By the time I got up to the loft, Twilight had both hooves covering her mouth and looked like Celestia had just walked in and slapped her in the face. It was an amusing expression if one were to make fun of the situation. Oddly, that felt better than addressing reality. "Oh no. How loud did I say that?" she asked, looking over at her mother.

"Oh, I'm sure a few ponies near the edges of town missed it. Don't worry!" her mom chirped back with a smile. I shot her a disbelieving stare.

Twilight groaned, however, and lowered herself to the floor. I limped past Twilight Velvet and sat down next to my fillyfriend instead. "Relax, Twilight. It's not that big of a deal," I tried to assure. Sure, the inevitable rabid mocking over the next few days would be annoying, but there were worse things.

"You again? I told you that I didn't need an escort! Who are you, anyway?" Night Light asked, shifting his glare to me instead.

Eh? I looked up at him to respond, but hesitated when his eyes widened. "Wait, I recognize you!" he exclaimed.

"Finally..." his wife said behind me. Here was that 'even worse' turn I'd been waiting for.

"You're that changeling! You're trying to manipulate my daughter!" he declared. Yeah, I figured he'd figure out I was... Wait, what?

Twilight blinked, and then gasped out loud. Huh? Oh! He had looked at the fliers, too, then. Her mother groaned behind me. "You said you didn't believe those bogus stories, Dear," she lectured.

He didn't get a chance to reply. "I'm sorry, Dad!" Twilight yelled out. He gave her a split second look of confusion before she blasted him backwards onto her bed. Well, sticking with what worked before was a safe bet. Still, I would have at least given a bit of explanation first.

"Twilight!" her mother yelped, shifting to a shocked expression before I turned away and limped up to the bed. Owlowiscious took that moment to fly off my head and roost on the bed corner instead. I gave him a light nod before propping myself up and holding out my right hoof to Twilight's father.

"Are you all right, sir?" I asked uneasily as he groaned and hooked my foreleg, letting me pull him up into a sitting position.

Wincing for a moment, he finally opened his eyes and looked over at Twilight instead. "Wait, what? What happened?" he asked uneasily. It seemed to impair their memory a little bit after they woke up.

Twilight Velvet glared over at her daughter, but Twilight shook her head sadly. "You looked at one of those fake articles from earlier. They have a subtle enchantment on them, from what I guessed already. Hitting you with a magical, low density blast is the only way I currently know of to knock you out of it," she explained.

Her mother's expression shifted instantly, and she frowned. "An enchantment? What's it supposed to do?" she inquired.

"Magnify anger and doubt in a pony towards me, setting them up with the perfect mindset to read the article, would be my guess," I elaborated, wincing slightly as I slid back away from the bed. My leg still ached from the rock earlier, and had lessened my tolerance for standing. Taking the hint, I drew myself back and unceremoniously dropped to my stomach instead, sighing as the pressure was pulled off my leg.

"Does it still hurt, Mender?" Twilight asked softly, walking up to me instead and sitting down. I shivered lightly, nodding after a moment's consideration.

Her father looked dazed still, and gave us a confused look. "It feels like I just woke up. You're Moon Mender. The article said that much. That part was true, right? If so, that means you're my daughter's coltfriend," he deduced, it sounding like it was more for clarifying his own mindset than anything. I couldn't tell if it was from the enchantment or the blast Twilight gave him, though.

"Yes, this is her coltfriend. Yes, I talked to him already and he's just as nice and polite as her letters said. Maybe too polite, really," Twilight Velvet explained, hopefully shifting away any potential wrath towards me. Although I didn't know what to expect of her saying I was 'too' polite.

My Twilight shot her a skeptical glance before snickering, apparently knowing something I didn't. "He's not perfect, and can be a little dense sometimes, but I like him just the way he is," she assured, smirking down at me before giving a playful nuzzle.

I rolled my eyes before sticking my tongue out at her, feeling a little more relaxed now. Her parents seemed more reasonable now, but I withheld judgment until her father snapped out of his daze.

"What happened earlier with the fliers?" the stallion in question asked a moment later. He gave me a concerned stare, but looked far less malicious than earlier.

"They were being dropped off all over town from the sky by a bunch of pegasi from the mail and weather teams. Private, paid job by the sounds of it. I'll be looking into that more later, for sure. Regardless, the enchantment on them almost caused a riot and they honestly thought Mender was a changeling, to the point of trying to stone him. I’ve already sent a full report to Princess Celestia." Twilight's elaboration brought back rather painful memories, but I let her continue unabated.

She hesitated and gave me a soft nudge again before continuing with, "I shielded him to the best of my abilities, but one got through and hit him in his injured leg. It's been bothering him ever since."

I started to open my mouth to assure that I'd be fine when I gasped in shock instead. Wait, no I didn't. It confused me for a moment as it echoed through my head alongside the open air at the same time. My gaze shifted past Twilight at the same time she turned around to face her window. Rainbow had just finished sliding it open, and Fluttershy was hovering in the air just inside the room.

"Oh no! That's terrible! I knew I shouldn't have spent so long at Rarity's. Sure, I was upset that it had happened, but if I'd known it was still bothering you, I would have rushed home and gotten some of my pain creams and," she started rapidly rambling.

"Fluttershy! Relax. He's a tough stallion, and you're freaking yourself out," Rainbow reminded, gently rubbing her hoof through the top of Fluttershy's mane. The yellow pegasus gave out a quiet squeak, but then nodded.

Twilight smiled and stood, however, turning to face the two newcomers. I politely averted my gaze from her flank and tail as she did so, coughing lightly to myself to calm the jitters. The combination of physical aching and whatever it was she hit me with earlier was causing weird thoughts. Pheromones? Twilight seemed oblivious, of course. "I'll go get some topical anesthesia from the bathroom, if you wouldn't mind applying it, Fluttershy," she offered gently. Fluttershy nodded so rapidly that it started to destabilize her hovering. She landed a moment later looking somewhat sheepish.

"Oh, that would be wonderful, Twilight. If it's not too much trouble, um, do you think you could also find a small bandage? I'd like to get some covering and antiseptic cream onto the injury site," she requested, landing and walking gently over to where I lay.

Twilight Velvet giggled lightly, suddenly reminding me that they were still here. I really had to work on that paying attention thing. "You're always such a kind pony, Fluttershy. You certainly live up to your title," she complimented, earning a light blush from the yellow mare.

"Oh, I only want to see Mender comfortable. I mean, why wouldn't somepony want to do what they can for an injured pony? Besides, I've been worried about Mender the entire time I was over there! Oh, I hope Rarity isn't upset that I was so distracted," Fluttershy worried, fidgeting slightly back and forth on her forehooves.

Twilight giggled but rolled her eyes, offering, "Why don't we just bring Rarity and Spike back over here then? That way you don't have to worry about Rarity while here, and Mender while there."

Fluttershy looked even more flustered as Twilight pointed out her circular logic, but I just smiled at how cute she looked. "I, um, I think I'd like to stay with Mender for now. It's been too long since I've seen him anyway," she finally excused, looking down at the floor instead.

"Aww, don't get all sappy on me, Flutters! I should also report that Twilight's shout was heard all the way up at cloud layer where I was about to practice my writing," Rainbow informed impishly, tossing a wink in at the lavender unicorn.

Twilight groaned instantly, almost as if she'd been expecting the jibe and set up the reaction ahead of time. "Rainbow! I really didn't need to think about that," she protested. My turn to avert my eyes from those involved with the topic. Fluttershy became much more interesting to look at suddenly. Well, not that she wasn't before, but that was beside the point.

"Thank you, Fluttershy. I'm sorry for worrying you," I apologized quietly, as Twilight started ranting at Rainbow. I zoned it out to the best of my abilities.

Fluttershy looked up at me and smiled softly before shaking her head. "I just care about you, Mender. A lot," she confessed, still a little pink from the earlier comments. She leaned down, however, and gently kissed me on the forehead, letting her soft mane drift over me.

I smiled up at her until Twilight's mom let out a choking noise. Huh? "Uh... what are you, wait," her dad muttered behind me, sounding surprised. Wait a second. Did Twilight tell them about Fluttershy?

"What the hell?! You're cheating on her while she's in the same room?!" her dad shouted out, immediately jumping to conclusions as fast as he jumped up into a hostile stance on the bed. I winced painfully as Fluttershy yelped in my ear and scurried backwards, giving him a shocked look.

Twilight went rigid instantly, then slowly turned around to look at her parents. Rainbow promptly broke into laughter, however. "Ha! You totally didn't tell them about Fluttershy?" Dash asked, words drifting out haphazardly between her laughs and rolling on her back. Well, at least somepony was amused.

"What?" Night Light asked, tone shifting low and pissed off sounding. There was a subtle difference between fury and simmering rage, I noticed.

"Twilight?" her mother asked a moment later, giving my fillyfriend a skeptical look.

Twilight twitched lightly, then swallowed, starting to look flustered. "Ah, well I kinda forgot to mention, um," she started, everypony in the room focusing on her instantly. I could almost see a couple beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she gave the guiltiest smile I'd ever seen. Seconds passed before she finally said, "Oh! I seem to have forgotten Mender's medical supplies. I'll be back!"

"Twilight!" her dad barked, but it was too late. The lavender mare disappeared in a momentarily blinding flash of light. I'd almost forgotten she could teleport. I kinda wished I could, too, at this point.

Her father sighed, however, and shook his head, looking back down at me instead from his higher position on the bed. Well, here we go. Time to take this like a stallion, if that was the proper term. "You weren't cheating, were you?" he asked softly instead, surprising me.

I blinked once, but shook my head a moment later after I recovered. Huh. I'd expected more hitting. I kept my hopes up, and my armor prepped. "Oh, but that means my little Twilight is actually involved in a herd!" Twilight Velvet chipped in a moment later, sounding scarily okay with that aspect. Wait, were they going to beat me senseless or not?

"Dear! You're supposed to be concerned!" Night Light professed, looking flustered now instead.

"Why? That just means our family gets even bigger! And I'll get even more little foals to play with soon!" she exclaimed, shifting from surprised to rather gleeful. Okay, I moved fully into scared and started working on terrified. I'd been scared of the wrong pony all along!

Fluttershy's cheeks, which had been recovering, now heated up again. Maybe I should start carrying a cold pack for her, too? "Ah, well we kind of decided to hold off on kids, at least for a year or so. Twilight will probably wait longer," I corrected, not wanting her to get the wrong idea and fluster Fluttershy.

"What?! You're going to waste a perfectly good estrus period next week?" Twilight Velvet asked instead. Err, that was unexpected.

A light slap sounded from behind me, and I turned to see Night Light grinding his right forehoof against his forehead. "Okay, okay. Before this gets out of hoof, can you answer some questions?" he asked, looking up at me instead.

I rotated around and nodded to him, trying to adjust back into a comfortable position for my leg. "As long as you don't mind me lying down. When I stand up, the blood rushes into my leg and it hurts," I requested, lightly adjusting the brace.

Fluttershy smiled, taking another step closer and lying down as well, pushing right into me with her side as she extended a wing over my shoulder. "Just relax, Mender. You'll feel a lot better once I can wrap it," Fluttershy chirped, apparently forgetting about the foal thing when she got the opportunity to take care of an injury instead.

"That's fine. How many are in the herd?" Twilight's father asked after she settled in.

"It's just those three. I think Rarity is interested too, but uh," Rainbow answered for us, apparently sobering somewhat.

I sighed. "That's a bad topic. Rarity asked me, but I didn't feel the same way towards her. She seems to be taking it well, but I don't know. I feel bad," I elaborated, seeing Dash fall silent.

"Aww. That's not the best situation for anypony involved. I'll have to send her my sympathies. ...and give Spike some encouragement," Twilight Velvet added after a moment's thought, seemingly contemplating to herself. What, did she just like playing matchmaker that much? Idly I wondered what her occupation was.

Night Light sighed but nodded, seemingly assured by the honesty. "Waiting for kids is also an admirable and responsible position. You swear to not having bonded with Twilight yet? I'm a strong traditionalist, and it's considered improper for unicorns to engage in that before marriage," he explained, significantly more rationally than prior. Okay, so this was going better now.

"To be honest, we have partially. Never at the same time, but she's used her energy to manipulate things inside of me for various purposes, and sometimes does it at night to calm me down," I admitted. Fluttershy gave me a reassuring nuzzle, but I was surprised when Rainbow suddenly looked sad. Eh?

Her father looked curious at that information however, and before I could address Rainbow, asked, "If you don't mind, could you elaborate? I'm afraid nopony knows much about you."

I frowned, unsure of exactly what I could and couldn't tell him suddenly. Thankfully, it was solved for me. "We may answer thy questions, if that will suffice," suddenly came from the stairs. I peeked over my shoulder at Luna as she wandered into the room from the lower floor, everypony bowing except for Fluttershy and me, who were kind of as low as we could go already. We instead dipped our heads to her.

"Luna," I greeted her, giving a soft smile. Night Light gasped in offence, but Luna herself snickered and nodded to me.

"Hello, Mender. I was looking for you, actually. However, I now see that all individuals present would do well to see this, too," she greeted back, smiling softly at me. I couldn't help but notice she dropped the formal speech instantly.

To my surprise, as I turned to face Luna instead, there was a flash of light that appeared practically on top of her. She momentarily looked surprised before smiling as the glow bounced around against her form, then shot to the right a meter or so and flared up again. Twilight re-appeared there instead, and looked to her left in surprise. "Oh! Princess Luna! What are you doing here?" she asked, lowering a rather sizable medical kit to the floor. Fluttershy took the initiative and snatched it with her right wing tip, sliding it over to us with surprising dexterity.

"My sister is about to start a press meeting, and requested I let Mender watch. I've decided to show everypony here, however. It will answer a few questions, along with shedding some light onto what happened with the fliers," she revealed. Oh! That was important indeed. All of this crap was probably why Celestia couldn't attend the party today, which was beyond cruel, honestly. Why did I always have to cause such problems for everypony?

With that said, however, Luna lowered her head slightly and her horn lit up. I watched curiously, if not in a slightly apprehensive manner. The last time I'd seen Luna using her magic, I'd been almost turned inside out with a teleportation spell and dropped in the middle of a hospital. The time before that, she was attempting to sever my head.

This time, however, nothing malicious occurred. Instead, a sort of field appeared in front of the Princess of the Moon, and expanded to about a meter wide by a half a meter tall. It shifted from transparent to black for a moment, before a crystal clear image of a large stage and podium appeared. Hundreds of ponies were gathered in the audience, I noticed, as the 'camera' swept over them to zoom in on the podium itself.

Twilight perked up and trotted around the screen to get a better look, of course. Rainbow also looked curious as she took to the air and flew over the display, landing slightly behind me and to the left. At this point, I didn't even have a second thought as she flopped close to my back. I was starting to realize that, by their culture alone, ponies seemed to be a lot more easy-going about physical contact. It made sense, really.

Fluttershy took the moment to unpack the medical supplies, however, and start to tend to my leg. I noticed her right ear swiveled towards the screen, though. All of us quieted as the sound cut in suddenly.

The day was rather clear looking in Canterlot. Rather fitting for the Princess of the Sun to talk to everypony. A burst of wind drifted across the crowd as they gathered near the stage. What appeared to be cameras of some sort were lined up facing the podium, and dozens of ponies with notepads were scattered throughout the front of the crowd. Oddly, the cameras appeared to be an extension on a still picture design rather than motion capture.

Princess Celestia herself walked forwards half a minute later, drawing a hushed wave of silence to expand across the crowd. Was this entire meeting about what happened this morning? She halted in front of the podium and a gentle golden glow encompassed the microphones, gently adjusting them so they pointed slightly below the angle of her mouth. She didn't appear to be new to giving speeches, that's for sure.

"Stallions and mares, I welcome you to the castle. To be honest, this situation was not one I had anticipated ever needing to be addressed, but I've come to the conclusion that there has been some doubt amidst the populous. I'm here today to see if I can clear up some of these lingering concerns and, hopefully, allow things to be put to rest. Any and all questions may be asked by members of the media after I've finished," she spoke calmly. Knowing her personally, it wasn't hard to pick out a certain level of boredom in her eyes. That introduction almost felt like it was routine for her. Of course, if ponies everywhere panicked as easily as they did at Ponyville, that wasn't really a surprise.

Murmurs danced across the crowd, but she continued regardless. "To begin today, I'm going to give you a bit of background information. Many of you already know some of these, but it's worth repeating. Equestria has dealt with situations regarding other planes of existence before," she tossed out. She let the final sentence drop like a judge smashing a gavel, easily knocking the crowd into stunned silence. There was no easy smile on her face or sparkling eyes this time, however. Her stoic expression displayed nothing but a masterful and resolute seriousness.

Celestia scanned the crowd for a moment before continuing with, "This might come as a shock to many of you, but this is the case. Search our history books and studies into magic. You'll find research and case studies into it at multiple points in our history. In all of my time ruling this fine land, never once has this become an issue, however. Until now." More murmurs exploded, but she silenced them all with a simple shake of her head, flowing mane drifting in the fading sunlight.

"That's right. I gave the statement earlier, but there's been some confusion on the issue. My dear ponies in Ponyville were attacked by an entity that came from one of these neighboring dimensions. It was unprovoked and done with malicious intent." Gasps and murmurs again danced across the front row. The ponies began furiously writing, assuming to put every detail of what she said in the papers as soon as possible. Celestia's level of influence was incredible to watch. She never looked outwardly angry or upset, but held a level of absolute authority that impressed me. If she were a Keldarian, abuse of power would start up faster than the sun next to her set. To see a ruler actually act with benevolence and kindness was downright startling.

"But this isn't the entirety of the truth. This much I openly acknowledge. Before this moment, there were things kept secret from the general public due to matters of security. The fact of the matter is that we have not been idle about our defense. Up until a month ago, I had a skilled research team in the field studying this very phenomenon. The goal of such a group was to find out the possible dangers other dimensions presented to us, and find ways to counter these threats. They remained low key and unobtrusive whenever possible under my direct orders," she started to explain. Now it was starting to get interesting. A whole strew of bio information on researchers came to mind, all located in that folder. Was that the team she was talking about?

"I mention this team because the stallion that has been so brutally slandered this morning by a supposed leak in our very media outlets is from this group of researchers. Yes, I'm sure everypony here has heard about Moon Mender by this point. Rumors have spread like wildfire about him, but there's no more need for me to hide the truth. He was a private researcher before being enlisted by me specifically for this task almost three years ago now. He rapidly became the head of my dimensional research division, and his understanding of dimensional transit is second to none in Equestria, I believe," she continued. Oh. This entire conference was a setup to establish a cover story? That much seemed unlikely. But how much of what she was saying was the truth? Had she really had a group studying the dimensions?

More whispers and furious writing ensued, but she carried on regardless. "Great progress was made up until a month ago. A very tragic accident occurred, and Moon Mender was badly injured in an experimental dimensional shift technique. When we finally recovered him, it was discovered that he'd developed complete retrograde amnesia, and didn't even remember his name. Unsure of what to do, I requested that my own student, a master of magical theory and concepts as you all know, to look after him and help him recover. I owed him the very best, after all," she went on. Oh, that was clever. Almost every single aspect of that statement was completely true.

Celestia finally smiled after that, actually chuckling to herself. "Admittedly, those other rumors are indeed true. My student has certainly done more than look after him, and I'm pleased to officially announce that they are now very special someponies towards each other. It pleases me greatly, and I have great hope in their continued happiness," she added. Oh hell. Well, at least that would put a stop to some of the rumors traveling around. Happier sounding murmurs went through the crowd, and surprisingly, more notes were taken. Why did they need notes on that?!

She lost her smile, however, a moment later. "Then, unfortunately, we were attacked last week. Out of sheer luck, the entity went after the library in Ponyville that night. I've little information about its ultimate intention, but Moon Mender happened to be there. I'll not lie to anypony. Combat broke out after Mender ascertained that the creature was a threat to Ponyville. Pinkie Pie and Applejack, two brave Elements of Harmony, assisted in stopping the creature, but the destruction was carried deep into the Everfree Forest. Moon Mender held off the invader by himself until my sister and her night guards arrived and ultimately vanquished the creature. As many of you know, Mender was brutally injured in this event and lost his foreleg in the attack," she recounted. That was mostly true, with a bit of embellishment here and there. It was a bit surprising how honest she was being. Or rather, how honest she could be while lying.

"Circumstances being extremely warranted, my sister took exception for Mender and gave him his leg back with her magic, as he'd so bravely lost it in defense of Equestria. He's still recovering in Ponyville, and as many of you know, there's a party in his honor going on right now. He's watching this conference as I speak. Being unsure of how to handle the situation, however, I decided to maintain secrecy of Mender until today. Now, I reveal all of this to the ponies of Equestria in hopes to stem the tide of distrust and malevolence towards this stallion who has helped us so. It shocks and concerns me to see that a group of individuals would go so far as to use magically enhanced advertising to slander such a kind and polite individual. I wish to see nothing more like it happen again!" she finally declared, frowning out at the crowd.

There must have been some unwritten clue in that final statement that told everypony that it was the end of the prepared speech, as the reporters in the front exploded into questions all at once, causing Celestia to get a soft smile on her face. "One at a time, my little ponies," she reminded a moment later, gesturing to one near the front row.

"Is this Moon Mender going to take a role in Equestrian politics from now on?" the stallion asked instantly, pen at the ready.

Celestia never lost her smile and simply shook her head. "Moon Mender has no interest in politics. I know him personally. His job at this point forward is as a researcher. I'll no longer idly stand by waiting for another attack," she explained, voice soft but full of conviction. It would be interesting to find out how far she was willing to take that.

She gestured to another reporter, who immediately asked, "What are your plans to counter another attack, if one were to happen?" The reporter's voice was nervous sounding, and distinctly feminine. Were any of these reporters from the three magazines that wrote up all the slander?

"A small yet highly specialized and trained team of ponies led by Moon Mender will be our defense against any further attacks. Both the Day and Night Guard are contributing members, and our best researchers are equipping them and researching tactics. This will be our only group with such equipment, however," Celestia replied. She shifted a little bit more towards relaxed with that statement, but maintained her absolute tone. Was she pleased with that question? It certainly leaned more towards Equestria's well-being, in a practical sense.

Another stallion was up next, asking, "What information do we have on the leaks from Equestria Weekly?" Ah, here was the interesting part.

Celestia closed her eyes for a moment before shifting her gaze off 'screen' to the right; her left. "I believe somepony else can better answer that question. If you would, Mister Fancypants?" she requested, moving to her right slightly. Eh? Fancypants himself walked up in his typical attire. The immaculately pressed suit looked good on him when added to the styled mane and elegant gait.

"It would be my pleasure, Your Highness," he said, lining himself up with the podium before exhaling quietly. Despite his proper posture and groomed appearance, his eyes looked very tired indeed. "This matter is being thoroughly looked into on all levels of the company. So far as we can tell, a small group of unidentified ponies used our press equipment to create official looking facsimile early in the morning. They then delivered the fliers to various outlets both here and in Ponyville, enchanting them somewhere along the way," he explained, expression passive. Having a slight angle on the podium showed that his left hoof was shaking slightly, however.

It didn't take long to find out why. "So you're saying the fliers were definitely not endorsed by Equestria Weekly?" the same reporter asked, a moment later.

Fancypants' face flushed lightly as his eyes narrowed a little. "No! The proud company I own does not endorse this voracious and vindictive attempt at slandering a completely innocent stallion! To be honest, I find the very act absolutely disgusting and am ashamed that they chose our company to promote it. Equestria Weekly promotes the absolute truth in reporting at every opportunity. Given that statement, this act is a travesty. There will be a full, front page article in the very next release that denounces these claims and promotes the absolute truth," he assured. His tone didn't sound adamant as much as downright angry over the entire ordeal.

He took a couple deep breaths before calming down and visibly relaxing again. He looked back up at the utterly silent crowd and added, "Furthermore, Mender and I met personally at that party that was so ill reported on. I assure everypony here that he is a good stallion and has Equestria's best interests at heart. These two eyes watched him save the entire Canterlot Orchestra that night despite risk of great bodily harm. He did so without asking for a reward or even hesitating. So ask yourselves; does that sound like a monster to you? Make up your own minds about it."

Celestia was smiling openly at that point. Fancypants stepped back from the podium and walked away the same way he came, ignoring the outburst of questions from the reporters.

The screen became just so much light at that point. I sat there, partially in shock as I stared blankly at the darkening viewing window. He didn't even know me. Sure, his company was technically slandered, too, now that I realized he owned it, but that didn't mean he had to say that last part. Why had he stood up for me, a pony he barely knew?

"There's a reason Rarity speaks so highly of Fancypants. He's a reasonable pony who does what's right," Fluttershy whispered softly, smiling at me in my peripheral vision. I looked over towards her, only to discover that it was an almost knowing expression. It was like she knew exactly what was going through my mind, which further surprised me. For just a moment, I realized that I'd never really understood how close I'd let the yellow mare get to me.

Fluttershy leaned forwards and ever so gently kissed my forehead. I relaxed against her and closed my eyes. A moment later, I felt Twilight lightly rest herself against my back and wrap her forelegs around my shoulders. The heat expanded to all sides of me, and I smiled as I felt two very distinctive heartbeats against my body.

Luna made a happy murmuring sound before giggling. "Celestia requested I stop the film after Fancypants finished speaking. She said you wouldn't likely be interested in the funding and organizational questions that would undoubtedly follow," she explained, stretching her wings out and letting the glow die down around her horn.

My left eye opened to glance over at her and I lightly nodded into Fluttershy's neck. "I'm not so much interested in that as I was about the fliers. Fluttershy's right, though. I hadn't expected Fancypants to stand up for me like that," I agreed, lightly glancing up at the yellow mare. Her muzzle shifted to a slight smile as she rested her chin on my forehead. She looked so peaceful there. I felt Twilight resting her chin on the top of my head as well, almost mirroring Fluttershy from the other side. I had absolutely no complaints about this situation. Although...

"So what Miss Octavia said in her statement was right, then. He really did save the orchestra?" I heard Twilight Velvet ask behind me somewhere. Night Light oddly perked up at that too, but I didn't pay much attention, however, as my mind whirled into motion. They mirrored each other and were very lax. I smiled impishly for a split second before lifting my left foreleg up. Luna raised an eyebrow barely a second in the corner of my eye.

My foreleg extending up, I dipped my head down to pretend to itch my nose rather vehemently. Time practically ground to a halt as everything fell into place quite literally, and I tried to devote the image forever to memory. It might result in my death, after all.

Both mares fell forward as my head dropped. Twilight's eyes zipped downwards in time to catch me scratching, but Fluttershy's just widened drastically. Neither reacted in time before their muzzles touched. Twilight froze in place almost instantly while Fluttershy's eyes started to shiver slightly. There was a hesitation for just a moment. I could have sworn I saw Fluttershy's eyes start to lower slightly as she continued forwards. Then the instant was over as both mares exploded away from me, Fluttershy's wings shooting out to full extension fast enough to almost knock Night Light into the wall next to the bed.

"Whaaaaa! Oh no. Oh no! Um, I'm, uh, really sorry, Twilight! I, uh, oh dear," Fluttershy rapidly started to spew, the chain of 'oh dear's rapidly devolving into a long, drawn out squeak.

Twilight sat there looking more dazed than anything, a blush expanding across both her cheeks. For the most part, I didn't have to act shocked in the slightest, given that Fluttershy accidentally put her knee into my gut on the way back. Giving out a weak wheeze, I couldn't even properly enjoy the fruits of my plan as I flopped sideways, clutching at my stomach with both forehooves. Okay, I probably deserved that.

Rainbow, who had been watching the last of the image fading away, rapidly turned and looked over at us with a questioning expression, apparently having missed the whole thing. "Wait, what happened?!" she rapidly asked, rotating in place to look at the three of us.

"W-Whoa. Fluttershy, calm down. Um, are you okay, Mender?" Twilight asked, finally recovering and restarting her brain as she looked down at me with concern.

I winced and gasped momentarily before nodding, sweet air slowly coming back into my lungs. "Ah, yeah. She just knocked the air out of me accidentally," I assured, deciding to just rest there for a moment. Fluttershy squeaked louder when she heard that, however, and lowered herself flat to the floor.

"Oh no! I'm so sorry to both of you! No. What a disaster!" she murmured, breathing rapidly and shivering. Okay, now I just felt like a jerk.

Twilight edged over to her and gently placed her hoof against Fluttershy's shoulder before gently speaking, "Fluttershy, calm down. Mender's fine, and I'm not mad at you or anything."

"But I k-kissed you!" the yellow pegasus stuttered out, looking horrified at herself. Of course, I knew the real reason as to why she was so shocked. Twilight didn't, however.

My fillyfriend's ears lowered a little and she looked away. "Is it really that disgusting of a concept?" she asked gently. Twilight!

Fluttershy inhaled so fast I thought she was trying to suck up Twilight. Hmm. I think I remembered seeing a video game or something based off that the younger recruits used to play, but I can't remember now. Seems like that comparison would better suit Pinkie anyway. "No! It's not that, Twilight. Um... oh dear," Fluttershy assured, closing her eyes tightly.

No. Was she really going to tell her? Every ounce of support I could manage to push down the empathy link was injected into Fluttershy, who smiled softly when she felt it. "Thank you, Mender. You're right. I have to do this. Twilight, I, um, really like you!" she managed to squeak out, wincing afterwards as if expecting the world to promptly end.

Twilight tilted her head, and I inwardly groaned. Oh no. She didn't think that... "I really like you too, Fluttershy. You already knew that, though," Twilight assured a moment later, shifting to a warm smile before nodding twice. Fluttershy deflated visibly and I sighed. Twilight Velvet slapped her forehead instead, interestingly enough.

"Twilight, stop and think about it for a moment," she suggested in a frustrated tone. Ha! Okay, so her mother knew her a little bit. Gently, I sat up and earned a helping hoof from Fluttershy to stabilize myself again. Rainbow gave me a confused glance and pouted, still having no clue what had happened it would seem.

Twilight froze suddenly, eyes slowly expanding as she looked back over at Fluttershy. The yellow mare blushed lightly and shrank away from the shocked gaze, but having her hooves still on my foreleg, I wrapped my limb up with hers and gave her an assuring smile. It was indescribable to feel her relax somewhat from the gesture.

"You like me, um, more than friends?" Twilight finally asked quietly, eyes lessening in intensity a little as she exhaled. Was this okay to get into with her parents right here?

Fluttershy timidly nodded and squeezed around my leg a little harder. I gave her another soft tug and she smiled lightly. Rainbow's eyes shot to the size of saucers instead, however, and she started looking back and forth between my two fillyfriends. Ugh. That sounded weird even in my head.

"Huh. Well, actually that makes me feel a little bit better over the situation. A herd is supposed to have mutual attraction after all," Night Light pointed out idly, snapping his daughter out of her seeming shock enough to finally blush. Yeah, it was definitely time to invest in ice bags. The three of us got into the most awkward situations. The sad thing was, I only predicted it to get worse.

"Um, please don't hate me. Please? I can keep it to myself and-" Fluttershy begged, squeezing my foreleg tighter than ever. I was suddenly happy it was my right one.

She was cut off before she could even finish the request. "No! Fluttershy, I'm never going to hate you. You just surprised me. I had no idea you liked me like that. Um, when did you start thinking of me like that?" she asked, sounding shocked. Seriously? Even I noticed the odd behavior before she flat out told me. There had to be a record in there somewhere. Did Equestria even keep records? I should get myself qualified for a few of them if they did. Both as record holder in terms of fastest diagnostic of insanity, and as a measuring stick to see who could fool me the shortest amount of time.

Fluttershy thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Oh, that's easy." I didn't expect her to actually recollect it, however.

The castle was dark and cold at this time of night. Honestly, I didn't know what I was doing here in the first place. It was a really bad idea for us to have run off into the forest, and kind of bad that we wandered into this old castle, too, even if it was for a really good cause. Why did the night have to be so dark?! It was just scary this way! At least the moon helped light things while we were still outside.

The stairs kept going up in a tight spiral, and I was thankful to have the girls so close to me. Applejack was so strong for leading the way through the dark, and a part of me wished I could be that sure of myself. All I could do on the way here was run away and panic. Sure, I helped the manticore, but was that really all that useful to my friends? I tried not to whimper as we reached the top of the stairs.

My mind froze and I tried not to scream as I saw the dark clouds and pure anger of the powerful Alicorn. But something was wrong. It only took me a second to notice the broken shards at Nightmare Moon's hooves. No. No! It couldn't be the Elements of Harmony! I stared in horror as the rest of the girls started forwards. If they were destroyed, we couldn't win. It was hopeless.

No, the mare we ran up here to help was facing off against such power all by herself. Even if she was talented, how could she possibly win, though? Why did she keep trying? We should just run away! Twilight Sparkle. I looked over at her just as she turned around to look back at us. In that instant, her eyes swallowed me up. There was something in them that I couldn't even begin to fathom. Surprise, sure. But a deeper warmth. A happiness that we were here that I didn't understand.

She smiled. Yeah, I didn't have to understand. Even if it didn't make any sense, I suddenly felt her energy tugging my heart forwards. She was so brave to stand up to Nightmare Moon all by herself. Her eyes widened and she gasped suddenly, before her expression turned to that of a smirk. Slowly, she turned around to face Nightmare Moon again. What was she doing? Suddenly, I didn't find myself as scared anymore. She was sure we'd be okay, and I believed her, didn't I?

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here," Twilight assured, earning a surprised start from the powerful Alicorn in front of us.

That was the first time I saw it. Nightmare Moon looked scared. "What?" she asked incredulously. Twilight then went on to point out how all of us had succeeded in representing the very Elements of Harmony we'd been searching for! They had been with us all along.

Twilight gave me my destiny that day. Her words and feelings were responsible for me becoming the Element of Kindness, and in that moment, she truly understood me. In doing so, I helped give her the hope she needed to defeat Nightmare Moon with all our powers. She trusted in us at that darkest moment, and I realized that was the kind of confidence I wished I had.

Fluttershy finally finished her tale with a pleased nod towards me. I smiled back, of course. "It took me a day or so to realize that I respected the mare who gave that to me more than the confidence I yearned for. Another day or so made me realize that I didn't just respect her, but realized how amazing and gorgeous she was. Um, then I started to l-love her the longer time went on and the more adventures we had..." she continued. Her voice dwindled down below my capabilities to hear afterwards, however. It seemed directly connected to how pink her cheeks got, I noticed. Did that mean if I applied a cold pack, her voice would get louder?

Twilight wasn't taking it nearly as well, it looked like. She sat there with her mouth open and a blank stare aimed directly at Fluttershy, who was starting to get flustered now. "Um, is that bad? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or bother you or make you uncomfortable," Fluttershy immediately apologized, of course. I gave her a skeptical look, but the lavender unicorn finally snapped out of it.

"But, that was, you've liked me since we first met?! I..." Twilight managed to stutter out. Well, never mind. I thought she'd snapped out of it.

"Everything she said made sense to me. I mean, all of you are really amazing, and that was the first time you all shined together," I reasoned, earning a soft smile from Fluttershy.

Rainbow was grinning at this point, however. "Heck, that's awesome! You'd better not apologize, Fluttershy. I'm proud of you for saying all that!" she declared.

The burst of energy surprised the yellow mare, and she gave a squeak before shrinking down a little. "Ah! I'm sorry, Rainbow! Should I have not apologized then?" she asked. Rainbow gave her a deadpan stare before slapping her forehead lightly. I snickered lightly and pulled Fluttershy closer, giving her a soft squeeze. She hesitated for a moment, but then relaxed against my chest as I lightly rubbed her back. Rainbow was right. She was awesome for having said all that. Of course, that just left Twilight to decide what to do with the information.

Everypony in the room redirected their attention back to Twilight, who froze as she suddenly found herself in the spotlight again. "Er, yes?" she asked, looking hesitantly over at me instead. Luna cut me off, however.

"My Equestrian culture may be a little rusty, but I believe this is the part where you either acknowledge and return said feelings, or deny them," she spoke up politely, but rather bluntly at the same time. I felt Fluttershy shiver, but I gave her another squeeze and she buried her left cheek into my collarbone for support, partially hiding her from Twilight. I understood, of course. Sometimes having 'cover' was an encouraging instinct when you're expecting 'incoming fire' from something. Given my level of armor, I actually didn't mind being used as a barricade as much as I thought I would.

Twilight blinked, and then giggled to herself. "You remember what I said earlier, don't you? I'm all for love no matter the gender. Fluttershy's already a herd member once we finalize it, so why wouldn't I give her a chance with me, too? It only makes sense," she reasoned, being remarkably 'Twilight' about it.

I started to laugh before being partially lurched backwards by the rapidly pouncing Fluttershy. She wasted no time in landing on Twilight a moment later and almost sending them both back into the wall. She then proceeded to give her the largest hug I'd ever seen. Admittedly, seeing that mixed with my sudden loss of attention left me just a tad jealous. Still, they were both with me, too, so I guess it evened out. Fluttershy had a lot of catching up to do anyway.

Twilight did laugh after she recovered her balance, and hugged Fluttershy closer to herself, smiling as the yellow wings slipped around her in both directions. They were rather cute to watch. My serenity was shattered, however, as I heard my name shouted at the top of Pinkie's lungs from downstairs. Eh?!

"Are you in here, Mender?!" she yelled again, sounding a bit closer this time. Why was she specifically looking for me?

"Oh yeah! Fluttershy and I were supposed to tell you when we got here that Pinkie was looking for you," Dash suddenly remembered, drawing her attention away from the new couple and looking over at me instead. Eh?!

My ears flattened back at her for a moment, and she shot me a sheepish smile while rubbing the side of her head absently. I sighed and turned away, propping myself up to peek over the balcony. Pinkie perked up the second she saw me and hopped over to the stairs in her usual energetic manner. I had no complaints, however. It was much nicer to see her like this then in pain like she had been.

"There you are! I was looking all over for you. I'd have thought Dashie would get you first," she admitted, sliding to a stop and shifting to a guarded position as I wobbled and tried to make my way down the stairs. It was nice of my friends to be on the lookout for my inevitable stumbles and gravity-induced blunders.

"They're here. They just got distracted. Fluttershy finally confessed to Twilight," I explained, sliding down to her level after slipping the last few steps. She had the courtesy to catch me and slow my fall at least before gasping and hopping unnaturally slowly into the air. I shivered as I watched her float for a second before landing and dancing around in a tight circle.

"I missed it?! No! I'll have to go up there and ask them to do it again! Do you think they'd mind?" she asked, hopping impatiently in front of me.

Snickering, I shook my head, reminding her, "They probably wouldn't mind telling you about it. Although, you never said why you were looking for me."

She stopped for a moment before her eyes lit up again. "Oh yeah! Vinyl talked to Princess Luna and got her to air your fun movie thingy with Princess Celestia onto the sound stage out there! She thought it would be a good idea to clear your name, and then wanted to introduce you after the movie," she rapidly explained. What?! But that would mean getting up on stage in front of all those ponies! I'd be in the light with hundreds of ponies staring at me. Hundreds! My heart started racing just thinking about it, and I rapidly froze. No, that wouldn't work at all. I'd have to talk to Vinyl about doing something else. Why was she even trying to do this for me? Why did they think this would work in the first place? Why, um, why was I floating?

Looking back behind me, I saw Rainbow lightly hooking her forelegs under mine and lifting me into the air. "Don't worry, Pinkie! I'll get him over to Vinyl. You go up and talk to Fluttershy and Twilight," Rainbow assured confidently.

"Ah! No, this is a bad idea, Rainbow! I don't like crowds and-" I attempted to protest, flailing my back legs about trying to shake myself loose. She was absurdly strong, however. Oh yeah, I couldn't have weighed anywhere near what those poles back at the barn did. Well, I could if I wanted to, but that would also put me into Twilight's basement rather rapidly. It would be awkward explaining to everypony how I suddenly, temporarily gained three metric tons.

"Okie Dokie Loki! Meet you there in a bit!" Pinkie declared, totally ignoring me just like Rainbow was.

Rainbow gave a curt nod to Pinkie and a reassuring smile to me before launching both of us straight through the open door of the library, not even giving me enough time to properly whimper. This was a really bad idea...