Well, I was definitely right about one thing. The day seemed to be destined to get worse and worse. Still, I tried to stay positive about things. I was in desperate need of a bath, so being forced into one was at least covering that aspect. The smells assaulted my poor nose from every conceivable angle, of course. They were deeply root smelling, but with a sharp, acidic after smell. Was that the proper term for that light stinging sensation that one frequently got after sniffing something? Well, I digress.

The nature of the smell did absolutely nothing for the color and texture of the probable gallons of stuff Rarity dumped into the hot water in the middle of her seeming mental breakdown. A thick lather, pink bubbles and all, was drifting well up to my jaw at this point. Due to how slippery it was making my coat, I was having difficulty keeping my head above water at this angle. She was still fidgeting sporadically while zipping here and there in her bathroom around me, looking at labels and various other bottles of all shapes and sizes. I wasn't sure of the norms of society, but this seemed a little on the psychotic side. Still, she was generous enough to attempt to make me look nice at no charge whatsoever, so I really didn't have room to complain. Much. It still seemed like she was more doing this for herself than me.

"I know that the stuff is here somewhere! I'd just gotten an extra-large supply from Zecora. It simply must be found! This is an emergency," Rarity declared as she sped around the bathroom.

The gentle tugging at my back, right leg continued as she talked. I was positioned in a very unnatural manner, almost on my side with my leg sticking out over the side of the tub. This was all to give Twilight as easy access as possible, of course. Fluttershy at least was sympathetic and rested at the head of the tub with her forelegs wrapped around my chest, gently supporting my head and neck above the soap bubbles. I gave her another warm, thankful smile while further hoping that this stuff didn't dye me pink. Thinking about it more, I decided it would also be bad if it made the fur along my butt grow back pink as well.

"So this is a potion? Are you sure it's safe, Rarity?" Twilight questioned somewhere near my injured leg. The gentle massage of heated, magical warmth didn't miss a beat, even though she wasn't exactly concentrating. I was more than a little impressed, honestly. Sure, I could do more precise maneuvers, but she was way more practiced than I was. Oh, and obviously considerably more powerful. Was I allowed to be impressed and irritated at somepony at the same time?

Rarity waived her concerns with a gentle, nonchalant hoof motion. "It's more of a, how do we say, tonic than a crude potion. It simply stimulates hair re-growth in the most natural way possible. There's truly nothing to concern yourself with," the pearly white unicorn assured confidently. I idly wondered how many last words included that last part in the history of, well, everything. I started mentally preparing myself for a horrible, hair-induced demise.

"I dunno. Pink really suits you, Mender. Are you sure we can't make it grow back pink?" Rainbow asked once more, snickering from her position near the end of the tub, across from Twilight.

Sneezing lightly after inhaling an offensive soap bubble, I finally cleared enough of the froth to speak. "For the last time, no! I don't need pink stripes on my butt," I groaned out. This was exactly why I was concerned.

Rainbow started snickering even harder, but Pinkie let out a sharp gasp. "Hey! Is there something wrong with pink?! I know it might be kind of hard to tell, but I happen to really like pink and take offense to that! Think of its feelings!" Pinkie berated loudly from my right, leaning over the side of the shiny, white tub and giving me her standard, bulging glare. Wait, was she being sarcastic about the pink thing? Deciding I couldn't tell, I figured that considering the color having feelings was probably even more absurd, making the whole thought process a moot point. Damn it. I hate it when I do that.

"Weren't you supposed to be apologetic and supportive of him, Pinkie? We needn't add potential drowning and, even worse, fashion crime to your party banner," Rarity reminded gently, calming down visibly upon pulling a rather large keg of something out from under her sink with her magic. Uh, what was that? Wait, bad fashion was worse than death?

Pinkie's eyes went from buggy to nervous as she blinked a few times before releasing an airy giggle. She then tactically retreated out of my field of vision, leaving me even further confused. Of course, it could just be lasting effects from the fresh head trauma.

Rarity distracted me by hauling the keg over to the side of the tub. She then distracted herself by frowning and looking down at me, barely sticking out of the pink bubble ocean. "Although she does have a point. Pink goes very well with blue, and compliments you well. Perhaps you should consider it?" the seamstress reasoned, smiling at me.

I gave her a rather deadpan stare, and she giggled merrily. "Really now. You males shouldn't be nearly so concerned about colors. I mean, really. Pink is a perfectly acceptable color and compliments many things. I see no reason to rule it out because of some brash stereotype that it adversely affects your masculinity. Haven't we progressed past that as a," she started lecturing, causing me to sink into the water a little. It wasn't that I myself didn't like the color. It was more a matter of what other ponies might do to me if I did add it to my wardrobe. I was runty enough already. Of course, there weren't a whole lot of males in town to mock the choice anyway.

"Um, I don't mean to interrupt. Please don't be mad! The bath water is getting a little cool. May it be reheated?" Fluttershy asked carefully in her typical timid fashion.

Rarity hardly looked offended, not that I thought she would be. She gave her timid friend a warm smile, but shook her head. "It shouldn't be necessary, although you're a very kind to be looking over him so well. He should be thoroughly clean now and ready for the application of the tonic," she explained, giving the intimidating looking keg next to her a soft pat.

"I'm pretty much done with his leg, so it should be perfectly fine for him to stand now," Twilight reported, backing off my leg and sitting up again, suddenly reentering my view.

She glanced over at me at the same time I turned to her. We locked eyes and I couldn't turn away suddenly. She seemed conflicted, then seemed to have the same problem as her eyes softened further while watching me. She was acting nice now to me, but I was still a little irritated over her not even considering my proposal. If there really was danger, wasn't it better to be cautious? Still...

"Thank you for healing my leg, Twilight," I finally managed to get out. Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly for a moment, but then softened with an accompanied smile.

Rarity, of course, took that moment to distract me. "Okay then, Mender. Stand up and I'll start gently pouring this stuff on and applying it to the, um, disaster zones with my magic. Hold still while I do, Mender," she instructed politely, giving me a warm nod.

I nodded in understanding as I struggled back onto my stomach. A light test of my leg told me that the lavender unicorn indeed knew exactly what she was doing, and had restored my limb to full working condition. I breathed a sigh of relief and shakily stood up in the bath, letting the pink foam drain off my back as I did so.

"Perfect! Okay, I'm going to start applying it now. Do hold still," the white unicorn instructed, lifting the keg into the air above me. Slight apprehension drifted into my system, but I held it at bay. Just because the last potion, er, tonic from Zecora had ended in utter disaster, didn't mean this one was going to. Right?

Fluttershy gave me an assuring nod, but I heard more giggles from behind me. "You look like a wet rat. I wish I could get a picture," Dash pointed out in an oh so loving fashion. Pinkie clamped both hooves over her muzzle, but I could see the barely restrained grin under them as I glared back at her cyan friend.

All thoughts were interrupted as the cold slime hit my back. "Ah! That stuff is really cold!" I whined, shivering slightly despite my attempts to stay still.

"Oh, you poor thing. You just got out of the warm water, too! I'm sorry," Fluttershy cooed softly, looking extremely sympathetic as she sat up in front of me. "Here, this might warm you up a little."

Before I could even react, she leaned forward and buried my entire face in the crook of her neck, against her left shoulder. Warm, buttercup yellow fur flooded my vision, accompanied by a gentle flowery smell that was absolutely delightful. She herself pushed her muzzle into the mirrored location on me, folding her left wing over my head and ears. Well, she was right about it warming me up. I rapidly felt the blood flood into my cheeks as her mane shadowed out the ceiling light as well.

"Is, um, is it helping?" she asked timidly, a few seconds later. Being pretty much rendered mute and paralyzed, I barely managed a nod of affirmation. Suddenly I was really happy I was facing away from Twilight. She was probably giving my flanks a death glare now. A bit paradoxical, but I'd given up trying to figure the mare out. Females were confusing.

Thankfully the gel stuff started to rapidly warm up. Was there some sort of heating agent in it? "Oh, actually, it's getting nice and warm now. That feels kind of good," I informed quietly. It was a fully welcome, yet very much new sensation to feel Fluttershy smile against my neck. Although I was starting to feel a little guilty. I definitely didn't want to hurt Twilight's feelings.

"Is it supposed to get warm, Rarity?" the aforementioned lavender unicorn asked, sounding intrigued. Well, curious meant Twilight wasn't angry. I'd never seen her both angry and curious at the same time!

"I'm actually not sure. I've never had to use this new formula yet," Rarity returned, sounding interested. The gel got even warmer, and I wondered if it was supposed to compliment some sort of massage technique or similar. Rarity seemed to like that sort of thing, so she probably was interested in using it on herself later, I guessed.

The only problem was that it didn't stop heating up. I frowned as it started to get a little on the uncomfortable side, and questioned, "Uh, is it supposed to stop heating up at some point?"

"What do you mean?" Twilight questioned with a slightly confused sounding inflection behind me.

"Well, uh," I started to voice, when my nose picked up an odd smell. Something was burning. The heat along my back magnified, and I finally risked a glance backwards, apparently just in time to see a light smoke start to come up off my fur. Oh. I was burning.

My voice devolved into panicked whimpering as I locked up, completely unsure of what to do. "Water! Wash it off!" I managed to yelp, not wanting to leap out of the tub and spray the stuff all over my friends. Oh, and Rarity's floor. She'd probably murder me out of principle.

Twilight looked surprised and started to open her mouth, horn lighting up. Pinkie beat everypony to the punch, however, yelling out "I know!" before violently kicking the side of the tub with both of her back hooves. Oh crap.

Rarity barely managed to leap out of the way, and Fluttershy made a panicked squeak as I was torn sideways with the tipping of the tub. I hit the bathroom floor first, and was washed over momentarily by the soapy water before the tub flipped completely and landed on top of me. Unfortunately, Pinkie's violent kick had ensured that a great deal of water was still in the tub, and the slow leak around the edges of the tub and floor didn't prevent me from suddenly finding myself submerged in the water.

The soap burned into my eyes instantly, causing a garbled scream as I slammed them shut in pain. Screaming underwater isn't the most effective. That's when I realized that the soap in the water was what was reacting to the tonic Rarity had put on me. The water started to heat up as well, bringing back a familiar sizzling sensation along all of my skin this time. Damn it.

"Pinkie!" I heard both Rainbow and Rarity scream in an echoed fashion outside of my prison of agony. Rainbow?

The tub was kicked off me a second later, allowing the water to release instantly across the entirety of the bathroom floor. I gasped for air, unable to see anything at all. The smells of burning fur and now identified acid hit my nose along with the sizzling sound. I heard somepony slam the bathroom window open a second later. My guesses were on Twilight, who probably realized the fumes were potentially poisonous.

"Horse apples! Hang on, Mender!" Dash shouted from practically on top of me, it sounded like. Two hooves latched onto my sides and I was yanked backwards, giving a yelp. We hit open air suddenly, and I felt the breeze of outside along my burning skin.

Then both of us landed in water, somehow.

That was how I became furless. At least I'm told that I have no fur. Rarity sounded hysterical when she had told me, so it was probably true. Although she could also be upset over her probably badly burned, stained bathroom floor. Both probably caused that reaction, I decided.

"Ugh, hold still, Mender. I'm trying to fix your skin," Twilight reminded nonchalantly. Considering it was my skin and I very much felt it, I didn't think the reminder was needed. Still, her regenerative magic didn't exactly feel like a massage this time around.

"I'm so going to need a bigger banner," Pinkie groaned from somewhere to my left.

Rarity gave a weary sigh in front of me, but a few meters away. I think we were in her living room, although I only had their word for it. "I'm going to need a new bathroom floor after this. Zecora could have warned me that the new formula doesn't get along with conditioner well," the white unicorn complained.

"Relax. I'm going to need new hooves after this! They're still orange," Dash griped from behind me, sounding closer than she was in the bathroom.

A sting of sympathy went through me in that regard. "Thank you again, Rainbow," I muttered quietly, not bothering to move my head. It wasn't like I knew exactly where she was anyway. Looking in the wrong direction was liable to be embarrassing.

There was a definite pause before a light sigh sounded out. "I wasn't gonna let you just lie there, burning. We're both lucky the rain barrel was right outside," she returned, sounding somber.

"I thank you as well, Rainbow. That was very brave. You could have been hurt by the acid as well," Twilight chimed in, seemingly finishing my lower back and moving on to my flanks. At least I assumed she had finished it, as I could feel something apart from agony from the area, now.

"Aww, stop it. No need to get all mushy on me," the cyan mare groaned, sounding embarrassed. I smirked lightly as I could almost feel her blush from here. Then I realized that Twilight thanked her for saving me. Twilight was slowly getting past what happened, it felt like.

Pinkie let out another whine again, adding, "I'm going to throw both of you a really awesome party after this! I really don't like hurting my friends."

"You had the best of intentions, dear. You simply didn't know the soap was what was causing it. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Rarity assured warmly.

As much as I wished it hadn't happened in the first place, I had to nod in agreement. "She's right, Pinkie. You didn't know," I tacked on, ignoring the subtle stinging sensation.

Something warm and with actual fur hugged me around the neck as I rested on my stomach. "You're just too nice, Mender! I promise that I'm going to really make this up to you," Pinkie insisted from a few inches away. I was cold without fur, so I wasn't about to protest her hugging me. That and I was more than a little fond of the pink mare. She really grew on me after awhile, even if she was a little on the hyper and clumsy side.

"Mmm, you're warm," I muttered quietly and in a raspy tone, having not realized exactly how nice it was to have fur. My throat gave its complaints at my use, but I hardly cared. There was a momentary pause and I felt the pony hugging me tense slightly. I let out a tiny shiver as she withdrew slightly, the cold air silently assaulting my now hyper-sensitive skin.

A light giggle, starting to sound like Pinkie as she got back to normal again. "Oh, without your fur, you're cold! Poor little guy," she swooned playfully. I couldn't argue with her, despite how the adjectives were vaguely undesirable. It must be hardwired into the male brain to dislike the word 'little', I realized.

"Rainbow! We need to warm Mender up. Wanna help with your big, soft wings?" the mare asked a second later, leaning back down and holding my head again.

"Aww, why can't Fluttershy-" Rainbow started, before hesitating and grinding to a halt before continuing, "Oh yeah, she left. Ugh. I guess I can, but it's kinda mushy."

A soft, familiar feeling body rested into my back hesitantly a moment late. That was far faster than it should have taken Rainbow to get over to me, however. There was an almost tactile silence as the soft, warm fur slipped up my back and ended in two legs gently wrapping around my chest. The sensation felt familiar, somehow.

"Whoa, Twilight?" Pinkie asked hesitantly after several awkward moments passed. Twilight?! I tensed up and tried to look behind me, before realizing how stupid that was.

A pause. "Yes, Pinkie?" the lavender unicorn in question asked from directly next to my ear. Oh dear. It was indeed Twilight who was residing on my back. Mixed emotions assaulted me, but she was oh so warm and soft.

"Weren't you two mad at each other? But now you're holding him!" the pink one pointed out in an extremely obvious yet self-aware manner. How she said it so we knew she was aware that it was obvious, I have no idea.

A gentle cough sounded from behind Pinkie, followed by, "That is an extremely blunt question, Pinkie. Perhaps we shouldn't pry? Although certainly, if you require our aid to talk things out, we'll obviously be here for you." Rarity sounded thoughtful, but more than a little curious as well. I recalled that she did love to gossip, but doubted she'd let it overwhelm her sense of propriety.

"I'm surprised she doesn't mind that he's all furless and diced up. With all of those scars, it looks like he got stuck in a blender," Rainbow chipped in, adding a light snicker after.

"Rainbow! That's a little rude. I don't mind what he looks like. He'll always be Mender to me," Twilight defended, and I felt her hooves hook together under my chest, letting her squeeze me lightly from above.

A light warmth shot through me, and I felt the telltale heat drifting into my cheeks. Pinkie started giggling merrily, and I realized that my blush was probably quite a bit more pronounced without any fur to hide it.

"Oh, that's very noble of you, Twilight. I happen to agree as well. It doesn't hurt that scars are somewhat appealing to me, though. Each one says something about the pony they belong to, telling a strong history," Rarity agreed in her usual sophistication, but sounding a little strange. There was something to her tone that I couldn't place.

"Yeah! Scars mean you're super tough and have lived through lots. They're kinda sexy, right Dashie?" Pinkie asked, causing me to blush even more.

This conversation, regardless of my taking part in it in the first place, was getting more than a little embarrassing. Rainbow let out an awkward sounding, "Mmph" noise, and then remained silent.

"Oooh, she thinks so too!" Pinkie cooed, sounding a little more pleased than she should, probably.

"Pinkie!" Dash berated, sounding a little annoyed this time.

It didn't matter as the conversation was thankfully interrupted before it could spiral out of control. A light squeaking noise, sounding remarkably like a certain timid pegasus I knew, sounded throughout my head as I heard a door open up. "I'm back. I have the two ointments, Twilight," Fluttershy announced from somewhere far behind me, sounding a little flustered. Probably the main entrance, if I remembered what the inside of the building looked like still. There was that strange sensation again. Focusing a little harder this time, I suddenly saw the faint image of an almost spilt bag of supplies and a buttercup yellow hoof extending out quickly to catch them, just in time. What was that?!

"I, um, think I got everything. Hard and soft tissue treatment for both hooves and eyes, skin salve, throat syrup, and stain cleaner. Uh, for Rarity's bathroom of course. I hope it helps," the timid yellow pegasus informed, landing somewhere near me. I decided that yet again, this wasn't the best place to ask her about the effect.

"Oh, you're a lifesaver, dear! I'll save the bathroom for later. Mender and Rainbow are the highest priority right now," Rarity decreed.

Twilight nodded against me, gently explaining, “It would be a good idea to let the fumes clear out up there anyway. I’m not sure what they’d do to a pony if breathed in.” Oh, acid. I forgot about that. Actually, I was kind of lucky it wasn’t any more potent than it turned out to be.

"It's just my hooves. Take care of Mender first. He hurts, can barely talk, and is blind as a bat," Rainbow requested gently as I heard Fluttershy start to unpack things next to my head.

Fluttershy let out a soft giggle next to me that was extremely pleasing to the ears before commenting, "That's very kind of you, Rainbow. Still, getting yours set up while Mender's eyes heal won't be any trouble at all. You just need to soak your hooves in this stuff."

Fluttershy always had everypony’s best interest in mind. She was so sweet like that. Although my anger was fading now and I was starting to also remember why I liked Twilight as well. Even though she could freak out big time and be a little unreasonable, she still cared deeply for her friends.

"Mmm, take your time. He makes a decent pillow," Twilight murmured lazily right into my ear. I smirked. Of course, her caustic wit at this point was something of an endearment. She's grown on me, and we really do share a lot in common.

"Is that what they call it now?" Rainbow teased, confusing me a little. Call what now?

Twilight groaned and, in lieu of answering, buried her face into the nape of my neck. I blushed lightly but didn't move, simply letting her rest there. I heard movement in front of me at the same time. Pinkie's skin contact left and was replaced by nothing but the chilly air. I didn't have to wait long however, before somepony started gently removing the wrap around my eyes. A soft, flowery scent wafted into my nose and I smiled. "Fluttershy," I whispered, voice unable to go much higher due to increased pain.

"Oh!" she spoke, sounding startled before asking, "How did you know it was me?"

Pinkie gasped almost instantly before I could so much as think, questioning, "Did you get your sight back? Can you see what I'm doing?!" I then heard the distinct sound of her tongue sticking out, as if she were at the doctor's office or something.

"Pinkie, his eyes are closed," Fluttershy pointed out weakly, probably not being heard over Pinkie's ridiculous 'Ah!' sound.

"She's sticking her tongue out. Oh, and you're the only one who smells like fresh cut flowers," I explained simply, still smiling.

"Oh, um, I see," Fluttershy whispered quietly, pausing again in the removal of my bandages. I didn't need to see to guess fairly accurately that she was blushing. Even just in my imagination, it was adorable! I smiled wider as she stopped.

"You're such a sweet talker. The most charming part is, I don't suspect that you're aware of it," Twilight mumbled into my ear, earning a giggle from Fluttershy. Wait, sweet talker? Wasn't that somepony who uses false praise to get something? But Fluttershy really did smell like flowers! It wasn't like I was lying.

"He's just honest, dear. Possibly too honest for his own good, in some cases. I'm honestly surprised Applejack hit it off the worst with him," Rarity continued as Fluttershy took my eye wrappings off. Blotches of light greeted me through my yet closed eyelids. I knew that it was significantly less than what it should be given Rarity's well-lit rooms.

A quiet, yet sharp intake sounded from the mare right in front of me. I swallowed wearily. There was no feeling coming from my eyes, and I felt them almost glued shut by something. They probably didn't look all that healthy. I felt for Fluttershy. She was such a gentle soul, but she had to see some truly terrible injuries. The only reason I could see for her having the medicine in the first place is that she's had to deal with this in her animals before.

"It's not good. The medicine will numb them and help heal, but without magic..." Fluttershy assessed softly. I felt a warm hoof brush along my left temple, probably cleaning the skin a little.

Twilight leaned forwards on me and let out a giggle. "That's what I'm here for, Fluttershy. It's okay. I'm sure he'll recover fully," she assured gently. More for Fluttershy than myself, it sounded. There was no direct reply. She probably nodded or something. Regardless, I felt her tilt my head up and simply let her do whatever.

"This might hurt, but I need you to open your eyes to get the medicine in them. The liquid will make them feel better, so it will only hurt for a couple seconds. I'm sorry..." Fluttershy requested timidly.

"I understand," I managed to rasp out before gathering my legs under me. I didn't want to accidentally hit anypony if I jerked. Not that I was looking forward to the pain, but some things are just unavoidable.

Gritting my teeth together as firmly as I could, I yanked open my eyes with as much speed as I could muster. The blotches of light immediately shifted to blotches of color. After that, all I saw was agony. I didn't even know one could see agony! My breathing snagged on the intake, making me dizzy when combined with the twin spears of pain that just smashed into my skull. The distinctive metallic taste drifted at the corners of my tongue at the same time that all the blood seemingly drained out of my head.

Then Fluttershy hit me with the medicine. At first, all it did was make me give a raspy yelp and flinch away. Mere seconds later, however, it just stopped. The pain vanished possibly faster than it arrived. Then I realized that I actually couldn't feel my eyes at all. It was an exceedingly strange sensation, beaten only by the fact that I still could only see splotches of color, even though I knew my eyes were open.

"Does it hurt now? I can put more in if you need it!" Fluttershy quickly offered, gently shifting me back into a lying position. After a momentary assessment, I decided that I actually couldn't feel a majority of my face, and shook my head softly to decline her offer.

"I'll take over then, Fluttershy. Give him a little of the throat medicine, then help Rainbow?" Twilight suggested gently, probably more to assure her that I didn't need any more of the eye stuff. Twilight shifted in front of me then and switched with Fluttershy, from what I could feel.

I was distracted shortly thereafter by a warm cup being pressed to my lip. A thermos? “I mixed it up while I was there. It’s best when mixed in tea, I discovered. Oh, um, if you don’t like tea, I can go back home and mix it into something else, of course! It’s just what I use for sore throats when I’m not feeling well and, um…” the shy pegasus started to explain before trailing off.

I gave her my best warm smile before shaking my head and accepting the cup. It was surprisingly good, I decided after a few sips. I'd never had much tea before, but she could definitely give Rarity's a run for her bits. It was smooth and had a light minty aftertaste that covered up the normally bitter tang. If there was medicine in it, I certainly couldn't taste it. Moments later, I realized further that there was indeed medicine in it, as my throat went pleasantly numb.

My expression must have been that of happiness, as Fluttershy let out a pleased squeak a moment later. I smiled again and nodded to the yellow mare. "That will help numb your throat, and contains a healing mixture to repair. Zecora is really good at making potions, despite, um, your bad experiences. Please don't be upset with her," she timidly requested.

"Yeah! It was totally my fault that you got too much truth serum. Oh, and got coated in acid. Oh yeah, and the kicking your leg thing. I'm gonna need a bigger banner!" the energetic pink one suddenly declared, sounding as if making a mental note to herself. Oddly, even when sounding guilty, she didn't lose a drop of her normal energy. It kind of made me wonder when and how she actually recovered it all. Did she go home at night and crash in the most epic fashion I could ever witness? There was indeed something to be said about giving your all to everything, if so. It was a little depressing if you thought too hard about it. Kind of like my battalion's motto that I vaguely remembered. Translated, it was something akin to 'Live Free, Die Hard', if I recalled correctly. Although fairly accurate, as we were dumped on the front lines most of the time, if my most recent flashback was to be believed.

The sudden magical current running through the front of my face snapped me out of my dour mental monologue almost instantly, thankfully. I blinked with neither sight nor feeling, a little concerned for what was happening. I assumed Twilight was the cause of the sudden, strange sensation, but then I remembered what usually happened when I assumed something. Thankfully, she explained it shortly after beginning.

"I've never healed something as fragile or complex as eyes before, so I don't trust myself to do it properly the first time. Instead, I'm relying on the slow regeneration the potion Fluttershy gave you bestows, and then accelerating the process," the amazingly brilliant unicorn explained. Well, she'd deny that herself, probably, but I certainly thought so. It really meant something that she wasn't willing to reduce me to an experiment when it really mattered. What Dash had said earlier came to mind again. She really did seem to honestly care for me, even if both of us sometimes forget that. I suppose fights are inevitable, even in the best of relationships. Which means we should expect a lot of them.

Rainbow snickered immediately. "Wow. You just said something that I actually could follow this time," she praised, with no small hinting of sarcasm.

Pinkie giggled at the undertones before asking, "But he'll be super duper fine after this, right? He'll get his sight back? Seeing things is important!" There was the slightest hinting of hysteria at the back of her voice, which was actually kind of disturbing the longer I thought about it. I couldn't imagine Pinkie being serious to any degree without involving the destruction of the world, or something of similar effect.

"Well, in theory. Restoration of chemical burns to tender skin has been done before, but I don't recall any cases where the eyes were involved. So far, the only notable cases involved horns, noses, a few examples of wing tissue, and in one unfortunate event, male genitalia." Twilight paused there, and I felt a shudder in her magical current that oddly matched the one going down my spine. I didn't even want to know how that happened.

Pinkie continued, oblivious of course. "So it will work on his eyes?!" she asked again, a little more frantically this time.

Twilight sighed and focused more energy into my skull. I hope I didn't get some sort of magical brain tumor or something. "I don't know, Pinkie. It should and has a high probability of working, but it's never been done before," she reiterated.

"Relax, Pinks. Mender's one tough stallion. He'll be fine," Rainbow assured calmly, expressing a great deal of faith in me yet again. Well, she was definitely living up to her reputation. I'd never had somepony show such loyalty and faith in me. Well, to my knowledge anyway. I couldn't help but blush a little, somewhat unsure of how to handle such an expression.

"Okay, Rainbow, here you go," Fluttershy suddenly whispered from a little ways behind me and to the left. Whoa! I hadn't even realized that she left. I guess there were perks to being quiet all the time. She'd make a wicked assassin. A heartbeat went by, then I reconsidered. No, she'd probably be the worst assassin in the universe. Followed very closely by myself. She'd decide to rehabilitate the target until they were a functioning member of society again, and I'd trip and fall on my weapon during my first mission.

"Uh, and all I have to do is put my hooves in this? I really don't like my hooves touched!" Rainbow inquired, sounding a bit flustered. I was intrigued, but decided against saying anything. As defenseless as I was at the moment, tempting fate just seemed extra stupid in this case. I can't make it too easy.

"I'm sure, Rainbow. This will heal the outer layer of your hooves that got burned, turning them the odd color," Fluttershy explained. It suddenly dawned on me that the timid yellow pegasus actually knew quite a bit about medicine and treating injuries. She explained things simply, however, so far showing no need to boast about the knowledge. I made a mental note to hopefully remember to ask her about her knowledge later.

Idly, I wondered what Rarity and Pinkie were doing while I waited. I picked up snickering and a few whispers, but it seemingly moved to the other room. Her kitchen, if I recall? Knowing Rarity, they were gossiping or something. Ah well. The constant current of magic running through my face and head was starting to actually get a little relaxing, and I felt myself slowly getting sleepier and sleepier. It had been a long day, seeming as if the day before just bled into it in one long jumble. I doubted that the sleep I got last night was all that restful, if I was truly asleep in the first place. Coma, came to mind instead.

A light humming noise from Twilight snapped me out of it. Instinctively, I looked up at her before remembering that I couldn’t see. Then I surprised the hell out of myself by seeing a fuzzy, lavender blur instead of almost nothing. “This is strange. It was supposed to speed up the recovery, but this is almost too fast. Plus the effected zones of the tonic are far too spread out to be standard deviation,” the unicorn muttered, almost to herself as I saw her lean in for closer examination, the purple, fuzzy glow from her horn flaring up.

“That wasn’t in the other cases?” I asked quietly, voice already feeling better from the medicine. Of course, the other cases probably didn’t involve an extradimensional traveler. I really don’t like to consider it, but I’m probably a fairly unique case in Equestria. I think.

She smiled, but shook her head. “Not exactly. I mean, the magical healing mixes well with the potion effects, but this is almost as if your eyes are taking advantage of the potion effects themselves and forcing the recovery even faster. They’re reacting very strangely.”

“Maybe because I’m not originally from Equestria?” I suggested, delighted in the fact that I could see her now when I looked up.

“It could be that your genetic makeup is different from ours, although this seems almost intentional on your body’s part. I take it you can see me again, as your pupils are tracking my motions?” she observed, peeking down at me again.

I smiled wider and nodded. Hers became a grin, and then she surprised me by looking around carefully, to each side of herself. I glanced about too, wondering what she was looking for. Fluttershy was to my right now, smiling gently at me as well. Dash was close to her, looking back and forth between myself and her hooves that were stuck in a small, purple tub in front of her. That was undoubtedly the mixture Fluttershy brought. Seemingly nothing out of the ordinary in the situation that Twilight would be interested in, I decided. Well, nothing out of the ordinary apart from the various injuries we all had.

Then I realized what Twilight was looking for when she nodded to herself and leaned down further. Oh, she was looking for observers. Specific observers it would seem. There was no further time for realizations before she lightly kissed me directly on the muzzle, pushing against me warmly but not forcefully. What had I done to deserve this?!

“I’m glad you’re back as well,” she whispered, a few seconds later upon breaking the kiss. “Please don’t run away again?” Fluttershy now sported a light blush, and Dash was grinning at us. I smiled softly up at her, noticing a warm blush similar to the one I felt on my own cheeks.

“Are Mender’s eyes about done, if I may ask?” Rarity inquired, sounding as if she was a mere few feet behind Twilight. Twilight leapt back and away as if burned, blush magnifying a few fold.

It took her a few tries, but she nodded rapidly. “He’s definitely healing up. Uh, yeah, totally healing up nicely!” she assured, a little too abruptly for her own good.

The white unicorn gave her a slightly skeptical glance, but nodded politely, seemingly deciding not to ask about it. “Well, regardless, I have retrieved the hair regrowth tonic from upstairs. The bathroom isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be, but I’d like to treat Mender’s condition first. He simply can’t go outside like he is!” Rarity declared, looking a little frightening again. I shrank down slightly, but reminded myself that Twilight would stop her short of killing me. I hoped.

“Relax, Mender. You’re thoroughly cleansed of the soap that caused it before. It should work perfectly fine this time," Twilight assured, blush finally fading a little bit.

Looking back over at Rarity, I saw that she was already putting away the vile jug again. Even though it was a little fuzzy still, I could tell that smell from anywhere now that it was thoroughly engrained in my memory. Sighing, I realized that I wasn't going to be given a choice in the matter.

Rainbow's snickering sent a pulse of irritation down my back. "Come on, Mender. Worst case scenario, I have to dump you back into a rain barrel. Ya don't want to look all pink and fleshy until your fur grows back, do ya?" she reasoned bluntly.

Shaking my head wearily, I finally gave in and sighed. "Fine. Just try to hurry, because that stuff is cold," I whined. I might as well get this over with. Rarity gave a somewhat overzealous grin before bringing the jug over my back.

That was how I became a four foot wide furball. With a deadpan, mildly annoyed expression, I sat there on my haunches as Rarity did her best to fend the fur away from my face and eyes with deft use of three pairs of scissors at once. I was a little apprehensive with that many sharp, moving objects drifting around my head, but I suppose it was better than suffocating.

"The more I consider it, the more I think that I might have used slightly too much tonic," Rarity deduced dryly, giving the top of my head a shave again, only to have the bottom start to regrow into the spot she just cleared.

"You don't say?" Twilight questioned sarcastically, watching the white unicorn work from a good two meters away, as if concerned the fur would lash out at any moment and attack her.

Rainbow, of course, was still laughing. She had rolled off the couch a couple of minutes ago, but it didn't really faze her much. She continued laughing hysterically and occasionally getting another look at me.

Pinkie was still on the couch, smiling warmly towards me. I was honestly surprised she hadn't had the same enthusiasm as her cyan friend. She'd laughed a little when I started rapidly becoming the world's largest duster, but simply seemed happy at this point. I kept occasionally glancing at her to make sure there were no surprises coming my way, but she only perked and gave me a nod each time I did so. Which meant she was continuously staring at me the entire time. I found that to be a little more unnerving than if she were laughing.

Fluttershy was drifting around in the air above me still. She wielded the largest comb Rarity owned, and was continuously attempting to ensure that my newly acquired fur didn't become one massive knot. I was extremely thankful for that, as Rarity might be encouraged to attack it with extreme prejudice.

Twilight shook her head again, giving me a light smile before going back to her strange construction project in front of her. I actually didn't know why she was still hanging around, having occasionally complained that she really should be working on the Everfree Forest Analysis job. She seemed absorbed in her current project, however. She'd taken two of the cardboard cores from Rarity's fabric rolls and merged them together using magic. They now formed a crude, upside down 'Y' shape. I had honestly no idea what she was planning on doing with it.

"Oh thank Celestia. I think it's finally slowing down some. Now all we need to do is trim and style it, and you'll be right back to normal!" she assured, suddenly looking proud of herself. I remained healthily skeptical with an expression of stoic irritation. Technically, this was all her fault to begin with, for the most part. She was the one who went compulsive on my fur. I could hardly hold it against Pinkie, who was only trying to save me.

"Oh, we're going to style it, too? Isn't that strange for a stallion?" Fluttershy asked timidly, halting momentarily over my head. It was? Wait, what were they going to 'style' it as?!

Rarity gently scoffed at the idea, waving her hoof in the air as if to dismiss it. "Nonsense, my dear. There are many styles that a stallion may apply that can make them look simply dashing! Have you seen that kind Dr. Whooves walking about town? Such a sophisticated look could really help Mender impress the mares!"

I gave her another glare before asking, "What if I don't want to impress the mares, Rarity?" Twilight would probably kill me if I even looked like I was vaguely considering it, after all.

Rarity gave a blank look before smiling politely back at me. "Well, I'm sure the stallions would also appreciate an air of sophistication," she returned with no hesitation whatsoever. Rainbow laughed even harder.

I sighed wearily and slapped my forehead with a hoof. Or tried too, until I realized I couldn't lift my foreleg up that far with all of the fur in the way. "Look, I already feel badly enough for all of your generosity. All of you have been treating me really well, and I don't have a single thing I can repay you with!" I protested, settling for stomping my hoof on the ground instead.

"Really nice except for that whole acid thing, the potion poisoning, the leg kicking, the multiple concussions, lacerations, and general injuries..." Twilight started listing. I was about to protest further when I noticed she'd lined one end of the tube she made up with my face. My eyes widened instead.

"Don't forget the mental trauma, dear," Rarity amended, a hinting of irritation in her voice before shaking her head. Twilight shot her a rather caustic glare. "Besides, Mender, I don't believe you fully understand exactly how much you're saving my career by agreeing to this little soiree. Potentially importing my designs to Canterlot via multiple important and wealthy ponies? For the price of one suit? I'm not even considering that I'm taking up your time for a day and a half to two days! Truly, I should be paying you, Mender!" she further explained, sounding just a little hysterical towards the end. I found it a little hard to believe that not arriving with the guest requested on her invitation would honestly make her look that bad, but she was the expert, not I.

I suddenly tried not to chuckle. Yeah, Mender, you definitely aren't an expert at social situations! Whap! A small, rubber ball skipped off my muzzle and bounced across the floor. I was momentarily stunned before skeptically glancing back over at Twilight. She was oddly taking notes in a notepad that I hadn't seen her carrying prior. The tiny bouncy ball was caught out of the air with her magic as she lined it up in her slanted tube again. Wait, why was she doing this? I glanced at the 'Y' fork and raised an eyebrow. Okay, so it had a fifty-fifty chance of hitting me.

"Oooh, it's long enough to braid, Rarity! He looks so cute," Fluttershy suddenly announced, snapping me out of my curiosity with a replaced sensation of dread.

Glancing back as best as I could, I saw that she had stopped combing me now and was unfortunately braiding my fur along the side of my head. My ears drooped as I felt what little there was left of my dignity slipping away.

"Oh, he looks simply darling! Maybe I won't trim his mane as much if you're going to do that instead," Rarity agreed in a whimsical tone. She totally ignored my death glare, of course. Fluttershy may have been off limits for my irritation, but I held nothing back for the others.

Rarity gave me a knowing smile as Fluttershy squeaked and went to work braiding with a slightly surprising level of enthusiasm. Crap. Well, she seemed to really want to do it, so how was I supposed to say no? The adorable yellow mare hummed pleasingly as she flitted about above.

Thankfully, the pearly white unicorn started to make headway as the tonic undoubtedly wore off. Another ball skipped off my face followed by more furious scribbling sounds, but I simply ignored it this time. Twilight seemed interested in the results as she peered at her notepad. Changing things up a bit, she shifted the contraption to the right so that the other end lined up with me instead.

Whap. So far she was scoring a hundred percent, as the ball took the other path and managed to hit me yet again. She frowned and recorded the results before trying once again. Seeing a pattern forming, I was a little amused when she got frustrated and flipped it over to the other side. What, was she worried about defects in the cardboard? After six more tests with both ends, and twelve more collisions with my head, I saw her start to get a slightly crazed look in her eyes. "I don't understand! Why is this happening?!" she asked in obvious frustration. What part of the universe hating me did she not get?

Rainbow, who had been watching the entire time, started to snicker before asking, "What are you doing, trying to find a measurement of how much gravity hates him?" I rolled my eyes, blaming her for secretly stealing my thought, no matter how true it might have been.

Twilight didn't respond the way I thought she would, though. In fact, she didn't respond at all for a good ten seconds or so. Even Rainbow went from smirking to curious, to looking slightly worried. "Wait, gravity? You might just have something there, Rainbow!" she suddenly exclaimed, whipping back around to face me and launching the cardboard construction halfway through the spin.

I gave her an uneasy grimace. "What do you mean, gravity? You're not going to throw me off a building or something, are you?" I questioned. It might have been a mildly paranoid guesstimate, but sometimes having a healthy air of caution was useful!

She momentarily scowled before playfully batting me on the nose. "Relax, Mender. I told you that I wasn't going to hurt you anymore, and I meant it. Gravity isn't something I had considered, though. It's unlikely, as in order to have the required gravitational pull to manipulate something already containing inertia, you'd require a huge amount of mass, but it's worth a few tests, right?" she reasoned. Wait, was she seriously suggesting that I had a gravitational field strong enough to draw things towards me, to effect things that were not only inside of an atmosphere but already acting under its own inertia? The pure calculation escaped me at the moment, but even with some generous rounding, I doubted that was possible. Unless she was considering magical means, of course.

Eh, what the heck? If the experiments were as mundane as bouncing a rubber ball off my head, I wasn't all that concerned. Yeah, I'd probably live to regret that thought. Maybe. I nodded nervously, and Twilight let out a squeal of delight.

"Yes! I've been wanting to test the source of your seemingly insurmountable bad luck since meeting you! This is gonna be great! Hurry up, Rarity. Mender and I need to get back to the library for some experiments." She hopped lightly on her hooves while going on about it, and I sighed. Her version of 'great' seemed to significantly differ from mine. Sure, it would be nice to quantify so I knew what to avoid, but the process of getting there was liable to be painful, knowing the aspect of what we were testing. How else would one test 'bad luck' without subjecting the participant to events which could go horribly, horribly wrong?

"Twilight dear, weren't you supposed to examine those things brought back from the forest? I hate to spoil your fun, of course, but you mustn't keep the Princesses waiting," Rarity reminded in a rather profoundly proper tone. It was probably to my benefit that she had.

Twilight stopped bouncing and sighed wearily. "Yeah, I know. I'm just frustrated that I can't seem to properly identify the creature," she explained, energy seemingly leaking out of her at an alarming rate.

"It might be a mutation. You should take potential variances into consideration," I suggested after a few seconds' consideration. My voice sounded strange to me for a moment, in a detached sort of way. There was the brief flickering of bodies strewn out before me, gaping burn holes seared into their flesh and horrible disfigurations present across their entire forms. The image was gone and instant later, and I realized once again that it was a memory. We had been familiar with mutations as well, it would seem. But the situation itself with no context didn't say much. Who was responsible for the mutations; us or the Grosh? Hopefully I would never find out.

"I never thought two ponies could say so much, yet so little at the same time," Dash muttered, smirking again at the two of us.

Twilight rolled her eyes again, but wore a smile this time. "Oh hush. You're probably right. I shouldn't doubt that I did the calculations wrong after I re-checked them all night. It could be a significant mutation to a manticore. The claws are very wrong, though," Twilight explained, agreeing with me for the first time in a while now.

Rarity, who was down to my shoulders now with her trimming, smiled and nodded to her in assurance. "Of course, I have no doubt that you'll reach the right conclusion, Twilight. I have the utmost faith in you, and it's obvious that the town, and even the Princesses do as well. Even if you can't identify it exactly, giving a detailed explanation of what you have discovered would be invaluable, no?" Rarity reasoned calmly, which was a little surprising given the topic. One would think a resident in the town threatened would want a more definite solution to the state of emergency. Yet the white unicorn seemed the epitome of calmness and tranquility. Ironically, she threw more of a fuss over my traumatized fur than potential mortal danger in the forest.

Twilight smiled pleasantly at her friend, giving a gentle nod in return. At this point, however, I really had to ask. "You seem really calm, Rarity. Shouldn't you be more concerned with the danger in the forest? That there might be danger to yourself or those you love? That, uh, I haven't seen Pinkie Pie for a good fifteen minutes?" I questioned, changing my flow halfway through as I looked around in realization. Wasn't the pink pony just on the couch next to me?! Glancing about, I confirmed my fears in that she was now entirely absent.

Rarity banished all doubts with an amazingly feminine giggle. "Truly, you are a Gentlecolt to be concerned for my feelings, but a Lady simply must remain composed and dignified at all times. Sure, I'm concerned about the forest, but I must remain calm to deal with it. Oh, and Pinkie wandered back into the kitchen to say something, but left through the kitchen window a few seconds before I returned, parting not but with a sudden gasp," Rarity spoke softly, brushing her mane smoothly out of her eyes. Why the window?!

Rainbow perked up from her hoof bath, both ears twitching slightly. "Ooh, something tells me another party is coming up, then. Finally! All this stress and work makes me really want to kick back and relax," she lazily exclaimed, drooping her head in a tired looking manner.

"Regardless, I don't think anypony needs to worry about it. No matter what I can identify it as, it will only go as far as to let everypony know what to look for. The Princess will probably decide to send a group of hunters to try to capture the creature," Twilight furthered, nodding softly to herself while looking just as tired as before.

Rarity nodded sympathetically before suggesting, "All the better to get it out of your mind sooner rather than later, Dear. We can make sure Mender gets returned to you after he's properly maintained." The whimsical, nonchalant manner in which she referenced me as an item was both shocking and depressing at the same time. Didn't I get a say in this? I distinctly remembered Rainbow's advice this morning about possibly not staying with Twilight anymore.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll see you later today, Mender. Try to arrive intact, this time," the lavender mare requested as she slowly stood up again and shook herself while stretching. Exhaling quietly after I realized I wasn't going to be spared from the braiding or humiliation, I slowly lowered myself into a lying position. Might as well be as comfortable as possible while being psychologically tormented.

"Worry not. We'll make sure nothing happens to the dear," Rarity assured merrily, lightly trimming along my back now.

Twilight gave a nod, then a final smile towards me before heading towards the door.