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8443 46.42 KB 423
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>”Do Their Graces need to bring anything else to this council’s attention?” Raven asks the ducal representatives around the table.
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>They shake their heads.
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>”Excellent,” Celestia says. “This council is adjourned.”
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>The representatives always left first, as was custom. As they’re filing out, you see Raven and Prince Blueblood arranging their various papers to leave.
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>You’re nervous, but this is a familiar nervousness. What’s coming, at least, is something your past life prepared you for.
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>Past life. Are you really over it now?
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>Something to think on later. What matters is the challenge before you is a familiar one.
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>All you’re doing is selling a project to management. Simple.
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>Though you’ve never tried to be this flashy or grandiose about it before.
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>Just as the last of the representatives leaves, Raven looks at the other five individuals remaining.
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>You, her, Blueblood, the two princesses, and the commander of the guard.
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>”Now for matters at home,” Raven says. “What must we address?”
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“Yeah, if I may.”
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>You stand from your chair and pull a small circuit board from your pocket, a bit smaller than the palm of one hand. You flip it to the table casually, aiming for its center.
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>Twilight had duplicated it already, this piece is expendable for showmanship.
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>At least she could clone the board itself without passing out.
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“Stallions and gentlemares, this is the single most sophisticated piece of hardware in the world, right now.”
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>You point at the chip where it landed.
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“That is a copy of the heart of this.”
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>You pull out your smartphone, unlock it, then slide it across the table to rest near the motherboard.
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“This is human magic.”
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>Thanks for the line, Twilight.
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>You have everyone at the table’s focused attention. You realize Twilight’s the only one who has seen your phone work, besides Celestia knowing about the flashlight, and you having waved it in Raven’s face a week ago. None of the royalty participated in your arrival interview.
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>You suppose Luna may have seen it working in your dreams, but she seems just as fascinated with the real deal as the others.
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“Basically, we could make sand think. Unfortunately, we can’t make new ones with the technology you have, and I don’t know enough about the theory to train up a suitable scientific base and skilled labor force to open a factory for it on my own, and I wont bore you with the details about that. That’s a project that will take at least two generations, and I don’t have that kind of time.”
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>Celestia flinches at that, subtle enough you almost missed it. Raven gives you an unamused sidelong look.
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>Shit, you didn’t intend that line to be about mortality. Pull out the positivity.
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“We can, however, make copies of it with duplication magic. This isn’t as useful as it may sound, because there’s a lot locked in; these things aren’t just blank slates. But what it can do is interpret other devices that my phone has built in. I’ve been learning a lot about your magic from Twilight. I’m astounded you can replace limbs with simple materials and a single spell; back home prosthetic were still an evolving field, and we couldn’t yet perfectly duplicate natural movements. But she gave me a lot of ideas, and during this week she’s been away, I’ve been making plans.”
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>You retrieve the phone from the table app, open and start the voice recorder, then aim the camera at Celestia and snap a shot.
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>Turning the flash off was a good idea; the table hardly reacts to the whole process.
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“Twilight tells me that limbs are about your limit. You can’t help lame pegasi fly again without more involved magic, which can be very awkward for them to adapt to. She also tells me you can’t replace lost senses.”
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>You slide the phone back into the center of the table, this time displaying the picture you just took.
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“That’s where this comes in. Look at that; it can interpret the image and knows how to present it in a form you can comprehend. The screen provides a working model your scholars can study to create a spell that will allow you to imitate it. The chip at this thing’s heart can interpret and output the camera’s signal with that.”
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>Once they’ve had a look, you reach over, flip the photo app away, and hit playback on the voice recorder.
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>”Twilight tells me that-”
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“It can also hear sound and process that as well. A spell to interpret its sound output would be, I expect, trivial, if doing things with magic is as simple as the technological foundation used. Speakers are easy, and I know some unicorn musicians already make use of them with their own magic.”
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“In short, if my projects work out, I can let your blind see, and your deaf hear.”
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>You’d normally pause for some sort of reaction here; you intended that to be a punchy line.
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>Instead, you have three ponies staring at you with rapt attention, a big ol’ princess and her secretary looking thoughtful and a touch proud, and a prince wearing a scowl.
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>Ah, hostile management at the table.
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“I’m also designing a system that can serve pegasi who cannot fly. That one will need considerably more work on my end than the other systems, which would lean on your mages, but that just means it’s working off proven principles, just in a novel way. It still won’t be as natural as a working wing, but it’ll give them a lot more freedom than the awkward levitation spells you currently employ.”
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>You put both your hands on the table’s surface and lean on them, bringing you down to their eye level.
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“To do all this, I’m going to need a proper workshop, a space I can test everything in safety and store all the equipment I’ll need. Building the initial demonstration model will take a lot of time and resources. I’ll also need another talented unicorn earmarked to study whatever Twilight passes them about potential magical theory; Her Serene Highness-”
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>Thanks, Raven. Lets end on a respectful and humble note.
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“-already has enough on her plate, and I’ve been taking too much of her time with this stuff already. I haven’t been much use in matters of statecraft, but this is something I can do to help the country.”
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>”Absolutely not!”
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>You – and five ponies – turn to Prince Blueblood.
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>”We simply do not have the resources to dedicate to your absurd projects, let alone the space to provide. I will not enable the use of this strange technology we have no knowledge of! We don’t know what could go wrong, not without years of study by all the scholars of the land, which will be disruptive enough-”
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>”Your Excellency,” the commander of the guard begins. The stallion looks up at you with an expression more guarded than during your presentation. “Give me an excuse to put your work under my supervision, and you’ll have everything you need.”
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>You look back and forth between him and Blueblood.
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>Is this going to devolve into Equestria’s version of a catfight?
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“Well, I, uh, I could probably design weapons and armor, but I don’t think-”
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>”The last thing we need are weapons!”
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>Yeah, Blueblood was right, there.
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>”If you’re going to let this chance to better our people slip through our-”
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>”Please, stallions,” Raven butts in. “We can go over this later, just the three of us supervisors.”
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>She turns to you, then. “Thank you for bringing this opportunity to our attention, Anonymous.”
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>You know a dismissal when you hear it.
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>You retrieve your phone and the spare motherboard, then sit back down.
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>Raven looks to the two stallions at the table. ”I ask you two to assess what spare material and manpower you have, and report back to me. Then we can discuss what we shall do about Anonymous’ request. This task should take you the rest of the evening; for this reason I suggest we table the rest of our business for now.” She looks to Luna.
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>The princess nods, then everypony stands to leave.
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>Neither the commander nor the prince look very happy.
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>Stallions really were moody, huh?
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>You’re still getting the hang of the different gendered behaviors.
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>As you’re leaving, after most others have already gone, you feel a tug on the back of your shirt.
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>Raven stands behind you, wearing a conspiratorial expression.
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>”You use the prosthetics as a pretense for something else,” she says, barely loud enough to hear
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“What makes you say that?”
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>”You told me a week ago that you cannot make this project, with your phone and senses, known to Twilight. Now you tell this whole room, and say you have worked with Twilight this whole time. Something else lurks beneath all this.”
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“Uh, yeah, but I wasn’t lying when I said all that. They’re just pieces of a bigger puzzle. But don’t tell any of the princesses your suspicions. Don’t tell anyone. I could probably get in a lot of trouble, and it’s going to be hard enough keeping this from Twilight, who’s going to be helping me. The stuff I intend to work with was a big point of contention back home, involving several scientific fields that were just coming into their own. But while we were having trouble with it back home, I might be able to pull it off here. I just need time to get everything together.”
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>”If your activities jeopardize our work or the palace, you will make me very cross.”
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“Look, the stuff I’m going to be doing might get me called a mad scientist back home, but I’m starting to get the hang of what’s possible here, with a fusion of magic and technology. I’m not going to let these possibilities pass me by. It’s curiosity, not ambition or malice. I promise.”
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>”Should my assumptions prove accurate, some might call you mad here too.”
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“We’ll just have to see, huh?”
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>She gives you a long, hard look. “But should those assumptions prove accurate, you might do what no pony ever could before. And – to the extent I can ascertain what you do will benefit the lives of Their Majesties – I will back you. Your presentation here represented your opening move on Blueblood, no?”
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“Can’t get it by you, huh?”
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>”You pushed him on the issue where the few who had power over him observed, a smart tactic. Now all present know his angle, but you have not gotten any closer to understanding his motivation or resolving the issue. But I must warn you; he will not stop even if denied here, when he argues the point with the commander and I. You made an escalation play, and that can prove dangerous with the power those at that table wield.”
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“I’ll be careful.”
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>”I wanted to stay out of this conflict of yours, Anon. The proper functioning of this palace hinges on Blueblood, the Commander, and I all getting along. You drove a wedge between those two, on an issue of great interest to me.”
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“Oh. Sorry.”
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>”I can deliver you this victory, but I ask you resolve his problem with you sooner rather than later. And do not expect my direct help in the future; I can do much for you behind the scenes, but a great deal of my effectiveness in the palace relies on my abstention from petty intrigues like what animates Blueblood to stand against you. Power thought a threat proves more effective than used as fact, often, for every use diminishes it in more ways than one. I have pulled influence for you before, but I cannot play champion for you in courtly disputes. I have acted only to allow your project a place to succeed; my interest lies there.”
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“Were you the one to finally get me my parts?”
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>She dips her head in acknowledgment.
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“Ah, thanks.”
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>“I simply wish to keep your conflict with the Prince contained, rather than eventually involve Their Majesties. The core battle remains yours to fight alone. Do so.”
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>She walks around you and out the door, then.
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>Figures that keeping your secrets will get you in over your head, with this crowd.
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>You stalk off towards the room where you and Luna discuss administrative matters in the evenings. Maybe things really were easier when you were concerned with matters of state.
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* * *
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>Once more you find yourself stargazing, back home.
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>For some reason, your bed is on top of your apartment building, now.
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>Further, the building is no longer in the city.
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>You’re surrounded by some sort of wilderness.
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>The setting reminds you of younger days, when you’d go out on camping trips and hikes, or riding your bike through trails.
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>There’s no light pollution, and the sounds of the city in which you used to live are absent.
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>You can see every star in a nearly pitch black sky, now.
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>A shimmering sheet of aurora borealis covers the sky’s northern quadrant.
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>You’ve never seen an aurora before in your life, so you have no idea how it’s in this dream.
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>Dreams are pretty fucking weird, but you’re not complaining.
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>You’re just relaxing in your strangely-sited bed, looking up at a stunningly beautiful night sky.
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>Now would be an excellent time to test some hypotheses.
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“Hey Luna, wanna stop by? Hang out for a bit?”
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>You’re about to laugh your silly idea off when you notice something about the moon.
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>Its features changed; there’s a dark crescent covering the right arc, with some sections that extend leftward.
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>As you’re observing it, the disk of light flashes.
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>Then a pony climbs out.
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>Luna practically falls out of the moon as if it were a giant hole in the sky, then catches herself with spread wings, and glides down to you.
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>“Thou callest us, Anon?”
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“You know, I didn’t expect you to actually be listening in, but I thought it was worth a shot.”
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>You look back up at the moon.
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>It’s returned to normal.
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>”We have kept an eye on thee since thy nightmare’s return.”
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>Time for hypothesis number two
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>You scoot over in your bed and pat a hand on the vacated spot.
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>Luna hesitates for only a moment before clambering on.
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>She eventually settles down next to you, her spine against your side, her rear near your knees, and the wing of the side she’s laying on sprawled across your lap.
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“You must have seen some, uh, interesting things.”
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>She cranes her neck around to look at you with one eye. “What dost thou mean?”
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“Well, I, uh, sometimes have dreams of, er, indecent nature.”
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>She grins. “Anon, seeing such is part of our talent. Thou art not the first, nor the last. We’ve learned to glance before diving in, and look away when prudent.”
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“Well hell, I’ve had to explain why we wear clothes for modesty to Twilight, and here you are knowing me at my most immodest.”
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>You pause for a moment, letting that sink in with its own sinking feeling.
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“You never, uh, watched anyone, have you?”
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>She looks offended. “Why should we?”
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“Well, everyone has needs.”
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>”Dost thou see our mane?”
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“Yeah, but I don’t see how that’s relevant.”
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>”When alicorns mature, we gain a great deal of control over our bodies. That is how we achieve immortality. We can choose for ourselves how our manes appear.”
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>Her star-flecked void of a mane flashes.
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>Left behind is normal blue hair, spilling across your chest.
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>”This is a sign of our mastery over ourselves. Our sister also has this ability. Twilight and Cadance have not yet grown enough.”
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>Another flash, and once more a starfield cascades from her neck and tail.
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>”We chose these stars ourselves. Our sister chose a rainbow through morning mists. This is just a trapping, of course, but we use it as an example. Another thing we can control is our… needs, as thou callest them. We keep them suppressed. We are sure thou art aware how inconvenient they can be.”
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“Er, that’s something guys have to deal with, back home. I mean, moreso than usual. It’s considered a guy thing at least.”
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>She looks surprised. “Thou hast thy own cycles?”
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“Hell no, it’s always on. I’m not sure what you mean by cycles, being honest.”
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>”Thou dost not mate at certain intervals?”
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“Oh, no, we just do it whenever we want. I guess women do have a sort of monthly cycle but it’s not like we only have sex at certain times of it. Actually it’s more we don’t have sex at certain times. That can get, er, messy, and not in a good way.”
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>Luna’s confusion is writ plain across her features.
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“Don’t worry about it. I don’t really feel like explaining.”
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>”Anon, that thy drive is ever-present beggars belief. Thou art always so reserved.” She thinks for a moment. “Well, it explaineth thy socks.”
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“No, the socks are just insulation and such, I swear. I had your tailors make me steel-toed boots for my lab. They’re pretty uncomfortable barefoot, and then my shoes would always be sweaty. Why is it hard to understand? We manage.”
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>Luna turns away from you “Anon, for ponies, it doeth… it leaveth us stricken.”
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“Oh. Huh. Well then, I see why you’d want to avoid dealing with it.”
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>She looks up at the sky you were admiring, before you summoned her. “Thy stars are beautiful.”
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“Yeah, this is what I wished you could see, when I was explaining them all to you.”
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>You turn to her then.
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“This was a test, you know.”
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>She looks back at you, surprised. “Did we pass?”
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“Not that kind of test. When you first saw this bed, I said you could sit on it.”
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>You chuckle.
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“You said no, because you had too much tact to enter a stallion’s bed. Guess that’s changed.”
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>Luna looks shocked, then chagrined, and starts moving to get up.
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>You wrap an arm around her neck and pull her back down.
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“I think I know why.”
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>She doesn’t struggle, instead relaxing more than when she first laid down. “How didst thou know?”
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“Eh, a little birdie told me.”
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>”If thou meanst our guards, Anon, they are not pegasi, they-”
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“No no no. Forget it. Look, I don’t really know how pony courtship works. Twilight told me monogamy wasn’t really a big thing here, so it’s not like it’s costing me anything. I’m not really comfortable enough to do anything serious. I’m still getting used to all this. But if you’re feeling lonely… I tested it.”
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>This still doesn’t feel right in a way.
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>You were already doing something with Twilight, and no matter how much she says it’s okay – how much she was expecting it, and conditioning your relationship on it, even – you can’t help but feel this is off, no matter what you feel for Luna.
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>This is as much a test for you as it is for her.
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>”We didn’t want to say anything. A grand gesture is required, per the old ways. We have not done such for thee. It is not yet time.”
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“Old ways. Yeah.”
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>You drop your head back to the pillows and look up at the stars.
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“I was thinking, in the meeting this evening, about how I’ve started to see all this-”
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>You sweep a hand across the sky
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“-as my past life, like I’m living a new one. I thought it meant I was getting over everything. Then something comes back to remind me. I’m still tied up in it, in some ways.”
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>You pat her side with the arm you still have around her neck.
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“I feel stuck, when it comes to stuff like this. Your customs fight my customs, and they both fight my feelings. The time we’ve spent together means a lot to me. You mean a lot to me. But I’m lost, and I don’t know how to express it, or whether or not I should.”
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>Luna remains silent, but you can see she’s watching you, from the corner of your eye.
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“You know, when I was a kid, I was fascinated by the night sky. I wanted to go there, I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up. What little boy didn’t? As I got older I figured that wasn’t my path, but it’s why I went into engineering. I wanted to be part of something sent up there. Something that went beyond the world I lived on. To play a tiny part in something that we threw out into space, or sent to the moon, or another planet. Those things will be there forever, immune to all the chaos of my home. There’s a permanence in that, in being part of that accomplishment. In making something that outlasts you. A creation that outlives you. That’s an ironclad legacy.”
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>You shake your head and close your eyes.
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“I don’t know what I’ll have, here. I’m flying blind. I can only hope that, in the end, everything works out. I’m still tied to that dream that’s now out of reach.”
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>”Anon, thou-”
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>Luna tenses up, then quickly moves to get off the bed.
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>You prop yourself up and look over to her as she quickly preens the wing that was across your body.
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“Is something wrong?”
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>”Our duties call.”
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>She looks at you, her eyes now glowing bright white.
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>“Thou art needed.”
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“What’s that supposed to-”
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>A terrible shriek rings out like the world is ending
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>You get a sensation that feels like hours compressed into a fraction of a second. The environment jumps and scrambles itself like static, and you feel a terrible sense of dissociation, like you’ve been violently torn from your own mind.
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>The shriek ends with a thunderclap ringing out, as if its bolt hit the ground right next to you. The violent thump almost throws you off your bed.
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>A bed which no longer sits on your apartment building’s roof.
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>Your night sky is still there, but everything else has changed. You’re outside a small cemetery of some sort now, surrounded by trees in autumn colors. Luna is already striding through its gates.
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>A voice from within calls out.
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>“Must your entrance be so dramatic?”
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>”The dream merge was rougher than expected. My apologies.”
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>Luna only drops her thees and thous for one pony.
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>“Merge? Sister, why-”
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>You slide out of bed and look to where Luna was heading, just in time to see a white face over a slender neck turning to look back at you.
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>Luna looks back at you as well, and waves you over with a wing.
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>You scramble to their side as fast as your legs can take you.
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>As you reach them, you notice Celestia had been laying down in front of a specific headstone. She’s standing by the time you stop, and maneuvers to put herself between it and you.
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>She’s wearing one of those smiles her eyes betray as false.
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>“Anon, you have no idea how proud you made me, this evening. You pledged to find some way to use your technology to help Equestria. I’m happy you’re making progress to keeping that promise. Already you exceed my expectations.”
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>You look around.
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>Her speech is entirely at odds with the setting.
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“All respect, Celestia? I know what your sister’s job is. This is a nightmare. One of yours, I’m assuming.”
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>The false smile falls away, and she looks around herself. “Ah. Yes. It’s… I’ve lived a long time, Anon. Many ponies have left me behind.”
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>Her shifting stance lets you catch a glimpse of the headstone she’s hiding from you.
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>It has your name on it.
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>Your blood runs cold as you take a step back, closer to Luna.
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“So, uh, what’s, what’s all this? Is this-”
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>Luna interrupts.
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>”Sometimes it’s a dream, and she remebereth those who hath gone before. Sometimes it’s a nightmare, and she mourneth those who hath not yet passed.”
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>”She brought you,” Celestia says, sitting down, “to snap me out of it.” She looks at you with a weak smile. “Hard to argue the matter when you’re right in front of me. You said something, during the meeting, about not having time. This is what somepony not having time looks like to me.”
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>Luna walks past you to sit down at her sister’s side, leaning into her and hugging her with a wing.
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>The size difference – Celestia has easily a third again her wingspan, and a foot over her when standing – makes the gesture somewhat awkward, but only more touching for that.
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>You crouch on the ground in front of them.
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“Yeah, I guess that’d be… if you live forever, you’re going to see a lot of ponies go, and you care about your-”
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>”Anon, thou art a dolt. Look around thee. There are few here, not the multitudes of a ruler mourning her people.”
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>”That’s a different nightmare,” Celestia mutters.
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>”These are those she careth for.”
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>”Before my sister’s return,” Celestia says, slowly, “I never had relief from this, when it occured. I would wake up and think a friend really was dead, until I ran into them in the palace halls, or the gardens outside. That crippling depression, that sudden shock,” She shakes her head, though she’s smiling. “I’ve made a fool of myself in front of dear friends many times.”
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>Luna hangs her head. “I must do everything I can to help you.”
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>”Only so far as it’s your job, sister. I’ve told you I forgive you.” Celestia looks up to the sky, then. “These aren’t your stars.”
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>”They are Anon’s.”
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>”They’re beautiful.”
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>”Yes, they are. He was explaining their patterns to me. I’m thinking of using some.”
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>You’ve never seen them like this before, side by side, physically close. During official functions they were never far apart, but it always felt like they insisted on a certain polite distance. You’ve never seen them in casual sorts around the palace in the flesh, either. You know Celestia met with Luna’s occasional gaggle of guests, and you’re sure she’s as good friends with them as Luna, but you were never invited, so you couldn’t say what went on there.
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>Here, now, they really feel like sisters.
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>Do they spend all their time in the palace apart, just to spend time together while Celestia sleeps?
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>Not that it was much different between you and Luna, either, though you knew based on your clearer recollection on waking that Luna generally walked your dreams after sunrise, ever since you shifted your schedule.
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>It hits you, then, just how much that meant.
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>Those times she spent in your dreams before you started waking later, that was time she couldn’t be with her sister. Even back then, she considered you Celestia’s equal.
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>Like family.
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>”Anon, here we are not in thy dream. We are in hers. We can hear thy thoughts, and control this space.” Luna’s head is cocked to the side, smiling. ”Thou assumest much, but not entirely wrongly. Our uniquely shared circumstances warranted curiosity.”
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>’So I can just…’ You think the words, as if reading them off a page and sounding them out in your head.
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>”Clever colt, but that would maketh thee rude to our host.” Luna inclines her head to Celestia, who looks between you two in confusion.
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“Ah, yeah. Sorry. I can’t help but experiment, Celestia. No offense intended.”
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>”None taken.” She blinks. “I think.”
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>Luna laughs. “I assure you, sister, tonight I have learned he’s unreasonably innocent, despite his carefree attitude to our positions.”
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>”You know how much I respect that.”
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>”Indeed.”
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“I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult or not.”
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>”Innocence,” Celestia begins, extending her neck toward where you crouch to meet your eyes at your level, “Is a prized virtue in a stallion.”
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“It’s the ‘unreasonable’ part that gets me.”
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>At this, they both laugh.
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“I was just thinking that I never get to see you two acting so sisterly. Was it in here, in your head, all along?”
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>”When we first took up ruling Equestria, we found we never saw each other. This was Luna’s solution. It’s kept us sane, when our shared work separated us. I stopped her once, for a time, and...”
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>Luna leans her head into the side of Celestia’s neck.
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>”So we do it as much as we can. A private retreat, just for us, inside my dreams.”
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>She looks around again. “No matter how grim. She brightens them all.”
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“You two are lucky to have each other.”
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>”We learned it the hard way, but we learned it,” Celestia replies. “You have no idea how lucky we are.”
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* * *
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>Your workshop is almost entirely empty.
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>Everything was moved out earlier in the day, with the help of a few guards.
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>Their attitude towards you has turned around massively; the jeering ones are reserved, and the skeptical ones more willing to voice positive comments.
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>In the end, their commander didn’t do much for you but find you an unused building.
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>His attitude must have trickled down, though.
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>It was nice to get some respect around here, for once.
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>The guards helping you even told you some of the choicest gossip, as you moved everything out to the new workshop.
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>Not only had you almost killed Twilight, but Celestia too, with some sort of magic-stealing weapon the princesses defused at the last second, or that you saved them from with a change of heart just in time.
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>You aren’t allowed outside the palace grounds without escort because you’re under house arrest for a terrible crime, but maybe one you didn’t commit.
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>You were sent to gather information for your home, as some sort of advanced contact.
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>As hideous as your body was, it was merely a projection for ponykind’s convenience to comprehend, masking a terrible true form.
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>Your upright stature was a handicap, to put ponies at ease, or perhaps to disguise your incredible abilities when on all fours.
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>Humans were a mythical race from before magic, and you were a harbinger of their glorious return, but only if you judged the world worthy.
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>You might have come here from a parallel reality, to prepare ponykind for magic disappearing.
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>You secretly had wings, but they were ephemeral and no good for flight. Any pony who managed to touch them would die, or maybe live forever.
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>You were a… well the explanation was a little long, but some rough equivalent to a succubus. The princesses may or may not be under your sway, or trying to contain or control you.
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>Eating meat gave you power, and once you’d eaten the meat of every sentient race of the world, you’d become an anti-deity like Discord.
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>Who the fuck was Discord?
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>Many variations on similar themes. It doesn’t help that Twilight is your primary contact, in their eyes, and she’s is a living superweapon who exists more or less to deal with dangerous unknown entities like yourself by way of reforming them.
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>One of the guards helping you admitted he invented a couple himself, just to see how far they’d go.
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>He was proud to report the Commander himself believes one of his fables, but wouldn’t tell you what it is.
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>You’re starting to understand the meaning of ‘whimsy’, and how the Royal Guard was the greatest concentration of it in Equestria, when they were off duty.
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>Once you’d warmed up to the idea, you got them back with some carefully-curated facts and myths from Earth.
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>Humans and ponies had lived side by side for most of history, but ponies became obsolete.
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>You refused to elaborate on what obsolete went.
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>You got some good reactions when you showed them the height of an average horse, and talk about how humans would ride on their backs all the time without phasing them.
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>You never did, of course, because they were all obsolete, remember?
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>You even spiced it up with what little art you had on your phone of knights and such.
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>A couple of them want full body armor now.
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>You told them about the Four Horsemen, though you may have tweaked the colors a bit to something they could relate to better, like certain royal coats.
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>Just to get them back for the one saying how you were going to end their world.
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>You told them about centaurs, which apparently spooked one of them, who told you about some ancient enemy. The others treated him like a fucking nerd, so you’re not sure if this is historical or fiction.
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>You’ll have to look through Celestia’s private collection for it, later.
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>For now, though, the fun’s over.
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>You sit against one wall, watching the only thing that hadn’t been moved.
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>Your original workbench is still in the center of the room.
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>The generator you and Twilight build still sits on the shelf underneath it, humming away under its sound-dampening dome.
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>Frequently, a snapping sound can be heard despite the dome, as a bright spark flashes inside one end. After so much constant use, the commutator is showing some wear. You’ll have to replace it with a spare Twilight duplicated, when you move it.
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>The sparking spooked the guards, who refused to touch it, though one pointed out it’d be difficult to dispel the soundproofing dome if Twilight was the one who’d cast it.
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>Watching it was relaxing, in a way, even though the sparks did not fall into a regular pattern.
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>It was nice to focus on something external, even though it let your thoughts drift to some less than pleasant subjects.
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>You were looking forward to Twilight’s return today, but knowing she was some sort of weapon of last resort bothered you in more ways than one.
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>Is that why Celestia first introduced you two? You know it’s not the only reason she sticks around – you know her well enough to appreciate her genuine interest in what you do – but it could still be one reason among several.
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>Besides that, what if she gets hurt doing whatever it is she does? What would you do if she dies out there?
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>On that note, death was another thing occupying your mind. You’ve caught some sort of thinking-about-mortality bug from the dream you’d spent with Celestia and Luna, a couple nights back.
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>Seeing your name on a headstone was disconcerting and sobering, and it hurt knowing that the limitations of your body would let those who care about you down.
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>Thinking about your place with them was uncomfortable in its own way. It probably wouldn’t look good for royalty to be romantically involved with another species.
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>Immortality and the redundancy of three in one place meant heirs wasn’t a problem, but that was just one of the concerns.
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>You’re still trying to wrap your head around the idea of it being okay to split your attention between both the mares who’ve expressed interest, let alone how to manage a relationship like that, and they both were still holding back on you besides.
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>You’d been throwing yourself back into your work again to deal with it – or to avoid dealing with it, as usual for you – as unhealthy as you now realize it to be. This forced stop to open the new workshop today is probably for the best.
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>You just know you have to leave something meaningful behind, before you die here.
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>Your old dreams can have a new form. Maybe not one object you’ve touched, but many; you’ve done more design work on the articulated tiltrotor ‘wings’ for pegasi, but you’re waiting on anatomical measurements from Twilight.
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>You weren’t putting all your eggs in that basket, though. You had something special in the works.
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>From down the hall, you hear a pony approach.
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>Not the measured strides of guards, but a trot.
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>A quite lively one, too.
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>All those terrible thoughts fade away, driven from your mind by those hoofbeats, for you know whose they are.
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>By the time you’re off your butt and turned towards the door, Twilight appears.
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>You spread your arms and kneel at the same moment she half-extends her wings, looking like they were just opening for a downstroke.
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>She gallops all three strides to reach you, rearing back as you wrap her in a hug.
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>She wraps her forelegs around your neck, and her wings around your body, nuzzling the side of your head and nickering.
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>You can feel the metal talons on each of her wings on your shoulderblades.
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“Welcome back!”
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>”I missed you!” She pulls away from you and composes herself to what you’ve come to know as Proper Princess Poise. Not as calmly dominating in presence as Celestia, but prim in its own way. “I did not, however, miss teleporting between Ponyville and Canterlot twice a day.”
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“Yeah, well, long distance relationships suck.”
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>She cocks her head at this, and you belatedly realize what you said.
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>Getting ahead of yourself again.
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>It feels more natural than it did before, though. Progress.
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>She didn’t even object.
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>You reach out to tousle her mane around her horn, then stand up as she looks around the empty room.
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>”Where’d everything go?”
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“Oh, do I have a surprise for you. C’mon, follow me.”
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>She follows you out of the room, adopting that bouncy trot you find so cute.
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“I’m surprised you’re still wearing those. Showing off the claws to your brother and his wife?”
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>”They were fascinated, though the questioned why I’d need them. Obviously, with magic and all. They understood I was just testing them, but honestly I haven’t taken them off the whole time.”
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“You even slept with them?”
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>”It took some getting used to, but yeah. I’d take them off every morning to preen my wings and readjust the straps, but I tried to wear them as much as possible, even though the power was disconnected a lot to save battery life. We need to know what heavy wear would do.”
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“I’m worried about your wings a lot more than the talons.”
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>”I’m fine. If you want to be sure, you can look when we get to wherever we’re going.”
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>You two make your way through the palace, then out to a flattish area behind it.
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>Turns out the guard had been much larger before Luna’s return. Made sense, when you thought about this reclusive tribe she’d brought back into the ponykind fold with her return, all of whom seemed to be devoted to her. The royal guard had shrunk by a third.
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>Thing is, Luna’s new devotees had claimed a cave system inside the mountain the palace is built near. These had apparently been their domain before her banishment, and they were more than happy to take the place up again.
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>This had left several of the guard’s buildings dormant, and while many were torn down for materials to use for later maintenance on the rest, a couple had remained, now overgrown and forgotten.
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>You walk towards a somewhat isolated barracks building with Twilight.
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>Over the door, a stenciled sign reads WELCOME TO EARTH
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>When Twilight reads it, she starts bounding ahead of you towards the door.
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>“Skies above, I didn’t know you were getting an upgrade!”
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“We just moved everything out this morning.”
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>She stops inside the entryway, marveling at the room.
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>The place is all now-pristine stonework, this first room being easily three times the size of your old shop. Shelving lines one wall, stacked with test equipment and various parts. Two massive stone tables sit in the middle of the room, with just enough space between them for you and Twilight to stand back to back. Or, back to rear.
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“I decided to make this common room the main lab. There’s a room that I suppose was a workout or dining area that we’ve cleared out to be a testing area. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with the various individual rooms down the hall there, but I suppose they could be parts and material storage, as well as places for finished projects. I’ve taken over what I think was an office as my own bedroom. This little embassy also has the small adjacent grassy area, in case we want to test something outside. It’s not a lot, but it’s way better than what I had.”
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>She turned all the way around in the room, before trotting off to inspect the rest of the small barracks building. “This is incredible! How did you convince them to let you have all this?”
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“Easy. I told them what we were planning.”
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>She pokes her head back into view from down the hall. “They agreed?”
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“Well, agreed to let me prove it’s worth something. If I can get them proof of concepts, they’ll take things as they come. Now get over here and let me look at your wings.”
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>She returns to the main room, and climbs up on a chair near where you’re sitting. She puts her back to you and extends both her wings out.
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>You pull your chair up right behind hers, so your legs are on either side of her chair. Then you gently pull one of her wings back towards you to examine.
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>She’s managed to find a way to arrange the straps better between her primary feathers so there’s minimal interference, with the upshot that the straps are almost entirely hidden from view. It takes you some effort to undo them all without causing undue discomfort, but eventually you have it off her and placed on the table beside you, followed by the other.
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“What’s with this fabric wrapped around them?”
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>”Oh, a friend of mine works with textiles and tailoring. I had her make that as a protective covering. It’s water-resistant, too.”
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“When were you going to tell me?”
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>”Whenever you asked.”
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“Hah. Got me there.”
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>You look over a wing in detail, now, picking through the feathers she’d strapped the claw near, making sure everything looked proper, compared against other feathers that wouldn’t have been impacted by the straps.
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>Twilight’s fidgeting a bit with your ministrations, but isn’t saying anything about them.
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“So was this some official business, or just visiting family?”
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>”Just a visit. I’ve always been close to my brother, and Cadance and I go way back. And I like to keep up with Flurry, she’s growing so fast. She’s important, you know, besides just being a princess herself. The first natural-born alicorn we’ve known, she’s amazing.”
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“Wait, alicorns can be born? Celestia told me you all become that way. That you three were unicorns, and Cadance a pegasus.”
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>”Yeah, and that’s all we knew, until she and my brother had their foal.”
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>Shit. Maybe the heirs thing was a problem after all.
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“Hey, uh, can we talk about something?”
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>”Aren’t we already?”
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“No, uh, I mean, specifically. There’s been a lot on my mind.”
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>Twilight turns herself in her chair, looking at you with concern. “What’s wrong?”
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“This is my first time learning about Flurry being, well one of you. I, uh, you know if we ever decide to, er, go through with this… We’re probably not that compatible, being two different species from two different worlds.”
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>”I’d figured, Anon.”
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“And that doesn’t bother you? If Flurry’s an alicorn, that’s an incredible opportunity. I’d think you’d want to, y’know, try for some of your own. Perpetuate the tribe, or something. I wouldn’t be able to do that for you, if you decide to end up with me.”
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>She looks at you and smiles. “It’s fine. It’s not like the ones already around are going anywhere.”
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“Yeah, uh. Immortal. Right. About that-”
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>”Anon-”
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“You already know humans don’t last forever; our life cycle and such was one of the things in my arrival interview you said you’d read, and-”
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>”Anon, don’t-”
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“It doesn’t feel right expecting you to-”
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>”ANON!”
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>Twilight’s wings are still folded, but lifted off her back, angled forward. Her head’s dropped a bit, quite close to you. Her eyes flick between the two of yours. “Anon, just… calm down. You act like I haven’t been thinking about this myself. It’s okay. Once everything’s settled out, we’ll take it as it comes. I haven’t thought a lot about foals. Maybe I’d want one someday, but if you’re my stallion, that decision’s already made.”
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“Just doesn’t feel right. I’d be tying you down, in every sense of the word. Until I’m not anymore.”
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>You chuckle weakly and lower your gaze to the floor.
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“I guess my mortality’s a blessing, looking at it that way.”
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>She scoots forward on her seat and drops her head so she’s looking up at you, blocking your floor-bound gaze. “Don’t say that. It’s our choice, and we’ll make of it what we can.”
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>Her breathing’s matched yours, in those pauses between speech. It’s a strange sensation, but you think you know what it means, now.
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>It’s comforting.
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>”So please, don’t worry about yourself on my account. I had a lot of the same thoughts you did. When I was away, I talked to Cadance about them. I’m a scholar, Anon; if I have questions, I ask an expert and study.”
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“Heh. I can’t imagine what she must have thought of that.”
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>”She wants to meet you.”
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>You pull your head back in surprise. Twilight scoots forward a little more and raises her head again, smiling as she follows you back.
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>”Really! What did you think she’d say?”
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“I don’t think you’d appreciate hearing it.”
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>She laughs gently. “No, probably not. Your strange alien nature aside, Anon, her and Shining weren’t that different. She’d already become an alicorn by the time they were dating; she’d gotten her horn even younger than I’d gotten my wings. My brother and I had some status due to our positions, which elevated our family a bit, but we weren’t nobility, let alone the royalty she was entitled to by her achievement.”
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>Her expression falters. “She’s going to outlive my brother, too. As am I.”
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>But that sadness lasts only a moment. “But they worked out. They’re exclusive, that’s Cadance’s right as a princess, and I don’t think either of them would want it an other way. I’ve never met another pair more in love with each other than they.”
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>She recovers her smile. “You should sit down with my brother, when they arrive. You two could have a lot to talk about.”
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>You crack a thin smile, yourself.
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“Meeting your family, huh? It sounds like you’ve already decided what you want. How long until I have to face your parents?”
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>”I still intend to wait a bit on everything. The social obstacles aside – knowing who else wants to claim you – we’re still feeling things out, so taking things slow is just smart, but...”
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>Her face is still close to yours.
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>REALLY close.
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>Not that she can see, with her eyes closed now.
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>Wait, hold on, you’re experienced enough to recognize this.
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>How the fuck do you even kiss a pony?
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>Instead of the usual head maneuvering, though, Twilight just slowly, very gently, pushes her nose into yours.
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>She holds it there, for several moments, your breathing again synced with each other.
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>You’re not sure if it’s just carbon dioxide rebreathing or something more, but your chest feels awfully light.
-
>When she pulls her head back, she’s smiling, but her head’s tilted down, and her cheeks have that strange undercoat coloration you’ve been assuming is blushing. Her demeanor looks somewhere between demure and embarrassed.
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>”Your standard, before I left, was ‘does it make you happy when I do?’ So I ask you, does it?”
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>You smile back at her.
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“Well, I sure felt something that I wouldn’t mind feeling again.”
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>”As you said then, that’s enough for me.”
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>You hold each other’s gaze with your soft smiles for some time.
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>Then some more time.
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>It’s getting awkward.
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>Come on, you’re smoother than this. How did you even score back home if you were this much an artless mess?
-
>You two break eye contact and look away at the same time.
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>Hell yeah, nailed it.
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“Well, uh, now that you’ve seen the place, lets break it in, huh?”
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>Her eyes, now wide as dinnerplates, snap back to you, along with her ears. Her wings flinch outward at strange angles.
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“I got some plans I want to go over with you, I need your help refining them. I’ve drawn up initial designs for the replacement wings, and other limbs to boot. And I’ve made some revisions to what we were thinking for sensory apparatuses. And we gotta move the generator out of the old room, sometime today.”
-
>She relaxes again, adjusting her wings then refolding them.
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>You wink at her.
-
“Taking things slow is just smart, Twilight.”
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>She shakes her head. “Colts.”
by E4-NG
by E4-NG
by E4-NG
by E4-NG
by E4-NG