of them."

"You have seen this yourself?" Sunset asked with concern. I miss back to her and she sighs. "Well, that clears up the mystery of the cocoons at least. It also ties them back to humans again, as Tesla is a name tied back to humans as well."

"It also means we have been innocent ponies that are helpless victims every time we kill one of these humans," Hot Sticks observed grimly. Sunset and Mera lower their ears and heads in response to hearing that observation.

All of this is cut off though as more gun blasts come through the door, causing us all to scramble for a little bit of cover. All of us except Sunset who throws up a magical shield over the entrance.

"Looks like our reprieve was short lived. I am surprised we had this much time without them firing on us," Sunset said with a grunt.

"They have cocoons on the ship that they are hatching from and armoring up right away," I shout to her over the sounds of the gun blasts.

"If those are mind controlled victims we can't keep killing them," Hot Sticks said loudly to Sunset.

"Knowing that they are mind controlled definitely makes me want to change tactics with them. Sadly, I don't know enough about how their armor works yet to properly disable the mind control. Once we escape I will bring it to the attention of the other Alicorns and we will try to find a way to disable the mind control, but that can't be accomplished yet. I am sorry, but for now I can only keep doing what I was doing before," Sunset said with a look of resolve as she looked towards the entrance.

The remaining three of us looked at each other with sad expressions. Sunset didn't delay any further though, and began sending magical blasts back down the hall through her shield. Within seconds the gunfire came to an end.

"Are you okay to walk, Pearl?" Mera said with concern as she looked at me. 

"I can walk, just can't really run. Definitely can't fly," I answered. "Sunset, can you teleport us out?"

"No," Sunset said with a shake of her head. "This place has one of the stringest teleport blocks I have ever seen around it. It is as strong as the ones Twilight has on the Tree, and it blocks both teleporting in and out. Once we exit the ship itself the teleport block ends, it ends mere ponylengths outside the hull. We must get back to where we boarded and jump for it. Once we clear the block I can teleport us all to safety."

"You want me to jump from high in the sky without me being able to fly?" I said shakingly, my fear of extreme heights suddenly coming back in force. Hot Sticks looked more than a bit frightened of the prospect himself.

"I will teleport you once we clear this teleport block, you will only be falling for a second or two. You will be safe," Sunset assured me. 

"And if they somehow change that block so you can't? Or they do something to you in the meantime? There has to be a safer way to get Pearl out of here," Mera said with worry as she looked over my wounds, tears forming in her eyes.

"It is the only way. You can trust me, I won't let anything happen to her," Sunset assured my wife.

"If it comes down to protecting any of us protect her first. I mean it, I won't ever forgive you if something happens to her," Mera said as she continued to tear up. 

"Understood. I would have done that anyway, too much depends on her once we get her cutie mark back," Sunset said. Mera nodded back and then gave me a gentle hug, seemingly afraid that she might hurt me further.

Sunset began walking out the door with her magic shield held before her. The rest of us fell in line behind her. 

We had to go slowly due to me, and because Sunset was being cautious. Sunset would make sure each room we passed by was clear of possible attackers before passing by them. She would find more of the humans on and off and mercilessly annihilate them when she did. The rest of us would pause while she did so, as we were all completely useless for this kind of combat. When we did Hot Sticks would take a quick opportunity to look over my wounds and would apply some poulices and additional bandages during this time. Mera just kept looking on at me with worry, and would glare at the fallen bodies of the humans like she wanted to kill them over again herself.

Eventually we came upon the room that housed all the cocoons. Sunset quickly slew the two armored humans in attendance of the room and stopped to look at the rest of the contents of the room. After looking at it all for a long moment she floated one of the empty sets of armor out of the room, and drapped it over her back. She then turned her attention back to the room and let out a series of quick blasts, destroying all the other empty sets of armor, but leaving the cocoons untouched.

"I am not sure if I am giving them any real chance by doing this, but these ones won't be forced into that armor as soon as they emerge with some luck. If we successfully clear this ship of all the actively mind controlled troops maybe they can escape and try to make some sort of lives for themselves. I am not sure if that is possible, but at least I can give what little chance I can to them," Sunset explained, before turning back down the hall and continuing her slow advance down it.

I glanced into the room at the hundreds of cocoons within. I remembered the panic of the one who emerged when I watched before and wondered if any real favor was being done for them. 

We continued our progress through the ship for a long time. Often we came across the remains of the armored humans that had fallen when my rescuers had first come through. Sunset had apparently been much more brutal the first time through. Most of them were lottery ripped to shreds. Learning that they were mind controlled victims had made Sunset take a less brutal approach.

Finally we entered an area with a large part of the hull blown out. A magical shield that matched the color of Sunset's magic was over it, giving it an impromptu patch. Dozens of the human's bodies were scattered about the room, marking her initial assault on the ship.

Sunset flared her horn and another shield appeared on the opposite end of the hallway. She continued channeling magic and after a few seconds that shield solidified into a crystal barrier over that end of the hallway. She then quickly gestured for all of us to go over to the shielded gaping hole in the hull.

"Mera you will go out first as you can fly on your own. I will follow immediately after you. Once I am sure of the exact distance the teleport block covers I will turn and face this hole. Pearl and Hot Sticks, as soon as you see me get my bearings and facing this hole I want you two to jump out," Sunset instructed.

I gulped and nodded as I looked at the hole in the hull. Trying not to think of how high up we were. Hot Sticks did the same gesture beside me. Mera looked out the hole judging her flight path, and then gave me another worried glance.

"Go!" Sunset ordered.

Mera jumped out the hole with no resistance from the magic shield, and quickly spread her wings. With a few quick flaps she brought herself out of the fall and brought herself into a hover some distance from the hull. Sunset followed right after and after she started flying started moving agily through the air back and forth around the hull of the ship, slowly moving further and further out. This continued for a few moments till she brought herself to a stationary hover a short distance from Mera. She turned to me and Hit Sticks and nodded that she was ready.

I crept closer to the edge unable to contain my terror. I knew in my head that Sunset would catch me with her teleport, but the idea of jumping from such a high place and not even having use of my wings was almost more than I could take. 

Hot Sticks had much less hesitation and jumped out ahead of me, leaving me still standing there frozen with fear.

"Pearl! What are you waiting for?! Jump!" Sunset bellowed with eyes wide. She looked at Hot Sticks plummeting form and lit up her horn, and almost immediately Hot Sticks vanished in a flash.

"Pearl, please jump!" I heard Mera call out from a distance, the sound of her voice muffled by the distance.

I gulped again, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. Without opening my eyes I jumped forward, putting my trust in my friend. I fell for a few seconds before I heard a terrified shout from Sunset that I couldn't make out.

I opened my eyes, afraid to see what the problem was, and terrified that I was now plummeting to my death. As I opened them I saw a pink magical barrier between me and the others, with Sunset and Mera looking on in horror. A few seconds later my entire vision was bathed in pink light, before all went black again as I lost consiousness.


***


I awoke suddenly, unsure how long I had been out. I was shocked to find myself still alive. As I looked at my immediate surroundings my hopes plummeted again though. I was again in a cell, this time a proper one with bars, and it looked like just like the ship I had just left aside from that.

I gasped with shock as I noticed I was not alone. Sitting outside the cell was a Pegasus stallion with my exact fur and mane coloring, and on his flank sat a cutie mark of a smiling stage mask. Around his neck was a collar with a silver bell hanging from it. He smiled sadly at me when I looked at him.

"I am sorry to spoil your escape plans daughter, but Mera needs to think you dead, and Grogar wants me to deliver you to him," he said in a sad voice.
> Chapter 40: Not All Family Relations are Great
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here I was at last staring at the Pegasus that sired me, and my loathing for him had only deepened. He sat watching me for a long moment with a sad smile on his face. He was clearly my father, the resemblance was too close to deny. Plus he named himself as my father already.

"Fig Leaf I presume?" I finally said to break the silence.

"That is one name for me. Not my actual name, but one I have used extensively. By the way, good job tracking down what little trail I left. You are my least disappointing direct offspring, and I have many. I had about given up on that whole project by the time you came along. You and your half niece are the only ones that amounted to anything, and you go so well together," Fig Leaf said, and then giggled. He actually giggled, and it was creepy.

"Who is my niece?" I asked with confusion.

"Well, you have many nieces and nephews to be honest, and grand nieces and nephews, and great-grand nieces and nephews, and so on. I have been at this for a while now. So many disappointments, but not you two. Though I admit, it would have been better for every pony if you were disappointments as well," Fig Leaf said with a sad shake of his head.

"Who is she?" I demanded to know. I was afraid to hear the answer, as I was pretty sure I knew it.

"Isn't it obvious? Your wife is the daughter of your half brother, Diamond Glow. Nothing ever came of Diamond Glow himself, but Mera definitely was surprising. I wouldn't be too upset about the incest involved. Between her Changling DNA and all the magical transformations you two have gone through you aren't really that genetically close anymore. It's not like you two are going to ever get the chance to have foals anyway," Fig Leaf said, as he watched me gape in horror at his response.

"Mera's my niece?!" I asked, feeling sick to my stomach. That meant I was in a highly incestuous relationship. 

"Half-niece, weren't you listening?" Fig Leaf answered. He then shivered while clutching at his bell and let out a gasp of pleasure.

Did the fact she was my niece matter? We hadn't known, and he made it pretty clear that despite the close family bond we were genetically far apart. I thought about Patina and her many husbands; it wasn't quite the same thing, but it helped ease my mind some. It was still a very hard pill to swallow, but I could go on as if it didn't matter.

"You are suffering, I can tell. I never really had my bell in my possession until now, he took it so early on, but Grogar told me that I would feel the bliss. I can feel it from you, and I can feel it from all those dying out fighting my creations, and can even feel it from my creations. It feels so wonderful. I didn't want to believe that I would want to feel it, but I want more," Fig Leaf said with a dreamy smile on his face.

"Bliss? From others suffering? That is horrible," I said with a growl.

"That's almost exactly what I said," Fig Leaf giggled. "And it was exactly how I felt too, up until Grogar returned my bell to me after I captured you. It is impossible to describe though, now that I am actually feeling it. It is feels better than anything else possibly could; it makes you hungry for more, and makes all the guilt go away. I have felt so guilty for so long, but now I am free. For the first time I am happy and content being a monster."

"Who are you really then, monster. You said Fig Leaf isn't your real name. Who are you and why are you doing all this?" I demanded, sickened by the thought this pony was getting pleasure off the suffering of others with absolutely no shame about it.

"Oh, you have known me for a while now. I have been pulling your strings for most of your life, both yours and Mera's. Starlight thinks she is such a great manipulator, a lot of them think they are too. They ain't got nothing on me," Fig Leaf laughed.

Fig Leaf stood up straight and a pink cloud enveloped him. It lasted a few seconds and then cleared. My eyes all but popped out of my sockets as the question of what Alicorn had been manipulating events was revealed. It was definitely not who I would have expected. Before me now stood the smiling pink Alicorn of Laughter and Joy, Pinkie Pie.

"Haha, whose your daddy?" Pinkie laughed with perverse joy.

Pinkie Pie was my father..mother..parent? I guess father since she wasn't my mother, and she was in a male form when she got my mother pregnant. I wasn't that hard to wrap my head around that concept, it wasn't much different than what two mares did to have a foal. As someone who had changed out physical parts herself I likely took that part of it easier than many others would. What hit hard was I had an Alicorn for a parent and that Alicorn was the one that had been the source of everything that was going on now. That and it was Pinkie Pie, because Pinkie Pie wasn't even a possibility for who was responsible up till now.

"You didn't answer why," I said with a lowered voice, trying to contain my emotions.

"That is a complicated question. Why I signed up to do all this is something that doesn't matter anymore, I don't think. Ha! I think that was a joke. As for directly why I have you here now and what I hope to accomplish with that I can tell you, as you can't do anything to stop it. You are the trigger on my weapon to destroy the Great Tree, and that weapon is Mera. With her thinking you dead, and with a bit more manipulation on my part, she will do the impossible and tear that tree down. She has the power to do it, with that magic absorbing ability of hers. She just needed the right push, and you being dead is just the push she needs to make her do it. Well, that and her finding out that it was me who supposedly killed you. You need a lot of power to kill an Alicorn normally after all, and she is definitely going to want to try to kill me. She won't manage it, but she will definitely try," Pinkie laughed.

"Why?" Is all I am able to manage to respond to that. She was going to make Mera  into an unsuspecting monster too. I wanted to think Mera wouldn't do such a thing, but I knew my wife. When it came to anything involving me she had no boundaries, and if Pinkie revealed herself as my killer Mera would stop at nothing to see Pinkie dead. She wouldn't even think of the consequences of her actions in the meantime. Mera had a dark side to her, and that dark side had everything to do with me.

"I must see the Tree destroyed because of my contract with the Elder Gods. Grogar has been pushing me to get it done for years now. He made me do so many things, but now the end is in sight, and I have my bell again so I can not feel the guilt. I am sure that the suffering that the Tree coming down will cause will fill me with so much bliss I will be filled with happiness forever. As for why I signed the contract to begin with, well..we all do silly things sometimes, and I do more silly things than any other pony," Pinkie said with a smile.

She was describing it as the Tree falling down. That would do more than just cause suffering, that would kill ponies..millions of ponies possibly. That was beyond monstrous, and she didn't seem to have the slightest bit of regret about it. 

"So everything you have ever said to me or did around me was a lie?" I said accusingly.

"Not completely. Yes, I manipulated you to do what I wanted. I encouraged your relationship with Mera to make sure nothing got in the way of this happening. I also made sure I was the one left behind in Crystal Heart so I would be sure you could be captured. I pushed you two into meeting, and set loose the nanobots in both Starlight's Folly and in Ocid. I also manipulated Mera into worshiping me, and killed your mother on the battlefield. I did a lot of nasty no-fun things along the way to get what needed to be done, done. I even set Starlight up to look like the guilty party; she was so eager to earn worshipers among the Thestrals after that little war that it was easy to get her to go out to your village. I did worry about you after the rape, and I was honest when I spoke with you back in Meadowbrook's temple," Pinkie explained.

"You admit to killing my mother?!" Out of all the things that Pinkie had just admitted to, and there was a lot of horrible things she had just admitted to, that was the one that ended up setting me off. It had been something that Mera had suspected, but I hadn't completely believed it up until now. Up until I met Mera, and to a lesser extent Hot Sticks, my mother had been the only pony that had been close to me, and she had been a good pony that didn't deserve that. She was turning my wife into a monster, and she murdered my mother; that was all that I needed to know to hate Pinkie Pie.

"To be fair it was something I was forced to do by Grogar. I felt really bad about it at the time. I am glad I am getting bliss from it now though. I wish I had my bell this whole time. It is finally time for Pinkamena to come out and play," Pinkie said with an evil smile and laugh.

I slammed myself up against the bars of the cell, wanting to break through them and sink my teeth into the laughing pink Alicorn. My field of vision was red with rage as she continued to laugh at my futile efforts to reach her. I didn't care that this bitch was technically my parent, she had murdered my mother and had glee in the fact she did. 

"Oh my, you shouldn't be doing that you silly pony. We need to have you not hurting yourself too bad before you are given over to Grogar. Speaking of which, we do need to get you completely intact again," Pinkie said with a giggle. Then she dug a hoof into her mane and pulled out a glass jar containing my cutie mark. She opened up the jar and the mark quickly zipped through the air back to my flank. "There we go, all better! You need to be healed up some more for Grogar, and he wants to keep you alive for a long time. I don't know what he actually wants you for, if you are wondering. I was told it was none of my business to ask. Maybe he wants to get you to agree to a bell as well. I highly recommend it; you will never feel so good as when you start feeling the bliss."

"I'll never sell my soul like you did, bitch!" I yelled at her with my face still planted up against the bars.

"Never say never," Pinkie said while still smiling. "After he has had you long enough you might do anything just to have him let you go. Grogar can be very convincing about getting you to sign a contract."

"I'd rather die first," I growl back at her.

"Well, then I guess it was a pretty super-duper idea to make sure you have your mark back on you again so you can't go and do that, now wasn't it? You'll have to just deal with whatever fun things Grogar has planned for you. Maybe he doesn't have a bell planned for you, maybe it is something else. You better hope that it isn't something else though, getting stuck with Grogar forever is a very long time with no fun. You aren't getting rescued this time, no pony knows you are alive still, and they almost certainly wouldn't even think that Grogar has you. Not that they could get you back from Grogar even if they figured that out, no pony comes back from Tambelon alive," Pinkie said, the smile never leaving her face.

"Where is this Tambelon place?" I thought I might have heard Sunset mention it once, but I couldn't remember anything about it.

"Tambelon is to the far north, beyond the Lost Lands. It is where all the undead come from, and where Grogar lives. I guess I lied a little bit when I said no pony comes back from there alive, because I went there and came. Bad Pinkie, lying to your daughter," Pinkie giggled while slapping her hoof against her leg.

"I will never consider you a parent of mine. You murdered my mother, you intend to trick Mera into doing something horrible, and you are a monster in every sense of the word," I said, glaring hate at her. She just laughed some more.

"Well, it has been a blast telling you all my super secret evil plans. But it is time for me to get going. Mera isn't going to get to tearing down that tree without encouragement, and I don't need to be hanging around when you get to Grogar. That goat really stinks and needs to take a bath. It is hard to laugh when you are choking on the scent of a goat that hasn't paid attention to basic hygiene since..well, forever. Like seriously, just sit in a room with him for like ten minutes and you'll do anything just to get away from the smell," Pinkie never stopped laughing the whole time. She was completely nuts. She kept on laughing as she walked out of the room and left me alone in my cell.
> Chapter 41: The Big Lie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel the need to break here at the end of my narrative, before getting back to the conclusion. For the next few years I have no memory of my own to recall. I do not remember arriving in Tambelon or my leaving it. The last thing I remember from around that time period was Pinkie Pie leaving me sitting in that cell after having declared we were on our way to Grogar. Since I have no memory of this period of time, but want to keep a cohesive narrative I will have to do my best to tell you what I learned about what happened while I was in Tambelon. Not only to me, but to the world in general. That was a very confusing time, and though many of you may know how this story ends, you might be uncertain of the details of what was happening in the final years before the fall.

From what I was brought to understand I was held in a coma in Tambelon. Due to me being unconscious the entire time I couldn't tell you anything about Grogar or his infernal land. What Grogar wanted with me was never revealed to any pony, so I don't know what he wanted with me either. It would seem it would have been simpler to kill me if he wasn't going to use me for anything, but as far as I know he never used me for anything. Of course with bothof us being immortals he likely felt no particular rush to make use of me when he had me in his domain, and almost certainly couldn't have anticipated that I would ever be freed from it.

What was going on elsewhere I can better relate to you, as there were plenty of ponies that let me know what happened while I was indisposed. Most of it was things that I would rather not have known about.

The conflict in Ocid intensified and spread. While they still had the focus stones for keeping Ocid safe via the hearts the area of infection spread far beyond the reach of that protective magic, and the stones had to be used sparingly to preserve their numbers. The Alicorns were forced in many areas to go into a full genocide of the infected regions in order to hold back the infection and deny the former ponies from making serious inroads into the realm. Every single last one of the Alicorns was called out of Harmony and were constantly on the battlefield. Despite the battles starting in Ocid that region was one of the few outer ones that suffered the least losses thanks to my magic. This didn't mean it wasn't under constant assault, as the invaders constantly tried to destroy the Crystal Spires in both Crystal Heart and the newly built Night's Heart. The city I had been living in was a constant war zone, and starvation was rampant within the region.

The hardest hit region by far was the one around Yazyakistan. The entire Yak race was all but exterminated in just the first few years of the conflict, with the few survivors migrating all the way south down to Klugia to attempt to escape the worst of the conflict. The technology that the invaders utilized was put to quick use and development by the Klugians in the south. With these new weapons they started yet another civil war, and with the military tied up fighting the new invaders was unable to suppress it, leading to Klugia effectively establishing themselves as an independent state on our southern border.

The Klugians were not the only ones who made use of the new technologies captured from the invaders. The Alicorns after countless thousands of years of suppressing technological growth let the best pony minds go to work at replicating the invaders' tech. Pony tech as a result was developing at a frightening rate after millennia of stagnation, and they created flying war machines and weapons that were capable of raining death and destruction on their enemies. The years of innocence living the same way our ancestors had for as long as our history had been recorded were now over.

Griffins were another race that quickly advanced in tech, independent of ponies; in particular their use of firearms. Within the ancient city of Griffinstone foundries for weapons were built quickly, and the Griffins became the primary producers of guns. However, most of these new weapons ended up going to Unicorns as the Griffins seemed monumentally stumped on how to better make triggers that worked for any other type of pony. There were some guns made that were more useful for ponies without ability to easily magically trigger them, but they were often awkward in their use.

The Dragons, as they did with most pony affairs, stayed largely uninvolved. The new weapons put an abrupt end to dragon dominance of the battlefield in the air, and their fighting in battles amounted to essentially suicide. They had never had particular love for ponies though. Despite the fact they made no attempt to stage their own rebellion like the Klugians they still took a certain amount of perverse pleasure at seeing such a strong offensive taking place against their pony overlords. The fact that more and more pony troops had to be pulled from their lands likely would result in their ability to take de facto inference again soon if things continued as they were.

This was the state that the Twilight Realm advanced to in the years I was held by Grogar. Ultimately it all didn't matter. The ponies would no doubt eventually overcome the invaders, and in short order put down the rebellion the Klugians, as well as any independence movement by the dragons if this was all that was going on. However, this was all a distraction meant to draw the Alicorns out from Harmony. In the midst of all this happening Pinkie Pie was at was at work on her true goal, driving Mera to destroy the Great Tree.

Getting Mera isolated was not something Pinkie had to make any effort to do. Mera had raged at Sunset for failing to protect me after my seeming death before her eyes. Her rage quickly spread to be directed at all Alicorns. She took her supply of focus stones, which was much larger than any pony had imagined it would be, and left them in the care of Peridot. She made it clear to all that she wanted Peridot out of direct fighting and taking her place charging the Heart with the stones or she would not give the supply over. Every Alicorn agreed to her conditions, and Peridot reluctantly did as well.

Her rage and hostility was not paid proper mind by the Alicorns. In their minds her being cut off from both me, and the focus stones of my magic which she had hoarded, effectively neutralized any threat that she might eventually present. As with most things with Mera's powers there were elements at work that no pony had understood at the time. Her constant exposure to me for years had changed Mera to where my magic was now hers as well. It wasn't something she had any need to absorb any longer, she now produced it herself. Pinkie Pie had doubtlessly been aware of this, and that is why she had left us in relative peace for several years; to let the magic permanently become part of Mera.

In the years that followed Pinkie, working in disguise and through agents, refused to let the hurt of my death subside for her. Pinkie also manipulated Mera into further developing not restraint of her powers, but the forcible use of them. Over the years Mera learned have to absorb power and memories from others at will. With this new fine control of her abilities she became a much greater threat as she could gain magical powers and abilities as rapidly as she had learned to fight.

The final push came over six and a half years after Mera thought I had died. Diamond and Tibia were still in Crystal Heart, despite the constant attacks. The house we had all lived in had been reduced to rubble, and they like many others were living in makeshift camps spread through the city. Pinkie had never lost track of Mera's location and sent a message to Mera saying that Diamond and Tibia would be welcome to stay in the Heart's Desire in order to have good and shelter, but the staff would need an immortal present to tolerate the presence of non-immortal guests. All Mera had to do was come stay in the hotel with them and they would be well taken care of, no longer needing to scavenge for food among the ruins or worry about sleeping exposed to the weather. Mera agreed to return to Crystal Heart and do what needed to be done to protect her remaining family.

Everything seemed alright at first upon the family's arrival. The hotel was as accommodating as it had been when we first visited it years before. All three were well taken care of, and all their needs and wants were met with enthusiasm. For Diamond and Tibia who had been living in a tent for the last three years and unsure when they would get meals it was a relief. Mera had not been as bad off, but she had been pleased that her parents were at least now living in better conditions. 

Then one night Pinkie arrived in secret back at the hotel while every pony was sleeping. It seemed obvious after the fact that the hotel was a creation of Pinkie's necromatic magic, but that fact had not occurred to any pony without the knowledge that Pinkie was in league with Grogar. While all three were sleeping Pinkie had the hotel go "full The Shinning" as Sunset had called it. Diamond and Tibia were murdered by the spirits over the course of the night, and the spirits were not gentle. The spirits were not enough to overcome Mera as well, something Pinkie had been well aware would happen, but Mera found the remains of her parents while trying to get them to safety. While it was unknown exactly what the spirits had done their room looked much the way Rose Thorn's cell must have looked after Luna made an example of him. 

As Mera cried in anguish Pinkie revealed herself to Mera at long last as the perpetrator of everything. Mera of course went immediately to try to kill the pink Alicorn and failed as miserably as would be expected of any normal pony, even an elite fighter like Mera, going up against an Alicorn. Pinkie then laid the seed for what she needed to Mera to do by letting it slip that Mera would have to absorb the power of something powerful, like the Great Tree, to overcome an Alicorn. Then Pinkie took off leaving Mera to try to gather her parents remains. 

Pinkie Pie did not relent on pushing Mera to insanity. Pinkie sent agents to attack Mera on a regular basis that had illusion spells cast on them to look like me. The attacks happened multiple times a week. Even when Mera slew the attackers she could provide no evidence of them as Pinkie quickly removed the bodies and covered up all signs of struggle. Mera began to doubt her own sanity in short order.

To my wife's credit, and the Alicorns discredit, she did lay aside her anger at the Alicorns to try to tell them about Pinkie Pie. She was dismissed as deranged due to grief. Even after she pleaded with Sunset and Starlight to look at her memories and see for themselves that she was telling the truth she was not heeded. The two empaths said that she could very well remember things that didn't actually happen if she was out of her mind. They stated firmly that there was no possible way this was the work of Pinkie Pie, and that she should go seek mental help. They were graceful about how they spoke to her, but ultimately believed nothing she said. She left the Alicorns with renewed hatred for them, and further determination to find a way on her own to kill the Alicorn that was the murder of both me and her parents. 

So, this that was all that transpired before I became aware of the world again. When I at last l woke up a number of years had passed, and the final hammer-blow to the Twilight Realm was set to fall. All due to Mera's fanatically love and obsession about me, and her determination to have revenge for my death. If I had not existed none of what would come would ever have happened.


***


I opened my eyes with a great deal of difficulty. I wanted to cry out in pain because every last spec of me was crying out in pain. I didn't have the energy to scream, but I did manage to let off a whimper.

"Pearl? Was that you making that sound? Can you hear me?" Came a familiar voice; Hot Sticks was hear.

"Pearl's awake? Thank Flurry Heart!" Came another familiar voice, Peridot. "Will the other two wake soon too?"

The other two? What other two? I wanted to ask questions, but didn't have the strength to do it. I couldn't even muster the strength to look around. I think I saw the faces of Hot Sticks and Peridot looking at my open eyes, but it was far too blurry for me to be sure.

"I can't say. I can't even begin to guess what even happened to any of them. Pearl obviously went through something dramatically different than the Sunset and Shadow did. Whatever downed our two Alicorn friends is tied up with whatever is going on down south," I heard Hot Sticks say to Peridot.

"I hope Cozy gets back here with news of that soon, she has been gone nearly a week with us only being able to see the same smoke in the distance," Peridot grumbled.

"She had to cross Neosapian lines. I have faith that my apprentice can get through without being detected, but it takes time to do such things with stealth," Hot Sticks replied.

What was a Neosapian? Who was Cozy? The name rang a bell, and it took me some time to figure out where I had heard it before. Were they talking about Cozy Hearth from Tadpole? What was the innkeeper's daughter doing here? Where was here anyway? They said she had been gone a week; how long had I been unconscious?

"Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Pearl is completely back with us. It will take more time to get her up still. She has been likely comatose for years due to the constant injury inflicted on her by Grogar. I am going to sedate her so she rests some more, and let her magic do its work," Hot Sticks said.

Years?! I had been held for years?! I had been constantly hurt till to the point that I couldn't even wake up? I guess that is why I felt the way I did. How many years had passed? Why had they done that to me? 

"Mer..a?" I managed to gasp out.

A long silence greeted me in response, making me fear the worst. I couldn't tell what kinds of expressions were on their faces, my vision was still far too blurry. The fact that they weren't answering was not a good sign though.

"Pearl, we don't know where Mera is right now. She..isn't right in the head right now. We would have brought her with us still to come rescue you, but we didn't know where to find her. She thinks you are dead; up until three weeks ago we all thought you were dead. Don't worry, now that we have you we will make everything right with her again. We'll also stop the Neosapians from transforming any more ponies into them. We are going to fix all of this," I heard Peridot say. She sounded close to tears.

"We need her to rest, you muscle bound oaf! Don't tell her things that will distress her right now," I heard Hot Sticks snap.

"She has a right to know," Peridot snapped back. 

"Yes, she does, but only after she is well enough to deal with it. I need you to leave her be for right now and let me put her back to sleep so she can heal faster. She isn't going to go charging off to fix anything in this state. She shouldn't even be able to survive in this state, but I guess her magic is strong enough to maintain her. Get out of this room and leave her be," Hot Sticks ordered.

I wanted to protest, but next thing I knew I was getting injected with something. In a matter if seconds I unconscious once again.


***


I awoke again feeling much more refreshed, and no longer in pain. I blinked my eyes a few times to clear my vision. When my vision cleared I found myself in a place I never thought I would be in again, Hot Sticks' house in Starlight's Folly.

I was on one of the various room that Hot Sticks had kept patients in, the larger one that had kept multiple ones. I wasn't the only pony in here either. The next bed down from me had the unconscious body of Water Shadow in her Alicorn form. There was another bed next to her that looked like it had just recently been vacated. 

My first thought after wondering how I got back here again was that I must be dreaming, because I couldn't think of any possible way that I could have ended up here. I remembered voices from before, Hot Sticks and Peridot. They had mentioned others; Cozy, Sunset, and Shadow. They must have been referring to Water Shadow when saying Shadow. Water Shadow was here, but where were the others?

I decided to not try to wake Water Shadow up. If she was hurt in some way it was best to let her rest. I needed to find the others. As I hopped down to the floor I smelled the distinct smell of pipe smoke coming from outside the room. That was a good sign, as that could indicate either  Hot Sticks, Peridot, or Cozy Hearth. I remembered hearing Cozy Hearth was supposed to either be here or coming here, though was still confused about why she would be involved with anything.

I carefully made my way to the door of the room and heard several voices talking out in Hot Sticks living room. I picked out Hot Sticks, Peridot, Sunset, and another voice I was not familiar with. Maybe the last was Cozy Hearth and I was just not remembering her voice well, I never spent much time with her; it was a miracle I even remembered her name.

As I exited out the door into the hall all the conversation came to a sudden halt. I looked out into the living room to see all the ponies I had heard staring at me, though one was unfamiliar, a grey furred Pegasus mare with a purple mane and a cutie mark of a heart with a bandage on it. All were smoking pipes except for Sunset, and all watched breathlessly as I walked down the hall towards them.

"How are you feeling, Pearl?" Sunset asked, breaking the silence.

"I feel alright. A little weak, but not hurting. How did I get here?" I replied.

"That's a long story. A good deal of it we are hoping you will be able to tell us. Come in here and settle down before we get into that. You were in a state of near death for a very extended period of time, and I don't want you overdoing things just yet. We are going to have need of you soon, and we need you in your best condition," Sunset answered.

"How long?" I asked as I pulled myself onto a couch that the grey furred Pegasus mare vacated, and indicated I should take her place on.

"Over seven years," the Pegasus said as she sat down a little but away.

Seven years? I had been unconscious for over seven years!? How much had I missed?

"Cozy Care, please don't say things that will shock her just yet," Hot Sticks scolded the mare.

"Yes sir," the mare, Cozy Care, said contritely.

Okay, so it wasn't Cozy Hearth they had been talking about before; it was this mare, Cozy Care. Her name played at my memory too, but I couldn't place it.

"Do I know you?" I asked the mare.

"Um, not really. We met, once, a long time ago. I don't remember you specifically, but I know you met me from what others tell me. I was just a filly at the time so my memory is kind of blurry about the details of that day. You came through my village, to my grandfather's inn. Sunset taught me how to fly, and I remember her really well," the mare said almost bashfully.

Now I remembered the name. This was Cozy Hearth's daughter that had asked Mera if her wings had been plucked of all her feathers. It had been over seven years after I left that village that the fighting had broken out, and if I had been unconscious for over seven years then that meant fourteen or fifteen years had passed since I had been in Tadpole. It was a bit surreal seeing the filly that had made Mera both smile and weep sitting before me a grown mare with a lit pipe held agilely in one wing. 

"She has been under apprenticeship with me for a few years now. She does a good job. She isn't far away from earning her title as doctor, and being a good one at that," Hot Sticks said with some pride. Cozy Care puffed herself up proudly at the praise.

"I guess that explains the pipe smoking then, can't help but keep corrupting the youth, you heathen Unicorn," I said with a laugh. Hot Sticks didn't even look ashamed, but Cozy Care blushed, which was enduring. She looked a lot like Mera, if Mera was a pegasus with a purple mane anyway. I seem to recall thinking back then that Mera could have been her aunt by the looks of them.

"Did you want a pipe, Pearl? I don't mind letting you use mine. You have been a while without having a smoke," Peridot asked, holding up her pipe in offering.

"Not really, I think years without doing that has finally broken me of my addiction and I'd rather not dive back into it. Where is Mera?" I asked, remembering Peridot having said something about her previously, but unsure what.

Every one of them suddenly dropped their eyes to the floor and lowered their ears. My heart seized up in my chest as I saw their reactions. I didn't know what had gone on with Mera, but the way they looked indicated the worst.

"Pearl.. Mera is now probably the most important reason we needed you back right now. We thought that the main thing we needed you for was to combat the ailment. Well, and the desire to have you back of course. The news out from Harmony has completely changed our priorities that we had when we rescued you. We are still trying to figure out everything that is going on with her, but none of it is good. We will talk about her more in a moment, but we need to find out what happened to you first and how you ended up in Tambelon of all places," Sunset said carefully. She looked at me in a way that seemed she was unsure what to think of me, as if she was actually scared of me. I didn't understand why. Peridot looked especially miserable as she looked in any direction but mine.

"I want to hear about Mera first," I said in a lower tone as I got annoyed.

"Shortly, first we need to know that all is right with you before we deal with what is wrong with her. She is an enormous concern that we will address shortly, but for right now I need to know if I have another possible crisis right now with you. You have been in Tambelon for over seven years; I need to know why. Nothing that has been held by Grogar for any length of time I can let go unaddressed right away," Sunset answered in a restrained voice.

I glared at her for refusing to tell me right away about Mera. Something was clearly extremely wrong with my wife, and I had a right to know what it was. She did say she would address that though, so perhaps I was just being too defensive of my wife. I sat down and tried to remember what I could.

"I don't know what all happened in Tambelon, or anything about what happened in Tambelon to tell you the truth. The last thing I remember I was being held in a cell again, after you tried to rescue me from Tesla. I had been captured by.." I paused and my face turned dark as remembered who the perpetrator was.

"By who, Pearl?" Sunset asked.

"It was Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie was the Alicorn behind everything. She was the one that arranged for me and Mera to get together. She was the one that created the invaders. She was the one behind the ailment. She was the one that killed my mother, and the one that posed as a Pegasus stallion and sired me. She is also apparently the grandparent to Mera as well. Mera is technically my half-niece, let me tell you that was something to hear about! She said she was going to use Mera as some kind of weapon. She also said she needed Mera to think I was dead," I snarled, my hatred for the pink Alicorn clearly showing. All of my misery was at her hooves.

Sunset and the rest seemed extremely taken aback by not only my announcement but my venom for the Alicorn of Laughter. A knowing look passed between all four of them afterwards. What I had said was a shock, but it definitely made a puzzle piece click into place for them. Of them all Sunset looked the most unnerved by what I said, while Peridot looked almost relieved at it.

"Well, that puts some new context on the news Cozy brought us," Hot Sticks finally said as he let out a long breath.

"Pinkie herself told you all this?" Sunset asked in a quaking voice.

"She didn't just say it. She bloody damn gloated about it!" I yelled with rage just thinking about it.

"I knew it! Mera wasn't out of her mind when she said Pinkie Pie was to blame. Mera is no monster, Pinkie Pie was, and that monster got exactly what she had coming to her when Mera killed her," Peridot said with elation.

I blinked at this news, unsure if I had heard that right. 

"I am sure you want to absolve your sister of guilt, but let's not forget what she did in the process of trying to take vengeance on Pinkie Pie. Mera is still beyond redemption herself," Hot Sticks said harshly to Peridot. 

"Well, if the Alicorns had listened to her after that traitor killed my parents it might not have come to this. She was forced to take drastic measures to seek justice on her own," Peridot snapped heatedly back.

"Drastic? That is the term glyph use for what she has done? What she has done far beyond simply drastic. How many are dead or dying right now because of her? What is to become of all of us because of what she has done?" Hot Sticks shouted back at my sister-in-law/niece.

"All of you silence!" Sunset bellowed with the full Alicorn voice.

The room went dead quiet in the wake of Sunset's Alicorn magic fueled shout. The shout left Sunset looking surprisingly winded. I could barely notice though, as I was near ready to hyperventilate.

"What did Mera do?" I asked the Alicorn, afraid of what the answer might be after what I had heard Hot Sticks had said. I was afraid of hearing many things after all that had been said in general, but I needed to know.

Sunset looked at me with anguish in her eyes. She opened her mouth several times as if she was about to answer me, but shut it each time as words failed her. She finally shook her head sadly and turned to Cozy Care.

"Cozy, please tell Pearl, from the beginning all that happened after we arrived back in Starlight's Folly and what you saw when you went out to scout," Sunset said pleadingly to the Pegasus mare. 

All eyes turned to Cozy Care and she seemed more than a little intimidated by being the subject of every pony's attention. after looking around the room once before she sighed, took along draw from her pipe, and looked at me.

""When we got out of Tambelon the Alicorns teleported us here. We were all dealing with injuries, and were all pretty badly shaken up by what we had experienced there. Sunset had said she wanted to have you well examined before taking you deeper into the Realm. My master was suffering from magical exhaustion, both the Alicorns had severe lacerations and gashes, as did Peridot. I was extremely exhausted myself, but I was the least injured of our surviving party; so I got to work setting up care for every pony here," Cozy Care began. She narrowed her eyes for a moment and then looked at Peridot.

"How did you heal so fast by the way? Wounds don't heal that fast. Even the Alicorns are still showing some sign of their injuries and they weren't as hurt as you were when we arrived, but you are now showing no signs that you were ever hurt," Cozy asked suspiciously to Peridot.

"Is this really important right now? Seems you are getting off subject right away," Peridot grumbled as she puffed away at her own pipe.

"Just answer the question for her, Peridot, and we can move on quickly. We won't dwell on it for now, but let's clear the air on all these things. I admit that I have wanted answers on that as well," Sunset said to the Crystal Pony.

"Fine then, I had been receiving more of the stones from my sister for years after Pearl seemed to have died. Mera told me she hadn't been hiding them from any pony, but she was able to make them herself now without Pearl. She told me to never tell any pony about it though; there were potential side effects from being exposed too often and too regularly to Pearl's magic, and and she didn't want that happening on a wide scale," Peridot said in barely more than a mumble.

"And I suppose I can guess what the side effect is now. Tell me, when did you run out of those stones?" Sunset said as if she already knew.

"Shortly after she vanished altogether, so I have been out for years. I know what you are thinking, and you are probably right," Peridot said as she looked towards the floor.

""I see. Mera's judgement on the issue was not misplaced then. That could have been a serious crisis if we had continued to use Pearl's magic on the whole of Ocid, and something that changes up our plans now. We will have to figure out how to address you now that you are apparently yet another immortal we have to deal with, but that isn't a high priority right now," Sunset said in a morose tone. She turned back to Cozy and addressed her. "That was an excellent observation and question on your part, but please continue with your story without any further detours."

"Yes, Sunset," Cozy said with a slight bow of her head. Then she went back to looking at me. "Anyway, almost as soon as I was done setting up an impromptu clinic here there was this ground shattering explosion that went up from the south. Not only was it loud and made everything shake, it also sent out a massive wave of magic that hit every pony like a sledgehammer to the head. Me, my master, and Peridot were very shaken by it, but the two Alicorns were hit far harder by it and knocked completely unconscious. Nothing anything my master or I could do could rouse them from their sleep, so all we could do was put them to bed along with you and hope they would wake on their own soon. A few hours after the first wave of magic hit us there was a second wave, though not as strong as the first one.

"We sat for two or three days just waiting. None of you were waking up. You were clearly healing from the state you were in when we found you. You really don't want to know what you looked like when we first found you; I didn't even think you could possibly be alive when I first saw you because of how badly ripped apart your body was.  It looked like a pack of wolves had a free-for-all on your flesh. You healed just as rapidly, if not more rapidly than Peridot did. Still none, of you were waking and we didn't know what to do or what was going on. After my master was back to where he could attend to all of you himself it was decided that I would be sent south to try to find out what had been the source of the explosion," Cozy explained.

"I was very terrified to go off that way on my own, but it made sense. I am the only flyer out of all of us, at least the only flyer that was awake, and still alive. There had been others when we first set off to Tambelon but..let's not talk about that. Getting back to the point, I agreed that I should be the one to go try to scout what happened. The Neosapians had taken Yazyakistan early on and I was terrified of trying to cross past them, but thought that if I flew carefully through the mountains rather than straight along the pass I would be fine. It would be dangerous, but not as dangerous as running straight into some Neosapians. It turns out that dealing with all the snow and winds was all for no reason. When I got through the mountains I found that the Neosapians were in complete disarray. Tesla had shut down and all the mind control had gone away with him.

"I had to stop briefly to try to help them. They were all scared and panicked. None of them knew what they were or where they were, or how they had gotten there. Most of them didn't recall even ever getting sick. From what I gathered this was happening everywhere with them, and it happened right after that second lesser blast of magic, not the first big one. I don't know what to do for them all, hopefully the Alicorns can figure something out. I am pretty sure the war is over now though, they aren't going to be fighting anymore.

"Continuing on, I went further south. There was chaos everywhere, every pony was in panic no matter where I went. I soon learned the cause of the first explosion and the magical wave that had come out of it. Harmony had fallen, the Great Tree had collapsed. When the Tree went down all the Alicorns went down just like Sunset and Shadow did. Refugees from the city were spilling out into the surrounding countryside. From what I gathered from them there were more dead in the city than living," Cozy paused as she tried to hold back a sob. Every pony looked like they wanted to sob even though all but me had heard this already. It took several moments before she was ready to continue, and I was dreading hearing what she was going to say next.

"After many days of travel I finally reached the outskirts of what had been Harmony and it was worse than you could imagine," Cozy said, now openly crying as she retold the tale. "There didn't seem to be anything standing anywhere, and even days after the event there were still fires raging through the ruins and the sounds of ponies wailing in the distance. 

"There were some survivors that clung to the outside of the ruins, and among those survivors was the Twilight Princess herself. She looked like she had been beat bloody, and that was actually what had happened shortly before I arrived. She had tried to go into the ruins to find more survivors, but Mera found the Princess while the Princess was there. The Princess barely escaped the ruins with her life," Cozy said, now looking directly at me.

"Why? How? Mera was never that strong. She was an elite fighter, but that doesn't give her the power to throw down hooves with the Twilight Princess and win. Why would she even do such a thing anyway?" I demanded.

"She is insane, and in possession of more magic power than any pony should be able to contain in their body after draining the Tree of Harmony. In the ancient days a pony would ascend to Alicorn with such power, but that is sealed. Your magic might somehow be keeping her alive despite the fact that the magic should be killing her, but she must be in constant agony beyond anything most could imagine. That alone is likely enough to drive her out of her mind, but she was not in her right mind when she sapped the magic from the Tree to begin with," Sunset explained.

"The Princess knew of Mera's presence and madness when she went into the ruins, at least according to the survivors I spoke to. The Princess didn't think Mera would attack her. Mera had been largely ignoring ponies in the ruins after she had murdered Pinkie Pie," Cozy continued her explanation.

"She murdered Pinkie Pie? You didn't mention that," I said with shock.

"I'm sorry, I skipped over that because I learned of it only after seeing the Twilight Princess hurt so badly," Cozy said apologetically. "Yes, she did murder Pinkie Pie. Right after the Tree fell and ponies were still unsure how Mera emerged from the ruins of the tree screaming for Pinkie Pie to come challenge her. They said you could barely look at Mera at the time because there was so much light from magic radiating off her, but her demands for Pinkie Pie to come echoed out over the entire region of devastation. Eventually the Alicorn of Laughter showed up a few hours later, even while all the other Alicorns were still unconscious she came as if she wasn't impacted in the same way at all. No pony was able to actually look at the fight because there was too much light and magic, but they all agree that when the chaos ended Mera stood victorious over the broken husk of Pinkie Pie."

"And if Pinkie Pie truly was the monster behind all of this good riddance," Peridot snarled. I could only nod in agreement to my kin.

"Mera remains in the ruins of Harmony. She won't let any Alicorn come into the ruins. A few others tried to sneak in after the Twilight Princess; they were all forced to flee for their lives. She is now getting hostile to just ordinary ponies searching the ruins for their loved ones as well, or at least that is what ponies are saying. Whenever a pony goes in they don't come out. There is no telling what she will do if she actually leaves the ruins," Cozy finished out her story.

"Which is why our new priority is for you, Pearl, to go into the ruins of Harmony and do what must be done. You are the only pony that may have a chance of getting close to her and putting an end to this before she starts moving her rampage beyond to the Realm at large," Sunset said in a grave tone.

"Surely Peridot could do the same," Hot Sticks interjected.

"Peridot might have the same survivability as Pearl does now, but she lacks Pearl's resistance to magic. Mera has command of unbelievable amounts of magic. From what was described earlier she is lashing out with magic and she could very well kill her sister with those lashings. Pearl is immune to magic most magic, with the only exceptions being her own and mind magic, she is the only good choice. Peridot can be a backup plan, but if it comes to the need for a backup plan we might not have any hope anyway," Sunset said in the same grave tone she had spoken just a moment before.

"You want me to kill my wife," I finally said. There was no question or emotion in my voice. Just speaking the words made me feel dead inside. 

"She must be put down, for the good of all. The only ponies I have an option to turn to for this are you and Peridot, and you are the one that has the best chance of actually being able to accomplish the deed. There is no coming back from doing something like this. She deliberately and knowingly caused perhaps the greatest catastrophe that has ever befallen the Realm since its founding after the Time of Madness. I will not let the world slip into another such period. I am telling you now Pearl that if you don't do this she may be responsible for the deaths of billions. She already has the blood of thousands, perhaps millions on her hooves as a result of this slip into madness, will you continue to let her add to it so she will be remembered as the greatest monster the world has ever known? It isn't just for the good of all the rest of us, it is a mercy killing," Sunset said while looking me in the eyes.

"It is my wife. You can't ask me to kill my wife. There has to be some other way; some way to make her well again," I said firmly.

"And what way would you think that would be? She is dealing with powers well beyond anything she should ever been exposed to. If you take her word for it, and at this point I finally do, she has been tormented to the point of madness for years. Even if you got passed all that do you think she would escape Tartarus after what she has done? Better to die mercifully then spend eternity in Tartarus. Is that what you would have for her instead, Pearl? Because that is what her future looks like if she simply stops and tries to repent. As opposed to just continuing on a murderous rampage across the land. It is a hard thing to do or even consider, but this is the most merciful thing you can do for her. It is the right thing to do, and sadly the right thing to do isn't always a good thing," Sunset said putting the weight of the world on each sentence.

"I will go to her, but I am not going to kill her. I will fix this somehow. She's just angry and upset. Pinkie Pie is gone so she won't be pushed any more into doing anything like this. She isn't thinking, I can help her," I insisted as I fluffed my fur and spread my wings in defiance.

"When you see the destruction, death and misery she has caused you might change your tone. I am going to take you as close to her as I can, and then you will see that this is the only way. You can't let her continue like this, it is the only mercy you can give her," Sunset said with equal defiance.

"You are taking Pearl out to there?" Peridot asked.

"Correction, I am taking both of you out there and if Pearl can't do the job you will have to be the next option," Sunset said to the crystal pony.

"What makes you think I am any more willing than Pearl to kill my sister for you," Peridot growled.

"You are a soldier and you understand that sometimes sacrifices and hard choices must be made for the good of all. Yes, killing a loved one is not something taken lightly, or something you shouldn't anguish about. You can recognize that she is a danger to every pony and there is no other choice. Is your sister's life worth millions?" Sunset demanded.

Peridot didn't say anything in response to that. She just sat and glowered at Sunset before getting up and storming out of the house. The fact that Peridot had not shouted further defiance to killing Mera bothered me deeply though. Could she seriously be considering actually doing it?

Sunset looked back to me; all eyes were now on me again after Peridot's exit. Hot Sticks looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't bring himself to speak. Cozy Care looked like I often felt, a mare out if here depth who just hoped to not get crushed by the greater powers around her.

"I don't have time to persuade you. I am taking you to the now ruins of Harmony and will let the sight of that convince you. We are going as soon as we get Peridot," Sunset announced with a tone if finality.

"You aren't going to wait for Shadow to wake up as well?" Hot Sticks asked in a shocked voice.

"Why should I?" Sunset said with a baffled expression. "She is not going to be able to lend any more aid than I will. The breaking of Harmony has left us both exceedingly weak. There are likely many Unicorns that have more magical power than us right now. What I am going to be doing is giving them a physical lift to there, as I can't manage such a teleport right now."

"Um, begging your pardon, but you might be overlooking something pretty obvious," Cozy Care spoke up with a squeak. 

"And that is?" Sunset said with a raised eyebrow. 

"Peridot is huge, and if you are that weak it is highly unlikely you can carry both of them that far. Even if you weren't weakened there would be no physical space on your back to carry more than Peridot. If she were a normal sized pony maybe you could take them both; as you are still stronger than any normal pony even in a weakened state. The fact remains it just physically isn't happening," Cozy Care explained, then cowered back behind the closest couch.

Sunset sat and blinked once or twice. Then sat down looking embarrassed.

"It seems stress blinds me to obvious things as well. I actually feel a little foolish right now for missing a fact that would have been obvious to a foal. I will have to take them down one at a time I guess," Sunset said.

"You are assuming I will go. You can't force me to do that," I said simply.

"I don't need to force you to make you go. You will go because this is your last chance to see Mera. If I don't get you down there I will turn to Peridot and I am pretty sure she will see reason and do the deed. Failing that, at some point all of the Alicorns are bound to recover at some point, and we still know how to collectively use our abilities to bind some pony in Tartarus. It takes numbers, not shear power, so we can accomplish it. You do not want that fate for her as I said. You want to try to reason with her, go ahead and try, but you will see quickly what needs to be done," Sunset affirmed.

I looked towards the others; Hot Sticks still kept quiet, and Cozy Care still looked like she would rather be anywhere else. I was left with just my own thoughts. 

I wasn't going to kill Mera, there was nothing that could make me do that, and there was no question about that. However, maybe it was best I try to talk her down. She would listen to me, and she was doing all this because she thought I had been murdered. Well, at least that was the root of the reason she was doing this, there was whatever Pinkie Pie had done to her in the interim.  If she saw I was alive and had come back to her she would stop this though. I knew there was nothing we could do to fix whatever she had already done, but she could help start putting things back together. It was just one single mental break. Yes, the consequences of that one break had been horrible, but this wasn't who she was. The Alicorns would see that she wasn't this monster once she had been brought back to her senses.

"Fine, I will go down there," I finally said to the Alicorn staring at me. "I am going to get her back to her senses, you will see. We can't fix everything that has happened, but we can try to do what we can to undo what damage we can. Mera is a good mare, she would never have done this if she weren't pushed over the edge. I can pull her back, you will see."

"I will let you have your fantasies for now, you will see the truth of the matter when we get there," Sunset replied grimly, before rising to her hooves and starting to walk towards the front door. "Come, I know this is extremely rushed, but time is of the essence. I would have preferred to have more time to find out what had gone on with you in Tambelon, but the ponies still in the ruins don't have that luxury of time."

"She just woke up from years in a coma and you are having her leave now? We haven't so much as done a physical on her yet, she shouldn't be doing this yet," Cozy Care protested, seeming to have gained a little bit of courage in the face of one of her patients overextending themselves.

"There is no time. We don't even have time to be having this conversation, or the conversation we just had. Many ponies lives are on the line now. Take came of Shadow until she wakes up and let her know what is going on when she does. Also find Peridot and let her know I will be returning for her if Pearl fails in this. We are leaving now though. Pearl follow me now," Sunset said with haste, and quickly exited out the door. I could only give a sympathetic gesture towards the concerned Pegasus as I followed after.

"Good luck," I heard Hot Stick say as I went out the door.


***


Sunset Shimmer might have been seriously weakened, but a weakened Alicorn was still an unbelievably powerful being. I had expected days to reach Harmony with me clutching to her back, perhaps taking breaks for us both to rest. The trip went a much different way than that though.

Despite claiming she was weak she could still fly faster than any Pegasus or Thestral I had ever heard of, and she had the strength to carry me while doing it and not slowing down at all. I was forced to latch onto her with my teeth, as that was the only grip on her that I was confident would hold. I drew blood with my bite, but she seemed not to notice or care. For several hours we flew, and by the end of the flight my jaw was extremely stiff from maintaining the bite.

I am pretty sure I didn't pass out during the flight. I closed my eyes for the entire trip, and I couldn't tell a thing about the countryside we crossed as a result. I just knew I was sore, angry, and more than a little terrified of falling to my death. With me not having worked my wings in years it was extremely questionable whether I would be able to fly right. If I attempted a glide from this height there was also no telling what I might come down on. I might as well have been an Earth Pony at the moment for all the good my wings would do me.

The first thing I did after we landed was roll off her back with a undignified thump to the ground. The second thing I did was spend a few moments emptying my stomach out of my mouth. It was amazing that anything was in there to hack up, but I suppose some pony had been feeding me while I slept. By the time I finished my fur was caked with vomit, and I looked as disgusting as I felt.

Before I even opened my eyes to look around I could smell the smoke. When I opened them I had to close them again because the large amount of smoke around me burned my eyes. I had trouble breathing due to my hacking, and the smoke was suffocating. Instinctively I pushed out with my magic to force the smoke away.

"Not enjoying your wife's work so far? I don't blame you. I wonder how Cozy even functioned in these conditions. This is as far as I will go. It is up to you to find her amongst all of this," Sunset said, before softening her voice. "Pearl, I'm sorry, but there is no other way. If there was a true other way to do this I would pounce on it, with no hesitation no matter how slim a chance it would work out. Mera is simply too dangerous. If I could send her away and think it would do any good I would. Of I thought she was capable at all of maintaining her sanity I would defend her to any that wanted to send her to Tartarus. I just don't see those things; she was an unstable personality before all of this and it is foolishness to think she won't fall to doing something like this again knowing that. There is something broken in her, and at this point putting her down is the most loving thing you can do for her."

"You are a real broken record. Do you know that?" I sneered.

"I am hoping if I say it enough you will take heed and listen. Don't let your wife continue to be a threat to Ponykind. Don't let her live indefinitely as a monster," Sunset said sadly.

"I hope you are put in a similar position as me someday and you have to be told the only thing to do is kill what is most precious to you," I said in a hard time.

"I promise you. After today I will never ask this of another pony again. But right now the Realm is potentially broken, our greatest weapon and defense is gone, I am coping with the betrayal of a friend I have had for millennia, ponies are dying, and many more will die if something is not done. I can't take it all to tell you the truth. I am forcing myself to make the hard decision because if I hesitate I never will, and the world will suffer for it. You need to do the same," Sunset said.

I didn't respond, instead I attempted to look around the area. My magic had made a little clearing in the smoke and it didn't take much effort to maintain that clearing. Unfortunately there wasn't too much to see. My little bit of clearing was just some dead grass, and the being the clearing was impossible to see beyond. It couldn't be this bad everywhere, otherwise Cozy couldn't have found anything down here. The Pegasus said there were some survivors on the outskirts of the ruins. I must just be in a location where the wind was blowing in the smoke cloud. In the distance I could make out some flickering points of light, which I assumed to be the still burning fires. What had caused all the fire? A tree, even the Tree, falling shouldn't start fires should it?

"How do I even find Mera in all this? Harmony is huge and I can't even see the area around me," I asked as I looked around at the smokey purgatory.

"She may very well find you. Be glad you can't see much, as the devastation is absolute. Just keep walking into the ruins and eventually you will clear the worst of the smoke. Once you can see a little of the lay of the land start making your way towards where the Tree had stood. Eventually you will come upon Mera, or she will come upon you. If you see ponies in the ruins feel free to help them if you can simply free them from the rubble, but don't tarry too long. If they are beyond your help just move on and focus on finding Mera. If you can deal with Mera others can come in to try to help whoever might still be alive here," Sunset instructed.

I just looked dejectedly towards the unknown. I was afraid of what I would find as I walked on forward. The smoke could be kept clear in a radius around me, but what it uncovered might make me wish I could leave it concealed beneath the smoke cloud.

"I will be leaving now. I must go fetch Peridot. I said I would have her in line as a backup and I meant it. This must be dealt with as quickly as possible. As soon as I get her here I will be sending her in as well," Sunset said quickly. 

She didn't wait for a reply or say goodbye, she simply took off into the air immediately. I was left to fend for myself. I took a deep breath as I gazed still at the smoke and began walking forward to whatever horrors were to be revealed.

The first minute or two of walking was uneventful. All that was revealed initially was more of the dead grass that had been were I initially stood. Each step made a crunching sound as my hooves crushed the dead vegetation. Eventually the path that I walked brought me to what was clearly a road.

My best bet was to follow the road to keep on a steady path, but I was unsure which direction was the appropriate one to take me into Harmony as opposed to walking away from it. There was no sense of which way north, south, east, or west happened to be. I didn't even know which direction I was coming from. I was pretty sure I wasn't south of the city since Starlight's Folly was to the north. I was also pretty sure that I needed to go south as a result, but there was no telling which direction south was. Picking a direction to follow the road at random I began walking again.

After another minute or two had passed I came upon the first horrors of my journey. Laying in the road was a family of Earth Ponies, all dead. I assumed it had been a family at least. There was a stallion, a mare, and a filly. The mare in death protectively tried to shelter the the filly, and the filly had her muzzle buried deep in her mother's fur. They were so coated with ash that they all looked grey, and you might mistake them for macabre statues. They had apparently died to smoke inhalation as they went down the road trying to escape. Tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at the dead filly that the mare clung protectively to.

The discovery of them did give me information though. The direction they were facing was likely the direction away from the devastation, and that direction indicated the opposite direction. I turned away from the family that had failed to make it away and started back down the way I had just come.

As I walked back down the path I had just come I could see my past hoovesteps in the ash on the road. The disturbing thing was they were the only such tracks in the ash. No other pony had come this way since the ash had settled on the road, which meant that it had been likely days since any living thing had come this way. That family may have been the last to come this way.

I kept walking and more bodies were found along the road. All looking like the had been trying to escape in the same direction, and all with no sign of tracks leading up to them. I did my best not to look at the bodies, or to pretend they were just grotesque statues. They were nameless individuals. I couldn't even tell fur color, mane color, or cutie marks due to their heavy coats of grey ash. If I could pretend that I wouldn't go crazy myself by looking at them.

What had caused so much burning and ash? Sure there had likely been fires in fireplaces within the city that had spread when their structures had collapsed, but the level of ash and smoke seemed to go well beyond what they might be responsible for causing, no matter how much they had spread. It was like a volcano had gone off, but there was no magma to be seen.

Continuing my walk I started to see bits of broken walls and collapsed entrances to the sides of the road, indicating I was now entering into the city proper. I saw no freestanding structures from my limited field of vision. Every building seemed to have caved in. One such former structure had a large chunk of crystal that had crushed it, a seeming twig from the Great Tree. That twig was bigger than whatever that building had been.

There were now more bodies, in far greater numbers. There were Pegasi, Unicorns, Earth Ponies, and a few stray bodies of non ponies. I saw the bodies of animals in the street as well; birds, dogs, and cats. The cats and dogs were likely pets that had been kept, the birds may well have fallen dead from the sky. Everything had died, not just ponies; the animals and plants were just as dead. Still there was no stench of the dead, just the smell of ash and cinders. Again I tried to just pretend that they weren't actually the bodies of countless dead.

With a few more minutes of walking the thickness of the smoke started to dissipate. It didn't go away, but it got to the point I could start to make out more of my surroundings. What I saw took my breath away.

There were no buildings left. Everything was rubble aside from the occasional piece of broken wall that somehow escaped the fate of its adjoining walls and roof. Bodies were still everywhere to be seen, and every direction I looked there seemed to be dozens if not hundreds of bodies, and this was just in the small area that I could see. If the whole of Harmony was like this it was easy to believe that there were millions dead to this cataclysm.

In this distance I could make out light of still raging fires. It was a shock that there was still anything left to burn, and that the smoke in the air hadn't ended up snuffing the flames out, yet they still burned defiantly. There were some scotch marks around the area that I now stood indicating fire had raged through here as well, though ash covered much of that evidence.

The most imposing thing to be seen was the Great Tree, or at least the ruins of it. The entire base of trunk had uprooted from the ground and the trunk itself had collapsed across vast stretches of the city. Even in it's collapsed state it was a major landmark. I could make out that the roots had a scorched look to them, and I had to guess that the burning roots throwing burnt earth into the air was the source of all soot in the air. It wasn't just fire, it was dust and the ash of ground that had been incinerated. The entire city was covered in that ashy dirt, and it hung in the air like a dark fog over everything.

While looking at the spectacle of the Tree I suddenly heard a whimper. I looked around my immediate area, unable to tell where it was coming from. A whimper meant a survivor though. 

"Hello? Is any pony, or any creature, there? Say something so I can find you. I can help you get out if you are trapped somewhere," I called out, looking frantically, trying to find the source of the whimper. 

No further whimpers came though. After several minutes of searching the only sounds that could be heard were the sounds of rubble that I displaced in my search, and the sounds of the ruins settling further. I wondered if I had just been imagining the whimper. There was no telling if it had been my imagination or if it had been an actual whimper of a trapped pony. There was just so much that they could be trapped under here that I could search for days and not find them. I didn't want to think about how many bodies of dead ponies were still underneath the rubble.

So I continued on in my search for Mera, heading deeper into the ruins towards the tree trunk. It was hard to tell how much time passed. The world seemed to exist in an otherworldly state and I couldn't properly see the sun through the cloud of ash and soot the hung over the ruins. On and off I heard more sounds of whimpering, and once even the sound of crying. I stopped to call out and do a quick search each time, but again I found nothing. After a while I stopped trying to search when I heard the ghostly sounds of trapped ponies.

The entire area was extremely hot, but as I walked on I started to feel a different type of tingling sensation. It was hard to describe, it wasn't heat, but it felt like something was running through my flesh under my fur. It was like a compass as well, because it was tied to a very particular direction. If I walked away from that direction it decreased in sensation, but if I walked towards that direction it increased in sensation. After debating with myself about it for a little while I ended up trying to follow where the tingling would lead.

The path that increased the sensation led deeper into the city towards the Tree, a little off to the side from it. The feeling continued to grow to the point it became extremely annoying, but I continued on. The area that I was walking through had an even higher concentration of dead bodies than any of the areas I had passed through before, and I morbidly wondered if by the time I reached the area near the Tree itself I would be having to climb through the mounds of dead. It would be harder to shut out the fact these had all been living ponies only a week ago if it came to that.

An deafening scream suddenly went out from the direction that I was walking towards. Despite the volume I recognized the voice, that was Mera. I broke into a full run in the direction that the sensation had been leading me, now certain now that it was taking me straight to my distressed wife. I almost tripped several times over the bodies of the dead, but I didn't care, Mera was near and she needed me right now.

As I came into an inexplicable clearing in the rubble I was greeted by the sight of two things. First was Mera, and she was a terrible sight to behold. She was in her Crystal Pony form once again somehow, and she glowed with a harsh red light that made it difficult to look at her directly for more than a moment. That light spread out wisps of magic in all directions as she visible leaked magic on a large scale. 

The next thing I saw was a large pink body with wings laying in the clearing; the body had no head, only a bloody mess where the head should have been. Looking at the blood and gore I could see scraps of silver metal crushed and mangled within. Pinkie Pie was definitely dead, you didn't survive having your skull crushed like that. I had no pity for her, but the sight of her body still made me feel sick.

"Mera!" I cried out to get my wife's attention as I came into the clearing.

She turned to me and glared. Her eyes were filled with suspicion and hate. She trembled as she looked at me, and licked her lips in an odd way, though I couldn't describe what was odd about it other than something seemed very off about the gesture.

"Your mistress is dead! Don't you see? Why must you all keep coming to torment me with my beloved Pearl's face? Haven't you hurt me enough? Shouldn't the monster being finally dead put an end to what she was doing? I just want to be left alone," Mera cried as she looked at me.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I am Pearl, and I want to help you. Sunset wants you dead, but I can help you get back to being sane," I pleaded.

"I am perfectly sane. Pearl is dead, and now that monster that was responsible for her death is too. Whatever she instructed you to do has no more meaning. Leave now and I won't hurt you. I have hurt so many ponies today." She looked at the ground with a confused look on her face. "Has it only been today? I don't know; it seems like more, but I can't tell anymore. Leave me in peace, don't make me kill any more ponies."

"Mera, it is me. Let me help you. You're confused, suffering, and in danger. I know you have done some horrible things recently, but they weren't your fault. You were driven to do all this, but we can do what we can to try to fix things together. I love you and won't abandon you no matter what," I pleaded once more as I reached a wing out to her.

"I want you to be Pearl. I really want that, but that's just a lie. I won't let myself be manipulated and lied to any more. If this is still happening and Pinkie Pie is dead, then some other Alicorn must have been in league with her. They all refused to help when I went to them, perhaps they are all in league with each other. I'll kill every last one of them and then maybe this will finally stop. I have the power. They can't do anything to me anymore," Mera said as she looked at me with hateful determination.

I realized then that Sunset was right. Mera was too far gone and it would be more merciful to end her than to let her commit any more atrocities and make a even greater monster of herself. I could not believe I was thinking it, but I knew it to be true. With tears in my eyes I tried to build up the courage to do what needed to be done.

She was still looking around with a confused and lost look in her eyes. I wasn't even sure if she noticed me role not anymore, or if she was so caught up in her delusions that she was no longer registering the world around her. She seemed to have lost all interest in me after I ceased speaking and she had given her response.

As I continued to watch the magic leak off her I realized that almost any other pony couldn't even get near her right now. All that power drifting off her likely would kill any other pony. It was so great that I could feel it despite my anti-magic talents. The only reason she was able to withstand it herself was she had my healing capabilities as well, and even with those she was in constant pain and agony at containing such a huge amount of magic. She didn't need to care about defending herself, she was walking death. Perhaps if she had some sanity left she could have brought it under control, or forced it all out of herself, but that wasn't happening.

Since she was not paying attention to me I looked around the immediate area. I saw on the ground broken shards of crystal from the Tree; one of them would serve what needed to be done. I reached down with a wing and took it shakingly up in my wing's fingers, glad that I had practiced over the years using my wings in such a manner. The shaking had nothing to do with weakness or not being adept at using them this way; I just didn't want to do this. I prayed to whoever would listen that something would happen that would make it so I didn't have to kill my wife.

"Mera, look around you. Can't you see all the hurt and death you have caused? I know you, you want to protect ponies. This isn't you, come back to me Mera, and we can fix this somehow," I pleaded again. Hoping that if I kept trying sooner told later something would get through to her.

She did look around herself as I asked, and my heart kept as a small glimmer of hope arose. Maybe I could still get through to her. My hopes were dashed as she turned her hardened gaze back to me though.

"This place deserved to fall. Those Alicorns were monsters that took my precious Pearl away from me. They were always watching me, always judging me, always threatening taking her away from me. All the ponies of this city? They bent down and worshiped those monsters and made their homes close to them. They also tormented my beloved with their jeers and prejudice. They didn't deserve to live," she snarled before her eyes unfocused again and she went back to her confused glancing about. It was as unnerving to watch as it was horrible to hear her utter such a thing.

I just sat there for many long moments, watching her. Again she seemed to have ceased to notice me after our brief exchange. It didn't seem see was getting any more focused. The thought crossed my mind that she could possibly just stay here forever like this, with me watching over her. As long as no pony came near they wouldn't be in danger if her. I could patrol the area and keep ponies away for their protection. Eventually she would bleed out all this excess magic and maybe something could be done for her then, even if it took centuries. I would be willing to do that for her if that was what it took.

I knew that was not likely. Sooner or later the Alicorns would come, no matter how much I pleaded with them to stay away. At that point one of two things would happen. One they would bind her in Tartarus for all time; or two, they would all perish before her and Mera would become an even greater monster than she was now. She might even end up leaving this place on her own, and that would lead to untold death and destruction yet to come. I felt like sobbing as the fact became clearer that I had to take action myself, and that there was no bringing her back. Her body might be alive, but her mind was so twisted she might as well be dead already.

Eventually I got up and just started aimlessly walking around the clearing as well, as much a ghost of a pony as Mera was now. I kept a small distance from her, and she seemed to still take no interest or even notice of me. The world beyond what was going on in her mind right now was non-existent to her.

"What are you thinking of right now?" I asked after a while.

"She turned and focused on me briefly, before her eyes took on the glazed look again, but she did answer.

"I am remembering. I am remembering everything from my own life, but also the life of Pinkie Pie. I remember everything that she remembered. There is so much here, it is so easy to get lost in it. So much time, so many ponies, yet she remembered it all. It is maddening to try to take in. She hurt so much from it. I think I did her a favor by killing her. I want this all to go away, but it is stuck in me," she said in a mornful tone as she continued to gaze around at nothing.

"You are hurting, hurting more than I can comprehend," I said, more of a statement than a question.

"I hurt so much I want to die," she answered. "Are you here to kill me? Are you going to help me? I can't take this, I need to die."

My heart broke further as I nodded. I don't know if she even saw the nod, or even she even recalled we had just spoken with one another. She was caught up in her mind again. I gripped the shard tighter in my wing and the jagged edge of it cut into my flesh, but I didn't care or soften my grip.

"Let me help you then. Let me help you go.. see Pearl again. She is waiting for you, and longs for your embrace again. She won't have peace until she is reunited with you. You won't feel peace until you are back with her. Let me help you get peace," I said as I openly sobbed now.

"Please, reunite me with my precious Pearl. Screw all the Alicorns and any thoughts of revenge I might have against them. I just want to be reunited with my wife in death. The world isn't worth living in without her," she begged.

Crying, I came up to her and embraced her one final time. I didn't wait for her to get a read on my emotions though; I just brought the jagged shard of crystal down through her neck, impaling it. The sharp end went into my shoulder as well, but I didn't care of flinch.

A great blast of magic came off her, knocking me away. The entire area seemed to be nothing but red light as the life left the body of the most important pony in the world to me.


***


I sat crying for a long time after that. There are no words I can use to express what I had done. My wife was dead, and it was because of me. It was all because of me. I was a monster.

After finally pulling myself somewhat together I tilted my head as I considered what was going to happen next. I would have to act quickly as I would definitely have Alicorns coming soon after that magic blast. I decided that I needed to get to work at burying her and getting myself ready for those who would eventually come to check on what had occurred here. It took only a few minutes for me to put her where no pony would ever find her. I did some last minute preparations for the Alicorns imevetible arrival, and then I just sat and waited, cursing myself and crying like I had never cried before.

I don't know how much time passed with me laying there in my tears. The Alicorns did come though. It seemed a full turnout for them, and even Peridot had come along as well. 

I remembered what Sunset was going to have Peridot do, and I supressed giving a glare at the golden Alicorn. She would get what was coming to her one day, but today wasn't the day for that. Today was not the day for that. Today was the day I needed to mourn my precious wife. I had done the worst possible thing today, and I didn't have the heart for vengeance right now to take justice for what Sunset had done. Peridot was still safe, that was a small blessing at least.

"Pearl? Are you okay? Where is Mera?" Sunset asked me.

I flinched at what she said, and glanced down at my pinkish white fur. I almost had forgotten it was there. I needed to answer Sunset.

"My wife is dead," I said as straight faced as I could. There was no lie in that, much as I wished there was. She was dead and it was my fault. I couldn't blame Pinkie Pie or any other pony, it was definitely my fault. My mind was clear.

"I'm sorry, Pearl. You know there was no other way. I know there is nothing I can say or do to make this better, but you do have my condolences," Sunset said with lowered ears and posture.

I flinched again at hearing her speak. It would take a long time I thought to stop flinching at that. I needed to take up another name. Mera and Pearl died in these ruins, and those names needed to be left here.

I just nodded back. I flinched again as she came over and embraced me. I let it happen. I could tell she had legitimate regret. Let her have her moment to show sympathy. As she released me she gave me an odd look. 

"I can't feel any of your emotion. You are blocking me out. I wasn't aware you could do that," Sunset said as she gazed at me.

"She and I worked together on that training to block out thoughts. Don't you remember that? I don't think it is a good idea for ponies to know all that I am feeling right now. I am better at it than my wife was to tell you the truth," I quickly explained, again there was no lie.

Sunset seemed to accept the explanation and I let off a small sigh of relief that she didn't dig deeper to find out what was going on with me. That was not a discussion I was ready to have.

"So where is your wife?" Came the voice Starlight as the Alicorn of Empathy walked near.

"My wife is dead, and her corpse is put away so no pony will ever find it. She was so full of grief at the end. I know that she still loved me, but I ended up killing her. Please don't go looking for it, give her this peace," I pleaded. "She deserved so much more than this, and I am the worst abomination there has ever been for killing her."

The Alicorns all looked at one another, before turning and nodding to me. Twilight took the lead and came forward to address me.

"We shall respect your wishes. It is the least we can do. I can only imagine how much you are hurting right now, and nothing is going to make that better. All of the Realm is hurting right now, and I don't think we will rebuild here. There is too much death, too much sorrow. We will clear the ruins of the bodies that are easy to find, to give the survivors some closure, but Harmony shall never rise again, and these ruins will remain as a monument to our darkest momennt." Twilight said with as much authority to her tone as she seemed to be able to muster. It was clear that she had been greatly shaken.

"Do you want to return with me to Crystal Heart? We are still family you and I, and we both can help each other mourn. I don't know how I am going to cope with this," Peridot said with a tearful expression.

There was some temptation to that, but that would work for me. I shook my head no.

"I don't think I am ready to return to Crystal Heart, too many bad memories. Do me a favor though. Now that Pinkie Pie is dead her power over than bloody hotel is gone. Please burn it to the ground," I said with more than a hint of malice.

"You heard about Mom and Dad from Mera?" Peridot asked with lowered ears.

I gave a brief nod of my head. That was the easiest way to answer.

"I think I will take off somewhere secluded and low stress for a while. Maybe write down the history of the two of us, as a coping mechanism. I just want to be left alone. I killed my wife, there is no getting over that," I said with my own ears lowered.

"Pearl, I need to ask. Did Mera give any indication why Pinkie did what she did?" Sunset asked.

I knew the answers to that, but I couldn't give them. That would lead to uncomfortable questions. I would have to give a partial answer.

"Pinkie sold her soul to the Elder Gods, which Grogar is also an agent of. She was crazy, not just normal Alicorn crazy. She was bound by a contract to destroy the Tree of Harmony. I don't know why she did it," I answered. The last part was a lie, but not the biggest lie of the day.

"It seems no pony is immune to madness," Sunset said grimly. That was definitely the truth.

I didn't want to deal with any of this any more; it was simply too painful. If I stayed here I risked slipping into uncontrollable rage and I couldn't risk that. I made my goodbyes despite their protests that I shouldn't go yet, and left the Alicorns to sort out the dead. I had my own tasks to be about. 

Somehow I would fix this. Somehow I would make this right. Somehow I would undo my greatest sin. Somehow my beloved wife would live again.



Pearlwort, Unintentional Villain
Chimera Wort






Story is contined in


Last Days of Ponykind