I stared blankly at the door, kinda expecting it to melt out and eat me whole at any point now. It was possibly the most opposing door I'd ever seen, which was impressive, considering it was made of simple wood. It had nothing going for it that the half dozen other doors further down the hall to my right didn’t have. No, sometimes, anticipation was my own worst enemy.

"Come on, Gem. He's our boss, and it's been two weeks since that incident. We're not fired yet, so he can't be that offended by it," Auraprism reasoned, calmly nuzzling against my left shoulder. I gave an uneasy sigh and looked down from the door, frowning.

"I just made a really bad impression on him, and it feels like I need to fix it somehow. Showing up with a stupid progress report and pretending nothing happened just seems so... It feels empty!" I grumbled, gesturing towards the report that was sticking out of my saddlebag.

Aura rolled her eyes. I could tell she did without looking at her at this point just by the way her foreleg moved. "You beat up bullies all the time and don't blink twice or lose a drop of sleep, Gem," she reminded patiently, knowing full well that this wasn't the same. She was just trying to get a rise out of me. And it was working...

"You know this is different! He didn't deserve getting kicked in the face! Or barfed on! Ugh, I probably ruined that nice suit he was wearing," I groaned out, suddenly remembering I technically hadn't barfed on him, exactly. Was that better or worse? Hmm. Possibly dozens and dozens of bits worth of suit cleaning repairs, or getting covered in slimy mare puke? Tough call!

My roommate and fillyfriend rolled her eyes, then pointed out, "It's also different because he just so happens to be a cute stallion, no? I know you better than that, Gemstone Weave. If it was just a normal pony, you'd feel bad but not be this torn up over it." Okay, calling me out on that totally wasn't fair!

I glared at her for a moment, getting a smirk in return until I reminded, "Don't forget, you think he's cute, too. You're just trying to get me to go after him so you can get him by association." My tone was playful, of course, and I gave her shoulder a jab as she switched to blushing instead. Called it!

"N-No... That would be employee fraternization. Um, I'm not sure if that's allowed. That would make things a lot worse than just puking on your boss," she weakly refuted, not sounding all that sure of herself in the first place.

Rolling my eyes, I whacked my head against the door in frustration. "No, I don't think the situation could be much worse, Aura," I muttered, moments before realizing I'd technically accidentally knocked. Ah!

Aura gave me a weird look as I stood up straight and proper, brushing my bangs back into place from where I'd just smacked my head. Oh no! Well, I didn't hear any hoofsteps, so maybe he wasn't in his office? Yes! A hope spot for the day!

A deeper cough sounded from behind us, causing us both to jump with a start as I whipped around rapidly. Of course, I came face to face instead with the very last stallion I'd wanted to see at the moment, a faint blush on his cheeks. Well, that hope spot was short lived! Aura froze as well, eyes bugging out as she took in his presence as well. How had we both missed him?! How long had he been standing there?!

"Um, you're kinda blocking the way into my office," Bastion pointed out a moment later, awkward tone of voice evident. Oh. Right.

"So, progress on the display devices is already out of the design phase?" Bronze Bastion inquired, sounding impressed.

Aura nodded twice to him, finally having calmed down a little after his surprisingly professional obliviousness he'd granted our little faux pas in the hallway. "Yes! While both the visual and audio units are far more complex than what we use presently, enlarging the screen was rather straightforward, and Gem seems to have had no issues allowing the audio to be played back through multiple crystals instead of just the main unit. We're ready to move into testing, I believe," she assured, sounding rather confident of herself. Of course, her work was indeed one of the things she valued most, and seemed to know she was good at. The sound relay system had been cake, though. I could have done that in my sleep.

Bastion smiled at that and looked over our results again. Meanwhile, I looked around his office with all the curiosity of a newborn kitten, taking in all of the wonderful gizmos and gadgets of various shapes and sizes. The only part of his 'office' that actually seemed as such was the desk he sat at, and the filing cabinet behind him. The large floor space had a few plastic sheets tossed down and lightly smeared in various organic oils, undoubtedly as lubricant for the weird machines sitting on top of them. Crystals jutted out at various angles, and I busied myself studying what they each were supposed to do. His mechanical work was masterful, and I had realized the first time I'd come in here that there was a definite reason he was picked to make sure the machine was put together properly. He was awesome! It was a pity he was always so polite and proper all the time.

Actually, it was probably a good thing. If he wasn't a super nice pony, we might have been fired for that little stunt in the hallway... Note to self, I really needed to look up the rules for this group’s inter-employee relations. “It indeed looks like you’re ready to move into the design phase. All right, then. It shouldn’t take much effort to get a working prototype in two or three weeks’ time, right? That still leaves you a week in there to study up for the midterm essay,” he suggested with a wink.

Aura gave a cute blush and wiggled her hooves together for added adorableness, which he, and admittedly myself as well, soaked up. It all crashed apart for me, however, as he continued with, “And honestly, about the party. I told you afterwards that it was okay, Gemstone. You don’t have to feel badly.” Aww, crap.

I hesitated before turning to look at him again, blush reforming traitorously on my cheeks. “S-Seriously?” I stuttered out, annoyed at myself for not feeling more confident. Although I had kicked him in the face, then thrown up on him. Still! “I wasn’t exactly at my best there. Uh…” I managed to add before coughing and looking away.

I could feel his stare on me, but then gave a start as he chuckled instead. His soft ‘amused yet politely quiet’ laugh always unnerved me, as it was different than his normal purely polite and proper feel he gave off. “Well, to be honest, you actually made the party a lot more entertaining than I’d anticipated it would be. I’m… glad you two came?” he attempted to explain, tilting his head in my peripheral vision.

Blinking, I turned and looked at him fully, but found no trace of him lying. It was very unlike him to say, however. “Oh? Oh, right. Normally those things are pretty boring, right?” I suggested, testing the waters a bit.

His shoulders lowered a bit and I watched him exhale before smirking and nodding. “Very. I’m not as old as you might think. Those kinds of events… they’re just not entertaining at all. The only reason I went was because it was being held at my house, and I’m the lead engineer for the project. Sends a negative message if I didn’t show…” he explained, coughing slightly, then snickering again.

I felt my blood freeze a little bit. “Y-Your house? Those were your statues, then?” Aura asked hesitantly, sounding mortified as she nervously wiggled her hooves together again. Wait, that huge estate was his?! It was like a mansion!

Bastion started actually laughing at that. “Yeah, my parents probably would have thrown a fit had they seen them like that! No, I thought it was hilarious. Still, I of course had to put them back afterwards. Got to keep up a collected and organized atmosphere, after all. Although it was a pain without magic. I should have gotten you out there to help me put them back after the party!” he playfully reprimanded, gesturing a hoof towards me. I relaxed a little and smirked at him before sticking my tongue out. Aura saw it a split second later and squeaked, looking back and forth between him and me.

“Psh, they weren’t actually at the party? That surprises me. Did you get them moved back before they got back, then?” I asked, assuming they were his parent’s statues, if they would have been upset. Aura gave me a horrified look, then flailed and made ‘shut up’ gestures towards me randomly. Eh?

He coughed lightly and looked away before exhaling again. “Ah, no. They left their entire estate to me, their only heir. They’ve been gone for a few years now,” he muttered awkwardly. The other horseshoe dropped, skipping off my head like a weight as I swallowed uneasily. Oh. Ponyfeathers!

For a moment, I had no idea what to say, watching him just look to the side like that. Gah! “Ah, um… Look, I’m really dense sometimes, just… Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Um, how did it happen?” I asked, trying to at least sincerely apologize. Risky, yeah, and my fillyfriend looked like she was about to start picking awards up off the shelf and hurling them at me, but I had to at least try.

To Aura’s apparent surprise, he smiled and turned back to look at me again, shaking his head. “No, it’s fine. It was a few years ago now. Engineering accident building the new shielding system under Canterlot. That accident where the one pylon snapped and dropped one of the construction baskets? They were in it,” he explained quietly.

Aura exhaled softly and shook her head before softly muttering, “I’m sorry. You have our sympathies.” I nodded along, and he relaxed again into his chair.

“No, like I said, it was a while ago. It was a terrible accident, but they wouldn’t want me sad, I don’t think. Plus, I think you gave quite a bit of life to the normally empty house, so really, don’t feel badly about the party,” he repeated. Ah! Jackpot! I sensed a possible way to make up for me being dense and potentially redirect the topic!

Smiling, I shook my head, and then added, “It doesn’t have to be empty if you have more parties, ya know? It doesn’t have to be just you. Besides, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of cute mares over.” Sure, it was a suggestive statement, but it changed the topic, hopefully in a useful direction.

His blush told me his answer before he did, but I let him talk anyway. “Ah, no. I don’t have a fillyfriend. Uh, not a lot of time for one, obviously, with all of this new work coming in. Plus, um, I probably wouldn’t even know what to do with a cute mare even if I did,” he admitted, surprisingly honest. Hmm. He didn’t have much of an ego at all. I suddenly felt kind of guilty for being so underhooved while he was being rather honest with us.

I shook my head towards that, and then gave him a more open smile. “You’ve got good looks going for you, and a very honest and dependable personality. I don’t think you’d have any trouble at all. Plus, if a mare, or mares, really likes you, they’re going to be understanding about you still figuring things out, no?” I suggested, regretting adding that plural part on afterwards. Ugh. Too close to what I was actually trying to hint at! Aura even got it as she started blushing again, and looked back over at him uneasily.

Bastion smirked slightly. Ah, ponyfeathers! He caught it. “You think I’m good looking, then? Although I think I heard something out in the hall about that. Are you talking about the understanding part from your perspective, then?” he inquired, sounding both curious and amused at the same time. Only me? Also, he wasn’t as shy as I thought at first.

Having misread him twice now, I entirely gave up on subtleties. “I… Yeah, okay, you’re definitely alluring. Cute, even. I’m inexperienced, too, but learning fast, so obviously I’d be a huge hypocrite if I wasn’t understanding, which wouldn’t be very awesome at all,” I admitted bluntly, glancing over towards Aura, who looked about ready to pass out now. Could you pass out from blushing too hard?

His eyes widened as he looked over at Aura as well, then blushed and coughed. “Oh! Oh, sorry. I, uh, didn’t realize you two were involved like that. There’s no group policy or anything against it, of course, so don’t worry about that. Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to, um…” He trailed off the longer his statement went on, getting quieter and quieter until he just stopped talking. Gah! Back to dense, then. Although now at least I knew about the fraternization rules.

I looked over at Aura, but she was just staring at me with a horrified expression, frozen in place. He was looking away from us, probably reeling from what he suspected was us suddenly being unavailable. It was strange and the whole situation felt awkward more than anything. Wonderful. Still, he was only a couple years older than us, however, and didn’t have any experience dating, so his reaction was justified, if anything. Aura was my first ‘interest’ as well for either gender, so I didn’t have any room to talk. It was weird feeling like the one in control of the situation over my boss and usually very professional fillyfriend, though!

Sighing, I slid off my chair and gestured for Aura to follow. Her eyes widened and I saw her visibly swallow, but actually do so. It was kind of shocking how much she trusted me, but it gave warm butterflies inside my chest at the same time, and I smiled to her. Bastion looked over at the sudden movement, frowning, and then realizing he hadn’t said anything for a few moments.

Instead, he got a questioning look as I slipped around the side of the desk and over to him. “Um, sorry for hesitating. Uh, are you two okay?” he asked, starting to sound a little unsure of what was going on. Confusion? I could work with that!

“Yes, we’re fine. More than fine, actually. Thank you for being understanding about the party thing, and for… surprising me about how you yourself reacted to it. But you’re off by one account,” I warned softly. He blinked, that uncertainty in his eyes shifting to more genuine confusion instead.

He started to open his mouth, undoubtedly to ask what he was wrong about, when I instead leaned up and kissed him softly on the lips, right then and there. He froze, of course, eyes widening dramatically as I leaned into his muzzle. It was only a moment before he shivered and started to lean into the sensation, and I used my left hoof to cup his cheek softly. Aura sat next to me, jaw dropped as she watched the proceedings, and I opened my eyes again and pulled away.

“W-Wha…?” he started to ask, and I only smirked.

“See? I wouldn’t mind… trying a relationship out with you as well. But first, kiss her, too,” I suggested, nudging Aura forwards. She gave a squeak and looked back at me in shock a second later…

Time flew past quickly. It felt like our last semester at school had been a blur. I actually managed to graduate before they kicked me out even! Of course, Aura turned out to be the youngest graduate in the last hundred years, graduating with honors when most ponies were just getting out of grade school and getting their hooves firmly on the ground. Yeah, I was totally envious of her, of course, but I was the first one to admit that she deserved it. Plus it let me meet her, of course. So worth being slightly more stupid! Yes, she whacked my shoulder when I said that.

Dad was happy for me regardless, my graduation ceremony coinciding with me telling him about the new herd. He of course thought that Aura was adorable, but had quickly decided that Bastion was too stuffy for me. I tried not to laugh at that, of course, and only assured that he'd grow on Dad. Afterwards, I took them both to the cemetery to formally introduce them to Mom. It was a far more somber affair and probably silly of me, but I felt like I had to. She would have wanted to meet them.

Auraprism's parents were amazingly kind, which surprised me a little. I thought her desire to excel might have been partly due to their influence, but it turns out that she was just a hundred percent genius. They were happy for her graduation, of course, but downright ecstatic for the herd announcement, claiming that they knew I'd get her to open up more. It went downhill from there, with foal pictures, gushing hugs, and more than a few awkward hints aimed at Bastion that he needed to get to work on making us a family instead with spring coming. All three of us left with furious blushes two hours later.

All of that was three weeks ago now. Mom would smack me for totally forgetting to write in my journal until now. Ironically, she was the one who first gave it to me, hoping it would slowly help with my memory problems. She even showed me personally how to add more pages into the book. The thinner book would go on top, covers and all as I just added a bigger binder to it each time with the pages starting anew behind it. She was a book binder, and I took her lessons to heart. I couldn't look at the original cover without crying, though. She had said she wanted to watch me add more and more pages.

This was my fourth extension now, making the book look like a dictionary, practically. It had over a decade of my life in it, and I wasn't about to stop. I promised Mom that I'd record everything I could into it. Truth was important, especially to myself, she had said. That's what felt so wrong about all of this stuff at BEID. No, there were no regrets, as I'd done what I felt I had to in order to be true to myself. Faking a bad allergy day last week, I'd stayed home in bed. After my two herdmates left, I snuck into Bastion's study. Every single schematic and design revolving around BEID's operations was copied down directly into my journal over the course of four hours. This was a huge breach in security, of course, but I didn't care about that. The truth couldn't stay hidden forever. Eventually, somepony had to read this.

I double-checked the binding again, and smiled as I saw it was dry enough to open once more. I figured that overnight would be long enough for the glue. Bastion knew how badly I felt over keeping everything a secret, and was at least understanding about my concerns. He'd probably be mad if he found out what I did, but it shouldn't come to that. That was one secret I'd have to keep from him for the time being, to make sure he didn't take away the main one. I made a note right in the journal to tell him about it after this project with BEID was done. We'd be starting a new chapter of our life at that point.

Blushing lightly, I remembered yesterday's attempt to console me after our argument about it. Aura had chewed him out for being too insensitive, of course, and he tried to make me supper in my room, delivered to my door himself. Honestly, he should have let Aura cook it, as she was the only one with any real skill in that art between the three of us. Still, I understood a stallion's need to do what he felt was needed. Mares had that too, of course, but tended to show slightly less ego when concerned about it. Still, he was adorable when stammering and trying to apologize, so there was no way I could have stayed angry with him. Even if the food tasted like three-month-old leftovers...

Snickering, I considered it again. I'd forgiven him, of course, but neither of us was thinking very clearly. He was upset over the argument and not in his best frame of mind, and I already was a given, due to timing. It certainly wasn't a bad thing in the least, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Aura's parents were going to be very happy in a few weeks. Were we ready for this? Probably not, but I didn't care. We'd talked it through fully, of course, and neither of us was going anywhere. Aura was actually completely understanding as well, which was a pleasant surprise. So understanding that she even joined in afterwards for a bit of stress relief after that rather tense conversation. Only with me, of course.

Yesterday played through my mind over and over again, and I stared at my journal on the bed. The entries in this section were going to be quite a bit different, I had a feeling. Was I ready to be a mom? It was scary, but oddly, I didn't feel as frightened as I probably should. My herd was going to stick with me, of course, which definitely helped. But no, there was something else, honestly. I wanted to have a foal. It brought a warm spot into my chest when I thought about it, and I realized that it wasn't a bad thing at all. Given that sudden realization of previously subconscious desires, I contemplated if last night had honestly been as 'accidental' as I'd considered before. No, probably not.

Admitting that brought me confidence, at least, and I smiled down at the journal before sliding it onto my bedside stand again. No, I would write more in it later tonight about this. For now, though...

Smirking, I looked over at Bastion, who had fallen asleep next to me. It was something he'd promised not to do while Estrus was going full tilt, and had slept in his original bedroom this whole week prior. Big cities and towns like Canterlot couldn't manage to separate the stallions to a different location each Estrus due to logistics, so other precautions were frequently taken. Still, this was him being naughty, so I wasn't going to let him live it down.

Aura came back from the bathroom a moment later, of course, and gave me a raised eyebrow as she caught my predatory grin. I winked at her, then slipped up next to Bastion instead and lightly started kissing down his barrel. He stirred lightly, and I smirked, mentally deciding to torment him with teasing for as long as I possibly could. Aura snickered, then slipped back into bed behind me...

“Wait, so let me get this straight. You three can set up a trans-dimensional viewpoint relay, but not a hot tub?” Ether pointed out in amusement, standing on the deck and obviously doing nothing to help.

Popping my head up out of the hole I’d been digging, I spit the shovel out of my mouth and glared at him. “Fine, if you’re so smart, give us a hand, jerk face!” I growled. He only laughed, of course. Ugh, this was stupid! I understood that Bastion had a reputation to uphold as an engineer, but we could have just had somepony come out and help us do this! Somepony who, I don’t know, maybe had set up hundreds of these before? The store had even offered!

I turned and looked back over my shoulder at him and Aura after giving up on trying to buck Ether with my mind. Yes, mind. Magic was too good for him. The three of us who were actually doing work were covered in dirt and mud, and Bastion glared down at an incredibly large sheet of paper in front of him, parts strewn everywhere over a good five meters around our hole. Aura frowned and rotated what looked like a pumping system around in the air in front of her, trying various angles to attempt to get a pipe to screw into it.

“You know, I could have gotten parts and put my own together far easier than this. Why are these instructions so needlessly complex?! I can’t even tell what part they’re trying to show in this step!” Bastion growled, sounding more than a little frustrated as he stared down at the paper in an accusing manner. Wonderful.

It didn’t help that it was smack in the middle of summer, either. Princess Celestia’s sun beat down mercilessly on us from above, seeming intent on making everything just that much more miserable. It had been two months now since we’d moved in, and one since we made the herd official. Things had finally begun to resemble normalcy, but no, I doubted we’d ever achieve that lofty goal. Each of us was weird enough by ourselves, so when you put us together…

“Don’t they usually send out some sort of professional to help with this?” Ether inquired curiously, walking down the stairs of the deck and examining our large hole as he carefully walked along the side.

Bastion twitched, then glared up at him instead, and he immediately sat down, waving his hooves up in front of him. “Ah, sorry! I know, I know. You three are totally capable of managing this by yourselves,” he assured, not quite sincere in tone. I always knew his mouth would get him either fired or killed one day. I just never realized it would be by me.

“We have a hole already. Can I just… I don’t know, whack him a few times with my shovel and throw him in? Then we could call it a day and go inside where it’s cool!” I complained profusely, looking back at our stallion, who smirked at that.

Aura gave a snicker at that but shook her head a second later, still not looking away from her confusing array of parts. “Better not. We’re already zoned as residential. I don’t think we’d be able to convince them to switch us to utilitarian,” she warned. Seriously?

“Wait, cemeteries are zoned as ‘utilitarian’? That’s kinda morbid, no?” I muttered, not quite grasping how we’d gotten onto this topic, despite me being technically the one to do so.

Bastion blinked at that, then pointed out, “Gem, it’s a cemetery. It’s not morbid just because it’s associated with death. By definition, it’s supposed to be involved with that process, but in a healthy and respectful way. Thus, not ‘morbid’.”

I glared at him for that, remembering once again how annoying he could get when he shifted into talking about semantics. He totally missed my death glares, of course, having gone back to sending his own towards the instructions. Ether surprised me by lying down on the ridge next to my portion of the hole, however.

“It is rather hot out here. Are you sure you should be out here working like this?” he inquired a moment later, the playful tone being dropped from his voice. Oh.

Glancing back along my side at my slightly bumped out stomach, I shrugged idly. “I’m not some wilting flower, Ether. I’ll be fine doing physical work for a good eight or nine months still,” I assured, looking back to him instead. He stared at me, and I returned it for a few seconds before he relaxed and nodded, obviously not finding any traces of me lying in my expression. Apparently being friends with me for almost a decade meant that I was fairly easy to read. Who knew?

Still… Sitting down, I exhaled tiredly and brushed some of the dirt off my forelegs. Pregnant or not, this was tiring work, and I was more than ready to go inside for a while. Apart from being heavier, I honestly didn’t feel all that different. Sure, my appetite had increased a little, and I was maybe a bit lazier sometimes, but I still felt like myself. Of course, that consideration had me questioning if I had anticipated to feel different just because I had a foal growing in me. I didn’t know what to expect, and it was honestly a little scary now. My herdmates were there for me, but obviously, neither of them quite knew what I was dealing with.

Ether surprised me by sighing a moment later and shaking his head. I gave him a curious upwards glance, and he only chuckled sadly. “Hey, I’m just worried about you, Gem. You’re my best friend, you know?” he corrected after a second’s hesitation. I smiled softly at that, anyway.

“Yeah, I know. This is just new to me, so I’m a bit edgy. Sorry,” I apologized before grabbing my fallen shovel with my magic. Might as well get back to work. The sooner we had this done, the sooner I could get back inside where it was cooler.

Bastion sat up before I did, however, looking down at the instructions in mild surprise. Oh? “Oooohh, that makes more sense. This says that we need a pre-made foundation for it!” he suddenly exclaimed. What…? But that meant all our measurements for this hole were… Arg!

Everything was changing now. We were four months into development, and had a fully working prototype of our trans-dimensional viewpoint relay. Princess Celestia herself had come down this afternoon to see our progress, and was more than pleased with the results. She actually stood within a meter of me! She even told me ‘congratulations’ on noticing my stomach! Beyond my social shock at getting to actually meet the Princess of our nation, that’s where the actual good parts had stopped for the day.

As it turned out, our machine worked. It worked far better than we could have anticipated. We also lucked out majorly, and it turns out the weak connecting point was right next to an inhabited planet on the other side. It was stuck in the geostationary orbital range of the planet, hovering above a rather large land mass on the surface below. It was beyond easy to slip our viewpoint downwards and reach the surface while the Princess was there.

None of us were prepared for what we saw. I don’t think even the Princess fully anticipated the level of abhorrent violence and sheer desecration of natural values we saw that day. The tiny, cat-like things of that planet were beyond warlike, with advanced magic focused into violence and destruction, and a technology level far beyond ours. A good chunk of the researchers had to leave the room, falling physically ill from the sights and sounds. I still can’t bring myself to write about any of it in my journal.

They were complete monsters. The females held complete domination over the much more numerous males of the species, doing anything they wished to them. Even torture and murder! They were also training absolutely huge armies for some reason, and the Princess feared they might be aware of the connection starting to form between our dimensions and preparing for invasion. The room grew cold at that announcement, and I honestly didn’t know what we could possibly do about it. Would the power of the Princess be enough to protect us if those things really did invade?

She had other ideas, however. She said she couldn’t jump to conclusions and ordered us to instead focus on watching their war effort instead of their community and society. She wanted to know what their target was, which honestly made sense. Needless to say, the plan on announcing our findings to the public got pushed back again until we could ascertain the immediate threat level.

I sat there, considering the future of our world while staring at the now darkened control panel I helped to make. Everything always seemed so simple when I was making something and getting my techniques to work. I wasn’t cut out for this high-level decision making. The fate of Equestria? Of Equus? Give me a break. Thank Celestia I wasn’t part of the actual research team! There was no way I could come to a conclusion like what she was asking for.

The room felt as dark as my thoughts at the moment, with only the backlights on and the console gone dark. There were still a few researchers here, whispering in harsh and quiet tones to each other. We were still shaken up over what we’d seen, that much was obvious. It was so unlike our society that it was almost unfathomable. Like it had come from some dark dream that you woke up screaming from, then didn’t sleep well for a week afterwards for fear of it coming at you in the dark. How could they live that?!

I felt them, and looked up and to my left. Bastion and Aura were slowly coming back towards me, with her braced heavily against his shoulder as he helped her along. She’d been one of the first to leave, and our shared sensations told me she’d thrown up multiple times in the staff bathroom. Bastion went back to get her while I stayed and operated the console for the Princess. I knew exactly where she was coming from, and felt kind of ill myself, to be honest. This wasn’t the idealistic ‘protecting the world’ project it used to be, anymore.

“Hey. You okay, Aura?” I asked softly as she was lead back over to me. Instead of immediately answering, she first cleared the distance and pushed her face into my chest. I held her there, sitting down so I could wrap my forelegs around her.

“Yeah. I am now. I… I don’t want to work on this project anymore, Gem. They have their machine. Can we leave, now?” she asked softly.

I looked up to Bastion, but already guessed the answer as he shook his head. “Just a little longer, you two. One of you has to be here in order to use the console controls, at least. Once Watch gets up to speed with how to use it, you two don’t have to be anywhere near it when it’s on from that point on, okay?” he offered, smiling at us again. I relaxed and nodded to him, holding Aura tight as she pressed into my chest.

Sighing, I nodded absently to that. “Yeah, I’ll take over the console controls until then, Aura. You don’t have to see anymore,” I assured. She only nodded softly into my fur, and I frowned, squeezing her close. Bastion slipped up and put his forelegs around both of us, and for a while, I just listened to their heartbeats.

“Yeah, things are getting complicated at work again. I’m still not supposed to tell anypony what we’re actually working on, so you’ll have to wait to hear more, of course,” I explained, resting my head sleepily on the grass. The wind danced over me softly, and I smiled. It was so pleasant here. Part of me always wished I didn’t have to leave, but no, there were things that always had to be done.

Snickering for a moment, I slowly stood up and added, “Also, I have no idea how you managed to move like this. Lugging around this much extra weight is… really tiring.” Turning, I smiled gently at the coffin resting up on the rock incline, the golden sun shining down on it. The forest around me swayed in the soft wind as I trotted up and put my forehead on the hard wood, feeling my horn slide along it. She’d been gone for so long, but I still found myself coming here a lot. Maybe I couldn’t let go, like Ether said.

No, I couldn’t stay here any longer. I lifted my head and smiled at the soft cloth that covered the glass top to the coffin, and bowed one last time in respect before waddling my way back down the rocks. Range of motion suffered the greatest, especially in my back legs. What really sucked was I was only seven months in! I’d really be ready to have this foal when the time came around, that was for sure!

It only took a little bit of waddling for me to make it back to the Long Road, and then head back towards the way we came in. Morning Dove was waiting on the path for me, snoozing lightly in the grass until I got closer. The older mare smiled and lifted her head as I approached, the haze and lights of the ethereal forest dancing around us.

“Ready to go back, Dear?” she asked softly, voice rattling a little bit as I helped her stand up again. She was the caretaker for the Canterlot Cemetary, and the head Necromancer here. She said she liked taking me to see Mom so often, and I was one of her most dedicated visitors.

Smiling, I nodded to her and followed along after through the parting mist. It always felt like no time at all passed until we stepped out in front of the grand mirror that marked the entrance to the Long Road. I didn’t pretend to fully understand what was behind it all, but I’m not sure anypony did. This was the Ether. I stood in a place that was between worlds, where all of Equus buried their dead. The great forest was theoretically infinite, as nopony had ever found the end. Maybe the Princess knew? The mist kept going forever, too, parting only as you walked along the road. It always felt like the same time passed, no matter whose coffin or burial area you were visiting. Only a trained Necromancer could perform the ethereal jaunt required to pull both of you here. The huge forest also extended off to both sides, a perpetual stream running along its left, where the coffins were. Well, where a Necromancer placed them after the ceremony and memorial was complete.

I smiled as we walked up the steps to the huge mirror, the warm breeze drifting around us. This place always calmed me down. If you looked closely off into the forest, you could see the faint images of ponies playing. The ones near the coffins were always those resting within. I learned a long time ago that it wasn’t actually them. Morning Dove explained to me that the hearts and thoughts of our loved ones often travel back to their descendants, even from the Ether. That causes the faint image of them to be seen in the forest. They were usually too far out to be reached, however. That was the only rule of this place. Never, ever go too far into the forest. If you lost sight of the road…

Both of us stepped through the surface of the mirror. I could see us resting on the other side, bodies asleep as our minds went into the Ether. Those who left the road would never return to their bodies, and never wake up. They’d pass quietly in their sleep here, in front of the mirror on the other side.

The transition was instant, and I gently opened my eyes, adjusting to the dim light as Dove yawned and stretched next to me. “Always a pleasant nap, regardless. Did you get everything you wanted, Dear?” she asked pleasantly, smiling over at me. Necromancers were the guides of the spirits of ponies. They handled visitation into the Long Road for those wanting to pay respects, and also coaxed lost and confused spirits into the Ether where they could rest and be with their families gone before. After a pony dies, they leave behind the magic inside of them, and the essence and sentience behind who they are. Sometimes, the event can be sudden however, and confuses the spirit left behind, to the point where they can’t move on. That’s the second duty of a Necromancer. To talk to them and explain, then help them along to the Ether. The third duty is taking the coffins to the Long Road after the memorial, of course. My father had suggested I become a Necromancer, and I spent a year learning a lot about them. Of course, he also trained me martially for possibly the guard at the same time. But then I got the request to attend University due to my performance in grade school. Mother was ecstatic and begged me to take it. She passed away before I made up my mind, and for me, that sealed the deal. Dad understood, of course. Maybe I really couldn’t let go?

“Yeah, I think I did. This is going to be the last time I’m going to come for a little while. Work is getting crazy, and it’ll probably be a good month before it calms down again,” I warned, staring back at the mirror. The mists expanded on the other side, and again, I felt that hollowness after leaving that place. I could see why some Necromancers didn’t come back.

She smiled and nodded to me, adding, “It will always be here for you. Peace on your travels, young one.”

Bowing to her, I turned and headed up the stairs out of our family mausoleum. Yes, each one had a mirror, even though they lead to the same spot. I guessed it was so each family could have a small tribute on this side, too. The cemetery itself was surprisingly small, only holding a single building for each major family in Canterlot.

To my surprise, Bastion was waiting for me when I stepped out of the mausoleum. He smiled softly towards me and nodded as I approached, welcoming with, “Hey, Gem. Aura told me you came here after work, and I wanted to be here when you got out.” I blushed softly, a bit taken by his gesture before nodding and trotting fully up to him, kissing him gently on the lips. He pushed back for a moment before breaking off and nodding back, grinning now.

“Heh, I missed you, too. I’m okay, really. You don’t have to worry about me. I just, uh… Well, I come visit my mom a lot,” I explained, probably unneeded at this point.

That warm smile didn’t leave his face, and he simply shook his head. “Don’t worry about that. I visited both of my folks before picking you up as well. I just… wanted to show support for you,” he furthered. At my lift of an eyebrow, he quickly tacked on, “No, no. Don’t even start. I know you can handle things on your own, but… Well, it’s the herd’s foal growing in you. We’re here for you as well. You don’t have to do everything yourself, you know.”

Sighing, I nodded and joined him as he turned and headed for the main gate. “I know. I’m sorry if I’ve been… prickly, of late. I’m just under a lot of stress,” I apologized. He’d assume it was just from our repeated ventures into the other dimension and seeing all of the horrible stuff there. He’d be partly right, of course. But it was also due to me stealing an abundant amount of data from BEID at this point. That’s really what it was. I was stealing in order to be honest. Kind of ironic.

“I know. I think we’re almost done now. Princess Celestia got the full report today, after we finally managed to slip through their barriers over that master library we found. She has the full details on the Grosh now,” he informed. I flattened my ears back but managed to nod as we walked. For as bad as these ‘Keldarians’ were, the ‘Grosh’ that they were fighting were even worse. I guess the abyss really does stare back.

I shook my head before asking, “What do you think she’s going to do?”

He was quiet for a long moment before finally speaking again. “To be honest, pull the plug on the project. We’ve already proved they don’t even know we exist, and the longer we keep spying, the more chance there is for them to notice something. The window of opportunity for full transit is only five years wide,” he reasoned. Yeah, that would make the most sense.

It was curious, to be honest. I had to ask, of course. “Is that the end of the organization, then?”

Chuckling, he shrugged as we sat on the corner, waiting for a taxi to pass the street walkway. “I’ve no idea. We’ll need to wait to see what Princess Celestia says after she reads our full report. What will you do after, if so?” he asked in return, glancing back over towards me. I saw a bit of unease in his eyes, and smiled, taking a guess as to his concern.

“Well, I think I’ll be a mother for a while, and spend time with my wonderful herd,” I softly assured, adding a bit of teasing emphasis to that ‘herd’ part before nuzzling him. He grinned and nuzzled back, kissing my forehead under my horn afterwards. My herd…

Ponyfeathers! What a total and complete mess! Slipping my labcoat on, I managed to tie it with only the first cord. The second and third wouldn’t fit due to my swollen belly. In the haste to get ready, only having a half an hour or so, I didn’t have any time to grab breakfast either. Today sucked. Aura smiled hesitantly at me as she helped me straighten the back portion of my coat out, then nodded.

“Bastion’s already taken off to meet Princess Celestia. Are we almost ready? They’ll be expecting us soon,” she asked, sounding almost as nervous as I felt.

Sighing, I nodded to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. “Yes, I’ll be right there. Run the console through its runtime tests first, just to make sure everything is running smoothly. I just need to settle my stomach, then I’ll be right there,” I assured, smiling confidently at her.

She nodded and gave me another kiss before heading for the entry hall, and I closed my eyes. It felt like I was always rushing lately. After I heard the door close, I pulled out my journal and started to put one last entry into it before I left. Hopefully it would have a much happier one following it by next week, once the stress died down.

I hesitated for a moment, however, and touched my swollen tummy. My foal was inside. We knew it was a colt now, and I smiled at that. My little colt. I was starting to wonder what I’d name him, which was probably a bit silly this soon. He still had a few months to go before he saw his first light, after all.

Humming gently to myself, I cradled my stomach with both forelegs and just smiled. On quiet nights, I could hear his tiny little heartbeat if I focused inside me long enough. To be honest, I wasn’t scared anymore. This was probably the best decision I’d ever made. It was almost to the point where I was getting impatient now. I wanted to meet him so badly. Maybe, one day, I’ll give him this journal, and he can continue from where I left off. Yes, he should be the one to read it in the future.

That decided, I flipped to the very inside of the original cover. I’d not written in this section for years now, and it immediately brought back memories again. Slowly, I wrote on that first page. “Hopefully we’ve shared thousands of conversations by the time you read this message, but I want you to continue with this journal. Then maybe give it to your foals, and then theirs. I just want to let you know that I love you, and am proud of you, no matter what. This shall become our family heritage.” I made the handwriting as neat as I could. It would be embarrassing if he couldn’t even read it, after all.

Chuckling to myself, I suddenly remembered Morning Dove’s words to me, and smiled as I added them afterwards. “May you have peace on your travels; always.”

Pleased with the results, I nodded to nopony in particular and flipped back to where I was writing before. Yes, that would be enough, I hoped. The last of the secrets of BEID that I could get, plus a bit of stress relief venting. Quickly then, I finished up the latest entry before heading out the door. My little colt…

“Cause of death?”

“Severe blunt force trauma to the skull and upper three spinal disks. We believe she fell from several meters up, wherever the tear appeared at.”

“…she would have died instantly. The size of the brain indicates these could be sapient creatures. She didn’t get a chance to rotate in the air from that height?”

“Apparently not. Either she was unconscious when she came through the tear, or she willingly chose not to. The interesting thing is that it’s practically the only reason that the offspring in her body survived at all. She took all of the force from the impact using her entire upper body. Almost perfectly.”

“You? Admire a specimen? That seems surprising, Doctor Kyliona.”

“No, of course not! I’m merely noting that it indicates advanced training. Possibly martial, to know how to fall like that. Besides, it would have been better off had she herself survived to be frozen. We might have been able to reproduce the creature, then. The child is male.”

“You’re very right there. Very well. You have full release over the child and the remains of the mother. Both are frozen and shall be delivered to your laboratory later this afternoon. Let’s hope they truly contain that strange energy you feel can save us all.”

“Oh they do. Trust me… they do.”