Yawning quietly, I peeked about the town as I strolled, being more than a little happy at my ability to walk properly. It was hard for me to believe that it was less than three weeks ago that I could barely walk on four hooves. Now I could at least manage to look around a bit without risk of cracking my skull on the ground.

As per the usual, there were a few stares as I headed towards the Boutique. Oddly, there were more whispers than usual. Surely they were used to me wandering about while looking half dead, right? They should just be thankful that I wasn’t in a mechanical walking barrel this time. They picked up the deeper into town I went, growing in participants and volume. I grew uneasy as I started to pick up Princess Celestia's name, and picked up the pace a bit.

Sadly, three mares intercepted me no more than a dozen meters from the Carousel Boutique. "I'm, sorry to interrupt, but you're the stallion that was with Princess Celestia earlier, weren't you?" the cream-colored mare with the rose red hair asked. I swallowed nervously but managed a weak nod.

"Ooh! What's your name?" her friend asked almost immediately. The sudden half prance forward caused her blonde mane to bounce excitedly. Oddly, her coat color reminded me of Pinkie. With her level of energy, I wondered if they were related.

Regardless, I took a step back from the display of excitement. "I'm, my name is Moon Mender. Uh, why do you ask?"

"Oh, I'm Rose," the cream and fittingly rose-colored mare spoke up.

"Lily!" the slightly more energetic, blonde and pink one added.

The only one to not speak yet nodded along and smiled, adding, "And I'm Daisy. Lily and I run the herb shop in Ponyville, and Rose handles the flower stand." Her lime colored mane shifted gently as she nodded. It looked a little strange with her light purple coat.

"Ah. Well, that's nice," I returned, admittedly unsure of exactly why they were talking to me.

All three smiled, however, seemingly oblivious. "You were that stallion that Pinkie Pie threw a party for a few weeks ago, weren't you?" Lily asked a moment later.

I started to nod in agreement, but Rose interrupted before I could even open my mouth. "Huh? Oh, that party. I never actually saw the pony it was for."

Daisy giggled, however, correcting, "Yes you did. He was the bandaged lump that slept on the sofa for most of the night." My eyes drooped as I gave an irritable glare towards her.

"What?! No way. I could have sworn that was a throw pillow," Rose muttered, her brow becoming scrunched up.

"Is that why you almost sat on him and Sweetie Belle?" Daisy asked skeptically.

Lily added at the same time, "Are you sure you weren't drunk?"

My ears drooped a bit and I sighed. You know it's a bad day when somepony mistakes you for an inanimate object.

"No, I wasn't drunk! And I stopped when I saw her," Rose defended sharply.

Sadly, a few more approached while they went back and forth.

"Oh, you're the stallion that's been staying with Twilight, aren't you?" a yellow colored mare with a golden mane spoke up.

Blinking, I swallowed again and started to open my mouth. A chorus of "Ooh"s interrupted, however, from the trio in front of me. A blush drifted into my cheeks and I stuttered out, "It's not like that. She's my friend!"

"You're friends with all six Element Bearers, aren't you?" Lily asked in amusement a moment later.

I didn't like her tone or implications, but I nodded anyway. "Uh, yeah. It's kind of a long story. I was trying to get to..." I started to excuse myself.

"And friends with Princess Celestia! Are you some sort of secret agent or something?" Rose asked excitedly, halfway through my attempt to excuse myself from the conversation.

"Would he honestly tell you if he was a secret agent?" Daisy reasoned, giving Rose a gentle nudge with her left forehoof.

That was a very good point. All three were interrupted by a loud voice from above, shouting out, "Whoa! Nice crowd you got going, Mender!”

Oh crap. That sounded like... Rainbow Dash swooped in an instant later, blasting all three mares in front of me with a rather sizable gust, earning a trio of yelps. The rest of the crowd seemingly decided that now would be a good time to back up and give the high-speed bolt of cyan fur a bit of landing room.

After standing back up fully from her landing, Dash smirked over her right shoulder at me before rotating around fully. "Oh, hey Dash. What are you doing here?" I asked, carefully bracing against the wind she indirectly caused. Scratch that. I still wasn't all that stable on my legs.

Dash glanced about at the crowd before puffing a little and snickering. "I was looking for you, duh. Twi said you seemed a little upset when you left and asked me to give you a little company. I guess you found some company on your own, though," she commented, gesturing to the crowd.

I glanced about at them, uncertain. Some looked surprised, others more curious, and all were watching me. "Ah, yeah. Um, I don't know?" I offered, which was to say, told her nothing.

"He was eating lunch with Princess Celestia!" Rose spoke up.

Rainbow gave me a speculative glance, to which I shrugged and elaborated, "I bumped into her shortly after leaving Twilight's. Kinda maybe literally. She invited me to lunch and said she wanted to talk to me." I didn't think it was that big of a deal.

"Whoa. Got asked out by a Princess. Nice going, hot stuff," Rainbow cooed, tossing me a wink.

Obviously, I whipped out my trademark blush. "Dash! You know it's not like that!" I protested. It didn't help much as I heard the whispers and gasps start up around me. Great.

Rainbow took it in stride, of course. "Hey, no need to be modest, Mender. You've got both Twi and Fluttershy hot after you, and you're friends with the coolest, bravest pegasus in Equestria!" she declared, puffing her chest out even further and widening her stance.

Her cocky grin met my irked glare blow for blow. "You forgot fastest," I reminded sarcastically.

She gave a pert nod and wink. "That's just a given with how awesome I am!" she assured, sounding amused. Okay, she was just screwing with me now.

The door to the Carousel Boutique slowly opened behind the crowd, however. To my surprise, I saw both Rarity and Fluttershy peeking out through the doorway. The latter's eyes widened upon seeing me, and mine followed suit. Fluttershy! Mine widened even further when she lowered herself slightly and looked past Rarity and back inside. She was scared of me?

Dash had turned around and peeked at point. "Oh, Rarity's? Is that where you were headed?" Rainbow asked a moment later, looking back over her shoulder with a smile. I buried the emotions as fast as I could and smiled back, nodding.

Rarity smiled softly at me and strolled out of the shop. Fluttershy took that moment to dive back inside and out of view, of course. “Moon Mender! What a pleasure. I was looking forward to seeing you at the party tonight. I hadn’t expected an early visit,” Rarity spoke politely, drawing out her sentence spacing smoothly as she walked towards us with certain elegance. Wow, she was certainly laying it on thick. It must be the audience that brought it out in her.

“I would have been here earlier, but Princess Celestia wanted to speak with me. Ah, I’m sorry,” I excused, nodding courteously to her.

She giggled softly as she stopped maybe a meter away from us. Dash had backed up as she approached and now stood to my right side. “Oh I would never forbid a meeting with the princess. What was it she wanted to speak to you about?” the white unicorn asked, pleasant smile dancing onto her features.

Rainbow snorted derisively. Uh oh. “What else could it be about, Rarity? She probably wanted to know more about his magi…” she started. Damn my reaction speed! Still, my shoulder jabbed into her side as fast as I could manage. “Ow! What the hay did you do that for?” she asked, glaring at me after recovering from her stumble.

“Oh. Oh! Perhaps we should take this inside, dear?” Rarity offered, suddenly seeming to realize what the topic was and looking a little more flustered.

Rainbow frowned over at her but lost some of the edge on her expression. Oh sure. Believe Rarity. There couldn’t be a logical reason for me to nudge a pony. I obviously go around all day assaulting random ponies in the side. “Oh. Well fine,” Rainbow acquiesced in an irritably nonchalant manner.

It was too late at that point. Due to my lack of reflexes, almost everypony present with more than a dozen brain cells to rub together had figured out what she had been on the verge of saying. More whispers from the crowd could be heard. There were over two dozen ponies at this point, and it was getting hard to hear individual voices.

“Wait, was that what you were doing at the café?” Rose suddenly spoke up, separating from the front of the crowd again and stopping just in front of me, looking a little eager.

I swallowed nervously and took a step back away from her. “Uh, I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I answered, trying to shrug off the suspicion.

“That’s good. Neither do we,” Lily muttered, giving a suspicious looking glance at her friend.

Rose seemed to pay no heed though and bounced back and forth on her hooves in a rather exciting and oddly mesmerizing fashion. “I thought it was just a rumor but Lyra was going crazy over it earlier, saying he could hold up a cup of tea with just one hoof! Magic!” she exclaimed, eyes widening and dancing with energy as she stepped closer to me again.

“That is simply preposterous, ponies! He is clearly lacking a horn, so Lyra simply must have gotten confused,” Rarity tried to redirect. Oh, thank you!

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow to her, however. “What are you talking about, Rare? You know he,” she started before pausing for a moment. A look of dawning graced her face with the punctuated, “Oh.”

“Are you serious, Rose?” Daisy asked, looking at me instead of her friend.

“Yes! And hey, he’s cuter than Lyra described!” she returned, suddenly looking up and down me. Oh crap.

She was suddenly way too close for comfort, my privacy zone expanding by several meters along with my nervousness. I edged away from her as I shifted my gaze back to Rarity, begging for a way out. Rarity sighed and held a hoof to her forehead, just below her horn. She suddenly looked like she really could use a full spa treatment. Oddly, I had no idea where that thought came from.

My concentration was cut short in surprise, however, as I heard a light and faintly echoing squeak, shortly after the comment on my appearance. Huh? My mind reeled with a dip of vertigo momentarily, but I shook it off easily enough and glanced back at the Carousel Boutique. That squeak, which was oddly a mixture between a whimper and yelp, was excessively cute enough to be a certain yellow pegasus I knew. Had she heard the comment? More importantly, how had I heard her in return? A strange compulsion bounced into my mind.

Both Dash and Rarity gave me a questioning glance as I suddenly ignored the crowd entirely and trotted past the unicorn mare, going inside the Boutique instead. I heard murmurs following me, and the distinct sound of two other sets of hoof steps on the entry step behind me after I entered. It didn’t take me long to find the shivering pink tail that hid behind a rather large supply chest. At least I assumed it was supplies. I guess Rarity might have some other reason for keeping large chests of various gemstones, textile tubes, and spools of thread. Regardless, the soft pink tail shivering behind the chest clearly didn’t belong.

“Fluttershy,” I murmured quietly.

The tail went rigid, followed by an audible gasp. With glacial movements, I saw her pink mane, and then finally her left eye peek out from around the chest. The eye widened and I watched her visibly shrink under my gaze.

There was a long pause where we simply looked at each other again. I slowly sat down in front of her, eyes softening. Why was she suddenly avoiding me? Not making any sudden movements, I simply sat in front of her, breathing slowly. After several more rather awkward moments, she must have realized that I wasn’t going anywhere and slowly peeked out further from around the chest. Her eyes softened a little as she simply watched me, those twin pools of teal shivering lightly as I saw moisture start to build up along the bottoms of them.

“Fluttershy...” I heard Rarity muttered from behind me and to the right. The main door gently closed as well, due to what I assumed were Rainbow’s manipulations.

The pretty yellow pegasus winced, tears finally coming as she lowered her head and buried her face in her hooves. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, shivering again. Deciding it was for the best, I lowered myself further down into a laying position, leveled out eye to eye with her.

“For what, Fluttershy? What’s bothering you?” I asked carefully, trying hard to corral my mind’s natural tendency to start guessing.

She stayed frozen like that for a long moment. Rainbow appeared on my right side and sat down next to me, looking down at the shivering yellow pegasus with a frown. Rarity’s hoof steps could be heard getting closer behind me as well. Fluttershy sighed and continued staring at her hooves.

“I… should have visited you sooner. I just don’t know what to do. I mean, what to feel around,” she tried to mutter, already quiet and fading to nothing towards the end.

That much I could work with. I swallowed weakly and nodded. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable with my feelings. They’re there, but I’m trying really hard to keep them under control and figure them out,” I tried to assure, voice jittering a little.

She surprised me by shaking her head rapidly, however, mane fluttering back and forth. “No. It’s not… that. Twilight had me, um, help her pull you back from your bad spot. But I accidentally saw some other things, too. In your memories,” she squeaked out, hiding her face again in her hooves as if she was afraid I’d hit her or something.

Oh. Oh crap. She knew about when I first arrived! “Oh! Uh… I can explain! Um, I’m really, really sorry! Honestly, I didn’t mean to look!” I exclaimed rapidly, feeling my blood drain from my face and shivering. Unconsciously, I lowered myself further down to the floor.

Fluttershy stopped shivering for a moment and looked back up at me, looking slightly confused instead this time. “Um, what?” she asked hesitantly.

Oh. Uh, oops. “Oh my. Who else did you look at aside from Twilight?” Rarity asked behind me, sounding surprised. Crap!

She was right on cue. “You checked out Fluttershy’s flank too?” Rainbow asked, starting to laugh.

Fluttershy’s cheeks went crimson as her eyes widened. I only saw it for a moment, however, before she buried her face in her hooves again, releasing a timid, “Oh my.”

I could appreciate the feeling, and joined her in hiding my face. Mine was out of shame, however. “Oh relax, girls. Let’s not let this get out of hoof again. It’s a natural reaction. It simply wouldn’t be feasible for such a pretty mare to go unnoticed, right? I’m sure he meant no harm by it, right Mender?” Rarity requested, resting what I figured was her right forehoof on my back and patting.

“Of course not. There’s just so many… feelings whirling around in my head. I need to sort them out. Then do something about these stupid hormones,” I groaned, whacking my forehead on the wooden floor.

Fluttershy let out a weak sigh and shook her head, still blushing lightly as I peeked up at the noise. “It is, well, natural. You’re a very, um, kind stallion. It’s just…” she started to explain before frowning and hesitating. After a moment of staring off into space, she shuddered and rapidly shook her head. “No, no, no! I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It’s not you. It’s me.”

“Flutters, you need to relax. Nobody’s blaming you. Mender’s just a stallion. They look a lot. Take it as a compliment!” Rainbow pointed out, smirking down at me instead. I returned a rather annoyed stare.

The yellow pegasus didn’t seem assured, though. “I know. It’s not what I saw. But I can’t get it out of my head. So much. How do you even stand it? There was… It was all around you,” she whimpered, curling up on her side instead.

Oh. It snapped back into place and I felt my blush drop away, sitting up again. The cyan pegasus next to me gave a questioning look, but I stared past Fluttershy instead. Honestly, I’m surprised Twilight was alright with it. No. In all honesty, I didn’t know why I was still alright with it. Maybe I wasn’t? I don’t think anypony, or anybody in this case, ever got adjusted to such a thing. Rarity approached and peeked at me from my left.

“The war. All of the death. I know,” I muttered, eyes drooping a little. My memories were still a mess. There were no coherent events in them, but many images were still present. Like the photographer went out on a drinking binge and got shots at random before falling down a cliff and trying his best to recover the camera. Regardless, the pictures weren’t pleasant.

Dash frowned, this time at Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, you know that’s not his fault,” she tried to defend.

Rarity interrupted with a sharp clicking noise from her tongue as Fluttershy winced and curled up tighter, as if physically hit by Dash’s words. “Of course she knows that. But when she thinks about him, those memories come with,” she explained. Explained. She knew already, I suddenly realized.

Fluttershy nodded weakly, tears now coming down her cheeks. “You’re really nice. For all that to happen, to you and your race; it’s terrible. It’s horrifying. I can’t…” she muttered again, shivering visibly now while barely producing more than a whisper.

“Um, should I leave? I don’t want to stir up uncomfortable memories for you,” I offered, quietly looking down at her. The last thing I wanted to do was make the shy pegasus more uncomfortable than I was already making her. She had probably been talking to Rarity about it when I rudely interrupted.

Wait, why had I interrupted? I suddenly couldn’t recall why I had wandered in here in the first place. She was scared and needed help. But I don’t know why I thought that. Of course, I was no stranger to having large gaps of memory missing, between already being diagnosed with amnesia and spending an uncomfortable amount of time unconscious through blunt head trauma prior to the coma. I guess I should just be thankful it only lasted a couple of weeks. And from what I heard, I had Twilight and Fluttershy to thank for that. It made what she saw even harsher, though. She had done it for me.

I digress, however. I’d never had gaps of memory while awake. This was a little troubling. Perhaps I’d talk to Twilight about it again. Although it probably was nothing, like she’d already tried to convince me. Maybe she was right and I really didn’t have anything to worry about?

Fluttershy interrupted my thoughts by sitting up in front of me. Her eyes looked a little bloodshot, now that I was close enough and she had them fully open. Were the images giving her nightmares? “Please. No. I want to… Well, I want to get used to you again,” she murmured, voice a little stronger this time.

Rarity smiled and nodded politely off to my left. “Yes. Replace the memories with happy ones instead. Both of you should let those images go, honestly. Surely it isn’t doing Mender any good either, right?” she suggested, motioning towards me with her right forehoof.

Letting out a puff of air, I nodded weakly and glanced away from the yellow pegasus. I felt really tired, in truth. It felt like I was going full-bore for so long that I don't remember the last time I really relaxed. Not that lack of memory should really surprise me at this point. Not including the coma, I think the last time I rested was after helping Applejack fix her wagon.

“I could definitely do with a little more forgetting, honestly. My dreams still aren’t exactly pleasant,” I admitted finally with a shake of my head.

Fluttershy sat up again, shifting to a light smile instead. It still felt a little timid, though. “I’m sorry for, um, avoiding you. I want to get used to you again,” she apologized quietly. Again.

I looked away from her slightly. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Fluttershy,” I expounded, feeling a little better that she was at least being open with me again. I hesitated, but finally got up the courage to add, “It’s true. I like you. You make me feel, well, safe. You calm me down and have already stopped me from panicking on multiple occasions. Plus you’re… Well, you’re beautiful. I’m trying to fix the other things, don’t worry.” I ignored the light gagging noise coming from my right, of course.

Predictably, she resumed a light blush, but her smile didn’t go away this time. “I’m not that special,” she whispered, losing her force of voice and looking down again.

“Oh, that I agree with him over. You’re very special indeed, my dear,” Rarity reinforced, giving a wide smile to her friend.

The blush expanded by several magnitudes and she started fidgeting with her front hooves. “I, um, thank you. I really do want to be your friend, Mender. I’m not sure if I want more than that, but…” she finally managed to get out, sounding as if she were straining to actually push the words out of her mouth.

Smiling, I nodded gently. That was the best I could have wished for heading into this situation, really. “Thank you, Fluttershy. I want to be your friend too. Are you coming to the party?” I inquired, curious about her standing.

She let out a surprised gasp. My eyes widened a little, but she rapidly stepped forward half a leg length. “Oh, of course! Um, why would I miss it?” she defended, looking surprised that I’d even had to ask.

“She has a point ya know. Of course we’re all going to be there. You’re already our friend,” Dash insisted, giving me a light shove on the shoulder with a hoof. Sadly, I tipped and wobbled a bit before Rarity snickered and gave me a push back in the other direction.

I nodded, really unsure of what I could say to something like this. Thankfully, I really didn’t have to say anything. Rainbow’s gasp beat me to the punch. “Oh horseapples! The party!” she exclaimed suddenly, eyes widening.

Huh? Oh! Looking around, I finally managed to spot a clock on Rarity’s wall. Seventeen fifty-five? Uh oh. That left five minutes before the party started. “Uh, I’d better get going! Pinkie will hunt me down if I’m late for the party,” I whimpered. Dash nodded, looking a tad apprehensive herself.

“Run and you can make it. I’ll stall them!” she exclaimed before turning and galloping towards the door. She flicked the knob with her muzzle as she hopped, weight pushing the door open before a single flap of her wings sent her hurtling into the sky in a blur. Damn that mare was fast!

Turning around and trying to start into a sprint at the same time was probably a really stupid idea, however. As it turns out, even two weeks in a coma does horrible things to your body. Not that I needed the coma excuse with my general lack of finesse in this body, anyway. Regardless, I tipped and promptly ran my face into the wooden floor instead, skidding along a good foot and a half on my nose.

I heard a light squeak behind me, indubitably from a very surprised Fluttershy. Her noises were very distinctive, I decided. Well, as much as I could decide as the nerve endings in my face screamed out for mercy. Attempting to recover what little there was left of my dignity, I simply rolled with it. For a moment, I balanced perfectly on my forehead before falling in the other direction onto my back. With all the grace of a drunken hippo, I flopped backwards and rolled sideways, spinning myself as I went. With my momentum somehow still intact, I came out of the spin on my legs again and booked it towards the door at top speed, utterly afraid to look back at the two mares in my shame…

In an ideal world, I would have slid through the door totally on time a few minutes later, with everypony there happy to see me and congratulating me on my physical prowess. I’d then be the guest of honor of the party, and have a grand old time. The night would then end on a high note with a swooning purple unicorn and yellow pegasus, and gentle kisses to welcome the coming sleep.

Instead, I lay spread eagle on my stomach a dozen meters from the entry to the library, with a bruised face and dignity, puffing like some makeshift steam device. Damn. “Okay, this ‘ere is mighty sad, Mender,” came a familiar accented voice from the direction of the door. I didn’t have the energy, nor heart to look up at Applejack as I heard her hoof steps coming closer.

“Haa…” I managed to murmur airily as I exhaled, world still spinning. As to not throw up, I kept my eyes closed. That was as close to “Hi” that she was going to get from me at the moment.

“Ya know, it was only ah couple blocks from Rare’s, right? Ya really need ta get yerself back into shape,” she added after a few more seconds. I heard the light puffing noise of a bit of dust in front of me, and assumed she’d sat down.

I managed a miniscule nod into the ground, wincing at my aching legs. “Yeah… Ugh. Can’t move,” I finally got out. They wouldn’t mind if I took a little nap here, right?

There was an exasperated sigh, followed by, “Ah figured as much. ‘ere.”

My surprise doubled when something rough and grainy wrapped itself around my upper body with no little amount of nudging and shoving. My eyes opened a moment later just in time to see her tighten the rope and pick up the other end in her teeth, shrugging as she started dragging me in the direction of the library. Well, this was awkward. It was kind of comfy, though, in a dust up my nose kind of way. Silently, I hoped Ponyville would get some rain soon.

Raising my head feebly as we reached the steps, I managed to angle the slope off my collarbone. Applejack took note and pulled me up the forty-five degree angle before continuing into the library.

The explosion of light and sound was magnified by my spinning head. Cheering exploded all around the room as the lights flicked on. "Surprise!" several of the ponies shouted, Pinkie at the forefront and very much the loudest.

Pause. Most lost their grins and I got dozens of confused looks. Suddenly, I noticed a visible twitch and picked Twilight out of the crowd near the front. "Oh come on! Four hours. I leave you alone for four hours! How do you do this, Mender?" she shouted, looking a little exasperated.

Dash predictably burst into laughter, this time drawing many others along with her. My irritation spiked, but once I thought about it, she had technically done her job. Twilight was mad because I bashed my face off Rarity's floor, not because I was late.

"Oh who cares! He's here now, so it's time to party!" Pinkie declared, doing a lazy series of somersaults towards my position on the floor. She, and the sensation of horror in me as she approached, were both cut short by a sudden flash of light, however! Twilight was suddenly standing between us with no visual spatial movement whatsoever. What?! She could teleport without charging? What I could recall of my lessons labeled that as a 'Blink' technique. Appropriate, honestly. It allowed the caster to move from one spot to another, usually a short distance away, in the space of an eye blink. To do so impulsively with no charge time was masterful, though!

"Oooh no! No, no! He's already injured. He takes it easy tonight," she prescribed, stomping her right front hoof on the floor. Pinkie giggled and started to turn around her, but was easily snatched out of the air in a lavender aura.

She took it in stride, of course. "Wheee!" she squealed as she spun about defying gravity. Twilight tossed her into the pillow cluster next to the couch before lifting me up with a similar aura. Absently, I noted that the pillows used to be on the couch. I had slept against them at the last party. The unfazed Applejack nodded to Twilight and undid the rope as I dangled in the air in front of her. This really wasn't helping the dizziness.

After Applejack untied me, Twilight walked over to the couch with me floating lazily in the air behind her. She hopped up onto the end cushion and smiled warmly at me before gently setting me down next to her. “There! Now you’re safe and sound for the rest of the night,” she concluded, nodding sharply. Was that on her checklists somewhere? Or was she ordered to watch me again? I nudged my thoughts back into check. Celestia had been very insistent that it wasn’t Twilight’s idea. That either meant that Twilight had expressed discomfort in spying on me and honestly wanted to just be my friend, or that Celestia wanted to keep Twilight in my good graces so I’d be less suspicious. But what was that old adage? Innocent until proven guilty?

Twilight’s look shifted to puzzled instead when I took so long to answer, but I slowly got into a vague sitting position instead, leaning against the back of the couch. “Thanks, Twi,” I finally managed.

The impact with the couch directly above my head jarred me. I glanced up and saw Rainbow Dash, perched precariously on the top of the couch’s back. "Ooh, guarding him all night?" she asked, smirking. There was a light whispering from various locations around us, and I quickly realized that the crowd was still at full attention.

Twilight scowled up at her before defending with, "You know it's not like that, Rainbow!"

"Oh! Can we have you, then, Mender?" was suddenly shouted out from the left. I glanced over and blushed as Rose waved from the front of the crowd. Wait, we? I saw the other two flower themed mares standing next to her a moment later. To my discomfort, both were smirking.

Rainbow Dash started snickering again, but Twilight looked utterly shocked. She glanced over in the direction of the three flower mares as well. "Wait, what?!" she muttered in disbelief.

"Well, he's personal friends with the Element Bearers and Princess Celestia. Plus, he's cute and an Earth Stallion who can use magic!" Lily explained simply.

"He can what?" Twilight asked, visually shifting from surprised to annoyed in seconds before turning and glaring back at me. I saw Rainbow avert her gaze in the corner of my eye. Tempting as it was to rat her out, I didn't think it would impress the Element of Loyalty all that much.

"Sorry, Twilight. I got caught using it," I apologized softly.

She sighed weakly and nodded, turning back towards the group to our left. A frustrated murmur interrupted anything she was going to say, though. "Okay, yeah. I can't let you do that. I let the secret out! I totally didn't think it was a secret in the first place. Sorry, Twi," Rainbow muttered. Sorry, Twilight?

Twilight nodded once, a light smile playing at her features. She had probably guessed it had something to do with Dash, I'd imagine. She opened her mouth again to speak. Once again, both her words and my sulking were interrupted by a third party.

"I offer my apologies for being late, Everypony. The moon rising here is beautiful without the Canterlot lights to wash it out," spoke the elegant voice of the Princess of the Sun, from the direction of the library's entry.

The crowd was like a gentle retreating wave as the collective bowing commenced. The prior whispering tapered into nothingness at the same time, a seemingly mutual respect for the Princess telling everypony to allow her to speak.

Everypony minus Twilight of course, who instead released a quiet gasp.

"Princess Celestia! You made it!" Twilight exclaimed a moment later, hopping over the back of the couch like a little filly before scampering over to her teacher. I saw that Rarity and Fluttershy were both with the Princess as well.

I smiled softly as I watched, finding it more than a little cute to watch the usually reserved unicorn get so excited. Well, I watched until I heard the barely audible coo to my right. Instinctively, I glanced in that direction, just in time to see Pinkie Pie balancing carefully on the other armrest. Uh oh... She wiggled her butt like a cat, giving me a predatory grin before pouncing.

I managed to inhale sharply but couldn't quite get the scream for help out before she collided with my chest. My stored air supply left as rapidly as I had acquired it, and not nearly as noisily as I would have liked.

It was kind of like being molested by energetic chipmunks wielding cotton candy. I couldn't catch my breath as she tickled me mercilessly, her mane blocking my vision at every turn. She purposefully ruffled my own mane up as I squirmed, trying to get away from her. Dash must have heard my squeaks and gasps, as I heard her start to snicker from somewhere reasonably close above me.

"Whoa! Harsh, Pinkie. Flutters, you should see this!" she tacked on in a break between the laughter.

I finally managed to get a hold on Pinkie's head and pushed her out of my viewpoint. Just as I got the pink curls out of my eyes, Fluttershy popped into view next to Dash on the back of the couch. "Oh! Oh my. You're not hurting him, are you, Pinkie?" she asked timidly, actually looking a little worried.

Pinkie sat up on me and laughed, shaking her head until her mane flailed everywhere wildly. "Of course not! I'd never hurt such a good friend," she assured promptly. She seemed to know how to deal with the yellow pegasus, anyway.

"Just tickle me until I can't breathe. Got it," I groaned wearily, glaring up at the pink lump of energy masquerading as a pony.

She giggled merrily, of course. "Oh you know you like it!" she defended, giving me a surprisingly flirty wink. Wait, no. She had acted like that with one of the girls, too, if I recalled. It was probably just her way of playing.

"Two can play at that game you know," I reminded, grinning back. Her eyes widened as she grinned, making to dive off me. Far too late, my pink friend.

My left foreleg exploded into a mess of bandages, snagging her and mercilessly returning the tickle treatment at every conceivable angle. She burst into spastic squealing as she squirmed and laughed, trying to climb up the back of the couch. Hey, at least they were all clean and new. What the pink monster really deserved were the gross and messy ones I had on earlier!

"Whoa! Awesome, Mender," Rainbow complimented, laughing as she kept blocking Pinkie's climbing path.

I made a clicking noise with my tongue as I sat up again. Less than half were tickling. Heh. Sorry Rainbow. "I'm not letting you off the hook either, Dashie," I warned, winking at the cyan mare.

All she had time for was a questioning glance before I snagged her too. She started squealing before I even proceeded with the tickling.

"No! No, no! Please?" I cut short her pleading as I pulled her out of her weak attempt to fly away while hysterically laughing. Pinkie's giggles only escalated as her friend got pulled in too. Even Fluttershy giggled lightly as she balanced on the back of the couch.

"What the hay is going on over there?" I heard Twilight ask, seemingly finally noticing her friends' plight.

Pinkie immediately tried to climb over Dash after she crashed into the couch cushion, and used her as a step to get towards the top of the couch. Guess it was every mare for herself! Fluttershy wobbled and clutched to the cushion as Pinkie giggled and clung next to her. I should have seen it coming.

All four of us gave out a yelp as the couch spilled over backwards.

Author's Notes:

Doom Pie's Audiobook Chapter:
http://youtu.be/DVtqPDLWZmY