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Forgiveness Pending

by Kiroberos

Chapter 44

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The wagon was an amazingly smooth ride, albeit a bit on the slow side. Although I certainly wasn't going to make Big Mac run. Eh, Twilight was probably too distracted today to keep track of time properly anyway. ...and if she had, surely she'd forgive me in her current mood. Heh.

Smiling gently to myself, I lay at the bottom of the wagon, feeling rather comfortable in the corner. There was leftover hay in the bottom of it, and it was nice to give my leg a rest, as frustrating as that was. Sweetie Belle gently massaged the shoulder after insisting loudly for a good five minutes, me trying to convince her that it wasn’t needed. Rainbow shot me a glare of death after the loud and annoying ‘debate’ had gone on too long, forcing me to relent and just let Sweetie do whatever. I guess she’d gotten tired of listening to us go back and forth? Apple Bloom had hopped out of the wagon and onto Big Mac's back instead, and was busy talking quietly with her siblings. Scootaloo was absolutely absorbed in Rainbow Dash's presence, which just left Tank and Spike. I stared quietly at the turtle, who stood a half-meter away from me. He stared back. We'd simply been watching each other the entire ride. He was a very wise looking tortoise, honestly. He seemed to actually understand the words spoken around him and carried out complex and detailed actions. I was used to animals being, well, animals. This was an interesting surprise.

Of course, I'd seen a few other pets, too. Opal was almost snooty in her mannerisms, but I think that was more a cat thing. Still, I could have sworn I saw her roll her eyes at me before. Winona was more loyal and trustworthy from what I saw, but still quite intelligent. I watched Apple Bloom play with her for a while when I was helping build the conveyor system. Owlowiscious was obviously intelligent, and I noticed he understood several things I said to him. With that much evidence, it looked like all the animals of Equestria were quite a bit smarter than normal. I'd have to remember that in my dealings with them. I wouldn't want to accidentally offend.

Zoning slightly, I gave a start as the cart slowed and Dash zipped into the air. Scootaloo rolled twice before I stopped her with my back leg, smiling at the dizzy filly for a moment before sitting up. Sweetie Belle gave me an endearing smile, and I patted her on the top of the head with my right forehoof. "Thank you for the massage, Sweetie," I added gently.

She grinned and hugged the leg I was using to pat her, earning a chuckle from me. She was so adorable sometimes. Well, most of the time. Rainbow interrupted anything I could have said, however, by shouting out, "Over here!" My eyes widened and I peeked to the left just in time to see the entire gathered crowd of ponies turn around and stare at the cart. Aww, crap. Not again! Instincts made me crouch back down again, mostly shielding myself using the wall of the cart. A storm of giggling sounded almost instantly, and I groaned.

"Ah, just the stallion I wanted to talk to! Moon Mender!" was called out from the stage. A tan looking mare with a white mane stood up at the podium, looking highly official. That must be 'Mayor Mare'? Oddly, her mane was white, not gray. She didn't look that old to me.

Both of us were interrupted by a squeaking noise as a yellow pegasus suddenly bumped up above the crowd, flailing momentarily as she grabbed onto the pink head under her. Fluttershy? "Ah! No, Pinkie. Put me down!" I 'heard' her whisper rapidly, embarrassment flooding down the link as she blushed fiercely at all the ponies looking at her now.

"Nope! Sorry, Fluttershy," Pinkie refused. My surprise doubled as the pink mare literally stood up and threw Fluttershy right at me! My eyes widened as Fluttershy let out a high-pitched squealing noise as she sailed through the air. Oddly, instead of just doing the logical thing and opening her wings up, taking to the sky, she instead went rigid. Her wings stuck out like an airplane and she sailed surprisingly well. I shook off being impressed and hopped up on the lip of the wagon, balancing carefully for that instant up on my two back legs as I caught Fluttershy out of the air, rolling backwards to cancel her momentum. My back armor skipped off the wagon as I rolled to a stop, cradling the now hiding Fluttershy, who was doing her best to cover herself with my body.

"Wow, good catch!" the mayor complimented, totally missing the point. I didn't even know how to respond to that. Instead, I looked down at Fluttershy to see if she was okay. At this range, I could pick up her biorhythms, and noticed that, unsurprisingly, her heart rate was through the roof. Also at this range, I was bombarded by the wonderful smells of fresh cut flowers coming off the mare, along with a slight honey smell in addition to that, which was new. All mares seemed to be as varying in smell as they were in coat color! The discovery was rather fascinating to me in a somewhat uncouth way. I knew I probably shouldn’t be paying so much attention to their smells suddenly but it was far from unpleasant.

She peeked up a moment later as she must have felt my concern. Her eyes softened and she smiled at me again before burying her face in my chest. Sweetie started 'aww'ing to my right. I sat up fully with Fluttershy again and the crowd started cheering. What was this all about?!

"I imagine you're wondering what this is about," the mayor guessed, almost word for word. I tilted my head, but nodded towards her. She had a microphone setup. My voice wouldn't carry that far. Err, my 'normal' voice wouldn't carry that far. Heh, but my other would get the crowd to scatter rather fast.

"It's quite simple. You've been here for weeks, drawn the attention of both Princesses, and fended off an attack on my town. Yet somehow, we haven't been officially introduced! Further, I wanted to extend my official thanks for everything you've done so far," she explained, nodding and gesturing towards me. The crowd started that hoof stomping thing again almost instantly as they all grinned at me. Perhaps it was akin to applause?

I gave my best sheepish smile while wanting to run in the other direction. I suddenly felt a little lightheaded, and had to fight down the urge to flee. There were way too many ponies here, and it was daylight so I could see them all this time. It helped that there weren't stage lights in my eyes this time.

Twilight teleported in next to the mayor suddenly and whispered something in her ear. I was momentarily curious again before the tan mare pulled the mic back up and nodded. "I'd almost forgotten that your leg is badly injured. Silly me, expecting you to come up here on stage! Ha! I must not pay enough attention to my secretary's memos as I should," she cooed, smiling out at the crowd. There was a polite wave of laughter, which confused me until I realized it was supposed to be a joke. Spike groaned next to me and sank below the wall of the cart. Was she always like this?

"Well, worry not. You stay right there in the cart. I'll come to you!" she exclaimed, hanging the mic back up with an awkward squeaking noise from the speakers. I winced, and in that brief moment, Twilight was gone from the stage. I turned to my left in time to see her reappear, literally into a pouncing motion.

Fluttershy gave a squeak as Twilight's forelegs wrapped around both of us. My eyes widened, then extended even more as Twilight wasted no time kissing me directly on the lips. Happy laughter and murmurs shot through the crowd as I gave a weak groan, getting pulled tighter against the mare. She pulled back almost five seconds later, licking a string of saliva away from her lips and leaving my head spinning. A certain tingle danced along my tongue as well, and I realized that she'd shot her magic into the kiss, too! It felt amazingly like Twilight, I decided. It was an odd sensation. Why had she-?

Oh. She gave me a wink and then gave Fluttershy a more relaxed, chaste kiss, causing the mare to have about the same reaction as me, interestingly enough. I was busy staring at Twilight, however. She wanted to kiss me like that, but she didn't want me getting paranoid about her being that forward, I guessed. Shooting her magic into me was definitely a good way to prove that it was indeed her.

My ears twitched a moment later, and I looked over at Fluttershy. She was still flushed, but she was whispering something rapidly, almost in chant as she looked down and over at my front, right leg. Eh? My ears swiveled around from their surprised, backwards position, and I picked up, "Be brave. Be brave. Be brave, Fluttershy. Assertive!"

I tilted my head, but she looked up at the same moment with a look that could only be described as fierce resolve and focus. Then she leaned up as well and pushed her lips up against mine. I was vaguely aware of the crowd going crazy somewhere to my left, but I really didn't care. All I was aware of was Twilight grinning against both of us, and Fluttershy's warm muzzle against mine as she pushed into me. Her hooves drifted just around my waist as she leaned into the kiss, in a timid and subtle possessive gesture. I certainly wasn't about to deny her.

Almost a full five seconds later, she finally pulled back, a bright red shade in her cheeks as she smiled shyly at me. More cheering hit, which was starting to get a bit annoying. Of course, I guess I shouldn't expect privacy up on a wagon in the middle of a large crowd of ponies. Wait, middle? Turning and confirming my peripheral concern, I noticed the wagon was indeed surrounded at this point. I got a bit flustered until I realized we were still moving. Big Mac pressed onwards, crowd or not, as he headed towards the southern exit of town. Noteworthy slipped out of the crowd a moment later and stepped in next to him, giving me a pleased nod before hooking himself up to the free harness, now that Applejack stepped out of it.

"Mender," the mayor called out, getting my attention. Shifting, I rotated around and saw her walking slowly along after the wagon, following us as we went. A large amount of stallions and younger foals were also with us, I noted. Considerably more than what I'd normally see in an entire day in Ponyville.

Walking to the back of the wagon, I lay down on the straw again and peeked down at her, giving a nod. "I'm glad I have a chance to talk with you before you go. Although I'd like to ask for a slightly longer audience once you get back. Official residence paperwork, and discussing what the future entails," she elaborated, giving me a patient smile. There was really only one way to translate that.

"Concerned about Princess Celestia's initiative, and Ponyville's involvement in it?" I guessed, tilting my head towards her.

She gave a smirk, and I realized I'd guessed right. "Mostly. I really do have residence paperwork for you to fill out, although I wouldn't say I'm concerned. It's an honor to have such a hero living here," she corrected.

"I'm not a hero," I returned almost instantly, eyes lowering a bit. No, I wouldn't... couldn't accept that title anymore. Heroes weren't involved in the wholesale slaughter of a few billion innocent lives. Brave? Not really. I was more pragmatic, really. I did what I had to do at any given time, regardless of how bitter it tasted. That sounded more like a soldier to me. Duty. Yeah, that was mine, I suppose.

She smiled but nodded, making me realize I'd just zoned out for a full ten seconds. Her eyes were softer than prior to my slip of awareness, and I wondered if I'd accidentally implied anything with my silence. Ah well. "I need to talk to Celestia more, but from what I've read so far, she's placing the research center of the initiative here. Given the, well, extent of what she wanted researched, I imagine a new facility is going to have to be built. I'd like to avoid any further damage to Ponyville if at all possible," I groaned, wondering how much the repairs to the library had cost. Nirru was an idiot. You don't fire off Slipstream in-atmosphere. Thankfully, hers was just a personal-sized engine.

"Is the research that dangerous?" the mayor asked, looking a bit surprised.

Twilight slipped up next to me, however, and nodded in my stead. "We're seeking defenses and counters against further extra-planar infiltrations. Given how powerful the last creature was, yes, any defenses we can muster will probably be rather dangerous before we finalize them," she warned, sounding professional yet a bit on the grim side. Fluttershy remained quiet on my other side. Well, technically on the other side of Sweetie Belle, who wormed her way in-between us, but the little filly hardly blocked all of Fluttershy, so I suppose it didn't matter.

The mayor frowned for a moment before looking over at me instead. "You truly fought the creature, then? That wasn't an exaggeration from the Princesses, I'm guessing," she reasoned, expression neutral.

"All I could manage was to contain it. It was extremely powerful. Luna was the one who removed it," I confirmed, technically telling the truth in an abstract way. Not that I was against lying if I had to, but it was easier to convince somepony if you could at least fall back on being truthful.

"You must be strong as well, then," she deduced. It wasn't a question, but it was a little too vague to my liking.

I shook my head weakly. "Twilight is far stronger than me. My strength is more in quick thinking, experience in combat, and just a bit of cleverness," I corrected, smiling finally afterwards. Twilight gave me a playful shove, and I didn't even need a connection to her to know what she implied with it. I know I tended to undervalue myself, but it felt more comfortable doing so.

"Psh! I've totally seen you fight before, and it's downright scary!" Rainbow teased, smirking at me out of the corner of my eye. I gave her a skeptical glance, but the mayor surprised me by snickering softly.

Glancing back over at her, I raised an eyebrow and she nodded, explaining, "I always find it a little bit scary when I see somepony do something they're really good at. Practiced motions that come naturally are pretty to watch, but knowing I'd never match up with them is a bit intimidating. I imagine combat is, due to its nature, even scarier." I absorbed her words for a moment before nodding again. Yeah, that made sense, I suppose.

"Still, your mark implies creation, not destruction. Your strong suit is engineering, is it?" she added, somehow changing the entire tone of her prior statement. She was okay with me, then? I couldn't read her very well. She gave off an air of wisdom, but I wasn't sure if it was just for show, or if she was actually wise. It wasn't an absolute thing like when talking to one of the Princesses.

"Engineering and enchantments is what I hope to make a living with. My specialty for magic is more defensive, however," I relayed, attention waning somewhat. Surely she'd heard as much already, though. What was she hoping to accomplish by asking me directly?

Twilight, who had been watching me instead, frowned and shifted back to the mayor, asking, "Can't this wait until he gets back? He's getting tired, and Fluttershy and I would like to properly say goodbye before he rests." It surprised me, but there was a certain air of irritation in her voice, mixed in with a dash of possessiveness. I glanced over at her, but she simply gave a frown towards the mare trailing after us.

"Oh! Yes, he's still healing. Certainly. I shall leave you all in peace, then," she agreed, bowing politely before turning around. The progression trailing the wagon had dwindled at this point, leaving only a handful of faces following that I recognized.

Pinkie herself dashed up much faster than I realized, leaving both Vinyl and Octavia momentarily in the dust. "Don't forget about me, Mender! Spike! I'll miss both of you!" she squealed, hopping up and hanging off the back of the wagon long enough to pull both of us into a bone crushing hug. I gasped and wiggled against her, wondering how she'd grabbed Spike too. He was at the front of the wagon!

"Aaaah, I'm not squishy, Pinkie, but I will be if you don't ease up..." Spike managed to whine, causing Twilight to giggle and light Pinkie up with magic, prying her off us.

"I just can't help myself! I'm not gonna get to see you all for a week and a half or more! So I've gotta try to squeeze two weeks of hugging into an instant!" she declared. Yikes! With Pinkie, two weeks of hugs might be enough to compress diamond.

The two musically inclined mares had caught up, and Octavia added, "I did say I'd be here to say goodbye to you. I'm not sure when we'll see each other again, but I do hope to visit quite a bit more often now. Vinyl has offered me a, uhm, what did you call those... things, again, Vinyl?" She hesitated and looked back at her DJ friend.

Vinyl shook her head weakly and sighed. "They're futons, Tavi. Any good pad worth its weight in swag has them. You don't get a more righteous sleeping arrangement than that," she explained, pumping her hoof into the air to emphasis 'righteous'. What was a futon? Obviously something somepony slept on, I supposed, but there wasn't any visual reference in my memories for one.

"Ah, yes. So long as I don't have to share it again. You should really get some, well, spray for your house, Vinyl. Or at least get rid of the empty pizza boxes. Those things are attracted to food in the first place, and if they get much bigger, you might need to burn them out instead..." Octavia warned, a hint of playful teasing in her voice.

Even with the shades on, I 'felt' as if Vinyl rolled her eyes. I think it was that oh so subtle head motion. "Hey, the mice deserve room and board, too, just like everypony else. We have an arrangement. I let them stay rent free, and they clean up the stale stuff I leave out for too long," she explained.

I blinked, and wondered if she really did have an arrangement with the rodents. Were they that smart? I added a note to ask Fluttershy about it later. Maybe it was just the mice? Could they talk, too? Heh, who knows? Maybe they were smarter than us, even? Twilight let out a weak, strained giggle, eyes shivering a little bit as she listened. Uh oh.

"You really shouldn't live like that, Vinyl. As you're a friend of my coltfriend, I suppose I could, I don't know, help you clean it up a little? Make it more orderly?" the lavender mare offered after a moment. I sensed an obsessive-compulsive trait to her sometimes.

The look she got in return was blank and far from amused. Lying there, I decided I'd rather not get involved at all, and shifted my attention to Fluttershy instead. The yellow pegasus was zoning out, and gave a small start of surprise when I shifted to look at her again. A gentle smile expanded upon her muzzle, her attention drifting back and being given entirely to me. That never ceased to amaze me. I wasn't used to somepony really, and I mean really, paying attention to me. Apart from the, well, problems I caused here so often, sometimes I felt like more a part of the background than anything. Everypony had jobs and duties while I just sort of drifted, making trouble for ponies.

Closing my eyes softly, I decided to see what would happen if I initiated for once. A second later, I worked up my courage and gently leaned forwards, resting my forehead softly against hers. A peek showed she was momentarily surprised before smiling wider and leaning into me as well. "It's sad that I have my friends to take care of. Well, not sad as in I don't like taking care of them. That's not what I meant! I just, um, kinda wish I could go with you this week. Are you sure you won't be too lonely?" Fluttershy asked softly, the words barely transferring over the small distance between us, but I easily heard it all because of our deeper link.

"I'll miss you two, but I'll have a lot of company. Spike, my fellow Crusaders, Big Mac, and now Tank," I pointed out. Spike hadn't been close enough to hear what we were talking about, but there was something about hearing your name being mentioned in a conversation that lets you pick it up a lot easier. His head snapped to full attention back to me, having only been passively listening to Vinyl, Octavia, and Twilight bicker about personal hygiene. If they kept this up, they were going to come to the camp with us regardless of their intention. I was also a bit surprised that Dash and Applejack had stuck around, too, the former still talking with Scootaloo and the latter walking with her brother and little sister up front. Although, now that I thought about it, I thought I heard Applejack mention she usually helped set up everypony at the cabins. Maybe Rainbow was sticking around because Applejack was, too? At least the mares didn't just toss us out to the cabins and leave it at that.

Fluttershy flushed lightly but smiled, nodding to me. "Oh, I know. I just wish I could be with you at the cabins, too," Fluttershy elaborated.

Spike smiled and nodded, now paying attention and probably guessing what had been said prior. "That would mean Mender and you would have to stay in a couple's cabin, though, wouldn't it? I was kinda looking forward to hanging out with him," he slipped in. Oh, they had couples' cabins? Well, I suppose that made sense. They were probably smaller and easier to make than the full size ones, and mates would want their privacy, especially during an estrus period, I'd imagine.

Fluttershy appeared pleased and nodded to Spike, adding, "Of course. You'd be able to hang out with him during the day, as well, of course! I'm not going to monopolize his time, and, um, I'll lecture Twilight sternly if she tries to as well." There was mild weight and conviction behind her words, which only went to prove she was serious about it. It still surprised me a little. She seemed focused on my needs and wants above and beyond her own. I guess I'd have to try extra hard to get her to accept things that she wanted, too.

"Wow, that's really kind of you, Fluttershy. I might have been, uh, a little worried about that. Twilight's been acting a little clingy lately," he whispered, looking past us at the now irate lavender unicorn. She wasn't even paying attention, so he didn't really have to worry.

"Probably just the heat, Spike. She'll probably return to normal after a couple weeks," I explained, attempting to console him a bit. In reality, I had no idea how long it would take for the hormones to get out of her system completely after estrus was over.

Fluttershy frowned and looked over at her as well. "Not so sure. Um, it's probably not my place to say, but I think she might be, well, figuring out what she wants more?" she tried to explain. Her peek showed a confused expression drifting over from me, and she squeaked, elaborating with, "Not that she didn't know before on some level. I think she's realizing how important you are to her, and your priority has gone up by a lot."

"She told Princess Celestia no to her face for you. I'd say that much is accurate, anyway," Spike added, nodding enthusiastically. That had surprised me, admittedly. It was tempting to accept her offer for her disk to at least feel what her emotions really were, but that was a shallow reason.

Sweetie Belle, who had been quiet throughout the entire conversation, finally stirred and looked up at Fluttershy. "Um, you seem really comfortable with Twilight, Fluttershy. Is being in a herd and sharing hard?" she asked, seemingly out of nowhere. Well, I saw where it came from, but didn't really know why she was curious.

Fluttershy didn't seem to mind, however, and smiled down at her as well. "It was a little difficult at first. Wanting to be with the pony you love is natural, but eventually it starts to feel like a really close family," she tried to explain. My ears swerved around and my heard skipped as I stared at her. Did she just say that?! She... loved me? Wasn't it a bit too soon for that?

"What if somepony wanted to join the herd? What would happen?" Sweetie asked next, only vaguely registering on my consciousness as I fought to decide if things were progressing too fast or slow. Sure, Fluttershy seemed worlds' more comfortable with being in a relationship, but love? Although, I had agreed to marry Twilight, now that I thought about it. Sure, it wasn't official yet, but the feelings and intent were there.

Pinkie suddenly almost landed on me, squishing me over and causing me to yelp and roll slightly. Holy hell! I forgot she was even here! "That's a tricky one, Silly! Herds usually only let ponies join that they know really, really well and trust. Plus, you have to at least care for everypony in the herd! Even then, afterwards, all members have to approve of you joining," she explained while Fluttershy recovered from her sudden appearance. Sweetie Belle blinked up at her, and then slowly turned a pink color. Eh? Oh, Pinkie's use of second pony tense? Surely the little filly realized the 'you' was just a hypothetical example, right? "So even for you and me, it wouldn't be an easy in! If you wanted to join Mender's herd, you'd have to get all three of them to agree to it, obviously! I'd have to as well!" she continued a moment later with a happy chirp, ruining my hypothetical comment completely. Well, at least it was still just an example. An example that was probably really awkward for the little filly, but I suppose that couldn't be helped.

Fluttershy gave a frown and muttered, "Um, Pinkie... Aren't you forgetting something?" Eh?

Pinkie blinked slowly, then perked up and nodded rapidly. The tempo shift made me a little dizzy. "Oh, and you have to be at least fourteen. Forgot about that," she added, giving two nods afterwards. Fourteen? Was that when they were legally considered an adult in pony society? Usually it was a certain fraction of their lifespan, which kind of made me wonder how long a pony lived for, on average. Granny Smith appeared ancient by pony standards, and surely the Princesses were some sort of immortal. At least functionally and biologically immortal, anyway, although if Luna's exile to the moon was any indication, they might be fully immortal.

Sweetie Belle looked more than a little flustered at this point, sitting up now as she shifted back and forth on her front hooves. "I didn't mean, um... but... wait. I have to wait two years to join a herd?!" she suddenly asked, eyes widening a little bit. Err, was that a bad thing? Oh, wait, she was twelve? Interesting. Now I wondered how old the others were. Late teens, early twenties maybe? I knew my old body, and thus, my mindset had been twenty-three before I was cloned. That didn't tell me much, however, as I didn't know how fast our years were in comparison to Equestria. I also didn't have a clue when my 'birthday' was at this point. Maybe it would be in Doctor Kyliona's notes when Keela sent them over?

"Hey, relax. Ya got your whole life ahead of ya to find that special somepony, you know," Vinyl cut in a moment later.

My ears perked and I suddenly realized their conversation had ground to a halt over the series of noises Pinkie had caused us to make in surprise. Plus, Sweetie Belle's outburst had been kinda loud. The little filly gave an embarrassed groan and scooted backwards using her front legs, burrowing under my tail and hiding in it a moment later. I snickered at her display, and Fluttershy simply smiled back at her.

Rainbow smirked suddenly, and I inwardly groaned. I knew her well enough to see a 'hoof in mouth' statement coming a kilometer off. "Why the rush anyway, Sweetie Belle? It sounds like you might already have a colt you're interested in," she pointed out coyly a moment later. Yup, there it was. If Sweetie hadn't told us, she obviously didn't want to tell us. Surely, Rainbow could have deduced that.

Scootaloo groaned weakly next to her and shook her head. "Don't remind me. She talks about him a lot!" she protested, shoulders sagging. Oh crap. Rainbow was rubbing off on her.

Sweetie perked up and yelped out, "Scootaloo! You Pinkie Promised not to tell anypony!" My eyes widened and Pinkie gasped dramatically, suddenly right in the orange filly's very surprised looking face.

"What?! You broke a Pinkie Promise?" she demanded, eyes narrowing at Scootaloo a moment later.

"Whoa! N-No, Pinkie! I promised not to tell anypony who he was, not that she had a crush! Besides, they already guessed it," Scootaloo tried to defend.

"It's not a crush! B-But please, don't say anything else?" Sweetie begged softly.

That I had to nod in agreement with. "She's right, Scootaloo. If she'd wanted us knowing, she would have said so herself. She's your friend, so neither you or Rainbow should tease her about it," I chided, a little upset that they couldn't think of this themselves.

Rainbow puffed up slightly and gave me an indignant stare. "Hey! It's all in good fun, Mender. I wasn't going to press her for names or anything. You need to relax," she defended.

Octavia sighed and spoke up as well, adding, "I think I more agree with Mender. It's all in good fun... for you two, Rainbow. I'm sure you know what it's like to be teased and how 'not' fun it is." She pointed it out as if from personal experience, and I glanced back at her gently. She wore a neutral expression, but gave me a small nod and smile when she caught me looking.

Rainbow shifted her glare to Octavia instead, and I recognized that expression. Her legs flexed as she moved to shove past me, but I extended my foreleg out to my left and blocked her. "Hey, let me through! She doesn't know anything about me and she's trying to judge me like that!" Dash demanded, glaring past me still.

"Hey, come on. Let's all just get along!" Pinkie tried to plead, moving more to my right so she could direct it at everypony at once.

"Dash, she's not judging you. She's just trying to give you Sweetie's perspe-" I started to explain. I'd forgotten how impatient the cyan mare could be sometimes. She took off at point blank range to me, her wing feathers slapping across my muzzle as she went up. She neglected to take into account the cart movement and wind speed, however.

Gasping, I gave out a wince as her back left hoof clipped my left elbow, sending a moderate spike of pain up my leg. Okay, yeah. I should have turned around and blocked her with the other leg. I was an idiot. Why did I even consider that my injured leg would stop her in the first place?

"Rainbow!" both Twilight and Applejack shouted out almost instantly. The pegasus must have felt the hoof clip me, because she spun around almost instantly before they even said anything. Her eyes widened before I looked down and away from her, focusing on lowering the nerve sensitivity in my leg with a bit of careful adjustments. Who needed pain medication when you were an unstable organic cyborg? Another perk! Gotta stay positive, Mender.

"Ah! Oh no, no, I didn't mean to do that, Mender! I'm sorry!" Rainbow apologized almost instantly, looking surprisingly horrified for the rather low magnitude of the accident in question.

I shook my head gently, cutting her off before it spiraled out of control, given the death glares she was getting from four different directions. "It was just an accident, Dash. Plus it wasn't even that bad of a nick. I'll be fine," I assured, nodding up towards her as I lightly set the hoof down. A gentle and warm numbness drifted through it, and it felt heavy as my internal medicine started working on both pain relief and regeneration. The damage was minimal at best.

Rainbow didn't exactly look convinced and drifted down again to land behind Fluttershy, next to me. The yellow mare had hopped up again alongside Sweetie, and both were checking my left foreleg over carefully. Rainbow watched them, ears rapidly lowering. I didn't want her to feel badly over it. Wait, had that actually managed to defuse the situation? Huh. I didn't realize there were perks to being an idiot and getting myself injured!

"Ya gotta cool yer jets, Rainbow! There's no need ta get so defensive. All Octavia meant was ta try ta see it from Sweetie's perspective," Applejack lectured, slowing so she was walking next to the wagon instead so she could give her cyan friend a stern glare. Wasn't that what I said?

Unlike mine, Applejack's words looked like they hit Rainbow in the face with a sledgehammer. Huh. Either my defusing of the situation had gotten her to actually listen, or there was weight due to who was saying it. "I know. I'm sorry, Octavia. Sweetie Belle. It's perfectly fine that you have a crush, and there's nothing wrong with it," she admitted, crouching down closer to the little filly who was still partially hiding in my tail. It didn't seem that strange to me, but I was a little curious as to who it was. Still, I wasn't about to ask her. After everything I just tried to prove, that would be highly rude and inappropriate.

Sweetie Belle looked entirely unsure of how to deal with Rainbow and just nodded twice before slipping back down into my tail a ways. She'd be traumatized after she hit a growth spurt and couldn't fit in there anymore. Fluttershy nodded twice a second later. Ever so gently, she leaned down and kissed the inside of my elbow between the brace lines, then smiled up at me. "It's not hurt at all," she added softly.

Even having already known that, her happy tone, smile, and general affection made me feel even better regardless. I kissed the top of her head, causing a light pink tint with so many ponies watching. My mouth opened and I got half of the 'thank you' out before Vinyl suddenly started snickering.

"Wow. I'm so gonna get diabetes just from watching you three. You're so adorable that it's a little sickening," she admitted blatantly.

I raised my eyebrow over at her grinning form, but Octavia smirked next to her and shook her head. "Admit it, Vinyl. You're jealous. You just want an oh-so sweet coltfriend like Fluttershy and Twilight have," she chirped coyly, continuing to look straight ahead to make herself particularly immune to the death glare her friend resorted to.

"Hey, I'm totally cool with being single! Don't forget our pact as the troublemaking bachelorettes of Canterlot Musical Academy!" Vinyl reminded. Wait, what?! That statement made my brain stall on so many levels.

Twilight perked up and looked at the two of them curiously. "Wait, both of you went to the musical academy in Canterlot?" she asked, suddenly very interested. Well, I suppose she could relate academically.

"Roommates for four years. Equestria forbid! Passed all my classes with an A- average? Wonderful. Granted highest honors in leading my own section in the orchestra? Quite nice. Hold no less than sixty-nine solos and duets for the Canterlot elite while founding a social club for musical study? Excellent. What does everypony remember of my academy days? That our room vibrated the entire fourth floor and I liked to occasionally relax with a glass of wine," she complained. I noticed there wasn't much actual bitterness to it deep down. At least a part of her was amused at that outcome, I decided.

"A glass? You do remember that amazing swinging maneuver off the third story balcony in the recital room, don't you? Oh, wait. No, you probably wouldn't remember that," Vinyl chirped, grinning now.

Octavia sighed and lowered her head, looking a bit exasperated. Pinkie was hopping up and down at this point, however. "Oh, oh, oh! I had no idea you were such an awesome party pony, Tavi! We should totally hang out and go dancing or listen to music or compare amazing maneuver notes or...!" Pinkie started offering, earning a wince from the gray mare. Rainbow started laughing again, and Vinyl's grin widened. Well, at least Dash wasn't feeling so bad now. Pity it appeared to all transfer to Octavia instead.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Octavia. That's why I liked you in the first place. You were almost the most relaxed pony at the party," I offered, shifting to look at her fully. She perked up and met my gaze for a moment before smiling softly and nodding.

"Admittedly, I don't much care for how posh the Canterlot Elite get. While I'm not against living with a bit of dignity, they shoot right past that into the egotistical levels," she muttered, giving a weak eye roll.

I didn't think Vinyl could grin much wider without snapping her jaw. "Exactly! There's the Tavi I love! Besides, you don't need a stallion to complete your identity. Most of them are only after one thing, and then dump ya. You so don't need that. I know I don't!" she added, nodding twice.

Wait, what? That I hadn't expected, and had to pick it apart in my head before I realized how actually bitter that had sounded. It screamed unfortunate experiences. I lost my small smile as I looked over at Vinyl instead. Octavia did as well, giving her friend a questioning glance.

"Vinyl, don't tell me you still haven't moved on after-" she started to ask softly.

"Don't! Don't even say it. It's in the past, and we promised not to talk about it anymore," Vinyl warned.

Octavia dropped into a slightly more incredulous expression, looking somewhat annoyed instead. "I promised no such thing. You demanded I not, then wandered off to drink for six hours and cause three thousand seven hundred bits of property damage to the school!" she corrected. Err, should we be hearing this?

"Psh, I so did not! I... err, wait. No, I remember the bill afterwards. Oh yeah, and his hospital fees. Dang it, Tavi! Just shush for a while," the DJ groaned out, exhaling weakly and adjusting her thick shades again. Hospital? Suddenly, I earned a healthy amount of fear-based respect for the mare.

Everything had paused as we stared blankly at Vinyl. She bumped into the back of the wagon as it stopped moving, and that's when I realized that Big Mac and Noteworthy were staring around the side and back at her. She looked between all of us before flailing her hooves in the air a bit. "What?! He so deserved it! Almost every stallion is exactly the same way! All his friends stood up for him, too," she defended, showing a far less relaxed side of herself I wasn't used to. Despite her thick, nonchalant exterior, I realized that she was actually rather resentful deep down. That made me a little sad.

"Vinyl, not every stallion is like that. Most in Ponyville are rather good-natured and kind. A lot of it is probably their upbringing and culture they're exposed to," Twilight reasoned softly, also adding a certain amount of theory into it, of course. Although, that wasn't entirely true, but she admitted that. If it was, shouldn't I be a complete monster?

Vinyl scrunched her nose up at her, but Fluttershy nodded rapidly next to me, her eyes getting much larger. "Yes! I was surprised by the same thing. I, um, thought that all stallions were rough and, well, rather pushy. Of course, I'd never really gotten to know any of them," she admitted, pausing for a moment before smiling over at me and nodding. I smiled back, personally very happy I was the stallion she picked to get to know. "But Mender is oh-so gentle with me and so cuddly and polite and assuring and respectful and-" she started rapidly gushing next, swaying back and forth. Eh?!

The barrage of compliments immediately caused me to shrink a little and blush again. Twilight giggled, interrupting with, "I think you've shown your point wonderfully, Fluttershy."

The yellow mare looked momentarily sheepish before nodding slowly. "Oh, um, sorry. Yeah. I really, really care for Mender and am oh-so glad he proved me wrong. Now I feel silly for even thinking that way to begin with," she summarized quietly.

I nodded, turning back to Vinyl and Octavia a second later. I started and tipped my neck back and away as I saw the DJ staring purposefully and intently at me. An exceedingly awkward ten seconds passed where she did nothing but stare before she roughly exhaled from her nose in a puff.

"Okay, I admit, for everything I know about Mender, I realize he's significantly different than the type of stallion I was talking about. But he's a rarity! Definitely not the norm," she assured stubbornly. In all honesty, I didn't know if I should be happy she supported me, or sad that she thought so little of the others.

Before I could say anything, however, Applejack surprisingly cut in. "What about mah brother? Or Noteworthy? Caramel? There are plenty o' good stallions in town that ain't tha 'love 'em an' leave 'em' type," she pointed out, sounding even more stubborn. Uh oh. Neither mare was likely to back down, which made me a bit concerned as to where this was going. The day was young, and I had plenty of opportunity left to meet my pain and accident quotas.

"Hey, I'm totally a nice guy, too!" Spike cut in, crossing his arms over his chest and looking a bit offended.

Smiling, I attempted to appease him as best I could. "She didn't list you too because you're not single, Spike. Aren't you already completely devoted to Rarity?" I pointed out calmly.

Twilight smirked at me and Vinyl relaxed, smiling at the little dragon. "Totally, Spike. I already knew you were a great guy! She didn't even have to say anything," she assured, giving him an exaggerated winking motion. Well, actually it kinda had to be exaggerated when she wore those huge shades...

"R-Really? Oh, I mean, of course my reputation precedes me," he muttered, sounding like he was trying to convince himself. Everypony grinned at that point. Heh, I just hoped Rarity had really considered my words that night.

Regardless of the disruption, the wagon soon continued along the path, as we were lagging a bit behind everypony now. Pinkie, Octavia, and Vinyl headed back towards Ponyville, Pinkie herself departing with a promise to chew Rarity out for not being there. They'd said she had an order to fill and was too busy, but I had a sneaking suspicion she didn't trust herself under the effects of the estrus cycle around me. It was just strange thinking about her actually liking me like that. It definitely didn't have that same tingle that I got whenever I thought about Fluttershy and Twilight.

The rest of the trip went uneventfully, Twilight and Fluttershy staying on as well to 'make sure I was comfortable,' as they so endearingly reasoned. To be honest, I didn't really want to leave them either. Not seeing either of them for two weeks was going to be hard. That was almost half the time I'd been in Equestria! Heck, that was an appreciable percentage of the time I'd been 'alive' in general. As myself anyway, rather than him.

"Which cabin was yers again, Brother? Ah'll help ya haul tha things in," Applejack offered, once the wagon finally came to a stop. Things? I peeked at the rest of the contents of the wagon. Apart from the seven ponies and dragon, I noticed several general personal effects that must have been Big Mac's, and a ton of broken farming equipment. That confused me a bit, I wasn't going to lie. All three siblings treated it like normal, however, so I decided not to ask.

Instead, I stood up and silently took in the surroundings from over the lip of the wagon. We were in a sizable meadow of sorts, with the taller grass cleared in a large area for a few dozen quaint structures. Most were rather large, easily able to fit half a dozen ponies comfortably. Smaller ones were towards the back of the area, and I guessed those were the couples' cabins. There was a small stream flowing through, slicing the field in half. Three wooden bridges were built over it and spread out for ease of access. It was far more set up than I thought it would be! The sunlight drifted down from overhead and the flowers speckled throughout the area gave a colorful, natural vibe to the place. Whitetail Woods was far more pleasant than the Everfree.

"It's a nice place. Are you really sure you don't want me staying here with you, too? There are available couple cabins..." Twilight reminded softly, glancing over at me.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow towards Twilight, who had no clue being pointed in the other direction. "Uh, that's so not a good idea, Twi. You kinda know that," she pointed out, noticing her visual cue wasn't getting attention.

Twilight sighed, not turning back to look at her and instead just lowering her head. "I know. I just don't want Mender to be without both of us for two weeks," she muttered, not exactly sounding like she knew, honestly. I felt conflicted, because I kinda wanted her to stay too, but the consequences were too great.

Something clicked a moment later in my head, and I felt my chest grow cold. Oh, oh hell. Could I even get either of them pregnant in the first place? Admittedly, I had no idea if my parts down there functioned properly, and if so, if I was compatible with them to begin with. Why hadn't I thought of that before?! Fluttershy had said that she really wanted foals...

"Uh, are you okay, Mender?" Rainbow suddenly asked. I snapped out of it in time to notice all seven other cart occupants staring at me with concern. My cheeks felt cold, and I realized I must have paled considerably. Dang. I really should talk to Tia and see if she could give me poker face lessons. If even Rainbow noticed, who was the least observant of the Elements, I was in trouble!

"Ah, sorry. I'm fine. Just was thinking too much," I attempted to assure. Twilight's eyes narrowed at me before I even finished the sentence, and I knew they weren't going to buy that. She didn't have to say anything, and I simply sighed, shaking my head. "Fine, I just suddenly realized that, um, I might not exactly be compatible with a normal pony. Everypony here knows I'm an alien. What if I, um, can't be the father of a pony in the first place?" I admitted.

Twilight went from annoyed to curious looking; her ears twitched slightly as I practically saw her mentally jumping all over the new mystery. Fluttershy frowned instead and pulled my left foreleg against her chest in a re-assuring gesture. "We'll find a way, Mender. Even if you aren't compatible, you and Twilight are the smartest ponies I know. If you work together..." she suggested hopefully. I smiled gently at her. I'd expected to have to comfort her, not the other way around.

"I'd have to run some tests and get samples to be sure. If you were still in the form of your old race, I'd probably immediately say no, but there's a possibility that your genes also changed with your new, pony form. If your chromosome count matches up with ours, that significantly improves the chances," Twilight explained quietly, mostly to herself, it would seem, as there was no request for input there.

Rainbow suddenly perked up, eyes widening drastically. The three Crusaders shifted their attention to her in confusion at the motion. Well, more confusion, as they didn't appear to fully understand what we were talking about anyway. "Wait, are you saying that Mender can't get a mare pregnant?" she suddenly asked, ears perked into the air as she stared at me. Uh, isn't that what I just said?

"What?! No!" Sweetie yelped, eyes widening at the same speed her ears fell, and she turned around rapidly to look at all three of us with rather sad eyes. "But, but, little foals are so cute and you really need to start your own family and, and," she started stuttering. Heh. She was such the matchmaker.

"We're not sure yet, Sweetie Belle. Like I said, I'll need to run a few tests first. After estrus is over, of course," Twilight explained yet again, blushing a little at that last part. Really? I figured she'd want something to do during the couple weeks, and she usually liked experiments. Huh.

Rainbow's ear twitched slightly and she looked back over at Twilight. "Wait, why are you waiting until after estrus to find out? If he can't get a mare pregnant, wouldn't that mean it's totally fine to stay here with him? Uh, you and Fluttershy, I mean, of course," she pointed out, flushing a little and looking away. Okay, something was up with her...

Twilight looked less than amused at her, and Fluttershy quickly looked over at Rainbow instead. "Twilight wants to wait until she's ready to mate, and that wouldn't be possible if she stayed," I heard the yellow mare whisper through my mind, aimed at Rainbow of course. The cyan pegasus looked momentarily shocked before flattening her ears back.

"She's crazy! Consequence-free sex during your heat? What mare wouldn't want that?!" Rainbow mentally shot back, looking exasperated now. The Crusaders, the reason I imagine this conversation had shifted to the mental plane, looked back and forth between the two pegasi.

"They're talkin' in each other's heads, Ah bet," Apple Bloom deduced a moment later.

Scootaloo looked less than pleased and immediately asked, "What? Why?! Why don't they just talk out loud?"

Fluttershy lightly shook her head towards Dash, mentally adding, "Her heat isn't as bad as yours is, Dash." Oh, it wasn't?

"Adult stuff," I warned, shaking my head to Scootaloo instead. They probably were used to hearing that, of course.

Twilight raised an eyebrow to me. "Do I want to know?" she asked hesitantly a moment later.

"So?! My heat is terrible! It's taken every ounce of willpower I have not to pounce him off the wagon, haul him up to a cloud, and rut his brains out," Rainbow mentally shot back, sounding upset now and... wait, what?!

My eyes shot open wide, cheeks heating up to maximum temperature almost instantly. I probably matched a beet in color, now. It took no hesitation at all for me to shake my head to Twilight. "No, no you most definitely do not," I added, just to be sure.

Rainbow looked perplexed and I rapidly looked away, earning a cough from Fluttershy. "Uhm, I probably shouldn't tell you this, and I'm sorry. Uh, Mender can kind of hear everything we say," Fluttershy mentally whispered back to her friend.

Rainbow's eyes slowly expanded to the size of mine, her cheeks flaring up as well as her mouth dropping open. I'd never seen such a good look of shocked horror and embarrassment before. Twilight gave both of us a confused look and I inwardly groaned. This most certainly wasn't awkward as all hell. Depending on how long everypony decided to stay here with us, this was going to be a long day...

* * * * *

Quietly, I lay there relaxing. It was only the afternoon and I was already tired. That, and more than a little hungry. It had taken an agonizing ten full minutes to say goodbye to both Twilight and Fluttershy. I disliked saying goodbye at all, which didn't help matters. It reminded me too much of the times where I almost had to say goodbye forever, which weren't exactly pleasant memories. No! I refused to dwell on the details, and pushed it further out of my mind.

Positive, Mender! Gotta think positive! Uh, Rainbow! She had been easy to deal with. She just freaked out for a good thirty seconds and flew away, leaving everypony apart from Fluttershy and I utterly confused. Twilight grilled me on that too for a while, but I refused to give any answers whatsoever and insisted she go ask Rainbow instead, of course. The answers wouldn't be pleasant for her, probably, and they technically weren't mine to give in the first place. The whole conversation had felt kinda like eavesdropping, which always left a bad taste in my mouth.

Damn it! Stay positive, Mender! Hmm. Oh, I hadn't seen Spike or the Crusaders in about two hours! Wait, no, I was lonely, so that wasn't a good thing. I strained harder and realized just how lonely I really was. Movement danced around me as everypony went about their daily business. The stallions seemed to function perfectly fine without the mares around. Casual chatting, a couple games with strangely shaped balls, and the little foals being adorable and playing with each other gave me plenty to watch to shove away the boredom. Still, I didn't see anypony I knew, which lead me to believe that I really didn't know many ponies.

Okay, I sucked at staying positive, it would seem. Even that statement there was negative, which was a little amusing to say the least. Heh. There's a positive! Kinda! I could laugh at myself when I was an idiot. Hmm. Weak, but it was the best I had. Oh, another positive! Ponies weren't currently throwing rocks at me.

Giving up, I dropped my head down in the grass and zoned out again, peeking back inside of myself to see how things were doing. DNA was sorted out, everything except the gravity drive was repaired, and with my new calculations, that would be a disaster to turn off in order to fix. My new work-around was far gentler. I was in the process now of building an auxiliary slot to plug the fixed gravity dampener chip into. That would let me plug both of them in at once, and pull out the old one without interrupting the power supply. I really didn't want to kill anypony with tidal forces or sink into the ground like it was air.

That just left the notes. A lot of them appeared to be from Doctor Kyliona herself, but I bet Keela had quite a bit more of them. It had been a couple days since I talked with her. Maybe I should do that later tonight? A dark part of me considered doing it right now and waking her up like she'd done to me so often, but I decided against it. That would be rude, my inner Fluttershy reminded.

Staring at a couple stallions playing ball, I realized that honestly, I was kind of happy that not everything revolved around my problems and activities. I'd caused so much fuss lately that it was getting frustrating every time something fell into place that caused me to pull things out of the norm around here. I wanted to be a normal pony, cybernetics be damned. Although Clocky could stay. He was my friend.

Smiling at the thought, I shakily stood up again and wandered a bit more. I'd been laying for a good half an hour, and my leg felt better again, so I guessed it was time for more exercise. Big Mac was sitting in front of our group's cabin still, working on reattaching the straps of a large plow, I noted. I'd offered to help him an hour ago, and it was about as productive as offering an apple to a brick wall. You couldn't get anywhere without throwing the thing. My example kind of broke down there, I decided. Still, I understood where he came from. He was like Applejack. This couple of weeks was irritating for him because he couldn't do anything, so he hauled a bunch of broken equipment along with him and repaired it while he was here, so he at least felt useful. I wasn't about to take that away from him, even if it made me feel about the opposite of useful.

My somewhat brisk stroll led me down towards the river a few minutes later. Peeking in, I was amazed at how absolutely clear the water looked. I'd never seen water like this back in the other dimension. Everything had to be run through a purifier in order to get the gore, radiation, and bile out of it. Now that I thought about it, I was kind of happy to label those particular memories as his, and not mine. I shuddered while staring down at the water, being very glad I was here rather than there.

As much as it was a problem for me to want to feel useful here, it was even worse over there. Literally, my only job had been coming up with more efficient ways to end the lives of others, preferably in mass. No, his job was that. I kept trying to remind myself of that. It was weird feeling like two entirely different individuals. His life was so bleak compared to this one. I kind of pitied him, which was weird considering he was kinda me. Nothing had ever gone my, err, his way there. No mate, no friends, no family, crap job, no respect, no anything really. The clinical, cold, unfeeling breeding programs even turned him down. It was no secret he thought of suicide a couple of times.

There was no point in keeping it a secret. It was dealt with casually in the barracks. Saying goodbye forever was easy there. That felt the most hollow about it. Worse yet, there were perks for doing so. Sure, the voluntary breeding list was heavily regulated and screened. Even though it wasn't even a mate, it still meant that you could have a child if you were lucky. Some didn't even get on that. That led to another 'solution' the council thought up.

Government sponsored euthanizing booths had been installed in quite a few locations in the city. Overpopulation for our planets had definitely been a problem, and there were already way too many males, so the solution? Offer the males who voluntarily offed themselves one free next of kin to be born, post-mortem. The booths did it all! It was as convenient as getting in and pushing a button. You didn't even need to waste the effort hitting yes for an 'are you sure' question. Clamps and a bit drill would pop up from the seat, take a sample and gore you at the same time, and then the booth would spray you down with acid until you dissolved. Rather clean, if not a bit on the noisy side. The smell wasn't exactly pleasant either.

The benefit? One less male while the government got a small chance that the new Keldarian being born would be female instead. That was wining for them all around. You got assured that your legacy would go on, which was important to some males. Further, if you did have obscure family somewhere, the remaining members got entered into a lottery! Whoever won out of the few thousand contestants each month got a free upgrade one social status level! Yeah, a few families encouraged kids to use the booths in mass, too. That was pleasant. The first nine runners up at least got a twenty-credit gift card. I think the acid used to murder their loved one cost a little more than that, though.

Snickering weakly, I stared down at the water, looking at my own morose reflection. Was it any surprise that I was so totally fine with being a pony? Of living in Equestria instead? I'd rather slice off all four of my legs than go back to the other dimension. Not that it would matter much, as they'd just grow back, but it's the thought that counts. Not that it further mattered. The Keldarians didn't exist as a species anymore. Just yet another mark on the massive list of species the Grosh wiped out, I'd imagine. That was the biggest mystery. Why? What were they so afraid of?

Our strange, furless 'allies' weren’t much better. They weren't local. I knew that much. Galaxies, star clusters, star systems... Nothing from any of our scans. We thought we were alone until they came. They were a blight at first, honestly. They came with fast and aggressive traditions, advanced weaponry, faster than light travel, and a few thousand diseases we'd never even seen before. Eh. A few hundred thousand less males weren't that important, right? Our culture jumped up easily a thousand years after their arrival. If I had to honestly guess, they were what killed us.

It had never been about the Grosh before then. We were magic users and tribesmen. Culture was everything. Sacred cleanliness was second only to divinity. We had no gods so much as we believed everything had a life force. Mana. Magic. Whatever you wanted to call it. Our allies called it animism. I never cared, learning about it in school.

By the time 'I' was born, it was gone. Magic used to be sacred. It was practiced with moderation and used with respect for the betterment of all. Their culture warped us. Quick and easy instant gratification became prized above all else. The Grosh didn't kill us. We were dead long before that. Another reason I wanted none of that technology here in Equestria. Of course, we only found out later that our very magic had been dooming us with its overuse. Maybe something somewhere had a sense of humor? Or maybe it was just vindictive. The more we used and abused magic, the lower our female birth rates fell. By the time I was born, the ratio had been about thirty-seven to one on a good day. We were doomed and we knew it. But the council just kept pushing.

Now I understood it. They were never out for preserving our race. They only wanted the most for themselves before everything went to hell. The Grosh following our allies to our system was just the last in a series of dominoes. And I'd thought it was weird that our allies showed up with their entire planet, warping it through space using amazing and massive wormhole technology. They were really fond of that planet. They started to help us fight them off, but the Grosh just kept coming.

I remembered everything now. Generations had been spent fighting the Grosh. We were cannon fodder. What better way to cull the horrible male population than send ninety percent of them off to fight a hopeless war against abominations? It bought them time, I realized now. Three weeks before the end, the council vanished. No more contact or voices over the loudspeakers informing us of our 'sacred' duty to die for them. No more laws passed. No more judgments or courts. Most thought they were meeting in secret somewhere and planning a great counter-offensive. Idiots. They ran away. Our allies' planet disappeared the same day. Undoubtedly, they moved on to find a new race to use as fodder to hold off the Grosh for a while. If they gave us their technology, we could fight the Grosh for them and they wouldn't have to sacrifice much of anything. It was brilliant, if not monstrous.

My eyes focused slowly back in again as I stared into the river. I snapped back to attention just in time to see the reflection of Carrot Top sitting directly next to me. I gave out a panicked yelp almost instantly and flailed sideways in surprise before falling into the very water I'd been watching. Sitting back up again, I looked back at her as she giggled in amusement, a soft smile on her face.

"You looked too deep in thought for being on vacation, so I figured I'd come and cheer you up! I have laundry to do, so if you wanna join me to chat, you can," she offered, gesturing towards the baskets tied to each of her sides. I followed her nodding gesture a second later and saw two stallions and another mare down the stream a little ways further, also washing clothes.

It only took me a moment to decide, already being mind-numbingly bored. I didn't want to return to my thoughts, that was for sure. "Um, okay. I was rather bored, you're right," I agreed, skipping over the darker answer in light of a white lie.

Carrot Top nodded gently to me before helping me out of the stream. Both of us walked in relative silence towards the other three ponies. Maybe I really did need to stop thinking so much? Inner monologue tended to be bad for my health, I noticed. Deciding to try to relax for the rest of the day, I followed after my reasonably new friend.

Next Chapter: Chapter 45 Estimated time remaining: 42 Hours, 36 Minutes
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