"Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? Especially right now?" the lavender alicorn asked, following slowly after me as I walked up the cobbled pathway. Our hooves echoed out against the stone, dust rising here and there as the flat, worn rock shifted beneath us. It epitomized ancient, the terrain around us definitely showing its hundred or more years of neglect.

I nodded, glancing back at them as they followed. Twilight was right behind me, giving a concerned glance my way. Snapshot was directly to her left, camera strapped to her chest, eyepiece equally attached to her head, and trigger in her muzzle as she excitedly looked around, of course. Huh, she was keeping it toned down. Probably for my sake. Rainbow Dash and Applejack took up the lead, the pegasus uncharacteristically earthbound as she walked next to her herdmate.

"Rarity insisted on doing her 'spa refreshment getaway and hooficure', and you three didn't want to go with, so I offered for you to come with me instead, remember?" I returned more slowly, winking to Twilight as she scowled.

Applejack smirked behind her and to the left slightly, giving me an amused if not coy grin, their expressions causing an almost perfect juxtaposition. "Ah think she meant, why are you comin' 'ere at this exact moment," she corrected needlessly, simultaneously lessening my teasing of the lavender mare while also soothing her a bit. Spoilsport.

Shrugging, I turned my head back around to face forward again, casting my eyes over the terrain. We were almost at the top of the hill now, ancient path leading along the overgrown grass, barely visible with age. The cobbled stone was worn with age, just like the ones that the manor itself was made out of. It stood overlooking one of the mountain's many cliff faces, standing tall and proud, yet casting a haunted sort of shadow far below. In its own time, it would have shown bright as a mark of established presence and maturity, proving that the family within was important and dedicated to the future of Equestria and Equus itself.

Ancient and weathered wood held the framework together, supporting the large, double doors that were at the top of the stairs, deck surrounding it looking a bit unstable. It was a mess. Now the manor was just a testament to failed aspiration, broken promises, and a loss so consuming that the ground itself seemed to cry in pain.

I felt it now, deep in my core. The more I used the Earth Pony side of my magic, the more in tune with Equus I became. Applejack's ears lowered, feeling it too, and the other two undoubtedly felt it through our links. The atmosphere became solemn as I stepped up onto the deck, swallowing as I looked the massive door over.

"This is so amazing! I know it was periodically looked after, but obviously with nopony living here for so long, it's seen better days!" Snapshot chirped, hopping up the deck next to me before spinning in a circle, grinning as she took two shots of the side walling. Okay, so mostly solemn, anyway. Eh, close enough.

Stepping to the side, I avoided getting smacked in the face with a golden tail as she spun, smiling a little as I watched her. As usual, her energy was almost contagious, which was one of the reasons I'd asked her to come along. I knew that I'd need all the energy I could get for this. Of course, she was also an amazing investigator, and had a sharp eye for detail, which was something I was also relying on here.

"Focus, Snapshot. You remember the image we're looking for, right?" I asked, watching her spin again and face me once more.

She perked up, nodding towards me before adding, "Yup yup! It's a circle with a flower inside, and a gemstone growing out of the flower all covered in vines! Your biological mom's Cutie Mark, right?" I relaxed, then nodded to her, causing her to grin and hop up to the main door itself, looking it over.

After everything that had happened, the mansion had slipped my mind, of course. Now, winter was over, the weather getting warmer again. Fluttershy was huge now, the little filly growing well inside of her. Soon, I'd be a dad, and I'd have to focus on that for a good long while. Coupled with my duties to DReg... No, I had to do this now. Otherwise I'd be stuck waiting again.

Touching my hoof to the door, I felt the magic that Tia had cast on me go off almost instantly. The powerful seals unlocked across the manor, and I sighed, sliding my hoof up and slowly turning the handle. I'd expected answers when I spoke with my parents about it. I'd expected everything to be solved rather fast. I guess I was silly like that. My mom knew effectively nothing about the jewelry box, which only proved it had been made after her death. My father and other mother were surprised that it had been delivered to me, not immediately knowing who had sent it or how they'd gotten it. It was supposed to have disappeared along with the majority of the lab equipment so long ago. Dad also didn't know about that, which proved it wasn't him that had hid them.

But then everything changed. He got a look of dawning realization, and then I felt nothing but overwhelming sadness. It was difficult for me to even comprehend in my mind, but he didn't want to elaborate. Instead, he suggested I search the manor, looking for a matching symbol to use the key in. I had to ask what was wrong, and what he suddenly figured out, of course, but he just said that it was better if I found out for myself.

I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting, but I was only left with a sense of unfulfillment. Nothing greeted us when the door opened. The building had been abandoned entirely, and looking into the entry hall, all I saw was furniture covered in tarps, layers of dust, and bleak darkness that felt like it seeped form the walls itself. My ears lowered, but I felt Twilight suddenly step up next to me, brushing against my left side.

"You're not doing this alone, Mender. We're here with you, and we're going to keep going until you find what you're looking for," she assured rather strongly. Our link had gotten more powerful over the long winter months, understanding radiating from her as she gave me a smile that I hesitantly returned. She had felt what had gone through me, and I suspected she realized that I needed to do this now.

"Of course! It's big, but not that big! With all of us here, we'll find that lock in no time flat!" Rainbow chirped in agreement, taking to the air finally and drifting over my head, winking down at me. Her taking to the air turned out to be a mistake a moment later, the small explosion of dust leaving us all coughing and hacking.

Snapshot took that as her cue to flee the cloud of dust. Applejack stepped up to where she was, using her Stetson to cover her muzzle as she glared up at the cyan pegasus. Rainbow shot her a somewhat sheepish grin before flapping even harder for a moment, leaning against the wall for support as she used her wings to literally blow away the remaining cloud. I finished sneezing twice, feeling a little dizzy now, and the orange mare lifted her hat up a moment later and huffed.

"Careful, Dash! Searchin’ is gonna get ah lot more complicated in ah haze o’ dust!” she warned, then shook her head and looked around at the large hallway, before tacking on, “Ah reckon tha ol' girl could use some refurbishin', an’ definitely ah good dustin’, but maybe ya can even use it again? Given Fluttershy's... interests... Ah think ya might be startin' ah rather large family..." she pointed out, smirking and causing her herd mate to burst into snickers above me. I felt my cheeks heat up a little, but rolled my eyes lightly. What Fluttershy wanted to do wasn't really anypony's business but hers. And maybe mine, given that I was sort of needed for the process. Well, unless she wanted to have a foal with Twilight instead.

Dismissing the thoughts, I finally stepped within, glancing over to Snapshot to verify she was still with us. She gave a grin and wave from across the room, prior having been peeking at a large portrait on the wall. I walked over and glanced up at it, noting it must be at least a meter wide by two tall. Within the heavy brass frame was a large, blue unicorn stallion standing next to a slightly smaller green earth pony mare. I didn't recognize either of them, so it didn't do me a tremendous amount of good.

Sensing my confusion, Snapshot nodded absently to me and explained, "This is a portrait of Steel Warp and Applecore. They were Bronze Bastion's parents." Oh! Looking back up at the painting, my eyes traced over their forms, then the manner itself which was in the backdrop. His Cutie Mark was a smooth, bending metal spiral, turning around in on itself until it shrank to a point in the center in about three rotations. Hers was an apple tree with three large looking apples in it, the roots curling out and twisting amidst themselves. Interesting.

Twilight's ears perked at that, slipping up next to me on the right as she looked at the mare instead. "Oooh, Applecore! One of the Apple Family, and a master at using tree shaping in construction. According to the documents, she was one of the ponies who originally made the old library," she informed, looking oddly delighted at the find.

"Huh. Well then, Ah guess that makes Mender an Apple, too," Applejack teased, winking to me as she walked up on my other side. Well, uh, technically, yeah.

I 'felt' her smirk at that, and inwardly groaned as Rainbow flittered up above us, hovering in the air as she looked the portrait over. "Oooh, that makes him family already, right? Shouldn't that make the decision even easier?" she teased coyly, reaching down and roughly rubbing the top of my head with her left forehoof.

Rolling my eyes, I just glared up at her as she slowed, sticking her tongue out before zipping off towards the left hallway. "There's no point in rushin', Dash. 'sides, Mender's gotta get used ta bein' ah dad before he considers joinin' up our herds," Applejack answered for me, giving me a more gentle wink before trotting after Rainbow. Ugh.

Twilight shot them a skeptical glance before just shrugging and leaning against my side. "Relax, Mender. We don't have to decide right away. Their connection is with you, of course, and you know Fluttershy and I support you fully. The two of us are already amazing friends with them too, so being in a herd would be rather natural, if that's what you want..." she reminded, then nuzzled lightly under the right side of my chin. Hmm.

I remembered our talks about this already. Not having grown up in Equus, their traditions and values were a little strange to me still. Instead, I had the Keldarian memories 'tinting' my viewpoint. Although ironically, I think that might have helped a little, if only letting me understand more after I inverted the gender ratio. Fluttershy's words made sense the most, of course.

"Love is love. I love lots of ponies. My friends, my parents, you and Twilight. Love isn't something that diminishes with the more ponies you share it with. It gets stronger the more it's spread..." she had confidently explained. It had surprised me to hear it so willfully from the normally reserved mare, but that only meant she believed in it all the more. Love is love. It wasn't a resource that was spent on ponies, but instead something that grew as it spread. That... I understood it, but it held a stark contrast to my Keldarian memories, which were very sparse on those sorts of emotions. But they also weren't my memories, were they?

Despite knowing that they were fake, it was still sometimes difficult to separate the instincts that came from the memories. Would things be different had I grown up in Equus instead? Loving somepony other than Fluttershy and Twilight seemed weird, but other memories rushed readily forward that proved otherwise with Rainbow and Applejack. They remembered, too, which changed everything. Memories controlled us, so maybe fake ones influencing me too wasn't so strange?

The bottom of the brass-framed picture got a little too close, knocking me out of my thoughts literally by smacking into the front of my muzzle. Wincing, I moved my head back, just in time to let the picture edge go up and over my head, an irritated sidelong glance shot to Snapshot a second later. Flashlight in her mouth, she peeked under the large portrait, and then scowled as she noted nothing but a blank wall.

"Pheh... Phigures eh woulnenn hee haat eahshee," she murmured, mouth full of light-producing utility device. Letting the picture carefully back against the wall, she hopped back to all four legs again and trotted off to the right instead.

Twilight gave a mildly annoyed scowl as she left before shouting, "Don't touch anything fragile, Snapshot! This isn't our house!" She took off after the mare at a brisk pace, and I chuckled lightly. Well, if they were part of my family, it sort of was... I didn't say anything, though, as I stood as well, giving a nod to Rainbow and Applejack before following my fillyfriend. Hearing them join after me, I just steeled my concentration, preparing for what would probably be a very, very long day...

I know it was advertised as a 'manor', but damn. This place was absolutely huge. Full-size kitchen complimenting a dining room capable of seating fifty. Indoor pool. Twelve bedrooms. Ten baths plus downstairs guest bath. One master suite and an accompanying study. Full library. We momentarily lost Twi there... They even had an artifact display and laboratory. Those last two were mysteriously void of all artifacts and laboratory equipment, exactly like they'd warned me. Somepony had moved them, just a few days after my father had died, and I was starting to suspect at least how.

Walking along the back garden now, I glanced out at the poorly tended yard, overgrown hedges and trees scattered about. It was a shame to see the place like this, to be honest. Sensing my forethoughts, Twilight took the opportunity to pounce once again. "Like I said, Mender, relocation magic isn't that difficult these days. It's a bit complicated, but done a lot. A dedicated team could move the entire estate to Ponyville, right next to the castle if you really wanted. In just a few days to set up the spell, even," she repeated, for the third time today. I gave her a knowing smirk, and a light blush danced across her cheeks. She knew that I knew that she really, truly wanted to play around with an advanced relocation spell like that.

Her wingtips gave little flicks, and I leaned over, giving her a gentle nuzzle to the cheek as she walked next to me. Her posture relaxed immediately, and she shifted to a smile instead, despite still blushing. As cute as her enthusiasm was, I understood her on a more fundamental level, and she didn't need to worry about being awkward at this point.

"This place certainly would encourage ah... larger family o' sorts. Without it, Ah'm guessin' all this space would just feel lonely..." Applejack murmured from behind me, glancing up along the second floor of the large building.

Nodding to that, I added, "That's what my dad said. After most of the foals moved out, and with my mom gone, things were really lonely for him and Auraprism. Then after she died, too, there was just nothing left..." A pang struck in my throat, but it didn't last long as Rainbow landed on my back rather abruptly a moment later.

Stumbling, I caught myself, then lifted an eyebrow up at her, getting a grin in return. I sent a silent thanks to my full bodily recovery and the strength to easily lift her without any added effort. Doing drills with the DReg guards was doing wonders for my health! She giggled, however, seemingly content with riding on top of me for a moment, then quickly injected, "Nope. No frowns. They're super happy together now, so there's no need to get all fussy over what happened. Pinks isn't here to give you a whack, so it's up to me!"

The mare was warm against me, excessively cute, and close enough to feel her affection, so staying sad was a lost cause anyway. Friends and lovers had a tendency to invoke that, I noticed, then smiled back towards her and nodded. "Fine. I'll even tell her that you were filling in for her," I teased, imagining what reaction that would entail.

I wasn't expecting the flash of horror to shift through Dash's eyes. "Oh Celestia, no! I told her before that she can totally keep her position. The last time she put me through her 'party planner training', it felt like I'd been run over by a whole herd of buffalo the next morning!" she revealed, shuddering on top of me.

Applejack snorted at that, smirking as she walked up on my other side now that her fillyfriend wasn't next to her anymore. "An' ya know what that would feel like, Ah reckon. Like last year, when Appleoosa an' tha buffalo tribes hosted tha Summer Sun Celebration?" she inquired, sounding mirthful, but there was a hint of recollection in it. Uh oh.

"Ugh, don't remind me. At least Strongheart knew how to set a wing..." my passenger muttered. Nope, didn't want to know.

Thankfully I didn't have to, as Snapshot whistled from about twelve meters ahead. "Hey, Boss! It's over here. That feeling is faint, but it's definitely strongest around here," she tacked on, looking over the side of the manor now, particularly to the deck that was built along the base of the wall. A double glass door led out onto it, and it was beautifully crafted using a rich looking hardwood. Stepping off the cobblestone and grass combination we'd been walking on before, I moved up onto the deck, heading for where my dutiful ninja photographer assistant was. She'd been on the 'scent' coming specifically from the key when it 'folded out'. Specifically, the sensation in tune with folded space opening up. Her abilities to pick out different types of energy at vast distances was kind of frightening, admittedly.

"So there really is a subspace disturbance around the manor. Interesting. Still scanning, Sis?' I asked out loud, into the air in general.

The glow appeared next to me, the book strapped under my left saddlebags glowing softly as she appeared, drifting in the air and effortlessly moving with me. Purdue smiled gently then nodded, looking across the deck before adding, "It's definitely focused around this sector. I think we're getting closer to the linked point. It's not neededly the keyhole itself, but it should be a specific object in the area that it's bound to..."

Twilight slipped past me, looking up the side of the house, then turning around and glancing out into the yard instead. "So we should find the bound object and the keyhole. The object, due to the logical deduction, has to be something that was here at that time, and also sturdy enough to withstand weather and the effects of entropy. If this is a subspace effect, that sort of technology doesn't exist here and was never released to the public, which means whomever created it was a high level member of BEID..." she deduced rather rapidly, focused on analyzing the area.

BEID. Bureau of Extradimensional Investigation and Defense. It differed from my DReg, Dimensional Regulation, only in transparency and level of support, really. Yet in their brief existence, they'd spied heavily on Keela's old dimension and gathered countless data on technology and magic from within. They'd literally be the only source for such a technique.

I nodded idly, then added, "And that's the other reason I wanted to do this today, while Fluttershy's safe with Rarity..." It was also the other reason that Pinkie went with the other two. Rarity's enchantment was essentially purely defensive, and Fluttershy couldn't defend herself at all, so just in case BEID tried anything... I doubted they would, but this was my mare and daughter I had to think about, and I wasn't about to take chances.

Rainbow frowned on my back and Applejack narrowed her eyes a little. "So this could be ah leader o' BEID... Might be trouble?" the orange mare asked, her muscles stretching out a little as she tensed in place. Twilight glanced back at us, apparently finding nothing solid in her examination of the yard, and sighed wearily.

"We can't be too careful. It's probably nothing, but... Some of these ponies are a little crazy, so we should take all the precautions we can," she voiced, pretty much mirroring exactly what I was thinking anyway. Hence, I'd brought the two biggest bruisers in DReg, one of the most powerful magic users in Equus, and a ninja. Them wanting to come just made organizing the trip easier...

"Boss..." Snapshot suddenly murmured, a good twelve meters or so to my left, back along the corner of the deck. I frowned and turned, looking her over but didn't see anything in particular. She was staring into the hot tub that was installed on that corner of the deck. Hot tub? Oh!

Smiling faintly, I headed over towards her, my memories snapping back to what I'd read from my mother's diary. This was the summer project they'd agonized over for almost two months. They'd taken that picture in front of it when they'd finished. Dad had looked so proud...

Getting closer, I saw that it was well built indeed. The wood was reinforced around the edges, undoubtedly going under the deck with a solid concrete or stone support block. My mother had mentioned digging right into the ground for it, after all. I knew what digging in the dirt under the sun was like, and tried not to remember finding those stupid rocks that almost ate Fluttershy. Dumb rocks...

"Oooh, now that's ah nice hot tub. If ya do decide ta bring this place back ta Ponyville, we're so takin' ah dip in it!" Applejack almost purred, looking delighted as she gazed over it. I raised my eyebrow to her, and got a wink back as she bumped my back hip. Well, that wasn't suggestive. Not at all. Dash grinned, too, up until the rump bump unbalanced her. She wiggled once before taking to the air again, then promptly landed next to the orange mare on the other side.

Twilight smiled in a more relaxed manner, looking at her own reflection in the water before sighing and nodding. "It's nice and deep, and it appears to have at least six heat enchantments. It's probably lovely to soak in," she added. Figures, she'd note the technical specifications, just like I had. Heh.

Snapshot smirked as she listened, then tacked on, "And it's filled with water..." Huh? All four of us looked back down at the hot tub again, noting that it was indeed filled with water. That was sort of what a hot tub was for, wasn't it...? Wait...

The lavender mare's eyes narrowed first, staring harder at the surface. "She's right. The pool was drained and covered. This hasn't seen maintenance in at least eighty years, but it's not only filled with water, it looks pristine and clean..." she pointed out. Crap.

"Twilight..." I muttered, taking a step back from the edge of the hot tub as I did. Snapshot, AJ, and RD took my cue and also stepped back, just as Twilight nodded.

"On it..." she confirmed, horn starting to glow as she lowered it ever so slightly towards the water. The orb of blue light exited the tip of her horn a second later, dropping into the surface of the hot tub and immediately performing a rudimentary spell effect. The water froze over within seconds, smooth surface rupturing from the expansions of ice underneath. After it looked like a tub of ice shards instead, her horn lit up again, sending thousands of them into the air and pulling all of the now solid water away from the tub itself.

Nodding, I stepped past a cloud of the shards and looked directly into the bottom of the pool. A smirk played over my muzzle a second later, almost involuntary, as I spotted the emblem at the bottom. Crystal flower, woven vines, intricate pattern... It was that same stylized version of my mother's Cutie Mark that was on the bottom of the jewelry box. "We found it..." I muttered, looking to my left again. Applejack and Rainbow stepped up, just as Purdue materialized in the air next to me yet again, nodding to herself.

"Confirmed. There's a spatial compression located right on that plate. I'm pretty sure that's the 'keyhole'. My scans are also complete for the focus. It's inside the house still, ground floor towards the back of the building. I think it's in the old lab area..." she reported.

"Good job, Sis!" I praised, watching as the little filly burst into a flushed sort of sheepish grinning, her forelegs shifting back and forth awkwardly. I couldn’t help but give a grin at her usual adorable self, but refocused a moment later. This was it, I suddenly realized. I looked back to Twilight, just as she pulled the jewelry box out of the larger back pouch she wore connected to her saddlebags. Time to finally figure out what was hidden here...

The 'key' had slid in through the embossed plate seamlessly, phasing through it as if the matter didn't exist. Subspace. That didn't prove anything we didn't already know, of course. We hadn't expected what had happened after, however.

Like ghosts, drifting images had appeared amidst the shattered ice. Each was transparent, shards visibly hanging in the air in and past their forms. My mother was the focus of the scene, laughing and nodding to several ponies I didn't recognize. The situation shifted after, showing her running along a track, and then leaping over a hurdle in place, form perfect. She looked somehow younger, though, build smaller and legs shorter. The next one had her as a young filly instead, Mark gone from her flank as she sat in a tree, waving downwards. How? How was this even possible?

“The subspace nexus just activated! It’s in the old lab, definitely!” Purdue reported. I nodded to her, and she started into a run towards the lab, the glowing Prudentia floating along after her. The questions bounced around inside my head as we ran, though. That was definitely my mother in those images, but it wasn’t from the perspective of my mother! The glowing filly we were following turned a sharp right, then headed into the empty lab and workshop we'd discovered earlier. We skidded on the wooden floorboards a second later, sliding as we rounded the corner after her, then all six of us ground to a stop, my ghostly little sister included. "Ooooh!" Snapshot murmured almost instantly, not missing a beat.

In the center of the aisle, definitely having not been there before, was a large metal pyramid standing almost twice as tall as a pony. It was only a dark metal frame, visible whirling mechanics on the inside as multiple crystals rods adjusted slowly around its border, some jutting out of the frame and rotating as if 'stirring' the air around it. My eyes narrowed a little, and Twilight looked over to her left at me expectantly. Yeah, it was rudimentary, but...

"I've never seen one built like this, but based on my evil twin's memories, this is definitely a subspace nexus. Normally they're a lot smaller than this, and the ones inside me are barely the size of a bit, but this is definitely what's controlling the subspace over this area..." I answered, stepping past Purdue and slowly heading towards it.

Purdue nodded as I shifted past, then warned, "Careful, Big Brother. We're already inside the field." Looking around, I noted ghostly, translucent images of experiments littering the shelves where none had been before, and realized we were technically halfway between two dimensions: the pocket dimension that this subspace nexus had created, and the real one in my empty manor. This is definitely how the lab had been mysteriously emptied of all of its things.

I felt them following me as I stepped slowly forward. "Establishing connection and activating," I reported, watching my side status window showing the uplink with the field around us. Using my own subspace manipulators, I hooked onto the area and slipped all of us through the barrier a second later.

The tone of the room shifted, warm morning sunlight turning cold blue and taking all the shadows with it. An icy mist greeted us along the floor, and I frowned while stepping around the subspace focus, looking past it to the closed door that had previously led to my father's study. The shelves were now filled with experiments and mechanical works, looking as if they'd been frozen in time and preserved perfectly.

"Okay, this is downright creepy..." Applejack muttered, glancing about at the shelves as she caught up to my left. Twilight frowned to my right, nodding along.

"They built an exact replica of the rooms then swapped it with the real ones?" she asked a moment later, then followed my gaze towards the door. It had been open before, but that didn't mean much. Now we were inside of a subspace fold, in the 'real' room that used to be in the house.

"Yeah," I muttered, trailing off as I walked up to the door and looked along its border. Light played along the floor through the mist, coming from under the door. My scanners activated fully, and my instincts were answered correctly, showing bio-signals coming from the other side of the door.

Sensing it, too, Snapshot nodded, coming up on Twilight's right. "We're not alone here..." she agreed, causing the others to tense. Well, fortune favored the bold, they said. Frowning, I lifted my right hoof up and abruptly knocked three times, rather loudly. We wouldn't be getting the door open without alerting them, so might as well announce ourselves properly. My senses stayed in high alert regardless as I lowered my leg again. Normal ponies we could easily hold our own against, but this was far from a normal situation, so I wasn't going to take any chances.

Light but deliberate hoofsteps sounded on the other side of the door, slowly approaching after a long few seconds. I straightened out my posture, getting ready to either defend myself and my allies, or greet a more civil individual. And what a civil individual we got.

"Welcome, Mender. You're earlier than we anticipated," she spoke in her usual proper, flowing accent. I only gave her the benefit of a single raised eyebrow towards her, and she smirked almost immediately. Was I surprised? Both yes and no, to be honest.

Octavia nodded once, then turned and walked further into the room again. Her dark mane was tucked up today in a different hairstyle, a relaxed ponytail hanging layered over her straight longer length. I pushed the door open fully, and then strolled further in following her. Ambush looked less and less likely at this point, unless I read her personality completely wrong. Although her being a BEID agent might be a significant hinting at that.

The study was exactly like the one it was copied from in real space, which ultimately made sense. Still, this was my father's real workplace, and a certain level of curiosity took hold as I glanced around at the shelves and paintings on the wall. To my surprise, it looked like all the originals were still in place, and even his projects still rested in their spots.

"I don't normally use this room, or the workshop outside. Everything's exactly as he left it," a male voice suddenly spoke up. It was a lighter tone, and very much not familiar to me. My eyes snapped onto the desk, then past it at the stallion sitting at it instead. He wore a heavy cloak of sorts, black in shading, with a cowl that covered his head fully and left dark shadows encroaching halfway up his muzzle. What I could see of his fur showed grayed blue tones, probably originally a dark blue color. That was odd, as I didn't think pony fur turned 'gray' up until almost the end of their lifespan, which he most certainly didn't seem to be by his posture.

Octavia sat down in front of the desk, turning back to look at us as we approached, but I ignored her in favor of staring at the stallion. Twilight stayed directly to my right, but Snapshot drifted to the side a little, spreading out our formation. Applejack and Rainbow stayed tight on my left, the cyan mare shooting an intense glare at Octavia as we approached.

"He?" I inquired, guessing as to whom it was, but I wanted to hear it out of the stallion's own mouth.

"Bronze Bastion. Your... father," the stallion spoke, voice going quiet at that last bit. His head lifted a little, showing two bright, crystal blue eyes under the cowl. They looked me over intently, and then softened drastically as he seemed to sag. "You have his eyes... but I see her colors in your coat. This is..." he started, then exhaled and looked away. Octavia just smiled softly, then looked back at me again, curious now instead.

I met her eyes, but she didn't shy away, or even flinch, and I didn't detect anything akin to remorse or uncertainty there. A deeper sigh drew my attention back to the stallion, just as he slowly shook his head. "We didn't intend to hide the truth from you, but you must realize that we are in a, well, delicate situation. We cannot move freely or in the open, and I must maintain my guise to remain useful. However, I gave you that jewelry box as a token of my friendship. I fully understand that I may leave this situation under arrest, and right now, I will state that if so, I will go peacefully. Given who you are, I doubt either of us could resist you anyway..." he explained.

Applejack's hoof made a decidedly distracting impact against the wood floor, and she shot a more stern stare at him before reminding, "Ya have us at ah mighty big disadvantage 'ere, Mister. Ain't it common courtesy ta introduce yerself, 'specially if yer gonna try pleadin' innocent." Very true. But now, I had already started to suspect exactly who he was. It wasn't possible, but it really was him.

The stallion smiled, staring at me instead, then nodded. "I believe Mender has already guessed who I am, but yes. My apologies. I'm not used to dealing face to face with ponies who don't already know exactly who I am. My name is Ether Burst, and I believe you know miss Octavia Melody already," he introduced. Shit.

"Wait, what...?!" Twilight asked immediately, but I nodded slowly.

"Those memories of my mother that we saw coming out of the top gem of the jewelry box. Nopony could have recorded those except for somepony who'd been with her growing up and involved in BEID. Her foalhood friend, Ether Burst, who just 'disappeared' a few weeks after the dissolution of the organization. It didn't really dissolve, did it?" I asked instead, sitting down slowly next to the lavender alicorn. That put him as over three hundred and twenty years old.

Ether smiled, nodding as he finally pulled back his cowl. To my surprise, his eyes were glowing softly, adding to the definite uncanny image that the gray and tired looking fur gave him. Lines were heavy under his eyes and he looked far older than he held himself, although lacked the wrinkling of a truly older pony. It was a strange mixture of age signs, and left me with more questions than it answered. Twilight gave a jerk, however, sensations of realization drifting down the link to me.

She looked over him in shock for a longer moment, then slowly shook her head, eyes shifting almost sad. "You're... You're a lich. Why, Ether? Why did you...?" she asked, causing Snapshot to jump in surprise. Lich? If that was the same thing as what existed in Keela's universe...

"Uh, what's a lich?" Rainbow asked, ears flattening back as she looked him over carefully.

He sighed, shaking his head before explaining, "A lich is a pony who used forbidden magic in order to pull out their soul and place it into a different object, prevent natural aging and greatly extend their lifespan..." Well, that answered that, then.

Octavia nodded, then furthered, "Ether refused to accept the loss of his friend and vowed to get her back, no matter what. But it seems that you achieved what we could not."

He set his hoof down on the desk, staring intently at me as I returned my gaze to him, suddenly struck by a certain sadness instead. "Please, I couldn't ask before, and I refuse to accept an answer from anypony else, even the necromancers. I... cannot ask you for anything other than this, Mender. Is she back? Did her spirit come back with you...?" he asked, an unbelievable level of intensity in his voice.

It struck me all at once. This was a stallion who'd lived hundreds of years trying to get my mother back, unsuccessfully. I understood what feeling helpless was like, and could almost feel his emotions drifting over to me. Searching his eyes for a moment, I relaxed again and nodded. "Yes, she returned with me. She's spoken with me several times, and was there watching over me in the other dimension the entire time. I think she intentionally stayed with me on the other side. I'm... sorry for your loss," I finally answered, unsure of exactly what to say beyond that.

He shrank back again, and then shivered before relaxing once more. For just a moment, he looked defeated before smiling weakly. "Then... I guess that's that, then. It's over. It... Thank you, Mender. You have her kindness as well. Meeting you finally after all this time... It's just unbelievable... You're their son," he muttered, just looking me over. He looked entirely lost, and I could immediately sympathize. There was still one question, though.

Looking in return, I finally gestured to all around us. "Why all of this? I understand that my mother was your friend, and I know that my father and other mother didn't give up on her either. What happened? Why resort to all of this when they clearly didn't? I mean, eventually they... Well, they accepted what happened to my mother and I..." I tried to ask, not quite understanding what was even going on here.

His eyes softened, then he looked down towards the desk. For another long moment, he just stared at it, eyes tracing along the old wood surface. Idly, I wondered what kind of pony he was apart from this situation. My mind strayed back to the entries in the journal about him, but that didn't really give much justice. Those were writings about what my mother thought of a pony three hundred or more years ago, which was a far cry from the living, breathing stallion right in front of me.

"We were so driven. There was never any chance to just rest. To take things in and look around. Growing up was a blur. Your mother always moved fast and was full of energy. There was no slowing her down, and I got caught up in her speed. University was even faster, especially with her clashing with the older family's students all the time over what she saw as 'injustice'. I got the report that Princess Celestia had given you Gem's journal, so I imagine you know quite a bit about all that already," he finally muttered, looking back up at me. I was again struck by the weight of time behind his gaze, but shook it off faster and nodded slowly back.

"She, uh, painted a different picture really, but yeah, I got the gist of it," I admitted. For a moment, he hesitated, and then I saw an earnest smile drift onto his muzzle before he chuckled.

Leaning back in the chair again slightly, he looked up at the ceiling before shifting to a softer grin. "Yeah, she would have. I tried to support her whenever I could, but it was impossible keeping up most of the time. My body never was all that healthy, but she understood that. Always urging me to my limits. But it just never stopped. Less than a year later, bam. There we were involved in a brand new branch of government. And what was our goal? Well, that was a long and complicated thing to discuss, but basically, we were supposed to 'save the world'. Us. Wow..." he muttered, momentarily looking a bit bewildered.

Twilight snickered at that and nodded, admitting, "It's always like that. Maybe some ponies accept it more gracefully, but looking at those stained glass windows in Canterlot Castle... It always makes me wonder if it was really us there, doing what we did. It feels bigger than us."

"It's the difference between heroes and legends," Snapshot suddenly spoke up, snapping all our attention to her immediately. The lavender alicorn raised her eyebrow, but my subordinate nodded once, then elaborated with, "Heroes are the ponies that participate in the legends. They're the ones that do the heroic deeds and change the course of history. It might not be glamorous at the time, but in doing so, they pass on into legend that transcends them. Legend tends to smooth over the details, focusing only on, well, the legendary stuff. Sometimes, ponies forget that the heroes in the legends were just normal ponies. You six are unique in that you're here and still alive to witness your own legends being born, which is causing a juxtaposition mentally when ponies honor you as such, already forgetting how normal you actually are." Huh.

We continued simply staring at her, but she wiggled her nose after, suddenly looking a little uncharacteristically awkward. A giggle later, she just shrugged and added, "Or maybe you just don't like stained glass? You guys do look a little weird and like little blobs in the windows." Rainbow slapped herself on the forehead, but I just smirked and turned back to Ether instead. I'd long since learned that Snapshot hid much of herself behind the illusion of silliness and lackadaisical behavior, and was actually brutally intelligent. Although her description also made me wonder how Tia felt about all that, having dealt with similar now for literally thousands of years. It made sense that she was so eager to just have a hoofful of ponies treat her 'normally'. Otherwise, she was beyond even a living legend, most ponies treating her as more of a 'symbol' even.

Ether shrugged idly, admitting, "I can't presume to know what it's like. I prefer to stay in the shadows myself. But faced with a task that would put us all there, it was bewildering. I spent many a night just wondering where things were going. But regardless, my point was, it never stopped. We never slowed down, and rushed towards bigger and bigger goals, almost exponentially so. Then our little fantasy crashed down around us into harsh reality, and she was torn from us. Gone were the worries of getting fired, or the public being concerned about information revealed. It didn't matter anymore. Gem died. That wasn't even something I'd remotely prepared for. I couldn't accept it, and neither could your parents."

His voice cracked finally, and he winced, dragging his hoof back down the surface of the desk as he looked away from us again. I frowned, feeling the pain ebbing off him like waves crashing against the rocks, but he swallowed, and seemed to compose himself again. "The pain has a way of corrupting you inside. It fostered hatred, and the three of us blamed Princess Celestia for what happened. There was nopony else to blame. The pain was completely overwhelming, and we cut ties with her immediately. Disbanded on the surface, the three of us contacted other members of BEID, and we reformed it in secret this time. For two purposes," he continued, eyes flitting back to me.

"What were those?" I asked, sneaking suspicion that I already knew.

His smirk came back, and he answered, "Our new motto was that 'Equus always looks after its own.' That said, we'd defend ponies from everything beyond this dimension, and we'd get those we lost back. Either in body, or soul. You were included amidst that, Mender." Ah. In a way, ironically, he was right. Mom had admitted to feeling a 'pull', and probably could have accepted it whenever she wished. Equus was calling her back, even through dimensions. She had just refused to without me. Because I was alive still...

"This is tha same BEID givin' us grief today?" Applejack inquired, raising a skeptical eyebrow towards the stallion across the desk. I paused for a moment, distracted in wondering why I suddenly considered her expression oddly attractive. Making a mental note, I decided it was probably just her in general, it being difficult to be lovers with somepony for hundreds of years and not find them attractive, even if it was rewound and hadn't happened. Memories were real regardless.

Ether nodded to her, then sighed, slowly shaking his head and going back to looking defeated. "They are, but that motto was... misunderstood after a few generations. The current BEID is very different from the one we founded. They believe themselves the only line of defense between us and certain oblivion from beyond the veil. At their center, they're just scared little ponies who are trying their best to protect against the monsters under the bed in the dark. Your arrival was just a wakeup call that made that all the worse, regardless of what I told them. Part of me wonders if it's even you that they're scared of..." he admitted, frowning idly after.

Twilight paused for a second before slowly nodding to her own thoughts. "It makes sense. Even if they were to accept that Mender's a good pony, it still sets a precedent. Ponies might let down their guard and then the real monsters would invade," she reasoned. Ah.

Snorting, Dash just crossed her forelegs over her chest. "Then why don't they just work with us and do the job they're actually trying to do? In the open!" she inquired, sounding more than a little irked. Her lover snickered lightly and shook her head, however.

"Did ya forget about them bein' scared? That's why they're stayin' hidden. But Ah feel what yer sayin'. They have ta understand that option's there," she concluded. To my surprise, Ether nodded instead.

"It is, and they do. It's hard to stay dedicated to the organization when Mender has harmed nopony, and quite the contrary, has made himself into a hero of Equus. Membership has actually plummeted down to double-digits in the last year. We've lost hundreds of prior members, and more than a few have joined DReg. You'll have to understand that I won't name names, of course. Although I suspect that Mender wouldn't even mention it to them," he revealed, causing me to look back at him with a raised eyebrow. Hero? Ugh. I’d always disliked that word. Still, he seemed to already guess how I'd react.

Octavia smirked, however, then answered for him with, "You're a kind pony, and you believe in second chances, right? I feel the same way, which is the number one reason why I'm helping Ether. Although he's also my distant uncle." That... didn't surprise me as much as it should have. Second chances, huh?

It all snapped in place, and I smiled weakly, looking down again. Yeah, I think I knew it before, but it helped for me to fully, consciously admit it. "You loved my mother, didn't you?" I asked, looking back up at the now surprised stallion. I saw a very faint twitch go through his muzzle, but he controlled himself carefully before looking to the side and coughing lightly. That was enough of an answer, and I spotted Twilight, Applejack, and Snapshot smirking suddenly as well, meaning they'd caught it, too.

"Well, yes. I won't lie to you. I'd wanted to ask her on hundreds of occasions to be mine. Then I lost my chance because I waited too long. But your father was a good stallion, and I couldn't have asked for a finer pony to lose to, to be honest. I... accepted that. What I couldn't accept was her being lost forever to someplace far away, with you inside her," he admitted, looking back at me after, expression deadened again.

That left everything answered but one question. "Why aren't my parents here, too, then? You felt strongly enough to use forbidden magic to avoid death, but they didn't?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral. In all honesty, I didn't have any other way of saying it, deeply confused by this prospect. Why was the magic forbidden? It must have asked for a rather brutal price in return, given how he looked at the very least, but there had to be a specific reason. Was it wrong of him to use it, knowing full well what it did and understanding it? I'd always been taught, at least on the Keldarian side of things, that magic was a tool, and if you considered some risks acceptable, you were completely within your bounds to take them. Could anypony really judge him at this point?

Once again, his features softened and he closed his eyes. It took him almost ten full seconds before he admitted, "The answer won't satisfy you, but I honestly don't know. One day, after months of discussing using the ritual on all three of us, it was like a light switch was flicked. Auraprism... just like that, said, ‘She'll be back. We don't have to worry, and she wouldn't want us doing this.’ She said it with such conviction; it was like she'd suddenly heard it from the mare herself. Bastian agreed, and just as suddenly, the debate was over. Everything I tried to say fell upon deaf ears. We parted for the final time a few weeks later, with me saying I needed a vacation. They didn't believe me, of course, but it didn't matter. I never saw them alive again. I... visited them once more, in the Ether, just to pay my respects. It felt like... a part of me died there..."

His eyes opened again, this time tears pooling out and sliding down his cheeks as he stared at the desk. Knowing empathy now, I couldn't escape feeling the pain saturating the air around him. Hundreds of years, all bottled together without any way to escape. I couldn't guarantee I'd survive the harrowing experience with my sanity, which spoke volumes for him. He shook there, and I realized the weight of everything was probably crushing. I'd just walked in and told him that everything he was striving for wasn't needed any longer. It almost felt like I'd cheated him out of his victory.

He started laughing weakly, the only one daring to make noise at all as we all sat in silence. "No, maybe they did feel it right from her. To be honest, I couldn't let go. I've never been a strong pony, and I never had faith in her. I was always watching her back, as if she needed me there to guard her. It was... so pathetic," he admitted, eyes shivering as he gave a few more, slightly more hysterical chuckles. I frowned, and Octavia started to open her mouth, looking concerned, but he just snorted, abruptly and derisively.

"No, there was nothing left for me, and I wasn't strong enough to try to find something to even move on to. So I clung to the past, and gave myself a goal I knew I had no hope of succeeding at. All to force myself to remain when she was already gone. A mare I had never had a hope with in the first place, who already belonged to another. All because I couldn't stop loving her." He spat the words out as if they were a curse, and I couldn't watch any longer, closing my eyes and looking down towards the floor. This was...

I'd felt similar, that night so long ago now. Wrapped up in tentacles, fresh from brutal and lethal combat, and wanting the world to just erase me from it because I lacked the conviction to do it myself. Luna had found me, thankfully, and woke me up. But was it possible to do the same for him? I felt Twilight understand my thoughts, and then nod next to me. She spoke for me instead, with, "Ether, you don't have to let go. She'd be touched that you carried on for so long all for her, I imagine. But you've been locked up here for how many hundreds of years with nothing but your own thoughts? Maybe it's time to open the doors again and step outside for some fresh air. She'll know you're alive again, then, and... you should try talking to them." I smiled at that, remembering back to her journal again. Although I did question why he didn't just try to join their herd.

Ether's eyes narrowed a little at her, but I cut him off as he started to open his mouth again, looking up suddenly and shaking my head. "She's right. I read my mother's journal extensively. She spoke about you a lot, and if anything, she regrets the falling out between you two that happened over the years. She honestly cares for you, and is your friend. She's back now in Equus, and I bet she'd be very eager to talk to you about things," I reasoned. His eyes shifted the other way, widening instead as he stared at me for a long moment, then relaxed again.

Giving a small smile, he finally admitted, "You of all ponies I'd believe when you say that. I didn't... honestly think she'd even write about me. We didn't always see eye to eye, and had our fair share of fights. But... no. You're right. Just fading away without even so much as seeing her again... It makes everything I've gone through seem... It's like I'm betraying myself."

He hesitated, even as I nodded towards him, but then slowly looked me in the eye. "But... I guess this is the part where you decide what to do with me. I'll answer any questions you wish, of course. Please, go easy on Octavia, however. She's not as involved as-" he started to request. The mare herself huffed, however, and then looked back towards me as well.

"Do no such thing. I'm technically a spy, so I fully deserve anything you wish to do to me. Just... know that we are not against you, Mender, and never have been. Even if we call ourselves members of BEID. We're more the traitors to them, than you. My... uncle has entrusted you with everything as a token of good will. Even the gem he placed his soul into," she revealed, causing me to widen my eyes a little. The purple gemstone that was set into the top of the jewelry box! Twilight seemed to realize it just as fast, giving a light gasp.

"That was... rather risky, don't you think? If the box had even been knocked over...!" she pointed out, looking back towards Ether, who simply chuckled lightly.

Shaking his head after, he finished her own statement with, "Then a very old stallion would have passed on, long after he was due. I'm not afraid of death anymore, Miss Twilight. The goal that had been driving me for... so very long, is completed now. Even if I had nothing to do with it, Gem is... safe now, and back home. Her son is surprisingly alive, and quite healthy. And I even got to meet him now. I could literally ask for nothing else."

I activated my subspace controller, and the jewelry box materialized in front of me an instant later, sitting on top of his desk. He smiled gently, even as I looked the gem over at the top. It was obviously set with a gold filigree, which also served as its mount on the top of the box, and it was a very simple act to unscrew it and set the large stone down on the desk. It glowed with an inner light, now close to its true owner once again. I thought there would be a limit to how far away he could be from it, but I suspected that the fact that he lived inside of a subspace pocket was screwing with how things worked.

"Keep it, Mender. I can use it to communicate with you in an instant if you wish. Or if I'm under arrest, it would make excellent collateral for my imprisonment. Or you can simply destroy it and end my rather unnatural existence. I... I simply request that if you do decide to do that, please notify Octavia so she may come and get my-" he started to continue.

My snort interrupted him, and he looked surprised for possibly the first time. "I don't think my mother would have approved of you saying any of this. You also admitted openly that you believed I valued second chances, but then you go around and try to lay out such bleak options..." I pointed out, raising a skeptical eyebrow towards the stallion. He slowly blinked once, and then glanced towards Octavia, who had begun to smile again.

"Admittedly, I told you so, Uncle..." she murmured, looking amused as she rotated back around to face me again. Heh, now that I understood everything, this was both a situation that needed fixing, and a very advantageous chain of events.

Nodding to her, I looked back to Ether and continued with, "If you really want to help me, having an inside hoof in BEID to aid me in protecting the general populous from them would be invaluable, even if as only a source of information." He looked even further surprised. He really had trouble seeing past his own gloomy existence, I realized. Mom would probably literally slap some sense into him.

Snapshot snickered, then pointed out, "That much should be easy for you, seeing as they already super trust you, and you're one of the leaders of the organization." Oh? Looking over at her, she nodded to me, and then gestured to the very clasp of his black cloak, which was a silver disk with a web of lines going over it. Ah, she recognized it?

He smiled finally, looking down at his own clasp before giving a more sheepish grin. "Yes, I'm still on the council. I'm their lead researcher yet, and they know about my... extended experience. Gives me quite the seniority over the youngsters..." he finally admitted, coughing lightly after. I imagine. He was technically older than me! And he'd been awake the whole time, which I suspected was its own version of Tartarus.

Octavia stood again at that and then suddenly kneeled, forming a polite bow directly at me, the ribbon on the back of her head spilling its ends to either side of her neck and mane. "Please, allow me to aid you as well, Mender. You know that I admit to you saving my life, and I owe you a life debt. I've already promised to pay it through eternal friendship, but that hardly seems like a burden for me. I can be much more helpful to you..." she requested, eyes flicking open again and looking back up at me from her low bow.

I lifted my eyebrow, but Applejack smirked, looking her over before asking, "Are ya sure? Ya aren't gonna pull some other secret reveal on us later or somethin', right? Through all o' this, neither o' ya really said yer actual intention, you most of all." Ah, true.

Ether nodded at that almost immediately before answering, "It's true. Given our secrecy, you have every right to be suspicious. Hiding one's intentions can lead to distrust, Gem always used to say. That's why she urged us towards transparency, believing the general public could take the truth. I... never agreed with her, even now. But have we done anything to harm you, Mender? Or your loved ones? We've given you aid, the gift of your parent's memoirs, and information on your opposition. And now I've led you right to us, here and now. If you pressed the matter, you fully know that there's nothing Octavia or I could do to stop you from arresting or removing us..."

I frowned at him, but he just shook his head and smiled lightly, then continued with, "But that's just it. You haven't. I... almost wish you had, but no, you're right. I don't think she would have approved of the way I've caught myself thinking lately. So my intentions...? I wanted to meet her son, and learn of her fate from his own mouth. The mare I've chased for an eternity trying to rescue, only for her to not need it. Maybe I wanted to acknowledge my own folly. Maybe I just wanted closure. I don't know. But I did want to meet you, at the very least. Having you decide the path I take now seems the most fitting. You seem to think I deserve a second chance?"

Throughout, I just sat and watched him. His eyes looked so tired again as he finished, looking back to me with finality. So that was it? I wasn't justified or empowered to judge him or his character, but I think he was just so tired that he didn't want to make the decision anymore. That I could at least understand. "Yeah. I want you to talk to my parents about things. I can arrange the meeting myself fairly easily, still linked with my mother and having... a friend who's a necromancer. Her magic can let you speak directly to them. Until then, however, I want to be kept informed on anything public that BEID is going to be doing. I simply want to make sure that until they give up their intention of trying to defame or disgrace me, that their plans don't cause any further risk of collateral damage, to ponies or otherwise," I explained, frowning lightly as I looked back up at him. He relaxed then, seemingly considering my words for a moment before nodding gently.

Octavia relaxed as well, shifting back to her usual demeanor as she stood once again, nodding in unison with him. "Then I'll have to warn you of a ploy that's to be initiated shortly. I... know you have no reason to trust me, but I promise on my life and honor that I've told you everything about myself now. I'm his niece, and I'm an ex-member of BEID, still acting like one. I'm a glorified spy in their ranks, basically, and I have many, many connections that can aid you. Let me work for you, too, Mender. You can put any safeguards forward that you wish..." she offered, smiling more earnestly towards me.

My eyes shifted to Applejack for a split second, and she smiled. "Truth," I heard murmured into my mind in her lazy drawling accent, and I relaxed, snapping back to Octavia and nodding. The Element of Honesty was indeed the best lie detector I had access to, after all.

"Tell us about it, then. Also, do you have anything to eat around here...? We're kinda late for Lunch now because of this..." I requested, looking around the room suddenly for a fridge, or even a pantry. My stomach growled almost on cue, and the gray mare blinked once before erupting into a fit of giggles...

"And you're sure that it's their shipment?" I asked, idly taking another sip of my tea. At least it had been a quiet lunch without anypony threatening bodily harm to anypony else or falling off roofs this time. To be honest, I'm surprised they even let us back in after last time. We’d all reunited at this point after the manor escapade, including Octavia.

My eyes flicked for a moment over at the skyship loading docks, noting that the ship in question hadn't moved at all. Octavia stirred her own coffee by shifting the cup back and forth, then nodded idly. "Yes. There can be no doubt. Their shipment is special order alchemical crystals from Zebrica. They're normally used to make laboratory laser foci. Checked the shipment manifest myself..." she replied, looking sort of bored as she stared at her reflection in her cup.

Fluttershy lightly shifted to my right, leaning a bit more of her weight against me as she moved into a more comfortable position, her large stomach extending out in front of her as she sat at the table. I leaned over and lightly kissed her just in front of her left ear, earning a perk and smile from the mare, who nuzzled into my neck a moment later. Despite the added weight, she seemed like she couldn't be any happier with having new life inside of her. Rarity gave a pleased smirk from across the table, horn lightly aglow with energy as her own spoon stirred her cup. At least their spa trip had been uneventful and relaxing.

"These ponies are crazy," Twilight muttered agitatedly from the yellow mare's right side, frowning as she glared down at her spotlessly cleaned plate. I'd never seen a pony tie into a sandwich so ravenously before. She huffed, looking back up again before continuing with, "Do they really expect to threaten Mender with bombs next? Just to get him to confess to things he's actually not doing?" I was a bit surprised, too, admittedly. Although they were only vaguely classified as 'bombs'. The focus crystals would fire beams of Ether together, the energy supplied via strapped on battery packs, and generate a small Ether Furnace in the collision. It would generate it until it ran out of energy, then destabilize and explode a few seconds later, a few hundred times more energy than what went into them in the first place.

The gray mare sighed before nodding again. "They're desperate. Mender's publicity is almost completely supportive of his character, and members of the organization are abandoning ship left and right. The only thing they're still managing to bend in their favor is his tendency to want to avoid publicity. It's not quite the 'secretive' and 'shady' spin they were hoping for, but it's all they have," she explained, lifting her cup up and taking another sip. I scowled at that, earning a giggle from Rarity.

"There is something to be said about that, but I hardly think Mender can be blamed for being camera shy, or preferring to let others take the spotlight. It's simply his personality, and anypony who knew him would know that..." she suggested, earning a more relaxed smile from me. At least she understood and actually defended me.

"Still, even if they picked spots where nopony's gonna be, it's still ah whole lot o' destroyed property," Applejack muttered, shaking her head angrily before asking, "What are we gonna do 'bout 'em?" That much was easy, anyway.

"If we wait until they're ready to deploy, we'd get more of their agents, but unfortunately that's risky in many ways, and reveals that they have an information leak. I don't want to put Octavia at risk for it looking like she's turned on them..." I admitted, looking over at the gray mare just in time to see a smirk play across her muzzle. This made her a triple agent, technically, but even if I didn't think they'd go to drastic lengths, I wasn't willing to take the chances.

She smirked even more, recognition snapping through her eyes. "That's why you told me to report that, then..." she muttered, eyes flicking over to the docks again for a moment. There were three guards blocking the entrance, and I knew twelve more were intentionally searching every single ship on the docks. Octavia had, half an hour ago, used her crystal communicator to report in that I'd gotten a tip-off about the shipment, but not what skyship it was on, and to be careful. That would cover for her, as she was doing her job, and give me an excuse to interrupt their plans regardless.

Of course, Snapshot was around here somewhere, in a good vantage point, spying on the actual vessel we knew the shipment was on, and watching who came and went. Oh, and getting pictures, of course. "So you plan on figuring out who the BEID members are by watching who's trying to get the shipment away?" Twilight asked, looking over at me again.

Starting to nod, I halted when I got a small ping. Admittedly, giving Snapshot the interface wasn't my idea. But she'd all but begged me to, pushing the fact that if I did, I could obviously absolutely trust her as a 'super secret ninja agent'. Not that I didn't already, but she was almost as stubborn as Applejack, despite my excessive warnings as to what they entailed. I guess some light nanite treatment had only benefited so far. My display opened up on the right with a message.

"Hey, Boss! The same four ponies are still at the skyship. The nervous lookin' scrawny Earth Pony's just hauled up a medium sized crate out of the hold. From Octi's description, we're golden," it read in small text, interspersed with half a dozen little emote faces she loved inserting everywhere. Ah!

Nodding, I stood, looking back at Octavia herself. She gave a single curt nod, and then literally just faded away. Not that it mattered, as she had had a nondetection charm up the whole time anyway thanks to that amulet she'd been wearing. Everypony observing us would have just seen her seat as completely empty. Cufflink had brought her coffee regardless, amusingly enough. There was no doubt in my mind that he was one of her 'contacts'.

Everypony watched her disappear, and then looked to me in short order. I nodded again, and then reported, "We're up. Snapshot's sending the pictures through the data link now. We're targeting whichever one is trying to sneak the crate out of the docks. The rest go free." Sure enough, four quite high quality images were transmitted a second and a half later, right on time.

"We jus' wait an' see which one o' 'em is carryin' it?" Applejack asked, looking the four pictures over and earning a nod from me.

"They'll split up, undoubtedly. But we have their identities now, which is the important bit. We can watch them without arresting them, and see if we can trace even more of their organization. There's no need to be hyper aggressive and put too much pressure on them. That'll only cause them to act even more recklessly," I explained, heading towards the docks on the other side of the street. Applejack and Rainbow followed me closely, Twilight lingering slightly behind as her horn glowed lightly.

She shook her head a moment later, reporting, "Nopony's crossed the wards I put up yet over any of the exits." Tch. They'd better move fast or the guard sweeps were going to catch up with them. I could only keep them so slow and have them look realistic.

The guards that were stationed on the gate leading into the docks both spotted us as we exited the cafe. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie broke off from us, heading down the street on the right side even as we crossed it, just as planned. A ping text from Snapshot told me that the four ponies split, leaving the smaller Earth Pony apparently to haul the crate towards the southern exit. We'd found a small spot on that side where you could squeeze through the retaining wall to the docks, and flagged it as a potential escape path. I forwarded the information to Twilight's link as well, but the mare gave no outward signs of it whatsoever.

Both guards saluted as I walked up, and I gave a nod in return. I didn't have to say anything at all as the one on the left immediately gave a report of, "Everything's quiet on this end, and the guards sweeping the district haven't found a thing, Sir." Figured they wouldn't as we'd told them to start from the wrong end.

"Well, finish the sweep, of course. The lead might have been false, but I suppose it's good practice one way or another..." I ordered. Twilight perked a moment later, just slightly, and then reported down the link that her South ward was just crossed. Here we go. Shooting the information to Rarity, I reported the direction and stepped in past the two guards, looking to the right to watch the sweeping team.

Rarity squealed in my peripheral vision, nudging Fluttershy, who slowed down to look towards the mare. "Oh my! Don't these look lovely, Fluttershy?" she asked, moving to the right and up to the large shop window, sporting a half a dozen different saddlebags. Her hoof gestured up towards the one with the green gemstones, and she appended, "Oh, this color would compliment your eyes so well!" I resisted smiling. Green meant South exit.

Two guards on 'break' chuckled and laughed with each other on the corner. When I entered the dock, they both started watching Rarity, of course. The second she'd pointed, they stopped, and Applejack reported them heading into the south alley at a casual pace, ending their break and coincidentally continuing their patrol in that specific direction.

Rarity reported down the link a moment later with, "Being a superspy is simply fabulous, Dear!" Applejack smirked at that, but I turned and nodded to all three mares that had followed me. That was that. It would have been far easier if the guards could use my communication methods, but giving out nanite augmentation willy nilly seemed like a really bad idea.

It took all of thirty seconds, of course. There was a loud crashing noise, and I inwardly sighed. Nothing could ever just be simple, could it? Turning in the direction of the noise, almost entirely behind me, I noticed the same scrawny looking stallion booking it around the inner corner of the dock, heading towards us fast. A single guard, one of the two from the alley, chased after him at full speed. His crate was mysteriously missing, which meant he probably had dropped it and fled instead. Ah, they spooked him.

"The other three are watching from the warehouse at the end of the dock," Snapshot reported in via text, and I outwardly sighed this time, stepping out to raise my hoof up. That meant I couldn't act like I knew what was going on, anyway.

"Ah, excuse me, Sir. Could I have a wo-" I started. His pupils shrank even as his eyes widened to full when he spotted me, and it almost looked like he was going to pee himself. Well, that was a familiar and awkward state. He screamed in what could only be pure terror and took a sharp left, leaping the side of the dock and booking it across the width of the sky ship next to us instead. My ears lowered, and I gave a frustrated grunt. Was I really that terrifying?!

Dash smirked, taking to the air as she mentally asked, "Is that really something you want us to answer, Mender?"

The guard following him ran past, following the dock instead of going up onto the ship after the stallion. He shouted as he went by me, "Help my partner back there with the crate!" Acting, at its finest.

"Psh, his Malice form doesn't count." Twilight mentally sounded, almost instantly, before reporting verbally, "I'm going to go retrieve the crate and help the other guard." I gave her a nod, and she was gone in a flash and afterimage an instant later. And here I'd thought being a ball of tentacles, mouths, eyes, and arms was cute, in an Eldritch Abomination sort of way.

"Right. Rainbow, you're on scouting interception above. Applejack, herd him away from the dock and town exits. We'll try to trap him in the end warehouse down there..." I ordered, turning again and leaping the edge of the dock. My legs flexed as I was momentarily airborne, muscles stretching and expanding, even as the cybernetic mesh locked into place. I touched down, and then leapt again, this time clearing the entire width of the airship before landing on the rail of the second one, bursting into a run as I followed the stallion along it. The guard mirrored me, a bit slower, still on the dock, and I saw Applejack suddenly shoot past him. She dodged past two other guards by hopping off the wall to their right, then sped up, moving ahead of us to cut the stallion off if need be. She did have amazing herding instincts.

Dash didn't bother activating her wings, easily keeping pace before landing up on the top of the crow's nest of the second ship, watching the stallion as he ran. "He's not trying to get back onto the docks so far. Heading right for the warehouse!" she reported, hopping into the air again and gliding after.

Giving a nod, I hopped sideways off the third ship, landing next to the guard as he ran. "Move straight ahead and have them close the side and back doors to the warehouse. We'll trap him in it..." I ordered, starting to breathe steadier before leaping up onto the fourth ship. Two more and we'd hit the warehouse. The stallion looked backwards, widening his eyes as he saw me following him still, then almost tripped over a coil of rope, ending our chase early. He skidded, however, trying to turn the corner sharp and head towards the docks. "Applejack!" I shouted an instant later.

The orange mare cut him off, sliding into place with a stern glare to her expression. "We just wanna talk!" she called out. The stallion yelped, turning again and leaping, grabbing onto the rope of one of the side sails to the fifth sky ship and actually swinging. I raised an eyebrow as I watched him flailing through the air, entirely uncontrolled as he swung fully around the end of the ship and actually flung himself through the second floor window of the warehouse. The closed window, too. Well... that was a thing. We heard a loud crash from inside, and I winced, Applejack mirroring my expression as she watched.

"Not the most graceful landing I've seen, but I've had some bad ones myself..." Rainbow muttered mentally, a rare humble thought on her part as she left off the mast of the last ship. Although it was only to us, her most trusted of ponies, so I guessed that was easier.

Applejack snorted, running ahead as she returned down the link, "Earth Ponies ain't meant ta fly!" I smirked at that before running along the dock instead, headed for the warehouse as well.

"Close off the warehouse! And get a medical team! He might be hurt!" I called out as I ran, watching Rainbow sail in through the hole in the window before I turned the corner of the dock and headed for the rapidly closing door. A loud snarl rang out from inside, causing me to frown as I moved, however.

Applejack was right next to me in an instant, and we both leapt through the door as the guards rushed to close it behind us. She hesitated as we slid to a halt, then admitted, "No, can't be. Ah know that snarl! What are those things doin' here?!" Things? Oh, I just loved dealing with 'things'.

There was no time to process that further or ask for elaboration. Another snarl sounded out, this time alongside a rather high-pitched scream, and the stallion we'd chased in here limped down the center aisle of the warehouse, with three large 'things' following him. They were shaped remarkably like large dogs, only entirely made of wood. Some sort of constructs? Given the rather enchanted nature of Equus, I had long stopped questioning things like that beyond a mild curiosity.

"Timberwolves!" Rainbow shouted a second later, bursting into the air again and looking towards me. Oh, well that made sense. I was already moving, running towards the obviously injured pony, even as the closest timberwolf leapt.

It was a little surprised to be pounced out of its pounce by the sound of its yelp. It snapped at me as we rolled, but my hoof hit its jaw rather hard, locking it shut even as I smashed it into the ground on its back. Applejack leapt past me in the same moment, spinning and air-bucking the second with both back legs. Its momentum suddenly reversed itself, and it got out a startled squawk before flying backwards into one of the warehouse shelves, knocking the entire thing over. My eyes spotted three other shelves knocked over, probably from the stallion, including a large stack of now broken boxes, looking like they were reinforced with bars. Ah, so that's where they came from...

The stallion had curled into a ball at this point, crying now, even as my tentacles extended and I snarled at the last two wolves as they approached. They paused, and my eyes flicked back to the pony on the ground next to me, even as I held the struggling timberwolf down. "Rainbow, get him out through the window and drop him off to the guards, then get back in here. Make sure the guards watch the entrances and stop any wolves trying to get out!" I shot towards her mentally, as fast as I could.

I barely had time to finish the string of thoughts before the closer wolf leapt, and the other shot towards the flank. Two tentacles cross blocked the leaping wolf, sending it flying backwards and away from me, but I could only block with the third tentacle, not wanting to risk hitting the stallion if the flanking wolf went for him instead.

Applejack swatted my fourth tentacle, and I bunched it, letting her hook her hoof on it and kick off, leaping over me like a hurdle even as the fourth wolf tried to duck in for a passing shot at the downed stallion. "Yeehaw!" she shouted, the wolf looking up just as she landed hard on its back. Its entire front was flattened into the concrete floor, and both of her forehooves came down hard on its head after. My eyes widened as she shattered its skull against the concrete, then I frowned as I watched it slowly start to pull the scattered bits of wood back together again. Oh, they regenerated. Great. Well, at least she wasn't about to upset Fluttershy.

There was a cyan blur, and the stallion was gone a moment later, Applejack replacing where he was as she casually rolled off the fallen timberwolf. Once she got back onto all fours, both of us winced as a loud crash resounded, the shattering of glass ringing through the warehouse. Damn it. A glance showed the tail end of a wolf exiting the second floor window, and I sighed, nodding to AJ again.

"Back out?" she asked, standing fully upright again as I joined her. I gave the wolf under me a good kick, cracking its skull into the ground before turning fully.

"Yup. Let's go assist the guards. We need to get these things back into their cages!" I noted, and then ran at the still closed door, full speed. Applejack was turned and after me in an instant, and I didn't slow down as I hit the door with all four hooves. Scans showed that the guard was far enough away from it on the other side... It was open in an instant, the guard looking surprised as it slammed into the other side of the wall, a hundred and eighty degrees from its original location.

The sight that greeted me was encouraging regardless, as I watched the well-trained guards forming a very solid line with a lot of sharp and pointy spears blocking off the entire exit of the dock. Ponies in the street were running and screaming in all directions, but the guards held fast, shoulder to shoulder as they thrust and blocked, keeping four wolves at bay. The Timberwolves snarled, pacing back and forth, then getting a sharp poke every time they tried to do a lunge, six spears more than covering all approaches.

A snarl sounded from behind us, but Applejack just kicked backwards, slamming the door shut in the wolf's face yet again. I heard a yipe and scattering of wood on the other side of the door and smirked, noting her equally mirthful expression. Whispering into my mind, I instead alerted, "Hey, Fluttershy, we have a wolf problem. Could really do with your expertise at the dock..." I felt her perk immediately, having kept her distance prior on the other side of the street, but she nodded at the sound of my voice in her mind and glanced to Pinkie. The non-verbal exchange between the mares was instant, and Fluttershy crossed the street, waddling slowly under the rather heavy bulk of her stomach. Pinkie led point, guarding intently as they approached. I spotted Rainbow circling above as well, migrating over closer to Fluttershy as the two mares came in.

Just at that moment, there were two additional flashes of light across the docks, and Twilight reappeared near the fallen stallion, sitting on top of the box he'd been dragging all of a minute ago. She gave me a smile and nod, a very dizzy looking guard stumbling from the side of the box next to her. Ah, yeah, five or six teleports in a row could be a bit disorienting. The lavender mare looked towards the guards, then nodded to them as her horn flared up, a bright purple barrier rising across the entire gate and side wall to the docks in an instant. They spotted it fast, then migrated forward, no longer having to guard the exit and instead switching to a fast, coordinated offensive.

Tentacles popping out, I ignited a few tips of them as I trotted forward, flashing them menacingly as the guards led the wolves right into Applejack and me. She drifted to my left, herding the wolves expertly into a tight circle that the guards completed on my right. The Timberwolves rather predictably didn't like the sight of the small amounts of flames drifting off my tentacles, which I'd predicted as much given their composition. If there was anything likely to deny them their regeneration, I'd guessed fire would be it.

Thankfully, we didn't have to hold them at bay for very long. "Stop it!" Fluttershy rang out, uncharacteristically loud for her, if only to get her voice to carry over the snarls and shouts from the guards. I was impressed at how quickly everything ground to a halt, each and every wolf snapping to the source of the new noise. The trap was sprung, of course, and I looked away from her softly glowing eyes. Her skills using that ability of hers had improved significantly since I first saw it. Probably all the training in using her magic that we had done to get her to master the enchantment I gave her.

It only took two seconds at most before the entire pack of wolves was sitting calmly, watching her instead. Eyes of Eternity. A genetic mutation technically, causing a 'weakening' of the barrier between the physical dimension and the Ether overlay that contained the Ether System of a pony. It caused their own personal Ether to 'shine' through their eyes in particular. A highly empathic pony could use that fact to project their own empathy along their vision, affecting each and every creature that made eye contact. Basically a ranged version of an Earth Pony's empathy ability. And Fluttershy was very, very empathic, especially towards animals. Hence, she could talk to them.

"This is very poor behavior! Just because your cages accidentally got knocked over and broken doesn't mean you should run around and be mean like this! We're going to get new cages for you, and you'll be in your new habitat soon enough, so stay calm and relax here until they're ready," she ordered rather sternly, causing many of the wolves to give a rather guilty looking expression. New habitat? Oh, they were being transferred to a new area. Well, that would explain why there were a dozen live Timberwolves in crates in the dock...

Several of the guards stayed on point, protecting Fluttershy just in case, but by the looks of it, the wolves had become entirely passive. I watched the rest of the guards rush off to get the aid of a few dock ponies, and relaxed, pulling my tentacles back in. Well, this had been quite the adventure. Nothing was ever simple. A glance behind me showed, surprisingly, our young stallion had stuck around during the action. He gave me a guilty look as he spotted my focus shifting to him, but didn't run. There was quite a bit less fear in his eyes now, I noted.

With a gesture, I called him over. His pace was slow, and he gave a sheepish expression of mixed apprehension and guilt as he walked. "I, uh... I'm sorry. I really screwed up and almost got a lot of ponies hurt. Including myself. You... saved me," he muttered, looking a bit surprised at that last bit, and I felt like slapping my forehead. They really had some grade-A brainwashing going on in BEID.

Sighing, I slowly shook my head to that. "I'm not about to let anypony get hurt, member of BEID or not. At least I assume that's why you ran from us? If so, I'd like to ask you a few questions," I requested, rotating to face him fully. Twilight flashed out of existence again from her perch on the box and reappeared next to me an instant later, apparently having heard what I'd said. She'd somehow acquired a notepad and pen between frames of existence somewhere, but I wasn't about to ask.

The stallion blinked once, looking surprised. I took a moment to snap a picture of him using internal cameras, and record key details. Short cropped mane, a bit longer than my own, and a dark charcoal gray in color. His tail was shorter than mine, however, cropped at half a meter or less, and the same color. Coat was well trimmed and a light brown. Cutie Mark was a wagon wheel with a half-moon for an axel cap. Interesting. No horn or wings, unless he was really skilled at hiding them. He also was still walking with a limp, but I was guessing that was more from his landing a moment ago than any permanent injury.

"Just... questions? Aren't I under arrest?" he asked, surprise definitely evident in his voice.

Giving a little sigh, I flattened my ears down as Twilight patted me gently on the head. Nothing could ever just go exactly as planned, could it?

Tia giggled, lightly sipping her tea as she lounged on a large collection of pillows strewn out upon the floor. I rested on the other side of the table, head idly on the desk as my entire body sagged. Rarity sat almost on my back, her hooves working gently into my muscles as I felt another spasm go through my shoulder. The months and months of guard training had gotten me decently built back up to what felt like normal, muscle-wise. I had definition now, and you could see the shifts under my fur as I moved. Still, using my cybernetics always took its toll on me after. Thankfully, Rarity was apparently a natural at massages. A crack and pop resounded from my shoulder a moment later, and she added a soft "Oops" after. Well, almost a natural, I decided, wincing lightly.

"Well, at least nopony was hurt. And you confiscated the crystals, and got another new recruit for DReg," the Princess of the Sun pointed out. It seemed like all the recruits I personally enlisted came from BEID these days. It was almost as if they were hemorrhaging members like crazy... Relaxing again under Rarity’s massage, I looked about the porch yet again.

It was a beautifully crafted wooden design, running along the full corner of the castle that the royal gardens were nestled into. It even had a canopy overtop in case of foul weather, and maintained a lovely view of the garden itself. The tea table and surrounding pillows were back against the wall, safely away from the edge of the deck area, and three pots of tea rested on it, having been delivered shortly after we arrived. Overall, it was an immensely relaxing place. I could see why Tia liked coming here so much.

Twilight drew my attention back to reality with a nod, flipping to the next page in her notes before continuing with, "Indeed. Further, we discovered their membership is depleted to no more than three-dozen at this point, and morale is low. This unfortunately increases the risk that the remaining leadership will act in desperation." My right ear flicked, and I refrained from commenting. I wouldn't mind talking to the leaders myself, honestly. If only to ask them what made me so terrifying to them. Sure, there were lots of possible answers to that, but I really wanted to hear it right from their mouths. If only to settle the answer in my own mind.

"Yeah, but Octavia bein' on our side should help, right? Ether, too. If we stay subtle enough, we should be able ta head off anything dangerous they try, anywho..." Applejack reasoned, resting to the left of Tia with Rainbow next to her, slurping on, uh, a slushy, if I remembered right. Yeah, we'd gone past the ice cream parlor on our way to the castle, and were ambushed by Banana Swirl. None of us could get away without some sort of icy, flavorful treat. Still, it was nice to see Morning Joy again. I swear she was almost twice as big as when I first saw her.

Tia frowned at that and nodded slowly. "Yes, they will be. That reminds me, though. I believe I have somepony to visit with after this..." she admitted quietly. Some things never changed. But sometimes I was happy to be proven wrong. My parents let go of their pain, after all, and moved on. Couldn't he? Closing my eyes, I nodded to nopony in particular, letting Rarity work her magic. A comfortable silence set in as Tia took another drink from her tea, and I relaxed more. Life was just starting for me now. Sure, the hard part of stopping an interdimensional invasion was over with, but now I moved on to the next challenge, which may prove to be even larger.

My left eye opened and drifted to the side, looking at Fluttershy, and then settling on her large tummy. She gave me a warm smile, and I felt a shiver go through my spine. Terror, uncertainty, and anticipation mixed all together until I didn't know what to feel. All I knew was that I'd face it head on. No more thoughts of running away... My resolve was interrupted with another pop and crack from my lower neck this time, and I winced openly, looking back just in time to note Rarity giving me a sheepish, awkward smile.

Ow...