Slowly, thoughts stirred. Just the barest hinting of awareness. It crept slowly along my being, a tingling sensation starting at my core and spreading. After a long moment came the sensation of movement. A dull, unfamiliar pulse from my core, steadily beating over and over again. Afterwards, the slow expanding and contracting along what felt like the top of my form. What was going on?

For the longest moment, I only knew the interesting new sensations. I was me, and these strange things were happening to me. Then, a whole new level of experience drifted into my awareness. At first, it was a far away whispering. It was something else in me, coming from the top of me, it felt like! It took a long time for me to fully figure out that it wasn't coming from inside of me at all. This was a new experience, and I had no idea what was going on.

"Attempt three. This is the most stable results yet. No sign of cardiac arrest this time, and mental activities are off the charts! I think the cybernetics are being accepted, finally!"

"I told you. All it took was testing out the new organic models, grown using its own DNA. It's the easiest way to trick the body into thinking it belongs."

The sensations were strange, and I didn't understand what was happening. It was all a bit overwhelming until an infinitely soft murmur drifted through me. It was like a wave, and my entire form shivered, feeling something gently wrap around me.

"Shh. It's okay, little one. It's called talking. They're talking to each other, using sounds. That's what you're hearing," the gentle voice whispered, right into my left ear. Ear! Her instructions came less verbally and more as understanding, as the definition of hearing and talking drifted into my being. She was also a she, I realized. That was somehow important. She was sharing her understanding of the concepts with me, and I suddenly really wanted to listen to her more.

"Pulse is stable. Mental activity is fully stimulated. It's alive, and appears to be fully functioning again," that first voice spoke once more. My newfound understanding told me that it was a male voice, so 'he' should be used. I wasn't entirely sure what that indicated, but it seemed exciting to find out!

"A miracle, really. The way those barbarians froze the remains of Subject Zero Zero, without even realizing the subject was pregnant... We're lucky the offspring hadn't degraded even more," the second voice added, sounding faster and somehow agitated.

That whisper returned, adding, "She's angry. Anger is hostility. It's a feeling, or an emotion. Those are things we feel." Feel! At that, I was almost overwhelmed at the information drifting into me. Overwhelmed! New understanding took hold in my mind, with hundreds of different feelings described in but an instant. Emotions were something foreign, and a little scary, I suddenly realized. Scary, I now understood directly!

"Well, with what little was left of Subject Zero Zero, I doubt they even suspected anything could be alive in there. Regardless, the test was a success. Should I shut it down now?" the first voice asked. Shut it down?

There was a moment of silence, a new concept for me, as the two voices had been exchanging words constantly before now. Anger spiked inside of me, and I suddenly realized it was from that gentle entity holding me.

"Shut it down? Why would we do that?" the second voice asked, sounding a bit 'surprised'. I was getting good at this!

"Well, it was successful. And we can always bring it back to life later, right?" the first voice asked.

That inner feeling around me boiled up, anger spiking as she hissed, "No, you can't!"

"No, you can't! I mean, you can't just kill him now. He's alive, and let's keep him this way. It will be more useful for the experiment," the second voice theorized. There was hesitation after her first outburst, and I realized she'd felt that sudden anger, too.

Another long pause, and then the first voice asked, "Um, he?"

The skeptical tone was short lived as the female sharply answered, "Yes, 'he'! The subject is male, so it's proper terminology to refer to him as he. We use proper terms here, understand?" There was a sudden sensation of authority, and I felt a spike of panic from the other entity. Their feelings drifted through the air like subtle waves, and the being that was holding me showed me how to feel them at the same time.

"Ah! Y-Yes, sorry, Doctor Kyliona! Um, I meant no offense. Please forgive me," he quickly intoned, shifting to terrified halfway through.

Another pause, before this Doctor Kyliona sighed and returned, "Forgiven this time. Now release the anesthesia. We'll let him rest for now." That gentle inner voice explained to me what 'sleep' was as we slowly drifted backwards, everything darkening around me. Mmm, I liked sleep! I decided that sleep felt really nice, shortly before fading away...

We were in the dark, me understanding what that was suddenly. That nice female moved in gently, then I felt something press against me. Two nudges, and a plethora of new sensations hit me as I felt two things she called eyelids open up. Her own being snapped into focus, and I realized I was getting yet another new sensation bombarding me.

Understanding followed, her forehead touching to mine. Vision, or sight! Colors, shapes, light, dark... There were so many things to learn! I quickly took in everything about her, her own knowledge drifting to me with each piece I examined. I took her image in, that soft smile towards me as her sky blue eyes shivered with light. Mane and tail drifted messily around her, the light blue locks seemingly shifting about on an unseen breeze. Her coat drifted, too, almost white in color but with a bit of cream mixed in. She was beautiful, and I felt her hold me gently to her as I suddenly got 'knowledge' of every part of her I looked at.

"No need to be scared, little one. You're dreaming, but I can be with you here. I'm still at your side when you're awake, too, but you just can't see me," she promised softly. I knew her. It was instinctive, almost.

Wincing at the new lights all around me, I lifted one of my own, much smaller hooves to shield my eyes for a moment before timidly smiling back. "M-Mother?" I asked quietly, afraid that I'd be wrong. She giggled, however, and nodded almost immediately, a gentle calmness drifting through me. I was right!

"I'm right here with you, my son. I've been with you for a long time now," she explained, her eyes softening a little, although that eagerness remained. I felt it. She'd wanted to 'meet' me for a really long time now, and was enjoying this. What 'this' was, I didn't quite know.

Glowing blue swirls drifted around us in a much darker blue nothingness, us being the only light present here. Hazy clouds drifted about before fading off to black in the distance, and I grew uneasy, looking out into the dark. My mother smiled, turning my head to face her again a moment later.

"No need to be scared. I'm right here with you, and always will be. There's no Ether in this very sad place, so we're the only light here. If things go badly, I'll carry you back to our Ether myself, don't worry. Then you can meet your father and other mom, okay?" she assured softly, smiling more earnestly at me. Go badly? It didn't really matter, and I snuggled more into her fur, earning a shiver from her. I trusted her, knowing she really was my mom. She'd take me home if we needed to go.

"What's going on?" I asked, my own small voice muffled by her fur.

She held me close for a long moment before kissing the top of my head and whispering, "You just woke up. You're with a race known as 'Keldarians'. They're a bad, bad race for the most part, but I've been 'speaking' to this Kyliona. Her heart is repairing itself, through both my influence and the energy we carry with us. You can trust her." Bad race? I instinctively knew I shouldn't ask.

We drifted like that for who knows how long, with her just holding me. I had more questions, but I could almost taste her loneliness. She needed this a lot more than I did, and I was happy to just nuzzle into her chest, her tears drifting away around us, both happy and sad energy coming from her. My mother...

She'd told me what to do. I could hear her in my mind, even if I couldn't see or feel her when awake. Even though I knew how, I wasn't supposed to talk yet. Foal steps at a time, she'd said. Still, eager to test out what I could, this time my eyes opened as I felt myself drifting. Everything was tinted a rather weak green color, and I could feel the plastic tubes attached to the mask over my muzzle, the seal solid and giving me air to breath. The liquid felt strange against my eyes, but I adjusted fairly easily, then looked down at the wires plugged into me in various spots. Plates of organic metal extended out of my skin, just like Mom had warned me about. They'd made me part 'machine' in order to save my life, but she assured me that my essence was completely intact, and one hundred percent pony. I trusted her completely.

Past the liquid, I caught my first glimpse of the Keldarians, about six present. They were a small race, about a meter or so tall, and had blue fur as a norm, it looked like. Despite their uniform coat color, they had different hues of color to their manes. Mom corrected me a moment later, revealing that they called the tufts specifically on their heads 'hair'. Some were in the pink hues, and others appeared to be in the blue range. One had dark purple. All of them wore 'clothing' over their forms, and had four additional bumps off their chests, which Mom also explained meant they were female. Weird.

"Oh, he's fully awake this time! The cybernetics must be doing their job and advancing his age slightly faster than normal. Nanites are at ninety percent ideal saturation levels as well. With luck, we might be able to remove him from life support in a few days," the one in the back stated, in an all too familiar voice. Kyliona! My eyes locked onto her, taking in her form with interest.

She was the one with the purple hair. Given that she looked to be the oldest in the room, maybe it was an age thing? She adjusted the spectacles against her nose, two long bangs framing each side of the glasses, and a tied up bun in the back, looking to keep her longer hair out of the way with as little effort given to it as possible. Our eyes locked, her darker red ones widening a little.

The closest female to my tube perked as well, observing, "Oh, he's aware enough to note us talking. I wonder how accurate your theories are about their sapience?" Her voice was soft, and she smiled up at me as I looked down at her as well. She had much shorter hair of the soft pink variety, and sapphire blue eyes. She looked downright young in comparison, although her being closer, I noticed they were only mostly like a cat. Their faces were a bit wider, almost holding a 'bear' look to them. She was pretty.

"Their brains are large enough to sustain sapience, I believe, based on his body ratios. If Specimen Zero Zero's upper body had been in better shape, we might have been able to figure more out, but I suppose time will tell," Kyliona muttered, picking her pad of paper up again. There was that 'Subject Zero Zero' again. They had talked about that the last time I was awake, too.

The female behind the cute, pink haired one rolled her eyes, however. "There's nothing yet proving sapient thoughts. Given that Subject Zero Zero materialized an estimated fifty meters in the air, yet somehow didn't manage to right itself away from its head before it hit the ground provides evidence to the opposite, self-preservation instincts what they are," she pointed out. Huh?

The closest Keldarian looked annoyed at the comment, turning with a glare. "Subject Zero Zero is a 'she', not 'it'. And the only reason Subject Zero One is alive right now is because her upper body shielded the impact. Maybe, if she was sapient, she knew that would happen and intentionally wanted to save her offspring?" the female pointed out. There was a gentle burst of acknowledgement from inside of me at that.

"You're the most important thing to me, Little One. I had to give you as much a chance as I could!" Mom whined inside of me. I understood. She'd sacrificed a lot for me. Her body was already gone, but even afterwards, her spirit had stayed with me, ready to guide me back home if my body gave out. I understood that now, and Mom suddenly realized that I already felt 'older' inside. I was growing far faster than normal.

"Enough!" Kyliona hissed, glaring down at both of them before continuing with, "This is speculation until we prove otherwise, so keep your theories to yourselves. Also, Keela, I'd like to talk to you after this battery of tests is concluded." Keela?

The Keldarian closest to me perked at that, then smiled and nodded, seeming unfazed at the request. Ah, so she was 'Keela', then? I jerked, however, as a little metal prod extended out of the metal bank to my right, then poked me in the side. Nothing happened, however, and I saw the machines start to print things off out near Kyliona instead.

After a long moment of studying the paper, she shook her head. "The energy the creature emits is already several times what it was prior. We're getting amazing readings, but the radiation values are high enough to punch through the reinforced crystaline tubing of the life support. We may have to consider additional shielding," she muttered, adjusting her glasses again as she read down lower on the print out.

"Taking a few more samples, Doctor Kyliona," Keela reported, typing at the holographic console in front of her. Two more rods extended out, and I flailed as they poked me three more times in the side, a little squeak escaping from me as they actually tickled my tummy. Keela let out a little giggle while watching me, then slapped her paws over her mouth an instant later. The female behind her gave her a skeptical look, but just rolled her eyes instead, typing at her console as well. Okay, I liked Keela a lot more, I decided.

After two more rods popped out and started poking at my other side, too, I realized that this was going to be a long awake period, this time...

Mom giggled, watching me drift about in front of her, flailing. She caught me again, and I clung to her chest instead, earning a laugh as she held me closer. "You're growing up so fast, Little One. I just wish your Dad, Mom, and I had talked more about a name for you. It's been almost three hundred years, though. They're both probably in the Ether by now. I lost everything with them," she whispered, eyes softening a little.

Sensing her sadness, I leaned up and nuzzled her under the chin, earning a smile again. "No, I made the right choice, of course. I'm never going to leave you. One way or another, I'm taking you back home with me when I go. I'll not leave my little colt here by himself in some strange dimension. Bastion and Aura would agree. I know they would!" she exclaimed, sounding like she was trying to assure herself of that very fact.

"They love you, Mom. Of course they'll understand," I chirped, trying to give her the 'cute eyes' I knew she liked so much. She smirked, and I knew it had worked as she squeezed me closer again.

"You're adorable. If we do manage to get back to Equestria, I have a feeling you're going to be a little heartthrob when you grow up," she cooed, grinning rather impishly at me. I understood most of what she said, but that word was weird.

Tilting my head to her, I asked, "What's a 'heartthrob'?" She so rarely had to give me more 'knowledge' of things, me being able to think far more clearly, it felt like. She said it was because I was growing up.

She grinned, and my mind screamed 'It's a trap!' before she even said anything. "Oooh, it means the mares will be falling all over you to try to get you in a herd. Maybe I'll even get grandfoals one day!" she explained. Oh.

Blushing, I scratched the right side of my head with a hoof, then shrugged. "Um, I'm not entirely certain what you mean by 'grandfoals', but I'm not so sure anypony would like me. Um, aren't I partially made of metal now?" I pointed out, hesitating at that. Females were kinda weird, and I wasn't sure if I wanted them falling on me.

Mom giggled again, then corrected, "Actually, it appears to be a form of organic metal that's been synthetically grown using your own DNA structure in order to promote the highest possible compatibility ratio and also get it to scan as normal bone and skin structures. It's... uh... wait, no, that's not the important part!" I blinked slowly at that, but she rapidly appended, "No, it doesn't matter. You're a hundred percent Earth Pony inside, and any mare who actually deserves you will be able to see that! If one can't, I'll buck her in the face so hard her actual body will feel it!"

I shrank back from her angrily wracking her two forehooves together, and she grinned. "Relax, I'm on your side, my little one. I've just gotta screen any mare after your heart, first! I can't let you get hurt by a mare who doesn't have your best interests in mind," she assured, reaching forward again and squeezing me afterwards.

"Do mares really do that?" I asked, tilting my head curiously. She was a mare, but I didn't feel unsafe or unsure of anything while around her.

She thought about it for a moment, then explained, "Not usually, no. Your biggest danger is the mare herself not knowing how she truly feels. Trust in your instincts, though, and you'll be fine. Oh, and of course listen to your mother. She has your best interests in her heart, and will always fight at your side!" I smiled at that and nodded twice to her, her returning a single nod back as she relaxed. It wasn't hard to feel her close indeed. She'd attached herself to me, and I didn't think there was anything that could remove that link now.

We snuggled for a while longer, with her just smiling and holding me. She’d wanted to do that for a long time, too, I realized…

Memories flickered by. My head hurt a little bit.

The light was too bright outside of the tube, and I winced, lying there on the table and keeping my eyes half lidded. Not being constantly covered in fluids was also weird, but there wasn’t much I could do. There were only three Keldarians with me this time, all wearing heavy yellow suits that looked really weird on them, a big blocky hood over their heads that had glass in front of their faces. I wasn’t entirely sure why they were wearing them, but it seemed important as Kyliona had gone over suit safety instructions before they came into the room. My hearing was really good now!

“His medical examination is perfect. One hundred percent ideal saturation levels for the nanites as well, and his cybernetics are fully integrated. I think he’s doing wonderfully,” Kyliona noted, lifting my foreleg up with a gloved paw while I watched her. They were all extremely careful in my treatment, and I felt relaxed. None of them had hurt me, and seemed almost happy around me this time. I wasn’t going to complain.

“Are we sure that we got everything right? We don’t have a male example, and I’m not sure how good an idea it was to look to our Allies for ‘equine’ animal structures. This is an alien, after all,” the unknown female pointed out. She nudged me between my back legs again, and I raised an eyebrow back at her.

Keela shrugged at that, being the third Keldarian in the room. I also noticed that she appeared to be second in charge, despite her youth. “Sheaths for an extending penis seemed ideal, and a lot of species have a baculum in order to help with mating,” she pointed out. Oh, that was that thing back there that they were referring to. Colts apparently had them.

Kyliona nodded at that, assuring, “Don’t doubt Keela, Litta. She’s done a lot of research on all of the gaps to his body structure we had to fill in, and they should be fairly accurate, even if maybe not precise as to his species.” Oooh, so Keela had been responsible for helping heal me, then. I looked back over at the Keldarian, and she smiled warmly at me through the glass faceplate.

“I’m not doubting her,” Litta assured, then appended, “I’m more concerned about these suits. Outside of the tube, his radiation levels are twice as extreme as before, and for every day under the accelerated growth, they triple anyway. Are we sure that these will protect us from the energy?”

For a long moment, Kyliona said nothing, her paw coming to rest on top of my head as I turned to look up at her. Her eyes softened, and she chuckled a moment later. “Actually no, I’m not. How such a small creature emits this level of radiation is completely beyond our comprehension. We’re also not entirely sure what the energy even is yet, nor what effects it has on our bodies. So far, not a single mutation or malignant change has occurred in anyone, even Keela who was most heavily dosed in the last experiment,” she revealed.

Litta seemed surprised by that answer, looking back down at me curiously with her lemony yellow eyes. Keela shrugged to the other side of me, however, drawing my attention back to her as she explained, “The way it seems to exist outside of physicality, it’s amazingly hard to stop it from permeating everything. Only specific materials block it at all. Given that the energy is ignoring organic material completely, we actually have reason to believe that it’s incapable of affecting us. Regardless, I still suggest a lockdown and quarantine on the lab until we can further study its effects.”

“I already requested that, and they’re installing the full system locks this afternoon. We’re already in a bunker, so they’re fine with sealing us in, of course. I also have blood tests running on us in the lab,” Kyliona assured, adjusting her heavy glove so that her fingers fit better into it.

Keela smiled further, however, looking down at me. Huh? “We still need a better example of how it affects us. A volunteer would be for the best,” she suggested. Volunteer for what?

Litta pondered that before shrugging. “We could always request a low rung male be sent in for experimentation. It’s not like the council hasn’t offered, like, fifty of them. I think they may be starting to think we’re weird, not having any live experiments at all,” she suggested, giggling afterwards.

The hiss and pop of pressure made everyone jump, including me as I snapped back to looking at Keela. The other Keldarian’s eyes widened as she finished popping the seals on her hood, and folded it back over her head a moment later, fur now fully exposed to the air. “Nah. I’ll do it. I’ll give better reports as to the effects anyway,” she volunteered, smirking over at Kyliona, who dropped into a somewhat disbelieving, if not amused expression.

“Uh, no offense, but you’re kinda crazy, Keela,” Litta muttered, looking shocked still. Was the air that bad to breathe in here? I felt normal, anyway.

“She just wants to pet him,” Kyliona teased, looking purely amused as Keela grinned, taking off her gloves as well. Pet? My eyes widened as she felt along my coat with her paws instead, dancing up to my shoulders. Then she scratched behind my ears and I shivered, leaning into her touch. It felt really good!

She giggled at my behavior, then pointed out, “Come on. You know he’s cute. Do you really blame me?” To my surprise, she lowered her face right down to me, and bumped into my nose with her own, grinning at me.

“If you grow a third arm, you’re responsible. Anyway, Litta, go wash down. I’ll clean the tools, and now Keela gets to stay in here for a little bit while I figure out if she’s going to die or not,” Kyliona ordered, gesturing to the other Keldarian. Litta nodded and snickered, waddling over to the contamination lock in her big suit while Kyliona started gathering up all the doctoring tools they’d poked and prodded me with for the last hour.

Stepping out of her suit fully, Keela stripped down to just a few articles of clothing covering her, including a sheet or something over her upper chest to cover those bumpy things, and a cloth that tucked up between her two legs, tying back around her long tail. It was the first time I noticed that she had metal thingies too, but they looked significantly less involved than mine were. Hers was a single metal band going through her left ear, and another just under the tuft of her tail, also looking like a ring. I wondered idly what they were supposed to do while she pulled a plastic stick out of the back of her hair and let it fall down into the two relaxed pigtails she had earlier.

“Heh. Watching me, huh? You’re certainly curious, little guy,” Keela chirped, looking down at me in amusement before she sat down next to me instead. I turned to watch her curiously, wondering what she was going to do next.

My mother smiled inside of me, then stated, “She likes you, and didn’t need any healing on the inside at all, apart from the physical. She already won’t be affected by the ‘radiation’ they’re so worried about, because she doesn’t have any corruption anyway. Both her and Kyliona are safe.” Oh? Did that mean…? She nodded inside my mind, and I smiled, Keela giving a start in front of me. “Wow, it almost looks like you’re…” she murmured, looking down at my mouth curiously.

“Um, y-you’re nice,” I finally admitted, voice a bit raspy for never having been used. Keela’s eyes shot open to full mast, and Kyliona dropped three tools she’d been carrying, whipping around to look over at me in surprise. I tried really hard not to snicker, instead just blushing and smiling a bit more at their startled reactions. It was like a fun practical joke that had gone off perfectly!

Keela recovered fast, however, then grinned. “Okay, we’re definitely going to have to name you now…” she admitted.

“Easy. Steady, Azure. You can do this,” Keela chirped, paw braced on my shoulder as I carefully walked along, legs shaky under me. It felt so weird to be trying to move all four of them at once and somehow keep myself upright! It had been two days since I first spoke, and Keela had named me based off my coat color, she said. It was a pretty name, so I didn’t exactly have a problem with it. Mom said it wasn’t very ‘pony’, but it was a good name for now.

Kyliona walked alongside us, notepad at the ready as she scribbled a few more notes down. She was in her normal lab suit today, all six of them having given up on the ‘irradiated’ thingy. I understood now that they’d thought I was contaminated or something, and had instead just locked the entire bunker down to ‘protect other Keldarians’ from me and my energy. Kyliona said it was a lie, however, and was to protect me from them instead. They ‘wouldn’t understand’ that I was a living, breathing creature, and might hurt me. All six of them seemed really nice, but Mom said that was because my energy had already ‘changed’ them without them even noticing…

“So you say your mother is inside of you, and speaking to you about us?” Kyliona inquired, taking a few more notes before smiling up at me as I stumbled.

“Oh, um, yes! She gave me permission to speak to you two finally, and, um, to talk about her,” I explained, recovering my balance carefully with Keela’s help.

Kyliona looked back down at her notes, then smiled, looking surprisingly gentle as her eyes relaxed. “I’m not even sure how that would be possible if it were true, but given the strange energy readings from you, I can’t rule out anything,” she admitted.

The faint image of my mom faded in behind her, sticking her tongue out at the back of the doctor’s head. “Not like you’re just a soulless husk either, doctor!” she hissed, playfully swatting at the back of her head with her right forehoof. I snickered at the image, and then wobbled and fell over completely.

This time, Keela caught me as she giggled merrily. I’d already fallen a couple of times, and had several bandages on myself from the nicks and scrapes. “You’re just so adorable!” she gushed, sliding me over and pulling me into her lap instead. I blushed as she just hugged me close, and enjoyed her warmth and smells. Females smelled good, as I realized a little while ago. She was wearing a simple orange outfit today, most of the scientists starting to dress ‘casually’ since getting locked inside the vault. It was a darker orange sweatpants for her today, and a lighter yellowish orange sweater. It let me really feel how warm she was as she held me against her chest.

I looked up at her curiously, then smiled as she squeaked again and held me tighter. She was by far the nicest. Kyliona was nice, too, but felt more formal, as she still wore her partial lab outfit. She chuckled softly, then sat down in a nearby chair instead, looking her notes over. “Well, seeing as we seem to have given up on the ‘learning to walk’ thing for now, we’ll ask you a few more questions instead,” she suggested, flipping forward a few pages in her notes. Oooh, more of this!

Keela pecked the top of my forehead, then started braiding the left side of my bangs while Kyliona summarized. “So far, you’ve told us that you come from a dimension called Equus, and your race is actually called ‘ponies’. Although not the only race in this dimension, you’re the most numerous. These six energy signatures that I’ve detected that started this whole project are what you call the ‘Elements of Harmony’, based on six core virtues that are greatly celebrated in your culture. And all of this you learned from your mother, who’s been with you the past three hundred years while you slept in cryo-stasis?” she inquired, probably seeking confirmation again.

I nodded at that, then tried to explain, “Yeah. Mom shares her knowledge with me. It’s not really like talking, but more… she just gives me her own understanding of things.” I wasn’t the greatest with my words yet, but Mom said I was making wonderful progress, obviously worlds beyond the normal three day old foal. Just not so much on that walking part. Being inside a tube filled with liquid for my first two days apparently slowed down my progress there… Mm, Keela called that ‘sarcasm’ as well, and apparently I picked that up all on my own, instead.

“Oooh, what’s your mom’s name?” Keela asked, causing the image of my Mom to snicker as she drifted back into me.

“Gemstone Weave,” I revealed, looking back up at the Keldarian holding me as she finished the braid, then giggled again.

“That’s a really pretty name. Do you know who your father was?” she asked almost immediately. She was more curious about the other things, I noticed. Kyliona just smiled and let her talk, taking down other notes while listening.

I thought about it for a bit, and Mom nodded inside of me, granting silent permission. “Uh, his name’s Bronze Bastion. My other Mom’s name is Auraprism,” I informed, remembering their names and all the stuff that Mom had told me about them.

“Other mom?” Kyliona asked, Keela looking like she’d beaten her to the punch by barely a second.

I nodded, then explained, “We have herds. They’re groups of ponies who all love each other. She was the other female in the herd, and not my birth mother, but still loved by the two of them.” It seemed logical enough for me.

Keela giggled, then admitted, “It must be weird having so many females and not as many males. Their culture must be completely different from ours!”

“Possibly in a very good way. I’m sure you’re well aware of how far we’ve fallen,” Kyliona pointed out, frowning down at her notes again. Oh, that’s right. The goal of this project had gradually shifted over the last few days. It had gone from physically saving them from the Grosh, to saving their ‘souls’ as well from their own corruption. She hadn’t mentioned that in her reports…

The Keldarian holding me shivered lightly, then nodded. "Yeah, I know," she admitted, eyes closing as she kissed the top of my forehead again.

Kyliona sighed a moment later. "What happened with him and your sister wasn't your fault, Keela. It was his choice to leave the project, and you. You can't control how he feels," she tried to reason. Oh. Keela had talked about a male a few times in our conversations. He was someone she cared deeply for, and didn't like talking about what happened. I think she was 'with' him a while back, and it hadn't ended well. She'd fully given her time and energy to the project, after that.

"I know. I just wish things could be different. That he hadn't been hurt, and that my sister wasn't so far gone she couldn't realize love for what it was. But I'm the broken one?" Keela asked, sounding frustrated instead. I could feel it coming off her at this range, Mom teaching me how soul vibrations worked.

Kyliona shook her head, setting her notebook aside before reminding, “Your sister hasn’t been the same since that incident. You know she doesn’t trust males.” I suddenly had the sensation of not really wanting to meet this sister of Keela’s. My mom smiled as I let Keela hug me, sort of like a giant teddy bear. It was the same lonely, aching sensation that she had when she held me like this, and I just let it inside. Keela needed to let it out, and I let her cry against the top of my head.

It really did feel like I was growing up fast, at this point. Hopping off a cube of force I made and up on the table, I looked down at the papers that Keela was writing on, noticing that they were more lab reports. She smiled as I watched her work. Kyliona was in the lab with the crystal samples today, and I was completely bored out of my mind. The older Keldarian felt like another ‘mom’ to me, and Keela felt like a big sister as well.

Knowledge was starting to come from somewhere else now, almost exactly like the knowledge that Mom gave me a lot. This was colder, though, and more rigid. It felt calculated and directed, and Keela explained that it was from the DNA they’d rebuilt my own with during those three months or so that I was being operated on in nano-surgery. They’d appended the knowledge from my donor right into my instinctive layer, attempting to give me all of his memories and training as well. The original point of the project had been to send me through into Equus as a sort of ‘scout’, and to do that, they needed somepony who could use and make an Aegis Barrier. The rest of the survival, stealth, and combat training might be useful, too, as they had no idea what it was like in the other dimension.

That goal had largely been abandoned, them now knowing what it was like there for the most part. Now they learned about the energy inside of me and Mom, and hoped to send me back some day with her body as well, for proper burial rites. If a few of them could follow as well, the better. Their race was dying, and I couldn’t even grasp the pure horror that must be in that concept. The six Keldarians with me here just wanted to live out the rest of their lives peacefully at this point.

“Bored, Azure?” Keela finally asked, watching me start to bat her spare pen around with my two forehooves.

My nose twitched lightly as my left ear rotated around to face her by itself with a flick. “A little. Think we can upload some more games to my entertainment suite? I’ve beaten the three we got so far,” I asked, voice hopeful as I turned to smile at her, giving her those ‘cute’ eyes. The ‘first person shooter’ game was okay, but finished fast and wasn’t as deeply entertaining. Plus it was kinda bloody for my tastes, and I didn’t really get the whole ‘undead’ thing. If they had to bite people to spread the disease, you’d think after the first couple of cases, people would wise up and just start preemptively shooting anyone attempting to bite others. I enjoyed the ‘Role Playing Game’ far more, even though it was kinda bloody, too. Still, having a whole party of characters to talk to each other was fun, and I was the stalwart Keldarian hero saving the land from the flood of monsters that came from underground, far to the south! Racing was amazingly boring, however, and I technically hadn’t beaten that one, but didn’t want to play it anymore either after I obliterated my hovercar’s engines by not ‘shifting’ properly. Whatever that meant.

She grinned at that and nodded, setting her pen down. “Oooh, only if I get to play it with you! I have just the one I’ve been meaning to try!” she chirped, hopping up out of her chair.

“Yay!” I cheered, taking two bounds before leaping onto her chest. She grinned, almost falling backwards from my weight before catching me and supporting me against her. I was a lot bigger now, and getting quite heavy. She told me that based on my mom’s adult body, I was going to be bigger than a Keldarian was, length-wise. Probably heavier, too. I found that hard to believe, but Mom assured me it was true, and said that stallions were even larger than mares in most cases, so I’d be even heavier!

“What’s it about?!” I asked, excited to try a new game as she hauled me into the lounge instead, both of us flopping down on the sofa in there. Their individual beds were connected to it, and the sofa was where I usually slept, although sometimes Keela hauled me into her room to stay with her. I didn’t mind, as I knew she was really sad sometimes, still, and she was also warm and smelled good. Being a good listener and teddy bear was easy to do.

Helping her by holding her legs down, I watched as her tail bobbed in the air, her upper body hanging off the sofa as she opened the left drawer built into the underside of it and rummaged around inside. Her tail was kind of hypnotic as it bobbed and weaved excitedly in the air, especially with the shiny ring attached to the end of it. It was actually two halves of a ring clipped together, I’d come to realize later when she showed her piercing collection to me. The very tip of a Keldarian’s tail puffed out into a tuft of fur. Under that tuft was just more skin, however, before it got near the end of their spine, which ran the full length of their prehensile tail. She had that skin there pierced, so she could wear clip on rings on it. It had healed to form the hole now, which was there even when she didn’t have a ring on. Her left ear was pierced similarly along the top of it, a tight ring going over the upper ridge. They were just for looks, it seemed, which I suppose made sense, given how much I liked looking at them. They went well with her favorite color of orange, too, which was on her shorts and tank top today.

“Heh, you really like my tail,” she teased, earning a blush as I looked away from her, her body dexterously sliding back up and rotating to face me as she resumed sitting normally on the couch. Oh, and Keldarians were rather flexible!

Litta came out of the shower area a moment later, wearing only her underwear and idly tying her darker pink hair back in a ponytail. That hairstyle infinitely amused me, especially its name, and I smiled over at her as she caught my eye. She perked, seeing the drawer open, then grinned, trotting over to where we were and flopping onto my back, a light purr starting in her throat.

“Loading up a new game onto him?” she asked, yellow eyes locking with mine as I lifted my head up to look at her resting on my forehead. She was nice to me, too, although a little bit shy at first. She’d warmed up fast, especially as that purring sound meant they were content or happy!

“Yup! Rocket science, this time! Let’s see how good Azure is at engineering. Wanna play with us too, Litta?” Keela asked, smirking over at her. Oh, engineering? I did enjoy building things, so maybe this would be a fun new game, too?

Litta grinned, however, then warned, “Just so long as we don’t use your rocket designs. Azure can build the rockets for us, this time.” Keela huffed at that, crossing her arms over her chest in a pout.

“Hey, thirty rockets on the first stage is a totally legit tactic! We’d already decoupled them by the time they exploded,” she reasoned. Uh, exploded? I gave Keela a skeptical look, and Litta burst out into laughter at that.

“You know it’s bad when Azure thinks you’re crazy. Ha!” the Keldarian on top of me declared, also earning a skeptical look from me. I wasn’t that bad a judge of character!

Keela rolled her eyes at that, then held up a crystal rod to me. Nodding, I sat up more fully and extended a metal plate out of my chest, the crystal tray extending out of it. She set the crystal down onto the tray, and I pulled it back into my chest and started the upload into my storage. “Two and a half minutes!” I reported, perking up and letting my ears pop up. Games were fun, especially when I had others to play them with! Keela pulled out two controllers next, and I nodded, forming two slots in the plate below the crystal rod reader. Having cybernetics was rather useful, too…

It was so cold. Flashes of memory, and a blinding blast of heat and light. I fell through the dark, cold swirling around me like snowflakes. Everything was falling away, when two soft forelegs wrapped around me, a smile pushing into the back of my neck. I warmed up, the world feeling soft and safe again. Mom held me there in the dark, swaying softly back and forth with me as our light came back into the world around us.

“Just a nightmare, Azure. Calm down,” she whispered softly into my ear. It felt so real, but distant at the same time. There was something I was supposed to be… “Just rest. Your body is growing still, and fast, too. It’s taking a lot out of you, but I’m here for you always, my little colt. Rest,” she continued, giving me another squeeze. It wasn’t time to wake up yet, so I just relaxed against her fur.

For a long time, we just rested against each other. It was peaceful, really. But there had to be more than just this. We couldn’t stay here forever. “What’s Equus like, Mom?” I asked softly, a moment later.

My mind opened up as I felt her hold me a bit tighter. Thousands of images of ponies and places. The sky opening up into golden hues before me, it expanded out to all sides showing the incredible view off a balcony from a mountainside. The house was huge, built right into the upper cliffs next to a massive, towering castle. One of the biggest houses, with a large garden extending out behind it, complete with a pool and oddly constructed hot tub.

The mountain overlooked all of Equestria, I realized, the view spanning hundreds of miles in each direction. I saw other towns, train tracks, the sprawling countryside, and even an apple orchard far off in the distance. The sun was just coming up and bathing everything in a soft, warm light, and I smiled, feeling its heat. It was beautiful.

Memories sailed on, images of Auraprism and Bronze Bastion flashing past. One was gentle and compassionate, and the other was strong and reserved. Both had immense will, and truly wanted to protect those they loved and cared about. Mom did, too. Suddenly, I realized that’s what I wanted to do as well. Skill and power was pointless if there was no goal to strive for. I’d never really considered anything past my immediate situation, but all of this really got me thinking.

“Equus is beautiful. I can’t describe it in words, really. They don’t do it justice,” she murmured, nuzzling the top of my head as she held me. She was sad, and I knew I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to know where I came from and who I was so badly. I almost didn’t catch her continuing, however. “The four of us were so idealistic and full of hope. We wanted to save our wonderful world and protect everypony in it. But we were foolish, too. The multiverse is a big place. Protecting it all was beyond us, and we ended up sacrificing so much…” Four?

She smiled, and flashes of a new stallion appeared, who I didn’t immediately recognize. His mane and tail were longer, and a silvery color. He didn’t upkeep them very well, apparently just letting them rest where they fell in the morning. The color contrasted heavily with his darker blue coat, but his eyes were a rather piercing cyan color. His Cutie Mark was an equally cyan circle with a blast of light rays coming out of the center, like some sort of lens flare. She’d never spoken about any other ponies before, and I didn’t recognize him at all.

“Ether Pulse. He was my friend for most of school and into university studies. A year older than me, and I sort of looked up to him like a big brother,” she revealed. I frowned, then looked up at her carefully, but she was only resting her forehead against mine.

I shouldn’t ask, but my curiosity burned bright in my mind. I felt her smile against my forehead at that, knowing the question before I even voiced it. “No, I never talked about him. We got in a huge fight about halfway through my last project. We had… Well, it was a difference of opinion on how best to protect ponies. I wanted transparency, and he was under the impression that some things were meant to be kept a secret. Plus, he never got along with Bastion all that well,” she explained, looking a bit sad again. Why didn’t he get along with Dad? From everything Mom said, he was a pretty good pony, and seemed likable enough.

“But Dad sounds like such an amazing pony. I didn’t think anypony wouldn’t like him,” I muttered, frowning at the implications. She giggled, however, surprising me.

“Oh, no, I realize now that he was jealous. Not just of how skilled Bastion was, but because he had me. All those years of being his friend, and I didn’t once notice that Ether had a massive crush on me. I’ve had a… Well, a really long time to think back on things, and hindsight is almost perfect,” Mom revealed, rubbing her right forehoof up and down my back. Oh, he liked Mom, too.

She relaxed against me as we drifted, then smiled softly. “I wonder how he took my disappearance. If I could, I’d apologize to him for not even noticing. But it’s probably too late for that, too. Maybe we’ll see them all again one day soon,” she added wistfully. Ah, in the Ether. If I died in this dimension, she could pull me through into ours and take me with her. Those spirits that belonged to Equus returned to Equus regardless of where they were, she said. She’d felt the tug and resisted it, staying with me instead.

“You’ll see him again one day, Mom. Then you can apologize,” I assured. She smiled a little wider at that and nodded, giving me another peck on the head. If my mom was happy, then I was happy! Snuggling against her chest, we relaxed and drifted in the empty nothingness, two dots of light in the vast darkness…