As Kyth summoned Dox through whatever his token had transformed into, a portal burst into light in front of him. From the portal I watched in confusion as a fifteen foot tall, very much anthro, scantily clad, and silver version of Luna rocketed out of it, barreling into Kyth. She looked down at him, roughly grabbing him before he could react and shoving his head into her chest. She spoke in a tone that conveyed an attempt to sound casual.

        “Hey there, sexy squidface. Long time no see. So, how’s it going? Make any squid-robot babies?”

He grunted in pain and then growled, pushing to get away from her, and clearly having the rough treatment bring pain from what remained of his injuries.

“Get. Off. Now.”

“Nah, I think I like you were you are, squidface.” She responded. “In fact, it wouldn’t be against me to- OW!”

I hovered into the air to be on equal level with her and slapped her upside the head for manhandling Kyth. I spoke in a  neutral tone.

“I did that because Kyth can’t right now. So get the hell off him ya crazy whorse!”

“Hey! I’ll have you know that I am not like that!” She declared, letting go of Kyth and turning to smack me upside the head in turn. “And who are you to call me a whore? You are a robot, as far as I can tell with you two, you can’t even have sex.”

I raised an eyebrow. “You claim not to be that way, when you come out of nowhere, ask about people’s sex lives and then shove an injured guy’s face into your rack. And yeah, I could have sex if I-”

“Prove it.” She said.

“Why would I want to prove myself to some crazy anthro horse lady that came out of nowhere to ask about my sex life?”

“Because I don’t believe you. You say you can have sex, get on down here and either bang your boyfriend, or come get some of me.” She said calmly. “Come on, you know you want to try this.”

I gave off a repulsed look and shook my head. “Firstly, my door doesn’t swing that way. Second of all, I’m not into random interdimensional skanks that hit on my boyfriend. Thirdly, I dont gotta prove shit to you lady.”

“Eh, your loss.” She said, waving me off. “And for your information, I wasn’t hitting on Kyth. Why the hell would I hit on a friend that I barely see? I mean, there’s Ava, but she’s different. Come on, bud, tell her!”

Kyth looked down at the copy of Dox's token in his hand and then back up at her. He spoke in an uncertain tone.

“So you turned into a horse lady Dox?”

“And of course I get that response.” She replied. “Good job, I’m a horse lady, neigh. You insult us so.”

“Seriously, though, Kyth. A horse lady? I am not a horse! I am a pony! And before that, I’m a god!” She proudly declared, spreading her wings with a cheeky grin.

Kyth kept an even glare, staying silent for a moment and seeming to take a breath and consider himself.

“I don’t give a damn. You have some fucking EXPLAINING to do!”

“Ah, but what’s the fun with that!” She(He? I wasn't really sure what Dox identified as by this point...) said as... She... stood up, but hunched over, and started walking away from us. “Where the hell are we, anyways? I can’t even stand up properly in here.”

Kyth spoke in an even tone. “We’re in Jen and I’s living room, what’s left of it anyway, after your token and Deathtrap going through it.”

“Oh, so that’s why it looks like it’s crap. Oh hey! A hole in the wall!” She said, slipping out of the house via a hole left from the Vault Hunters and my fight, and out into the open. “Huh, looks like Ponyville. You guys live in Ponyville? Hah! I forget what it’s like down in this town. Mind if I look around?”

Kyth spoke in a low tone and his eyebrow twitched as he responded to the now obviously zoned out Dox.

"No, no you may not!"

“I’m sorry, what was that? I can go? Thanks!” She said, having completely ignored Kyth. As she made to leave he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her back around to face him. He hovered in the air behind her, his wings seeming to struggle to hold him up.

“Like hell! You aren’t going anywhere until you explain what the fuck happened with your token and with the blood you gave Jen!”

“Ah, that. Ya see, about that. Kinda destroyed my last token.” She explained. “That… And I kinda became a god… and lost graces with the DM… Why the hell are YOU so angry?”

Kyth was silent for a moment before responding. “You fucked up my sword. I can forgive that. You jacked up my hands. I can get over that much too. But you didn’t even give us a warning of shit, and you know what?”

He leaned his face close to Dox's. “YOU NEARLY GOT JEN KILLED! THAT I cannot forgive! And you ask me why I’m MAD!?”

“Well, how about that. Squidface has some testes.” She said. “Now, here’s a better question: How the hell was I supposed to alert you, to know what would happen? Answer? I don’t have a way to know any of that shit. So calm your green tits, and shut up.”

He kept his glare. “Maybe you wouldn’t have known about the shit that happened, but it would’ve been one thing if you actually gave us some warning. Oh hey guys, y’know that blood I gave you that’s keeping Jen from running out of power and that she needs to stay alive? That’s gonna suddenly crap out, just thought I’d let ya know! But no, hell even now we called you! If it wasn’t for Jack and F.A.U.S.T. then when Jen ran out of power then we wouldn’t have had any way to fix her! Don’t tell me to calm down, jackass, I’m justified in this.”

“Really? Really? Again, how the fucking HELL was I supposed to know what was going on outside my world? I ask you this in earnest.” She said, finally seeming to get ticked off by Kyth's anger. “I mean, seriously? You think I actually KNEW that Jen’s battery would die? That I would become this and screw over everyone? That my destroying my token would do that to you? Who are you to say that I did?! Who are you to say that you’re justified?!”

As she spoke, her form slowly seemed to shift, losing any resemblance to Luna and taking on a form comparable only to a human  fused with...something else. As she fully shifted into her new form, she stared at Kyth with a pair of unnatural green eyes.

"I’ve been bastardized by a being who creates life when he sneezes! I lost EVERYTHING close to me! Hell, I can’t even properly control who or WHAT I am! DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT’S LIKE?! I’VE LOST EVERYTHING!”

She stopped screaming at Kyth for a moment and looked over herself.

“I lost everything I was…”

Her eyes and Kyth's locked for a moment.  “Luna, Celestia, Emerald, Sapphire, Athena, Bluebelle, Arbok. Avarice, Jacob, and who knows all those other Displaced at your bachelor party. You have ALL OF THEM. Me? I grew up alone. My parents died when I was five. I was raised by my cousin, who was only five years older than me, and my drunk-off-his-ass uncle. After getting Displaced, I have no idea what happened to my cousin, he might’ve been Displaced as well, he may not have. He might be dead, might be waiting somewhere. Other than him, I only have a few friends back home, who I also have no idea whether they’re alive, dead, or otherwise. I don’t let it keep me down, because I have one person that cares about me that I know for certain is alive, and that I can keep that way damn it!  I know what it’s like to lose myself, too… My own mind feels...wrong. Stolen… But I keep going. Maybe you didn’t think about it right away, but there was no warning that Jen was about to run dry until it was too late.”

Kyth's gaze fell to the ground, seeming to lose some of his anger. I frowned with concern towards Kyth... Why hadn't he told me about all of this? I knew about his situation with his cousin back on Earth, but... “Maybe you didn’t have anything to make you think Jen’d be in trouble from your blood running out of power but... “ Kyth let out a breath and seemed to deflate a bit. “If I’m not mad at you for this then that just leaves me to blame…”

“Listen, buddy, we’re all to blame. Even when we’re not, we are.” Dox said, trying to console Kyth. “Ya just can’t go pointing fingers at people. It doesn’t help anyone.” Dox shifted forms back into his silver Luna form. “Now, let’s have that tour around town, shall we?”

Kyth nodded as he dropped back to the ground, and I immediately went up to give him a hug as he cracked a small smile. Kyth turned back to face Doxuna.

“Uh… You may want to go into a smaller form. The town just got attacked by a pair of Vault Hunters from Jack’s world, and they might be a bit skittish by something your size.”

“Yeeeaaaah, about that. Not really sure if I can…” She said sheepishly.

“Um… I’m guessing your shapeshifting whatever abilities got messed up somehow then?”

“I guess you could say that.” She said. “It’s more like they’ve been amped as hell and I’m kind of having trouble getting everything correct right now, so excuse me if I can’t turn into a smaller creature right now.”

Kyth put a hand to his jaw and glanced outside, giving a shrug.

“Well it is nightfall, so I suppose that there won’t be many ponies around… Then again, our Princess Luna is sorta suspicious of us. Might not be the best idea to have random giant beings around until we know more.”

“Yeah… I’m a just go check shit out, so laters.” She said as I started to walk into town.

“Why do you want to go into our version of Ponyville so bad?” Kyth asked, getting a shrug out of her. Dox was acting pretty weirdly...

“Well, I mean, why the hell not?” She said. “We can just have some fun!”

“Well we were actually just about to start trying to fix our house… Since, y’know, it’s exploded. How about we do that some other time?” Kyth explained.

“Oh, you’re no fun.” She said. “Come on! I don’t want shit to start happening! Let’s just go! I could help you with your house problem, but I don’t know what side effects my new powers would have.”

Kyth raised an eyebrow. “Uh...okay?”

“No, seriously, if I just give you the ‘gift’ of a fixed house, it could end up becoming all...I don’t know! It could turn all sci-fi futuristic to contrast the rest of your world, it could have even a...uh...okay, not mentioning what crossed my mind. But it could even come with an infestation, or something wrong. I’d rather not risk it.” She warned.

Kyth and I glanced at each other and we both shrugged.

“That aside, if I don’t move someplace interesting soon, or I don’t get entertained somehow, I’m kinda scared that something that popped up recently is going to punish me.” She told us, her wings letting off an involuntary flutter. “So...I can help, but I might have to leave soon. Or I could just, fly off, find someplace else.”

I shrugged and offered a response.

“Eh it’s alright. I guess. You can go back wherevs we summoned you if you want.”

Kyth raised a hand to cut Dox off before she could respond.

“Actually Dox… You’re a swordsman, right?”

“Doxuna, please. Anyhow, I’m not a master, but I’m a hand with a sword. Kinda had to be, especially with Sapphire beating the shit out of me in practice sessions when I was still serving as the active king of her former hive...gotta go check on that…And Urahara...anyway, I could help, sure!”

Her demeanor seemed to shift from bubbly and upbeat to rather grim for a moment.

“But I won’t pull punches. The way I was taught, I had to be kept on the bleeding knife-edge of near death, in a true constant death battle for days on end. Trust me, Urahara was ruthless, even with the starting instruction I got from Sapphire. Now, if you really want me as a teacher, I suggest you buck up and be ready to experience pain, and a lot of it. I may not show it, but a good amount of the shit Urahara taught me should have left scars. Deep scars.”

Kyth seemed to consider this and nodded. “I might not be able to go full out from my injuries, but just as well. I need actual training, I can’t just be swinging this thing around like a freakin’ club.”

I wasn't sure if Kyth should be going into training so soon after getting patched up, but then again he seemed excited enough that I couldn't bear to stop him. And I guessed he had recovered fast enough to handle it...

“Well then, first lesson. How to- DODGE!” Dox/Doxuna yelled as she chucked a knife she had pulled from her satchel at Kyth. Kyth jerked to the side, mostly avoiding the blade but having it still leave a cut across the side of his arm. I grit my teeth at that, glancing at at the knife as it landed on the ground, covered in Kyth's black blood. I ran my scanners over the knife, identifying it as orichalcum, and noting that it seemed to be reacting against Kyth's blood...It clung to the blade like it were liquid metal on a magnet and yet seemed to burn the metal just by contact, yet it didn’t corrode... I'd have to figure that out later. Dox placed her hands on her hips in a nonchalant manner with a smirk

“Well, you fail that test and- DODGE!” Dox chucked yet another knife at him out of nowhere.

Kyth lurched to the side, this time more prepared for the attack. Dox drew out a modified flintlock of some sort and prepped it, and I instinctively readied a blaster in case Dox actually fired at Kyth with malicious intent, and watched Kyth as he looked up at her.

“What did I say again?” She asked as she aimed her flintlock at his face. She pulled the trigger, only for nothing to happen.

“Heh. HAHAHAHAHA! I’m just messing with ya! This gun doesn’t even have any ammo! Makes sense, it was pretty much the very first thing I enchanted with my blood.” She put away the flintlock, only to pull out a Volcano Sniper, a weapon I vaguely recognized from the Borderlands games.

“This gun, however, does work and has splash damage.” Kyth’s pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks. “Run, little guy, run.”

“Sh-shouldn’t we move this outside of town that way no one’s caught in the crossfire?!”

“Hmmm, interesting idea. Then again, Urahara threw people at me.” She explained. “Again, brutal training, and I hope you understand what this thing does. Now, DODGE!”

She pulled the trigger, firing a blank, and watched as Kyth tumbled to the side, rushing to right himself before the next shot.

“Seriously? You were going to roll out of the path of a bullet?”

“You said dodge! And it’s not like there’s much I can do to dodge bullets!”

“First rule for dodging anything; you do not roll. Sure, it’s a fancy way to put some distance between you and a target, but rolling means you waste time getting down, and getting up. You instead-.”  

She suddenly bolted right into Kyth’s space, looking down at him as he stumbled back.

“Quick-step. You get the quick-step down you can dodge most anything. Gotta work them calves and ankles though.”

“Uh...okay, I get that.” He picked himself up and got ready for her next move.

“Now, when facing a ranged opponent, the easiest way to avoid getting shot is to zig-zag, or serpentine. It’s a lot of work though, try to conserve stamina.” She back-stepped away quickly and raised her rifle again, popping in a new cartridge.

“I’m firing rubber rounds, but they’ll still light you on fire since rubber’s ALL kinds of flammable! So you’d better DODGE!”

This time Kyth managed to evade the attack, quick-stepping towards her at an angle, keeping himself readied for the next move. He succeeded the next several shots until he was right in Dox's space, looking slightly smug. She snorted in amusement as Kyth spoke.

“Hey, I’m a quick learner.”

“Yeah, well you still failed the test, but not for dodging, you did good, I meant on approach, you stopped too soon.” She said. “Next lesson, don’t get in the face of an opponent with a ranged weapon. Most of the time, that either means you get shot anyway, or worse; if the weapon’s bayoneted you get stabbed. That leads me to a side note: Don’t get near snipers, the good ones carry knives, and the better ones carry swords.”

She motioned her head to her left hand, which had morphed into a sickle that curved around the back of his neck. “So really, the best way to deal with a sniper or otherwise ranged opponent, is to get around them or at least to the side, then take them out asap, or get punished.”

“Okay, be careful when getting up close to opponents, got it.”

“No, just watch the hell out.” She said. He nodded and took a few steps back.

“Well at least you get the basics, took me FOREVER to learn how to dodge.” She laughed in some self-derision before noticing all the lights on around us, the ponies all looking out their front doors or windows in awe up at her. She blushed before clearing her throat. “Um...sorry, please go back to sleep. I’ll be quiet.”

“...Thank you.” A random pony said before going inside, most the others all shrugged and followed, some deciding to watch.

“That was...thankfully unexpected. I thought this being a nearly vanilla world that they’d be running around panicking at first sight of me.” She admitted towards Kyth, who gave off a shrug.

“I think it’s a combination of having just been attacked by Vault Hunters and being relieved that you weren’t an enemy and the fact that they’ve gotten somewhat used to Jen and I being around. And you at least look vaguely pony, unlike us so....Eh.” He shrugged again.

“I would’ve figured me being a giantess and having Luna’s features would’ve sparked a whole Nightmare fiasco, but it’s nice to know that not all ponies will run on sight.” She stated as she began to put away her rifle.

“Yeah it seems like our world’s fairly tame in terms of pony response to stuff. Still, how about some actual sparring?”

“Well, sure, but I can’t exactly shrink down to your height, and learning to fight somepony...someONE, my size, would be a much more advanced scenario. I mean, if I were to say-.” She suddenly swung her armblade down and Kyth managed to backstep out of the swing. “Yeah, that’s a lot of distance you have to cover in a dodge, feel the burn in your legs?”

He nodded, drawing his sword for the next strike.

“Ah, so enthusiastic. So ready for teacher to give a beating. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just let me muffle things so we don’t make more of a racket.” She called up a spell of some sort which I determined was a muffling spell. She lifted her free hand up and motioned for Kyth to begin as her horn shimmered and coated them both in a gentle aura, seeming to make both of their actions silent.

Kyth began by bringing his sword around in unbalanced strikes towards her, which were quickly and easily parried, tossing his large broadsword from his grip. Dox sighed, seeming to look over him and his sword. She spoke to him, and even with the silence filter around them I managed to load up a lip reading program to figure what she was saying. While they were busy I went back to working on the house to get a headstart on repairing the damages.

“Okay, looks like we’re going to have to fix that sword. Simply allow us to smith thee either a new weapon, or reforge it. Thou should be honored that a Princess offers-"

She froze for a moment, seeming to think to herself and consider her words.

"...Sorry. I can fix it. Have a forge nearby?”

Kyth shook his head. “Nope. The closest thing we’d have would be Jen’s transformations, and I dunno if she’d have the right things for a forge.”

“Hm...in that case, we merely need some masonry, a set of tools, and a location. Tis simple enough to make a forge anywhere so long as one has the materials. Why, I once crafted one from a pile of rocks, sand, and a bucket. Twas gloriously simple.” She informed Kyth with a shining smile, and moved towards our wrecked house, casting some minor spells upon it as she kneeled through the rapidly repairing hole. She collapsed the silence spell and went back to speaking normally.

“Jennifer, we ask of thee; would thou know of a good location for which to set up a smithy?”

Whatever spell she had cast on the house seemed to be doing my work for me, reconstructing the houses' damage. I looked down at her and put a hand on my chin in consideration.

“Well… I suppose we could put it in the basement/workshop if we could work in some decent ventilation. Then again, that’d still have some problems to it… I dunno. Might have to try and get some other land or something to set it up...  Though that’d take a while...“ I shrugged.

Dox considered this and responded. “Fine, if it must be that way. We shall create a Pocket Forge. Have thee a room or closet thou has no real need of?”

I nodded and directed her to the crawlspace under the stairwell in the house.

“Well, this will have to do. Is anything within? If there is, the spell might destroy them.” She warned, and I shook my head.

“Nope, we don’t have that much in the way of possessions here in Equestria.” Just to be confirm that was the case, she opened the door and took a brief look within.

“It shall suffice and is without any dangers.” She told me before casting the spell from her horn, the door and the frame shimmering,  each brief shimmer leaving the door looking less wooden and more like it were iron. I figured that if that was for a forge then that'd help prevent fire from spreading.

"Let us enter, pardon our size, we’ll have to squeeze.”

She warned as she opened the door, revealing to the both Kyth and I that within our crawlspace was now a seemingly endless void, with a whole smithing station set near the door. She grunted as she turned on her side, and I blushed and averted my eyes as the giantess crammed herself through the doorway.

“Oh dear... Um...would it be too much to ask for assistance entering young maiden? We wouldn’t ask dear Kyth as it would be uncouth of us to ask him to lay hand upon our rear, or legs for that matter.” I slapped my hand to my face in a facepalm and took a look through my mental systems' functions until I found my emotional functions, which i toned down severely. I popped my neck and responded in an emotionless voice.

“Alright. I’ve reworked my emotional parameters to make this not awkward. Kyth, go upstairs and fetch the bag in my nightstand.”

I looked back at Kyth, who was doing his best to look away with a furious blush, watching him mumble something while nodding and then heading upstairs.

Dox yelped as I moved to push her forward, helping her to get the rest of the way into the doorway.

“Thank you young maiden. Apologies for our lost control over our form.”

I blinked, feeling an odd buzz. I... didn't feel anything. No emotions, no odd thoughts about this...Huh.

“Eh, it’s alright. I’m just glad that I’ve figured out how to manipulate my processors to control my emotional state. It is rather… Weird, having logic prioritized to emotion though. Regardless, what is it which you’ve constructed in the crawlspace?”

“Oh, tis nothing special, just a transdimensional space known as a Pocket Forge. Tis more than enough to reforge Kyth’s sword. Even if we didn’t already sense the complex enchantments on it. If we are to continue training before we must leave, however, we shall have to forge him a new sword.” She explained this as if it were common sense. “It shall be a gift, so to speak. Now, about the subject of materials. What kind of metal or mineral dost thou have on hand?”

“Not that much I’m afraid. Like I said, we don’t have much in the way of possessions, treasure, metal or otherwise.” I responded.

“Well, dost thou have the ability to go out and find me some iron and some obsidian? It is necessary for what we have in mind.” She stated. “As soon as is convenient, if  you please.”

I nodded and ignited my pigtail thrusters, rocketing out of the room and heading into the mountains near Ponyville, using my scanners to find the required materials, and them my drill transformations to make my way to them.  A few minutes of mining later I grabbed everything and them shot back to where Dox awaited me. By the time I had returned Dox had already heated the hearth and prepped all of the tools we'd be using.Now that the materials were gathered, we were ready to get started.

“Ah, perfect. Just as we ordered. We thank thee metal maiden.” She said before turning to the forge and stoking the flames. Huh. She'd been using the weird royal Canterlot speak... Eh, it didn't matter. “Now, what type of sword does Kyth like?”

“Hmm. I’d say something durable, but able to move quickly in combat. His original sword was-”

“A rather large broadsword, we know.” She deadpanned. “We already know this, and we’d rather not craft something so… boring. Yet, your description of a blade is so widely used. Could you possibly narrow it down so we may get forging?” She asked as she took out  a set of daggers made of what I identified as pure orichalcum and threw them in the smelter along with the iron ore.

“Boring or no, a broadsword is what Kyth would be the most comfortable with.” I insisted, and she let out a forlorn sounding sigh.

“Very well, a commoner’s everybuck weapon it is.”

She silently took some coal and crushed it in her fist, dusting it into the smelter, getting a reaction as the high-carbon allotrope was added to the iron and orichalcum mix. I figured this would be for the purpose of making steel out of the iron so I figured I'd just go with it. Dox seemed to stop for a moment, giving me an uncertain look.

“Um, Jennifer, we hath just realized this; but we are too big to use the tools the station has provided….”

I nodded, walking up to the forge. I decided at this point to reactivate my emotional parameters, blinking for a moment and shuddering slightly with a shake of my head.

“Uh sorry, just getting my emotions back online. Still, how about you just run me through the steps of all this and I work everything? That way I can do some of this on my own later and pass it to Kyth and all. Sound good?”

        “EEEEEEE~! An apprentice! We hath longed for somepony to ask us for such a long time! Let this be the day that Selune finally passes her knowledge unto somepony.” She cheered with a great deal of excitement. Huh... Apprentice. I kinda liked the sound of that... Dox cleared her throat, and settled into a cross-legged seated position, placing her almost down to my height off the ground. “First….”

        The smithing process was fairly easy to learn, between Dox's instructing and my systems giving me advanced comprehension. It was a simple matter of watching the metals melt together, and then preparing to pour into ingot casts. Following this, we melted the obsidian down which would be the hard part, because we couldn’t mix the obsidian with the rest of the metal without ruining the durability of the steel/orichalcum. Next came the use of the hearth and forge while keeping the obsidian molten, with Dox taking a more observational role as I heated and hammered the ingots, fixing impurities and folding the steel over into itself several times with mechanical precision and power, all thanks to my mechanical form. Then came the shaping. Dox directed me to shape it as I saw fit, with the goal of its shaping taking shape in my mind. I unconsciously smiled as I worked, pounding the metal into shape. Dox got my attention as she spoke.

“You’re smiling we see.”

I glanced up at her and nodded.

“Uh-huh. I like learning new stuff, especially when it involves like.. making something. Y’know?” She snorted, and I blushed and waved her off. ”U-Uh, not like that ya perv! I mean like art and stuff...”

“Well, not completely away from the subject, if thou art willing to at least indulge in some filly talk, what dost thou find appealing about thine chosen partner? Personally, we admit he is absolutely adorable. Not to mention he has a nice flank.” She waggled her eyebrows at me as I focused on hammering the broadsword into shape.

“Uh alright… Well, first of all he’s loyal… Like, I can always trust him with whatever’s bugging me and he’ll be there to help. And he’s a teeny bit clingy I suppose, but it’s kinda nice to have him be all protective of me, you know? But mostly I can just be sure that he’ll always be there when I need him."

“And of his body? Tis more important than thou art willing to admit, but physical attraction is also key to a healthy relationship, lest thou be stuck as incredibly close friends than as lovers. Thou cannot have a purely platonic relationship with a love...lest thou end up stuck in...what dost the youth call it these days? The ‘friend’ zone. If neither of thee take steps to improve this, twould become extremely awkward for any future romance. Please say that thou at least kiss, and not just for special moments.” She stated with a concerned expression.

I blushed slightly and nodded, my mind wandering to Kyth when he was human and now. “Y-yeah, we do… And yeah I will admit that it’ a bit interesting having Kyth be all muscly, but I liked him just as well when he was human.”

“So the tight plot was part of the package either way?” She asked with a curious tome, and I gave a brief nod and turned back to my nearly complete metalworking. “That is enough, for what we’re doing, thou need not make an edge, just the shape is well enough, go ahead and put it in the water to quench. Also, thou hast made a good catch with Kyth. Consider thou quite lucky, especially with his Displacement ‘enhancing’ him.” She winked, and patted me on the shoulder. I rolled my eyes, feeling a little more used to her types of questions.

“Well he does have an octopus on his head, so that takes a little bit of adjusting.”

“Thou finds that unattractive? We consider it a bonus. Imagine, what that exotic beard would make kisses like. He wouldn't even need to raise his arms to pull you into a kiss.”

I gave a shaky nod and shrug. I didn't necessarily like or dislike that about Kyth's new form, it was just sorta... Different. Like if he suddenly got a normal beard out of nowhere.

“Oh? I see. Well, thou had best get used to such embraces. In our own experience when we tried courting the seapony king, who happened to be an octopus-pony, we discovered the binding tentacles tend to react more out of instinct than anything. It gets annoying, but such is the way with love, you try to find ways around such things. Now then, for the difficult part..." She stopped talking for a moment, putting a hand to her head with a pained look.

I blinked and looked up at her, uncertain what to make of this.

“Uh hey Dox… I don’t mean to sound rude but uh… Is there any reason behind the royal ‘we’ you keep using? I didn’t want to sound rude about it but you’ve been using it since you got here so I’m kinda curious.”

“We are the Princess of the Night. Tis normal for us to use the Royal ‘We’ when addressing...address...I...I….” As she spoke tears began running down her cheeks, and I instantly became worried as she put her hands over her face. “I lost it...I lost myself again and just kept ignoring it...why did I need someone else to tell me that besides Recall?”

I gave her a concerned look and extended my legs to place me at an equal height to her as she at. I tried and failed to speak a few times and settled on putting a hand on her shoulder with a concerned look.

“Um… Is everything okay Dox?”

“No. Nothing’s okay. What I said to Kyth earlier about losing everything? I’m...losing myself. I can barely remember things I used to know compared to thousands of years of memories I got from sharing pieces of my soul with Luna. Now I’m not Dox, but I can barely remember I’m not Luna either. It’s why I’m Doxuna. I can’t...please, it’s a lot to ask, but can you give me a hug? I...I need to be reminded I’m not alone….” She asked with tears in her eyes, giving me a wretched look.

I blinked and nodded, stretching my arms to wrap around her shoulders as I brought her into a hug. She sobbed softly as she nuzzled into my shoulder and I did my best to offer comfort. She seemed to stiffen up from something, clinging to me a bit tighter before suddenly spasming, hacking up a mess of blood with the appearance of quicksilver.

I yelped at this, concerned for whatever was happening to her. “Gah! Are you alright? W-we have some minor medical stuff if you need it!”

“No, I told Kyth this already. If I don’t travel or get entertained, I get ‘punished’. Painful nosebleeds, coughing up blood from a popped vessel in my throat or lungs, a broken body part even. If I don’t leave soon, I’m going to get hurt even more. Worst thing is it has the worst timing. First time it happened I was getting a seriously good lay from a stallion for the first time, and then again for...I don’t know how many times in a row. But apparently, raunchy sex isn’t enough to keep it interested, and that was for staying in one place for a night and having snu snu all morning. Here I’ve only been with you a few hours into the night, and it demands I go when being alone is the worst thing I could do to myself.” She informed as she let me back off the hug and wiped her eyes.

“Holy shit… Whatever ‘it’ is, I wanna punch it right now. Is there anything Kyth and I could do for you?”

“Not to my knowledge, besides company. I’ll help you finish the sword, then I’ll have to go somewhere else. I might stay in your world, but I have to at least take a tour around town, maybe into the Everfree, anyplace but here specifically. Heh, just look for the busty giantess, shouldn’t be hard to find, hm?” She asked sadly as she sniffled, and hacked up a few of what appeared to be hardened chunks of  her quicksilver blood. “Now then, for the obsidian.”

She had me coat the base sword I had made of the steel and orichalcum in the molten obsidian, and use a spray of wateroccasionally to quench parts that seemed to be in place. It made the impressive 4-foot broadsword from a green-tinged steel shape into a black shining blade of impossible sharpness, increasingly so with how I had decided to give the blade very fine waves to it, allowing for the blade to be able to catch targets easier.

When the sword was then put in the quenching bath to cool and harden, Dox seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and pride.

“Well, it’s done. Either name the weapon yourself as it’s creator, or let Kyth name it. Such a weapon is deserving of a name. Also...what was this bag you asked Kyth to retrieve? He never came back down.”

I gained a slightly discomforted look. I had actually intended that as a wild goose chase to get him to leave while Dox was in such a  compromising position earlier.

“Eh, that was just a reason to make him leave while I was pushing you before I turned down my emotions. And as for the sword...Hmm. Magic nulling, dark blade…. I’ll call it Riftcutter.”

“A fine name! I am proud apprentice Jennifer. I am glad to have been of assistance to you. Now then...um...I’m afraid considering last time; I’m going to need help out too….” She admitted with a massive blush. “No homo. Wait, what? Um...sorry, totally confused right now.”

“U-uh sure, I’m gonna null my emotions again real quick though…”

A few minutes of awkward touching later, we were outside of the room and into the house proper again. Kyth looked up at us from where he had been sitting on the couch, apparently reading the InsMan tome.

“Oh hey guys. How was the forging all night? I would’ve checked in but uh… You guys locked me out.” Kyth informed as he looked back to the spell tome in his hand.

“Sorry about that. How has it been going, sitting on a couch, doing basically nothing?” Dox asked him. “Surely you found something fun to while away the time as we essentially ran off and made you a present.”

He nodded and held up the book. “Yeah, I’ve been reading through the InsMan tome. There’s actually spells recorded in this thing other than the Inspiration Manifestation one. It’s got theoretics in it, too. So, how was the forging or whatever?”

“It was fantastic. You have a new weapon that your beloved made for you with her own two hands.” Dox said proudly, hovered over me and patting my shoulder. “Oh go on now, it is customary for a Forge Mistress to present her love at least one item of her making.” She insisted, holding the sword to my back so Kyth wouldn’t see it immediately. “Imagine, one day, you’ll make the rings that bind you.” She whispered to me. I cracked a nervous smile at that, and moved forward to present the sword to Kyth. “Here you go Kyth, your new sword! I’ve named it Riftcutter!”

He blinked and took the sword from her, looking it over. “Whoa… Awesome!” He took it and gave it a few experimental swings before looking up.

“Thanks Jen! And you too Dox!”

“Doxuna, please.” Dox replied as if by reflex, only to gain a mildly depressed expression after. “Th-thanks Kyth. I’ll have to postpone any further lessons for now due to complications, but feel free to call on me later for more. Don’t forget to practice on your own time though, you can’t spend all your time giving loving looks to your love, you have to do something productive besides tell her how much you love her.” Dox winked with a little giggle before turning towards the front door and stopping. “Um….”

I blinked and narrowed my eyes at her, thinking of something I had forgotten earlier when I had been forced to help her get through the entrance to the forge. “Wait a sec… Can’t you teleport!?”

She blinked, and blushed vibrantly. Her posture seemed to shrink a bit as she grinned sheepishly at me, her ears bent back. “Um...yes? I forgot about that. Sorry for having you touch my butt….”

“Mm-hmm.” I gave me a deadpan look with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, I’m just… Gonna go.” She said, quickly teleporting out of the room, being pinged by my scanners as having gone right outside.

I pondered what Dox had told me about all that he had dealt with, and an idea popped up. I dashed down to my workshop, grabbing the remains of my drained Dox battery and rushing to catch Dox before he headed out.

“Yo Dox wait up!”

I went out of the house, Kyth behind me, and saw Dox hovering in front of a portal in the air and about to enter it. She turned her head to look up at me as I hovered up to be at eye level with her and spoke.

“Hey before you go, I got you something!” I took out the battery and held it out to her. She took it, not quite seeming to recognize it.

“It’s the battery I made with some of the blood you gave me. The thing’s drained and I got a replacement but I figure you should have it, sorta as a reminder. I don’t know what all has happened to you but maybe this’ll help you remember what you were like before whatever stuff from Luna got into you. Help you remember the guy that gave me a way to keep alive when I needed it and all. And the guy that we fought a president dragon beside, hmm?”

I jokingly elbowed her side and she laughed as she put away the battery. “Thanks Jen. You two be safe now, hear?” She said before turning to the portal and flying into it, fading from sight as it closed. I turned back to Kyth with a tired smile.

"Alright, friend consoled, new sword made, body repaired, and everything finally dealt with. It has been a LONG day, so I'm gonna go to sleep now..."

Kyth nodded. "I've been awake more than twenty four hours, I think I'll join you..."

The two of us stumbled to bed together, immediately falling unconscious from the strains of the past day, wondering what tomorrow'd bring... Next Chapter: Chapter Twenty Three: Aftermath Estimated time remaining: 12 Minutes