I don't know how she was able to do it, but Fluttershy held her link open specifically for me. It was a subconscious thing, it seemed, with me being lightly tugged through an area of her mind that appeared fully dedicated to me. I watched memories drifting past like faint video screens as I walked, surrounded by the haze of emotions danced around me. Her dream was happy, I knew that much. Further, it shocked me to realize that she devoted this much to me. A light flush drifted into my face as I continued towards the distant sunlight, through the mists and floating memories.

Fluttershy was beautiful, and I had to fully admit that as I stepped out onto the grass. The pleasant smell of a warm summer day greeted me, with flowery fragrances both soft and vivid, and the smell of the pine she was under. Fluttershy lay happily on her side facing me, in the shade of a large tree, with her long mane drifting out so carefree, spread over the grass. A deer lay nearby, and she was surrounded by at least a dozen bunnies, one of whom was Angel. Predictably, none of the animals even looked concerned with my presence as I walked closer.

Something beyond my senses must have told her of my approach, and her eyes opened up as I got closer. Shifting slightly, she gave me a soft smile and stretched her legs out languidly. Surprise shot through me, even though I knew this was a dream, as my eyes fell upon her swollen tummy as her leg no longer partially obscured it. Was this what a pregnant mare looked like? It was curious as to why she was dreaming about being pregnant.

There was no need to say anything. The sky brightened around us, emphasizing the emotions I could already see in her eyes. Reaching out with a hoof, she pulled me gently down next to her, folding her tummy and chest against me as our legs entwined. This was a dream I could definitely get used to! Why was she pregnant, though? I knew she would be a good mother, and guessed that my help before she fell asleep spurred slightly more sexual thoughts, despite not going quite that far. My eyes widened a little more as I felt something move inside of her as she settled in. Was this… Was she dreaming that this was mine?

Fluttershy gave me a little kiss, then tucked her head under my chin and simply rested against me. Even the bunnies relocated around me, a warm sensation of understanding coming to mind. Yeah, Fluttershy was my mate, and I was 'supposed' to be as close to her as possible. That was the way of things. Relaxing, both of us just let things drift around us...

My eyes stirred and opened after I felt Fluttershy drift out of the hazy dream world, pulling myself alongside her. The light sound of birds chirping and soft morning sun greeted me, as I stretched along my back, yawning. Both Fluttershy and her sheets smelled really good, and I turned to my right, wrapping my left foreleg around the soft mare next to me. She let out a tired murmur, before rolling and pushing her forehead into my chest, her right wing draping over me.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but I felt a soft smile drift onto her muzzle against my chest. "You're still here. I really thought that yesterday might have been a dream," she whispered quietly after another moment. I smiled as well, even though I knew she couldn't see.

"Your actual dream was beautiful, too. You make a gorgeous pregnant mare," I complimented, now that I knew she was lucid. In the dream, I knew that she wasn't fully in control, as I didn't go with her as she fell asleep, so I just contented myself with keeping her rest as pleasant as possible.

Her teal eyes brightened as she pushed a little more into my fur. "That really was you! I, um, I somehow knew it." She didn't seem too surprised, which was a definite plus. Her empathy and awareness of that link between us was amazing! Her ears twitched a second later, however, and she looked back up at me, a light tint to her cheeks as she asked, "Wait, you thought I was... I was pretty, even pregnant?"

"You held the way open just for me, so of course I was going to join you. And no, I said gorgeous, Fluttershy. You were beautiful and very motherly. I just wish I'd been able to fall asleep with you. You'd have been aware of everything, then," I lamented. Not that it had been a very 'bad' dream. Definitely not. Next time I'd have to show her around the dreamscape. I had so many things I wanted her to see!

Unexpectedly, her blush deepened a bit and she shrank down against me, pushing her nose back into my fur. "Oh. Oh, my... Then that means, um, all of last night happened. You really..." she muttered, almost inaudibly. Oh.

I nodded and held her closer, gently rubbing her back as she looked back up towards me, an intense mixture of different emotions in her eyes. I couldn't tell exactly which was winning as the chaotic thoughts bounced down the link, but I tried to assure her anyways. "I did it to try to help you, Fluttershy, and I won't do anything without your direct consent. I'm your mate, right? Making sure you're not in distress, and helping you when you need it is something I'd do regardless of that, but that makes it okay to take care of your other needs, too, right?" I questioned, both as assurance to her, and to make sure I fully understood the situation. This was the absolute last thing I wanted to get wrong!

Her rushing emotions calmed a little, and a light smile played at her muzzle while she relaxed. Seeing her calmer relaxed me, too, of course, and I broached another important point. "Also, if you need anything, don't be afraid to ask me next time. That includes with your urges. I'd gladly help you out any way I can, including with my, well, mouth again," I reassured, unable to fully stop the blush at that last part, rapidly remembering last night. Oh dear...

Fluttershy's blush didn't get better or worse at that, and she just shrank a bit more, timidly nodding. "Y-You really didn't mind? Um, I mean, stallions don't usually do that sort of, well... Oh my," she tried to say, stumbling over her own words before falling silent and pushing her face into my coat again. My smile widened as I wrapped my right foreleg around her too and just held her there.

Finally, working a bit of courage up, I managed to admit, "Well, yes, Fluttershy. Um, I actually rather liked it, too. Not as much as it looked like you did, but just making you feel so good made me really, really happy." It was difficult to explain, mixing both affection and happiness with lust and attraction. The feelings were complex, I decided.

Okay, that time her blush intensified. She gave me a smile, however, despite trying to burrow into me and hide herself as best she could. Then she scared the crap out of me by suddenly gasping and bringing booth hooves up to her muzzle, eyes expanding rapidly. What?!

"Oh, oh no! I just, um, realized, I just fell asleep afterwards! B-But you were, well, r-right there when... You must have gotten pheromones all over you. Are you okay? I didn't mean to fall asleep before I could help y-you, too," she squeaked out a second later, surprising me in a different way instead.

"Ah, no, it's okay, Fluttershy! I, well, had a few problems afterwards, but it was nothing a cold shower couldn't fix. Then I cleaned you up and changed your blanket, so you don't have to worry about, well, the mess, either," I assured, trying to distract her away from what seemed to be her main concern. It was for her, not for her to return the favor, too.

Sadly, my mention of the shower appeared to have the opposite of desired effects as her face fell when I said it. "Oh no. No, this isn't... I'm a horrible fillyfriend to put you through all that and then not help you, too," she murmured, voice becoming more stable as her blush died down. Unfortunately, it was due to her being sad instead, so this wouldn't do at all.

"Fluttershy, I did it for you, not for me. You got right to sleep afterwards, which was exactly why I asked if I could help you, remember? My momentary comfort comes very much last in that case," I tried to remind, earning a frown instead.

"Mender, no! I, um, know what pheromones do to stallions. Really, I... I, um..." Her eyes widened a little as she trailed off, staring blankly into my chest as I could feel her mind going a mile a second. Uh oh. Did she think of something else traumatic? Her eyes snapped into focus again a second later as they slid down my chest, dropping past my stomach and into the shadows under our covers. Uh?

Her blush came back in full force as her eyes shivered lightly, nodding to herself a moment later. "I could fix it. I could make it up to you! R-right now even. I, well, I have to! I'm not going to be a bad fillyfriend," she declared, seemingly to herself as she got a determined look in her eyes. Make it up to me? Why did I not like the sounds of that?

"Fluttershy, you're not a bad fillyfriend. Is this actually about-" I started, putting two and two together.

"N-No! It's not about, um... I want to make it up to you, but I also want to, well, I want to be with you like this, too. Just like Twilight. A stallion is a little scarier, but I trust you and want to be with you, too," she whispered, eyes softening as she eased against me softly. Fluttershy... She felt nervous through the link, but also honest, her heart fluttering against my chest. She really wanted this, and it wasn't just to 'fix' what happened over estrus?

My hesitation spiked, but I felt her pick up on it through our link, and she released steady reassurance back. Relaxing, I gave a nervous swallow, and then nodded to her. That was all that was needed and I gave in, my body readily agreeing with my choice, to my mild disgust. “A-All right, Fluttershy. Just, um, stop immediately if you feel uncomfortable,” I requested, sighing hesitantly.

Fluttershy smiled up at me timidly, flush hot across her cheeks as she kissed lightly against my chest, moving further down my stomach with each repeated peck. Oh hell. Was this really happening?! I mean, last night was crazy enough, but was she really going to do this?!

The answer was fairly obvious as she ducked down under the blanket, mostly covered from the nippy room air, but easily visible to me as her wings tented out the cover over herself. If it bothered her, she didn't show it, and heated up even more, that familiar murky haze starting to drift down the link as her tongue got more involved in each little kiss, paying homage to a trail down my body. I shuddered, and just resolved myself to letting her do whatever she wanted…

"Um, are you sure you don't want any help?" Fluttershy whispered yet again, sitting down on my right, next to her toilet.

Smiling absently, I shook my head again as all eight tentacles busied themselves, moving washing rags in the tub. "No, having eight extra limbs makes this rather efficient, don't worry. Besides, um, most of the mess was mine, after all," I reminded, my naughty mind replaying how our shower had gone. Fluttershy definitely surprised me, so far proving almost insatiable!

As if she picked up on my thoughts, I felt Fluttershy blush furiously through the link, not even needing to turn and look at her. "O-Oh. No, um, I made a... Well, I know I'm, well, messier than most mares," she barely managed to get out, voice dying shortly after.

I hesitated, then smiled softly and leaned over, finally turning my head enough to nuzzle into the side of her cheek and kiss her lightly. "It's perfectly fine. Natural, even. Regardless, it obviously doesn't change how I feel about you," I reminded. It also suddenly wasn't so hard to believe that she and Twilight had gotten intimate over the estrus break now, both because of seeing how the hormones affected her, and being much more intimate with her myself now. I wasn't as mad anymore, I decided. It was sad that they did that without me, yeah, but we technically just did the same without Twilight now. I was more concerned and distraught over them filling out the paperwork and forming the herd than anything else.

Not that the mare next to me wasn't amazingly skilled at distracting me from my concerns, first with affection and now with downright seduction. Three times now and it wasn't even noon yet! Fluttershy smiled happily towards me, nuzzling back before giving a soft kiss on my lips. "I know, Mender. Thank you. I'm very, very happy that you're my special somepony. Well, my mate now. I'm still, um, a little worried about Twilight being upset, but I guess neither of us have much room to complain, and I'm sure she'll want to join in when she's safe again," she admitted.

I didn't have the heart to remind her that was technically today. As much as I was sad that Twilight didn't get to be with us, she couldn't without risking other things. Further, Fluttershy had legitimate needs last night, due no small part to my own stupidity with her toys I discovered.

"We'll make it up to her, don't worry. Let's head over there and see if she's up to eating breakfast with us?" I suggested, putting all seven rags together again and wincing at the light squishing noise they made. There had been a lot to clean up after all. Yikes. I wondered idly if that was a side effect of my cybernetics.

Fluttershy let out a light squeak and rapidly shook her head as I gathered up the rags, however. "No! Um, I mean, I'll make it up to Twilight. Then both of us will continue to make it up to you! What happened with the herd is far, far worse than, well, this," she insisted, edging a bit closer to me again with a rather pleading gaze.

I swallowed and edged back a bit, then noticed her cough lightly, wings rising up a little. It took me a moment, but I realized where the rags were and lifted them away from the side of her head with my tentacles. "Er, sorry. Um, hamper?" I suggested as she rapidly shook the dazed look out of her eyes. Another new thing I'd discovered! Mares were just as susceptible to stallion smells as we were to theirs. Well, I'd figured that out last night, but it was a good thing to commit to memory, I decided.

"Ah, yeah. Same spot as the blanket, please. Um, and breakfast with Twilight is a good idea. We should talk to her as soon as possible," she agreed, stepping back as I moved past her and out into her bedroom again, trotting over to the large hamper next to the stairs down. It was almost twice the size of Twilight's, which made sense considering how many animals Fluttershy cleans up after.

Fluttershy slipped up next to me as I closed the lid again, and shot me a warm smile regardless of the nervous sensations coming down her link from talking about Twilight. She was in a good mood, despite having the 'tiniest complaint' that she was 'just a little' sore, but insisted that I didn't have to worry at all. Of course, I'd pounced and hugged her immediately afterwards, which just made her squeak and seem even cuter. I swear, living here was going to give me diabetes in less than a week.

She followed a step behind me as I walked down the stairs, then dashed past at the bottom and put out several dishes of animal food while I watched. Turns out, they get their breakfast in the morning, too. They literally came out of the walls in droves as she set the dishes out, each giving their own special good morning to Fluttershy in the form of chirps, squeaks, and purrs. Three cats, a dozen mice, four birds, and a strangely mutated squirrel all pounced on the dishes, amazingly enough, side by side. Uh, weren't some of those natural predators to the others?

The yellow mare smiled happily as she turned back to me and ran back up, simultaneously answering my question as I remembered who their owner was. I smiled and nodded a second before she plowed into me, kissing me on the cheek before fluttering her wings out and swaying next to me, subtly energetic, if that was possible. Eh, I was just happy that she was happy.

"Are you set, then?" I asked, nudging my head towards the door.

She stopped swaying, then blushed lightly and nodded, earning a raised eyebrow from me. The link pulsed with sudden awkward embarrassment, and she looked away from me, giggling weakly. "Um, I know it's silly, but a part of me is, um, a little worried that others are suddenly going to know when they look at me. Um, you know," she muttered, both of us skipping the part where I try to get her to tell me the problem. She knew that I wasn't going to make fun of her as much as she knew I wasn't going to give up until she said what was wrong.

"Know? What do you-" I started to ask before it suddenly dawned on me and I blushed, coughing lightly. "Oh, that. Um, you look exactly the same, Fluttershy, and we're both fresh out of the shower so I really don't think that's possible. Just relax, okay? Besides, it's normal. Does it matter if they find out? We're both consenting adults, and very much with each other," I reasoned, trying to give her a reassuring smile as I pulled her a little closer. It might be a little embarrassing when the Element Bearers found out, and I sensed an awkward conversation with Twilight coming up fast, but that didn't mean it was going to change anything about our relationships. Oddly, I decided the concept of them knowing was actually worse because they were closer to me. I didn't so much mind even the rest of Ponyville knowing. Well, unless they found out all at once through something horribly unfortunate happening, which was actually a possibility in this town. Note to self, stay away from Vinyl and Pinkie for the morning.

Fluttershy still blushed lightly, but a smile came to her face and she nodded twice, kissing me lightly on the cheek before resting her forehead against my shoulder. I gestured towards the door again, and this time she gave a nod. I'd honestly never thought of them somehow figuring out that we'd upgraded our relationship. Idly, I wondered if there was some sort of body language or something that we'd give off indicating as such. I certainly didn't 'feel' particularly different, apart from being even closer to Fluttershy than before.

Regardless, we finally made it out the door, and a flock of birds almost flew up my nose, singing greetings towards Fluttershy, me just being the unfortunate bystander. Her nervousness was forgotten as she greeted all her flying friends, saying pleasant tidings to each individually. I just smiled softly while watching her, a few birds seeing fit to use me as a perch while waiting their turn to say hello. This was a new sensation indeed, but I just stood there and let the feelings soak in. Being treated as non-threatening and normal was definitely something I could get used to!

"Well, I'm glad you're all doing well and that nopony's sick or anything. Mender and I have to go visit Twilight now, so if you need anything, I'll be there. Oh, and he might be staying with us more often from now on, as he's part of my herd and I care very much for him. He's a very nice stallion, however, so you can trust him just as much as you trust me, okay?" Fluttershy informed, wrapping up and addressing all the birds at once. I blushed, staring at her in surprise as the birds let out a flood of chirps, several dozen circling me with a rather fast pace. I blinked a few times as a feather or two drifted down, and then lightly brushed my mane back, looking on in wonder as they shot off in every direction into the forest around us.

"They'll spread the word," she spoke up, smiling softly towards me as I turned back to her.

She'd done that for me? "Fluttershy, um, I'm really happy to hear you say those things. I mean-" I started to thank. She ducked in, however, and kissed me on the mouth shyly, giving a bashful smile as she backed up again a second later.

"It's the truth, Silly. You'd never hurt any of these animals. In fact, I've heard several nice things about you from one family of birds in particular, and more recently, from a couple of fish!" she chirped, looking pleased at me.

My eyes widened a little. Fish?! No, it couldn't be... "Um, from the lake? I didn't realize word would, uh, spread like that. How do you talk to the animals, anyways?" I asked, curious now. She was a pegasus, so it didn't make sense that she'd have Earth Pony powers.

She sighed and shook her head, ears lowering a little as she tucked in against my chest. "I know it's weird. A pegasus on the ground and living with, and talking to a bunch of animals. I've just, well, I've always found empathy with them. I can feel them, just like I heard an Earth Pony can. Maybe that's a literal application of my special talent? I just love them all so much, and hearing them is just, well, normal for me," she whispered. It turned into a squeak as I pulled her tight against me and shook my head, smiling finally.

"I didn't mean that, Fluttershy. I think it's amazing, not weird or unnatural. Plus, your relationship with them all is nothing short of beautiful. I'm even a little jealous," I pointed out, snickering afterwards. Fluttershy had an enormous heart, and a ton of love and caring to go around, I suddenly realized. Her being 'Kindness' made a lot of sense to me.

Her eyes lowered a bit shyly and she blushed fully now rather than just a light tinting. "Mender, I care about you just as much. Um, you also have all of me, in every way. I'm a mom and friend to them but, well, you're my mate," she assured quietly, just to me. It made me feel happy that she was comfortable enough with me to say that, even if it was just for my ears. I nuzzled back and felt her give a content sigh, pushing a little harder into me as her warm fur slid across my shoulder. She was amazing, and I felt lighter. Like it was okay to just spend as long as I wanted with her for the rest of time. But that wouldn't do. We had another member of our herd to talk to, who was just as important.

Gesturing back towards the direction of the library, I gave her a soft nod and smile. Fluttershy perked up and nodded back, following after me as I headed towards town. I enjoyed the sensation of her walking right next to me as I went, brushing against my side with every other step. We were a pair, and finally, it felt like I was supposed to be here. Things felt right, and I held that feeling as close as I could to my chest as we headed towards Twilight...

It was definitely chilly as we trotted through town square. Fall was upon us fully, and soon it would be winter. It made me rather thankful for my heavier coat. Fluttershy was thankful for it, too, pushing up against me as we walked side by side. Every few steps, I felt a light shiver go through her as the wind would hit us.

It didn't take us long, however, to cross the square, which presented us with a new set of circumstances. "Oh! Fluttershy! Mender!" I heard Rarity call out as we walked. Both of us stopped and turned, watching the pearly unicorn trot up quickly from behind us, shopping bags drifting after her in a faint blue light. My nose picked up the smells of potent bases, and I wiggled it, trying not to sneeze. Soaps?

"Oh, sorry for the smell. I had to pick up more cleaning supplies for day two of Operation Clean the Library. It's quite a mess," she informed, taking notice of my expression.

"Ah. Well we're on our way to the library anyways. Is it, err, safe for me to enter today?" I inquired, my tail flicking slightly behind me in mild frustration. After everything that happened last night with Fluttershy, I completely forgot to tweak my filter to include pheromones.

Rarity smiled, however, and nodded, adding, "Of course! It's pretty well cleaned now, and the only area we have left is the basement. Sadly, it was hit the hardest and will probably take most of our time today." Yikes! Well, Twilight had spent most of her time down in there, if the radar had been accurate. Wait...

"We? Are the girls helping you again?" I inquired curiously, tilting my head as my ears twitched lightly.

"Heck yeah! Of course we're helping!" I heard shouted out, my ping giving me a good three seconds warning. I ducked, pulling Fluttershy down with me as Rainbow shot overhead, spinning happily before whipping into a tight flip and landing next to us in a mostly graceful landing. Only 'mostly' because her saddlebags kept going with downwards inertia and hauled her off her hooves. My left foreleg shot out and actually managed to grab her, slowing her down and only earning a little ache in the process as I steadied her. Not that I usually encouraged live field-testing, but I think that meant the leg was healing nicely.

Dash grinned and nodded up to me as she straightened herself out a bit. "Um, thanks. You so didn't see that. Did I hear that you're heading to Twilight's?" she asked curiously, gesturing towards the library.

I nodded, and then glanced to Fluttershy on my right as she bumped into me, blushing quite a bit now and looking back and forth between Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Uh... Well, they wouldn’t know anything happened unless Fluttershy kept acting like this. "Um, are you okay, Fluttershy?" I asked softly, earning a start and rapid nod.

"O-Of course! Um, I'm fine!" she quickly reassured, not sounding very reassuring at all. Of course, Rarity picked up on it instantly, giving a curious head tilt towards the yellow mare.

"You're awfully flushed, Dear. Are you certain you don't have a fever?" she inquired, stepping forwards and lightly pushing an ankle into the now shivering mare's head. Rainbow shot her friend a skeptical look as she shrunk away from the touch. This was going, well, badly.

Think, Mender! Lacking a reasonably formed plan, or a plan in the first place, I decided the next best thing was to simply draw fire, so to speak. "She's fine, just don't push her too hard. I did something stupid last night and embarrassed her, and she hasn't recovered yet," I spoke up, pushing Rarity's hoof away as the mare gasped.

Predictably, Rainbow's eyes narrowed and I prepared my inner armor just in case things got out of hoof. "What?! What did you do to Fluttershy?" she asked almost instantly. Huh, she was actually inquiring first rather than just attacking me. I guess I really did get on her good side.

Rarity frowned towards me, but more in a skeptical manner while Dash stalked closer, eyeing me up as I tried to think of something while remaining stoic towards the mare. I could tell them about the toy incident, but I didn't know if Rainbow knew about Fluttershy's 'collection', and that would be even worse. Blatant lie time, then.

Fluttershy looked uncertain as she turned back to look at me, obviously not knowing which thing I was referring to, and Rarity glanced back at her instead, raising an eyebrow. Damn it. I couldn't give that devious mare time to think!

"I accidentally walked in on Fluttershy while she was taking a shower and ended up staring for longer than I should have," I blurted out. Rainbow bristled, but Rarity outright smirked instead, seemingly looking right through me. She said absolutely nothing, however, which somehow scared me more.

"You did what?!" Rainbow hissed, fury bubbling up in her eyes. Fluttershy freaked out and flailed before hopping between Rainbow and I instead. What was she doing?!

Rainbow looked momentarily surprised, but Fluttershy rapidly shook her head. "N-No! He's lying! He's just trying to... This is all my fault. If I could have just acted like normal, this wouldn't have happened," the yellow mare squeaked, slumping down to the ground after getting it out. Sighing, I wrapped my forelegs around her from behind, feeling her sink back against me and hide her face using my limbs.

"Er, wait, what?" Rainbow asked, shifting from surprise to confusion as Rarity started snickering.

She walked up instead and bumped Rainbow into a relaxed sitting position, rather than frozen in her prior threatening stance with the blank look on her face. "Relax, Rainbow. It was a fabrication, his intent to take the focus away from Fluttershy, who I believe is embarrassed due to something else entirely. And given his blush and defensive stance towards her, and their closeness and body language, I believe I know what," she explained coyly, eyes shifting rather devious as they locked onto me instead. Damn it!

"This is exactly what I promised Fluttershy I'd avoid today, so if you'd be so kind as to drop it and let us go into the library," I offered, narrowing my eyes towards Rarity instead, who shifted to a more startled expression. If I had to resort to bluntness, so be it. If I had to physically move them out of the way and escort Fluttershy inside, that would work, too.

Fluttershy rested a hoof on my foreleg, causing me to look down at her again. She shook her head up at me, and then blushed before turning back to the girls. "This isn't your fault, Mender. I goofed up and, um, they were going to find out eventually anyway, so it might as well be now," she murmured, ears lowering a bit. Rarity shifted to a more concerned smile towards her friend, and Rainbow just looked confused. This definitely wasn't the ideal way to do this, but I guess we didn't have much choice.

My eyes widened as I saw Applejack, Big Mac, and Apple Bloom approaching from the corner of my vision, suddenly. I turned to look at them, Applejack smiling and waving towards me as she saw me look over. Uh, that shouldn't... I started to open my mouth to tell Fluttershy when she blurted out, "Mender and I mated!"

Never mind. I closed my mouth and just sighed, resigning to watching the fireball expand from the crashing train. Rarity looked momentarily happy before freezing, also having spotted the three Apple siblings. Rainbow went from confused, to shocked, to blushing furiously with wide eyes towards me instead. Okay, that didn't help much, but thanks for that, Dash.

Applejack froze on the spot, mid step as her eyes widened, locking onto Fluttershy for half a heartbeat before they whipped to her brother instead? To my surprise, he looked actually stunned. I'd never seen Big Mac look surprised by anything, and had no idea what to think of it. Worse yet, Apple Bloom looked surprised as well, but then started blushing and looked away from the two of us really fast. Oh crap. She knew what that meant?!

Rainbow saw my stare and looked to her right as well, then gave a start as she saw the three of them, blushing starting to become a downright pandemic. Big Mac slowly closed his jaw again as his eyes softened, shifting away from the shock to something else entirely as Fluttershy looked over towards them as well, seeing all of us shifting our attention. She froze when she saw them, her flush expanding over her entire face as she started to shiver there.

Big Mac broke the silence like a sledgehammer to an ice sculpture. "Ah don't think we were supposed ta hear that," he muttered, voice far harder than I'd heard him use before. Okay, I was missing something. To my surprise, he hiked up his shoulders that were attached to the wagon supports and continued, walking right past us and on down the road towards the farm. Um...

"Uh, Mac, Ah-" Applejack started, trotting to try to catch up with his sudden departure.

"Cleanin', Ah know. Go fer it," he returned without turning around. I sensed overwhelming hostility suddenly, and shivered. Well, actually it wasn't that different from his usual behavior, so I couldn't tell.

Applejack looked uncertain, her right foreleg in the air towards him still as if trying to will him back to talk. Apple Bloom rapidly shook her head and sprang forwards instead. "Ah'll go talk ta him, Sis. You go help Twi an' tha others," she said before booking after her brother and hopping up into the back of the wagon instead.

"Oh dear," Rarity whispered, watching the large stallion leave, this time with Rainbow, Fluttershy, and I shifting to confused looks.

"Okay, now I'm really confused. Why the hay is he acting mad?" Rainbow asked, gesturing in frustration towards Big Mac with both forelegs, the remains of her blush slowly fading on her cheeks. Well, this had certainly distracted from Fluttershy's dilemma, but potentially not in a good way.

Applejack sighed and shook her head, looking a little sad instead. "Ah imagine he's upset with Mender an' didn't want ta say nothin'. Ah thought he'd gotten over tha anger but Ah wasn't expectin' this so soon. Probably happened 'cause o' Twi and Flutters durin' heat, right?" she asked, glancing towards Rarity instead. What?! Why was he mad at me?!

Fluttershy swallowed, looking back and forth between the three mares as Rarity shook her head and returned, "I've no idea. You'd have to ask Fluttershy what happened, but you know how estrus is, Applejack. Do not blame her for this." Why did we have to blame anypony?

Applejack flashed her ears back and rapidly shook her head, stomping the ground instead. "Ah ain't blamin' nopony! It's just frustratin' ta not have anypony ta punch when mah brother's hurtin' so much," she growled, looking a bit irate. Could these two talk without almost coming to blows each time?

"I'm confused. Why is he upset in the first place?" Rainbow asked, bringing the topic back to what I was curious about. Wait... My mind flashed back to our 'detailed' talk about Cheerilee, and I suddenly remembered way back at the very beginning of that topic, Big Mac had mentioned a second mare, but dropped it almost instantly after I inquired. If he was acting like this...

Applejack sighed and revealed, "It's because mah brother, fer years an' years before Mender even showed up, had ah crush on Fluttershy." Oh hell. I gave in right now and checked another day off my 'normal' wishlist.

Why, oh why was life never simple here? Well, not that I'd call my past existence simple, even though it technically really was. Fighting an almost omnipresent malevolent race of space bunnies hell-bent on driving all existing creatures of sapience into a violent, early extinction was honestly rather straightforward. You could generally assume that, when you saw one, the reaction was going to be it attempting to murder you. That left fairly little variance to interactions when my only purpose was to make sure they died first.

Equestria, while indescribably more peaceful, also was beset by many problems revolving around not having a malevolent race attempting to make everything else extinct. No unified front, no objectified lifestyle set on specific goals, and no overarching structure to society in general. Oh, and most of the ponies appeared to be totally crazy, myself included. There was that, too. I was just a little more efficient at it, was all.

Lying on my back, I batted up towards the ceiling with my forelegs out of moderate boredom. The couch was comfy, and I was at risk of falling asleep if I didn't keep moving. Listening to the rather earnest conversation of conviction that happened to be centered on me like a sword poised to fall on my head was only vaguely interesting. It wasn't that I didn't understand the details or felt I shouldn't be involved, honestly. No, it was more akin to thinking that they shouldn't be involved instead.

"Ah know how it works. Fluttershy chose Mender, an' Ah ain't angry at her fer that! Fer cryin' out loud, Ah'm happy she's happy. Ah'm just worried fer mah brother, is all," Applejack reiterated for probably the sixth time. I honestly felt a little bad for her, given the fact that she tried to keep the conversation from spiraling out of control, kept smashing down blame when she could, and generally attempted to keep things civil and focused towards recommendations on how to cheer up Big Mac. Her not mentioning me in that non-angry list kept my pity a bit tempered with caution, armor ready in case I got bucked in the side or something. I doubted she'd do that at this point, but I was all for precautions.

Rarity huffed, being less for moderation herself as much as attempting to imprint some sort of lesson upon us. "I warned you that this should have been addressed much sooner. Honestly, we should have talked things over with him and helped him over this a week ago. Why don't we all just march over there right now and simply talk with him in a calm and collected manner?" she suggested. Was I honestly the only one who thought everypony should just dip their heads in cold water for a few seconds and calm down? Frankly, what he wanted and decided to do really wasn't any of their business in the first place. Of course, mentioning that would get me murdered on several fronts.

"Oh yeah, he wouldn't think that was suspicious or demeaning at all. Shouldn't we just give him some time to cool off?" Rainbow suggested irritably, the distinct sensation of impatience coming down her link that was quite contrary to her statement. Given Rainbow typically lacked the ability to be that subtle, that meant she was impatient about something else. Probably a change in topic, like me.

"Oh no. Oh dear. This is bad. I didn't... I mean, I never knew that he... Oh, what am I supposed to do?" Fluttershy whispered quietly to herself. Despite being in severe inner turmoil, and me being what I thought to be the cause for that, she wedged herself as tightly as she could into my back legs, tangling her forelegs around my limbs and using my tail like some sort of comfort blanket. Not that I really minded, of course.

Sighing, I gave her a gentle squeeze with my back legs before using them to tow her upwards and on top of me. She didn't resist in the slightest, and instead buried her face into my chest. Nopony noticed, of course, despite her technically being the subject of the conversation. I held her against me rather tightly, feeling those possessive urges drifting back up inside of me. She'd told me she was mine, and I hers, so I wasn't about to let anypony get in the way of that. Not even Big Mac.

The most annoying thing is, he knew that. He knew that eventually, Fluttershy and I would mate. We were in a relationship, a herd. Twilight was as well, and I didn't see her freaking out over the whole ordeal. He wasn't stupid, and acting like he was kinda insulted him. Sure, Applejack was only worried about cheering him up a bit, but the others were acting like he was some sort of helpless emotional invalid, when honestly, it shouldn't even be their business.

Twilight herself got our 'news' in the worst way possible thanks to all this, of course, but oddly seemed more happy about it than anything. Almost gleeful, in kind of a scary, 'please don't experiment on me' way. Of course, she started asking Fluttershy all sorts of questions about it, but that was sort of flattened by all the drama surrounding Big Mac suddenly. Now she lay on the other side of me, lightly holding my head in her forelegs while watching and listening to everything fall apart right next to us.

Twilight turned and smiled as she saw me pull Fluttershy up and hug her. She herself leaned in and snuggled into the other side of my neck, bringing all three of our heads within touching distance as she gave Fluttershy a peck on the jaw. The mare momentarily blushed, smiling at both of us pleasantly. This. This was all that was really important. What she wanted.

"You did nothing wrong, Fluttershy. None of this is your fault, and we'll get it straightened out. Wanna just go and talk to him real quick?" Twilight asked, both surprising me ever so slightly, and delighting me that she had decided on such a simplistic solution to the 'problem' that didn't require lengthy planning and parties.

Rarity looked shocked and horrified at the suggestion, somehow hearing it despite being in the middle of a rant on ethics and courtesies in a relationship, despite that not applying to Big Mac in the first place. "W-What?! His cool down period isn't even up! You can't just go and 'talk' to him! You should at least let Apple Bloom-"

Making a filly try to handle everything by herself didn't seem very responsible to me. That irritation that had been oh so familiar the last few days built up in my system again, and I sighed. "Watch us," I 'suggested', before looking back and nodding to Twilight. She grinned, and the world disappeared as her horn flared to life, reality itself seeming to suck inwards upon us and snap down into an almost impossible singularity that we drifted away from. An instant later, like a rubber band, it snapped out again.

Just like that, the couch was gone. Instead, the three of us lay on the open grass with the overcast sky overhead. Fluttershy shivered, and then looked up and around before starting, seeing Big Mac and Apple Bloom all of three meters away from us. Three wagons full of apples rested on the dirt path next to them, and they sat next to a stump with what looked like a checkers board between them. Err...

"Yer learnin' right quick! That was ah good move," he complimented, momentarily looking up at the flash of light and nodding to us before returning his attention to the board.

"Ah learned from tha best! Hiya, Mender! Twilight! Fluttershy! What're ya doin' 'ere?" the little yellow filly asked, smiling over at us. Heh, thought as much.

Twilight giggled lightly as Fluttershy looked more shocked than anything. The lavender unicorn walked up towards them, stretching her back legs a bit. "Getting away from a whole lot of drama and settling it at the same time, hopefully," she explained.

Big Mac smirked as he slid another piece forwards, snapping Apple Bloom's attention back to the game instead. "They're still goin' on 'bout that? Ah said it was none o' our business," he asked softly, leaning back as his little sister ducked in to look at the game board instead.

"Um, y-you're not upset or, um," Fluttershy asked quietly, taking a couple steps forwards and catching up with Twilight, despite moving like a scared deer.

Big Mac stared at her for a moment before chuckling and shaking his head. "Ah should'a known ya'd worry yerself over me. Nah. Mah crush on ya was, well, ah long time ago. Sure, Ah wouldn't have turned ya down had ya suddenly gotten interested, but Ah ain't mad that ya found yerself ah right kind an' proper stallion," he assured, after a moment of thinking about it.

Exhaling softly, I shook my head towards him. "All I can do is give everything I can. Everything always was, and always will be their choice to accept me or not," I reminded, agreeing with his implication fully.

Twilight frowned and turned back towards me again a second later, shaking her head. "Mender, you need to accept us, too, you know. Our herd forms a triangle, and each bond has to be unbreakable for it to work," she reminded. I blushed slightly and looked away from her, unsure of what exactly to say to that. She was right, of course, but, well... There were still little nagging doubts in my mind. I doubt Fluttershy intended our experience specifically to counter those, but it had indeed helped. I wasn't where I wanted to be, though.

"Sounds like ya'all got ah lot ta talk about, too. If ya want, ya could do it 'ere, away from all tha hubbub," Apple Bloom suggested, sliding another piece across the board and earning a grin from her brother. It being a particularly awesome move, or him agreeing with her suggestion, I'd never know. I didn't know how to play checkers, after all. A pop-up shot up a second later, offering its data entry, and I promptly hit the cancel button. Why it looked like a paperclip with eyes was beyond me, but it was bloody annoying! That was the third time it had bugged me about inane stuff.

Snapping out of it, I suddenly became distinctly aware that Big Mac was staring right at me, unwavering. I perked, widening my eyes a bit as I instinctively shrank back. Eh?! His viewpoint didn't flinch, but a tiny smirk played across his muzzle. "Yer ah kind, strong stallion, an' ah good match fer Fluttershy an' Twilight. But yer not ah perfect match," he suddenly spoke up. I swallowed, unsure of how to take that or what he meant. Fluttershy's eyes widened and she squeaked in surprise, but Twilight frowned and turned back to him instead.

"Isn't that up to us to decide?" she pointed out, voice calculated and level. Was she upset by that?

"Ah-nope! Tha only one that can improve Mender is Mender, really. He has ta make the effort ta be better. More decisive an' focused on what he wants an' needs, in order ta better be with you two," he reasoned quietly. Oh. It wasn't about them thinking I was a good match for them, but the fact that I could make myself an even better match. Decisive, though? That didn't feel very comfortable at all, as thoughts went.

Twilight didn't reason as far as I did, it would seem. "What does him being indecisive have to do with us liking him? Does it matter? Wait, decisive about what?" she asked, shifting from mildly irritated to simply confused as she looked back towards me with uneasy eyes. Fluttershy started to rapidly look between us, her heart rate gradually increasing the wider her eyes got. What was going on?

Big Mac shifted to staring at Twilight instead, fully drawing her attention back to him with his stoic gaze. She backed up a little the same way I did, but he suddenly shook his head. "It don't matter at all," he admitted. Wait, what? Twilight started to relax, when he frowned suddenly and tacked on, "Ya don't need ta worry about what he wants ah bit if yer goal is ta just control an' lead tha herd by yerself."

My eyes widened, and Twilight suddenly looked like she had been physically slapped by the stallion. Fluttershy outright panicked, letting out a low whimper as she rapidly shook her head. "N-No! We're not trying to, um, control Mender or anything! I'd never do that, and neither w-would Twilight," she defended hesitantly, her voice losing strength as her nervousness shot through the roof. Why was Big Mac doing this?!

My first instinct was to be angry with him, but his tone wasn't accusing or even aggressive, and I knew him well enough to know that he wasn't one to simply provoke a situation. I held my tongue, looking back to the red stallion instead as he kept staring at Twilight.

"Ah believe in accidents. Ah know that heat can make things seem like ah good idea when they ain't, but Ah also know that ah mare is still in full control o' herself. Ya both signed tha paperwork fer tha herd, or it wouldn't be official-like. Twilight 'ere even sent it out, despite knowin' on some level what it'd cause. Now she's 'head' o' tha herd, an' its official voice, an' Mender ain't even ah member. Ah don't judge, an' know mah sister can get right outta shape over things she don't like, but it still don't look too good from this perspective," he explained, doing a rather good job of highlighting the core of the issue. Applejack must have been upset after yesterday. Part of me wondered how much Rainbow told her. I felt a little colder, and didn't know what to do suddenly. That frigid doubt crept up into my chest again, and I closed the link before Fluttershy could feel it at this range.

Predictably, the yellow mare gave a sudden start and looked over at me, but I stayed locked on Big Mac, frowning a little. He wanted to help us and felt it warranted a bit of direct interference. That much I got and understood. Maybe a part of him only wanted to help Fluttershy, but that seemed unlikely, as he'd included her in the accusation. But she had indeed signed the herd paperwork. Twilight said she didn't know about the waiting period, though. I trusted her, right?

Apple Bloom looked up from the board and frowned up at Big Mac as Twilight fell to her haunches, shaking her head rapidly and sending out a sudden spray of tears. "No! It was a stupid accident and we weren't thinking of the consequences, but we didn't do any of it intentionally! If I could turn over the leadership position, I would in a heartbeat, but," she tried to reason. It wasn't really about the-

"Ah doubt Mender cares 'bout bein' leader so much as he'd rather just be ah part o' tha herd in tha first place. Ah'm also not lookin' ta accuse ya o' nothin'. Ah'm only pointin' this out ta show ya that maybe, just maybe, ya don't know Mender so good. Yer not even sure what's really upsettin' him," he finalized, leaning back calmly against the tree behind him. Upsetting me.

It reared up again, and I knew in that instant that it was still there. As much as I tried to bury it with logic and understanding, realization of how hard it was for them and what I 'should' do because they're females... I was angry. They'd hurt me, and I felt betrayed. But it was an accident, right? It's not like Twilight had ever shown lack of trust in me before, to the point of trying to circumvent my own wishes or anything. Especially not in regards to my feelings for pricing my own business practices. I tried really hard not to start laughing, a bit concerned that I'd start screaming at the same time. It all bubbled inside of my chest and I wanted to throw up, as if it would get it out of me. I wasn't built for anger. I didn't handle it well, nor was I comfortable with it, but it just kept building inside of me over the past few weeks.

Twilight shivered and continued shaking her head before muttering, "Mender said he wasn't upset with us. We need to make it up to him somehow still but, well, we're trying and..." Fluttershy continued staring at me, her features starting to fall as her ears lowered.

"Mender..." she whispered, causing Twilight's ears to perk up as she slowly turned to look at me instead. I could see them. I could see them and my eyes were closed! They were closed, weren't they? I snapped back to awareness as I noticed the graphical pixel distortions playing across my vision, my eyes fully open unlike what I remembered. Trying not to panic, I disabled the targeting reticles that were flicking across the large stallion I was locked onto. The system refused to respond to me, however, and I force closed the entire process as I shivered, feeling the pressure building behind my eyes as a headache reared up.

I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry and lash out, beating on the ground until it crumbled to dust around me in rage and frustration. But no, that was childish. That would get me in trouble and lose the trust of everypony close to me. I wasn't allowed to do that, and I definitely didn't want to hurt Big Mac! What the hell was wrong with me?! He wasn't angry with me, and I knew he wasn't trying to steal Fluttershy from me. I didn't even own her like that! I...

Fluttershy landed on me hard as I tried to shakily back up into a retreat that I didn't realize I was doing. I exhaled sharply as she tackled me to the ground instead with her full weight before everything went to teal at point blank range. It was a totally new version of what I'd experienced yesterday as everything fell away, but this time, it wasn't disapproving but wanting instead, her muzzle locked with mine at the same time.

My chest heated up, and everything became a jumble as she released me from the powerful spell a few seconds later. I was confused now, and really, I just wanted to take a nap and think about all of this later. Fatigue caught up with me hard, and my muscles sagged, just letting her lay on top of me, eyes unable to leave hers regardless.

"Don't run, Mender. Please? We don't understand. You're, um, hurting a lot and we want to make it better, so talk to us. Y-You can rest first if you need to but, um, we have to talk about this! I can't l-lose you!" she outright pleaded, stunning me into inability to think again.

"We, Fluttershy. We can't lose him. I... Rarity's right. There's just no trust here. We need to fix that, too. Fast. She told me a few ideas and exercises to help but, um, can we, Mender? I want this to work," Twilight requested softly, edging closer and looking surprisingly earnest. It was true. Yeah, Rarity is right. I didn't trust Twilight. Even if I wanted to, my mind still remembered everything she'd done. I wasn't as nice and forgiving a pony as I wanted to be, which horrified me.

Trust. To have that, we needed truth first. I made up my mind for once. "Then I can't keep secrets if I want you to trust me. There are, um, things you should know about," I finally admitted.

Twilight and Fluttershy both stared at me and nodded, one looking apprehensive and the other concerned, respectively. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

After a moment's hesitation, I just started from the top...

I told them everything, feeling a remarkable sense of Deja Vu while doing so; almost like it wasn't the first time I spilled my guts to these two mares. Our friends caught up to us just after I finished talking about the incident and went into how frustrated I'd become. It wasn't just the missing Elements of Harmony, but also Spike and the other two Crusaders as well. I momentarily wondered what brought all of them, but Big Mac silenced them with a sharp stare, and I just kept talking, happy to avoid the tangent. It was hard enough to start the first time.

Stress, frustration, betrayal, female attention, the disks, the Nirru thing, Purdue, the glitches, my being a real pony... I covered everything until there was nothing left and I felt beyond empty. There was nothing in me, leaving me with a cold, hollow sensation inside.

And there I sat, staring blankly at the ground with nothing but dead silence from everypony. I didn't bother hiding the links, so at least three of the mares knew what I was feeling. Although, by the expressions, I guessed that more than that knew. The disks were a big enough shock, I imagined, but then to find out that a pony had made the transition across the dimensions before and apparently not survived the experience... Everything else about me was just icing on the cake, I felt.

"There are little things inside us?" Rarity asked again, still looking at her forehooves with a shocked expression.

I nodded without looking up. "Yeah. They're inactive until you finalize the link, and only do passive operations without," I summarized, that tired sensation coming back again.

Rainbow tilted to her side and checked the spot where I'd hit her earlier. I winced from the memory, but nodded, them having already heard that story. Well, minus the parts about her liking Applejack, me just excusing it to only wanting to be with Fluttershy and Twilight at the moment. I got the strange sensation that effectively everypony listening knew I was lying, but nopony said anything.

"Yeah, it speeds up regeneration, so you'll heal a lot faster. It also actively fights infection and disease, so you won't get sick again. I can also find your location with them. Then, after I finalize the link, it establishes the mental link for communication and activates a lot of functions that I haven't finished analyzing yet," I confirmed, feeling like I had to keep talking or everything was going to fall apart.

A light clapping noise sounded out as Big Mac closed the checkers board up, it having been forgotten for twenty minutes anyway. Fluttershy looked uncertain, fidgeting a meter or so away from me where she'd sat down when I started talking. "Um, I'm more worried about you. If there's something wrong, how do we fix it? I don't want you to be stressed out so much anymore," she whispered, sliding forward and pushing her muzzle under mine, lifting my head up again so I was looking at her. Fix?

"I'm running scans right now to see if there's anything wrong with my cybernetic parts, but I... I might simply be going crazy. I don't know what to think anymore." That concept was a lot scarier out loud, I suddenly realized. I shivered, but she shifted forwards again and lightly hugged herself to my chest. Twilight watched her for a moment, her eyes softening a little before she stood and walked towards me as well.

She froze less than a meter away from me as I turned my head to look at her. Hesitating, her right forehoof scrapped the ground a couple times before she shook her head and swallowed. "Um, through all of that, you talked a lot about, well, how frustrated you'd gotten, and you never technically forgave us for what happened. At least not me," she pointed out quietly, earning a frown from me.

"Twilight, I said I wasn't ang-" I started to remind.

"Ya also lied 'bout that. Ah'm guessin' yer actually angrier than ah coon danglin' by its tail, given yer reaction while talkin' earlier," Applejack interrupted, sharp eyes locking onto me fully as I looked away. Damn it. I forgot she was kinda like a living lie detector.

Twilight waited patiently, but I just shrugged, looking back over at Applejack instead. "Yeah, I was upset. Sad that they'd made the herd without me, and did the exact thing they said they weren't ready for after sending me away. I... Yeah, I was angry, too. To be honest, I felt betrayed, but none of that really matters anymore. We have bigger issues than my feelings, both in the glitches, and the disks," I reminded, frowning towards the end at her. She knew that. She even knew that the same machines floated around inside of her, too. Didn't that bother her at all?!

The lavender unicorn rapidly shook her head in front of me, however, tricking my focus back to her with the movement before I remembered it was awkward looking at her. "No, your feelings are important, too, Mender. We can't do anything about the information about the other pony until we can talk to Princess Celestia, and I'll help you run all the experiments we need on the disks later, but not until all of us talk about everything that's been happening," she corrected. I swallowed uneasily. Everything?

Pinkie exploded into movement before I could even gather my wits enough to muster a response to that, hopping up above her friends before landing a few meters away from me into a cartwheel, shouting, "Yes! We need to get you cheerful and happy again! I've got to throw a super, duper, awesome herd formation party, and you can't be sad for it. So really, tell us what we need to do to cheer you up!"

A pang stabbed through my chest, and I looked away from her as fast as I could. She froze as I realized the links were still open, and Fluttershy pushed even harder against my fur. "P-Pinkie, please don't, um, throw a party for that until Mender joins, too? If it's not too much trouble and you don't have everything set up yet. It, um, it's only going to remind us of how we screwed up," Fluttershy requested, turning and looking at her friend. Turning down the party? I hadn't anticipated that from either of them, but realized I'd never considered it a possibility. Normally one didn't just turn down a Pinkie Pie Party.

Pinkie slowly sat down normally again, looking surprised for a moment before her muzzle slowly closed into a soft smile. She nodded towards me instead, relaxing there. She'd felt my reaction to it, I realized. She was actually agreeing not to do it? I stared at her for a moment before slowly smiling a little myself.

Twilight snickered a moment later, looking pleased at the outcome regardless. "Yeah, I don't want to have a party either until all of us can enjoy it. Everything you said was important, Mender. We just can't deal with a majority of it yet, however. The information about the pony that the reports talked about will have to wait until we can meet with Princess Celestia. The disks need a lot more testing, but it's up to Applejack and Rarity if they want to get their links finalized. I... Well, I made up my mind about it finally, yesterday," she suddenly revealed. My ears perked up and I turned back to her fully, surprised by that. Normally, Twilight was indecisive about things revolving around me, and that sounded rather final, in one direction or the other.

The lavender mare watched me for a moment, all attention pulled to herself as I waited patiently. Big Mac finally walked up to join the three mares watching, Apple Bloom trotting up alongside him before joining the two other Crusaders, standing next to Rarity. Nopony had gotten upset or angry about the disks, and there hadn't been any panic or hostility about the other news from the report I'd found. That only proved to me that this was a far different place than what resided in my memories. If we recovered from this and stayed friends, we could make it past anything, really.

Twilight nodded to herself a moment later, as if finalizing the conclusion in her head before snapping her focus onto me. "I want you to finalize my disk," she finally stated. I was surprised, but prepared for either answer and tilted my head to her. She rapidly shook hers, probably anticipating my doubt.

"No, I've thought it through for more than enough time, Mender. Fluttershy's right, of course. I'm not ever going to be with anypony else apart from this herd, so there's no reason to be scared of you. I want to be a full member of the herd and join in on everything, even if the links turn out to be detrimental. You and Fluttershy already have to deal with that, so me being the same changes nothing," she explained, apparently having indeed thought about it a lot. It was her decision of course, and admittedly, a part of me loved the idea of her completing the link. It felt like commitment, and her saying she wanted to be connected to me forever, which did a lot to warm my chest up.

There was nothing else for it. I nodded, and she exhaled softly, apparently having been holding her breath. Silly mare. My left eye lit up as my menus flicked to life, scanners activating and locating the connection inside of her, matching the registration on the disk database inside of me. She gave a start, and I smiled lightly, realizing I probably looked weird with one eye glowing blue.

"What's that, Mender?" Fluttershy asked, not showing the concern Twilight had a second ago. There was no worry coming from her at all, and my smile widened, enjoying the sensation of her trusting me.

"I saw something earlier that I wanted to see if it worked or not. A second," I explained, flicking Twilight's data readout into my left eye. Then I activated the mental ping to do a status update. It was something I couldn't do on an individual not with the full link. My smile shifted into a smirk as the 'are you sure' message from before popped up again, exactly like when I had activated Pinkie's disk. Guess I technically didn't have to be touching them after all.

With no more ceremony, I hit yes and the link activated a second later, lighting up and registering Twilight Sparkle, Element of Magic. I shifted back to a soft smile towards her, left eye going dark as I mentally greeted, "Welcome, Twilight."

Her eyes widened drastically, easily seeing my mouth not moving as Pinkie burst into a fit of mental giggling, and Dash tossed in a mental snicker. "This... This is what your mental communication is like?" Twilight asked, both in her head and out loud as she looked back and forth between Pinkie and me.

Fluttershy rested her cheek against my chest, but nodded gently with her eyes still closed, 'feeling' Twilight without needing to look over at her. "Yes. It's amazing for other reasons, though. Emotions can be felt through it, too," the yellow pegasus mentally whispered, a flare of affection and happiness drifting from her and aimed right at Twilight, who outright shuddered and blushed.

"Oh, oh wow. It's sorta like how my mom described the soul linking," Twilight muttered, looking slightly dazed. Heh, Fluttershy's feelings were quite the inverse to her normal interactions, running strong and deep with enough force to overwhelm. Being used to it, however, I loved the sensation and missed the mare greatly over the last week!

Rainbow coughed lightly, snapping everypony's attention to her in an instant after the reasonable silence. "Ah, no, that link is, well, considerably more intense," she admitted. I exhaled softly and looked away from her, awkwardly rubbing at my right temple. Everypony else shot her skeptical looks, and she flattened her ears back a second later.

"What?! It's not a full link, I already said I was sorry, and it was an accident!" she protested an instant later, earning an eye roll from Applejack. I honestly hoped this wasn't detrimental to their relationship, especially if Rainbow ever actually asked her out.

That thought earned me an annoyed glare as I pushed it towards the cyan mare in particular. I sighed as I thought of the additional complications involved therein, but then gave a start as I felt a burst of affection from Twilight instead. Eh?! The distinct feeling of being suddenly pleased about my honesty shot into my chest as she smiled and slipped in next to Fluttershy against me, leaning up and gently kissing me on the lips.

The feedback loop took her by surprise an instant later as I kissed back, her undoubtedly feeling the hot sensations of herself kissing me as I did. She gave a stifled moan into the kiss instead of backing away, however, a newfound sense of trust dancing through her emotions. Now that she realized I had been honest about the situation involving Rainbow, I think she suddenly realized how honest I had been with her so far. Did that mean she was starting to trust me more?

My mind blanked slightly as things distinctly 'more' drifted from her emotions, her wrapping her forelegs around my neck in order to pull me down into her fully, her body heating up against mine. Uh oh. Snapping out of it, everything around me came back into focus as I backed up a few millimeters, coughing lightly. Twilight looked dazed and slightly confused until I gestured to the side at all her friends, giving us a totally stunned look. Well, except for Big Mac, who just lightly smiled. Oh, and Rarity who looked coy. Pinkie looked delighted as well, but I'd anticipated that. The CMC were surprisingly blushing furiously, especially Scootaloo who had rotated around completely and was now pouting in the other direction. Okay, so maybe it was really just Applejack who looked shocked. I intentionally ignored Rainbow, of course, and the slowly rising wings on her back.

"Ah! Err, sorry! Um, I'm still, uh... It's these post-estrus hormones!" Twilight whined, blushing furiously as she shrank down in my embrace. Fluttershy smiled and pulled her closer, hugging her softly while I held onto both mares.

Rarity scoffed, however, walking over to us with an air of amusement, Spike tentatively following her, but keeping his eyes on Twilight instead, as if she might burst into flames in rage or something if he wasn't careful. Actually, she could technically do that, apparently... "Twilight, you simply must not be afraid of your emotions, Dear. You were romantically embracing a stallion whom you care very deeply for, and he for you. Feeling that and wanting more is natural, and you can't be ashamed of that!" she scolded in a lighthearted manner. Natural? Did she just use a sentence involving 'natural' in reference to me? Huh. That was new.

"Regardless, these little things in our bodies don't change nothin'. It ain't like you knew 'bout' em, an' they certainly haven't hurt us yet! Ah say yer fine," Applejack suddenly cut in, thankfully snapping the topic out of the embarrassing directions it had been plummeting. I smiled softly towards her, and she tipped her hat to me. Well, this was turning out better than anticipated so far. Instead of relaxing, however, I turned to Rarity.

Her expression was softer as she examined her right forehoof. I couldn't read her beyond that, deciding she looked either slightly relieved, or slightly shocked still. She hadn't taken it well at all.

"It won't change me or make all my fur fall out or anything, right?" she asked without looking up, as if feeling my eyes on her.

"Not a thing. They don't touch vitamins or minerals, only repairing tissue when needed and fighting foreign agents in your body, such as infection and sickness," I assured, trying to smile warmly towards her. I didn't even know if it was possible for me to make them remove fur in the first place, if I was trying!

She stared at her hoof for another moment before sighing and nodding to herself, setting it back down onto the loose dirt that composed the path through the orchard. "Well, I suppose it will have to do, then. Not getting sick will be a boon, I believe," she muttered, giving me an uncertain gaze that made me feel distinctly sad that I couldn't make her happy.

"Hey, you won't get behind on your work this winter if you don't get sick again! But then I won't get to cook you breakfast in bed or-" Sweetie suddenly started to lament. Wait, cook?! Oh hell!

Rarity glared back over at the filly, shutting her up instantly and causing her to slip backwards a bit, shrinking. "That's quite enough, young lady. You're already in a lot of trouble, so don't press it," Rarity reminded pointedly, causing me to shiver. Yikes!

"Aww, but you told me I cou-" the filly tried to retort.

"I told you no such thing! My permission extended towards 'talking' to Mender about your future and seriously considering what his reply was. Nowhere in that is 'poisoning' him, you'll note!" the pearly unicorn shot back in a surprisingly hostile fashion. She was more than a little scary, but she had a point. Sweetie was a little, well, strange in that regard. Well, no, more desperate than anything. Now we just had to see if any feelings for me at all remained in two years’ time.

A sudden thought danced into my head about Rarity, however, causing me to perk. Everypony looked over at me as my right eye lit up, projecting my data screens from it as I flicked through them with my free left hoof, the other busy hugging two mares to my barrel, of course. It didn't take me long to get back to the actual disk documentation, and slide down to the functions I could input into them. It took a decent amount of scrolling, but I finally found the function I remembered seeing earlier.

"Ah, I forgot. This function actually controls the minerals and vitamins supplemented into, or removed from your system, if I had the full link to you. If you were truly worried, I could use this function to doubly make sure it doesn't mess with any delicate vitamin balances, and whatnot," I offered the mare, looking back to her as she stared in surprise at the writing explaining its use.

"W-Wait, um, when you say supplemented, you mean it can add vitamins to my system? In specific spots?" she inquired, eyes locking onto the 'location' field in the arguments I could pass along.

"Er, well yeah. I'm not a doctor, though, so I've no idea how much to add, or where to apply it, or even what to use, so I was just going to ignore that," I spoke, mostly to myself, I noticed, as Rarity got a faraway look before smiling softly.

I raised my eyebrow towards her, but she suddenly focused back on me specifically, grinning this time. "I'll get you a full list! If you could add things directly to my coat and mane, I shall not only forgive this intrusion into my body, but reward you handsomely!" she assured, apparently totally forgetting about her disgust. Or at least she was giving me the benefit of the doubt now and trying to see the positives.

Smiling, I gave her a steady nod, which she returned, now looking pleased and managing to make me feel significantly better. Applejack shot her a disbelieving glance, but snickered afterwards and shook her head.

"Anywho, Big Mac an' Ah need ta get back ta work. If Ah'm leavin' fer ah few days tomorrow, we gotta catch up on tha farm work. Ah think these ponies have ah bit ta talk about, anyways," she deduced, gesturing towards the three of us as Fluttershy nodded rapidly.

Rainbow finally grinned and nodded towards her friend, agreeing with, "Heck yeah! So leave 'em alone for a bit or I'll toss you into the lake! In the meantime, I'll be helping you catch up with the farm work, AJ." Ha! The lake was a ways from here now, but she probably could pull that off. Applejack probably had a lot of work, however, and I kinda doubted Rainbow could pay much attention to 'guarding' us after she got busy.

"Thank ya, Sugar. We gotta work hard ta catch up an' make up fer lost time after Ah take off again, so yer help's much appreciated!" Applejack thanked, earning a soft blush and nod from her 'friend'. Although, I also noticed she knocked the 'cube' part off of Sugarcube, and wondered at its significance.

"I agree. Let the rest of us depart and give them some privacy. Oh, and any one of us are here to talk if you need it, Big Mac," Rarity spoke up as she trotted past him on the way towards the exit. He nodded back, of course, and for a moment, I impishly wondered what he'd think of the 'toy' she'd had crafted in his likeness. No, I was nicer than that, though.

Sweetie smiled happily and made a beeline towards me instead despite the questionable glances of her friends. Rarity made a harsh clearing of her throat, however, freezing the small filly in her tracks. "Aww! But I just wanted to hug him!" she whined, turning to face her sister again.

"You're still grounded," Rarity returned simply before a blue aura lit up her horn. The white filly drifted into the air in a pout, slowly following her sister to the rhythm of Scootaloo's snickering.

"We'll see ya tomorrow before you leave, Mender!" Scootaloo called out, waving to me happily before bursting off after Rainbow instead, leaving Apple Bloom to trot after her siblings at a slower pace, waving to me as she left. Well, huh.

Only Spike remained, to my surprise. I would have thought he'd have left with Rarity, but instead he stood looking at Twilight. "Can I do anything, Twi? I know you've been, well, upset," he asked, looking a bit concerned for the mare. All three of us smiled at him in our own way, Twilight's looking downright grateful.

"You've been a huge help, Spike. Go with Rarity and give her some help with the cleaning. Since AJ needs all the help she can get, too, you're very much needed back at the library," she assured, causing him to perk up and nod, smiling to the lavender mare. Heh. I could understand a desire to be useful and needed, that was for sure.

"Okay, Twi! All three of you should come back when you're done. I'll get supper ready for everypony," he assured before turning and sprinting after the white unicorn.

I smiled as he left before relaxing, letting myself slide sideways onto the grass next to the path and pulling both mares down with me. Fluttershy gave a surprised squeak, but Twilight started giggling as she pulled the yellow mare further down onto her, both of them pressing into my chest. It was just the three of us now. Like it should have been for Twilight to find out in the first place, but I guess that couldn't be helped.

Relaxing, I went into the last little bit of my 'truth' session, the only other bits of information being just for them instead...