There in the secret room of the R&D section, near the far end, Sable is standing upright, with her left side facing Gearing, as she’s working on something on a table that’s being covered up by a variety of cloth and other things. But, what has drawn Gearing’s shock, and instantly started throwing him into a panic, is the fact that he can only see three of her legs. Her right hind leg seems to not be attached. To her body. At all. And, in fact, a good portion of the area around her right haunch seems to be missing based on what he can see around her left haunch and tail.

Sable, using her cables to work, while also helping hold her upright, waves at him with both of her forehooves as she stays in the same position. “It’s not what you think! Wait! Please!”

Gearing starts shaking as his pieces start rebelling against his will and he’s not quite sure of what to say, even if he did have the ability to speak at the moment.

Sable gives him a sheepish grin as she says, “I… I can explain…”

Gearing stares at her for a few long moments, burning SATS repeatedly as he tries to think of what’s going on, but eventually stops and asks with a choke, “A-are you okay?”

Sable stops flailing around for a moment before she stares at him. Completely still. “Uhm… Yes, my darling… I’m fine.”

Gearing looks her over, at least as much as he can see of her, before he asks, “Do you need me to help you repair any damages?”

Sable stares at him for a moment before she giggles. “Heh… hehe… My darling Gearing, I’m not damaged. My repair matrix is working at full capacity.”

Gearing slowly sits down as he looks at her. And he can’t help himself from looking where a near quarter of her is missing. But he can’t quite see what’s been done or why. Given it’s on the far side of her. Gearing weakly waves a forehoof at her and asks, “What- what’s going on then? You don’t look okay… And the quartet told me what happened in the tunnels and… and… Sable, I’m so sorry, I had no idea that it was anywhere near that bad. I never would have-”

He stops speaking as her cable zips over, and gently presses against his lips. And he looks over it at her as his eyes go wide.

“Shhh… Gearing. This has nothing to do with that.” She bobs her head around. “Okay, it has a little to do with that… but, not in the way you’d think… I’m fine, my love. We can talk about it in a bit if you wish, but I really need to finish this before we do.”

Gearing nods a bit, then leans into her cable and nuzzles it gently. He gives the cable a light kiss as he looks her in the eye, and now it’s her turn to start shaking as he shows her such tenderness even from a distance. “Okay, Sable. I’ll leave you to it then. But if you need, or want, my help. I’ll be here in a flash. Okay?”

Sable’s smile beams at him before she nods. “Understood my love…” She looks back and forth a bit before she frowns and asks, “Would you like to clean up while waiting on me? You can do that…?”

Gearing looks at her. Then gives her a wide grin as he stands up and turns around to leave as he looks at her sideways. “I think… I’d rather you help me clean up… So, I’m going to go clean my bags and, when you’re done, you can join me in the shower…” He turns and walks out and the smile on his muzzle just gets bigger as she screams after him.

“My darling Gearing, that is not fair! I can’t chase after your sweet flank in this condition! Your teasing is concerning!”

Gearing calls back with a chuckle, “I’m not teasing, Sable…”

There’s a bit of banging and then a long groan before Sable yells back, “I’ll finish as quickly as I can, please don’t go too far without me!”

Gearing chuckles and heads over to his workbench and starts unloading the bags and everything else that he has on him. And, deciding to take the opportunity, he starts organizing the items he’d managed to bring with him. But, having already had one hell of a bad day, he starts double checking things to make sure nothing else got shot while he was playing mid air pony juggler earlier in the day. And then, to help pass the time a bit, he starts cleaning the bags and taking care of the various equipment that he’s pulled out. He wants to bring in the rest of the things that he’d let the protectaponies bring down. But they’re still on the other side of the decon chamber. And he doesn't want to head back and forth through there. It’d remove some of the fun for him and Sable.

Plus he’d made sure that all of the weapons he’d brought back, or more dangerous bits, had been brought in with him instead of handing them over to the protectaponies. They just brought down the salvage and machining parts that he’d managed to run off with. Although he does really want to get that fully kitted out reloading bench set up in here somewhere. But, that’ll be for later.

For now, he carefully pulls out and examines the enchanted gem that he’d taken out of the water system at Ironshod. He looks it over carefully, and then walks over to one of his testing equipment. He knows it’s old. That’s to be expected. But he’s not sure how much life it has left in it. Generally speaking, the enchantments are fed the energy needed to create their effects. The glyphs used to make them, and cause the effects, are, theoretically, enough to be perpetual. As long as the stone itself hasn’t been damaged and the archano circuitry embedded in it is intact as well. And as long as no one tried to overload it, and it was used at or below its manufactured tolerances. If all of that checks out, the stones can simply remain as the gate between magically converted energy, and water production. Gearing knows all of this from the archano mechanical theory he’s had to study.

But he also knows that all it takes is one jackass trying to push it too hard, and the functionally limitless water supply could be drastically reduced to nothing as it’s burned out. So he hopes that the company in question, Ironshod, wasn’t the cheap sort, and that the water talisman in his possession at the moment is rated for what would be normally expected of a building that size. Hopefully overrated.

He puts the talisman into his testing equipment, and then starts doing some diagnostics on the glyphs and magical pathway systems in the stone.

As Gearing starts working his mental companion comments, ‘You know, not being the one getting shot up and knocked down this time feels weird. Both refreshing, but disturbing.’

Gearing sighs as he mutters, “Yeah… Swift’s lucky she got that big hole in her wing, and not her body, or head. She did a good job dodging the real threats to her though.” He shakes his head, getting rid of the mental image of Swift’s crumpled form falling from the sky as he refocuses on the task in front of him.

These sorts of talismans have always fascinated him. He finds them remarkable. And, in truth, most people do. From the lay person’s perspective, some unicorn grabbed a rock from the ground, did some hocus-pocus, and suddenly they have magical gems that can do anything from creating water, air, or even keeping track of your daily calendar of appointments. Even most unicorns don’t actually understand it. When it came to the majority of the population, they were as mysterious as they came. But, just like the rest of the rampant consumerism that overtook Equestria at its height, they didn’t usually question it much. Sometimes in idle chatter or in trivia questions. But beyond that, most ponies didn’t bother with the hows and the whys of most of the technology that they used. All they knew was that it did work, so they used it.

Gearing’s fascination comes from the magical aspect of it. He’s not a unicorn, and has no real innate magic. Putting aside his pegasi linked ability to manipulate clouds, the weather, and, arguably, fly. And completely ignoring his curse. But he understands mechanics. And one of the things that had always struck him was how there’s so many similarities between both his mechanical work, and talismans and magically created archano technology. There are a few points of it that he only understands on a theory based level, like the mechanical archano transition and transformation mechanisms. But, he knows enough of both of them to work on both. With the right tools, he can even manipulate talismans. They have circuits, just like a protectrapony’s circuit board. But instead of being made through pathways constructed of thin lines of metal, they travel through the pathways created out of pure magic.

He’s never been able to create them. However, the more time he spends with the various technologies, the more a hunch keeps rearing its ugly head at him and pestering him. There’s so many similarities between the two, from his perspective, and he can already work on and even repair them, to some degree, with the right tools and equipment. So he can’t help having a feeling that, with the right equipment, even he, a pegasi, could actually create talismans. Granted. The groundwork would have to be laid by someone of more magical talent and ability first. They would have to create the originating tools that allow someone without magical ability to interact with the magical lines.

And the biggest support for his theory, to himself anyway, is the way pegasi had managed to create things from cloud. They’d used their own innate abilities to warp and manipulate simple water vapor into things that would boggle the mind for many ponies. How they could make computers out of things that most creatures can’t even interact with, is a bit of confusion that even Gearing has a hard time trying to explain. All he can tell them is that he’s able to work on, and type, on a computer, that an earth pony’s hoof would travel right through and do nothing more than make their fur feel a bit cold.

He still gets a giggle from remembering the time one of his colleges saw him working on a cloud computer he’d brought in. She’d had a near panic attack freak out as her hoof kept just swishing through it, causing a light swirl, but the cloud would reform back into the shape of a terminal. Every. Single. Time.

While he’s thinking of this, he performs the mindless task of confirming the talisman’s integrity, and is met with a pleasant surprise for once: the talisman seems entirely okay. Practically new.

Gearing removes the talisman from its testing equipment, and sets it on the counter as he thinks things through. There’s a lot he could be doing with this. The first inclination would be to find a settlement to give it to so water can be used to help everyone. His first instinct is, of course, Chapel. An independent settlement of mostly foals with a kind buck who tries to guide folks towards better alternatives. But that instantly gets rejected. As nice as it would be, he bitterly acknowledges that he’d just be making them a target. As bad as the need for water is, it wouldn’t even take the technology grubbing Steel Rangers to raid them for it. Common ponies would, just for the use of it. For the clean water alone.

Next he thinks of Megamart. It’s a decent enough sized place. Well armed. Has agreements with the Reapers. So they could protect themselves from most threats. They’re a trade hub already, as it is. The fresh water it could produce could be used there, or even sold, to the areas around it. Possibly start entire water convoy caravans, since he knows Bottlecap practically has a trading kink. He doesn’t entirely like the idea of the water being sold. But, however, he’s no fool and can acknowledge that even if it is, that would help everyone in the area. Because if there’s a new, fresh, source of clean water, that would increase overall supply. Which would lower overall unmet demand. Unless someone simply tries to hoard it, which he can’t help but think is a real possibility given the way some greedy individuals are.

He goes round and around in circles as he tries to think of where to take this. And all of the ideas he has end up being shot down. All because of safety and practicality.

Gearing leans on the table and looks at the relatively small blue gem at eye level as he groans. He knows if he doesn’t use it, he’s no better than the Steel Rangers that he took it to keep it away from. Functionally at least. It needs to be used. And not just ‘sometime in the future’. He needs to have a real hard plan for when and where to use it. So it doesn’t slip through the cracks while he decides and gets stuck in decision paralysis.

The little pegasus in his head lands on the talisman and stares at him. ‘Well, what if we set up shop in Paradise after we kick Usury and her goons out?’

Gearing shakes his head. “The only way we’d be able to protect it, is if we stayed there and made sure anyone who even had the idea to do something about it, didn’t live long enough to regret the decision…”

‘But it’s a nice big place, I’m sure Bottlecap would love to expand over there. She’s always looking to expand. And with the mall already well, a mall, it’s presetup for various stores… It could be like her Megamart, but upgraded.’

Gearing frowns as he says, “Yeah, except, a bigger place means it’s harder to keep guarded. That’s one of the problems with dealing with Usury… Like, if her operation was just Megamart’s size, I could probably handle her and her goons. Even with turrets or whatever. But, sheer numbers, it’s a problem. I can only eat so many bullets before I have to hide and get patched up. And that’s to say nothing of other weapons that would ruin my day even worse.”

The little pegasus kicks his hind legs out mindlessly as he looks around. ‘Well… if we can’t get enough ponies to watch the area to keep it safe… How about we take it to a place that already has a lot of dangerous ponies that no one wants to mess with?’

Gearing’s eyes slowly go wider before he asks, “The Reapers? The arena?”

The little pegasus shrugs. ‘Why not. Instead of taking it elsewhere, and hoping Big Daddy will help keep it safe, lets actually keep it with Big Daddy… Practically under his pillow. If they have access to fresh clean water all the time, they’d have an invested interest in keeping it safe… Plus, the extra water would help bring in new recruits…’

Gearing nods as he looks around, “Which could help stabilize the area even more. Since if you don’t play nice, you get no wa wa… Yeah… That might be an idea… I’d have to rig up a system with it.”

‘And make sure that Big Daddy agrees to share with the understanding that we will take it back if he starts being greedy about it. Charging is fine. Using it as something to trade for other goods is fine. But no scalping.’

Gearing nods as he’s standing up. “I’ll have to talk to him about it.” He grabs the stone off the counter, takes a tin can that he has on the side, already empty and clean as it’s ready for random purposes, and he gently puts the talisman in it after stuffing it with some padding from ripped pillows he’d taken from the residential sector of the stable. After making sure that it’s not going to rattle. He puts a piece of cloth over the top, secures it with a rubber band, and carries it into the chemical storage room. He sets it on the top shelf, in the back, and smiles as he looks at the nondescript object that almost looks like one of his improvised demolition charges. And, because of the way he is, and how a lot of them know him, they’ll take one look at it and are far less likely to even try and touch it. Foals included.

As he’s walking out of the storage closet, and on the way back to his workbench, his ears twist to the side as he hears rhythmic metallic hooves on the floor plating. And as he’s walking into the main room he sees Sable emerge from the hidden room off to the side.

Gearing glances over, and he feels his gears start loosening up a bit as, indeed, he sees all four legs and she seems to be moving just fine without any hindrances.

“Did you need something, Sable, or are you finished?”

Sable smiles as she walks towards him. “Both, my darling.”

Gearing stops as he stares at her, and starts tilting his head. “What’s up? Any way I can help?”

She trots right up to him, uses her cables to grab his face, and tilts it just enough so that when she smashes her lips into his they are at just the right angle so she can dig deeply into the kiss. She scoots up closer, wrapping her forelegs around his head, yet keeping her cables there, until she has him held tightly with her forelegs. After achieving that, she allows her cables to snake out and along his body, gently caressing and squeezing as it goes until he’s pretty thoroughly wrapped up with her.

After a few moments of quickly escalating kisses, she pulls back just enough to smile at him. “Yes, my darling Gearing. I need help. I need you…” She starts walking towards the decontamination chamber, with her cables still entirely engulfing him. “I need you to help me by coming with me and letting me clean my darling Gearing.”

Gearing smirks and quickly obliges as she leads him into the decontamination room. As the room is closing up, Sable stands closer to him and starts hugging him again. And while the sudsy chemicals start raining down on them, she takes extreme pleasure in rubbing her hooves all over his body. Cleaning off the mess is a decided end goal for this, for sure. But having that as an excuse for not leaving an inch of him unappreciated, that’s the true magic of the chamber for her.

And he certainly doesn’t hate it either.

Although, after the first cycle completes, Sable does have to help Gearing get bits and pieces of bat out of his gears. She even has to use smaller tools -picks, tweezers, and the like- to get it done. Because some of the stuff is a weird combination of squishy, yet firm. So simply scraping it out wasn’t effective. And then there’s the narrow crevices between the parts of his wings that are even worse. But after the end of the second cycle, Sable is more than happy to declare Gearing acceptably clean, and then escorts him out where she immediately starts giving him a buff with some clean towels that she had apparently recently set up near the door.

A stash that he suspects was strategically placed there for just such as this sort of occasion.

And not only does he allow her to continue, he actually enjoys the attention. And he doesn’t even try to hide it as any time she even starts to nuzzle or hug him, he leans into it. But, as she’s taking particular interest in ‘drying’ his hind quarters, Gearing can’t help his curiosity anymore as he asks, “If you weren’t damaged… What was wrong with your leg?”

Sable pauses and then looks up at him. He can see her actually thinking about the response, and it just makes him raise an eyebrow even more as this too seems odd to him. She shakes her head before she says, “The problem was not with the leg unit, specifically. I had just ran into some situations on the way back that gave me the experience to know that this chassis has some unfortunate limitations to it. What I had done was upgrade the components that were not adequate for the tasks I needed to do.”

The little pegasus in Gearing’s head eyes narrow before he asks, ‘Was it just me, or did her voice change a bit there?’

Like she developed an accent or something… yeah, Gearing mentally agrees.

Gearing blinks a few times before asking. “What was so bad that you had to do something to your legs? Were the ankles not able to keep up with the speed you were walking?”

Sable smiles as she shakes her head. “No, my love. The servos in the hind quarters simply were not robust enough to allow the movements I was attempting. It really limited my options.”

Gearing stares at her for a moment, then asks, “What were you trying to do that you couldn’t because of the servos?”

Sable looks at him, and gives him a coy grin before stepping back a bit. Then she starts raising herself up on her hindlegs. And as he’s watching her, she stands entirely upright. On her hind hooves. And even straightens up a bit more. She stretches out her forelegs as she grins at him. “From this position, I’m far more able to deliver effective strikes, while maintaining mobility.” She demonstrates by throwing a few hoof strikes. Then, in fluid movements, steps around with her hind legs. Even turning to the side and unleashing a set of forehoof strikes that are so fast even he has a hard time keeping up with it.

And then she slides one of her hind legs to the side, and pivots on it as she angles with both it and her left hind leg off to the side.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The equine leg that came around from the side of the tree was moving at such a speed that the mare next to it didn’t have a chance to perceive it, let alone actually do anything about it.

The next moment she was down. The precise strike of the Fallen Caesar style hitting a nerve cluster that’s made her go numb in a large portion of her body.

And the fight was on.

In the middle of the woods, Gearing and a couple other lightly armored EDF soldiers turn and start warding off the zebra legionary ambush. Of the eight Equestrian soldiers, three had been caught unawares and went down in the opening fractions of a second. Leaving only Gearing and four others to square off with a force that had them out numbered before, and now even more so.

One of the ones dropping out of the tree was heading for the unicorn mare of the group from above, with a forehoof held at the ready to land a strike that would likely incapacitate if not kill the unicorn that was busy fighting off another zebra in front of her using the side of a spear.

Of the two that had dropped down from the trees above towards Gearing, they were the ones caught by surprise as he actually jumped up towards them. He kicked the mare with both hindlegs, landing a face and chest shot respectively, but then used his wings to grab the buck that was with her. The impact not only knocked the one mare away, but sent Gearing in the direction of the unicorn that was about to get clobbered.

Taking the buck with him, in mid air, Gearing pulls the buck towards him, holding on tightly to the buck’s hindleg, before spinning around and throwing him at full speed towards the mare attacking the unicorn.

The buck slams into her just as she’s starting to touch the unicorn, but throws off the strike enough that she barely moves from it, let alone actually receives the full power of the strike.

The other three go back to back as they square up with their own opponents.

Gearing turns and stares at the two legionaries that step out from around the tree next to the unicorn, but both of them are looking right at him.

The one on the right comments, “You ponies are not welcome here…”

The one on the left says, “You, pegasus. You fight dishonorably.”

Gearing tilts his head and straightens up as he stares right at them as he pounds his forehoof into the ground. “No guns.”

The mare on the left smiles widely as she sees him issuing his challenge. Both her and the one next to her, rise up to their hind legs, slide their hind hooves out and to the side, and enter a pose that he’s seen far too many times. The mare on the right comments, “Brave, or foolish… let us see which.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sable continues moving around stretching this way and that, and after getting into a certain position where her legs are far spread apart, and looking like someone had taken a video of her attacking someone while on only one hoof, and froze the frame, she looks over her shoulder at Gearing and smiles. As she sees that he’s staring right at her, she pointedly lifts her tail, and gives her rear a little shimmy, as nothing is left to the imagination anymore.

Gearing blinks a few times. Then a few more times, before he looks up and into her eyes as he’d been staring off into space and having an eerie feeling like he’d seen something similar before. And as he’d thought about it more, it did strike him as things he’d seen during the war. But, maybe a bit cruder. And he can’t help but wonder if that’s how the zebra forces came to the conclusions that they had: by running into situations where their normal movements just weren’t enough and experimentation and trial and error is what helped them develop their unique fighting styles.

Sable keeps smiling at him as she sees him looking at her eyes. But, even though he’s not really reacting much, she hopes to coax a bit of something out of him. “See something you like, my love?”

Gearing blinks a few more times before he says, with all sincerity in his voice, as he looks her right in the eye, “You.”

She squeals with joy and stops trying to tease him as she spins around and hops towards him again. She wraps her hooves around him as she groans. “I love you too, my darling Gearing.”

Gearing pats her on the back, and gives her a little squeeze. “I missed you, Sable.”

She hugs him a bit tighter as she smiles. “I missed you too, my love. So much.”

Gearing wraps his wings around her and nuzzles her. “Sable, I’m sorry about the tunnels. I had no idea ghouls were that much of a problem. I just-”

Sable uses one of her cables, quickly loops it around his muzzle, and clamps his mouth shut for him. “My love, you couldn’t have known. None of us could. And not even the children knew their own limitations of their abilities.”

Gearing looks at her and tries to talk, and she gently loosens her cables for him to do so. “So now we know they have limits on the number and duration of their effects. It’s still powerful, but at least they learned them without catastrophic consequences.”

Sable nods as she nuzzles him and then pulls back just a bit to look him in the eye. “Yes, it was certainly concerning watching the hordes of zombponies tighten their noose on us.”

‘There’s that accent again!' the little pegasus in Gearing’s head chimes in.

“But what was more concerning was the apparent drain on their energy levels,” Sable continues uninterrupted. “And then there was their… physical changes.”

“Energy levels, I understand. But, physical changes? How so?” Gearing asks as he gives her his undivided attention.

Sable looks off to the side as she smacks her lips a few times. “I promise I am not making this up, my darling Gearing.”

‘It’s concerning she feels the need to preface it by saying that,’ both Gearing and his little pegasus companion say in unison in his mindspace.

Sable waves off towards the front of the stable as she continues, “The children seemed to have grown faint. Duller. I- I don’t mean figuratively. I mean their very coats seemed to lose their color before my very eyes. Their luster.” She waves off towards the workbenches as she adds, “I was concerned my optical systems had become faulty. That they were malfunctioning. But nothing else had the same change. As strange as it sounds, I was worried their lives were draining away before my very eyes. Even though that does not make sense. I do not know why I thought that, but I did. So I, admittedly, started getting worked up and… maybe did some things that were reckless as a result.” She gives Gearing a sheepish smile before shrugging. “I tested my systems with the available equipment when I returned to the stable. And it all verified what my internal repair systems had already said: my optics are fine. And over the next couple of days the foals’ coats regained their vibrancy. And they’d regained their vigor in the same time period, so whatever it was didn’t seem to have lasting effects on them. None that the auto doc could find either.” She gives a prim nod before adding. “I made sure they all took a turn in the auto doc when we arrived. If nothing else to make sure they weren’t bringing in any harmful pathogens with them from the wastelands. The poor dears.”

Gearing rubs his chin as he thinks about it, gently caressing Sable’s cables still around his muzzle while he’s at it. “That almost sounds like you ran into an enervation field. Especially with the way it zapped their energy. I’ll share what I know about it in a bit. But, that doesn’t make sense for it to be enervation because while it drains life and makes wounds worse, I’ve never seen or heard anything about it changing a ponies color. So that’s a new one… And if the ghouls didn’t get liquefied, it couldn’t be a stronger field than I’d already run into either.” He frowns before he mutters, “I bet it’s a different variety of the weapon that was used. But, all that means is that we have even less of a reason to go into the tunnels now. Hoards of herds of ghouls is bad enough. I mean, we could start thinning them out and eventually make the tunnels clear to use if we really wanted. But we can’t fight what we can’t touch or interact with. So we’ll just avoid those tunnels from now on… I’ll make sure to spread the information with the Finders too. So they know to avoid it and not to even bother.” He lets out a sigh. “At least the kids are back to normal though. So, you’re right, the effects had to have been temporary.” He rubs the back of his head with a hoof before letting out a gush of air. “I’m glad it all worked out, and we didn’t lose anyone at least...”

She nods and lets him go before she hops over to the workbench and points at it as she says, “While you were gone, I took the liberty of continuing the work where you had left off. Of the various salvage you had accumulated, I’ve broken them down to their more basic components, and stored them based on the system you had already established.” She points over towards the window for the Decontamination chamber. “I even took the liberty to organize some of our cleaning supplies and more commonly used items. And, over there on the shelves with the blankets I have a list of everything that’s been done so far so you can keep track of what we have available. I found my darling Gearing’s inventory control system to be quite helpful!”

Gearing smiles as he turns to head into the decontamination chamber. “Great, I got a few more things that need to be brought in. Quite a bit still needs to be cleaned too. But it all needs to be organized and set up and put where it needs to go.”

Sable sees him going for the door, and throws out her cables after him. “Hey, wait a moment! There’s more I want to show you! We can clean the other stuff later after we-” She stops talking as her cables had whipped out to wrap around him as he had started walking away. And, she used enough strength based on her own calculations, to try and halt him. It wouldn’t necessarily work, she’s aware. But what she wasn’t expecting was for the cables that she wrapped around him, and when she leaned against him to stop him, was for him to actually not only get halted, but picked clean up in the air in a sudden jolt of near antigravity level of force.

As he’s dangling there, in her cables, he looks over at her and raises an eyebrow. “Uh… is this necessary?”

Sable stares at him for a moment, and her jaw drops as her eyes go wide. “Wha- how- Why?!” She starts turning him in the air with her cables. In a variety of angles. Effortlessly. “What’s wrong with my Gearing?! Why- Why is he so light!” She does it again quickly, spinning him around and using multiple cables to pull him back and forth as he has cables coming at him from various directions. And, at one point, she starts passing him back and forth between one of her cables and another one. “What is this?!” She recoils as she asks, “Where’s the rest of my darling Gearing?!” She puts a hoof to her mouth as she shakes, and then shrieks in unmistakable horror, “Oh no! Don’t tell me you lost it!” She yanks him over with her cables, dragging him to right in front of her, and she starts giving him a discerning eye. And, embarrassingly to Gearing, she turns him around mid air and stares right at his butt as she puts it not far from her face and starts examining it closer. She reaches up with a hoof, then even uses a couple cables to verify her findings as she blatantly continues to grope his rear end. Both cheeks.

“It looks like my darling Gearing’s butt. It feels like my darling Gearing’s butt. But my darling Gearing doesn’t weigh enough to have so much junk in the trunk!” She lifts and lowers him a few times confirming his weight by feel. Then, figuring she’s already gone that far, she takes a quick peek at his undercarriage to make sure nothing’s missing from there either. And when she lets out a sigh of relief after finding the family is still in possession of its precious jewels, is when Gearing starts flailing around mid air as his ears whistle.

“Alright, that’s enough, if you give me a minute I’ll explain what happened!” Gearing yells out as his ears whistle quite loudly.

Sable turns him around to look at his face, as she’s still holding him up with her cables. “What could have happened to my darling Gearing?! Tell me! Who did this to my darling Gearing?! If they hurt my love, I’ll destroy them in such a way that not even a memory of them will remain!”

Gearing smirks at her, then stretches out and kisses her nose. An act that triggers her ‘prance in place’ protocol as she happily accepts Gearing’s affections. He looks down a bit then looks at her as he says, “Lower me to about an inch off the floor plating, and I’ll explain.”

Sable tilts her head, and looks at him. But then nods as she complies.

As soon as he’s close to the ground, Gearing deactivates his gravity mitigation implant, and instantly sinks the rest of the way as he is practically pulled right out of her cables by gravity itself.

Sable looks down at the floor plating, then at him, and starts wrapping him up with cables again. And, again, she starts working to lift him. This time a smile crosses her muzzle as it actually takes her some effort to do it this time. “My darling Gearing is back!” she cries gleefully.

Gearing laughs and pats the cable around his chest as he looks at her. “Sable, I’m fine, really… Remember how I’d said some of my implants weren’t working? Well, the one that helps with my weight came back online… Now I can walk around without having to worry about crushing whatever I step on… At least, no more than a normal pony…”

Sable nods, then starts hefting him again as she confirms his mass. And, for fun, he turns on his implant again and lets her pick him up with ease. Which she does quickly and snatches him over for a quick and abrasive nuzzle. “I understand now, my darling Gearing! My darling is now extra snuggly! He has a snuggle mode!”

Gearing smirks as he looks off to the side and asks quietly, “Snuggle mode?”

Sable nods as she says, “Yes, now my darling Gearing can be snuggled without concern for causing any damages… And this increases the number of places that we can polish with his flank!”

Gearing’s ears manage to create a new personal best record for the loudness of their whistling.

Gearing hangs there limply in the air as she continues happily manipulating him with her cables like a doll. “I’m glad you approve, Sable,” he mutters quietly with the faintest of smiles on his muzzle.

But, after giving his flank an over exaggerated kiss, she sets him back down onto his own hooves. She walks back over to the bench and holds up a circuit board that she had freed from one of the computers that had been destroyed. And is obviously quite pleased with herself as she says, “See! I have more components for us to fix up the stable with. So once you bring in the other components you brought with you, we can start fixing up the stable as my darling Gearing wished!”

Gearing looks around as he rubs the back of his head with a forehoof and groans. “I… didn’t get the parts we needed.”

Sable looks over at him and her mouth drops. “But my darling Gearing was gone for so long!”

Gearing nods as he frowns. “We got information about where to pick up the parts we need… or... At least… where they should be…” He looks at Sable and frowns. “A lot happened while I was up there… A lot…”

Sable looks at him and nods before going back to looking at the circuit board. “I see. That is unfortunate, that it didn’t go as you expected, but at least everyone made it back.”

Gearing looks her over as she carefully puts the circuit board into a slot that she had obviously custom made for it to keep it safe, and lets out a sigh. He looks around and tries to think of what to say, there’s a lot that he’d want to say. There’s a lot that happened. And he’s missed her a lot. On one side, he thinks talking about it all chronologically would make the most sense. But, in a part of his mind, there’s one part that he feels he needs to bring up. If nothing else but to make a certain mare shut up about it and stop nosing into things she doesn't know about nor understand in his opinion.

Gearing waves a hoof as he says, “Yeah, a lot happened. And, I can fill you in about all of it later while we’re working or whatever. But, yeah, as far as anything that needs to be brought up, I just wanted to make sure you knew, from me, straight, before someone comes and says anything. Especially since they don’t really understand the situation. Rumor and drama are not something I want to start getting spread. And while there was nothing wrong with it, it’s probably best that everyone’s on the same page.”

Sable nods as she continues looking over the parts she had laid out on the workbench. She grabs a metal box that had been used as a sealed filing folder, like the kind contractors would use when they were out and about doing bids and the like, and pulls it closer to herself as she smiles. “I understand. What is it you wanted to let me know of in advance?”

Gearing waves a hoof around as he says, “Well, after you’d left, I ended up getting dragged into a few incidents and problems. The raider and slaver trafficking up there is outlandish…”

Sable nods as she carefully places the metal box in front of herself on the workbench. “That, I noticed. Those inconsiderate ponies that you had to go chase down were a good example of that, I’d wager.”

Gearing nods as he waves a hoof. “Yeah. So, in one instance I had to go take down a particularly bad pony. A real piece of work. He’d been causing havoc for a while. Widespread death and misery. A fucking sadist to boot. I figured I could not only use the funds while I was at it, but earn some good will along the way. Well, a local bounty hunter in the area volunteered to help me track them down, so we did. The whole time there were problems. But, we managed it. But before we went back, she got hit with a premature cycle of estrus, and, well, you know how that can cause issues, I’m sure. She quickly had a hard time functioning. And it was going to be even more problematic when we got back to the hub where we had to cash in the bounty. So I agreed to help with a round of therapeutic copulation. And I get why she might think it’d be a problem, and admire her obvious good intentions and desire to help us, but Swift thought it was best that I said something to you about it. Even as much of a non-issue as it is.”

Sable freezes as she’d been opening up the clipboard sized metal box, in preparation of showing him and telling him something, but instead stops solid. “Therapeutic copulation?”

Gearing nods as he says matter-of-factly, “Yeah needed to get it out of her system. You know how it is.”

“Ah- Yes. I see.”

Gearing nods and looks off to the side as he says, “And then there was some caravanner mare that had information that she knew I needed. And, I don’t know where she got the idea from. Or if she was just that desperate for something without consequences. But, apparently she was in a bit of a bind too because there’s only one thing she wanted, and I’m sure you can guess what that was-”

“So, you- her as well?” Sable asks as she stands there looking at the metal container.

Gearing nods as he says, “Yes. But that ended up weird. I mean it was weird from the start. I mean I’ve gotten offers before but nothing like that…”

“I see,” Sable comments flatly.

Gearing nods. “So, yeah. I mean, you weren’t there. And I didn’t want you thinking I was trying to hide anything from you.”

Sable nods slightly. “T-thank you. For telling me.”

Gearing smiles as he waves a hoof. “Yeah, see… I mean, I think Swift just doesn't understand things…”

“Ah,” Sable comments as she keeps looking at the metal box in front of her. But after a few moments, and Gearing not saying anything else, Sable asks, “Gearing?”

Gearing tilts his head and asks, “Yes, Sable?”

Sable keeps staring at the box before she asks, “Are you telling me this… Because you no longer wish to be with me?”

Gearing blinks a few times before he asks, “What?”

Sable turns her head to look at him. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, Gearing. I should have turned around after dropping off the foals and come back to you. If you’d just give me anoth-”

Gearing waves his forehooves around. “Whoa, Sable. Hold on a second. What are you going on about?”

She slowly turns around and hangs her head as she asks, “You… you had sex with those other mares, didn’t you?”

Gearing nods. “I mean, yeah?”

Sable rocks her head side to side before she asks, “That… that means I wasn’t there when you needed me… and… wasn’t enough for you, right?”

Gearing claps his forehooves together as he shakes his head. “Whoa, Sable. Hold on a second. -I- wasn’t the one interested in sex. They were the ones that wanted it. I just provided it because the situation called for it. That’s it.”

Sable tilts her head as she asks, “What? B-but… you had sex with them? Did you not?”

Gearing stares at her for a moment before giving a slow nod. “Yes, Sable. I did. That doesn’t mean I liked it, them, or even enjoyed it…”

Sable blinks a few times then slowly sits down. “Wait… you would have sex with individuals you did not like?”

Gearing shrugs as he says. “Well… yes.” He waves his hoof around quickly. “Not that I just try to get into bed with each and every pony I run across. But I like taking the path of least resistance. If I can accomplish a task without bloodshed by shellacking someone into the ground, then that’s the better way of doing it, isn’t it?” He shrugs. “I’ve been doing it for years. Pretty much from the start of my career in the war. Never meant that I cared for them. At least, not in a way that some might think.”

He sees Sable staring at him blank faced and decides to add, “Sable. They just had an itch that needed scratching, and I scratched it for them. Nothing more.”

Sable looks at him for a few more moments before looking at the floor. “Then… you… aren’t leaving me?”

Gearing smirks as he shakes his head. “No… I’m not.”

She looks up at him from under the bangs of her mane as she asks, “Are you bringing them here?”

Gearing raises an eyebrow before he asks, “Why would I even want to do that?”

She tilts her head more to look at him before she asks, “So, you don’t have feelings for them?”

“Correct.”

“But you had sex with them.”

“Also correct.”

“So you have sex with beings you do not have feelings for.”

“Also also correct. If the situation calls for it, anyway,” Gearing replies with a smile.

Sable stares at him for a few moments before asking, “Then… Does my darling Gearing… have feelings for me?”

Gearing stares at her and his eyes go wide. “Why would you-”

She looks off to the side as she asks, “If my darling Gearing doesn't care about those he has intercourse with. And my darling Gearing has intercourse with me. Then my darling Gearing might be doing it even if he doesn't like me…”

Gearing waves his forelegs around. “Hold on, time out.” He walks a bit closer. “Sable, there’s a huuuuuge difference.”

Sable looks up at him and her eyes are barely looking at him as she’s trying but they keep jerking away to focus on something else. Anything else. Besides him.

And it confuses him to the nth degree.

“How?” she asks meekly.

Gearing replies softly, “Sable. I can like someone, and not have sex with them. And I can have sex with someone, who I don’t really like at all. They aren’t connected, at all.”

“They aren’t?” Sable asks as she lifts her head and raises an eyebrow at him.

Gearing walks closer to her. “No. To be honest, sex means nothing to me. It’s a means to an end in the vast majority of instances. It’s a bother in a lot of cases.” They stare at each other for a bit before he deadpans. “It has all of the relationship markers, of changing the oil on a piece of farm equipment. It’s not much more than another form of currency I use…”

Gearing looks off to the side as he lets out a sigh. “Sable, I don't know if it's my curse, or if there's something else going on too. And it’s really hard for me to explain to others. My curse dulls most of my senses or warps them into something unnatural. My sense of taste is unequine… yet I apparently can’t actually ‘taste’. Like I know something has sugar or salt in it, but don’t really understand ‘sweet’ or ‘salty’. My touch is simultaneously sensitive, and dull. I can tell minute differences in texture, temperature, etc. Like I can tell a cloud is soft and a boulder is hard, but as long as I’m not laying wrong on stone where something gets strained or bent, they're both equally comfortable for me to sit or lay on. Neither feels ‘good’. It just is what it is. But beyond that, all I really experience is pain. That’s the only thing I seem to have in common with others. My most sensitive part of my body is, ahem… what you'd expect it to be… But even that doesn't seem to be like other bucks. As sensitive as it is, it still seems toned down compared to most others. Generally speaking.” He looks over at the bags full of scrap as he mutters, “I’m not sure how to put it except I have a sense of touch, yet can’t feel…”

Sable stares at him for a few moments before asking, “So, you do not enjoy intercourse with me?”

The little pegasus in Gearing’s head flops down onto a cloud as it slaps its hooves over its eyes. ‘Oh damn, everything in this entire conversation is ending up in a loop of low self esteem and other nonsense… This curse is fucking sadistic…’

Gearing walks right up to her and asks, “Do you think I’m with you because you let me have sex with you?”

Sable stares at him for a moment, then gives a slow shake of her head. “No. My darling Gearing has even gone so far as to tell me to not feel obligated to do so. So I do not believe my darling Gearing is simply using me for sex.”

Gearing nods as he says, “I know this is going to be hard to understand. I’ve always had a hard time putting it into words. But… Sex just doesn’t- it just doesn’t interest me… Not in the normal way it does most bucks… most ponies… hell, most creatures in general it seems… I just don’t seem to really get anything out of it.” He looks her in the eye and smiles. “So it just doesn't hold the same sway over me. It doesn't have that pull. That link. That… Desire… except…”

Sable tilts her head as she asks, “Except what?”

Gearing leans in just a bit as he says, “Except if I have a connection with someone. If I truly like them. Then… something’s different about it. I can’t explain it but it’s like some kinda switch gets flipped in me. It goes from an annoying thing to get through, to something I don’t mind… and… actually kinda enjoy… Especially if it’s someone I’ve grown close with. Which, frankly, doesn’t happen often. And absolutely never as strongly as it’s felt with you. Like it even feels different. Better. I don’t know, maybe it’s some kind of psychosomatic quirk. But… still… I don’t think it’s really the sex I enjoy. That’s not what I want.”

“What you want?” Sable asks as she desperately tries to follow along with the conversation, but is struggling hard. She rapidly blinks a few times and then asks, “But what about when I first got my new body?” A slight smile crosses her muzzle as she mutters, “You were positively ravenous… Even apologized for not being able to be a gentlestallion before you pinned me to the wall with how intense you rutted me to it. You seemed entirely enraptured with me at the time.”

The little blue pegasus in Gearing’s head looks from her to him and points at her. ‘That’s actually a damn good question.’

Gearing stares at her for a few moments before he replies in a tone like he’s simultaneously in deep thought, yet not even really present. “I- I don’t know. I can’t even explain that to myself either. I never felt such a strong desire in all of my life. It’s like- It’s like I just saw you, and my brain broke. You broke my brain. Because all I could think about was how badly I wanted our bodies smashed together as much as possible. I wanted to be entwined with you so much that all I could feel was you…”

Sable smiles a bit more as she gives her tail a bit of a swish. “Flatterer… I would not mind more of such treatment, you know, my love.”

The little pegasus in Gearing’s head stares at her blue eyes and wipes a bit of drool off of his muzzle as he says, ‘There’s that accent again…’ He glares at Gearing. ‘Fix this. Fix this now. We need to make her understand how special she is.’

“Sable… maybe the best way to get you to understand… is to show you…” He tilts his head as he asks, “May I show you?”

She looks at him for a few moments, and then slowly nods.

Slowly, deliberately, he starts walking towards her. Then he wraps his forehooves around her middle, from the front, and starts snuggling in. He quickly manipulates her backwards, down, and to the ground, until he is half over her with his face buried into her chest. He wraps his wings around her middle, and curls up with her. And as he’s laying there, he closes his eyes, and takes in a deep breath. “This is the difference, Sable… I don’t like you. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to be just like this, wrapped up in your limbs, and held tight to you… Sable… all things being created equal… I wouldn't cross a room to have sex with them… with anyone else…. but I’d cross Tartarus on my knees just to be where I am right now. Being held by you is bliss. Having sex with you would just be an extension of being held by you. Another form of closeness. And making you happy makes me happy. And there’s this intoxicating downward spiral that the happier you are the more I want to make it happen and the more it makes me happy. So, yes, I have sex with you because you want to. Because I want to be close to you. Not for the sex. But because you are you and there’s no place on Equus like being held by you.”

Sable slowly wraps her legs around him, holding onto him gently, as she asks, “So… So, you’re not leaving me for some other mare?”

Gearing squeezes into her gently as he lets out a sigh. “Sable… if I had my way, I would literally never leave the confines of your embrace.” He nuzzles into her a bit more as he says, “I don’t know really how other bucks see sex or anything like that. I’ve known others that have gone through torment and hell to just get a piece of tail, any piece…” He simply goes limp and enjoys her embrace for a few moments. “But, when you’re holding me, I kind of get it. And whether we are bumping flanks, hugging, cuddling up, or even just nuzzling each other, I’m happier than I can think of being elsewhere. This is where I want to be. You are what I want.”

She gently rubs his sides with her forelegs before she asks, “Then, my Gearing is still my Gearing?”

He nuzzles her chest a bit, then leans up and kisses her under the chin. “As long as you’ll have me, Sable… And… probably even longer, if I’m being honest…”

She starts holding onto him with all of her limbs, and her cables come out to start slinking over him and around his entire form. “Then… what would my darling Gearing like to do with me, right now, if he could?”

Gearing slowly looks up at her. “I have an idea. And I think it might help in a few ways.”

“Oh?” Sable asks with a slight tilt of her head.

Gearing starts pulling away a bit, and Sable allows him to remove himself from her hold as he nods. “Yeah. But, first…” Gearing looks around. Then he stares at one of the cameras. “Nettlekiss.”

“What do you want, stallion?” Nettlekiss’s voice comes across the speakers of the R&D section with its typical annoyance.

“I would like to have a private conversation with Sable. And there’s something I need to reveal to her that I don’t want anyone else to be aware of.”

“Oh, you have other laundry you need to air out, huh?” Nettlekiss asks with a snarky giggle.

“Yeah,” Gearing says flatly. “And she’s the only one I trust with it. So I hope it’ll help her realize just how special she is to me, and how much she means to me, by my revealing it to her and her alone.”

Nettlekiss’s voice lets out an annoyed groan. “Alright, lover boy, I’ll shut off the speakers in here. Just don’t go digging yourself too much deeper. I need this stable fixed up, and that’s not happening if you make your mare mad and she throws you in the recycler.”

“I’d never!” Sable snorts with a hoof stomp as she glares at the camera, indignant at even the insinuation.

There’s a squawk, and the speakers go silent. Without any further response from Nettlekiss.

Gearing looks over at Sable, and raises an eyebrow. Sable replies quietly, “It’s all off.”

Gearing nods, then starts walking towards the secret room where Sable had been performing robotic surgery on herself. “Okay, then… let’s go in here real quick… just in case she’s being sneaky with the cameras somehow.”

Once inside, and far enough in that he’s absolutely positive that no one will see him nor what he’s about to reveal, he spins around on the floor and faces Sable as she enters in behind him. He politely ignores the table that had been carefully covered up with cloth where Sable had been working earlier.

She walks towards him slowly, pausing a few paces from him. She looks him over for a few moments before asking quietly, “What is it my darling Gearing wishes to reveal to me? Whatever it is, I promise to not be mad or anything like that.”

Gearing smirks and shakes his head. “Sable… I could go on and on about how much I care about you and how much you mean to me. But, I learned long ago that actions speak louder than words.” He takes in a deep breath before looking her in the eye. “What I’m about to show you, there is not another being alive that has seen it. Everyone that had, died two hundred years ago. But, it is something very important to me. And I want it to be something for just us. At least for now, it’ll be a secret between us two.”

She looks back into his eyes, and then quickly darts them all over his body, wondering what it is that he could possibly show her now, before she goes back to giving him dedicated eye contact and a firm nod. “As you wish, my darling Gearing.”

Gearing takes in a long deep breath and closes his eyes as he mentally prepares himself for this. And after finally working up the courage to do so, Gearing activates something that hasn’t been used in over two hundred years.

From the inside of Gearing, a mass pours out of the gaps in his metallic body like polymer going through an extruder. But it doesn’t simply squirt out, out of control, it spills out and then wraps around him in all angles. It quickly zips out along the leading edges of his wings, then down and over them. Until every single bit of him is covered in the cream colored malleable material. Then it seems to take more form, retracting and stretching outward in places as it starts taking on a form of its own. And for a couple moments, it looks like a pony that’s been entirely shaved except for his tail and mane, but as soon as the new body has achieved its apparently preferred shape, the missing hair rapidly shoots out. In the case of his wings, they seem to have been coated in the same material, but instead of fur, the stained glass looking wings now look like fluffy fuzzy feathers. In a matter of seconds, his entire visage has been replaced. Even his metallic mane, tail, and eyes seem to have gotten a coating of the material that shifted in color to change to something new.

And there, in place of the golden glorious bastard, is a bit bigger pegasus buck that is an identical copy of the one that has been keeping up residence in Gearing’s mind space; even if Sable wouldn’t know that. His face has even changed, structurally, to make him not even look like the same buck anymore. A bit more angular to go with the more fit athletic tone of the rest of his body. And there are more than a few markers on said face that if any family member of a certain war hero happened to look at him, they might do a double take and wonder if he were the product of a secret love affair involving their martyred kin. Even if he is a very dark blue pegasus.

His nostrils flare as he lets out a gush of air and opens his eyes, revealing striking green irises that matched his natural green wings by design. He stretches his neck side to side, making an audible creaking sound as his blue mane swishes side to side. He glances down at himself, then flares out his wings and slowly looks them over as if he’s confirming that they are still there.

After confirming that the transformation is indeed complete, he looks over at Sable and gives her a rather charming smile as he points at himself with a hoof. “This is me.” The voice coming out not matching the one she’s been used to hearing. There’s no slight hiss or whistle that comes out sometimes, especially when he gets emotional. The tone is even a bit deeper. Like an older, more mature buck. No longer does he have as many of those youthful traits that Gearing managed to display, he looks more in his true prime.

In Gearing’s mind space an elevator car rises up from the clouds underneath. After it stops, a ding chimes, and the doors open. The little blue pegasus in his head looks over and waves as his metallic gold counterpart steps out of the elevator and onto the cloud space.

After the elevator fades away like mist, the little blue pegasus waves around vaguely. ‘Where the hell you been? I’ve been stuck with this clown alone for longer than is healthy!’

The green winged metallic buck shrugs and takes flight, before landing near his blue skinned friend. ‘Wasn’t my idea. Last I remember was you taking over to go talk to that asshole at Stable-tec after I found that whacked out shit in the archives while fucking around in the system…’ He looks around and raises an eyebrow. ‘The fuck is this, what’d I miss?’

The little blue pegasus tosses the little gold pegasus a book as he sighs, ‘A lot. Just, a lot… Here's the usual cliff notes versions for things you need to be aware of; don’t worry about the rest.’

The other pegasus sits down on the clouds and starts reading as he mutters, ‘I think I need to start worrying if you’re going to do shit to get me blasted through time…’

‘Don’t sweat the details.’

‘I’ll give you some tails to sweat, you keep it up…’ After a few moments of reading he nods his chin towards Sable. ‘Who’s the mare that’s giving the flutteries?’

The little blue pegasus grins as he replies, ‘A mare that could save or destroy the world as far as we’re concerned.’

Sable looks him over, her eyes wide as she takes in every detail. She’d watched it happen. But it’s still hard for her to believe. “G-Gearing? Is that you?”

Gearing takes a few slow steps towards her. “Yes, Sable. It’s me.” He walks up to her, grabs her forehoof, and puts it to his cheek. He nuzzles it gently, giving her a good feel of his face. And, for the first time, his face seems pliable to her. Muscular, but with just the right amount of yield where it should. “During the war they gave me the opportunity to hide my curse. It took a long time and a lot of effort, and I can’t even begin to calculate how much money in resources went into it. But. One of the implants I have in myself allows me to look like this. The way that I should be. The way that I would be if it wasn’t for that fucking curse.” He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath before letting it out. “At least this is how I envision myself. There’s no way to do any imaging because I don’t normally bleed so there’s no DNA to test or manipulate.” He opens his eyes and smiles at her. “But this is me. And all of me is for you. Even this secret part.” He leans over and gives her a soft kiss, leaving just a hint of moisture on her cheek.

She slowly starts running her forehoof over his cheek, then down and around the dark blue fur covered hide on his neck. She gently runs it through his blue mane, caressing and squeezing as she goes. “This is going to take a bit to get used to, my love,” she murmurs as she leans in, closes her eyes, and gives the side of his muzzle a kiss. Then her cables come out, and start wrapping all over his body. And he stands there, rather limply, as he lets her explore his new body with her cables. And then, predictably, her cables end up on his hind end where they start quickly squeezing and taking measurements.

Her eyes shoot open as she looks him in the eye. Her blue eyes meeting his green. And her shocked expression juxtaposed with his knowing smirk. She keeps squeezing and groping his rear as she mutters, “Your ass! It’s- it’s still there! But, bigger somehow?! It’s so- so juicy! How?!”

Gearing snickers and snorts as he tries to look away. Then he glances at her sideways and comments, “The way the implant works, it’s not simply an illusion. The first iterations were. This one actually covers my entire body. And can’t simply be dispelled.” He uses a hoof, brings some of his blue mane hair around, and shows her as he says, “Even my hairs have a ridiculously small coating to them. Along with a few other enchantments to make them less stiff and more pliable. But, for my body, there’s a much thicker coating. All designed to give the outward appearance, and, as you can tell, feel, of real flesh and blood. With some spots even being extra stiff to mimic bones. So, yeah, certain parts of me have thicker coatings, but it’s all still based on my actual body.”

She closes her eyes just a bit as she smiles. “It’s nice and shapely too.”

He leans his head against hers, touching foreheads as he looks into her eyes. “So… think you can get used to it?”

“Hmm?” Sable asks absentmindedly as she continuously massages his rear end. “Oh. That? Already done. Your wonderful flank is all the reassurance that I needed.”

Gearing snickers and even shimmies his hips a bit back into her cables as he stretches backwards and lets her have a good feel. “Glad you approve.”

Sable looks him over before asking, “So, you showed me this, your truth, as a display of your loyalty and dedication to me?”

The little golden pegasus in Gearing’s head raises an eyebrow as he glances up from the book at Sable. ‘What was with that accent there? She’s gone from something like a hoity toity Canterlot, to something a bit more… exotic?’

The little blue pegasus points at her as he stares at the golden pegasus. ‘I know, right?!’

Gearing bobs his head around before saying softly, “Something like that. I’m sorry, Sable, but I’m not the greatest when explaining myself like this. Haven’t exactly had a lot of practice with it.”

She gives him a beaming smile before nodding. “I understand perfectly, my darling Gearing.” She gives his rear a few extra squeezes of appreciation before letting go and stepping back. “Well, given our recent conversation, then I do have a question for you.”

“And what’s that, Sable?”

She tilts her head and asks sweetly, “Such devotion deserves reward… If you could do whatever you wish right now, what would you want?”

He gives her a warm smile. “I already told you, silly… If I could…” He fast-steps over, quickly wrapping his forelegs around her middle and pushing her over and to the side so they return to the same snuggling position that they were just in a few moments ago. “I’d like to stay like this…” He nuzzles into her chest, draping his wings around and embracing her whole body with them, as he groans out in delight. “Just like this… With you holding me.”

“So my darling Gearing really meant it when he said his favorite place in the world is being held in my embrace?” she asks in a hushed whisper as if she was worried speaking too loud would shatter such a wonderful truth for her.

“Mmm hmm,” Gearing simply mutters as he nuzzles in more, and she quickly wraps him up with her limbs and her cables as she very obviously wants to reciprocate the affections he’s showing her. He lets out a sigh as he simply goes limp and lets her do whatever she wants with him. “I’ve had a really bad time since we last saw each other, Sable…” He slowly tucks his face in under her chin as he groans. “A… bad… bad… time…”

She starts gently massaging him all over as she asks, “Can you tell me about it?”

Gearing lets out a sigh but then nods lightly. “If you want… but… it’s bad… and… I don’t want you feeling bad about it… Plus there’s a few parts that I don’t want you telling Swift or the others, it's… bad…”

Sable pulls him up a bit more, so his face is well and truly buried into the crook of her neck. “Tell me everything, Gearing. I want to hear it all. And whatever you do not wish me to tell the others, just say so, and I shall not…” She trails a forehoof up and begins gently massaging the back of his head and playing with his blue mane.

The little golden pegasus stares blankly in silence for a while before commenting, ‘I’d conquer armies and kingdoms for this mare…Must protec.’

‘Now you get it,’ the little blue pegasus replies while staring at Sable and offering his forehoof. After the golden pegasus completes the bro hoof clop, the little blue pegasus adds, ‘Good to have you back, buddy. Welcome to the shit show.’

Gearing lets out a low moan of approval as she gently caresses him all over in a warm embrace. “Gods I love you, Sable.”

“And I love you, as well, my darling Gearing.” She gives him a squeeze as she smiles. “And, as for the ‘credits’ we had talked about before… Please forget it. I would not joke about such things if I knew that you felt the way you do.”

He gently pulls up, looks her in the face, and then tenderly rubs a hoof across her cheek. “Sable, I already told you… with you… it’s different…” He moves in to kiss her, but then says softly into her mouth, “You earned every single one… And I actually look forward to you ‘cashing in’…” Then he gives her a kiss that he, himself, escalates into a deep tongue tonsil sparring match.

Yet, despite his actions, and blatant open invitation, the pair simply return to cuddling after indulging for a few minutes. And, instead of cashing in the ‘credits’ she’s earned, she opts for prodding him for information. They return to the comfortable position he’d declared to be his favorite, wrapped up in her limbs, and simply talk. And, through their talk, she learns everything that had happened since they had separated nearly two weeks ago. And the more he talks, the more she feels like she had made the right call on their activities for the night. And, the more she comforts him, and provides a soothing place for him to air out his soul, the more he feels comfortable enough that he lets it out. Like an over-pressurized tank that's finally had its relief valve triggered. He even tells her the atrocities that he discovered that lead him to burn down an entire building full of live ponies. The bare facts that he’d kept to himself, and, obviously, swore her to do the same. But, after everything else, her understanding of him grows. As does her anger and fear for what he’d been through. What he was willing to put himself though. The disasters around Chapel, both at ground level and below, make her quite fearful for what could happen to her beloved. She’d almost lost him, and wasn’t even aware of it. And, worst of all, she realizes that even if she were there, there’s nothing in her range of abilities to have mitigated what had happened. And it just makes her want to protect him all the more. As much as she can anyway. But, at the same time, let him do what he needs to do when he needs to do it. Because as the tunnels to The Core prove to her, her silly stallion can get himself into some really deep trouble. But, he’s also capable of getting himself out of it. If he’s allowed to act freely. And a growing hope sprouts in her that, one day, she’ll be able to protect him the way he needs, when he needs, and when it’s a case that he truly can’t do it himself.

She wants to get better. For him.

Footnote:

Matrix Quadrant ‘Personal’ Status: Ready.

‘BlueMac.Cred’ Sub Partitioned Successfully

‘BlueMac.Matrix’ Verified

Processing . . . Verifying Matrix Status

Processing . . . Reinitializing, Please Stand By. . .

Author's Note

Answers a plenty, including for some things that had been bought up many chapters ago.

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