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Forgiveness Pending

by Kiroberos

Chapter 83: Chapter 82

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I felt vaguely like what I felt a zombie must feel like. Shambling along Rarity's nice hardwood floor, I reached the area where she did consultations, and promptly collapsed onto her couch. Lying there, I listened to my own soft breathing and relaxed as Rarity brought in tea, floating alongside her in a pretty, light blue aura. My eyes wouldn't stay open and I was tired of fighting it.

"You look utterly exhausted, Dear. Has it been a long day?" Rarity asked politely from somewhere to my left. My eyes refused to open again to check as I formulated a proper reply.

Slowly, I nodded, unsure of where to even begin. "I never sleep well by myself," I started. Might as well lead with the most mundane and largest understatement.

She smiled as she placed the tea down. I felt it through the link at this distance. "And by that, you mean with a pony to share your dream with. I do recall you having terrible nightmares," she deduced, as clever as usual. Sighing, I gave her a polite nod before carefully picking up my cup and taking a sip of delicious air. Wait... Opening my eyes again, I confirmed that the cup was indeed empty.

"I believe we're both past the age of pretend tea parties. That said, let me pour you some first," she suggested with a playful smirk, then giggling at my pout upon setting the cup down again. She could be such a brat sometimes, I noticed. "Oh don't make that face. It was cute!" she assured me, before pointing out, "Besides, eagerness is a very sincere form of flattery. You must really enjoy my tea."

Okay, that I could agree with. "Yeah. It's tasty and soothing at the same time. Gives me a little energy back, too, after such a long day," I replied, watching the liquid fill the cup up nicely. I tried really hard not to drool while watching. Now all I needed were sandwiches, and I'd be set.

"Oh, I agree. You must be looking forward to going home and getting a good night's sleep, then?" the pearly unicorn inquired politely. I winced at that, barely able to imagine something that could cause Twilight and Fluttershy of all ponies to get in an argument. If it was about me, I'd feel horrible. Sadly, there was a high probability that it was indeed about me.

Rarity watched me for a moment, quietly filling my glass with actual tea before giving a softer smile and correcting, “Or I could be wrong. Hmm. If I had to guess, that look is about the news I gave you earlier involving their fight.” Astute as ever.

Not smiling back, I flicked my ears lightly as I took my first sip, shivering as the soft blend of flavors slid down my throat. Hum. “Yeah. I kind of knew after last night, things were going to get a little bumpy. There were complications, but I’m guessing you already knew that, given I spent the night at the hospital,” I finally spoke, feeling even more tired after finishing.

“Ah, yes, I imagine ‘bumpy’ is definitely one way to put it. Well, you’re in adult company now, so if you wish to discuss what happened, you know you have a sympathetic ear,” she offered, giving a polite smile.

Relaxing a little, I nodded slowly at that before just diving in with, “Fluttershy was helping us grow more comfortable with each other in certain intimate ways. Unfortunately for me, and Fluttershy, too, Twilight found out I have a baculum.”

Rarity gave me a blank look at that before warning, “Most of that I understood. I’m not very up to speed, however, with anatomy and such.”

“Uh, well, a baculum is a bone that runs up through the core of a penis. Mine, like the rest of my bones, is made of organic metal,” I explained, feeling awkward already. Rarity flushed a little at that, but still looked confused.

Frowning, she slowly inquired, “Am I to assume this is unusual? I don’t recall seeing such a thing in anatomy lessons, although that was a while ago and my memory could be hazy in that regard.”

Nodding, I furthered with, “Fluttershy explained that ponies evolved out their baculum a long time ago, and that I shouldn’t have one. Regardless, Twilight was very interested suddenly.” I shuddered again, and Rarity winced this time.

“I believe I can see where this is going. Her ‘tests’ were painful enough to hospitalize you, however? Hopefully with no lasting damage…” Her expression was one of sympathetic pain, and I was thankful that she hadn’t thought my irregular anatomy was bizarre as well. Both Twilight and Fluttershy thinking it was weird was more than enough. Then again, Red hadn’t said anything about it either. I had a sneaking suspicion she already knew, however.

I shook my head more slowly before setting my cup down again and answering, “No, no lasting damage. She did some sort of core scan on me right then and there. I’m not a medical professional, but as far as I’ve been told, it shot vibrations down the bone which caused pain. Well, no, that’s an understatement…” I added a groan after that last part and flopped sideways again.

To my mild surprise, Rarity huffed instead. “Honestly, there’s a time and a place for scientific study. Your first intimate attempt with your herd is not one of them. I can see why poor Fluttershy was so upset! She was trying so hard to help you two, and then Twilight goes and does that! This is just unacceptable,” the white mare exclaimed, unexpectedly vehement in tone. I’d expected sympathy, but not quite so potent feelings about it.

Resting my head on the couch, I exhaled softly and closed my eyes again, wishing I could just sleep right here tonight. “Twilight tends not to think about consequences when she does things, at least socially. I’ve no room to talk there, being quite socially inept myself, but to be honest, she felt horrible about it as well after she realized that it hurt me. I think she expected it to be painless, and I was something of an abnormal case,” I reasoned, trying to at least defend the mare a little, as she wasn’t here to defend herself.

“Twilight needs to start considering these things, especially in the event of something so important. I understand that she’s rather inexperienced and has had a rather reclusive upbringing before moving to Ponyville, but that simply means that unexperienced situations should be approached with a healthy air of caution, not brazenly charged into while hoping apologies afterwards will suffice!” Rarity returned, sounding a little upset now, and I suddenly realized she must take intimacy rather seriously.

Both of us were interrupted by the bell over the front door going off. I raised an eyebrow, opening that eye at least to look over at her as she frowned in slight confusion. Ah, not expecting guests. They were unlikely to use the front door, but I readied my armor just in case we got a surprise assassin attack or something.

“Rarity, are you home?” Twilight called out a little above normal talking volume from the front room. Oh. Oh hell. Rarity’s eyes widened a little, but she quickly held a hoof up to me, shaking her head. I didn’t understand what she wanted, but she ‘felt’ like she was urging me to just stay put. She then stood up and hopped off the couch instead.

“Yes, I’m behind the partition,” she returned in a more normal tone, considering the lavender unicorn was technically all of three meters away. Partition? Technically, it was two different rooms, but I guess there wasn’t exactly a door in the archway that separated them, so she could get away with calling it a partition, then. Wait, no, I was distracting myself again…

Hoofsteps sounded out heading towards Rarity rather quickly, wet splatting with each one. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m so glad you’re here!” Twilight quickly spouted, making it into the room we were in with record speed. Both my eyes were open at this point, but because the couch back faced the ‘partition’ entry, I couldn’t see the panicked sounding unicorn yet. Uh oh. What now?

Rarity momentarily ignored the statement in light of an observation instead. “Twilight, you’re soaked! Did you walk all the way here from town hall without putting up a shield against the rain?” she asked, sounding surprised and slightly skeptical.

There was an awkward pause before the lavender unicorn laughed uneasily and muttered, “Oh, heh. I kinda forgot. Getting here was more important!” I was starting to not even want to know.

“You won’t be thinking that when you catch a cold. Here, dry off a little and sit down. I have some tea prepared,” Rarity offered. Wait, sit down?! But that would mean…

The pearly unicorn’s horn lit up, and there was a door opening noise in the hallway. Two towels floated in half a second later, one shooting over to the couch and getting tossed over the back and cushion next to me, and the other launching itself towards Twilight, who let out a surprised squeak.

Rarity’s magic hauled her forward, stumbling about as the towel covered most of her head and back as she got pushed onto the other cushion right next to me. I froze, eyes widening at the mare as I looked back and forth between her and Rarity in horror. What was she doing?!

“Stay on and in the towels please while you dry off. For warmth, and protecting my couch and blanket,” Rarity requested politely as Twilight’s horn lit up, at least freeing her head from the towel to glare over at the pearly unicorn.

“Blanket? What do you me-“ she started to ask before the blanket too got dumped over her entire form, covering her head again. The incredibly sly craftiness of Rarity continued to astound me as I realized Twilight hadn’t had a chance to even notice me lying here. She finally managed to get her snout at least free of the blanket, and I imagined she looked something like a cowled wizard of some sort, which was kind of amusing given her skills.

Rarity smiled politely at her as she sat down as well, sliding an unused cup over and gently filling it with tea. Twilight shifted slightly to the right, her muzzle aiming at the other cup for a moment before she asked, “There’s another cup? Oh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“Nothing at all, no. That was for another guest, don’t worry. That’s why I have the tea out, after all. Anyway, you seem terribly distressed, my dear…” Rarity redirected, frowning at her.

Twilight exhaled violently as I watched her blanketed head sink. “You probably heard about Mender being in the hospital by now. His bags weren’t in the library, so he’s probably at Fluttershy’s, hiding from me right now…” she groaned out. I lifted an eyebrow and looked to the saddlebag I was still wearing, trying hard not to laugh, as that would be really inappropriate.

Rarity smiled assuredly at her and shook her head. “I highly doubt he’s hiding from you, Twilight. I spoke with Fluttershy earlier while you were in with the mayor regardless, and she was also rather worked up about it all. From what she told me, however, she seems to be in a position to forgive and mend the situation,” the mare revealed, not really surprising me with the news. Fluttershy was fast to forgive, after all.

The lavender mare relaxed slightly and lowered her head a little ways before nodding. “I shouldn’t have gotten snippy with her. I was the one that ruined the night. It seems like I have to learn every little mistake anew each time, and… Ugh. I love both of them, but some days I think they’d be better off without me. They deserve better,” she murmured weakly, voice dying afterwards. Loved? Closing my eyes again, I felt it bounce around inside of me, and just let it, feeling out my own opinion as best I could. Was I angry with her? A little, but… It wasn’t anywhere near enough to just give up on her. I didn’t foresee myself ever reaching that point.

The pearly mare across from us frowned at that, looking like she was about to put in a protest. Instead, I decided we’d been deceitful for long enough. Me technically eavesdropping on the conversation was bad enough, but doing so while Twilight wasn’t in a right frame of mind was even worse. She hadn’t even checked our link yet.

Instead, I announced my presence and assured her otherwise in the same instant by sliding her blanket over with my forehoof and leaning over, gently pecking her on the right cheek. Her fur felt damp, and there was a very faint salty sensation barely there. She’d been crying. Her eyes widened and snapped to the right, locking with me instantly as she shifted to a look of distinct horror. Rarity giggled at my display, then shook her head wearily.

“As you can see, I don’t think he’s too terribly mad at you anymore. Or he wished to be allowed to partake of his tea again,” she deduced, sounding amused.

“Can’t it be both?” I pointed out, backing away as Twilight spun her head to face me fully, eyes still huge.

“M-Mender?! But you… What are you doing here?! Wait, how could you forgive me just like that for-“ she started to ask. I cheated and slipped forwards instead, taking advantage of her new facing and kissing her gently on the lips. The lavender mare shivered, then closed her eyes and leaned into me a little as I rested my right hoof over her left. Nothing too pressing. Gentle and calm was what I was going for, and I felt my intent seep into her through our link at this range. Nothing scary. She blushed and parted from me slightly, eyes slowly opening before she hesitated.

A moment later, she smiled weakly and shook her head, assuring, “No, Mender. I want to be with you properly. I was foolish. Stupid, even. But no, I want to try again tonight, after we talk to Fluttershy. Um, please?” Her asking permission surprised me a little, but I smiled anyway and gave her another little nuzzle, earning a more contented sigh from the mare.

“If you and Fluttershy are sure of it, then it should be okay. Just simple things, though. We need to start even slower this time, plus I’m kinda tired from working with the Cakes’ treat track for a good nine hours…” I warned, trying my best not to yawn again as I suddenly reminded my body that I was indeed rather tired.

Rarity snickered at that, of course. “I must admit, it looks quite lovely, Mender. I’m surprised you got it all done in less than a day’s time. Now I feel bad for having you look after the little fillies on top of that,” she said, frowning to herself slightly.

Shrugging, I confided, “Actually, they were very well behaved, and helped me out quite a bit. Sweetie was on her best behavior as well, especially compared to before. Please don’t get mad at her.” If I’d known she technically wasn’t supposed to be ‘bugging’ me yet, I might have told her to play it safe and not get her sister mad.

Regardless, her sister didn’t look angry, instead smiling and shaking her head towards me. “No, it’s about time I eased up on that. She seems to have learned her lesson, and while I didn’t give her the go ahead, she proved it today. She’s no longer grounded,” she confirmed. I almost expected to hear some gleeful shout of celebration from upstairs, but the thumping and laughter continued undiminished, and I smiled at the thought. She deserved it regardless.

Twilight slid to the side a moment later, snapping me out of my consideration as I felt her tuck her muzzle into my neck, and her shoulder rest up against mine. “Mmm, not that I’m complaining, but I’m still curious what you’re doing here. I would have expected you’d head to Fluttershy’s after work,” she inquired, voice sounding slightly stronger.

“Oh, I believe I can answer that,” Rarity cut in, before quickly explaining, “I’d asked him to drop the Crusaders off here after he was done working. I’d also hoped to talk with him more about the incident, so in that regard, he’s here for the same reason you are, Twilight.” Well, that was true. I'd hoped to get some advice on some level on how to fix things, but maybe this was actually for the better?

Nodding, I idly agreed before adding, "I felt like I needed some advice about things, but didn't want to add more stress to Fluttershy. Plus, Rarity is a lot more skilled than I am with socializing, not having memories from another dimension constantly interfering with things." The white mare smirked at that, but Twilight just rolled her eyes playfully at my typical commentation. What?! My sense of dry humor was a coping mechanism, honest!

"Well, despite it being surprising, I'm glad you're not still angry. I could tell you were a bit miffed at me last night, which is totally justified! But I'd like to make it up to you, again," the lavender mare assured, looking up into my eyes as if searching for something. I couldn't be sure if she found it or not, as Rarity interrupted first.

"Making it up to him is all well and good, but you must also be sure to learn from the mistake, dear. Part of being truly sorry is the desire to not repeat the offense that landed you in that state. Further, I believe a bit more making up in the other direction is a good idea," she suggested, keeping her tone soft. Twilight shuddered at her words regardless, however, and looked back over at her, eyes softening a little.

There was a moment's hesitation before Twilight asked, "What should I do to make it up to him, then, if just trying again tonight isn't enough?" I frowned at that, not liking the wording there at all.

"Isn't it up to me how much she needs to make up for? Making her do extra stuff just seems unfair, and like it's only prolonging the bad feelings," I reasoned, also looking to Rarity.

The mare across from us sighed before explaining, "Generally the best way to go about learning something in a more lasting fashion is to engrain it into your mind. Repetition is a good way to do that, as is unpleasant sensations, but we don't want the latter getting associated with intimacy. That's just inviting trouble." Well, I guess that made sense. Twilight nodded at that as well.

"Not to mention, all three of us put forth effort last night, but due to my mistake, we fell short. Just offering on my part to try again isn't really enough, I suddenly realize. It was my fault that we need to repeat it in the first place, after all. So I should do extra for both of you in order to even it out," she reasoned, nodding twice afterwards. Uh... Was treating it like an equation that needed balancing really a good strategy? Last time I checked, applying math to intimacy didn't exactly work all that great.

Rarity gave her a blank stare before snickering and shrugging. "Not quite the reason I had given, but if it helps you see why it's important, I suppose it works. Just remember, your goal is for all three of you to get past this and become more comfortable with each other. Just repeating the same problems over and over again isn't getting anypony anywhere," she reasoned, sounding rather sagely. Now that I thought about it, where did Rarity get all the experience? Wait, no, that was probably rude to ask.

I started to open my mouth to agree when a light beep went off in my inner ear. At first, I almost didn't recognize it as it gave me another startled jump, and I quickly checked the still broken FTL program. Seeing nothing changed, I realized a moment later that it was a ping I hadn't heard in a little while! Oh!

Twilight and Rarity 'heard' the noise as well through the links, both looking over at me curiously as I switched my left eye to Projection Mode and toggled my voice box speakers on before answering the ping with, "Keela?"

She flickered into existence over the tea pot, reminding me that my cup was still sitting on the table. While reaching for it and picking it up, I took in her appearance this time as Twilight and Rarity looked towards her instead. She was honestly looking a lot better than the last time I'd seen her, just a single medical wrap around her torso, and a small bandage on her forehead. She wore a more relaxed looking pair of elastic gym pants, and a thin strapped tank top that was rolled up at the bottom to bare her midriff, keeping the fabric away from the injured area. She appeared to be back standing on the captain's platform overlooking the sensor and piloting suite, and nothing was sparking or on fire today, which was a definite improvement! This time, she wore her pink hair up in a casual ponytail, and greeted us with a soft smile.

"Hiya, Mender. Oh, and Twilight and Rarity!" she greeted, nodding to both mares as she noticed them. They both smiled towards her and returned her nod, and I relaxed a little. I'd been a bit anxious before she answered, worried for more bad news.

"Hey, Keela. How are repairs coming along?" I inquired, curious if they'd gotten a lot of the damage fixed.

Rarity gasped suddenly an instant later, causing all three of us to jump slightly as attention shot back to her. She gave me a scowl, however, and chastised, "Mender! That's not the proper way to begin a conversation with a good friend who's obviously injured! Please, Keela, how are you feeling? That looks remarkably painful." Ah! Really?! I didn't know there was a correct order to pursue information in!

The Keldarian snickered at that before correcting, "He's an engineer, Rarity. Him prioritizing the station's status just means he's a good one. But thank you. It's not too painful, as I have some medicine in me to help with that. It's healing nicely. Nowhere near the military grade regenerative nanites that Mender has, but I'm doing okay." I averted my eyes at that, sort of wishing I could share them with her, but that was a bit logistically daunting given the 'distance' between us.

"Sorry regardless. Uh, not very good at socializing still. I'm glad you're doing better, though," I agreed, trying to backpedal as best I could. She snickered and absently waved her paw at me, smiling more now.

"Again, it's fine, Mender. I'm glad you care. Plus, the vessel's doing a lot better, too, so two positives, no? We finished searching the debris field about three hours ago, actually, and just navigated to a safer spot a few hundred light years away from where they attacked us, back out in dark space. We found some sort of dislodged moon to orbit for a little while, so we have time to process all of the data," Keela revealed, leaning back against the railing of the darkened command center. I noticed there was hardly any activity, then remembered their time was synced intentionally to Equus' rotation now, her wanting to keep the same hours as we did. That meant it was probably the end of their day and everypony was getting ready to turn in for the night.

"Did you find anything else out?" Twilight inquired, frowning at that. Figuring out what actually happened would be a good thing, but another spike of apprehension shifted through me. I kind of didn't want to know, but knew it was for the best to find out as soon as possible.

Keela frowned at that before nodding, expression shifting to a grim one instead, and I swallowed. Bad news after all, then. "We found out a lot more, yeah. It all became clear once we found the actual destroyed restraining area where Nirru was being held. Security was obviously extra tight there, including the monitoring network we had installed in the area. The data recordings were badly damaged, but the black box survived the destruction and gave us a working log of the entire system up to the point of destruction," she furthered. My eyes widened at that, not having realized they'd had a redundant security network built into the area. She was serious about holding her sister, then. Still...

"Log?" Twilight asked, looking over to me instead before requesting clarification. "The written kind that tracks progress or data, I assume?”

Nodding, I confirmed, "Yeah. This type is a list of events that are automatically compiled by a computer and stored in a really safe, hard to destroy box, just for an event like this.” Twilight smiled and nodded, understanding it perfectly after that, and I gave a softer smile in return before she leaned over and pecked my cheek. Heh. She was adorable when being all smart like that.

She blushed at my inner thoughts, but Keela giggled while watching us, complimenting with, "You two are just adorable. Feels like I'm going to get a blood sugar spike just watching you." Heh. That must be what I felt like after watching the Crusaders for too long... Still, it was rude to change the topic like that.

"Heh. What did you find out from the logs, anyway?" I asked, redirecting us back onto undoubtedly the reason she called us, especially so late.

Keela lost her smile again, leaning more heavily back against the railing behind her as she looked up towards the ceiling for a moment. Hesitating, she finally explained, “We found two badly burned Keldarian bodies as well. The burns weren’t from the explosion, however. Closer examination indicates cause of death by kinetic slugs.” Oh.

Twilight and Rarity both looked horrified, but I frowned at the implication. “Small arms fire from Grosh mech forces. They boarded the segment before blowing it up?” I asked hesitantly. The only race to use kinetic non-ship-class weaponry were the Grosh. Due to their unique atmospheric gasses, using laser or plasma weaponry would cause a huge amount of collateral damage in the resulting explosion. Thus, all of their kinetic ammo was focused on heat reduction from firing and impacts as well. It had the added bonus of going through our armor rather easily, although they did almost nothing against our shields. For that, they used anti-ship plasma shells…

Keela nodded grimly to that. “Unfortunately, that’s the only thing I can think of. These were actual slugs, not fragmentation from the explosion. We don’t have any kinetic weapons on the ship,” she confirmed. Crap.

“Only two…?” I asked, looking back up at her and right into her eyes.

She froze for a moment before shakily nodding. She only said Keldarian bodies. Her guards. “They captured Nirru…? That was the whole point of their boarding,” I deduced. They boarded the segment after it had already been blown loose, shot Nirru’s guards as they were undoubtedly attempting damage control, and took her. They then blew up the segment. Hiding the evidence? Doubtful. Ugh. This raised more questions than it answered, which was usually the case for things.

“Yeah. We couldn’t find any trace of her in the immediate wreckage, or with any of the debris that passed into the gravitational fields nearby. Why would they take her, though…?! She’s military. They never take military targets alive!” she groaned, sounding more than a little frustrated herself. That was usually the case, yeah. Civilian targets were usually deemed ‘easier’ to handle. This didn’t make sense, especially with them undoubtedly knowing that she was a high ranking member of the council, and thus, exceptionally dangerous.

Twilight frowned at that, being the first to recover from the rather gruesome earlier part. “Mender told me that you were an expert at divination magic, right? If that’s the same as us ponies, that’s for communicating and detecting things at a distance. What’s the maximum range of detection for you, then?” she inquired, shifting to that other awkward topic. Keela exhaled weakly at that and shook her head.

“That’s another one of those mysteries. Less about ‘why’ this time and more about ‘how’. They jumped in towards us from outside of my four dozen or so lightyear range on the detection enchantments. In one jump. They knew precisely where we were in dark space without using any known sensors,” she revealed. Either they had technology never before even hinted at to us, or they used some other means to locate her specifically. Both of those options were bad news.

“Are you sure that Nirru wasn’t communicating externally?” I asked, the possibility of an insider informant not lost to me.

“Positive,” Keela guaranteed, exhaling quietly again and returning her look ‘upwards’, as if some higher understanding would come to her if she continued. Hum.

Frowning, I concluded, “That means that the only possibilities are that they have technology we’re not aware of, Nirru was a lot more accomplished a divination expert than any of us gave her credit for or had a sneaky way set up already, or one of the other Keldarians on board had been in communication instead.” That was the only real three possibilities. Of course, that also meant the Grosh were willingly communicating with a non-Grosh race, which was unheard of prior to them surprising me as well, back on the ship. That Grosh did indeed offer me substantial ‘reward’ for cooperating with him, which he would undoubtedly have not followed through on. Still, he talked coherently to me without mass attempts to murder or torture me. That was a definite change. Of course, it also marked how desperate he’d been to not let such an amazing opportunity slip through his fingers. A whole race of sapient, highly intelligent and peaceful creatures that hadn’t been murdered or enslaved yet! For shame!

Curbing my negative ramblings, I noted that Keela was still silent, staring up at the dim lights above her. Twilight slid over on the couch and snuggled into my chest, letting me rest my head on the back of her neck and bury my muzzle in her mane. Her natural scents mixed with the soft floral smells of her shampoo from this morning, and I relaxed, feeling her smile against my inner shoulder. Yeah. As bad as all of it was, and despite Keela being forced to live it every day, I couldn’t stop myself from being happy that I was here instead of over there. Regardless of me complaining from time to time, dealing with squabbles between ponies and little mix-ups here and there was infinitely preferred to intergalactic war. It really put a perspective on things.

Rarity finally cleared her throat softly and asked, “Keela, are you okay? I know this is all troubling, but if there’s some way we can help…” Actually helping was the hard part.

The Keldarian closed her eyes and smiled softly at that, her expression somehow coming off as a little sad still. “No. I just really don’t want to be here anymore. My species might as well be dead, our home is gone, my only remaining family is dead, captured, or worse right now, and everyone is looking to me for answers I just don’t have. I want nothing more than to just forget about all of it and open a portal to Equestria right now. I’d never look back…” she muttered, eyes still closed but a certain amount of pain persisted in her voice. That was a sensation I was familiar with. Fatigue like that was hard to beat.

“You should get some quality rest, Keela. Hopefully that’ll make you feel better,” I suggested, remembering that was how I usually beat stress.

Smiling at that, she nodded before standing up more fully again. “Yeah, hopefully you’re right. I’m going to get some good food, then go to bed. Thinking can wait until tomorrow,” she agreed, starting to walk towards the large door behind the captain’s platform. I idly watched it slide open automatically for her before relaxing again.

“Feel free to talk to us again whenever you need it. Tomorrow too about anything you find out,” I offered, trying to be as understanding as possible. She was in a bad position, and it was even starting to make me tired. Well, more tired.

My bipedal friend smiled at that before pointing out, “You look downright exhausted as well, Mender. We should both get some sleep.”

“We have to go get Fluttershy first, but I’m sure she’ll let us rest up afterwards. We have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow with all of the Fall celebrations. They’ll last a good three days after that, so we need to get good and rested up!” Twilight exclaimed, sounding noticeably more enthusiastic now. I wasn’t as readily swayed and only nodded to her, noting my lower back kind of hurt from laying upside down on that flat platform for hours.

“Maybe we can just stay at her cabin tonight. We’d better go now, however, as it’s getting harder and harder to move,” I warned, taking my last sip of tea from my cup. This time I wasn’t going to let it go to waste!

* * * * *

Twilight walked alongside me as we headed towards Fluttershy’s cottage, the gentle night air dancing around us as we walked. There was a bit of a nip to the air, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been earlier today. Twilight also warned me that I might be getting a bit ‘fluffier’ in the future as winter set in. Turns out, ponies get winter coats! I learned something new every day. Learning was awesome, so I wasn’t about to complain! Actually, today in general was rapidly becoming awesome, as everything slid back into place and there wasn’t any fighting anymore. Awesome!

“I can’t believe you drank two more cups of the tea before we left. You’re going to crash hard when the caffeine rush wears off, you realize?” Twilight reminded, smirking as she walked next to me. A bit jittery at this point, I realized my hooves were twitching every time I stepped down and glared down at them, as if to silence their subtle mutiny against me.

“Hey, I needed to wake up at least enough to make it to Fluttershy’s cottage. Otherwise I would have simply passed out halfway there and you would have had to drag me. Wait, it is called a cottage, right? I’m never certain on my terminology compared to pony language,” I inquired, earning more giggling from the mare.

She finally managed to get it out of her system with one last snicker, then confirmed, “Yes, it’s called a cottage. If you’re so curious about things, you know you can ask me anything. Getting you adapted to pony culture would be a pleasure, Mender.” She probably signed her own death warrant with that one, but that would undoubtedly help me out in the long run. If she didn’t mind the barrage of questions from time to time.

“Oooh, okay! Well, a good start would be learning about this winter fur thing. How long are we talking here? Does it leave on its own or do we have to cut it? What about maintaining it in the middle of winter? If it leaves on its own, does it all just fall out at once leaving me practically naked in the middle of wherever I happen to be at the given time, or is it a more gradual thing?” I started, looking back over at her curiously as she started laughing again. What?!

After recovering from that bout of giggling, Twilight answered with, “About three to five centimeters at most, although most ponies trim it in the winter, too, in order to keep it thinner. It leaves on its own but gradually! Plus, aren’t you already naked? I think the term you were looking for is ‘bald’…” Psh, she was no fun.

“I know, I know. Ponies are naked most of the time. Hey, that took me a while to get used to, you know! For that first few days, I kept feeling all drafty all the time back there. Plus, it didn’t help that there were other naked ponies all around and I kept, uh… No, correction, I’ll stop there…” I trailed off, feeling another flush of heat come to my cheeks that wasn’t a caffeine rush this time.

Twilight smirked and blushed a bit at that, too, then bumped into my flank, rocking me sideways a little as I twitched and scrambled back onto four solid hooves. “Heh, you should overdose on caffeine more often. It makes your mouth outpace your mind and I actually learn things about you before you censor yourself,” she teased, looking back over at me as I scowled at her. To my surprise, however, she had a more sincere smile, and I was forced to blush more and look away from her as we stopped on the bridge leading to Fluttershy’s cottage.

“Relax, Mender. I just want to learn more about you, is all. It’s never come up before, which surprises me. Surely you have likes and dislikes. Needs, wants, desires… Maybe even dreams and a future you want to aim towards?” she suggested, giving a more earnest smile as she sat down on the cobbled bridge. The street lights had already come on all across Ponyville, illuminating us with a soft light against the backdrop of the rising moon. Ack, no! She wasn’t asking about anything like that! Focus, Mender!

I fidgeted back and forth for a moment before taking a deeper breath and calming myself again, forcing my hind legs to bend and set my butt down on the cobblestone. “Well, long term things like dreams and a future is kind of… Uh, I don’t think I’ve slowed down long enough to really consider all of that. All of you amazing ponies are in it, though, especially you and Fluttershy. That I can… I can see that easily,” I started. Her blush shifted a more rosy shade as she dipped her head down a little but kept eye contact, smiling shyly. It was rather adorable, and I had to lean over and kiss her softly on the nose, earning another giggle. She was really happy tonight…

“I’m glad that we’re in it. Things are looking brighter and brighter for us, and I don’t think I want to ever give this up for anything. That’s why I want us to get past this…” she explained, reaching out and resting her right forehoof against my chest. I took each side of it with my own and held it there as she closed her eyes.

“I know. You’re honest, and I can see that. Giving you another chance and being patient is easy because of that. As for my wants and desires… that’s kinda tricky, too. Right now, I’d love a place to relax and snuggle with the two of you, my twitches and vibrations keeping you both warm with the extra heat from the kinetic energy it generates…” I furthered. She started giggling again, then slid forwards into my chest, relaxing further.

After a moment of just nuzzling my neck, she smiled against my fur and added, “I think that’s doable. We have to comfort Fluttershy first, though. It sounds like she’s had a bad day, too.” Oh, right. Yeah, Rarity had said that she was downright miserable when the mare visited her earlier.

Both of us were interrupted by a squeak, almost inaudible to the naked ear. If one of us had happened to be talking at that moment, we would have probably missed it entirely. Looking to my right, I saw the very mare we’d been looking for outside of her cottage. The little crystal in her mouth was still glowing, and I saw the lantern on the path to her house now lit. She was frozen now, however, looking up the bridge towards us with surprised looking eyes.

“Oh, Fluttershy! Just the mare we were looking for,” Twilight chirped, standing upright again and heading towards her slowly. The yellow mare popped the crystal out of her mouth and onto her hoof before tossing it backwards into her left saddlebag, giving Twilight a gentle smile back.

“You seem much happier now. And you’re together?” she asked softly, sounding a bit surprised at that fact. I stood as well and trailed slightly behind Twilight, eager enough to simply let her do the talking for now. Plus, the view was better back here.

The lavender mare smiled before sitting down next to Fluttershy and looking back at me as I approached. “Yeah. We bumped into each other at Rarity’s, and she, well, helped us through a calm talk. Things are… Well, we’re better now,” she tried to explain.

Fluttershy smiled and nodded tiredly, looking like she hadn’t had a very good day at all. She was probably overworking herself to keep the stress levels down, which I could understand. Her eyes widened a little as I didn’t slow down, instead slipping right up and pulling her into a soft hug against me. Slowly, her muscles relaxed as her forelegs slipped up and draped themselves over my shoulders, her releasing a soft exhale.

“Mmm, I’m glad. I need you two tonight. I missed you both,” she murmured, pushing her muzzle into my neck.

“Oh?” I inquired, smiling as I squeezed her, then rubbed up along her back muscles and working out a soft groan for my efforts.

Twilight started snickering again and warned, “Careful. He’s got three cups of Rarity’s tea in him, and I think it makes him frisky.” Hey! I shot a mildly annoyed glare over at Twilight again, but Fluttershy just started giggling. The sound of her being happy made it remarkably difficult to stay mad, as usual, and I relaxed, just holding her tight.

That’s when the yellow mare utterly and completely surprised me. “Mmm, that’s okay. If we don’t end up trying anything tonight, I think I’m going to have to borrow him for a little bit and take him out into the woods for an hour or so… Um, if that’s okay with him, of course,” she playfully remarked. Okay, so not a complete surprise, but very daring for a Fluttershy statement. Wait, hour?!

Twilight grinned at that before nodding. “I’d already planned on attempt two, this time with less hospital visits, I hope. If not for Mender, for Nurse Redheart, who really needs a day off,” she reminded, getting two nods in agreement. Yeah, Red really needed some time off by the look of it. The last time I saw her, she was almost falling asleep standing up. Now that would just be silly.

“Just don’t push yourself, Twilight. I’d suggest the same to Fluttershy, but due to that last comment…” I teased, earning a gentle blush and smile from Fluttershy, and a more relaxed nod from Twilight.

“No, I think I’m a lot better off this time around. Do you think we could take a bath or shower first, though? I kind of like being clean, especially if we’re going to be doing anything more intimate later,” she requested. I looked to Fluttershy as well, but she instead perked her ears up and rotated them around, listening behind her for a moment.

Finally, seemingly content, she rotated her ears back around and shook her head. “I don’t hear Discord singing in the shower, so it should be okay. Just, um, check the faucet and shower head first. He sometimes likes to hide in there unexpectedly,” she warned. Ah, right. Him being a shapeshifter was sometimes more trouble than it was worth. Well, to us, anyway. He was probably having a blast with it.

Twilight looked less than pleased with the news. “Wait, what does he do, spy on you while you’re trying to clean up? Ew!” she exclaimed, making a gagging motion with her hoof. The yellow mare held up two hooves in exchange away from me, making a subtle assuring motion towards Twilight.

“Oh, no, no! He more likes to startle me by being found in or jumping out of unexpected spots, is all. He’s actually very proper acting most of the time, don’t worry,” she assured, clearing up my other question at the same time. I guessed he was just a jerk to non-Fluttershys, then. I wondered if there was a way to start cloning her. The world would benefit from that, no?

Twilight exhaled softly and walked past us then towards the cottage. “Well, so long as he doesn’t do that while we’re actually in there washing up, I won’t have to try stun blasting him again,” she warned, voice a little louder than needed, probably in hopes he was near enough to hear it. There wasn’t an answer, so all we could do was hope for the best.

Fluttershy smiled and pecked me on the cheek before standing again and gesturing me to follow with her head. Relaxing, I stretched out before standing up again and trotting after them, almost feeling like running towards the door instead. No, keep it in check, Mender. You know you’re not good at that ‘sprinting’ thing yet. Keeping my hooves going the right way was sometimes challenging for me still, but at least I could do so without constantly thinking about it now! I was tempted to cheat and write a program to do it for me, but the last thing I needed was it glitching out and walking me off a cliff or something. If that stupid targeting program was misbehaving, I didn’t put much faith in the other codes being executed properly.

Walking, thankfully, I headed towards Fluttershy again, who stood in her doorway holding it open for me with a happy smile. I ducked in and kissed her softly on the lips, earning a squeak as I pushed us both inside, the door closing behind us…

Next Chapter: Chapter 83 Estimated time remaining: 15 Hours, 32 Minutes
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