I was so very, very tired. I rested my head on the table I sat at and slid the brass key around with my left hoof. This was utterly pointless. Around me were various jewelry and baubles that were all pretty in their own right, but no questions were answered, and nothing was solved. The only thing I had concluded was this individual had sent me the jewelry box either purely for sentimental value, or I was missing something very fundamental. There was no magical energy here on anything, nor was there any alteration to any of the crystals that were probably Aura’s. I even checked the box over and found nothing in the way of hidden compartments. Everything seemed to match.

The key slid idly along the wood, and I frowned. Okay, so maybe the problem was with my expectations. I sat up again and looked over all of the items, determined to at least make one more attempt at gleaning some sort of information out of them before assigning them all over to pure sentimental value in my mind. Three necklaces, assumed to be Aura’s, each of varying shapes and crystal colors. They each had a silver chain, and were very pretty. They also looked hoofmade, which didn’t surprise me given her profession and capabilities. The crystals in them didn’t even register when we used magical scans, however, indicating they’d never even been touched. The chains had a very light enchantment to keep them strong and clean, which they did pass on to the crystals, but didn’t really prove anything. Twilight had explained that a lot of jewelry had that type of enchantment, but suggested I show them to Rarity later, given her talents.

After the necklaces came two simple hoof bangles. They were silvery in color, and adorned with a gentle vine pattern along them with a basic clasp. Derpy had pointed out earlier that they were wedding bangles, worn by ponies who were married in official capacity. The fact that there were only two of them really depressed me after that, and I slid them aside. That left only a mane tie, which was a woven golden band and a crystal clasp meant to hold up the mane in a certain way. Aura really didn’t have much in the way of jewelry.

Everything else I assumed was my father’s. There were only two other items in the box, both being curious but not very enlightening. A rather beautiful copper toned pocket watch with matching chain was present, although not functioning. It was mechanical, and I assumed there wasn’t chance at all that it would still be ticking after a few hundred years. There was no cover on it, and it had run down on sixteen hundred hours sharp, surprising me by being in military time. The knob at the top remained unturned, and I didn’t touch it beyond that. I didn’t need a watch, and would rather preserve his as it was. Besides, Clocky might get jealous.

The last item, or set of items, I guessed, were two forearm bracers that were very, very much customized. They were made out of some sort of hybrid metal, and latched together with leather straps. Attached to the bands were dizzying amounts of mechanical parts, fully adjustable and looking like they could extend a variety of tools and such straight out of the sleeve of whatever coat one happened to be wearing, up to and including several documents stored against the shoulders. They were very impressive, and I recognized them from the description in my mother’s journal. They didn’t really answer anything in particular, but I could definitely see myself wanting to copy the schematics down and try to make my own.

That left me at a dead end. There were no unaccounted or secret drawers in the box, and they were all opened now. All of the items were removed and set apart, and there was nothing informational or revealing about any of them in particular. Sitting on the stool, I glared hard at the idle watch on the table before sliding it away from me. My head gave a throb at the noise it made while moving, and I winced. I'd been up here for too long. It didn't help that I got very little sleep last night, either. Still, my urge to just start smashing things was surprisingly high, and I had to will myself to keep my feelings in check. I guess it was stupid to imagine a few clues would be in every strange box sent to me by an anonymous individual bearing items of my parents that they somehow kept away from the rest of my family for the last few hundred years. I was silly like that.

More yelling came from downstairs a moment later, making my head ring painfully. "Discord! Rearranging just the titles of all my books is not helping me re-shelf them!" Twilight screamed out loud, probably with enough decibels to get it to Fluttershy's cottage on the edge of town.

"What was that?! I couldn't hear you over the sound of my ringing ears from the last time you yelled!" Discord retorted. This was followed by what sounded like a set of cowbells going off, and I sighed. If I caught him unaware, I bet I could slice his head off with a tentacle before he had a chance to teleport! Just one slice! Gah.

My body must have heard me, as my vision distorted a moment later and targeting reticles lit up and highlighted several inanimate objects in the room that looked like they'd be really cool to slice into a few pieces. I sort of agreed, but just killed the process for it. That system was inside the black box where my cybernetic controls were all shoved, so I couldn't get at it yet to actually fix the stupid interface errors. A glance showed my decryption at forty percent, which was fairly good given that I only started it a day or so ago. Still, slow!

My tentacles extended a moment later, and I rapidly started placing the items back into the drawers where I found them. Once the jewelry box was locked up good and tight again, I slid back in the stool to get up again. The stool's back leg was immediately caught on a slightly bent nail head, and my eyes widened as I slipped backwards.

Thankfully my armor popped up fast, but I still bashed my head into the corner of the smaller bookcase behind me, and felt my entire skull vibrate. Wincing, I cursed a few times under my breath as I held both sides of my head with my hooves, curling up into a ball. Damn it! This is why you make sure to flatten or cut off nail heads!

Snarling, I kicked the stool across the room, then slammed my hoof down onto the nail, trying to flatten it. I realized that my foreleg had augmented itself a heartbeat later as the whole tree shook under the force of the impact, and a fracture line shot across the board. Oh. Oops.

"Discord! Knock it off! What did you do this time?!" Twilight screamed within seconds. Double oops.

There was an amused chuckle, followed by, "Such hostility! Why do you always assume that any disruption to the peace is I?" Well, actually...

There was no answer from Twilight, and I could only imagine the delightfully skeptical, disbelieving stare she was giving him. After a brief pause, he appended, "Oh, right. Well, this time, I assure you it was not I. It came from upstairs, undoubtedly from your very, very interesting robot coltfriend.” Well, technically I wasn't a robot.

Double-checking that I'd flattened the nail, I activated my Alteration magic to seal up the fracture in the wood. Twilight let out a squeak a moment later, and predictably, I heard hoofsteps on the stairs not long after. It sort of amused me how sometimes she forgot she could teleport. Regardless, the plank was sealed up again and the glow fading by the time she got to the top and slid into place a couple meters away from me.

It was a bit harder to see her in the now bad light, but still not dark enough to switch over to my optical scanners. I'd been up here long enough to make it to dusk, and the room was bathed in a dim orange light, coming from the last sliver of the Sun as it sank beneath the horizon. It was enough to make out her panicked expression, not that I needed my eyes to realize that. At this range, I could use the link to get information on her heart rate and nervous twitches, even.

"Mender, are you okay?!" she quickly asked, her horn lighting up and flooding me with purple light, flaring up my headache again. Slightly less okay, now!

"Um, yeah, I'm okay. My stool slipped when I got up," I excused. Her frown told me she didn't buy it, but I supposed that I had to try. Given that the link worked both ways, it was only going through the motions at this point, though. It was really, really hard to lie to them.

She lifted her eyebrow before deducing, "That was a bit loud for just a fall. Your hoof is still glowing with symbols, too, which probably means you just finished repairing my floor, right?" Aww, damn it! Mentally noting my obvious slip, I quickly dismissed the channeling effect into my hoof. Yeah, I'd given the floor time to stop glowing, but totally forgot to turn the stupid effect off on me! Elementary mistake.

"I... I'm sorry, Twilight. I got angry after I slipped and hit my head. I repaired the damage," I muttered, looking down at the floor to make sure I really had. It was smooth again, as I'd left it. I'm glad I didn't pull the hoof back now, or I might have broken through the floor...

She exhaled softly and slipped closer, momentarily blinding me with the horn light before dimming it to just a soft glow. I rubbed my eyes and looked back up at her just in time to get a soft kiss on the lips before she embraced me against her chest. "It's fine, Mender. I'm just glad you're not hurt. I'm getting a bit worried about these anger issues, though. Do you need to talk to somepony about them? If you don't feel comfortable with Fluttershy or me, there is a professional-"

I cut her off by rapidly averting my head, then shaking it. "It's... No, it's nothing to worry about, Twilight. I didn't sleep good last night, and I have a bad headache now," I excused tiredly. She gave me another squeeze and nuzzled into my neck before nodding.

"Just relax, Mender. Stop trying to examine the jewelry box for now and take a break. I'll run you some bath water in a bit and help wash your back. Fluttershy's also coming over in a little bit to stay with us tonight, and help bandage you up again. Maybe we'll even get you a massage...?" she cooed softly, earning a little blush from me just because of how she said it.

Coughing lightly, I pointed out, "That sounds good, but the water will probably be cold by the time you finish reading up on massage techniques." She got a smirk at that, and I grinned back, feeling a little better, admittedly.

"Joke’s on you. I'll just have Fluttershy show me her techniques. I heard you love getting massages from her," she shot back. Eh? Wait, Fluttershy had never given me a... Oh. My cheeks felt hot as my eyes widened when I realized Twilight had actually told a dirty joke!

Her cheeks lit up too as she averted her eyes, and I smiled. But she got herself with it, too, I noted. "I'm not sure a beginner should start with that sort of massage. Plus, I'm not sure I trust you with the hot wax and horseshoes," I retorted.

She snorted, of course. "Ha! Well, I'm confident enough in my abilities to at least- Wait... What?!" she asked, losing her train of thought midway through as her brain finally processed my statement. I started laughing, and she switched to annoyed rather fast. "Normally, I'd be miffed, but it actually feels kinda nice to be flirting with you again," she added after another moment, relaxing as her smile returned. I was suddenly keenly aware of her holding me against her so closely still, and she blushed, undoubtedly picking up the awareness as it flashed through my mind.

Instead of letting me go, however, she smiled further, in a soft manner as her eyes timidly closed and she pushed into another kiss. I closed mine as my right foreleg slid up her back, squeezing gently around her and against her shoulder. Shivering, she slid forward and pushed me back against the very bookshelf I'd just brained myself on, my new contact with it far more pleasant than the last. Everything was more pleasant with a warm mare in your arms, being affectionate.

The tip of her tongue tasted my lips, and I let her inside with a shiver running the full length of my back, kind of enjoying the new, more confident Twilight. Maybe the kiss on the train had given her a bit of assurance after all? I heard her groan, feeling the vibrations against my mouth as I gave her back another squeeze and slid my left foreleg down, rubbing along the more sensitive area her Cutie Mark was on. While not an erogenous zone, I had learned that the area of the mark was a very potent link to the body's inner magic system, much like the forehead. Shooting a bit of energy out of my hoof had predictable and oh so awesome results of getting her to groan fully, shivering so hard she almost crawled into my lap.

The moment felt perfect. I was confident in myself for once, and the heat in my chest surged forth. Twilight was amazing, and I wanted to just hold her and squeeze her forever. It was just us now, and I could feel her feelings burning down the link and into my chest at this range. She wanted to stay with me forever, too, and knew that I felt the same way at the same time. Her knowing that I knew also fired off, and we reverberated back and forth with our emotions, forming a cascading happiness that even overshot the physical sensations of her caressing my tongue, pushing her muzzle against mine as if she were starving.

Nothing else mattered. Everything faded away until I was just holding her and pushing back, my own tongue dancing with hers as she pulled me back into her mouth instead, heat stirring through her body as she pushed against me harder, fully in my lap now. Her soft squeaks and gasps were like music dancing along through the wind, like petals of fallen flowers and...

Wait. A petal landed on my nose and I blinked, backing away from her and looking at it. Her breathing was heavy and her cheeks flushed now as she looked momentarily confused, and then frowned at the petal as well. Everything around us really was dark, and it was as if we were in a spotlight, with soft music playing in the background. When did...? Oh hell.

I gave an irritated look up at the spotlight above, and saw Discord's face grinning down at me. Damn it! "Aww, were the flower petals too much? I was trying to help!" he quickly pointed out. He had a rather lecherous smirk on for trying to 'help'...

"Pervert!" Twilight yelped, firing off a large blast of magic at almost point blank range to him. I yelped and dove to the side as the heat radiated against my fur, and Discord promptly screamed like a little girl and disappeared. The blast smashed into the ceiling instead, discharging into some sort of electric miasma that blackened the wood along the area of effect. Were 'stun' spells supposed to produce that much heat?! Of course, Discord was made of rather stern stuff, I imagined.

"I shouldn't have offered to entertain him, I guess. I didn't think that sort of thing was entertainment to him. Now I'm never going to feel comfortable in my privacy ever again," Twilight groaned, glaring up at her crispy ceiling now.

Shrugging, I pointed out, "I guess if you spend hundreds of years as a lawn ornament, a lot of things are entertaining. Although I imagine intimacy is entertaining to watch for a lot of ponies. Rainbow seems to enjoy it..."

My fillyfriend blushed at that, and then nodded absently, looking back down at me. "Yeah, although part of that is just because it's you. Through observation, I've noticed that both her and Pinkie are very selective in their affections, to specific ponies rather than a particular gender," she revealed. I'd normally find such information a bit creepy, but Twilight studied everything, usually with little consideration for social implication, which suddenly made her spying on me make a lot more sense, I quickly realized. Suddenly, I wondered if Tia had even asked her to spy on me, or if she mistook a more benign instruction for something far more serious. It would be interesting to know. Maybe.

"Rainbow explained why she liked me, yeah. We had a good, long talk about it, though, and she should be totally focused on Applejack now," I reiterated, having already explained the horrible details of what happened at the camp to her.

The lavender mare smiled at that and nodded. "It's Rainbow. She's my best friend, and Loyalty. She's not going to take you from Fluttershy or me, even if she loves you, too. You don't have to keep reminding me," she assured, giving an amused smirk afterwards. I felt my cheeks heat up and I sighed, shrugging.

"If you remember the atmosphere of things in my memories, you'd realize why I'm so careful and paranoid about it," I reminded, trying not to feel a little discouraged. This place was still reasonably new to me, and I was at a dangerous point in my adaptation, I realized. I was in between getting the basics down, and having true experience in Equus, which meant my confidence might start outpacing my actual knowledge. The last thing I wanted to do was start jumping to awkward conclusions again.

Twilight nodded gently, relaxing a bit before flopping over against me. "Yes, I know. Ponies are quite a bit different than your average Keldarian, though. I'm sure you noticed," she retorted lazily, sounding like the frustration of dealing with Discord was starting to get to her.

Nodding, I squeezed her again and rested my chin on the top of her head before agreeing with, "Yeah, your entire culture is different. No hate, no suffering, no bitterness and war torn fatigue. Instead, you try to help each other, support tolerance and fairness, and honestly try to make the planet a better place. Polar opposites. Although the polyamory thing is still the hardest to grasp for me, that also being sort of flipped for Keldarians."

"I suspect that's due to our different gender ratios. With about three mares to every stallion here, it's really just probability. There are some herds with all mares, like the Flower Trio, for example. I've also heard of a few with all stallions. Love is the important part," she explained. Most of that I'd already known or guessed, but 'Love' always made me a little nervous. At this range, she had to sense that, but probably didn't grasp the finer details of why it did. That raw agony of that meeting with Keela after his torture. It was fresh, being the 'last' memory I technically had of my Keldarian DNA donator. I assumed it was shortly after that, that Kyliona retrieved the DNA sample that was spliced into me. His pain at being 'betrayed' by Keela, who he thought loved him... Loved...

Twilight's soft nuzzle snapped me out of it, and I smiled weakly at her, only to earn a soft head shake. "It's okay to be sad or angry, Mender. Just be open with me. With us," she assured softly. Instead of answering, I just squeezed her closer to me, and she smiled again.

"Just his memories sometimes getting mixed up with my own. I'll be fine, Twi. I'm glad you're not upset about Rainbow, though, even if this culture is different." Partly, I wanted to summarize. A larger part wanted to change the topic, however, in order to not talk about that Keldarian, and saw bringing up the last topic again as a much better alternative.

The lavender mare snickered at that before admitting, "Well, we are polyamorous, theoretically carried over from evolutionary 'herd' tendencies. I imagine it was important for survival of the whole herd then, but less so now. Our 'herds' are usually small, like you already know, but of course that never stopped me from, well... I'm naturally a curious mare." Uh, did I want to know how that applied? Maybe this wasn't a better topic after all.

My raised eyebrow gave her pause, and she blushed lightly before averting her eyes. "I love all of my friends, Mender. I doubt I'm the only one out of us Element Bearers that entertained the idea of forming one big herd with all of us. Even just as friends, we're very close. So while I make the excuse that our culture makes it easier, that's only a half-truth. It's because it's Rainbow, my very close friend, that it’s easier to accept her having feelings for you," she elaborated. Oh. The image of all six of them quickly rushed into my mind, and she scowled before I could catch it and gave me a whack on the shoulder.

"Sorry! You should have known what reaction I'd have to that, though!" I defended adamantly, rubbing my shoulder over where she hit it.

She smirked at that, and then whispered, "Looks like somepony else is a bit of a pervert, too." The tone shift made me look back over at her, just in time for her to lean in and kiss me again. Heh. Me, or her? I decided not to voice that thought as I just pulled her against me again, totally okay with the evening now!

“Twilight! There are library visitors down here! Should you really be upstairs trying to mate with your boyfriend when you’re the only librarian on duty?!” Discord shouted from somewhere downstairs. Oh hell.

Twilight’s scream of rage was almost as intense as her blush as she winked away an instant later in a blinding flash of light at point blank range. Wincing, I rubbed at my eyes to get the lingering, Twilight-shaped spot out of them. Discord’s trademark girlish scream came from downstairs a moment later, followed by a couple small explosion sounds and flashes of light coming up the stairs. If he hadn’t been lying about having visitors, they certainly weren’t making much ruckus given the small skirmish happening right in front of them, undoubtedly. I was beginning to see now why everypony in Ponyville was so jaded to practically everything…

Giving up on the intimacy at the moment, I instead headed tentatively towards the stairs, ears flicking forward and listening to two more explosions, then a door slamming open and rapid hoofsteps following the undoubtedly fleeing draconequus. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, I was surprised to instead see Lyra with a book, giving a bewildered look towards the door that was still rocking back and forth.

“Get back here, Discord!” Twilight shouted from somewhere outside, followed by another explosion. Trying to murder him seemed counter-productive to trying to convince him to come back, but I decided not to voice that one either.

“Um, hey, Lyra. I can help you check out or return a book if you wish,” I spoke up, slipping up towards the main desk of the library that held the record books. She perked up, then smiled at me as she turned around, blushing just slightly. Eh?

She headed up to the desk with the book floating next to her, then set it down on the surface and brushed her mint mane out of the way. “Uh, actually, the book was just a distraction while Twilight was here. I was actually hoping to talk to you,” she explained quickly, giving a sheepish smile. Uh oh.

“Uh, wait, why do you want to talk to me, exactly?” I asked, raising an eyebrow towards her.

Her sudden grin put me on edge, and I swallowed uneasily. “Iwanttocommissionyouforsomething!” she quickly spat out, dancing back and forth on her hooves. My brain faltered, and I blinked unsteadily at her.

“Uh… What?” I managed to ask.

Carefully, I inspected each piece of wood present, each to the exact size and shape I had specified. Ponies did quality work! Still, I had to make sure that there weren’t any flaws in any of the pieces. It was always a good precaution before you put everything together. That's one I'd learned from experience, sadly.

Mrs. Cake stopped for a moment and smiled over the counter she was washing, curiously watching me work. It was late enough in the evening that I knew they'd closed up for the day now, but I didn't realize they were staying closed tomorrow too in preparation for the events the following day. Pinkie had dropped in after her shift to tell me that the wood shipment had arrived with the rest of the things they'd ordered for preparation. Business must be amazing during the Fall festivities!

"Are you certain you can get the entire thing set up by opening? That's less than a day away, technically!" she asked, tilting her head as I rotated yet another dowel piece around. I'd come over right away, of course, both to inspect the materials I'd be using, and to ask if they wanted it done ahead of time for their holiday opening.

"Yeah, so long as I don't get interrupted too many times," I assured, confident that it was a reasonably small project. Truthfully, it would probably only take me three hours at most with my magic, but I'd gotten into the habit of overestimating the amount of time I'd need when I told others, to give myself a bit of leeway should something go horribly wrong. Of course, this happened more than half the time, so I considered it justifiable paranoia.

Mr. Cake smirked while putting a huge bag of flour away under one of the counters in the back, not needing to look at me before remarking, "Barely a month living in Ponyville and you're already starting to get used to things! I'm impressed. Usually it takes newcomers at least three months." Ha! I took that as a compliment, anyway, even if it technically meant I was horribly jaded by things.

"Mender works super fast anyway! You should have seen him put Applejack's wagon back together! He was all whoosh, zip, zoom! It even worked afterwards!" Pinkie chirped, still sitting next to me and as energetic as ever. Her order of priority was a bit off there, but at least she was speaking up for me. Still...

"That was a makeshift repair job, Pinkie. I only tossed it together so it could make it back to the house before we got washed away in the rain," I reminded, not taking my eyes off the iron latch I slid in front of me. Their metal wasn't as professional as their wood. The impurities were still present in the iron, but it was still of good quality and shape. Looks like the issue was with their refinement process, not the smithing itself. Hmm. Still, it was strong and in a dry location, so it should last at least fifty to sixty years, which was probably acceptable.

Mrs. Cake smiled further and nodded at that, however. “Even so, getting it done so quickly is quite amazing. Are you sure you don’t need any rush bonus or anything?” she inquired. That got my attention, and I lifted my eyes up giving her a warning glare, which caused her to start snickering softly, of course. “I know, I know. It was hard enough getting you to accept any bits for this already. Just don’t overwork yourself, dear. Perhaps I could get you some extra payment in food instead?” she offered, gesturing to a tray of donuts they hadn’t sold. She wasn’t going to let this go, I sensed…

“Oooh, let’s have a snack, Mender!” Pinkie chirped, hopping up almost immediately and trotting over to the tray. Well, Pinkie deciding for me definitely made my choice easier. Exhaling softly, I looked back at all of the materials with a bit of lackluster tiredness drifting through me. My lack of sleep the night before had caught up with me earlier, and now it was starting to shift from fatigue to exhaustion. The dimmed lights of their front area, warmth of the shop, and food smells all over the place only made me sleepier. Still, I only had a dozen or so more parts to check and I’d be done for the day.

Pinkie slid the large tray of donuts up next to me a moment later, flopping down on her stomach and looking over the baked goods remaining. I watched her for a moment, giving a knowing grin as she merrily sniffed over the treats. The mare did enjoy the simpler things, which I had to admit was a virtue.

Mrs. Cake finished wiping down the counter after about six more inspections and Pinkie trying to shove a donut down my throat. I finally just accepted one as her boss slipped over. “How goes inspection? They assured me that all of the parts were all right, but the delivery pony from Manehatten is making rounds today and tomorrow. If there are any problems, we’d be able to talk to him directly,” she assured.

“So far, it doesn’t look like there are any noticeable splits or fractures. These parts should definitely work to make your delivery system. Did you have a chance to look over the designs?” I inquired, curious if I had made it to their standards. I fully admitted to not being very good at ‘artistic’ design, so I’d provided them with a couple different styles that used up the same amount of resources to make the track for.

She considered it for a moment before trotting back to the counter and looking at the three design schemes that were resting there when I arrived. Given the flour, sprinkles, and sugar that had been dusted across them, they were probably there for most of the day. I hadn’t looked very closely at them, but it looked like there were a series of red marks along the bottom of each one that I definitely hadn’t put there.

“Actually, we’ve been having ponies vote on them that came in for the last two days. So far, it seems that the two more fanciful and bendy ones are significantly more popular! There’s a slightly higher vote towards the one that’s a straight shot over the counter and has all six tracks ‘race’ towards the bending point. Quite a few younger ponies were interested in ‘racing’ their treats, it would seem. Heh,” she elaborated, sliding into chuckles after. Figures nopony would like the simplicity that was the first design. Secretly, however, I’d only made the first one to get a general layout of the tables and track I’d need. The second two were when I started playing with a Z axis to the track. Still, both of the other layouts were easy enough to manage, as only the track positions changed. Compared to the commission that Lyra had requested, this would be a cakewalk.

Still, racing? “Actually, that’s a pretty good idea. When I make the enchantments, I’ll put a slightly randomized variation in speed for each track, decided when they’re launched each time. That way there will actually be ‘winners’,” I offered, smiling up at a now slightly surprised looking Cup Cake.

“Oh, that would be awesome! You so have to do that, and then make a little finish line at the end of the first bend, and maybe a little flag that pops up for which track wins! We could even hold special prizes when everypony fills up each track! Like, an extra cupcake or donut to the winner!” Pinkie immediately exclaimed, hopping up next to me and bouncing as she talked.

Blinking, I started taking notes on the side for the things getting rapidly added to the project. Sometimes I forgot what actual customers could be like. I’d also need more resources for this, as a flag system and finish line would need cloth and additional mechanical parts. Was there a smith in town?

Carrot Cake started laughing behind the counter and trotted up, shaking his head. “I think we should focus on one thing at a time, Pinkie. I’m not even sure if Mender can do all that, let alone get the extra parts needed,” he pointed out pragmatically.

The pink mare deflated a little, but nodded. “Oh. Uh, yeah! Sorry, I got a little excited there…” she apologized quietly, sitting down again and wiggling her front hooves together. Okay, yeah, a sad Pinkie Pie was one of the most disheartening things that could ever exist in Equus.

Sighing, I bit the bullet and asked, “Is there a smith or parts seller in Ponyville? Doing something like a finish line with just enchantments and wooden cogs would be difficult. Some actual mechanical parts would be useful. I’ll also tackle it only under the condition that Pinkie helps decorate the whole track, and flags.”

Pinkie gasped and spun to look at me almost instantly, her smile dancing back onto her muzzle faster than it took me to actually look at her. “Really?! I can help decorate it?!” she asked, starting to shiver again in what I could only assume was a miniature nuclear fusion reaction inside of her that powered her immense amounts of energy.

Cup looked amused, but nodded at that. “There is a general parts store in town, next to Quills and Sofas, named Bargain Bin Replacements. They specialize in replacing mechanical parts in already built things, but I imagine you could find some parts there if you talk to them,” she suggested a moment later. Ah! That might be exactly what I needed.

“Okay, I’ll go talk to them tomorrow. I assume they’re closed now. If they have the parts I need, though, I should be able to whip up a finish line and flag system for you with a bit of cloth,” I agreed, committing myself to at least trying, anyway. I didn’t like seeing Pinkie sad.

The pink mare wiggled about and nodded before adding, “I have lots of arts and crafts upstairs, too! I’ll make the flags and finish line tonight, so they’ll be ready for tomorrow!” Oh, that was helpful indeed! I started to smile to her when my eyes widened instead as she ducked forward and gently pecked my cheek. Minor shows of affection shouldn’t really surprise me from the mare, but there was something about her smile that felt like it said ‘thank you’ instead. Had she picked up me not liking to see her sad from the link?

I didn’t get a chance to ask her as she happily bounded away, announcing, “I’ll get started on them now!” I snickered at her energy until she stepped on the now forgotten treat tray and slipped. Her legs went out from under her and she rolled, sliding across the floor as the tray got shot into my legs at what felt like an appreciable fraction of the speed of sound. I winced as the blast of pain shot up my forelegs and they were knocked out from under me. Floor, meet my face. I’m sure you’re well acquainted now. It only took me a few seconds to realize I’d landed on the tray of cupcakes, and the squishy sensation was now stuck to various parts of my chest and barrel. Ugh…

“Don’t ask…” I muttered, noting Twilight’s confused stare as I walked back into the library at twenty-three hundred hours with cupcake frosting all over my fur. Pinkie had offered to clean me up, of course, but the way she had been eyeing the frosting had unnerved me. The last thing I needed was the mare trying to ‘clean’ me with her tongue. That could only lead to uncomfortable and awkward situations, I imagined.

The lavender mare snickered instead and nodded, gesturing towards the stairs. “Fluttershy made it back while you were gone, and is running a bath for herself. She probably wouldn’t mind sharing, so long as you wiped most of the frosting off first,” she suggested with a smirk down at my chest again. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.

Sighing, I flattened my ears back and nodded weakly. “Will you be joining us, too?” I asked while slowly walking towards the stairs. My ankles hurt from where the tray bashed into them still, and I contemplated turning the nerve reaction down on them. Was it worth the tickling, tingling sensation when I turned them back on?

Twilight blushed for a moment, considering it hesitantly before nodding. “Yeah, I’ll come up in a few minutes. I just have to finish washing out the scorch marks I made when chasing Discord. Two left to clean…” she finally agreed, pointing her head towards the one across the floor next to the main desk. I contemplated warning her about using heat-inducing elements inside of a house made from a tree, but decided against it and simply nodded.

“Okay. We’ll keep the water warm for you,” I added, finally smiling and heading up the stairs. I felt her eyes lingering on me as I headed up, and then felt a few chunks of the now dry frosting fall off me, and she started giggling again. Rolling my eyes, I hopped up the rest of the stairs and slid to a stop in front of the bathroom door, catching a few more flakes of frosting with a barrier under me as I stopped moving. This stuff tasted great, but was disgusting to wear. Fur was really hard to clean, I noted.

Listening at the door for a moment, I heard the water running in the tub, but no other sound of movement. Huh. Discord had better not be waiting on the other side of the door to grin at me or something when I opened it. Trying not to sigh again, I instead knocked lightly. Waiting several seconds, I frowned at the lack of reply and knocked a little harder.

A long moment went past before I got a bit concerned and felt out the link. Fluttershy was inside the bathroom all right, but her pulse and breathing were really weak. Cracking the door open, I peeked inside a moment later, then relaxed and smiled again as I saw the yellow mare resting on the side of the tub. Her rump was on the carpet and her forelegs and head resided on the rim of the tub, eyes closed and her mane flowing about, framing her peaceful looking face. It looked like she’d been testing the water temperature when she fell asleep.

Heading inside, I lightly closed the door behind me and slipped over next to the snoozing yellow mare. She did indeed have dirt stuck to her in a few spots. Her chest and tummy were especially dirty, as were her hooves and ankles. She probably had a lot of outdoor animals, too, though, and would have to get down on the ground and into the forest to get at some of them.

I gently nudged her cheek with my muzzle, kissing her softly until she stirred. The yellow mare’s eyes opened slowly, and she looked up at me, feeling my link close to her as soon as she woke up. A smile danced across her muzzle, her having gotten used to waking up next to me at this point, and she leaned up and nuzzled me lightly before sniffing.

Her smile shifted to a questioning look as she sniffed again, then glanced down at me and the sugary coating I’d recently acquired. Sighing, I explained, “Pinkie had an accident, and I was the victim.”

Fluttershy’s smile returned and she giggled before nodding and sitting up off the bathtub a moment later. “Um, you shouldn’t get in with all that on you. The water would get really icky. I was going to wash off most of the dirt first, too. I think Twilight keeps extra towels under the sink…” she advised, slipping down past me and opening the cupboard under the sink to my left. Sure enough, there were a few dozen towels stacked neatly according to size and color underneath, indicating both parts of Fluttershy’s guess were correct. The towels were indeed kept under the sink, and Twilight had indeed put them there.

“Here,” Fluttershy offered, sliding one out for me to use. I nodded and dipped it in the small amount of water that was in the bottom of the tub before using it to do a hard wipe down my chest. The frosting stuck to my fur like crazy, and I winced, probably taking a few hairs with it as I wiped myself down. At least, when I finally looked, the fur wasn’t missing in clumps or something. I didn’t want to give Zecora’s hair tonic another try, that was for sure.

“Did you get tired out taking care of all of the animals, Fluttershy? I can take over getting the bath ready if you want to rest,” I offered to her as she cleaned her forelegs off with her towel.

She blushed lightly but nodded and gave me a warmer smile after. “Yes. Some of them didn’t understand where I went for so long, and I had a lot to take care of. Quite a few of the families are getting ready for winter, too, and either migrating or stocking food up. It’s my job in Ponyville to help the nearby woodland critters get ready during Fall, and wake them up during Spring,” she explained quietly. Her eyes were drooping again, and I quickly finished cleaning my own frosting off before I took her towel from her. She gave me a slightly surprised look before smiling as I started to wipe her chest down and clean her fur as gently as I could.

It took us almost five minutes to wipe ourselves down of a majority of the dirt and frosting. Carefully, I helped her up into the tub, careful not to stare at any naughty bits as she balanced and stepped down into it. She probably wouldn’t have cared, but noticing that through the link might have flustered her, and I didn’t want her falling.

After she slipped into the water, I climbed over the lip myself and eased into the warm liquid. It was hot, but not hot enough to burn or hurt. Just enough to get that warm aching sensation through my cold forelegs. I shivered, and Fluttershy giggled suddenly. Opening my eyes, I gave her a curious glance, and she only giggled more.

Finally, she explained, “You’re adorable when you’re relaxing…” I blushed gently, but she slid forward in the water and into my lap instead. I felt her fur against my chest and sighed as she closed her eyes again and laid out on my upper body with hers, her back legs tucked to the left side of me as she got comfortable. I was always surprised by how light she was, and I held her against me, smiling as she nuzzled under my chin and against my neck.

“I missed you today, too. I wish there were more hours in the day so I could take care of all my animals and still get to hang out with you and Twilight,” she murmured.

I squeezed her close before chuckling gently. “Careful. Twilight might have a time manipulation spell to test if she heard that…” I warned playfully, earning a giggle into my neck, which even felt adorable.

“She’s already played with time once. It didn’t go well, so we should be safe,” she assured. Okay, yeah, I was curious, but I really, really didn’t want to ask. It was one of those things that you really wanted to do, but knew ahead of time that it would end horribly.

“Well, I missed you, too, Fluttershy,” I finally answered, slipping back to her actual statement before I had gotten snarky. It was accompanied by a soft squeeze to her upper body that made her coo lightly and unfurl her wings a little, stretching them before pushing even harder against my chest. She really had missed me. I could almost feel how urgent her affections were.

We sat like that for what felt like quite a while before we heard hoofsteps coming up the stairs. I felt her curiosity bubble up, and I gently nuzzled her ear before whispering, “Twilight’s coming up to join us.” The link had confirmed it was her, and I felt her stop in front of the door, hesitating for a moment.

“Um, you can come in, Twilight!” Fluttershy called out, rotating partially on top of me so she could see the door. Twilight gave a start on the other side before slowly opening it and peeking in at us.

“I… Well, I know I didn’t feel anything or… Well, yeah. I just didn’t know if you two needed, um, privacy or…” she started to excuse, blushing faintly. Heh. While this was the first time I’d been able to be with Fluttershy alone since actually before we left for Canterlot, I’d like to think we had more self-control than that.

Snickering, I shook my head before assuring, “We’re just snuggling. Besides, Fluttershy’s really tired after her long day.”

I felt the mare I was holding heat up slightly, but she managed a weak nod. “Um, not t-that tired, but… yes. We’re just snuggling, Twilight,” she agreed. She was always adorable when she tried to cover up things she thought would bother you. Still, for the mare that was literally sleeping on the rim of the bathtub when I came in…

Twilight finally smiled and nodded, slipping forward and up to the tub. “Well, if you don’t mind me joining you, then…” she offered, giving us one last time to tell her ‘no’, it would seem.

Shaking my head, I instead gestured for her to get in, and she exhaled softly before nodding and rising up over the lip. Getting into the tub was one thing. I didn’t expect her to simply roll, however, and fall into the water right next to Fluttershy! There were slight waves and the yellow mare squeaked in surprise. I tilted my head as I watched Twilight resurface, wet and straight now as she grinned up at me. I felt a little flare of heat enter my cheeks as she crawled forwards again and snuggled against the other side of my chest instead. Both of them?!

“Snuggling looked amazing, and I decided I wanted some, too,” she chirped, getting a warmer smile from Fluttershy, who leaned over and kissed her lightly on the forehead, right under her horn.

“Of course you can snuggle with us. It’s a big bathtub, and, um, I think we need some together time,” Fluttershy assured, smiling gently as she backed away.

Twilight hesitated again, but nodded and relaxed against me, resting her head on my chest a few inches from Fluttershy’s. “Yeah. I think we need to spend a lot more time together. Um, my hesitation is proof enough from me, I guess. I should be comfortable with you two,” she admitted, sounding a tiny bit frustrated.

I squeezed both of them and shook my head. “Relax, Twilight. I might not be an expert on relationships, but from my own feelings, I know it takes a while to get used to things. It doesn’t just happen instantly,” I pointed out. She gave me a soft nod before kissing my collarbone.

“I know. This is good. This is a good start for us to really build up trust. We’re finally doing good, I think,” the lavender mare whispered, burying her face into the area between my chest and Fluttershy’s muzzle. Fluttershy slipped her forelegs forward and wrapped them around Twilight, holding her gently as I tried to hold both of them at once. My forelegs didn’t quite make it around the two of them, but it was enough to give them both a squeeze together.

Again, I lost track of time as the two girls snuggled together against my chest, our wet fur intermingling back and forth as they occasionally nuzzled and kissed. It was beyond adorable, and I suddenly decided that I could probably watch them interact for hours without losing interest. Of course, the more they seemed to exchange affection, the longer and more drawn out each event became. The water was getting a bit cool, but I totally wasn’t going to say anything as both mares kissed rather heatedly while still resting on top of me. I could be really dense sometimes, but I wasn’t stupid!

Unfortunately for the continuation of their fun, I was also a male. Focusing became more difficult, and I slid my hips back away from them just in case. Twilight snapped out of it and broke the kiss a moment later, giving me a curious look as I had broken away from them. Fluttershy knew, however, and only blushed furiously before coughing lightly.

“Um, maybe the bath isn’t a good spot to… um…” she whispered. Twilight caught on and joined her in blushing before nodding weakly.

“Oh! Uh, right… Um, sorry, Mender. We got a little carried away. We haven’t been alone together since we left for Canterlot either, so…” Twilight started to excuse, blush magnifying.

Despite her pink cheeks, Fluttershy slipped up on the rim of the tub and grabbed her towel instead. “Why don’t we, um, move to the bed? It might be more comfortable for cuddling…” she suggested timidly. Wait, what?! Was she really…?

Twilight’s eyes widened as much as mine did, and her pink turned to scarlet as it danced up the base of her muzzle, too. “W-Wait… today?! Right now?!” she asked, horror starting to slip back into her voice.

To my surprise, Fluttershy leaned over and kissed Twilight instead. The lavender mare’s eyes widened, but she relaxed a little and nuzzled back into it before Fluttershy pulled back again. “Calm down, Twilight. Um, just a little bit at a time, right? It’ll be slow, with lots of time to think about everything,” she assured softly.

Twilight blushed furiously, but stayed relaxed this time, slowly nodding as she looked over at me. I tried to give her an assuring nod, but also felt my own cheeks flaring up with heat. This was going to be an interesting experience, no matter what happened.

I sat in the tub and let them get out first, watching the two dry each other off between more kisses from Fluttershy. There really wasn’t enough room for three ponies between the wall and the sink anyway, so I waited my turn to get out and dry off. Fluttershy turned back to look at me as they finished, her face flushed red in a very familiar way. “Um, pull the plug after you get out, Mender. We’ll wait for you on Twilight’s bed. I’m going to make her more comfortable,” she suddenly shot directly into my mind in a faint whisper, barely audible. Twilight wouldn’t have heard that, and still stared in a mixture of horror and eagerness at Fluttershy’s neck. I gave a light nod, and Fluttershy smiled before standing again and leading Twilight to her hooves.

“Come on, Twilight. Let’s, um, give Mender a bit of room to dry off,” she suggested, leading the lavender mare to the door.

“Um, y-yeah. Can I, um, talk to you, Fluttershy?” Twilight quickly spat out as they exited the bathroom. Fluttershy gave a soft nod before shutting the bathroom door, and I was left sitting alone in the bathtub, a torrent of mixed feelings running through my mind. This was either going to be really amazing or really disastrous. I didn’t have a single clue as to which way it was leaning.

Swallowing uncomfortably, I stiffly stood back up in the tub and stepped over the lip carefully. Using up a second towel for the evening, I slowly dried myself off, hopefully giving them time to talk. Of course, it also calmed me down, too, just in case they backed out of it when I got out there, which also wouldn’t surprise me. With a sense of dread and anticipation, I slowly waited for what was to come while absently wiping myself down…