Oops. Well, things rarely went according to plan anyways. I just attributed it to my horrible luck. Pinkie extended her right foreleg towards the filly, phasing right through her transparent back, causing Purdue to yelp and spin around, backing away from her. "Oooh, who are you?" Pinkie quickly asked.

Purdue shivered, looking vaguely in the direction of the mare and shrunk down a bit, pushing her tummy to the floor of the cab. "Pinkie, don't scare her!" Twilight ordered, frowning towards the little filly.

"M-Master, are you here? Something went wrong. I can't see without the book being on," Purdue whimpered, looking around the room. And she had to call me that in front of everypony...

Twilight gave me a questioning glance, and then looked back to the little filly with dawning understanding, but I slipped off my seat and onto the floor before she could say anything. "Purdue, I'm right here. Can you hear me?" I asked gently. Her ears perked up and she spun in my direction almost instantly, making two bounds before piling into my chest. "Purdue, it's okay. Something went weird with the dimensional transfer. They can all see you for some reason," I told her gently.

"They... They shouldn't be able to see me! They can never see me..." she muttered, burying her face against my chest. She was so tiny compared to the others. Even the Crusaders were huge compared to her.

"You're the filly that's in Prudentia, right? Purdue, was it?" Twilight asked gently, smiling down at her as she perked up and looked her way. I slid the book off my side and set it down next to Purdue, who seemed to suddenly become aware of it.

I nodded for her, and explained, "Yeah, this is Purdue. Normally, when I talk with her, I experience a time dilation effect and nopony else can see her. This is definitely new."

"Oh, she's adorable!" Fluttershy squealed, then promptly blushed and covered her mouth. Heh, it would be a tough battle to decide who was more adorable. Purdue, Fluttershy, or one of the Crusaders. Honestly, none of them would win because all the judges and onlookers would be dead by the end of the contest...

Purdue busied herself feeling along the book, frowning as she traced its lock with her dark blue hooves. Her mane was also just as pretty as I remembered, me attempting to brush along it with my hoof to keep her calm. It was moderate in length and straight, her apparently having not aged a single day since I last saw her. Must save a fortune on mane trims. With them side-by-side like this, I saw that her colors really did match the book's almost perfectly. Her mane and tail were two-toned copper like the binding and lock, and her coat was the same blue as the body of the book.

"This has never happened before. I shouldn't have been able to be closed out of the book! I'm a part of it!" she exclaimed a moment later, shrinking down and away from the world in general while hiding against my chest.

"Purdue, calm down. We'll do anything we can to get you back in the book if that's what you want. You don't need to be scared," I assured, picking the book up again and examining the lock. I'd only ever seen it open that one time, and I didn't have a clue how I did it.

Purdue exhaled softly for a moment before looking up at me instead. Her vision wasn't as focused as it normally was, and I realized she couldn't see me. Her milky eyes stared blankly in my direction before she slid forwards and just rested against my front. "I, um, I can open the book, Master. It would let me back in then, but... Can you promise me that neither you, nor anypony here will look inside of it?" she asked quietly a moment later.

"Eh, why don't you want us looking inside? What are you hiding?!" Rainbow asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes towards the little filly.

"Relax, Dash. Ah don't think she's hidin' anythin' dangerous. 'sides, it's not our book ta look through," Applejack reminded, smiling softly towards the little filly as she leaned back in her spot.

Smiling, I chuckled to myself before shaking my head. No, my life was complicated enough without seeing what was inside that thing. I had a sneaking suspicion that it would make things a lot more complex... "It's okay, Purdue. I promise that nopony here is going to look in the book," I assured.

To my surprise, she looked surprised instead and actually stopped as I set the book down next to her again. "Um, you didn't hesitate. Could I maybe ask, well, why? You aren't the least bit curious?" she inquired weakly, her own curiosity apparently getting the better of her.

"You told me not to, so you must have a good reason for it. You've never given me bad or malicious information or advice in the past, and I trust you not to now," I explained. I didn't think it was that hard of a concept. When somepony acted in a consistently honest and helpful manner, they deserved the benefit of the doubt from time to time.

The little filly stared at me for a moment longer before smiling and looking down towards her hooves. "Trust, huh? I... I guess I should trust you, too, then. Yeah, I think I do trust you. I'll be back later tonight after you go to sleep and visit you in your dreams. Um, I think I should finally tell you more. Twilight and Fluttershy can come, too," she offered. Oh, this should be interesting!

Nodding slowly, I added, "That would be good. Hurry and reattach yourself to the book, though, before you run out of energy," I reminded, rotating it around to face her again. Of course, given what she mentioned to me before, that was just my best guess as to what would happen if she didn't get back inside the book.

Smiling, Purdue lifted just the front cover of the book, the lock suddenly not being there anymore. I raised an eyebrow, but she hesitated for almost ten seconds while staring at the white page in front of her. Everypony watched her curiously as she slowly turned back to me instead.

"Um, can I ask you one more thing, Master?" she timidly asked, eyes softening slightly.

I sighed and shook my head, offering, "Only if you stop referring to me as Master. You know I don't like that."

Purdue blushed and nodded lightly, explaining, "I, uh, I could do that. What I wanted to ask you is if I could call you something else? P-Please?" Something else?

"Err, what do you want to call me instead?" I asked, unsure of this suddenly. This was a rather unorthodox request.

The little filly closed her eyes softly before nodding to herself and exhaling. "Can I, well, pretend that you're my big brother? J-Just for today, even?!" she asked, looking back up at me with pleading eyes. Eh?! Her big brother? Why did she want that? Well, I suppose it didn't matter, as I kinda did think of her as a little sister already.

Smiling, I nodded to her, adding, "That's not that hard to do, then, Sis. Just get back in the book and rest, okay?" Her eyes expanded to full size and a pink tint hit her cheeks again almost as fast as her grin.

"Ah, thank you, Big Brother! I'll see you tonight!" she exclaimed, slipping her hoof under the cover. She was gone an instant later.

Silence prevailed for a good thirty seconds as everyone stared at the book, the cover having closed after she faded away. The lock was slowly materializing back onto it, leaving quite a window of opportunity if one of us wanted to open it up again. She was capable of instantly unlocking it, but locking it again took time? Either that or she was testing me. Heh.

Picking the book up, I simply hooked it back up to my side instead, ignoring the lock that was slowly appearing again. Twilight exhaled quietly, and then snickered to herself. "Admittedly, I trusted that you were telling the truth about the filly, but I never anticipated ever being able to actually meet her," she pondered, looking back over to me a moment later.

"I somehow doubt she was expecting that either. She panicked easily enough after realizing something was wrong, but otherwise spoke and acted like an individual many years older than she looked," Rarity observed, frowning towards the book as the lock finally snapped on again.

"I don't know how old she is, but she appears to be stuck permanently at that age, so you're undoubtedly right," I revealed, earning a pleased smile from the pearly mare.

Pinkie looked a bit sad, however, edging back over to the book and sliding her hoof along it. "That's actually really sad. She's been stuck in this book for who knows how long. It must get so lonely in there! She should come out more often, and I'd throw a party for her!" she declared, slapping her right hoof down on top of her left and giving me her best determined look. Oh boy.

"Uh, I'll ask her, but she's a bit antisocial, if you didn't notice. She doesn't trust anypony. Not even me," I pointed out.

"Um, she seems to trust you at least a little bit. Especially now. She looked surprised when you said that," Fluttershy added, sliding right and pulling me back up and into the seat next to her. She promptly lay down fully and rested her head and upper body against my left hip. Smiling, I eased her further onto me and gently rubbed her left shoulder with my foreleg as she rested there.

Spike looked distracted, however, and shook his head next to Rarity as he looked up towards me. "Honestly, she just looked scared. If I were suddenly dropped into a situation where I was blind and in a totally unknown area, I'd be scared, too," he defended.

"That's just the thing. Normally she can, well, 'see' just fine. She's still blind, but it's as if she has some supernatural awareness or something. Maybe the book gives that to her?" I pondered out loud, scratching my chin.

Twilight absently shrugged next to me before sliding over and mirroring my position with a smile. Ah. Heh. Pulling Fluttershy over, I rested myself against Twilight's hip while Fluttershy rested against mine, becoming a pony pile on the seat. Things were, well, improving, I admitted. Despite as painful as the last few days had been, maybe it would help us in the long run?

"The itinerary is set, anyways. We check in with the castle first, and then move our things up to the guest rooms and my old bedroom. Then we'll need to meet with Princess Celestia in order to figure out what she has planned for us for the next three days, in order to sync what we wish to do with her plans," Twilight explained suddenly, closing her eyes as she relaxed into the soft cushion.

"What exactly are our things ta do, anyways? Ah thought we were pretty much only 'ere ta meet with tha Princess?" Applejack asked softly. That. That was a very good question, as I had thought the same thing.

Twilight sighed, however, and added, "It turns out Shining and Cadance are in town as well for some reason. Our mom and dad heard about us both being here, and asked us to come to supper on one of the days. You're all invited, of course." Oh, I didn't mind her parents, or Shining, but this was the first time I'd be meeting Princess Cadance. I wondered idly what she was like, and if she'd tease me as much as Velvet did. Her being the Princess of Love didn't bode well for that...

"Oh, that ain't so bad, then. Ya got anything else planned?" Applejack inquired, sounding more pleased now. She'd definitely be one to support a family event, I realized.

"Yes. Octavia Melody oddly sent the organization a letter, with regards to Mender, of course. I'm sure you all remember her. She heard we were coming to Canterlot and apparently didn't have my mailing address. I corrected that. Oh, and she wants to treat us to supper on one of the evenings as well. Desperate to, even," she revealed.

Octavia? It mildly amused me that Twilight sounded more pleased about fixing the address issue, but I wondered why Octavia suddenly wanted to treat us. Wait, how did she find out about the trip? This was intentionally kept a secret...

"She undoubtedly still feels indebted to Mender still for saving her life. As a high-class mare, I bet she knows many wonderful places to eat in Canterlot!" Rarity exclaimed excitedly. Okay, that didn't surprise me at all. Although she'd never actually 'talked' to Octavia, and I felt she'd probably be in for a bit of a surprise there. The gray mare was far more down to earth than she gave the immediate impression of.

"Probably. I don't see why we couldn't, so long as nopony else wants a supper with us. We're running out of evenings. Anything else, Twi?" I asked, nuzzling her hip gently.

The lavender unicorn blushed down towards me, lightly shivering at my touch before frowning and looking away again. Uh oh. "Uh, yeah. There's one more place. I wanted to stop by the Marriage and Herd Licensing Branch," she revealed. Oh...

Fluttershy perked up, and Rainbow got a confused look on her face, but Rarity softly smiled towards the mare. "Ah, I see. Going to attempt to fix this unfortunate blunder?" she asked gently. Could it be 'fixed' as easy as that? I knew Twi was technically a princess now, but she wasn't one to abuse her title for things. Plus, she seemed to indicate that it was kind of embarrassing for her...

Twilight swallowed uneasily but nodded a moment later. "Yeah. Mender is a part of our hearts, and it's only fair that he be a part of the herd, too. Surely I can do something about it, being a princess," she suggested, rotating until she was on her back. I slipped, of course, landing on her tummy instead with one of her back legs to each side of my waist.

"Are you sure you want to do that? Given our penchant for media coverage, especially in Canterlot, it might get ugly," I warned. Last thing I wanted was a repeat of last time.

Twilight frowned and looked away from me instead, considering it for a moment before nodding slowly. "Yes, I'm sure. This is more important than even another repeat of last time. I don't care what other ponies think about it. I, well, Fluttershy and I only care about what you think, Mender. And don't try to say otherwise, because we know you're upset over it," she answered, cutting me off preemptively as I opened my mouth to say just that. Damn. Was I getting predictable or something?

Rarity smiled softly, and Applejack outright grinned a moment later, however. "Darn right! Ah fully support this decision. Do ya need some 'bodyguards', or do ya think it'll be fine?" the farm mare asked, smirking at us. Heh, her version of 'bodyguard' was liable to put the paparazzi in the hospital instead...

Twilight giggled but shook her head, assuring her with, "I'm sure it'll be fine. These are just what-if sort of things. I don't plan on going there tonight either. All of today is just for getting Princess Celestia's itinerary and settling in." That made sense, for the most part.

"Unless your parents find us. Then it will also include supper," Rarity reminded, earning an eye roll from Twi. Heh. Hopefully just supper. I don't think I could stomach another interrogation session.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just focus on the inevitable for now and deal with variables once we get there. Everypony okay with that?" Twilight finalized. After a round of agreements, we settled back in. It was strange, really. We were starting to feel closer than friends now. Like a team. I wondered idly if Twilight had felt this sort of thing to the others all along. The Elements of Harmony had been a team for a long while, really. Like superheroes, but without the weird costumes.

Snickering to myself, I earned a strange glance from Twilight before settling back in myself, shooting the mental image to her and earning a squeak. I'd never tire of these links...

It was a new record! An hour and a half and I was already regretting coming to Canterlot. Nervously, I fidgeted lightly in the heavy armor that I wasn't used to wearing, feeling bulky and immobile in comparison to the natural stuff I could have popped out. Still, this armor was regal and polished, with gems laid into it. My armor was gunmetal gray with twisted ridges and rows of razor sharp teeth and tentacles. Yeah, for a 'press conference', this was probably ideal.

The old wood creaked lightly as I shifted back and forth on my hooves while standing, trying to keep my left leg from shaking. I'd lied to the poor, flustered maid who had to help me get all this crap on and said that the bands weren't too tight on my leg. In reality, it ached something fierce already and I was eager to just get all of it off. Twilight stood to my immediate left, and further to her left was Shining, who was currently talking into the microphone.

I tried my hardest to look anywhere but out into the crowd of ponies, noticing the overcast day and light wind chill. That was one good thing about the armor, anyway. Metal was never worn bare, as it would chaff the skin right off somepony over prolonged exposure. A soft leather was under the plates and straps, and was quite warm, if not a bit rubbery feeling. Oddly, the higher qualities of the fake leather felt stranger to me, being a little too polished and slippery to feel 'normal'. This armor was made specifically for me for my new 'role,' it turned out, so it was high quality, to my dismay. Tia laughed, of course.

"Yes, again, this organization is a joint venture between three individual cities to lessen the burden all around. Princess Cadance and I personally escorted twenty-five guards of the Crystal Empire here to be part of this effort, and Manehatten has granted another twenty. Adding to the twenty-five royal guards already assigned, we plan to host seventy ponies as the main defense force. This is only a preliminary estimate, and subject to change depending on how things go," Shining Armor continued, answering the questions of reporters as the event went on. Sadly, this time I had to sit through the logistics aspects. Pony taxpayers liked being informed as to where their bits were being spent, go figure.

Fluttershy kept sending me reassuring thoughts from the sidelines, thankfully, the rest of the elements sitting in chairs behind us on the low chance that somepony asked a question regarding one of them. But they were already well known, and that was undoubtedly unneeded. Lucky them.

"What's the time span of this venture?" one of the reporters asked, raising a hoof in the front row. Ugh. You were supposed to raise the hoof first, and then be nodded to for question asking. Nopony listened, it would seem.

Shining was apparently a veteran of many conferences, however, and didn't even give an annoyed sigh. "Indefinite. Although the guards themselves will be kept in reserve until actually needed, apart from training. Research and preventative safety measurements will be constant, however," he returned. Yup. Of course, he neglected to mention that I had intended to do that anyways. I sure as hell wasn't about to let somepony like Nirru back into Equestria, even if I had to personally murder them for trying. Let my status as resident abomination be good for something, anyways. That thought was a bit rougher than intended, earning a skeptical glance from Twilight and a chastising mental stare from Fluttershy. They were definitely not giving up this time! I didn't know whether to be honored or saddened.

"What's the estimated influence this organization will have on society?" a mare asked upon being nodded to, standing up and showing her colored vest. Purple with blue stripes? My database activated, popping up the picture I'd snapped of the color reference guide that was put up at the entrance to the large, outside Plaza. Ah, 'Equestria's Society of Responsible Parenting'. They would indeed be worried about that.

"If things go as intended, little to none. All technology discovered by this organization is only to be applied to the defense of the citizens against outside threats. Beyond that, we hope to directly influence nothing," the prince explained, without hesitation. His skills in dealing with social things made me jealous.

Zoning out again, I returned to looking at the floorboards under my hooves. There were still thirty-seven small nicks in them, which hadn't changed from the last time I awkwardly counted them, both terrified and bored at the same time. It was an odd juxtaposition of emotions, honestly. It kind of gave me the urge to run away in blind panic, like most social events did. So in retrospect, just the norm for me?

"Are there any safeguards in planning already?" was asked, catching my attention. Aww, crap.

Shining sighed at that and nodded before looking sympathetically in my direction. Well, it was unavoidable, of course. Shivering lightly, I nodded oh so slightly, and he turned back to the crowd. "Yes, there is one in planning already. However, I'm not the best to ask about that. Our head researcher, Moon Mender, can answer that one," he assured. Damn it!

Swallowing nervously, I heard the click of my mic turning on as I rotated and walked around the podium Shining relaxed at, going across the other side of the stage. Maybe it was my hypersensitivity at the moment, but I heard every creak of my armor, and every echoing step I made under the magnification of the microphone.

Reaching the other end of the stage, I peeked up behind the first curtain row and saw the screen that was rolled up and attached to the stage overhead. Yeah, that would do for the projection system. It was some seriously fascinating crystal arrays they used to magically project things onto the screen, and admittedly, I was interested in seeing them work. My left hoof glowed, and I ignored the light muttering that started up as my energy danced upwards, forming a thin barrier line that hooked onto the pull down tab. Smiling to myself, I tugged it lightly so the screen would unroll and lower.

Of course, nothing happened. Raising an eyebrow, I tugged again with my foreleg this time, tilting my head as it jarred, but didn't fall. What, was it stuck? I wondered when the last time they'd oiled it was. Great. I shot a frustrated glance towards Twilight, who walked over as well and looked up at it, tilting her head.

"Apologies. We appear to be having technical issues with the display screen," Shining noted, addressing the crowd after watching us for a second.

"It's not coming down?" Twilight asked, lighting her horn up and tugging on the ring as well. Huh. She either didn't trust me, or thought that it would have different results when she did it. Either way was probably bad for-

I was interrupted a moment later when it was discovered she did indeed have different results. Frowning, I felt a twinge of frustration go down the link and she pulled again, just 'slightly' harder this time. I watched the support struts warp and stepped forwards, putting my shield up over the surprised unicorn a moment before the entire display crashed down on top of us, blowing my mic out with a thundering blast and bringing the support lights down as well.

Ten seconds later, six guards had rushed up on stage and Twilight was giving them a very sheepish look as we stood amidst a series of sparking and twisted bits of metal and burning screen. Well, this was about on par with how I'd expected the day to go, so no surprises yet, I noted. Hell, this I could deal with!

"May I suggest getting a chalkboard?" Rarity offered from the sidelines.

This turned out for the better, anyways. Having to draw all of my diagrams and information manually meant that I got to stare at the board for a majority of the time rather than the hundreds of ponies in the crowd! The few glances their way to answer questions about the details of my plan were spent staring over the crowd instead, and trying to not shake loud enough to have my rattling armor picked up in my replacement microphone.

The drawing had intentionally been kept vague, as the workings weren't needed for the general public to know about. It was a huge, crystal strut on the ground that would link to a slightly smaller one put high in the sky. It needed to be as high as possible to cover as much of the planet as it could, and to minimize the energy requirements to keep it in place by lessening the gravity. It was easy to explain that part to the crowd by referencing them being able to see further from a really tall tower.

Once the top of it was as high as I could get it, it expanded a matrix of crystals through the atmosphere, all tuned to each other to form a 'web' of detection magic. Any disruptions of a dimensional nature from within or below the web would be detected and broadcast to the main spire, and thus, us. We'd have the location the dimensional gate opened at, and be able to send a response team there to investigate almost instantly. Later on, I was hoping to upgrade the tower to be able to actively block the 'connections' to Equestria as well, flipping them back around on themselves to halt any intruders before they even set foot, claw, hoof, or whatever they had on our soil.

To my surprise, not only did most of the ponies understand my concept, I appeared to have general approval. Being covered in a protective 'blanket' of magic seemed greatly appealing to them. I couldn't fault them, as everypony enjoyed feeling secure and protected. That same reporter in the front row, however, raised his hoof.

"Do we have any guarantee that this will actually work and not just be a colossal waste of resources and time?" he asked, far before Shining even nodded to him.

I felt myself twitch on the inside lightly, and a soothing nudge was sent down the link from Fluttershy. I exhaled, nodding gently to myself as I answered, "I've dealt with all of this before on a smaller scale and it worked then. Of course, we're going to build a smaller model first and run many tests on the design before committing any resources to the larger, full project." Duh. No, we were going to build a giant space construct out of expensive materials before even testing it to make sure it worked. They thought I was an idiot, didn't they? If it was one thing I knew how to do, it was engineering.

"Not entirely what I meant. I mean, what proof do we have that you know what you're doing? Could we see your credentials, please? Maybe your place of learning and some letters of recommendation?" he continued, not even raising his hoof this time.

Another twinge of irritation went through me. To my surprise, a lock-on target appeared on his head. I killed the process again and sighed, making a mental note to check on that stupid user interface program. It appeared to have a few errors in it, and was just a tad too touchy to my emotions.

To my surprise, Fancypants stood up from his seat further down the front row instead. "Moon Mender's a graduate of Starswirl's University of Magical Aptitude, and holds a degree in both Engineering and Metamagical Application. On top of that, he's spent six successful years undercover in the field until a month ago. Nopony in Equestria is more qualified for this position, and all of this has been made public knowledge and posted in the castle. Further, I suggest you follow the rules if you wish to remain in this conference," he warned, in a surprisingly stern speech. He was personally standing up for me, and I smiled towards him, nodding gently as he sat back down, returning my polite nod.

The reporter glared daggers at him, but with the equally stern stare from Shining, he slowly sat back down before making a statement of throwing aside his notes. Heh. Whatever you think, jerk.

Thankfully, the rest of the questions were both uneventful and significantly more positive. I just held the conference as a success due to me neither passing out, nor having the stage collapse on me. Shining Armor continued the rest of the meeting by discussing the actual funding and materials for the spire, and the time frames involved as I sat back down between Twilight and Fluttershy, the former giving me a soft peck on the cheek as I relaxed.

Smiling, I looked back at her and we locked eyes. It was hard to stay frustrated when these two lovely mares supported me like this. Fluttershy didn't even want to be here up on stage, but had insisted because she'd be closer to send 'stronger' support vibes down our link. I adored them both, despite the mistake. Sure, it had hurt and made me doubt myself, but we could get past it. I wasn't going to give up on the two of them for it, and that decision made me happy. I wasn't running away this time. Her eyes showed the same level of affection I felt for her, and I momentarily got lost in them until she released me from her subtle spell.

I eased back against the rest behind me, our chairs effectively being cushions sitting on the stage and propped up behind us against a board for a backrest. Twilight and Fluttershy each rested their heads on my shoulders, and I relaxed, just listening to the rest of the event with only halfhearted interest. They didn't need me for this part. Now I could just let the stress out.

"I think you did amazing for not having anything prepared. And the stage trying to kill us," Twilight agreed, walking alongside us as we followed Shining Armor.

He snickered ahead of us and looked back, grinning at his sister. "I thought you were gonna pass out from blushing after you destroyed the stage like that, Sis! Now that was hilarious!" he shot back, earning another blush and glare from my lavender fillyfriend.

"I'm just glad neither of you were hurt! That was scary," Fluttershy spoke in a relieved tone, exhaling as she pushed with barely restrained possessiveness into my left side. She stuck with me all the way through the discussion with the other representatives as well, despite Twilight only maintaining a loose distance from me. Well, I knew she didn't like large crowds in ways similar to mine and assumed it was that, but I certainly didn't mind either way. Actually, she could be as 'clingy' as she wanted. She was beyond adorable and nopony would hear complaints from me.

"Eh, if it's my sister, she can handle it. Although it's nice to see that her choice in coltfriend has skills, too. Oh, and that the ever lovely Fluttershy is with her, too," Shining continued, pouring on his 'court' charm, I'd imagine.

Twilight saw right through it, of course, and rolled her eyes, but I noted the blush on her cheeks. Heh. "Yeah, yeah. When do Mom and Dad want us there tonight?" she asked as we turned the side of the stage and headed down towards the awaiting coaches.

"Eight sharp. Don't be late, Sis. You know how Dad gets," he pointed out, making me shudder. Okay, so I hadn't had the best of introductions to Night Light. Still, we seemed to part on better standing thanks to Octavia. Oh, speaking of!

"Oh, I was going to ask you, Shining. Do you want to go out to eat tomorrow night with us? Miss Octavia Melody wishes to treat us all to food at her favorite restaurant, and I figured I'd extend the offer," I spoke up.

Twilight gave me a surprised glance, and then smiled warmly as a burst of happiness shot down the link. Eh? It's a pity the disk links weren't as accurate as the other ones, or I might be able to actually figure out what she was pleased over. Shining smirked towards me as he rotated around, walking backwards.

"Oh, lead cellist in the Canterlot Royal Orchestra, right? The one you saved? Sure. Cadance will want to come, too. She's a fan of classical," he agreed, nodding towards me. I smirked back as I noted his attempt to earn brownie points. That I could respect, as it felt... Well, it felt really amazing to be able to treat ponies to things. Income would feel even better. The first amount of bits I earned, I was so taking Twilight and Fluttershy out to dinner. Our first real 'date', if that was the right word for it. Keldarians didn't exactly have it, so it would be a new experience for me.

"Talking about me, Shiny?" a female voice suddenly spoke up. Shiny? Oh. My eyes widened as a pink mare stepped out from behind one of the multiple waiting stagecoaches in the street. Her coat was a little softer pink than Pinkie's, and she bore a very unique mane of violet, rose, and gold that flowed well past her shoulders. My eyes shifted up to her horn a second later, and then noticed wings on her side as well. Oh!

"Ah, there you are! Are the guards settled into the barracks, then?" Shining asked gently, picking up his pace and trotting rapidly up to the mare. I'd guessed who she was already, but the kiss they shared upon him reaching her sealed the deal.

She broke away from him with a grin and nodded, adding, "Getting along quite well, yes. I think the new accommodations are to their liking. We might have to upgrade our barracks back home so our guards aren't envious of the tales they tell about the grand Canterlot one."

Shining grinned back towards her as we walked up, Twi running ahead and right up to the mare. "Cadance! I was hoping you'd be here. I'm excited to see you again!" she chirped, earning a softer smile in return.

"Twi! I'm glad you're here, too. And what's this I hear from 'our' mother?" Princess Cadance teased, winking towards the lavender mare. Oh! Uh oh... I wondered idly if she'd approve of me, and if she was aware of those oh so lovely newspaper articles a while back.

Twilight blushed and wiggled a little before grinning and nodding. "I'm in a herd now!" she announced. Oh. That. Never mind.

Princess Cadance giggled and nodded, revealing, "Yup! It's the talk of the town! When they posted the new herd listing and it had both a princess and an Element Bearer on it, the newspaper reporters about flipped! I bet you're going to be getting some interviews while you're in town, too. Congratulations Twi! Fluttershy!" Oh hell. Yeah, time to find some place to lock myself up and hide for a while. I so didn't want to get anywhere near the level of awkward this was going to bring about.

"They what?" Twilight asked, voice shifting deadpan as her eyes widened. Huh. Maybe it was a surprise to her as well that the herds were posted publicly. Okay, now I didn't feel so badly.

Shining scratched his temple, looking a bit awkward as he coughed. "Ah, yeah, figured that was a mistake. So, should I ask what happened?" he inquired curiously. Twilight shifted a little on the pink side as Princess Cadance raised an eyebrow towards her husband. I had a sneaking suspicion that she wasn't told about me. Knowing Shining, he was probably being cautious... Or wanted to see if their dad killed me first.

"Estrus happened. I was so stupid! We, uh, we were foolish and left out Mender," Twilight admitted, closing her eyes and lowering her head a bit.

Rarity, who had stayed back with the other Elements when we approached the Princess, stepped forwards and coughed lightly. "Might I suggest we take this conversation to a more private area?" she offered, gesturing towards a few reporters looking towards us in surprise, one getting out a notebook. Damn it.

"Oh, yes. Of course! Let's head back to the castle," Princess Cadance suggested, gesturing back towards the carriage she was next to. Well, this was going to get awkward indeed...

After the awkwardness of Princess Cadance questioning why I'd chosen their carriage to ride to the castle in, I didn't think the day could get any worse. Oh how wrong I'd been. Hauling our luggage through a swarm of reporters at the castle gates had been horrifying, and I think I got a pencil shoved up my nose at one point. Guards were dispatched as we arrived and had to physically clear a path to get into the castle. If I hadn't already known for sure, this firmly cemented the fact that I never, ever wanted to be a celebrity.

"Well, that was unexpected," Rarity murmured, straightening her hair again after a crazed mare had tried to snort it. At least, that's what it looked like from my angle. I admit I might have been wrong, as Spike knocked her away far faster than I thought possible. He was seriously protective of her, that was for sure!

"Darn tootin'! Ah mean, seriously. Ah think Ah saw some o' those reporters over at tha conference. How'd they beat us 'ere?!" Applejack asked, straightening her hat on her head. It had gotten jarred about after she shoulder-checked a stallion away from Fluttershy, after all.

"Oh dear. Oh dear," Fluttershy murmured, shivering lightly. I smiled and pulled her against me, kissing the top of her head as Twilight turned around and smiled at us.

We all relaxed in the first tower's common room now, away from prying eyes and the public in general, thankfully. Twilight slid over next to us and nuzzled Fluttershy softly, adding, "It'll be okay, Fluttershy. I think we should call our parents in here to eat rather than going out to supper. It's way too hectic out there with the conference just finishing." That. That was a really, really good idea. I was all for that.

Fluttershy nodded twice, then buried her face into my chest as I held her. Cadance, as she requested I call her, smiled on and nodded. "I'm sorry if any of that was offensive, again. I'd only heard a tiny bit about another member, Shiny saying he wasn't supposed to talk about it yet, and when I saw only you and Fluttershy on the herd, I thought it had fallen through and didn't want to bring it up," she confessed.

Twilight sighed and nodded, glancing back at her brother with a skeptical look. "I'd only told you not to tell anypony publicly, you know. You could have told Cadance," she assured.

"Heh, it's better to be safe than sorry with you, Sis. Anyway, she knows now. I'm sure that you can fix the herd thing, too, if you just talk to the ponies in the herd and marriage office," he assured.

Twilight twitched, and I felt her anxiety spike up again. "B-But now they're posted! Everypony is going to know that I screwed up, now!" she exclaimed, turning in a circle as she paced. A knot formed in my throat, but Fluttershy shook her head rapidly.

"Twilight, I screwed up, too. We need to fix it, no matter what," she whispered quietly, pushing up against me again.

I sighed and shook my head, interruptIng with, "Both of you, it's fine. It's only a month wait, and then nopony has to reveal anything." Honestly, they were both political figures now and had reputations to look out for as well. Sure, it was a stupid mistake, but honestly, if I had to take one for the team, that made the most sense rather than one of the Elements of Harmony, national heroes.

Twilight scowled at that, but to my surprise, Cadance coughed instead, waving a hoof towards me. Eh? "Uh, actually, incorrect. It's a month until the hold on changes to the herd is lifted. Unfortunately, if they add you into the herd then, instead of a normal member, you're listed as an 'appended' member for a three year trial period, holding no actual standing in the herd during that time, and subject to termination if any other member flags a warning, settled in court," she corrected, as if quoting from a book. Oh. No, actually, Princess of Love. She probably knew how herds worked. I had no idea how to even process that last part. Well, three years wasn't too-

"Nope. Yeah, no. That settles it. I'm going down there tomorrow and fixing this," Twilight suddenly decided. Ah!

"Twilight, you have a reputation to-" I started to warn. She let out a feral scream and tackled me an instant later, causing Applejack to have to bail out of the way as we rolled past. My head finally stopped spinning to the lovely sensations of a mare on top of me, and giving me a rather intense kiss. Eh?!

It didn't take but a moment for my brain to short again and I sighed softly, pulling her further down on top of me as she relaxed again. Okay, yeah. She could do whatever she wanted. I heard Cadance giggle a moment later and suggest, "Twi, you should take that to your room. Go. Servants will bring everypony's bags up."

"Heh, are you sure you're not in heat still, Twi?" Rainbow asked, snickering in our general direction.

"Mmm, just the hormones. Heh. And no, I'll be, um, fine. We need to report to Princess Celestia before doing anything else," Twilight assured in a surprisingly honest manner before standing up and sliding off me. Fluttershy slipped up to my left side a moment later and helped me roll over.

Rainbow's grin only widened, and I inwardly groaned. Here it comes. "Especially each other," she agreed, nodding sagely. Ack!

Twilight scowled, but Applejack beat her to the punch with a grin, asking, "Ya got plans fer somethin', lover girl?" I lifted an eyebrow towards the orange mare as she trotted past Rainbow and whacked her in the side with her back left flank, sending the smaller, cyan mare tumbling sideways. Not that she'd have been able to properly react with the shocked blush on her face anyway, I imagine.

"N-No! I meant them!" Dash quickly protested, scrambling to her hooves again by kicking off the wall. I snickered, and Twilight outright grinned at the display, of course.

"Ah, you've returned, and are quite energetic, I see," suddenly cut us all off, coming from the entrance. Tia came in casually, followed by two royal guards in flanking positions. Everypony bowed, except Shining, Cadance, and me, who simply lowered our heads in respect. I still remembered my promise to treat her like normal.

"No, no. Rise. This is an informal meeting. I merely wished to talk to Twilight and Mender about what is planned," the sun princess explained, smiling to the bowed ponies.

Twilight hopped up at that and nodded to her side, Spike digging a scroll out of her saddlebags, followed by a quill. As if expecting it, Tia just smiled and waited patiently for her student to get ready to take notes, Spike passing the stuff to Twilight. I just sat down next to Fluttershy, preparing to listen and opening a note database on the side, where I kept all my other important dates. Electronic memory was so much more reliable than my organic one...

Tia waited for Twi to nod towards her before smiling and starting, "This is a very important series of events, and I wouldn't have called you here otherwise. I know this is close to Applejack's harvest time, and that prime business periods are after estrus for both Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Not to mention a race coming up for Rainbow, if I recall." Heh, yeah. Applejack complained about that for most of the trip.

"Oh, banish the thought, your highness. We know this must be very important," Rarity assured, bowing her head politely again.

Tia shook her head, however, gesturing behind her towards the guards. A smaller mare stood close to one, and walked forwards at the gesture, her soft lime horn glowing with magic as she lifted up a pad of paper. I raised an eyebrow, but Tia continued with, "Obviously this is important, but you shall not go without compensation for your lost profits. This is a royal accountant, who shall discuss such matters with you after this." Oooh. Well, yeah. That would go a ways towards making Applejack happier.

Twilight seemed oblivious, of course, her funds technically from royal stipend already and unaffected by her physical location. "Admittedly, I am curious as to why it is you asked for us. Um, is the accountant..." she started, trailing off as she looked towards the mare. Her mane was an interesting forest green and gold, and she had a light lime or pea green coat, giving her a very green feel overall, making me dizzy if I stared too long. Oddly, her Cutie Mark was three coins growing off what appeared to be a sapling, like oddly smelted fruit.

"Ah, yes. This is Ecoshine. She's one of my best accountants, and also in charge of the funding side of Dimensional Regulations. She's very skilled at budget growth, and takes a strong liking to eco-friendly awareness," the Princess explained. Ah. Both guards were also registering on my database as employed by DReg so I didn't even bother, there.

"Mmm, hello!" the mare greeted, sounding more like a filly with her higher pitched voice and bubbly manner of enthusiasm. I smiled and nodded towards her, and then looked back to Tia, who looked pleased. Twilight nodded as well and sat down next to Fluttershy and me instead, relaxing.

Celestia considered it for a moment before nodding to herself and starting with, "This is the preliminary setting up of Dimensional Regulation. It's to acquaint the four primary leaders of the organization with their respective duties, and get the organization started on its first two assignments." Oooh, she didn't waste any time!

Twilight smiled but shook her head a moment later. "I don't imagine Princess Luna needs much explanation, considering she's just our main task director. I also know that I'm head secretarial position and will assist Mender and Shining with their duties. I've read the entire handbook," she assured, earning a snicker from Applejack and Rainbow behind her.

"Oh, I suspected nothing less, my ever faithful student. This is more for Moon Mender and Shining Armor to get acquainted with the soldiers and their duties. I'm sure you'll help them both?" Tia elaborated, smiling towards Shining and me respectively.

"Of course. My brother and my coltfriend? I'd help them even if I weren't head secretary," Twi pointed out, giggling to herself. Heh, sometimes I had to remind myself that she was my fillyfriend, but then she did things like this and made me feel like it would all work out in the end. Which was good, because given my general luck, we'd need all the help we could get.

Shining Armor nodded slowly as well, me noticing out of the corner of my eye as I ogled his sister. Wait, that sounded wrong. "To clarify, I'm the commander and organizer of the soldiers, and Mender is strategic and tactical support, as well as research head?" he asked, smiling over towards me a second later.

Tia nodded again, shifting into a more relaxed posture and smile now, apparently pleased that we all had our duties already explained. I knew mine, anyways. Make toys to make any invaders' lives hell, and make sure the troops knew how to best use them. Oh, and pointing out things in battle that I noticed while thrashing Equestria's enemies. I noticed I took a gleeful sense of enjoyment out of anything that made use of my cybernetics. Carefully avoiding any implication of deeply-ingrained bloodlust on my part, I imagined it had something to do with making them 'useful' in my mind. Them being actually valuable for something balanced out the hell they'd made my life so far, anyways. At least a little.

Although, all that left an interesting question. As a leading member of Dimensional Regulation, how much did Shining know about me? Tia continued, however with, "Indeed. Everypony seems to know their duties. Of course, I remind you all needlessly that Dimensional Regulation's main goal is peaceful avoidance of dimensional incidents. We research forceful methods purely as defensive measures to ensure we ourselves are not caught unguarded by those, well, less inclined for peaceful relations." Oh, very diplomatically worded, Tia. "Regardless, if such an event does break out, Shining Armor shall shift to a position of commander, and Mender becomes both our tactician and, unfortunately, our trump card. You know the potential invaders' ways, and have the abilities to counter them. I sincerely apologize, Mender," she continued a second later.

I swallowed, then noticed Shining Armor didn't even blink, and guessed he was informed fully about me. Slowly, I nodded towards her and offered a weak smile. "I'm used to being a soldier. At least... At least this makes what I am something useful for Equestria, even if it's just a precaution," I returned, acknowledging what I'd been already considering for a while.

"Mender, you're already useful. Even without all of the extra parts. But, um, if I may say so, you're something far more important than useful. You're wanted," Fluttershy muttered quietly, nuzzling into my left side to punctuate it afterwards. I blushed lightly, my head whirling at her words. Wanted? I was wanted?

Twilight giggled and saw the moment of weakness almost instantly, not wasting the opportunity to pounce. Well, metaphorically instead of literally this time. "Yes, you're wanted. You'd better not think you aren't. There's a reason both Fluttershy and I said specifically that we screwed up. That meant you not being with us forever in a herd was an 'accident', not 'intentional'. You're very, very wanted," she quickly assured, nuzzling my other shoulder and sandwiching me with mare. Okay, I could get used to that!

"And don't forget, you're friends with everypony in the room! Well, maybe minus the two guards because I don't think you know their names, but I'm sure that'll change soon!" Pinkie reminded, flailing up behind us and using us as a landing platform, flattening me down instantly. Okay, maybe not so pleasant anymore. Still!

"Aurora Bastion and Emerald Blaze," I muttered from under her, causing her eyes to widen significantly. Both guards looked surprised, too. Oddly, I wondered at their names. Emerald signified green, and Aurora could have been a feminine name, but both guards were white stallions with blue eyes. Kinda like some creepy form of clones. Ignoring imagining their Cutie Marks as bar codes or something under their armor, I wondered at the effect. Their flanks had their rank and number engraved on the armor where a Cutie Mark should be, which was the only way I identified them.

"Somepony memorized the roster. Impressive!" Cadance chirped, looking on in amusement at our pony pile.

Tia smiled and nodded pleasantly towards me, deducing, "Undoubtedly he copied the entire roster into those fancy cybernetic parts of his. I'm sure you have a way of doing that, right?" Heh, dead on, and showing an uncomfortable level of insight into how a computer functioned.

"Yeah. I have the full database," I assured, flicking my left eye into projection mode and popping it up to float in the air in front of me, slowly scrolling through the rather long list.

Shining looked on with widened eyes as I scrolled through them, but Tia just nodded at it. "Very good. I'll get the most basic matter of business out of the way first. All that's needed is for Twilight and Mender to oversee the construction of a headquarters, bunker, and research center on the outskirts of Ponyville. Construction begins underground after winter hits, and above ground this spring, due to urgency," she informed, losing her smile a bit as she looked back to me.

I nodded, assuring her with, "That should be easy enough. I'm experienced in all forms of construction due to my other self, and can design it as well if needed." Figured I might as well offer my services, before somepony else did for me, anyways. It wasn't something I was used to. The other me just had things assigned to him, and then either succeeded or died trying. Literally. I guess he was rather successful!

"Splendid! That speeds things up significantly. Ecoshine will give you the details after this. That leaves one more matter of business to attend to while you're here, which will be discussed in detail tomorrow instead, but... Well..." Tia trailed off, averting her eyes and nodding to the guards behind her. Aurora snickered and nodded, heading back towards the large doors. Eh?

Twilight tilted her head towards Celestia, but the Princess just smiled and shook her own. "Let's just say, she was rather eager to meet you all, and, uh, one of you again," she revealed. Oh? Oh...

The door was opened a moment later, and oh so familiar mare entered, smiling softly towards us all. I immediately noticed there were glowing bands around her hooves, but they didn't appear connected to each other or restraining her in the least. "Um, hello everypony! Heh. Hi, Mender," she called out, waving sheepishly in my direction.

Twilight and Fluttershy gave me surprised and confused glances before I smiled and returned, "Hey, Snapshot."