In all honesty, I really didn't like daytime. There were numerous reasons, but a select few came to mind right away. Squinting from the glare, I slowly made my way towards the giant tree near the center of town. The Sun hadn't set yet and was at that frustratingly annoying angle where it partially blinded you when looking a certain direction. I certainly didn't need any help being blinded right now! The heat was stifling at the moment as well, given my longer than average coat. Rarity wasn't able to fully complete her trimming after Sweetie Belle and crew stormed into the place chirping about a slumber party. It had been a nightmare.

"Why are you so fluffy?" "Aww, you're adorable!" "Yer lookin' ah little haggard there." All three fillies seemed to think something different about my look. Well, actually I think Apple Bloom was more commenting on my expression than anything. That didn't stop Sweetie Belle from pouncing on me and using me as a makeshift teddy bear.

Apparently it was hard to cut my fur with her clinging to me, so now I was a little more, well, fuzzy than usual. Fluffy, if you would. Oh, and the part of my mane consisting of my bangs was braided, much to my dismay. Given my lack of a masculine build, I sincerely believed I could pass for a female at the moment, now. Not that current company seemed to mind.

The timid yellow mare walked quietly to my right, in as much of a hurry to reach my destination as I was, which was to say, not at all. Fluttershy seemed withdrawn and distracted, but still maintained a smile on her face. She was quite pretty to look at, and I caught myself peeking over at her more than once. She'd insisted she had nothing further to do today until nighttime. I hadn't questioned her motives further than that. Our eyes met once again and we both blushed, looking away from each other.

I suppose it was still a nice enough day, all things considered. I'd gotten my leg healed and my fur returned to some semblance of normalcy. I'd discovered I had my Cutie Mark, much to the disappointment of the three fillies. I hadn't escaped their wrath flawlessly, and had been forced to promise my time in helping them to acquire theirs as well. It wasn't a pretty memory, and I'd probably suppress it later today. Still, in comparison to my usual days, it was looking up. I hadn't been almost killed or suffered any blunt head trauma yet. The bouncy ball didn't count. I decided to only give credit if the impact was above a certain velocity. Honestly, it was the only way to keep a track record at all.

Fluttershy shifted ever so slightly closer to me as she lowered her head again. I looked back at her hesitantly but she simply looked deep in thought. I kept walking alongside of her for a while longer before the concern finally got the better of me. If she was upset about something, I simply had to do something about it! To get her attention, I closed the half an inch distance between our shoulders and lightly brushed against her.

She started slightly but looked over at me regardless, a light blush forming when she saw me looking back with lightly furrowed brows. "Are you all right, Fluttershy? You seem down," I asked softly.

She momentarily looked surprised, but recovered quickly with a warm smile. "Oh, yes. Thank you for your concern, but I was just thinking," she returned softly after a moment's consideration. While I doubted this was anything out of the ordinary, I was still a little concerned for the already quiet and reserved pegasus.

"About what, if I might ask? I don't like seeing you upset," I inquired as politely as I could manage.

She blushed even further but kept her smile, adding a nod before furthering with, "I don't know why I'm so silly, but I keep thinking about what Twilight and I saw in your memories. It bothers me when I, um, think too much about it." Her revealed thoughts didn't surprise me all that much. I'd suspected that was what she was thinking about.

"You don't have to deal with it all by yourself, you know. Don't be afraid to talk to me about it," I offered, slightly before my brain fully considered the implications of the statement, and I followed up with, "Or any of the girls of course. I'm sure any of them would gladly listen." The last thing I wanted was to have her think I was taking advantage of her or something! Was it too late already?!

Fluttershy watched me carefully, neither suspicion nor true understanding in her eyes. It was unnerving after a second, and panicking after several. I fidgeted, wondering if she thought I was some sort of abuser or something. "Ah, I'm sorry, Fluttershy! I didn't mean for it to sound like that, honest! All I want to do is help you. I'm not trying to take advantage of you or anything and I understand if you're not comfortable," I rapidly backpedaled, hoping it got to her before she jumped to conclusions and panicked.

The buttermilk yellow pegasus momentarily looked surprised before, much to my shock, she started giggling merrily. It was an uncontrolled, pleasant sound to listen to as she shifted to snickering and swaying. "Oh Mender. You'll never change. That's a good thing of course! I wasn't mad at you and I wouldn't dare to consider you taking advantage of me. You're a very kind stallion, which is why I like you," she explained before leaning in and giving me a soft hug.

As surprising as her trust in me was, I still felt relieved that she wasn't mad at me. Exhaling quietly, I rested my forehead against her shoulder. "Thank you again for worrying about me. I'm okay, though. It's just a bit hard to not think about what I saw when around you, still. You're so gentle, it's hard for me to understand how you could come from such a terrible place," she explained, voice rapidly losing confidence the longer she spoke. She shifted and looked down towards the dirt by the end, but still didn't make any attempt to move.

"Just because I was there, didn't mean I agreed with the violence. A lot of soldiers justify the war like that, but others just want to protect those they care about, and the very place they call home," I justified, secretly calling upon the reasons I told myself that I had participated.

She seemed confused and looked back up at me with a slightly tilted head. Her expression shifted to thoughtful a moment later when she asked, "So you joined the war to protect, right? I think I knew that already. What were you trying to protect?"

That was, well, a very good question. I frowned and looked up at the radiant blue sky above us for a moment. Yeah, that was probably it. My eyes got lost in the azure shades and I relaxed, giving the yellow mare a gentle squeeze. "At first I thought it was for family, but I'm not sure I had any. Ultimately, it was the same reason I had when fighting the Grosh most recently. I wanted to protect those I cared for, and all the wonderful ponies that make this place special. The Equestrian way of life, I guess?" I reasoned, surprisingly enough for the first time. I'd not spent much time thinking about that day. Of course, it was kind of a miserable experience. I didn't know anything about this 'hero' thing, but if that was what it took, I'd rather leave the horrible pain and miserable death to somepony else. Of course, it was asked of me at the time so I didn't have a whole lot of choice.

Fluttershy smiled in my silence and nodded, mirroring my earlier pose against my shoulder this time. "That makes me feel better. Even if you, um, hurt things, you did it for a reason you couldn't control, and to protect your way of life from the evil creatures. I just don't know. How did you make it through that and remain so nice?" she questioned again, pushing harder against me and shivering a little.

I frowned, never liking to see her like this, and gave her another reassuring squeeze. "That level of... Well, let's just call it hatred, is definitely not normal. The emotions required to willingly end the life of something else doesn't sit well with me. It never has, I don't think. It's like it's a form of insanity, and I avoid it with all my might. Even on that ship when I was all alone, I still remembered why I was doing everything. It wasn't ever for me. I could only focus on what would happen if I let them figure out how to make a portal here. That was all that justified blowing up the ship. Stopping an evil and selfish creature from hurting everypony I loved. If there were any other way, Fluttershy, I would have taken it. I'm not a hero, and didn't even want to be there, but considering the alternatives..." My rambling died out slowly the tighter her hugging got. At some point, we'd switched places again, and she was back to hugging me.

"Thank you. Just, thank you, Mender. That's what I'd been hoping all along. You aren't what those images hinted at, and that's all that matters. You, well, I'm just glad that you care so much about us. Thank you," she gushed, in her own soft and quiet way. A warm smile decorated her expression, and her gorgeous blue eyes shimmered in the sunlight. I couldn't help but smile as I gazed at her and gave a gentle nod. She was one of the mares I'd give my life to protect, hooves down. Hooves? I was suddenly amused by how I had started to adapt the vocabulary into my very thoughts.

All amusement slipped and fell off the proverbial cliff as she leaned up suddenly and gave me a timid peck on my cheek. My eyes widened and I felt the fiery magma sensation explode into my face as I tried to suddenly process what she had just done. I must have looked silly, because she suddenly giggled and backed away a little, still smiling warmly but now mirroring my blush slightly. After several seconds, she lightly reached up again and closed the mouth I hadn't realized I'd let drop open.

"That was for protecting us and being such a nice guy. Um, thank you. For putting up with me as well. I, uh, know I can be a bit, um, nervous sometimes and..." she started, looking back down at my hooves again.

That fired up the thought processes once more! "Fluttershy!" I scolded lightly.

She jumped with a start, eyes snapping open as she shuddered. "Oh! Uh, yes? I'm sorry!" she rapidly apologized, shrinking a little closer towards the ground.

"No no. I just don't want you to think you're a burden. I like you, Fluttershy. You're a wonderful mare, and I'd say that even if I didn't think you were adorable, cute, beautiful, and have a massive crush on you. You're intelligent, interesting, kind, gentle, and care so much about everypony else. Honestly, I don't know how anypony could not like you," I pointed out, driving it as hard as I could towards her so she knew exactly how I felt.

Predictably, her surprise and fear rapidly shifted to that of embarrassment and awkwardness. The color in her cheeks flared up even more, and oddly, I felt a little proud to have been the cause of her being absolutely adorable. She pawed at me with her right forehoof as if motioning that I had said too much and ponies might hear.

"Oh you! I'm not, but... Thank you, but I just, well, oh my goodness, I can't even talk straight," she whispered, mostly to herself it seemed. She shook her head rapidly, causing her mane to shift side to side with a sway before rubbing her cheeks slowly.

I smirked and took a bit of a chance. Leaning forward, I gently pecked her forehead before pulling back again. She was just too cute to resist! Besides, it was a show of affection more so than interest in anything else.

The timid yellow mare locked up instantly, going absolutely rigid in surprise. Slowly, she lifted her head again to look back up at me, eyes widened to almost maximum size and shivering slightly as she stared. The blush in her cheeks held a shocking contrast to her blue eyes, and she was suddenly even more adorable than before. Her mouth was still open, having been in mid self-berating when I'd done it. Expanding my smirk, I reached up and gently closed her mouth with an odd sense of déjà vu.

Her muzzle shifted to a smile instead, eyes softening as she watched me with her renewed blush still not lessening. The emotions behind it felt like they had changed, however. She gave me a quick, almost unnoticeable nod and stood up again, brushing against me with her shoulder before nudging her head towards the tree house library a few blocks in front of us.

There was a definite feeling of elation as I returned her smile and nod. I'd made her feel better about something, and that felt even more awesome than figuring out an invention or equation, I suddenly realized. She was happy, and I had helped her get there. With a sudden burst of realization, I looked back at the silver gear adorning each of my flanks as Fluttershy moved ahead. At first I was irritated at it, but now that I think about it, the heart in the center made a little more sense.

"Are you coming?" my gentle friend asked from a few meters ahead, her voice a little louder than usual, if not to only get the questioning over to me.

Smiling more honestly this time, I turned back to her and nodded before trotting to catch up. This time I managed it with only a slight stumble...

Having armed guards posted outside of the door was concerning, I decided. At least I assumed they were guards, as they were dressed similarly to the ones I had seen with Celestia in my first encounter with the Princess. They were decked out in a quite different purple and blue color scheme; their chest plate held together by a large, impressive looking gemstone. Most striking, however, were their yellow eyes and bat-like wings instead of feathers. Wait, what in Equestria were they? I'd never heard of a pegasi with membrane wings instead! Of course, they were a little distorted and fuzzy, compliment of my less than stellar eyesight. Maybe they weren't ponies at all? Both guards to either side of the door gave me specifically a stern glare upon our approach. My usually timid companion seemed entirely undaunted, however.

"Halt. We are to let nopony into the building without specific invitation. Exception is granted for you of course, Miss Fluttershy," the intimidating guard on the left hissed out upon my breaching spitting distance.

I blinked but frowned, a little confused. "Uh, but I live here," I reasoned, unsure of what was going on.

Both guards glared harder at me, but said absolutely nothing. "Oh dear. He really is telling the truth. Could you let him in, please?" Fluttershy asked quietly, looking back and forth between the guards and I.

"I'm sorry, Miss Fluttershy. We have our orders. You may enter if you wish," the same guard reiterated, tone slightly less hostile this time. They had both visibly relaxed upon her vouching for me, I suddenly realized. Of course, Fluttershy was an Element of Harmony. That meant she was practically a living legend. For a moment, I was put back into perspective. How exactly had I met such wonderful ponies? Surely the odds were astronomically against me.

"I'll go inside and talk to Twilight. Perhaps I can get permission for him to enter?" she suggested politely, oddly almost looking comfortable with the guard. I wondered what made her so relaxed. There was something I was definitely missing. Of course, I didn't have a clue as to why there were guards standing out here in the middle of the evening, or why the library would suddenly require armed security in the first place.

Both guards nodded curtly and Fluttershy turned back to me, assuring, "I'll only be gone a moment. If you can't enter for some reason, I'll keep you company out here, okay?"

I blushed but shook my head. "I can find something to do until I can enter. You don't have to keep me company."

Fluttershy's eyes softened, her quiet exhale causing her mane to sway softly. That small smile flashed across her muzzle again and she shook her head. "Oh, you're just so cute and nice! I'll come back out and steal you away to my cottage if you can't enter for some reason," she added, eyes closing momentarily as she gave a cute little nod. Oh crap. Think innocent thoughts, Mender! She's Fluttershy, so she surely meant nothing by it. "We can have a perfectly good time without them if they want to be mean," she tacked on after I didn’t respond due to fighting back a blush.

Damn it! The heat flooded into my cheeks and I coughed lightly, trying to dispel both the obviously inaccurate innuendos drifting into my head, and the urge to simply take her up on the offer right then and there. She'd been a lot nicer than Twilight had to me so far. I doubted staying in the same house with the stressed out unicorn was all that healthy for our relationship anyway. "I think I'd like that. Thank you, Fluttershy," I returned in an appreciative manner, trying my hardest not to sound creepy. Or let her figure out the thoughts I was trying to banish.

If the timid pegasus was bothered, she was being amazingly stoic about it. Instead, she let out a little giggle and nodded. She surprised me yet again with a light nuzzle to my shoulder before fluttering backwards and rotating to land in front of the door. I watched her graceful movements compulsively, as if she had some sort of mesmerizing effect on me. Yeah, I definitely liked the cute yellow mare. Of course, I also liked the beautiful lavender unicorn who was somewhere inside. As much as she scared the crap out of me and was more than a little high strung, she gave me excited little butterflies in my stomach whenever she got too close. I got along the best with both of them, and each shared compatible yet varying traits with me. I frowned, realizing how badly I didn't want to choose between them. Well, for now, I wouldn't have to.

I snapped out of it just in time to see the guard on the right give me a knowing, rather suggestive wink before gesturing towards the mare opening the door. The less than subtle reference was followed by an even more obvious double eyebrow flick, and I sighed.

"I'll be right back, Mender," the mare in question assured, glancing back at me before giving a nod and walking inside. I watched the light dwindle to a mere crack before fading completely as she shut the door again.

They wasted next to no time after the door shut. "Wow, what a mare! This guy is so lucky to have none other than the Element of Kindness hot for him!" the guard on the right exclaimed wistfully.

What the...? "I am still here, you know?" I reminded irritably. If they heard me, they certainly didn't acknowledge it.

"Ho! You don't know the half of it. I overheard the Princesses discussing the fact that he's already dating none other than Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic!" the left one shot back. The princesses shared gossip like that? Wait a minute.

"You knew who I was all along!" I deduced out loud.

For all the reaction I got, I might as well have been a ghost. "Whoa, Fluttershy would never help the jerk cheat on one of her best friends!" the right one denied, sounding appalled. I'm the jerk?!

"That's just it, don't you see? They're cooperating, if ya get my drift," the other, hear by classified as Jerk One, pointed out.

By reduction, the newly labeled Jerk Two suddenly got a look of dawning comprehension.

"The lucky stud! A herd is kinda rare by itself, but one with two of the Elements of Harmony?!" Jerk Two exclaimed in shock.

"I'm still here! And you knew who I was all along?!" I finally growled out in an irritated tone, stamping both hooves to the ground as emphasis.

Jerk One snorted and looked back at me. "Of course we did," he confirmed, speaking as if I should already know that.

Jerk Two, of course, nodded in agreement. "Think about it. We get to play the 'Just Following Orders' routine and watch you squirm. Then you get both mares inside to pity you and lay on the good stuff!" he explained, causing heat to shoot into my cheeks as I realized what he was insinuating.

"What if I didn't want their pity? That seems kind of pathetic to me," I groaned out, shaking my head rapidly. It was mostly in disagreement, but it also helped clear it of that annoying heat.

Jerk Two shook his head as well but in a slower, more disappointed looking fashion. "Clearly you've never tried it. Pity Sex is the best sex," he pointed out, gesturing empathically towards me with a hoof.

My ears flattened back and I glared, a little irked at this point. "Uh, isn't that disrespectful to the mares? I care for them. Besides, there are more important things than just sex, you know. Both are truly amazing mares and frankly, I should be lucky that they like me back," I tried to explain. Both guards stared at me like I had sprouted mutant tentacles out my back or something. I blinked a couple times and resisted the urge to turn around and check.

"That's single-handedly the most pansy thing I've ever heard. Let me guess, you haven't gotten any since you got here, right?" he inquired in a snide sort of curiosity. Oops, back to being mad.

I grimaced before glaring at him again. What was wrong with these stallions?! Was that truly all they thought about? Sure, I admit to entertaining the idea a couple of times, too, but they seemed downright obsessed with it! "I've been a little too busy trying to stay alive, sorry! There are more important things, you know!" I shot back, suddenly finding myself oddly on the defensive. It wasn't that big of a deal!

"Ha! Called it. See how far 'respecting' them has got you? Mares don't want to be respected. They want to be teased and toyed with! Be bad and daring, and they'll crawl all over you," Jerk One exclaimed, rearing slightly and 'punching' the air a bit with his hooves. My opinion of him plummeted.

Jerk Two shook his head and raised an eyebrow over at his friend. "I was the one who called it, stupid. But he has a point," he concurred, looking back to me before continuing with, "Even the shy, reserved Fluttershy would probably put out if you pressured her a little bit and acted a little spunky. Heck, act masculine in general. You do kind of look like a mare."

Now I didn't know which to be angrier with him for. He insulted both myself and Fluttershy in that statement. The heat got stuck in my cheeks, but for different reasons this time. "Don't talk that way about Fluttershy! She's not like that and deserves your respect," I admonished, voice low and struggling to keep it under control. It wasn't often that I got mad, I realized. I didn't know what to do with all of the anger. It wasn't exactly a feeling I was comfortable with. Still, these bastards deserved it if I just so happened to form a few barriers and knock their skulls around a bit, right?

Jerk Two's vague image smirked. It was hard to see details when everything was fuzzy and out of focus, but I'm pretty sure he smirked. At least, that's what would have fit in context. "Or you'll what? Braid my mane?" he challenged. As funny as that would be, turning off his gravity for a few hours sounded infinitely more promising.

"Teach you some proper manners, of course. Aren't you guards supposed to be stoic and polite?" I suddenly remembered, surprised at the noticeable difference. It was like night and… day?

"Does it look like we're wearing gold to you?"

Jerk One coughed lightly, drawing both of our attention to him before suggesting, "Uh, I really don't think that attacking him is such a good idea." My opinion of him increased a few notches. A guard attacking a pony in the street with little to no provocation didn't sound too legal.

"Don't join him in Pansy-land. I'll just show him why we're guards real fast. Don't worry," the second guard assured, stomping the steps they were on with his front hooves as he slammed back down and glared at me. My eyes narrowed as I focused on him instantly.

At least I would have, had a low but loud creaking noise not sounded from the wall behind him, expanding up the side of the tree. What the hell?! That didn't sound too good. Glancing up the tree, I tried to spot any noticeable structural integrity damage. Movement below my vision flickered forwards at that exact moment. Instinctively, I threw up my barrier across my chest, neck, and face at skin level just as he smashed into me as hard as he could. Sparks flew as his armor scraped harshly off my barrier and I slid backwards from the force of the impact, wincing a little. Well, that hadn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would.

"Ow, ponyfeathers! That felt like hitting a brick wall," the idiot exclaimed, sounding irritated as he glared back up at me. I started to get ready to rear, deciding that bucking him in the face with a shield-reinforced hoof wasn’t such a bad idea. Movement caught my eye first, however.

My eyes widened and I maximized my shield as a full tree branch, a few dozen pounds of leaves, assorted bark, a few shingles, and a very pissed off squirrel landed on him an instant later. He let out a high-pitched scream at the top of his lungs as the seriously offended furry attacker seemingly latched onto his nose with an inspiring level of bloodlust. Hey, that would have landed on me had he not knocked me out of the way! Suddenly I was happy about his sudden attack.

Jerk One sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, that’s what I was talking about. He’s supposed to be, like, cursed with abysmal luck or something, which would probably rub off on you if you attacked him,” he explained. Well, there went all my respect for him.

Anything further he was going to say was interrupted by the library’s door slamming open, assumingly flattening him into the side of the building. "Oh for crying out loud! First you guys decide to have a perverse shouting match out here, and then you destroy a section of my house in a fight?!" I suddenly heard Twilight yell from the doorway. Oh crap. Never mind; we were all dead. Well, more dead in the flattened guard's case.

"I'm sorry!" I preemptively apologized, shrinking down as far as I could manage; mostly to show respect, but also to hide the sensitive bits that were in the back. More likely that she'd totally forget they were there than willingly attack them, but that was still probably just as bad.

Twilight momentarily gave me a deadpan look before shaking her head and revealing, "Mender, I heard most of the conversation. You didn't do anything wrong." Oh. Wait, she heard that?!

"I'm sorry!" I repeated a heartbeat later for the new reason this time, causing her to slap her hoof to her forehead, right under her horn.

"Um, I'm sorry, too. We shouldn't have eavesdropped," Fluttershy spoke up a moment later, causing me to blush and start to smile at her as she peeked out from around the doorframe.

Twilight sighed again and turned around to Fluttershy. "Oh for Celestia's sake! It's not eavesdropping if we can hear it through three walls, Fluttershy," she pointed out, making a very solid point. Were we really being that loud?

"What does our sibling have to do with this situation?" I heard asked from somewhere inside suddenly. Was that Princess Luna? She had a very good question, however.

For a moment, I could have sworn I saw Twilight twitch sporadically. "Okay, inside! Now!" she growled out. Suddenly, I found myself yanked off the ground in a light purple aura. Uh oh. My 'inescapable pain' alarm started going off like crazy. Jerk Two yelled as the furry avenger was torn from his face, taking a tiny bit of his nose with him, and he himself was similarly lifted into the air. I braced for impact and Fluttershy dove out of the way as the guard and I were tossed through the door of the library at high velocity...

Pleasantly, the couch broke my fall. I suddenly had a deep respect and love for this piece of furniture. Not only was it a nice bed, party instrument, and looked fashionable, but it was also an amazing landing pad. Truly a universally appreciated device! The guard wasn't quite so lucky, having the bookcase, end table, and shame to block his fall. Further, I was righted by an invisible force almost instantly and promptly had a pillow adjusted next to me. I blinked as I was gently set down on the cushion and pillow. Twilight walked up with a smile this time. Oddly, the gentle treatment kind of scared me, too. Was she just trying to lull me into a false sense of security?

Regardless, I still managed to glance about the room, having gotten a less than satisfactory examination while flying through the air upside down. The tree samples were still organized in a vague half circle, with pieces of paper, notes, and tracing strewn about. Aside from the crackling fire, the room was devoid of lights and looked very soft, almost homely. It gave a warm sensation, which was welcome, as it was indeed getting a little nippy outside. Maybe I'd ask Rarity for a scarf or hat alongside the suit she was going to be forcing me to wear. I could ask for something in return for being hauled to a foreign city to be paraded about as a social accessory, right? I hoped a simple knit hat and scarf weren't too expensive. Movement caught my eye, however, and I glanced back to the fallen pile of books.

The guard groaned as he crawled out from under it a moment later. Suddenly, the entire collection drifted into the air and sorted themselves neatly before returning to the shelf they came from. They were coated in a magical aura that was distinctly unfamiliar, I noticed. Seconds later, the guard himself was grabbed and hauled into the air as well. "SO, WHAT HAS THOU TO SAY IN THY DEFENSE?! THOUST MADE A MOCKERY OF THINE TRAINING ON THE FIRST MISSION OUTSIDE OF THE CASTLE! WE ARE VERY DISAPPOINTED!” was suddenly screamed out on a deafening level, causing me to wince and slam my face into the pillow to drown out the noise. What the hell was that?!

The noise stopped, apparently waiting for a response. I took a risk and peeked out over my comfortable hiding spot at the now rigid and trembling guard drifting in the air. He'd slammed his eyes shut and was curled into a little defensive ball, looking remarkably like I probably have on occasion. My eyes shifted to the left to see an exceedingly large and imposing figure standing at the base of the stairs. Her wings were expanded fully and a radiating flow of what almost appeared to be space itself came from her mane. Unfortunately, the details were lost to me as she was still a rather fuzzy blob. A very imposing, scary blob, but still a fuzzy blob. Her size was a little less than that of Celestia, I noticed. Was she younger?

Twilight coughed lightly. "Princess Luna, you're slipping," she suddenly reminded; of what I didn't know.

The figure gave a gentle start and glanced at Twilight momentarily before coughing lightly as well. "Ah, I apologize. We, uh, I tend to get excited and forget," she apologized, voice dropping down to a much more manageable level.

"I-I'm sorry, your highness! I shouldn't have attacked an unarmed, unprovoked target," the guard practically pleaded through his own trembling hooves he was using to cover his face now.

Twilight went from smiling to glaring at him with frightening speed. "That's it? Don't forget we heard the entire conversation prior to that," she pointed out.

"Indeed! You have insulted both our dear Fluttershy, and this kind mare with your words! Apologize to them as well," Princess Luna instructed. Mare? My cheeks lit up again and I looked over at the darkened, midnight blue blob. Was she referring to me?

Fluttershy had closed the door and caught up with us by then. Idly, I wondered if she'd also scraped the other guard from the side of the building. "Oh, it's all right, Princess Luna. I don't need an, um, apology," she declined politely.

"Nonsense. As a guard, no, as a proper stallion, he should learn to not speak to mares that way!" Luna vehemently declared with a surprising amount of passion. Of course, given her first outburst, I suppose I should just count myself lucky that I wasn't blown through the wall. As a further enlightenment, I realized she was indeed talking about me.

Twilight looked over at me again before letting out a biting, knowing giggle and trying to correct, "Uh, Princess Luna? I don't think that you..."

The Princess waived the statement with a hoof gesture, shaking the quivering ball of fur and armor with her magic. "Well?! Thou must apologize!" she ordered again, slipping back into that extremely archaic form of speech. It was hard to understand what she was saying, but I managed to grasp the context well enough. Kind of reminded me of something I had read a long time ago. Even if the words were a fabrication, one could still understand what was being said by their place in the sentence and the context involved. It was quite fascinating. A pity I couldn't remember the name of the book.

"But, um, but that's a-" the guard started to mumble before another violent shake cut him off. Princess Luna gave him another stern glare, causing him to curl up again. "I'm sorry, Miss! I didn't mean to insult you and Fluttershy," he finally just gave in and apologized. As much as I disliked being called a female, how exactly did one correct what was considered essentially a physical Goddess?

"Good. For now, go back to thy duties. We'll be having another chat in time for debriefing," the Princess assured before sliding him in the general direction of the door. He rolled once before scrambling to his hooves and moving almost as fast as I did when being chased by 'carnivorous' ponies.

Once the door finally slammed shut, Twilight burst into copious amounts of giggling. Sighing, I glanced back at her, already knowing she was looking right at me. Princess Luna gave us a curious look, and the lavender unicorn burst into laughter, unable to contain it any further.

"Pray tell, what is so funny?" the Princess of the night asked curiously, interestingly enough, not seeming mad in the slightest. At least, I think I vaguely recalled that was one of her formal titles from that book Twilight had given me back in the hospital. Twilight must be on really good terms with her, too. Wait, I think I read about this somewhere before.

"Oh my. Well, this is Moon Mender, Princess. He, um, is kind of a stallion," Fluttershy chimed in with her usual quiet, soft voice. She slowly got up on the couch next to me and relaxed against the back of it, shifting her mane out of the way of her eyes as she got situated.

Princess Luna stared quietly at me for a few seconds before leaning closer, apparently to get a better look. I was proven uncomfortably incorrect when she sniffed a few times, then leaned back. "Subtle, but yes. Oh dear. I seem to have committed a faux pas in front of a dear friend. Would you accept my apologies, thou with such a pleasing name?" the Princess requested, gently extending a forehoof towards me. Pleasing name? Oh yes, she was the Princess of the Moon as well.

Gently tapping my hoof against hers, we cordially shook them up and down for a moment.

"It's perfectly fine, Princess Luna. It's a pleasure to meet you," I spoke, mentally grinding through the list of possible polite and proper things I should be doing in this situation. The books I'd read a while ago had some, but my memory wasn't the greatest.

The moon princess smiled warmly and nodded at my gesture, so I must have done well enough. Twilight snorted lightly, however, pointing out, "You seem perfectly content to give her formal titles." Oh, this was about Celestia again.

I was about to glare at her once more when Princess Luna giggled lightly instead, cutting off hostilities. "Oh, if my memory serves and this is the correct Moon Mender, my sister gave him full permission to refer to her as either Celestia or Tia. She requested it, in fact," she pointed out a second later.

Twilight visibly deflated, going from glaring at me to staring in surprise and horror at Princess Luna. I coughed lightly before the situation could be derailed further and corrected, "Technically, she was pretending to be a normal friend of Twilight at the time to get me to drop my guard, so I don't want to assume the offer still stands." Sure, I might assume that ponies were carnivorous or that they had selective breeding rituals and enslaved half their species, but calling a princess the wrong thing was just plain silly.

"She, uh, she did what?" the now flustered lavender unicorn asked, surprisingly enough, directed at me instead.

"He speaks the truth. Tia felt she had to catch him acting as his true self so she could be absolutely sure that he was no danger to her, well, our subjects. She has properly apologized and even enjoyed their lunch date, however. She doesn't get many opportunities to just be herself, you understand, and I believe she wished to preserve that relationship as real instead of acting," Princess Luna explained, bringing a shocking level of insight into play about her sister.

Twilight gave one elongated, slow blink, before looking back at Princess Luna. "So she wants to be his friend?" she questioned with a light edge of skepticism that was slightly offending. I swallowed my irritation, not wanting to fight with the mare again. Well, not that it was really fighting. I seemed to do more running away than anything. That was kind of depressing, now that I thought about it further. The worst part was that I had nopony to blame except for myself.

"Is that so hard to understand? My sister is an excellent judge of character, and has openly admitted that she trusts him and finds no direct danger in him whatsoever. If you recall, she should have explained that the reason she had you watching him was due to his link to danger, not what he directly represented himself," she reminded, unknowingly hitting a raging nerve in both of us.

Exhaling quietly, I looked away from the Princess and down at the couch cushion again. This was exactly what I didn't want to think about right now. I already knew that Twilight had essentially been told to spy on me, but now I realized that a large extent of that had been from Twilight herself rather than Celestia. Twilight was the one who didn't necessarily trust me. After a moment's consideration, I decided that I technically had already known that. A lot of the anger slowly dissolved after that.

Fluttershy coughed after almost five solid seconds of utter silence. "You know she's very sorry for that, Mender. She apologized already," she whispered softly into the back of my ear. I felt her gentle hooves massaging lightly into my back and sighed, shifting a little closer to her. She always managed to find a way to comfort ponies that were in distress, I noticed. The kindness she represented was one of the reasons I liked her so much.

Risking a glance back up at Twilight, I saw her staring softly back at me. There were strange emotions in her eyes. A mixture of anger to some degree, but what almost looked like regret as well. I didn't want to jump to conclusions again, however. She gave a soft nod upon catching my eye and added, "I am sorry for spying on you, Mender. I know you'd never hurt us intentionally, and I guess I should focus on my own advice. If Princess Celestia says you're not a threat, I should really believe her." It was more than a little surprising to hear the stubborn unicorn say as much, but it made the butterflies come back as well. She smiled when I did and leaned in, giving me a light nuzzle along the side of my jaw. It was an extremely affectionate gesture, and I blushed lightly as she backed up a little again.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot that Tia had said he was your mate now. I must compliment your choice. He's a kind soul," Princess Luna suddenly complimented politely. Twilight went from smiling to blindly lurching sideways in an instant. I caught her by the shoulder before she fell off the couch, thankfully! Fluttershy let out a timid squeak behind me; from either Twilight's almost falling or the word itself, I wasn't sure.

"M-My what?!" Twilight demanded, suddenly acquiring an embarrassed stutter. I blushed deeper as well, but took it in stride considering the Princess thought I was a mare less than three minutes ago. At least that meant she had cemented my gender in her head, which I was thankful for.

"Your mate? Did I misspeak? It has been a while and I'm unfortunately out of touch with more modern language," she admitted awkwardly. Oh yeah! She was locked away on the moon for a thousand years and just recently came back, saved by the Elements of Harmony themselves. That's why she was so friendly with them.

Fluttershy shrank against my back, burying her face in my fur. Twilight groaned lightly, red furiously attempting to take over her cheeks, but managed to explain, "That title is usually reserved for a couple who have, um, actually been intimate with each other. Uh, Mender and I haven't gone that far." Her words were meticulously chosen as she seemingly struggled to maintain her voice.

The blank stare she received from the Princess in return was less than helpful. "We've only been, um, dating for a couple days, technically," I tried to chip in, hoping that I had the terminology right. I was probably worse off than Princess Luna.

Twilight squeaked in surprise and looked back at me in shock, face flaring up with a pink tint. "You technically never asked me out! We're kind of just experimenting, right?" she rapidly questioned, voice edged with a trace of hysteria. My smile dropped as fast as my thoughts. What did asking her to go somewhere have to do with dating? Did she actually like me or was it just one big experiment to her?

"Well, that hardly seems proper. From the letters you wrote to my sister, I almost thought-" Princess Luna stated behind me, before being interrupted by a now flustered Twilight.

"No! Those letters were personal. Um, please don't talk about them in front of everypony," she requested quickly. It was too suspicious to ignore, of course. She doubtlessly wanted to prevent me from hearing them. What had she sent to Celestia? Did she know something about the link between worlds that she hadn't told me? I was suddenly extremely suspicious, but didn't have much to go on.

The timid yellow pegasus behind me spoke up instead. "Um, if it's not too impolite to say, I think you're letting yourself get too flustered. Mender surely isn't pushing you into anything, right?" she cautioned, sounding a little on the ironic side. Advice about staying calm coming from Fluttershy was interesting indeed. Although she probably did have more insight into it than most.

Twilight frowned as she looked past me at her friend. Twice, she opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. Normally she wasn't one to mince words. I waited patiently, but Princess Luna seemingly lacked the virtue in this regard. "Don't be afraid to admit what you're actually feeling, Twilight Sparkle. It doesn't do either of you justice. You taught me to be true to myself," she suggested softly, looking solemn but maintaining a little smile. It made me wonder what it was like to be locked away for a thousand years. Surely she was a definition of stoic as she wasn't stark-raving mad as I'd probably be after that. I was both impressed and nervous as I caught the same weight of time behind her eyes that her sister possessed. To be that immensely old and have no risk of mortality with age was absolutely foreign.

Twilight snapped me out of my thoughts by sighing suddenly. Actually, it probably wasn't suddenly as I hadn't been paying attention again. "You two are right, of course. I haven't been pushed into anything by Mender. Honestly, it's kind of been the opposite," she admitted quietly.

Fluttershy let out a low gasp, but I headed her potential worry with a chuckle. The last thing I wanted was Fluttershy being mad at Twilight, so I decided to disrupt that chain of thoughts before it got anywhere. "We have a lot in common and I enjoy being around you. I get excited, flustered, and happy all at once when I'm with you, and honestly, it's a little scary. I definitely like it, though, and hope you feel the same," I explained slowly, feeling more and more awkward the longer I went on. I knew I was blushing, but it made me feel oddly better as I saw the lavender unicorn following suit.

She nodded slowly before admitting, "At first, you were interesting: a mystery to be tested and solved. Then the mystery shifted as I learned more about you. It went from trying to figure out your past and magic, to trying to figure out why you were fun to be around and such. Then I started getting scared the longer I thought about it and the more I couldn't scientifically justify it. It got worse when I realized I couldn't stop thinking about it, either. I tried to say that you were just like my wonderful friends and that I liked hanging out with them, too, but I don't really want to kiss Rainbow Dash or cuddle with Rarity. It's not that they're female; you went from a mystery I wanted to solve to a truly interesting, kind, friendly odd ball that I just want to pounce on playfully and hug. It's compulsive! It's addictive! It's..." Her admission turned more into a rant the longer she went on. This was the first time she was actually explaining things from her perspective, however. It was as insightful as it was embarrassing, and I could hardly believe that I had caused such a reaction in her! Was this normal or had I done something wrong? Curiously, Princess Luna smiled instead.

"...love? You like him, my friend. It may be scary, but there's nothing wrong with how you feel. Given the chance, your feelings could blossom into something truly beautiful. Take it slow and relax," the extremely wise Princess of the Moon suggested.

Fluttershy's mood shifted completely as she murmured, "It's so cute. You two are really good for each other. Even without considering my place in things, I think you really have something special." The lavender unicorn finally smiled and looked back up fully with that said.

There was a long pause as her bright, violet eyes seemed to almost bore into my very soul. A wave of apprehension spilled through me as I saw her slowly tense up the longer she stared. Her right hoof fidgeted visibly, and I could practically see the gears spinning madly in her mind. This was either going to be really good, or I would wake up a few days from now in the hospital. Well, it had been a little while since I'd seen Nurse Redheart, so it would be nice to catch up.

The nervous unicorn looked down for a fraction of a second before nodding to nopony in particular and asking, "Moon Mender, will you be my coltfriend? Officially?"

There was a long pause where I was all but certain that my heart had stopped. Was I dreaming? Did I die at some point and not notice? If this was the afterlife, it was off to a very nice start. "I, uh, yes, of course!" I assured, suddenly having trouble ordering my thoughts.

The cute unicorn, my now fillyfriend, leaned forward and gently kissed me on the lips, a soft smile decorating her features. It was brief, her pulling back a moment later, but warmth spread through me uncontrollably regardless. "I thought you'd say yes, but I wanted to be sure this time. Now it's official," Twilight acknowledged after I opened my eyes again.

"Aww!" Fluttershy squeaked from next to us now. I glanced over and saw her eyes were soft and watery, a large smile adorning her face.

"More like gross," suddenly sounded from the back of the sofa, on my right. I started and turned to face the familiar, male voice. Spike sat on the top of the sofa, holding a large roll of paper in his arms.

Twilight herself did an about-face, staring at her assistant in shock before turning sheepish, blush rising. "Spike! When did you get back?" she asked quickly, obviously attempting to change the subject.

Spike rolled his eyes but held up the paper in his hands. "I got back, like, five minutes ago. This is the map you wanted from the mayor's office. She wasn't very pleased at being woken up until she found out that Princess Luna had requested the map," the tiny dragon expounded irritably. I was surprised at how easily he accepted the subject change, then decided he probably was too young to care. Princess Luna’s ears perked up.

"Oh, thank you, dear Spike! These are the maps the scouts made of the discovery sites in the forest," Princess Luna enlightened, looking exceedingly pleased as she lifted the roll of paper out of his hands with her magic. I was suddenly extremely curious as she unrolled it. Now that I was back among the living and seemed to be staying that way for a reasonable amount of time, I figured it might be interesting to discover just how close to death I had come. If a massive, carnivorous beast had wandered through the forest the night before, I'd have to say I'm probably lucky this time.

Twilight grinned as she noticed my sudden interest in the scroll. I tuned back towards her just in time to catch her pleased nod. "That's what we were doing before you got here. Princess Luna is here to take a look at what I've found so far, and figure out the best course of action in dealing with the situation," she explained, nodding towards the roll of paper.

I glanced as the Princess rotated it, and saw a surprisingly detailed map. It showed elevations and terrain, and had three areas circled with several smaller marks inside of them. It looked almost like a tactics map, but I knew they were probably marking evidence.

"What exactly do you think it is?" I asked, swallowing softly. I'd seen pictures of a manticore in the books I'd read so far, and it wasn't exactly pleasant. Those I knew to be in the forest, after all.

Twilight frowned and shook her head, looking a little frustrated, I'd guess. "That's the problem. I don't know exactly what it is. From the claw markings, it's like nothing I've seen before. The impact angle makes the shape of the claws all wrong. They're formed into too harsh of a curve and far too honed to be a manticore, which has much smaller claws. Further, from the point of impact and depth of the cuts, the amount of force applied should have broken the claws. That indicates something tougher than what we're used to dealing with on, what I think, is a significantly larger body to generate that much strength," she deduced carefully.

Fluttershy grew smaller the longer Twilight spoke, shrinking herself against my back until she was hiding fully behind me. Smiling to myself, my protective urges kicked in again and I pulled the blanket off the top of the sofa in as visible a manner as I could. The timid yellow mare watched me curiously, then blushed as I wrapped her up in the blanket and tucked her against my side. "Um, thank you, Mender," she whispered before burying her face in the blanket further.

Twilight momentarily smiled at the scene, but Princess Luna interrupted with, "It's all right that you can't identify it completely. It might be something entirely new." She was examining the map instead of looking at us, however, and wore a contemplative expression.

I frowned. Maybe not new, but a little bit different? "I'm not sure if it's applicable, but it might be a mutation. Manticore, maybe? It might be more helpful if you just say what's absolutely definite," I reasoned, bringing up my earlier thought.

Twilight gave me a blank look before nodding. "A mutation would also make sense, although it's strange we've not seen the signs of genetic change sooner," she agreed, looking over at her diagrams that were near the log sections strewn about the main room. The sheets lifted into the air with her familiar aura, and shot over to where we were on the couch a moment later.

Twilight cleared her throat lightly as she examined the notes again. "There's not a huge amount of data that could be gleaned from the samples, but here's what I have so far. With shape and size comparisons between all three, I concluded that the claws were over half a foot in length and curved at an almost thirty degree rotation. Further, the depth of the blow along with the fragmenting of the wood further down indicates at least five hundred pounds of pressure applied over an unknown, but assumed instant duration. That's over seventy-five percent more than what the strongest recorded manticore was capable of," she read quietly, scanning further along after she finished.

Princess Luna sighed and put the map down. "While interesting and not really good news, that doesn't give us a lot of data," she returned, shaking her head slowly.

"Without bite marks, too, any further information about sociology or diet would be only hypothetical," Twilight defended, looking displeased.

I smiled to her and shook my head. "You've figured out a lot, Twilight. From what you explained, those don't sound like utility-based claws. It's just a hypothesis, but there's a very good chance that it's a hunter. That means it's either omnivorous or carnivorous," I reasoned, trying to further defend her work. I doubted I had to, but I truly wanted to, I discovered.

Twilight furrowed her brow, but nodded. "That's true. It's more than likely," she agreed, before smiling again and gazing softly at me.

"Wouldn't there be, uh, evidence of it being around other than just the claw marks? I mean, you know," Spike spoke up, sounding a little unnerved.

Princess Luna sighed and shook her head in return. "Alas, it is not so. Aside from the destruction to the woodlands itself, there was no other evidence of its existence. Further, the path becomes extremely hard to track the further into the forest it goes. The hunters think it might have turned as it moved, but they were unable to track it due to the forest becoming extremely difficult to navigate," she answered, shooting down yet another lead.

"What caused it to, um, be so angry at the trees though? Trees don't go out of their way to hurt anypony," Fluttershy questioned, sounding oddly like she was sympathetic to the trees' plight rather than simply curious. Although that wouldn't necessarily surprise me.

Nopony said anything. Well, it was more because I didn't think there was a knowable answer at this point. Twilight finally shook her head a good ten seconds later. "I honestly don't know, Fluttershy. It might have been scared and panicking, or in a rage about something. There were no known casualties of animal life," she finally admitted, looking as bewildered as I felt. It sounded like a predator, but didn't do anything akin to such. It was weird to say the least.

We were interrupted by Spike letting forth an inspiring yawn, however. "Is that all you need, Twilight? I'm getting kind of tired," he groaned quietly, eyes suddenly drooping.

The lavender mare smiled and nodded gently to him before giving a light nuzzle to the small dragon. "Of course, Spike. You've been an amazing help and it's way past your bedtime. Go get some rest. You've earned it," she agreed, maintaining her warm smile towards him.

He mirrored it a second later and nodded before hopping off the couch and wandering towards the stairs with a slight sway to his path. I watched him with certain envy, suddenly realizing how close he and Twilight were. He wasn't just her assistant, that was for sure. She treated him almost like a son or little brother, and it was very cute to watch.

"The young one has a point. I have more than enough information to give the hunters. Hopefully, we'll at least be able to catch a glimpse of this thing soon. I should retire back to the forest, however. They're expecting my return soon," Princess Luna excused politely, standing up fully again. Even if she wasn't as large as Celestia, I still found myself a little intimidated as she became much larger upon righting herself.

"Oh, of course, your highness. Thank you for stopping by. I'll certainly continue to look into this matter," Twilight assured, suddenly looking a little flustered by the sudden departure.

Fluttershy was much more reserved and peeked out of her blankets at the Princess of the Moon. "It was nice seeing you again, Princess Luna. I hope you travel safely." I smiled down at the peeking mare, deciding that she was overwhelmingly adorable no matter what she did. Where Twilight inspired nervous butterflies and a certain level of similar tastes, Fluttershy instead made a heat wrap around my chest and gave me a huge urge to just hold her until she was afraid of nothing else ever again.

Twilight's flank almost knocked me sideways off the couch as she bumped it against me. "Careful there, Casanova. She wants to wait, and I'm your only fillyfriend at the moment, remember?" she belted out, twinge of playfulness injected into her voice as she smirked at me.

I blushed and coughed lightly as Fluttershy looked back at me, air of confusion present. Princess Luna just laughed, however, a true and hearty one that she seemed pleased with when it was done. "It was truly a pleasure, Moon Mender. Thou are very much to our tastes, and we hope to visit again soon. We are happy for Twilight in her, how do you young ponies say, 'catch'?" she asked, her request for assurance feeling extremely humorous. Laughing would have been bad, however, so I resisted to the best of my capabilities.

Twilight snickered, having obviously more free reign then I did with the Princess. "Thank you, Princess Luna. He is indeed quite a catch, you're right," she surprisingly agreed, causing another burst of heat to enter my cheeks. She gave a gleeful grin, and I suddenly realized she was enjoying embarrassing me.

"You're a horrible mare," I muttered, glancing away from her excessively mirthful expression and further earning a laugh from the lavender unicorn.

"We shall return later, possibly tomorrow night! Try not to murder each other in the meantime," the Princess requested as she headed for the door, interrupting our charade. Fluttershy ducked back under the blanket as she left, and I idly wondered if she was going to come out long enough to go home tonight. Twilight waved goodbye politely until the door fully closed. She abruptly stopped at the same time I raised my eyebrow towards the sudden screaming outside.

"THOU MIGHT YET GO BACK TO BASIC TRAINING IF A REPEAT OF THIS HAPPENS! WE WILL FULLY DEBRIEF THYSELF UPON ARRIVAL BACK TO THE CASTLE, AND PUNISHMENT SHALL BE DEALT OUT! DOES THOU UNDERSTAND?!" was screamed by a very pissed off Princess Luna the second the door closed.

Twilight swallowed wearily, eyes still wide as she watched the door. Fluttershy burrowed deeper into the blankets and further against me instead, almost as if she was trying to slip under the cushion I sat on and hide completely. Oh dear. I kind of felt bad for the guy now. Kind of.

"Um, Twilight? Can I, uh, maybe ask you a question, if it's not too much trouble?" Fluttershy whimpered from her hiding spot.

Twilight snapped out of her horrified expression long enough to glance down at the shifting blanket that now resided partially under me. "Oh, of course, Fluttershy. I do have a request for you, though, as well," she returned, smiling finally.

Curiosity must have gotten the better of her. Either that, or she truly trusted her friend, as the timid yellow mare soon poked her head out of the blankets and looked up at Twilight. "Oh?" she practically whispered. Ah, still not totally comfortable, I noticed.

"With the state of emergency in effect, I don't really want you to fly home at eleven o'clock at night by yourself. Would you mind staying here for tonight?" she requested politely. A very good idea! Now that I thought about it, I really didn't want her flying back home either if there was something that nasty in the forest. If it came down to it, I'd walk her home myself, but this was a much better idea.

"Oh thank goodness. I was going to ask to stay," Fluttershy admitted, slumping slightly and letting out a long exhale.

"You can use my mattress if you want. I can take the couch for tonight," I offered, smiling reassuringly at her. I'd fallen asleep on this couch before, and almost considered it an old friend at this point.

Fluttershy gasped as if burned and sat up, zipping around me with surprising speed and putting on a pleading gaze. "Oh no, Mender. I couldn't possibly do that! Please, uh, let me take the couch?" she requested, surprisingly adamant sounding. Twilight smiled softly at both of us before shaking her head in the background now.

"Both of you are adorable, but I don't really want either of you sleeping down here separate from the others. Fluttershy can sleep with me in my bed. It's not a big deal," she reasoned. Oh! True. I'm guessing it was socially acceptable as they were both the same gender.

Fluttershy froze, eyes shifting from warm and pleading to shocked and terrified. Despite the decidedly negative emotions displayed in them, her cheeks shifted to a rosy pink color as she swallowed lightly. Okay, so maybe not so socially acceptable? Had I missed something?

"Are you sure, Twilight?" I inquired, attempting to ask for the now rigid mare between us.

Twilight smiled and nodded earnestly, not seeming fazed in the slightest. "Of course. It's no big deal. My bed is plenty big enough." Well that indicated that it might just be Fluttershy. Somehow, that didn't really surprise me, but I couldn't fault her for it.

Twilight got up off the couch and walked past us, heading for the stairs. I gave the shivering mare a light nudge, earning a squeak and sudden lap full of shaking Fluttershy. I frowned and tried to pat her gently on the shoulders before lifting her up again. "Oh no. What do I do? Twilight wants me to sleep with her! In the same bed!" she whispered shakily to me.

"Um, I'm not really grasping the problem. Twilight's acting like there's no social stigma attached to it, but you're acting like there is," I complained, exceedingly confused at this point. Somepony was wrong in this case, or I was missing important information. Again. I was kinda getting adjusted to it at this point.

Fluttershy looked down slowly, upper teeth nibbling on her lower lip before wearily explaining, "I, well, admire Twilight. Apart from concerning you, she always seems to know what she's doing and what she wants. She's amazing, confident, polite, gentle..." I grew more confused the longer she went on. If she respected Twilight so much, shouldn't she be happy Twilight trusts her? This didn’t make a lot of sense to me.

"...athletic, brave, graceful, well-kept, beautiful," she continued, oblivious to my inner monologue. Oh. That actually explained a lot.

I interrupted, if only to clarify. "You like Twilight as a little more than friends, don't you?"

She stopped and slowly stared at me for several long seconds before releasing a gentle sigh and sinking back onto the couch cushion in front of me. "I've had a small crush on her for a while. I was hoping that, because she liked you as well, that you'd help me get closer to Twilight too, if we were together," she admitted.

It was a sensation I wasn't entirely used to. Kind of like a sudden impact to the inside of my chest as it recoiled and tightened. The hoof I had been using to comfort her on the shoulder dropped in surprise. Had I misheard her? Did she really say what I thought she did? Was she really using me to get to Twilight? Every rational thought screamed no, but the sudden pain shooting through my chest was almost blinding. It was cold, as if a dagger made of ice had just stabbed through me.

I noticed her questioning expression as I realized I was still staring at her. That confused me, but some part of me clung to the fact that she didn't realize what she'd said. That meant she hadn't meant it like that! That had to be the case. Innocent little Fluttershy wasn't capable of using somepony for her own gain.

Her eyes suddenly shot open with realization and she rapidly shook her head. "No! No, no. I didn't mean that I only liked her. I, um, like you too like that. I like both of you. Uh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for it to, um, sound like that," she rapidly corrected, causing me to let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

"I'm sorry. I tried to not jump to conclusions. I'm... glad you don't just like her," I muttered, completely unsure of what to say. Damn it. Even my heart jumped to conclusions on its own. My chest warmed a little, but I couldn’t shake the feeling from before.

She shook her head weakly back and forth, mane dancing in the dim light. "No, I want to make sure you, um, believe me. That was a bad thing to say and I've never, well, done this before. I don't know what I'm doing," she murmured uneasily, looking down at the couch cushion again.

I raised a hoof back up and gently ran it along her jaw, in an assuring motion. "That makes three of us. Relax, Fluttershy. Nothing bad happened and we figured it out right away. Why don't you go up and get ready for bed? I'll wait for you girls to use the bathroom first," I tried my best to comfort and distract.

The yellow pegasus relaxed against the hoof and nodded, giving a faint smile finally. I nodded again to her and she stood up shakily before slowly making her way towards the stairs behind me. A solid five seconds passed after I could no longer hear the hoofsteps on the wooden stairs before I put my hoof back down. What was I doing? Did I even have a clue how to deal with all of these feelings? Was it right to tie mine to Twilight's before my issues were even sorted out?

Nothing but the quiet flickering of the fire answered me, of course. It would be so easy if I'd still been there instead of here. Being a soldier was mentally simple. There weren't all of these feelings to get in the way. Emotions were outright discouraged by the higher ups, I remembered. Think, don't feel. I think that was on a poster. My hoof was still shaking, my chest following suit as I carefully breathed out. Why did the thought of her using me hurt so much? Surely it was nothing compared to getting a laser to the back or being smashed into rocks.

My cheeks heated up again as I almost felt her light peck from earlier. I smiled and chuckled, the thought dancing and mingling with the sensation of Twilight's mouth against mine. The heat shifted to an almost burning sensation as I lowered my head. Being a soldier was simpler, but I wouldn't trade this for the world. Unless it meant protecting them, of course. Even if they didn't need it, a stirring urge deep inside told me to guard them against those who would cause pain. Maybe that was a part of this 'love' thing after all.

"Coming, Mender?" I heard Twilight ask in a rather cheery voice from the top of the stairs, disrupting my thoughts in a rather pleasant way.

I smiled and nodded to nopony in particular before standing up again. My back gave a rather mean spirited creak of discomfort, but I ignored it as I got off the couch. Twilight calling me upstairs; I could definitely get used to that. I grinned before trotting towards the light shining down from the second floor.